fact that his men were, for the most part, professional soldiers who had, doubtless, learned to act in concert, and also that the English, having no archers, could do little harm to their assailants except in hand-to-hand fighting. Battle of At nine o'clock in the morning the battle began, and at three in the afternoon, though foot and archers and cavalry had done their best, the English line was still unbroken. William himself had given Hastings. his men an example of reckless daring, and had slain Gyrth with his own hand; Harold himself, constant at his post, where waved the Dragon of Wessex and his own standard the Fighting Man, had been equally an example of patient endurance. The Normans were beginning to despair, some even were counselling retreat, when accident revealed to William the weak point of his opponents. Weary of their long waiting, the freemen on the left broke their ranks to pursue some flying foes, and the gap thus left remained unfilled. With the decision of genius William ordered a feigned flight, and his skilled followers carried out his orders to the letter, and then, turning upon their pursuers, established themselves within the stockade, and took the English centre in flank. Such a disaster would have been as fatal to Wellington's plans at Waterloo as it was to Harold's at Hastings. For a time, however, the shield-wall of the house-carls was still unbroken, and night would soon have covered the English retreat, when William, as a last resource, ordered his archers to shoot into the air so that their arrows might fall on the heads of the English. This second device proved as successful as its predecessor: Harold himself fell, his brothers Gyrth and Death of Leofwine were already slain, no unwounded leader was Harold and Defeat of left; and, when night closed in, the Normans had possession the English. of the place of carnage, and the English, defeated but not cowed, and turning upon their pursuers at every point of vantage, were making a sullen retreat. Four hundred years passed before such another stubborn fight was fought on English soil; never again till Towton did such a multitude of slain bestrew an English field. As at Towton, science, and science only, carried the day; and the descendants of both conquerors and conquered may be proud of the fight of Senlac, and take the attack and defence as typical of what a British army can do now that Normans and Englishmen have united to form one nation. The real seriousness of the defeat of Hastings lay in the slaughter of the English leaders. No one was ready to step into the place of Harold and his brothers. Edgar Atheling was a mere boy, and Edwin and Morcar were worse than useless. Otherwise the fight might well have been renewed, for the survivors of Hastings might have been rallied, and Northumbria and Mercia were as yet untouched. As it was, there was no one to lead, and William was free to take his own way. William's His first care was to secure his retreat, and for this purpose he seized Dover, Romney, and Winchester. He then marched by way of Canterbury to Southwark. This he burnt, but, making no attempt to cross London Bridge, he marched up the Thames to march on Wallingford, ravaging as he went, and, crossing there, placed his camp at Berkhampstead. The place was admirably chosen, as it commanded the junction of the Watling Street, Ermine Street, and Icknield Street, and so completely isolated London. London. William Meanwhile, a witenagemot at London had elected Edgar Atheling king; but without help from the north his position was hopeless, and Edwin and Morcar declined to jeopardy their power in his defence, even had William not been barring the way. That such was the case became more evident day by day; and at length, perhaps in hopes that William might turn out a second Cnut, an embassage of the chief men of the south, including Edgar himself, made William a formal offer of the crown. It was accepted, and with that a new epoch in accepted as King. English history began. On the whole, we cannot regret the result of Hastings. In the creation and development of the British nation it was a necessary if painful factor. Just as great advantages had come to England from her union with the Church of Rome, so it was of prime importance to the country to become an important member of the family of European nations. The Normans brought with them the greatest political ability and their clergy the highest culture then known in Europe; and, though it is a hard thing for any nation to be conquered, still the descendants of the heroes who fought at Hastings have derived greater advantages from the defeat of Harold than they could possibly have done from his victory. |