Danes, Saxons and Normans; or, Stories of our ancestors

AFTER TINCHEBRAY:--William Clito--Louis of France attempts to place Clito on the throne of Normandy--Death of Clito--Beauclerc's reputation not so good--The Queen Maude's popula...

HEREWARD THE SAXON:--Hereward, living in Flanders, is told by some exiles of the spoliation of his home--He sets out for England--Assembles his friends and retakes his paternal...

THE NORMANS IN NORTHUMBERLAND:--State of the county of Northumberland in 1068--The Conqueror marches northward--York is taken--Robert Comine is deputed to extend the conquest as...

HAROLD HARDRADA:--His personal appearance--Harold at the battle of Stiklestad is wounded--Harold with his companions goes to Constantinople and takes service as a varing--The va...

ODO, BISHOP OF BAYEUX:--Odo, regent of England--William enriches his relations on his mother's side--Odo, no shaveling--The warrior-monk--Odo celebrates mass at Hastings--Leads...

CORONATION OF THE CONQUEROR:--William marches towards London--The Abbot and inhabitants of St. Albans oppose him--William, doubting the propriety of accepting the crown, holds a...

HENRY BEAUCLERC:--Personal appearance of Beauclerc--A native of England--His manners--His learning--Military education--Addicted to gaming--Beauclerc's avarice--Beauclerc lends...

EDWIN AND MORKAR:--Their personal appearance--Edwin the handsomest man of his age--They took no part in the battle of Hastings--Aspire to the throne--Edgar Atheling's adherents...

THE CONQUEROR AND HIS HEIR:--Curthose craves support from Philip of France--Repairs to Gerberoy--Curthose's reception at Gerberoy--Matilda sends money to Curthose--William's dis...

LANFRANC OF PAVIA:--The Pope's legates arrive in London--Deposition of the Saxon bishops--Lanfranc is appointed to the Archbishopric of Canterbury--Lanfranc's birth-place--His f...

WALTHEOF, SON OF SIWARD:--Tostig usurps the earldom of Northumberland--Waltheof figures as Earl of Huntingdon--Waltheof submits to the Conqueror--He joins the Northumbrians in t...

RUFUS AND THE SCOTS:--William's longings for Normandy--Atheling being expelled from Normandy, once more takes refuge with Malcolm Canmore--Canmore invades England--William patch...

CURTHOSE AT THE CRUSADE:--Peter the Hermit--Success of his preaching--Curthose and Atheling resolve to take part in the Crusade--Rufus supplies them with money--Curthose's popul...

THE DANES IN ENGLAND:--The Saxons come to the assistance of the Britons--Seize on Britain--Formation of the Kingdom of England--The first inroad of the Danes--Death of Ethelred,...

MALCOLM CANMORE:--William determines to invade Scotland--Malcolm's parentage--Siward, upon Malcolm's flight from Scotland, protects him--Edward the Confessor's court--The Scots...

THE RED KING:--William Rufus--Personal appearance--Gains the support of Lanfranc--Wulnoth and Morkar committed to prison--Odo, bishop of Bayeux, at the head of a conspiracy to d...

FITZOSBORNE AND DE GAEL:--The marriage at Norwich--William's disapproval thereof--The marriage feast--Signs of a coming storm--The conspiracy--The conspirators apply to Sweyn, k...

BEAUCLERC AND CURTHOSE:--Ralph Flambard, "the fighting bishop," is imprisoned--Flambard incites Curthose to invade England--Curthose embarks for England--Curthose sells his birt...

THE SIEGE OF EXETER:--During William's absence in Normandy, the Norman barons treat the Saxons with great cruelty--Saxon leagues are formed--William, receiving notice of the sta...

WULSTAN, BISHOP OF WORCESTER:--Wulstan accompanies Edgar Atheling to make his submission to William--Wulstan a simple weak-minded man--Wulstan is confirmed in his diocese--His s...

THE BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE:--Tostig and Hardrada burn Scarborough, take York, and encamp on the river Derwent at Stamford Bridge--The approach of the English--Harold's propos...

ROBERT CURTHOSE:--William's dismal forebodings--Robert, his eldest son--Robert recognised as heir of Normandy--Badly trained--His good qualities--His nickname--Robert claims Mai...

DOOMSDAY BOOK:--William begins to think about casting up his subjects' accounts--His commissioners--Bad understanding between the king and the barons--The manner of carrying out...

DUKE WILLIAM AND HIS DIFFICULTIES:--William has news of Harold's accession to the English throne--Harold is summoned by the Court of Rome to defend himself on the charges of per...

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS:--Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, blesses the Norman army--Arrangement of the Norman army--William in 1066--Superstitious fears of the Normans--William's address t...

ATHELING AND HIS ALLIES:--Malcolm Canmore promises to aid Edgar Atheling--Malcolm's inability to do so--Atheling seeks a reconciliation with William--Obtains it--Atheling being...

EDGAR ATHELING:--The Londoners determine upon crowning Edgar Atheling--Edgar's birth and parentage--His popularity with the people--Harold, afraid of Edgar's popularity, treats...

MATILDA AND BRIHTRIK:--Matilda's arrival and enthusiastic reception in England--Origin of Matilda's popularity--Her vindictive spirit--In her early years becomes enamoured of Br...

THE DEATH OF COSPATRICK:--Cospatrick attempts to draw Malcolm from Northumberland--Durham cathedral in disorder--Deposition of the Bishop of Durham--Cospatrick is deprived of th...

HAROLD, THE SAXON KING:--Harold's personal appearance--Harold's first appearance in national affairs--His great military reputation--Harold proposes to visit Normandy--King Edwa...

HAROLD'S HOST:--Harold arrives in London--His ill-timed rashness--Not being able to attack William unawares, Harold halts at Epiton, and fortifies his position--The Saxon chiefs...

THE CONQUEROR'S DEATH:--Louis le Gros--Curthose and Beauclerc at Conflans--The quarrel between Louis and Beauclerc--Philip ravages Normandy--William goes against him--Christina...

THE NORMAN ARMAMENT:--William decides to invade England in August, 1066--William's treatment of the Saxon spy--The weather not being favourable, the Normans are filled with supe...

THE REDUCTION OF CHESTER:--William determines to take Chester--The soldiers murmur--William marches into Chester--Gherbaud, a Fleming, made Earl of Chester--Gherbaud, finding th...

SAXON SAINTS AND NORMAN SOLDIERS:--The saving of the church of St. John of Beverley--The inhabitants of Beverley take refuge in the church of St. John--The Normans hear reports...

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR:--His birth and parentage--Duke Robert's pride in him--Is declared successor to Robert the Devil--Duke Robert's death--Opposition to William's succession--...

TOSTIG, SON OF GODWIN:--Tostig is made Earl of Northumberland--His cruelty--The Northumbrians force him to flee--Harold is sent against the insurgents--Tostig is deposed--His an...

THE CONQUEROR AND THE KENTISHMEN:--William finding no allegiance paid him, takes Dover and marches towards London--Is opposed by a large body of Kentishmen--The advancing wood--...

THE BODY OF HAROLD:--William returns thanks for his victory--Calls over the muster-roll--The Saxons seek to bury their dead--William refuses to allow the body of Harold to be bu...

A CHANGE OF FORTUNE:--Beauclerc goes to Winchester--William de Breteuil protests against Henry having the keys--Beauclerc secures the public money and regal ornaments--Is crowne...

THE KING AND THE KING-MAKER:--Edward's Norman friends--Dislike of the Normans by the English--Quarrel between Eustace of Boulogne and the townsmen of Dover--Godwin's quarrel wit...

MATILDA OF FLANDERS:--William of Normandy determines to marry Matilda of Flanders--Matilda's pedigree--Her father's acquiescence in William's proposal--Her refusal to the espous...

THE BURIAL AT CAEN:--Consternation in Rouen--Inside the priory of St. Gervase--The conqueror's body deserted--The Archbishop of Rouen attends to the funereal honours--Interrupti...

THE ALARM IN ENGLAND:--Harold's indefatigable exertions for the welfare of England--Duke William claims fulfilment of Harold's promise--Harold's refusal--Duke William sends agai...

THE DEATH OF RUFUS:--Rufus at Malwood--His vision--The Abbot of Gloucester's despatch--The breakfast--The six arrows--Departure for the chase--Tyrel and Rufus hunt together--The...

SIWARD THE DANE:--His appearance--The mystic banner--Siward's reception by Hardicanute--Tostig's raillery and its punishment--Battle between Eadulph, Earl of Northumberland, and...

EARL GODWIN:--Ulf and Godwin--Canute's partiality to Godwin--Godwin becomes Earl of Wessex--Marries the daughter of Sweyn, King of Denmark--Godwin espouses the cause of Hardican...

IVO TAILLE-BOIS:--His unpopularity--His marriage to Lucy, sister of Edwin and Morkar--His tyranny--His various modes of annoyance--His oppression of the monks of Spalding--The m...

COSPATRICK AND THE CONQUEROR:--William determines to conciliate the Northumbrians--Cospatrick--His birth and parentage--The crimes of the house of Godwin--Cospatrick's enmity to...