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From The Annals of Roger de Hoveden, Comprising the History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201, Translated from the Latin with Notes and Illustrations by Henry T. Riley, Esq., Volume I, London: H.G. Bohn, 1853; pp. 116-135.
In the year 1051, Alfric, who was also called Putta, archbishop of York, died at Southwell, and was buried at Medeshamburgstede,1 being succeeded by Kinsy, the king’s chaplain. In this year, king Edward freed the English from the heavy tax, in the thirty-eighth year after his father, king Egelred, had first ordered it to be paid for the Danish soldiers.
After these things, in the month of September, Eustace the Elder, earl of Boulogne, who had married the sister of king Edward, Goda by name, arrived at Canterbury with a few ships. Here2 his soldiers, while stupidly and awkwardly in quest of lodgings for themselves, killed one of the citizens; on which, a fellow-citizen of his, being witness of this, avenged him, by slaying one of the soldiers. On this, the earl and his men, being greatly enraged, slaughtered a great number of men and women with their arms, and trod down children and infants under their horses’ hoofs. But when they saw the citizens running together to resist them, disgracefully taking to flight, they escaped with difficulty, after seven of their companions had been slain, and fled to king Edward, who was then at Glavorne.3
Earl Godwin being indignant at such things taking place in his earldom, and greatly inflamed with anger, in his own earldom, that is to say, in Kent, Sussex, and Wessex, and his eldest son Sweyn in his, namely Oxford, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somersetshire, and Berkshire, and his other son Harold in his, namely, the provinces of Essex, East Anglia, Huntingdon, and Grantebrigge,4 collected an innumerable army; which however did not escape king Edward. Consequently, sending messengers in all haste to Leofric, earl of the Mercians, and Siward, earl of Northumbria, he begged them to make haste and come to him with all they could assemble, as he was placed in great jeopardy.
However, they came at first with a few only; but when they knew how the matter stood, they sent through their earldoms swift messengers on horseback, and collected a large army. In like manner, earl Rodulph, son of Goda, sister of king Edward, collected as many as he could in his earldom. In the meantime, Godwin and his sons, after the Nativity of Saint Mary, coming with their forces into the province of Gloucester, pitched their camp at a place which is called Langeto, and sending ambassadors to the king at Gloucester, under the threat of making war, demanded the surrender of earl Eustace, and his allies as well, both Normans and men of Boulogne, who had taken possession of the castle on the hill of Dover.
In consequence of this, the king was for the moment greatly alarmed, and, being afflicted with great anguish, was utterly at a loss to know what to do; but when he understood that the army earls Siward, Leofric, and Rodulph were approaching, he determinedly made answer that he would on no account give up Eustace and the others who were demanded; on hearing which, the messengers returned empty-handed. After their departure the army entered Gloucester, being prepared for battle with such hostile and resolute spirit, that they wished to engage immediately with earl Godwin’s army, if the king would permit them. But, inasmuch as the best men in all England were assembled together on his side and theirs, it seemed to earl Leofric and some others, to be the more prudent part not to begin a battle with their fellow-countrymen; but they proposed that, exchanging hostages, the king and Godwin should, on a day named, meet at London for a conference.
This counsel being approved of, and messages interchanged, and hostages given and received, the earl returned into Wessex; but the king assembled a more numerous army from the whole of Mercia and Northumbria, and led it with him to London. On the other hand, Godwin and his sons came to Southweorc,5 with a great multitude of the men of Wessex; but, as his army had gradually diminished, he did not dare to come to the conference with the king, but on the approach of night, took to flight. Wherefore, next morning, the king in council, and by the unanimous consent of his army, pronounced sentence of banishment against him and his five sons; on which he, with his wife Githa, and Tosti,
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with his wife Juthitha, daughter of Baldwin, earl of Flanders, and two other of his sons, Sweyn and Girth, repaired to Tornege, where his ships were in readiness. Hastily placing on board as much gold and silver and other precious things as they were able to carry, and embarking with all speed, they directed their course to Baldwin, earl of Flanders. Moreover, Harold and Leofwin, his sons, going to Bristol, embarked on board a ship which their brother Sweyn had provided for himself, and crossed over to Ireland. The king, on account of the anger which he entertained against her father Godwin, repudiated queen Edgitha, and sent her ignominiously with a single attendant to Werewell, where he gave her into the custody of the abbess.
After these things had thus happened, William, duke of the Normans, with a multitude of his subjects, came to England, and, with his attendants, was honorably entertained by king Edward, who afterwards dismissed him, on his return to Normandy, with great and numerous presents.
In the year 1052, Elfgiva*, or Emma, the former queen, and wife of kings Egelred and Canute, departed this life at Winchester, on the second day before the nones of March, and was buried there. In the same year, Griffin, king of Wales, ravaged a great part of the province of Hereford; the people of the province, and a considerable number of Normans, went out from the castle against him, but, after slaying many of them, he gained the victory, and carried off with him considerable spoil. This battle was fought on the same day that, thirteen years before, the Welch had slain Edwin, the brother of earl Leofric.
Shortly after this, earl Harold and his brother Leofric returned from Ireland, and entering the mouth of the Severn with a great number of ships, landed at the confines of Somerset and Devon, and laid waste many towns and fields in those parts. Against them a great number of the people of Somerset and Devon went out, but Harold defeated them, slaying more than thirty noble thanes of their number, together with many others; after which he returned to his ships with the spoil, and then sailed round Penwithsteort.6 Upon this, king Edward, with all expedition, sent forty ships, supplied with provisions and picked soldiers, to the port of Sandwich, and ordered them to
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await the approach of earl Godwin, and be on the look-out; but, in spite of this, unknown to them all, returning with a few ships, he landed in Kent, and secretly sending messengers, enticed to his assistance the people of Kent, and afterwards the people of Sussex, Essex, Surrey, and all the mariners of Hastings and of all the parts near the sea-shore, besides some others; all these with one voice declared that they were ready to live or die for him.
When this became known to the king’s fleet that lay at the port of Sandwich, it set out in pursuit of him, on which he took to flight, and escaped, concealing himself in whatever place he could. But the king’s forces returned to the port of Sandwich, and from there repaired to London. On learning this, earl Godwin returned to the Isle of Wight, and sailed near the shore until his sons Harold and Leofwin came with their fleet; and when they had met they desisted from plunder and rapine, only, when necessity demanded it, taking provisions for their troops. Enticing to their assistance all the people they could in the vicinity of the sea-shore and in other places, and picking up all the mariners they met with, they steered their course towards the port of Sandwich, their arrival at which place was reported to king Edward, who was at this period staying at London. Despatching messengers with all speed, he sent word to all who had not revolted from him, that they must come to his assistance with the greatest haste; but being very slow in their movements, they did not come in time.
In the meantime, earl Godwin coming up the Thames with his fleet against the tide, on the day of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, being the second day of the week, came to Southweorc,7 and waited there until flood-tide. Meanwhile, by means of messengers, he convened certain of the citizens of London whom he had previously brought over by various promises, and caused nearly all of them to wish entirely as he would have them. After this, all things being arranged and set in order, on the flood-tide coming, with all speed they heaved their anchors, and no one on the bridge opposing them, sailed up the river close to the south shore. The land forces also came, and putting themselves in battle array on the bank of the river, presented a dense and terrible
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line of battle; after which, the fleet turned towards the north shore, as it was its intention to surround the king’s fleet. For the king had both a fleet and a numerous land army; but because both with the king and with Godwin there were very few who had any spirit (so greatly did almost all the English abhor fighting against their own kindred and fellow-countrymen), the consequence was, that all the more prudent men on either side, effecting a reconciliation between the king and the earl, bade the army lay aside their arms. The following morning the king held a council, and fully restored to Godwin and his wife and all his sons, with the exception of Sweyn, their former honors.
He, being moved with penitence, because, as previously mentioned, he had slain his cousin Beorn, journeyed from Flanders to Jerusalem, barefoot, and on his return thence, having contracted a disease from the excessive cold, died in Lycia. Edgitha, also, his queen, the daughter of the earl, the king received with due honor, and restored her to her former dignity.
Peace and concord being thus established, to all the people they promised good laws, and banished all the Normans who had instituted unjust ones, and had pronounced unjust judgments, and had given the king bad counsel against the English. Some few, however, namely, Robert le Dragon, and his son-in-law, Richard the son of Scrobi, Alfred, the king’s master of the horse, Aufrid, surnamed Ceokesfot, and some others whom the king loved more than the rest, and who had preserved their fidelity to him and all the people, they allowed to remain in England. But Robert, the archbishop of Canterbury, William, the bishop of London, and Ulph, the bishop of Lincoln, with difficulty escaping with their Normans, crossed the sea; however, on account of his virtues, William was shortly after recalled and reinstated in his bishopric.
Osborn, however, surnamed Pentecost, and his companion, Hugh, surrendered their castles, and, with the permission of earl Leofric, passing through his earldom, repaired to Scotland, where they were received by Machetad,8 king of the Scots. In the same year, on the night of the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, there was a wind so strong and violent that it blew down many churches and houses, and broke numberless trees, or tore them up by the roots.
In the year 1053, the brother of Griffin, king of South Wales, whose name was Rees, on account of the frequent depredations which he had committed, was slain by command of king Edward, at a place called Bulendun,9 and his head was brought to the king at Gloucester, on the vigil of the Epiphany. In the same year, when the second day of the festival of Easter was being celebrated, a dreadful calamity befel earl Godwin at Winchester, while, as usual, he was sitting at table with the king. For, being suddenly attacked by a fatal malady, he sank down on his seat bereft of speech: on seeing which, his sons, Harold, Tosti, and Girth, carried him into the king’s chamber, hoping that, after a little while, he would recover from the attack; but he, being deprived of all strength, departed this life on the fifth day after, being the seventeenth day before the calends of May, and was buried in the old monastery there. He was succeeded in the dukedom by his son Harold, whose earldom was given to Algar, the son of earl Leofric.
In the year 1054, Siward, the valiant earl of Northumbria, by command of king Edward, invaded Scotland, with both an army of horse and a strong fleet, and fought a battle with Machetad, king of the Scots; and, after many thousands of the Scots, and all the Normans, of whom mention has been made above, were slain, put him to flight, and gave the crown to Malcolm, son of the king of the Cumbrians, as king Edward had commanded. But in this battle his own son,10 and many of the English and Danes, were slain.
On the death of Godwin, the abbat of Winchelcomb, Alred, bishop of Worcester, on the feast of Saint Kenelm, appointed abbat in his room Godric, the son of Godman, the king’s chaplain. After this, the same bishop was dispatched on an embassy, with costly presents, to the emperor; by whom, and Herman, archbishop of Cologne, he was entertained with great honor, and remained with them a whole year; on the king’s behalf, he also suggested to the emperor to send ambassadors to Hungary, and bring back his cousin, the son of king Edmund Ironside, and procure his return to England.
In the year 1055, Siward, earl of Northumbria, died at
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York, and was buried at the monastery of Galmanho,11 which he had founded, and his earldom was given to Tosti, the brother of duke Harold.
A short time after this, a council was held in London, and king Edward outlawed earl Algar, the son of earl Leofric, without any blame on his part; who immediately went to Ireland, and, having procured eighteen piratical ships, returned, and going to Griffin, king of the Welch,12 begged that he would aid him against king Edward; on which he, immediately collecting from the whole of his kingdom a numerous army, requested Algar, with his forces, to meet him and his army at a place named. Having met, they entered the province of Hereford, for the purpose of laying waste the territories of the English; whereupon the timid duke Rodulph, nephew of king Edward, collecting an army, met them two miles from the city of Hereford, on the ninth day before the calends of November. He ordered the English, contrary to their usage, to fight on horseback; but, just when they were about to engage, the duke, with his Franks and Normans, was the first to take to flight, which the English seeing, followed their leader’s example.
Nearly the whole of the enemy pursued them, and slew of them four or five hundred men, and wounded a great number; after which, having gained the victory, king Griffin and earl Algar entered Hereford, and, having slain seven canons who had defended the doors of the principal church, and having burnt the monastery (which bishop Athelstan, the true worshipper of Christ, had built), with all its ornaments, and the relics of Saint Egelbert, the king and martyr, and of other Saints, and having slain some of the citizens and taken many prisoners, and spoiled and burnt the city, they enriched themselves with a vast amount of plunder.
After this, the king commanded an army to be levied in England, and, assembling it at Gloucester, gave the command of it to the valiant duke Harold, who followed them, and, boldly entering the territories of the Welch, pitched his camp beyond Straddele. But they, being aware that he was a brave man and a warlike commander, did not dare to join battle with him, but fled into South Wales; on discovering which, he dispatched
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thither the greater part of his army, and commanded them, if necessity demanded it, manfully to resist the enemy. Returning with the rest of his troops to Hereford, he surrounded it with a deep trench, and fortified it with gates and bars.
In the meantime, messages being interchanged, Griffin, Algar, and Harold, and those who were with them, met at a place which is called Billigesleage,13 and, peace being granted and received, agreed upon a lasting friendship between them. This being settled, the fleet of earl Algar proceeded to Chester, and there awaited the pay that had been promised it; but he himself went to the king, and received back from him his earldom. At the same period, Tremerin, the bishop of Wales,14 a religious man, departed this life. He had for a long time been the coadjutor of Athelstan, the bishop of Hereford, after he himself had become unable to perform the duties of the bishopric; for, during a period of thirteen years, he was deprived of his eyesight.
Herman, the bishop of the province of Wiltshire, being annoyed because the king was unwilling to allow the transfer of the see from the town which is called Ramnebirig15 to the abbey of Malmesbury,16 resigned the bishopric, and, crossing the sea, assumed the monastic habit at Saint Bertin’s, and remained at the monastery there three years.
In the year 1056, the emperor Henry died at Rome, and was succeeded by his son Henry. Athelstan, the bishop of Hereford, a man of great sanctity, departed this life on the fourth day before the ides of February, at the town which is called Bosanbrig, and his body being taken to Hereford, was buried in the church there, which he had built from the foundation. He was succeeded by Leonegar, the chaplain of duke Harold, who, in the same year, on the sixteenth day before the calends of July, was slain at the place which is called Glastingeberie,17 together with his clergy, and the sheriff Agelnoth, and many others, by Griffin, king of the Welch. He enjoyed the bishopric eleven weeks and four days.
After his death, the bishopric of Hereford was given in charge to Aldred, bishop of Worcester, until a bishop could be appointed. Afterwards, the same bishop, and the nobles
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Leofric and Harold, reconciled Griffin, king of the Welch, with king Edward. Earl Agelwin Oddo,18 the lover of churches, the supporter of the poor, the defender of widows and orphans,19 the guardian of chastity, having received the monastic habit a month before his death from Aldred, bishop of Worcester, died on the second day before the calends of September, at Deorhirst, but being honorably buried in the monastery of Pershore, rests there. Algeric, the bishop of Durham, having of his own accord resigned the bishopric, retired to his own monastery, which is called Burgh,20 where he was educated, and became a monk, and lived there twelve years. He was succeeded in the bishopric by his brother, Egelwin, a monk of the monastery.
In the year 1057, the Clito Edward, son of king Edmund Ironside, according to the command of his uncle, king Edward, came to England from Hungary, whither, as previously mentioned, he had long before been sent into banishment. For the king had determined to make him heir to the kingdom in succession to himself; but, shortly after he had arrived, he departed this life at London. Leofric, the praiseworthy earl, and of happy memory, son of duke Leofwin, departed this life at a good old age, at his own town, which is called Bromleage,21 on the second day before the calends of September, and was honorably buried at Coventry: which monastery, among the other good works which he did in his lifetime, he himself and his wife, the noble countess Godiva, a worshipper of God, and a devoted lover of Saint Mary ever a virgin, had built with their patrimonial possessions from the very foundation, and abundantly endowed it with lands, and so enriched it with various ornaments, that in no monastery throughout the whole of England could such a quantity of gold, silver, jewels, and precious stones be found, as was at that period contained therein.
The monasteries, also, of Leominster and Wenlock, and of Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Werburgh the Virgin, at Chester, and the church which Eadnoth, bishop of Lincoln, had built at the famous place which, in English is called
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Stow Saint Mary,22 in Latin the place of Saint Mary, they enriched with precious ornaments: the monastery of Worcester, also, they endowed with lands, and that of Evesham with buildings, and enriched it with various ornaments and lands. The wisdom of this earl, so long as he lived, greatly benefitted the kings and all the people of England: he was succeeded in his dignities, by his son, Algar.
Hecca, the bishop of the South Saxons,23 died, and in his place Egelric, a monk of Christ’s church in Canterbury, was chosen bishop.
In the year 1058, Algar, earl of Mercia, was outlawed by king Edward the Second, but, by the aid of Griffin, king of the Welch, and the assistance of a fleet of the Norwegians, which unexpectedly came to aid him, he speedily regained his earldom by force. Aldred, bishop of Worcester, with becoming honor, dedicated the church which he had built in the city of Gloucester, from the foundation, in honor of Peter the chief of the Apostles; and afterwards, with the king’s permission, appointed Wulstan, who had been ordained by himself a monk of Worcester, abbat there. Then, resigning the charge of the bishopric of Wiltshire,24 which had been entrusted to him to govern, and restoring it to Herman, who has been previously mentioned, he went beyond sea, and set out for Jerusalem by way of Hungary, a thing that no archbishop or bishop of England is known to have done till then.
In the year 1059, NicolasNicolas, bishop of the city of Florence, was elected pope, and Benedict was expelled.
In the year 1060, Henry, king of the Franks, departed this life, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Philip. Duduc, bishop of Wells, died, and was succeeded by Gisa, the king’s chaplain; they were both natives of Lorraine. Kinsy, archbishop of York, died at York, on the eleventh day before the calends of January, and being carried to the monastery which is called Burgh, was honorably interred there. In his room, Aldred, bishop of Worcester, was chosen archbishop, on the Nativity of our Lord; and the bishopric of Hereford, which has also been conferred on him by reason of his zeal, was given to Walter, a native of Lorraine, the chaplain of queen Edgitha.
In the year 1061, Aldred, archbishop of York, set out for Rome with earl Tosti, and received the pall from pope Nicolas.
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In the meantime, Malcolm, king of the Scots, boldly laid waste Northumbria, the earldom of his sworn brother, Tosti, having violated the peace25 of Saint Cuthbert at Eilond. In the same year, pope Nicolas departed this life, and Alexander, being chosen the hundred and forty-ninth pope, succeeded him.
In the year 1062, Wulstan, a venerable man, was appointed bishop of Worcester. Beloved by God, he was a native of the province of Warwick in the kingdom of Mercia, and sprung of pious parents, Eastan being the name of his father, and Wulfgiva of his mother; he was trained in literature and the ecclesiastical duties, at the noble monastery which is called Burgh; indeed, both his parents were so extremely zealous in the cause of piety, that long before the end of their lives, making a vow of chastity, they separated from each other, and rejoiced to end their days in the holy garb of the monastic order. The young man, led by their example, his mother in especial persuading him to it, left the world, and in the same monastery at Worcester, in which his father before him had served God, received the monastic habit and ordination from the venerable Brithege, bishop of that church, by whom he was ordained both deacon and priest. Immediately, therefore, at the very onset, he embraced a live of severe discipline and entirely devoted to the practice of piety, and speedily became a wonderful example in watching, fasting, praying, and all kinds of virtues. In consequence of this, by reason of the rigidness of his morals, he was first chosen for some time master and guardian of the novices, after which, on account of his intimate acquaintance with ecclesiastical duties, he was, by the mandate of the seniors, appointed both chaunter and treasurer of the church.
Having now gained an opportunity of more freely serving God, by reason of the guardianship of the church being entrusted to him, he gave himself up wholly to a life of contemplation; both day and night he devoted himself either to prayer or to reading the Scriptures, and subdued his body by fasting two or three days together; he practised holy vigils to such an extent, that not only day and night, but even sometimes, a thing that we could hardly have credited, if we had not heard it from his own mouth,†&# even four days and nights together
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he would pass without sleep, and thus incur danger through the brain being almost dried up, had he not hastened to satisfy nature by a hurried sleep. At length, when, by the power of nature he was compelled to sleep, he did not refresh his limbs in slumber by means of bed or bedclothes, but, upon a bench in the church, supporting his head with the book from which he was praying or reading, he would recline for a short time.
At length, on the death of Egelwin, prior of the monastery, this venerable man was chosen by bishop Aldred, prior and father of the fraternity. This office he discharged most laudably, far from relaxing the severity of his former life, but on the contrary increasing it in many ways, that he might thereby afford to the others an example of good living. Afterwards, in the course of some years, on the election of the above-named Aldred, bishop of Worcester, to the archbishopric of York, the unanimous consent both of the clergy and of the whole of the people fixed upon him, king Edward having given them leave to choose as their bishop whomsoever they pleased.
It so happened that, on this occasion, the legates of the Apostolic See were present at his election, namely, Armenfred, bishop of Sion, and another, who, having been sent by pope Alexander to Edward, king of the English, on ecclesiastical business, by the royal orders resided at Worcester throughout nearly the whole of Lent, waiting there for an answer to be given to their legateship, when a royal court was held at the ensuing Easter. These persons, while staying there, were witnesses of his laudable life, and not only gave their sanction to his election, but even encouraged in every way both the clergy and the people to that course, and by their authority confirmed the election.
He however, on the other hand, most obstinately refused, and exclaimed, that he was not worthy, and even affirmed with an oath that he would much more willingly assent to his decapitation than to the acceptance of so high an office.
When, therefore he had been often attended by several religious men on this question, and could not by any means be persuaded to give his consent, he was at length severely rebuked for his disobedience and obstinacy, by Wulsy, a recluse, and a man of God, who was known then to have passed more than forty years of his life in solitude. Alarmed, also, by a Divine warning, with the greatest sorrow of heart he was compelled to give his consent, and having accepted the bishopric, was
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consecrated on the Lord’s day on which was celebrated the Nativity of Saint Mary,26 and by his life and virtues shone forth as an illustrious bishop of the see of Worcester. He was consecrated, however, by Aldred, the archbishop of York, as at this period the episcopal duties of Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury, were suspended by our lord the pope, because he had presumed to accept the archbishopric while Robert, the archbishop, was still living; however, his canonical profession was made to Stigand, the above-named archbishop of Canterbury, and not to Alfred, who ordained him.
In addition to this, the archbishop of York, who ordained him, was by the agency of Stigand, and on account of the charges made by his followers, ordered to declare before the king and the nobles of the realm, that he from that time forward did not wish to claim any secular authority or ecclesiastical rights over him, either because he had been consecrated by him, or because before the consecration he had been a monk under him.27 This ordination took place when he was more than fifty years of age, it being the twentieth year of the reign of king Edward, and the fifteenth of the indiction.
In the year 1063, Harold, the valiant duke of Wessex, by the command of king Edward, after the Nativity of our Lord, took with him a small body of horse, and set out from Gloucester, where the king was then staying, in great haste for Rhyddlan,28 for the purpose of slaying Griffin, king of Wales, on account of the frequent ravages which he committed in the English territory, and the disgrace which he so frequently caused to his lord, Edward. But he, on learning beforehand, the approach of Harold, embarked on board ship with his family, and with some difficulty made his escape. Harold, on finding that he had fled, set fire to his palace, and, burning his ships with their equipments, returned on the same day. But, about the Rogation Days, setting sail with a fleet from Bristol, he sailed round a great part of the coast of Wales, and was met by his brother, earl Tosti, with a body of horse, as the king had commanded, on which, joining their forces, they began to ravage those districts. The Welch being, consequently, compelled to do so, gave hostages, and made submission, and
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promised that they would pay tribute, and outlawed their own king, Griffin.
In the year 1064, Griffin, king of the Welch, was slain by his people on the nones of August, and his head, and the head of his ship with its ornaments, was sent to duke Harold, who afterwards presented them to king Edward. After this, king Edward gave the country of the Welch to his brothers, Blethogent and Rithwalan; on which, to him, and to duke Harold, they took the oath of fealty, and that at their command they would be ready for them both by land and by sea, and would obediently render all things that had been rendered before from that land by its former kings.
In the year 1065, the venerable man, Egelwin, bishop of Durham, raised from his tomb the bones of Saint Oswin, formerly king of Bernicia, in the monastery which is near Tynemouth, four hundred and fifteen years after his burial, and with great honor enclosed them in a shrine.
Harold, the brave duke of Wessex, in the month of July, ordered a great building to be erected in the country of the Welch, at a place which is called Portaseith,29 and many things for eating and drinking to be there collected, that his lord, king Edward, might be enabled to stay there some time, for the sake of hunting. But Caradoc, the son of Griffin, king of the South Welch, whom a few years previously Griffin, king of the North Welch, had slain on invading his kingdom, came thither on the day of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, with all he could muster, and slew nearly all the workmen together with those who inspected them, and carried off all the good things that were collected there.
After this, on the fifth day before he nones of October, being the second day of the week, the thanes of Northumberland, Dunstan, son of Agelnoth, and Gloniern, son of Eardulph, came from Gamelbarn to York, with two hundred soldiers; and, in revenge for the shameful death of the Northumbrian nobles, the thanes Cospatric (whom queen Egitha, for the sake of her brother Tosti, had ordered to be treacherously assassinated in the royal palace, on the fourth night of the Nativity of our Lord), and Gamel, the son of Orm, and Ulph, the son of Dolphin, whom, in the preceding year, earl Tosti had treacherously ordered to be slain at York, in his
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own chamber, while a treaty of peace existed between them, as also by reason of the exorbitant tribute which he had unjustly levied from the whole of Northumbria, on the same day, first slew his Danish household servants, Amund and Ravensweare, whom they stopped in their flight outside of the walls of the city, and, on the following day, two hundred men of his court, on the northern side of the river Humber, and then broke open his treasury, and, carrying off all that was there, took their departure.
After this, almost all the people of that earldom, assembling together, met Harold, the duke of Wessex, and the other persons whom, at the request of Tosti, the king had sent to them for the purpose of making peace, at Northampton. First there, and afterwards at Oxford, on the day of the Apostles Saint Simon and Saint Jude, on Harold and many others attempting to reconcile them to earl Tosti, they all with one voice refused, and pronounced him an outlaw, together with all those who had encouraged him to enact unjust laws, and, after the feast of All Saints, with the aid of earl Edwin, expelled Tosti from England; on which, together with his wife, he forthwith repaired to Baldwin, earl of Flanders, and passed the winter at Saint Omer. By the king’s command, Morcar was appointed earl over the people of Northumbria.
After these things, king Edward began gradually to sicken, and, on the Nativity of our Lord, held his court at London, as well as he was able, and with great glory caused the church, which he himself had erected from the foundation, in honor of Saint Peter the chief of the Apostles, to be dedicated on the day of the Holy Innocents.
In the year from the incarnation of our Lord, 1066, king Edward the Peaceful, son of king Egelred, that honor to the English, departed this life at London, in the fourth year of the indiction, on the vigil of the Epiphany of our Lord, being the fifth day of the week, after having held the kingly authority over the Anglo-Saxons twenty-three years, six months, and twenty-seven days; and, on the following day, he was buried with royal honors, and most bitter was the grief of all then present, and attended with plenteous tears.
After his burial, the viceroy Harold, son of earl Godwin, whom, before his decease, the king had appointed his successor, was elevated to the throne by all the chief men of England,
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and was on the same day, with due honor, consecrated king by Aldred, the archbishop of York.
Respecting the miracles which God, who is ever wonderful and glorious in his Saints, deigned to work for Saint Edward, the king and confessor, during his life, a few words are here annexed. On a certain day, while the said king lay prostrate in prayer before the altar at Westminster, during the celebration of the mass, he saw in a vision, as though the king of the Danes had prepared a great ship, for the purpose of a hostile invasion of England; but, when he was about to enter from a boat into the larger ship, he slipped down between them and sank, immediately on which his ship went to pieces. On seeing this miracle, the blessed king Edward smiled, and gave exceeding thanks to God. On this, the bishop, who was celebrating the mass, was afraid that the king had seen something about him in the celebration thereof to cause his laughter. Consequently, after the mass was finished, the bishop, having called together earl Harold and others of the king’s nobles who were then present, anxiously asked the king why he had smiled during the celebration of the mass; on which, the king related to him the vision he had seen; and the day and hour being marked, they sent messengers to Denmark, and found that if had happened to the king of the Danes just as king Edward had predicted.
Another story relative to the same king. One day, when the before-named Edward, king of the English, was on a journey, there met him John, the blessed Apostle and Evangelist, under the form of a poor man, and begged alms of him. As the king had no money at hand to give him, he took his ring from off his finger and gave it to him. Now, on the same day, the same blessed Evangelist appeared to a certain stranger, as he was going forth from the holy city of Jerusalem, and said to him, “Whence comest thou, and whither art thou going?” To which the stranger made answer, “I am from England, and I am desirous of returning thither.” The Apostle then said to him, “Dost thou know Edward, the king of England?” On which he made answer, “My lord, I do know him.” The Apostle then said to him, “Take this ring, and carry it to king Edward, and tell him that the Apostle John sends him back this ring, which he himself gave to him this day on the road as he was walking; and may the good angel of the Lord accompany
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thee, and grant thee a prosperous journey, Amen.” On this, taking the ring and bidding him farewell, he saw the Apostle no more.
Now, on the same day, under the guidance of the Lord, to whom nothing is impossible, this stranger arrived in England, and, delivering the ring to the king, told him everything that had happened to him on the road, and how, on that day, he had returned from Jerusalem. Although this seemed to be impossible, still, in consequence of the assertions of sojourners who had been with him at Jerusalem, and who, a long time after this, returned into England, it was found to be the truth.
On another occasion it befel the same king Edward, that, on a certain day, he was taken by the queen and earl Harold to his treasury, to see a large sum of money which the queen and earl Harold, without the knowledge of the king, had collected for his necessities (namely, four pennies from every hide of land throughout each province of England, in order that the king might, by the day of Nativity of our Lord, purchase clothes for the necessities of the soldiers and his servants); having entered the treasury, the queen and earl Harold accompanying him, he beheld the devil seated upon the money; on which the king said to him, “What dost thou do here?” Whereto the devil made answer, “I am here keeping guard over my money.” Upon this, the king said to him, “I conjure thee by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, tell me how it is that this money is thine.” To this the devil made answer, and said, “Because it has been unjustly obtained out of the substance of the poor.” During all this, those who attended him were standing astonished at hearing them talk, but seeing no one except the king; who afterwards said to them, “Restore this money to those from whom it was taken;” and his commands were immediately complied with.
Another story relative to this king. On a certain day of state, when Edward, the above-named king of the English, had been crowned at London and was clothed in royal vestments, and was going from his palace towards the monastery,30 accompanied by a crowd of nobles, archbishops, bishops, clergy, and people, there sat in the way by which the king was
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ARMY.133
about to pass, a certain leprous man, full of running sores. Those who went before rebuked him, and, wishing to remove him thence, bade him hold his peace; on which, the king said to them, “Allow him to sit there.” When the king had approached him, the leper thus addressed him, “I conjure thee, by the living God, to carry me on thy shoulders into the church;” upon which the king, bowing down his head, ordered the leper to be placed on his shoulders. And it came to pass, that, when the king moved on, and prayed to the Lord that He would restore the leper to health, his prayers were heard, and the leper was made whole from that hour, praising and blessing the Lord.31
Harold, as soon as he had begun to reign, proceeded to abolish all unjust laws and to enact just ones, to become the zealous patron of churches and monasteries, to venerate and encourage the bishops, abbats, monks, and clergy, to show himself pious, humble, and affable to all, and to hold evil-doers in detestation. For he gave general orders to the dukes, earls, sheriffs, and thanes, to seize all thieves, robbers, and disturbers of the realm, and himself used every exertion, for the defence of the country, both by sea and land.30
In the same year, on the eighth day before the calends of May, there appeared a comet, not only in England, but even, it is said, throughout the whole world. It made its appearance during seven days, and shone with extreme brightness; whence the saying;
In the year one thousand sixty-six
A comet all England’s gaze did fix.32
Shortly after this, earl Tosti, returning from Flanders, landed in the Isle of Wight, and, having compelled the islanders to find him tribute and provisions, took his departure and collected plunder near the sea-shore, until he came to the port of Sandwich. On hearing this, king Harold, who was then staying at London, ordered a considerable fleet, and an
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army of horse, to be levied, and himself made preparations to set out for the port of Sandwich. When this was reported to earl Tosti, taking with him some of the mariners who were well inclined and some who were ill-wishers to him, he retreated, directing his course to Lindesey, where he burned a great number of towns, and put many men to death.
On learning this, Edwin, earl of Mercia, and Morcar, earl of Northumbria, flew to their rescue with an army, and drove him out of that country. On his departure thence, he repaired to Malcolm, king of the Scots, and remained with him all the summer. In the meantime, king Harold came to the port of Sandwich, and there waited for his fleet, which, when it had assembled, came to the Isle of Wight, and, as William, duke of the Normans, the cousin of king Edward, was making preparations to invade England with an army, all the summer and autumn he was awaiting his arrival, and, besides, kept a land force in suitable positions near the sea-shore. However, on the approach of the Nativity of Saint Mary, their provisions falling, the fleet and the land force returned home.
After this, Harold Harfager, king of Norway, and brother of Saint Olaf, came with a very strong fleet, amounting to more than five hundred large ships, and anchored suddenly at Tynemouth: on which earl Tosti met him, as they had previously arranged, with his fleet, and, making all speed, they entered the mouth of the river Humber, and then, sailing against tide up the river Ouse, landed at a place which is called Richale. When this became known to king Harold, he speedily moved his troops towards Northumbria; but, before the king could come thither, the two brothers, earls Edwin and Morcar, with a large army, had had an engagement with the Norwegians on the northern bank of the river Ouse, near York, on the vigil of Saint Matthew the Apostle, being the fourth day of the week; and had at the first onset, manfully fighting, slain great numbers. But, after the battle had lasted a long time, the English, being unable to sustain the attack of the Norwegians, and having lost a great number of their men, turned their backs, and far more were drowned in the river than slain in the battle.
The Norwegians having gained the victory, and having taken one hundred and fifty hostages from the city of York,
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returned to their ships, having left there a hundred and fifty of their own men as hostages. But, on the fifth day after this, that is to say, on the seventh day before the calends of October, being the second day of the week, Harold, king of the English, attended by many thousands of soldiers fully armed, arrived at York; and, meeting the Norwegians at a place called Stamford Bridge, slew king Harold Harfager and earl Tosti with the edge of the sword, together with the greater part of their army, and, although it was most keenly contested, gained a complete victory: but to his son Olaf, and to Paul, earl of the Isle of Orkney, who had been sent with part of the army to guard the ships, he gave liberty to return to their country with twenty ships and the remnant of their army, having first received from them hostages and oaths for their future good behaviour.
1 Peterborough.
2 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Matthew of Westminster represent this as taking place at Dover, after the return of Eustace from Canterbury, where he had stopped to refresh himself. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle places the event in 1048.
3 Gloucester.
4 Cambridge.
5 Southwark.
6 Land’s End.
7 Southwark.
8 The king who is more generally known as Macbeth.
9 Bullingdon.
10 Osborn.
11 An abbey, afterwards incorporated with St. Mary‘s, at York.
12 North Wales.
13 Or Bilsley.
14 Of Saint David’s.
15 Ramesbury.
16 Roger of Wendover says Salisbury.
17 Glastonbury.
18 Earl of Devon.
19 This seems to be intended as the meaning of the word “pupillorum” here.
20 Burgh, near Stamford.
21 Bromley.
22 In Lincolnshire.
23 Of Selsey, in Sussex.
24 Ramesbury.
25 Probably meaning that he had ravaged some of the lands belonging to the church of Saint Cuthbert, or the see of Durham.
[The peace of Saint Cuthbert has previously been referred to as the right of sanctuary at Chester-Le-Street in Durham, which in a time of war might be resorted to and could conceivably be what was meant here, to my thinking. — Elf.Ed.]
26 The 8th of September.
27 When he was prior of the monastery of Worcester.
28 In Flintshire.
29 Portheswet, near Chepstow.
30 Probably of Westminster.
31 With this king originated the supposed efficacy of the royal touch for king’s evil; which was supposed to be possessed by the royal family of England till the reign of queen Anne, the last who practised it.
32 This translation is about as good as the rhyming verses in the original: —
Anno milleno, sexageno, quoque seno
Anglorum metæ crinem sensêre cometæ.
* The Latin text of Hoveden by Stubbs, Vol. I, p. 98, has “Alfgiva Imme regina quondam et conjux regum Agelredit et Canuti, . . .” This is the only incidence of this spelling. Normally she is called Elfgiva. In Riley’ translation, our text here, he calls her Elfgiva here only but Elgiva the rest of the time even when Stubbs has Elfgiva. Elgiva is only used once by Stubbs for another lady. I have used the Elfgiva used by Hoveden in the Stubbs’ edition throughout and then noted the change from Riley’s spelling in the source code.
† Roger of Hoveden lived over a 100 years later, so clearly did not hear it from Wulstan himself. According to Stubbs, in his Latin edition of the Chronicle by Roger de Hoveden, Volume 1, p. 105, this portion of the text is copied from the Chronicle of Simeon of Durham, who, in turn copied it from the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, which could have also been added to by a monk named John. Florence and John were monks at the monastery at Worcester and knew Wulstan, the abbot (or Wulfstan, as Stubbs calls him), who encouraged the continuation of the annals of Worcester and added to it during their time, creating one of the most important early histories of the Middle Ages.