THE CONQUEST * H. A. GUERBER The great battle of Senlac, or Hastings, was won. Harold, "Last of the Saxons," was dead; and William, now called the Conqueror, was ruler of England. Although he had no real claim to the crown, William took it 5 by force, and England became his by conquest. This battle of Hastings, fought in 1066, is one of the great battles of the world, because it decided the fate of England, which was now to be ruled, not by a Saxon king chosen by the wise men of the kingdom, but by a monarch 10 who spoke Norman French, brought new laws and customs, and meant to be absolute king. William's wife, Queen Matilda, was so proud of his victory at Hastings that she and her women worked a wonderful piece of tapestry, sixty-eight yards long, on which the 15 landing of William and the principal features of the battle are all represented. This wonderful piece of needlework still exists, and is known as the Bayeux tapestry. The battle at Hastings was the only great battle which William had to fight, for the Saxons, who had been masters 20 of England for about six hundred years, dared no longer resist him. As William advanced, the towns opened their gates to him, and he marched right on to London, where he was crowned in Westminster Abbey, on Christmas Day. There were great rejoicings at his coronation, but the occa * From Guerber's "Story of the English." Copyright, 1898, by American Book Company. Used by permission of the publishers. sion was marred by a terrible fire, which broke out during the service and did much damage to the city. William, having become King of England, gradually took possession of the land, which he distributed among 5 the Normans who had come with him into England. Thus Saxon land passed into the hands of the Normans, and many of the noblest families in England now proudly claim that they "came over with the Conqueror." At court, in church, and in all the noblemen's houses, Norman French 10 was the language spoken; but Anglo-Saxon remained the speech of the humbler people, who, for the greater part, became the servants of the Normans. The new masters of England not only brought over a new language and new customs, but they also began to 15 build houses in a new style. They did not think that the low, rambling, wooden houses which the Saxons and Danes had occupied were fit for noblemen; so they sent over to Normandy for workmen to teach their new servants how to build Norman castles. 20 As you may never have seen such a castle, I will try to make you understand how it looked. In the center there was a huge round or square tower, built of stone, with enormously thick walls, and with only slits for windows. This tower was called the dungeon, or keep, and was gener25 ally occupied by the lord and his family. They spent most of their time in the principal apartment, called the hall. Around the keep there was an open space, paved with stone. This was inclosed by one or more very thick walls, 30 in which were built rooms for the servants, stables, granaries, armories, etc. The outer wall of the castle was particularly strong, and was surmounted by a parapet and towers, where men at arms were always on guard. Directly under this wall there was often a deep and wide 35 ditch, filled with water; this was called the moat. When a person wished to get into the castle, a drawbridge was lowered over the moat, and the portcullis, or iron gateway which closed the entrance to the castle, was drawn up to let him pass into the inner court. HELPS FOR STUDY Who won the victory at the Battle of Hastings? Why was William called the Conqueror? What did Queen Matilda do in honor of the victory? Where is Bayeux? What great changes resulted from the Norman Conquest of England? Give a description of a Norman Castle. What are "granaries"? What is a "parapet"? NOTE 349:23 Westminster Abbey. A famous church in Westminster, London, founded on the site of an earlier church built by Edward the Confessor, and rebuilt in the thirteenth century by Henry III and Edward I. VOCABULARY Bayeux (bä-yer') LORDS AND VASSALS* H. A. GUERBER William the Conqueror repulsed the Danes, who tried once more to gain a footing in England, and subdued the few Saxon lords who still opposed him. Then he built a few castles to keep order in the principal cities of his new 5 realm. The most noted of these castles is the great Tower of London, which you will often find mentioned in stories of English history. Although the conquest of England was made after only one great battle, it took twenty years before it was quite 10 completed and the last attempts at rebellion were put down. Every time a Saxon lord disobeyed, or was killed in battle, his lands were given to some Norman nobleman, who, in return, swore to be faithful to William. It was thus that with the Normans the feudal system 15 came into England. Now, as you probably do not know what the feudal system was, I am going to try to make it clear to you. When a king gave lands to one of his followers, he did so on condition that the new owner should remain his vassal, or servant, and should supply him with 20 a certain amount of money and men in time of war. The lord or baron for by some such title these noblemen were generally called—had full power over his territory, and could even make war upon his neighbors. He usually gave part of his estates to his followers, who in 25 their turn promised to obey him. This kind of ownership Copyright, 1898, by American *From Guerber's "Story of the English." Book Company. Used by permission of the publishers. of land ownership depending on personal service — was called a feud, and hence this whole system was called feudalism. By it each lord was the vassal of a king, and the master of other vassals of lower rank. 5 To make sure that order should be maintained in his new realm, William held each lord responsible for the good behavior of his vassals. It was also decreed that a bell should be rung every evening, as a signal that all the fires and lights should be put out. This bell was called the 10 curfew bell; and as the people had no more light, they were obliged to go to bed early. Instead of trying criminals by the old Saxon methods, by ordeal or by jury, the Norman barons introduced the fashion of making the accuser and the accused fight to15 gether, declaring that the innocent would always prevail. Of course this was not true, for the wrongdoer was often the stronger of the two; but for many years these fights, called judgments of God, or judicial duels, were often resorted to in England. 20 To make sure that he should know exactly how his land was divided, who owned each field and house, and how much tax each landowner could afford to pay, William had commissioners visit all parts of the realm. These men wrote down what they learned, keeping the record in a 25 very old and celebrated book, which is called the Domesday or Doomsday Book. It is written on vellum, a very fine kind of parchment, and is carefully kept as a great curiosity in the British Museum. You must not imagine that the Conqueror gave away 30 all the land. On the contrary, he was careful to keep a large share of it for himself, and, as he was very fond of hunting. he had no less than sixty-eight forests full of game. As this did not seem enough, he laid waste a huge tract of more than one hundred and forty square miles, 35 where thirty-six churches and many pretty villages had |