"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.

We will therefore pay you cash to go away". And that is called paying the Danegeld; But we've proved it again and again,

That if once you have paid him the Danegeld You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation, For fear they should succumb and go away;

So when you are requested to pay up or be molested, You will find it better policy to say: —

"We never pay any-one Danegeld, No matter how trifling the cost;

For the end of that game is oppression and shame, And the nation that plays it is lost!"

Comprehension questions

1.How is Ethelred’s nickname translated from OE?

2.Why was it unwise on Ethelred’s part to pay Danegeld?

3.What kind of king was Canute?

11.EDWARD THE CONFESSOR

The son of Ethelred the Unready, Edward, lived in Normandy, after his father and mother saved themselves there, and Edward was brought up there. He was called The Confessor because he grew in a monastery and cared more for a quiet, learned life, and for attending services at churches than for lighting or looking after business. His mother Emma, the wife of Ethelred the Unready, was the daughter of Richard the Fearless, duke of Normandy.

When the bloodline of Danish kings had dried up, Edward was called back to be king, but he was not at all fitted to take part in all those fightings in his fatherland during such a difficult and anxious period of time. He brought many Norman nobles with him, and the people were discontent of it.

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Edward's greatest pleasure was in building churches, and the most beautiful of all was the Abbey of Westminster — it was built after the pattern of the churches he knew and loved in Normandy, with rounded windows and arches. This abbey church in Westminster has been entirely rebuilt by later kings.

In 1042 Edward's brother died and all the people received Edward to be the king.

The king's personal tastes inclined much more to foreigners than to Englishmen, and he fell more and more into the hands of those from beyond the sea.

It is said that Edward promised his cousin, William of Normandy, that he should be the king of England after his death; in any case, William decided to become the king. The gentle, rosy-faced king, Edward the Confessor, died in January, 1066. He was buried in the fine new church, finished only a few days before. Later, a beautiful tomb was raised over him, which we can see today in its present place in the Abbey.

Comprehension questions

1.Speak on Edward the Confessor’s ancestry.

2.What is this king most famous for?

3.Why is he viewed as an ambiguous ruler in the history of England?

12.WILLIAM OF NORMANDY COMES TO ENGLAND

The year 1066 which opened thus with King Edward's death was an important year for the English history. The day after the weeping people had crowded the Westminster Abbey to see the funeral of Edward, they came back again to crown the successor whom they had chosen — Harold, the son of Earl Godwin: they knew well that he was brave and wise and that he hated the Normans.

And so, on that bright sunny day, in the keen north wind of January, the roof rang again with joyful shouts of "YES!" when the old archbishop asked: "Do you want Harold for king?"

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When William of Normandy heard that Harold became king after Edward, he was furious, and at once set to work to get an army and a fleet together to invade England and secure the crown which he wanted to have so much. He said Harold had promised him the kingdom as well as Edward; but no one could really promise this, because in those days it was the people's right to choose whom they wanted to have.

When William with his army and fleet landed near Hastings, the south coast, in the bright September weather, Harold was at York. He marched his army south by the great Roman road to London in nine days, and very quick that was, when so many had to go on foot.

The battle that followed at Hastings on 14 October 1066 is one of the great battles in the history of England. The Normans were led out by a singer on a fine prancing horse, and the whole army heard his song about the great hero of France and how he fought and won.

Harold took up a strong position on a hill, and so long as his footmen — for he had no cavalry — kept to their cover William's horsemen and archers produced little effect. The duke's only hope was to induce the English to leave their position, and this he succeeded in doing by feigning retreat. Harold's irregular forces broke away and were immediately charged and annihilated by the Norman cavalry. The English centre still stood firm, and only gave way when Harold fell, wounded in the eye by an arrow. The English did their best, but they had no second army to oppose the enemies, and the Conqueror's army was too strong for them. So Harold was killed, and the bravest and best men of England fell fighting around him. As a result, the battle of Hastings gave the crown of England to William of Normandy.

This happened on Saturday, October 15th, 1066.

The Battle of Hastings on the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres (230ft) long, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. The English fight on foot behind a shield wall, whilst the Normans are on horses. Two fallen knights are named as Leofwine and Gyrth, Harold's brothers, but both armies are shown fighting bravely. Bishop Odo brandishes his baton or mace and rallies the Norman troops in battle. To reassure his knights that he is still alive and well, William raises his helmet to show his face. The battle becomes very bloody with troops being slaughtered and dismembered corpses littering the ground. King Harold is killed. This scene can be interpreted in different ways, as the name "Harold" appears above a number of knights, making it difficult to identify which character is Harold.

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Comprehension questions

1.Who did the Saxon knights choose for their king after Edward the Confessor?

2.Tell about the Battle of Hastings.

3.What does the Bayeux Tapestry depict?

13. THE LONELY CROWNING. THE CONQUEROR'S WORK

By December William had forced the people of the south to recognise him as English king, and he was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. No shouts of welcome, no bright faces, and when the archbishop asked: "Do you take William of Normandy to be your king?" there was but a sullen mutter; they had to say: "Yes". William was almost alone on this great day.

Freedom for England was gone. The English knights were killed, the poor were in utter misery.

William's first task was to reward his followers which he did by giving much land and goods to the Normans, who helped him to conquer the English crown. For that William confiscated the estates of the English nobles; certainly at the beginning of his reign, when continual revolts had not embittered him, he allowed a number of English landowners to redeem their estates by paying heavy fines, but by the time of his death nearly all the land of England had changed the owners. And the Norman landowners promised William the Conqueror to supply him with fighting men when the king went to war.

This feudal system, as it was called, lasted for many years in England. The chief reason for this system was that the central government was not strong enough to give protection to all citizens, who had to look for help to the richest and strongest man in their neighbourhood. Naturally, so necessary a service had to be paid for, and the way to pay for it was to provide the rich man with the means of living. So the country was divided into a number of units called manors, and every member of the manor was bound to every other member by clearly defined duties, perfectly well known and recognised by the law.

Domesday Book

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