The battle of The courageous leaders mutually prepared for battle, each according to his national custom. The English, as we have heard, passed the night without sleep, in drinking and singing, and in the morning proceeded without delay towards the enemy. All were on foot, armed with battle-axes. Covering themselves in front by the junction of their shields, they formed an impenetrable body which would have secured their safety that day had not the Normans by a feigned flight induced them to open their ranks, which till that time, according to their custom, were closely compacted. The king himself, on foot, stood with his brother near the standard, in order that, while all shared equal danger, none might think of retreating. This standard William sent after the victory to the pope. It was sumptuously embroidered of gold and precious stones, in the form of a man fighting. On the other hand, the Normans passed the whole night in confessing their sins, and received the sacrament in the morning. Their infantry, with bows and arrows, formed the vanguard, while their cavalry, divided into wings, were thrown back. The duke with serene countenance, declaring aloud that God would favor his as being the righteous side, called for his arms; and presently, when through the hurry of his attendants he had put on his hauberk the hind part before, he corrected the mistake with a laugh, saying, "My dukedom shall be turned into a kingdom." Then, beginning the song of Roland, that the warlike example of that man might stimulate the soldiers, and calling on God for assistance, the battle commenced on both sides. They fought with ardor, neither giving ground for great part of the day. Finding this, William gave a signal to his party that by a feigned flight they should retreat. Through this device the close body of the English, opening for the purpose of cutting down the straggling enemy, brought upon itself swift destruction; for the Normans, facing about, at tacked them thus disordered, and compelled them to flee. In this manner, deceived by a stratagem, they met an honorable death in avenging their country. Nor were they at all wanting to their own revenge, as by frequently making a stand they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps; for, getting possession of an eminence, they drove down the Normans, when roused with indignation and anxiously striving to gain the higher ground, into the valley beneath, where, easily hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as they stood below, they destroyed them to a man. Besides, by a short passage with which they were acquainted, avoiding a deep ditch, they trod under foot such a multitude of their enemies in that place that they made the hollow level with the plain by the heaps of carcasses. This vicissitude of first one party conquering and then the other prevailed as long as the life of Harold continued; but when he fell, from having his brain pierced with an arrow, the flight of the English ceased not until night. Alongside of this account of the first stage of the Conquest, given by an Englishman of the next generation, may be placed two other narratives of the same series of events, written by Normans who remained in Normandy. The first is a prose translation of part of an Old French poem, the Roman de Rou. Roman de Rou The duke rejoiced greatly at receiving the banner and the 53. Wace license which the pope gave him. He got together carpenters, smiths, and other workmen, so that great stir was seen at all the ports of Normandy, in the collecting of wood and materials, cutting of planks, framing of ships and boats, stretching sails, and rearing masts with great pains and at great cost. They spent all one summer and autumn in fitting up the fleet and collecting the forces; and there was no knight in the land, no good sergeant, archer, nor peasant of stout heart and of age for battle, that the duke did not summon to go with him to England, promising rents to the vassals, and honors to the barons. When the ships were ready they were moored in the Somme at St. Valéry, and there delivered to the barons. Many were the ships and boats in the river there, which is called the Somme, which separates Ponthieu and Vimou. Vimou extends as far as the Eu, which separates Normandy from Vimou, a country under different government. Eu is a river and Eu is also a fair castle situated upon that river. List of some The duke had men from many and various parts. Haimon, of William's the viscount of Toarz, came thither, a man of very great power, barons who could bring much people. Alain Felgan also came to the crossing, and brought with him great baronage from among the Bretons; and Fitz Bertran de Peleit and the Sire de Dinan came also; and Raoul de Gael, and many Bretons from many castles, and from about Brecheliant, concerning which the Bretons tell many fables. It is a forest long and broad, much famed throughout Brittany. The spring of Berenton rises from beneath a stone there. Thither the hunters are used to repair in sultry weather; and drawing up water with their horns, they sprinkle the stone for the purpose of having rain, which is then wont to fall, they say, throughout the whole forest round; but why I know not. There, too, fairies are to be seen (if the Bretons tell truth) and many other wonders happen. The background is broken and precipitous, and deer in plenty roam there, but the husbandmen have deserted it. I went thither on purpose to see these marvels, but I found none. I went like a fool, and so I came back; I sought after folly and hold myself a fool for my pains. The fame of the Norman duke soon went forth through many lands, how he meant to cross the sea against Harold, who had taken England from him. Then soldiers came flocking to him, one by one, two by two, four by four, by fives and sixes, sevens and eights, nines and tens; and he retained them all, giving them much and promising more. Many came by agreement made by them beforehand; many bargained for lands, if they should win England; some required pay, allowances, and gifts; and the duke was often obliged to give at once to those who could not wait the result. I shall never put in writing, and would not undertake to set down, what barons and how many knights, how many vavassors, and how many soldiers the duke had in his company when he had collected all his navy; but I heard my father say. 1 remember it well, although I was but a lad that there were seven hundred ships, less four, when they sailed from St. Valéry; and that, besides these ships, there were boats and skiffs for the purpose of carrying the arms and harness. I have found it written (although I know not whether it be true) that there were in all three thousand vessels bearing sails and masts. Any one will know that there must have been a great many men to have furnished out so many vessels. at Pevensey The ships steered to one port; all arrived and reached the The landing shore together; together cast anchor, and ran on dry land; and together they discharged themselves. They arrived near Hastings, and there each ship ranged by the other's side. There you might see the good sailors, the sergeants and squires, sally forth to unload the ships, -cast the anchors, haul the ropes, bear out the shields and saddles, and land the war horses and palfreys. The archers came forth and touched land the foremost, each with his bow bent, and his quiver full of arrows siung at his side. All were shaven and shorn, and all were clad in short garments, ready to attack, to shoot, to wheel about, and skirmish. All stood well equipped and of good courage for the fight; and they scoured the whole shore, but found not an armed man there. After the archers had thus gone forth, the knights landed next, all armed with their hauberks on, their shields slung at their necks, and their helmets laced. They formed together on the shore, each armed upon his war horse. All had their swords girded on, and passed into the plain with their lances raised. The barons had banners, and the knights pennons. They occupied the advanced ground, next to where the archers had fixed themselves. The carpenters, who came after, had great axes in their hands, and planes and adzes hung at their sides. When they had reached the spot where the archers stood and the knights were assembled, they consulted together, and sought for a good place to build a strong fort. Then they cast out of the ships the materials and drew them to land, all shaped, framed, and pierced to receive the pins, which they had brought cut and ready in large barrels; so that, before evening had well set in, they had finished a fort. Then you might see them make their kitchens, light their fires, and cook their meat. The duke sat down to eat, and the barons and knights had food in plenty; for he had brought ample store. All ate and drank enough, and were right glad that they were ashore. 54. Account by William of Poitou This account is from a rather confused and pretentious Latin chronicle,—that of William, bishop of Poitou, -which is nevertheless of interest as giving a very full account of the battle of Hastings by one who seems to have been an eyewitness. The duke advanced in most excellent order, with the standof the battle ard which the pope had sent over leading the way. In the front row he placed foot soldiers armed with arrows and missiles for hurling, and in the second line likewise foot soldiers, who were stronger and clad in coat of mail; on the last line he placed the squads of cavalry, in the midst of which he himself took his stand firmly, from which spot he would issue his directions to all parts by gesture and by spoken word. Some one of the old writers, in speaking of that line of Harold, said that on his march the rivers were drunk dry, and the forests reduced to plains; for a vast number of English forces had collected from those regions on all sides. A part showed their zeal for Harold, all for their country, which they wished to defend against foreigners, even though unjustly. The country of the Danes, which was related to them, had also sent many auxiliaries. Nevertheless, not daring to engage with William on the plain, and fearing him more than the king of the Norwegians, they seized a higher position, which was a mountain next to a forest through which they had come. Abandoning any aid from the horses, all the foot soldiers crowded together in closely packed ranks. The leader with his men, undaunted by the roughness of the place and by the steepness of the ascent, climbed slowly up. A startling blast of the trumpets gave the signal for the battle, and on each side the ready courage of the Normans began the fight, just as when a speaker in a court is pleading a case of robbery, in advance he strikes with his speech the one who is bringing the charge. Then the Norman foot soldiers, approaching nearer, provoke the English, aiming to wound and kill them with their missiles. They, on the other hand, resist bravely by whatever devices they can. They hurl spears and weapons of all sorts, as well as |