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William
the Conqueror
William's
Laws in England: from the Medieval
Sourcebook, copy permitted for educational use.
Here
is set down what William,
king of the English, established in consultation with
his magnates after the conquest of England:
1. First that above all things he wishes one God to
be revered throughout his whole realm, one faith in
Christ to be kept ever inviolate, and peace and security
to be preserved between English and Normans.
2.
We decree also that every freeman shall affirm by
oath and compact that he will be loyal to king William
both within and without England, that he will preserve
with him his lands and honor with all fidelity and
defend him against his enemies.
3.
I will, moreover, that all the men I have brought
with me, or who have come after me, shall be protected
by my peace and shall dwell in quiet. And if any one
of them shall be slain, let the lord of his murderer
seize him within five days, if he can; but if he cannot,
let him pay me 46 marks of silver so long as his substance
avails. And when his substance is exhausted, let the
whole hundred in which the murder took place pay what
remains in common.
4.
And let every Frenchman who, in the time of king Edward,
my kinsman, was a sharer in the customs of the English,
pay what they call "scot and lot", according
to the laws of the English. This decree was ordained
in the city of Gloucester.
5.
We forbid also that any live cattle shall be bought
or sold for money except within cities, and this shall
be done before three faithful witnesses; nor even
anything old without surety and warrant. But if anyone
shall do otherwise, let him pay once, and afterwards
a second time for a fine.
6.
It was decreed there that if a Frenchman shall charge
an Englishman with perjury or murder or theft or homicide
or "ran", as the English call open rapine
which cannot be denied, the Englishman may defend
himself, as he shall prefer, either by the ordeal
of hot iron or by wager of battle. But if the Englishman
be infirm, let him find another who will take his
place. If one of them shall be vanquished, he shall
pay a fine of 40 shillings to the king. If an Englishman
shall charge a Frenchman and be unwilling to prove
his accusation either by ordeal or by wager of battle,
I will, nevertheless, that the Frenchman shall acquit
himself by a valid oath.
7.
This also I command and will, that all shall have
and hold the law of the
king Edward in respect of their lands and all
their posessions, with the addition of those decrees
I have ordained for the welfare of the English people.
8.
Every man who wishes to be considered a freeman shall
be in pledge so that his surety shall hold him and
hand him over to justice if he shall offend in any
way. And if any such shall escape, let his sureties
see to it that they pay forthwith what is charge against
him, and let them clear themselves of any complicity
in his escape. Let recourse be had to the hundred
and shire courts as our predecessors decreed. And
those who ought of right to come and are unwilling
to appear, shall be summoned once; and if for the
second time they refuse to come, one ox shall be taken
from them, and they shall be summoned a third time.
And if they do not come the third time, a second ox
shall be taken from them. But if they do not come
the fourth summons, the man who is unwilling to come
shall forfeit from his goods the amount of the charge
against him -- "ceapgeld" as it is called
-- and in addition to this a fine to the king.
9.
I prohibit the sale of any man by another outside
the country on pain of a fine to be paid in full to
me.
10.
I also forbid that anyone shall be slain or hanged
for any fault, but let his eyes be put out and let
him be castrated. And this command shall not be violated
under pain of a fine in full to me.
William
of Malmesbury:
The Battle of Hastings,
1066
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 against the enemy. All on foot, armed
with battle-axes, and covering themselves in front
by the juncture of their shields, they formed an impenetrable
body which would assuredly 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, had been closely
compacted. King Harold himself, on foot, stood with
his brothers near the standard in order that, so long
as all shared equal danger, none could think of retreating.
This same standard William sent, after his victory,
to the pope; it was sumptuously embroidered with gold
and precious stones, and represented the figure of
a man fighting.
On
the other hand, the Normans passed the whole night
in confessing their sins, and received the communion
of the Lord's body in the morning. Their infantry,
with bows and arrows, formed the vanguard, while their
cavalry, divided into wings, was placed in the rear.
The duke, with serene countenance, declaring aloud
that God would favor his as being the righteous side,
called for his arms; and when, through the haste of
his attendants, he had put on his hauberk the hind
part before, he corrected the mistake with a laugh,
saying "The power of my dukedom shall be turned
into a kingdom." Then starting the Song of Roland,
in order that the warlike example of that hero might
stimulate the soldiers, and calling on God for assistance,
the battle commenced on both sides, and was fought
with great ardor, neither side giving ground during
the greater part of the day.
Observing
this, William gave a signal
to his troops, that, feigning flight, they should
withdraw from the field. By means of this device the
solid phalanx of the English opened for the purpose
of cutting down the fleeing enemy and thus brought
upon itself swift destruction; for the Normans, facing
about, attacked them, thus disordered, and compelled
them to fly. In this manner, deceived by a stratagem,
they met an honorable death in avenging their enemy;
nor indeed were they at all without their own revenge,
for, by frequently making a stand, they slaughtered
their pursuers in heaps. Getting possession of an
eminence, they drove back the Normans, who in the
heat of pursuit were struggling up the slope, into
the valley beneath, where, by hurling their javelins
and rolling down stones on them as they stood below,
the English easily destroyed them to a man. Besides,
by a short passage with which they were acquainted,
they avoided a deep ditch and trod underfoot such
a multitude of their enemies in that place that the
heaps of bodies made the hollow level with the plain.
This alternating victory, first of one side and then
of the other, continued so long as Harold lived to
check the retreat; but when he fell, his brain pierced
by an arrow, the flight of the English ceased not
until night.
In
the battle both leaders distinguished themselves by
their bravery. Harold, not content with the functions
of a general and with exhorting others, eagerly assumed
himself the duties of a common soldier. He was constantly
striking down the enemy at close quarters, so that
no one could approach him with impunity, for straightway
both horse and rider would be felled by a single blow.
So it was at long range, as I have said, that the
enemy's deadly arrow brought him to his death. One
of the Norman soldiers gashed his thigh with a sword,
as he lay prostrate; for which shameful and cowardly
action he was branded with ignominy by
William and expelled from the army.
William,
too, was equally ready to encourage his soldiers by
his voice and by his presence, and to be the first
to rush forward to attack the thickest of the foe.
He was everywhere fierce and furious; he lost three
choice horses, which were that day killed under him.
The dauntless spirit and vigor of the intrepid general,
however, still held out. Though often called back
by the kind remonstrance of his bodyguard, he still
persisted until approaching night crowned him with
complete victory. And no doubt the hand of God so
protected him that the enemy should draw no blood
from his person, though they aimed so many javelins
at him.
This
was a fatal day to England, and melancholy havoc was
wrought in our dear country during the change of its
lords. For it had long adopted the manners of the
Angles, which had indeed altered with the times; for
in the first years of their arrival they were barbarians
in their look and manner, warlike in their usages,
heathens in their rights. After embracing the faith
of Christ, by degrees and, in process of time, in
consequence of the peace which they enjoyed, they
relegated arms to a secondary place and gave their
whole attention to religion. I am not speaking of
the poor, the meanness of whose fortune often restrains
them from overstepping the bound of justice; I omit,
too, men of ecclesiastical rank, whom sometimes respect
for their profession and sometimes the fear of shame
suffers not to deviate from the true path; I speak
of princes, who from the greatness of their power
might have full liberty to indulge in pleasure. Some
of these in their own country, and others at Rome,
changing their habit, obtained a heavenly kingdom
and a saintly intercourse. Many others during their
whole lives devoted themselves in outward appearance
to worldly affairs, but in order that they might exhaust
their treasures on the poor or divide them amongst
monasteries.
What
shall I say of the multitudes of bishops, hermits,
and abbots? Does not the whole island blaze with such
numerous relics of its own people that you can scarcely
pass a village of any consequence but you hear the
name of some new saint? And of how many more has all
remembrance perished through the want of records?
Nevertheless,
the attention to literature and religion had gradually
decreased for several years before the arrival of
the Normans. The clergy, contented with a little confused
learning, could scarcely stammer out the words of
the sacraments; and a person who understood grammar
was an object of wonder and astonishment. The monks
mocked the rule of their order by fine vestments and
the use of every kind of food. The nobility, given
up to luxury and wantonness, went not to church in
the morning after the manner of Christians, but merely,
in a careless manner, heard matins and masses from
a hurrying priest in their chambers, amid the blandishments
of their wives. The commonalty, left unprotected,
became a prey to the most powerful, who amassed fortunes,
either by seizing on their property or by selling
their persons into foreign countries; although it
is characteristic of this people to be more inclined
to reveling than to the accumulation of wealth. .
.
Drinking
in parties was a universal practice, in which occupation
they passed entire nights as well as days. They consumed
their whole substance in mean and despicable houses,
unlike the Normans and French, who live frugally in
noble and splendid mansions. The vices attendant on
drunkenness, which enervate the human mind, followed;
hence it came about that when they engaged William,
with more rashness and precipitate fury than military
skill, they doomed themselves and their country to
slavery by a single, and that an easy, victory. For
nothing is less effective than rashness; and what
begins with violence quickly ceases or is repelled.
The
English at that time wore short garments, reaching
to the mid-knee; they had their hair cropped, their
beards shaven, their arms laden with gold bracelets,
their skin adorned with tattooed designs. They were
accustomed to eat till they became surfeited, and
to drink till they were sick. These latter qualities
they imparted to their conquerors; as to the rest,
they adopted their manners. I would not, however,
had these bad propensities ascribed to the English
universally; I know that many of the clergy at that
day trod the path of sanctity by a blameless life;
I know that many of the laity, of all ranks and conditions,
in this nation were well-pleasing to God. Be injustice
far from this account; the accusation does not involve
the whole, indiscriminately; but as in peace the mercy
of God often cherishes the bad and the good together,
so, equally, does his severity sometimes include them
both in captivity.
The
Normans, that I may speak of them also, were at that
time, and are even now, exceedingly particular in
their dress and delicate in their food, but not so
to excess. They are a race inured to war, and can
hardly live without it; fierce in rushing against
the enemy, and, where force fails of success, ready
to use stratagem or to corrupt by bribery. As I have
said, they live in spacious houses with economy, envy
their superiors, wish to excel their equals, and plunder
their subjects, though they defend them from others;
they are faithful to their lords, though a slight
offense alienates them. They weigh treachery by its
chance of success, and change their sentiments for
money. The most hospitable, however, of all nations,
they esteem strangers worthy of equal honor with themselves;
they also inter-marry with their vassals. They revived,
by their arrival, the rule of religion which had everywhere
grown lifeless in England. You might see churches
rise in every village, and monasteries in the towns
and cities, built after a style unknown before; you
might behold the country flourishing with renovated
rites; so that each wealthy man accounted that day
lost to him which he had neglected to signalize by
some munificent action.
Source:
James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History,
2 Vols. (Boston: Ginn & Co., 1904-06), Vol. I:
From the Breaking up of the Roman Empire to the Protestant
Revolt, pp. 224-229
Other
Sources:
The
Domesday Book
The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, years 1052-1069
The
Sale of Slaves in Conquered England, hosted by
the Medieval Sourcebook.
William
the Conqueror by E Freeman
British
history texts, hosted by Britannia
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