of mind, and more unrelenting in punishing guilt; he Harold was endowed with manly firmness: it was difficult to and Tosti see through his plans, and he seldom communicated them to others: he presented gifts with the greatest liberality. Each carried on in a steady manner their respective duties, Tosti bravely, Harold with more wisdom than his brother. The writer concludes with the statement that "no age and no country ever produced two such men," and that, by their means, the king dwelt in peace and security, and was able to enjoy himself with dogs and birds, and religious conversations and exercises. Another writer2 states that Harold was brave in arms, of great stature and incomparable strength, and excelled in personal beauty all the great leaders of the world; that he was the right hand of the king; and that, endowed with wisdom, and skilled in all accomplishments which became a soldier, he showed himself an illustrious man in everything. Rome. Harold paid a visit to Rome.1 On his way he care- Harold fully studied the habits of the chiefs and people with visits whom he came in contact. After a course of prayer and confession1 he returned to England, and escaped the plots of those whose enmity he had aroused. Harold is reported to have paid a special visit to William of Normandy: but it is highly probable that he did not do so, as (i.) no Saxon writer alludes to such a visit; (ii.) it is mentioned by only one contemporary writer, whose biography contains statements* which 1 Vita Eduardi. 2 De Inventione Sanctæ Crucis. 3 William of Poitiers, the Conqueror's chaplain. He states (a) that Edward made William of Normandy his heir in 1012, whereas Florence of Worcester and other writers state that Edward summoned Edward the Atheling and his family from Hungary to England Harold visits are contradicted by a consensus of authority; (iii.) succeeding Norman writers contradict one another concerning the particulars of Harold's visit.1 Various explanations have been given for Harold's William of visit to William of Normandy in 1063-(i.) he was Normandy crossing the sea to Flanders, and was driven by a storm in 1057, as he wished to make him his heir: (b) he states that Edward gave William in 1042 Wulfnoth and Haco, the son and grandson of Godwin, as pledges of his succession; whereas the Saxon Chronicle, Vita Eduardi, Henry of Huntingdon, Matthew of Westminster, do not mention these hostages. 1 Matthew of Westminster states that Harold bound himself by an oath to deliver up to William the castle of Canterbury, and the kingdom upon the death of Edward; in return, William betrothed him to his little girl, and gave him her inheritance and his intimate friendship: but he does not mention the expedition into Brittany, nor the oath upon the relics. Henry of Huntingdon states that Harold swore upon the relics to marry William's daughter, and to help him to become King of England after the death of Edward; he says not a word about the expedition into Brittany. William of Malmesbury says that Harold, of his own accord, promised William the castle of Dover, and the kingdom of England when Edward died; in return, William betrothed his child to Harold, promised that he should continue to hold his possessions in England, and received him into his strictest intimacy. William took Harold with him on an expedition into Brittany, as he wished (a) to learn his disposition, (b) to try his courage and strength, and (c) to show him that the Norman sword was better than the Saxon battle-axe: but he does not mention the oath upon the relics. The Bayeux Tapestry shows that Guy of Ponthieu took Harold to Beaurain; Wace states that he took him first to Abbeville, and then to Beaurain. Wace says that William gave Guy lands in exchange for Harold; Benoit states that threats and military preparations occasioned his release. Wace says that Harold swore on the relics at Bayeux; Ordericus Vitalis says at Rouen; and William of Poitiers at Bonneville; and we are informed that the oath was taken (a) in the palace, (b) under an oak tree near Rouen. Guy of Amiens states that Harold did homage, promised allegiance, and swore three oaths to William. The Tapestry shows that Harold was knighted by William after the campaign into Brittany, but Wace says before it. Wace states that he took the oath after the expedition into Brittany; William of Poitiers states before that expedition. Wace mentions three or four expeditions into Brittany; the other writers record only one. visits upon the coast of Ponthieu1; the statement that Harold Harold crossed the sea coincides with plate iv. of the Bayeux William of Tapestry-"Hic Harold: Mare: Navigavit "-here Har- Normandy old has put to sea; and that he encountered a storm is corroborated by plate v.-"Et velis: Vento: Plenis Venit: In Terra: Widonis Comitis "-and his sails, being filled with wind, he comes to the land of Count Wido, that is, Guy: (ii.) that, while Harold was amusing himself in a fishing boat, a storm drove him upon the shores of France: (iii.) that he was ordered by the king to go to William and assure him that he should have the realm after his death: (iv.) that Harold pitied the hostages, and was anxious to bring them home; but when he went to take leave of the king, Edward, by entreaty and command, desired him not to go to Normandy, lest William, who was very shrewd, should draw him into some snare; and he suggested the despatch of a messenger in his place: (v.) that, being bound hand and foot and cast into prison by Guy, Harold, in order to obtain freedom through William, pretended he had been sent by Edward to confirm the promise he had made to him by inferior persons concerning his succession to the throne of England: (vi.) that, having been cast into prison and bound with chains on suspicion of being a spy, in order to obtain his release, Harold informed William that he was prevented by the Count of Ponthieu from delivering to him certain messages from King Edward; and the same authority also states 1 Henry of Huntingdon: this writer places Harold's visit to Normandy in 1063, before his last expedition into Wales. * Will. of Malmesbury; Matt. of Westminster. 3 Wace: this idea is portrayed in the Bayeux Tapestry. • Will. of Malmesbury. • Matt. of Westminster. oath. that Harold was sent into Normandy to conduct William to England, as Edward was thinking of making him his heir: (vii.) Harold was sent by the king to Harold's confirm upon oath1 the promise that Edward had made William when he ascended the throne; and that Harold was chosen to do this particular service for three reasons (1) he was the first of Edward's subjects in wealth, honour, and power; (2) the hostages that Edward had given William as pledges of his succession to the Saxon throne were Harold's brother and nephew; (3) should the Saxons object to William's succession, and make some new arrangements in accordance with their customary perfidiousness, Harold, by his wealth and influence, would be able to overcome their objec-. tions. The same writer states that Harold swore fealty to William, and promised to be his representative in the Saxon senate, to do all he could to establish William upon the throne after the death of Edward, and, meanwhile, to permit him to garrison Dover Castle and other places. Bearing, therefore, in mind the silence of Saxon writers upon so important a matter, the incredible statements of the Conqueror's chaplain concerning it, 1 William of Poitiers: this writer states that Harold's brother Wulfnoth and his nephew Haco were delivered up by Edward to William of Normandy as early as 1042: this statement is incredible for two reasons-(a) at that time William was a boy, and (b) Godwin was the most powerful man in England. And Godwin would not have given up his son and grandson in 1052, as some writers suppose, for at that time England was at his feet. Again, if Harold went to Normandy in 1063 to redeem the hostages, he would have brought back with him his brother, and not his nephew: and yet William of Poitiers states that he returned with his nephew only; and in this statement he is indirectly backed up by William of Malmesbury, who has it that Wulfnoth spent his life in captivity, and died as an old man in confinement at Salisbury: Florence of Worcester states that Wulfnoth was released by the Conqueror on his deathbed, but that the Rufus confined him in Winchester. and the conflicting explanations given by succeeding writers as to the manner in which Harold got to Normandy, and the object that took him there, together with their irreconcileable records of his words and acts whilst there, we cannot but conclude that it is more than probable that Harold did not swear allegiance to William, and that he did not visit Normandy, unless he did so on his way to or from Rome. In the previous chapter we read of Harold's successful campaigns in Wales. By the death of Griffith he removed a dangerous neighbour, and an encourager of sedition in the land. Moreover, by marrying his widow, Elgitha, daughter of Algar, Earl of Mercia,' he put an end to the hostility of the adherents of her house, if he did not secure the friendship and co-operation of her brothers Edwin and Morcar. 2 In 1065 Tosti was outlawed by the thanes of his earl- Outlaw of Tosti, 1065 dom, because he robbed God, and had ill-used those under his rule; because the thane Cospatric had been treacherously killed at court by the queen for Tosti's sake, and the thanes Gamel and Ulf in Tosti's chamber at York; because his subjects had heard that he had assaulted his brother Harold in the king's presence, as he was jealous of his favour with the king, and that Harold had dashed him upon the floor, and that in revenge Tosti killed and mutilated Harold's servants at Hereford; because of his austere manners. 6 Another writer' praises Tosti, and refers to his devotion and magnificence whilst on a pilgrimage to Rome in the company of his wife Judith, and his See next page. 4 Henry of Huntingdon: he states that Tosti was older than Harold. Matt. of Westminster. • Will. of Malmesbury. Vita Eduardi. |