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 William's bravery and ardor thoughtful 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 could 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.[343] For it had long before 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, heathen in their rites.
After embracing the faith of Christ, by degrees and, in process of time, in consequence of the peace which they enjoyed, they consigned warfare 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 Religious zeal of the Saxons before the Conquest the bounds 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 fellowship. Many others during their whole lives devoted themselves in outward appearance to worldly affairs, but in order that they might expend 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 without hearing 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.[344] The monks mocked the rule of their order Recent decline of learning and religion 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 community, 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 an 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 resisted 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.[345] For nothing is less effective than rashness; and what begins with violence quickly ceases or is repelled. The English at that time The English people described wore short garments, reaching to the mid-knee; they had their hair cropped, their beards shaven, their arms laden with golden bracelets, their skin adorned with tattooed designs. They were accustomed to eat until they became surfeited, and to drink until they were sick. These latter qualities they imparted to their conquerors; as for the rest, they adopted their manners. I would not, however, have these bad characteristics 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 accustomed to war, and can hardly live without it; fierce in rushing against the enemy, and, where force fails to succeed, ready A description of the Normans 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 intermarry with their vassals. They revived, by their arrival, the rule of religion which had everywhere grown lifeless in England.[346] 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 renewed rites; so that each wealthy man accounted that day lost to him which he had neglected to signalize by some beneficent act.
41. William the Conqueror as Man and as King
In the following passage, taken from the Saxon Chronicle, we have an interesting summary of the character of the Conqueror and of his conduct as king of England. Both the good and bad sides of the picture are clearly brought out and perhaps it is not quite easy to say which is given the greater prominence. On the one hand there is William's devotion to the Church, his establishment of peace and order, his mildness in dealing with all but those who had antagonized him, and the virtue of his personal life; on the other is his severity, rapacity, and pride, his heavy taxes and his harsh forest laws. As one writer says, "the Conquest was bad as well as good for England; but the harm was only temporary, the good permanent." It is greatly to the credit of the English chronicler that he was able to deal so fairly with the character of one whom he had not a few patriotic reasons for maligning.
Source—The Saxon Chronicle. Translated by J. A. Giles (London, 1847), pp. 461-462.