purchase of the ground on which William had, thirty-five years previously, wrongly founded the Abbey of St. Stephen's, to purchase a dispensation from the pope for his marriage with his cousin Matilda of Flanders. The bargain being struck, and the payment of the sixty-shillings earnest money (for the occupation of the seven feet of earth required as the last abode of the Conqueror of England) being tendered by the prince and received by FitzArthur-strange interlude as it was in a royal funeral-the obsequies were suffered to proceed, The Saxon chroniclers have taken evident pleasure in enlarging on all the mischances and humiliations which befel the unconscious clay of their great national adversary in its passage to the tomb; yet, surely, so singular a chapter of accidents was never yet recorded as occurred to the corpse of this mighty sovereign, who died in the plenitude of his Agnes Strickland's Queens of England, vol. i., p. 99.

power.

PERSON AND CHARACTER.

He was of just stature, extraordinary corpulence, fierce countenance; his forehead bare of hair; of such great strength of arm that no one was able to draw his bow, which himself could bend when his horse was on full gallop.* Malmsbury, p. 308.

In his younger days he was handsome, and well proportioned. He had rather a stern and majestic than a mild and taking countenance; however, he could sometimes put on such sweetness and gentleness in his looks as were hardly to be resisted. He was reckoned one of the wisest princes of his time-his prudence and valour were unquestionable; on the other hand, his extreme covetous temper, and partiality to his countrymen, led him to the commission of many things which can hardly be justified.

Rapin, vol. i., p. 181.

*The loftiness of stature which contemporary chroniclers have ascribed te William the Conqueror was fully confirmed by a post mortem examination of his body, which was made by the Bishop of Bayeux, in the year 1542, when, prompted by a strong desire to behold the remains of this great sovereign, he obtained leave to open his tomb. On removing the stone cover, the body, which was corpulent. and exceeding in stature the tallest man then known, appeared as entire as when it was first buried. Within the tomb lay a plate of copper, gilt, on which was engraved an inscription in Latin verse. The bishop, who was greatly surprised at finding the body in such perfect preservation, caused a painting to be executed of the royal remains in the state in which they then appeared, by the best artist in Caen, and caused it to be hung up on the abbey wall, opposite the monument. The tomb was then carefully closed; but in 1562, when the Calvanists, under Chastillon, took Caen, a party of the rapacious soldiers forced it open, in the hope of meeting with treasure; but finding nothing more than the bones of the conqueror, wrapped in red taffeta, they threw them about the church in great derision.

Agnes Strickland, p. 103.

The picture of the remains, which had been painted by order of the Bishop of Bayeux, fell into the hands of Peter Ildo, the gaoler of Caen, who was one of the spoilers, and he converted one part into a table and the other into a cupboard door. Some years afterwards these curious relics were discovered, and reclaimed by M. le Bras, in whose possession they remained till his death.

Dacarel's Norman Antiquities.

CHRONICLE,

William brought the Jews from Rouen to inhabit England. The feudal system, if not introduced (which is disputed by some writers), was now completely organised by the Conqueror. Trial by battle was introduced. The Normans brought in a new way of creating knights, and the use of seals, and witnesses, and instruments; before that time the parties only set down their names with a cross before them. In this reign surnames came first to be used. In the year 1076, there was an earthquake, and a frost from the beginning of November to the middle of April; and in 1087, there was a fire in London, which destroyed the greater part of the city, and St. Paul's Cathedral. The Tower of London is said to have been built by William, in the first year of his reign.

REIGN OF WILLIAM RUFUS,

FROM 1087 TO 1100-12 YEARS, 10 MONTHS, 24 DAYS.

THE FIRST CRUSADE.

Peter the hermit, a native of Amiens, in Picardy, had the honour of originating the holy enterprise for rescuing Jerusalem from the infidels. Having made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he saw with indignation the oppression under which the Christians groaned; and formed the bold, and, to all appearance, the impracticable project, of leading into Asia, from the farthest extremities of the West, armies sufficient to subdue those warlike nations, who held them in subjection. He proposed his views to Martin II., who then filled the papal chair; but, though sensible of the advantages he must reap from a religious war, as head of the church, the pope at first declined to embark in the gigantic enterprise. Indefatigable in his object, Peter continued to preach through the different countries of Europe the horrible pollution of the holy sepulchre. His perseverance had its natural effect, and he at last succeeded in imparting his own zeal and enthusiasm through the kingdoms he travelled. A council was summoned at Clermont, where the greatest princes, nobles, and prelates assembled; and the hermit and the pope renewing their pathetic exhortations, the whole assemblage, as if impelled by inspiration, exclaimed, It is the will of God! It is the will of God!

Such a tumult now arose as had never been seen before nor since; and Europe appeared loosened from its foundations to be precipitated in one united body upon the East. All orders of men, deeming the crusades the only road to heaven, enlisted themselves under the sacred banners, and were impatient to open their way with the sword to the holy city. Nobles, artisans, peasants, and priests enrolled their names; and to decline this godly enterprise was branded as impiety, or, what was deemed as disgraceful,

cowardice and pusillanimity. The infirm and aged contributed to the expedition by presents and money; and many of them, not satisfied with the merit of this atonement, attended in person, determined, if possible, to breathe their last in sight of that city where their Saviour had died for them. Women themselves, concealing their sex under the disguise of armour, attended the camp in great numbers. The greatest criminals were forward in a service which they regarded as a propitiation for all crime; and the most enormous disorders were, during these expeditions, committed by men inured to wickedness, encouraged by example, and impelled by necessity.* The multitude of adventurers became so great that their more sagacious leaders became apprehensive lest the greatness of the enterprise itself should disappoint its purpose; they permitted an undisciplined multitude, computed at 300,000 men, to go before them, under the command of the Hermit and Walter the Moneyless. These men took the road towards Constantinople, through Bulgaria; and, trusting that Heaven would supply them with all their necessaries, they made no provision for subsistence on their march. They soon found themselves obliged to obtain by plunder what they had vainly expected from miracles; and the enraged inhabitants of the countries through which they passed, gathering together in arms, attacked and slaughtered them without resistance. The more disciplined armies followed, and, passing the Straits of Constantinople, they were mustered in the plains of Asia, and amounted, in the whole, to 700,000 combatants. On the 11th November, 1099, they took Jerusalem, and put 40,000 Saracens to the sword. Hume, p. 294.

SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM.

In the fourth year of the expedition to Jerusalem-the third after the capture of Nice, and the second after that of Antiochthe Franks laid siege to Jerusalem-a city well able to repay the toils of war, to soothe its labours, and to requite the fondest expectation. It was now the 7th day of June, nor were the besiegers

* There was no nation so remote, no people so retired, as did not contribute its portion. The Welshman left his hunting, the Scot his hills, the Dane his drinking party, the Norwegian his raw fish; lands were deserted of their husbandmen, houses of their inhabitants; even whole cities migrated; there was no regard, no relationship; affection to their country was held in little esteem; God alone was placed before their eyes. Whatever was stored in granaries, or hoarded in chambers, to answer the hopes of the avaricious husbandman, or the covetousness of the miser, all, all was deserted; they hungered and thirsted after Jerusalem alone. Joy attended such as proceeded, while grief oppressed those who remained. The roads were too narrow for the passengers, the paths too confined for the travellers, so thickly were they thronged with endless multitudes.

Malmsbury, p. 364.

The rustic shod his oxen like horses, and placed his whole family in a cart, where it was amusing to hear the children on the approach to any large town or castle, inquiring if that were Jerusalem. Guibert, p. 482.

The badge of those who engaged in this undertaking was a red cross wrought on their habit, and worn on their right shoulder, from whence they were called the croisées, or the crossed; and the expedition the crusade.

Rapin, p. 187.

apprehensive of wanting food or drink for themselves, as the harvest was on the ground, and the grapes were ripe upon the vines; the care alone of their cattle distressed them, which, from the nature of the place and of the season, had no running stream to support them, for the heat of the sun had dried up the secret springs of the brook Siloah, which, at uncertain periods, used to shed abroad its refreshing waters. This brook, when at any time swollen with rain, increases that of Kedron, and then passes on with bubbling current into the valley of Jehosaphat. But this is extremely rare; for there is no certain period of its augmentation or decrease. In consequence the enemy, suddenly darting from their caverns, frequently killed our people when straggling abroad for the purpose of watering their cattle. In the mean time the chiefs were each observant at their respective posts, and Raymond actively employed before the Tower of David.* This fortress defended the city on the west, and, strengthened nearly half-way up by courses of squared stone, soldered with lead, repels every fear of invaders when guarded by a small party within. As they saw, therefore, that the city was difficult to carry on account of its steep precipices, the strength of the walls, and the fierceness of the enemy, they ordered engines to be constructed. But before this, indeed, on the seventh day of the siege, they had tried their for tune by erecting ladders, and hurling swift arrows against their opponents; but, as the ladders were few, and perilous to those who mounted them, since they were exposed on all sides, and nowhere protected from wounds, they changed their design. There was one engine which we call the sow, the ancients vinea; because the machine, which is constructed of slight timbers, the roof covered with boards and wicker work, and the sides defended with undressed hides, protects those who are within it, who, after the manner of a sow, proceed to undermine the foundations of the walls. There was another, which, for want of timber, was but a moderate sized tower, constructed after the manner of houses (that is to say, with several floors or apartments, one above the other, each of which contained soldiers), they called it Berefreid: this was intended to equal the walls in height. The making of this machine delayed the siege, on account of the unskilfulness of the workmen and the scarcity of wood. And now the 14th day of July arrived, when some began to undermine the walls with the sows; others to move forward the tower. To do this more conveniently, they took it towards the works in seperate pieces, and, putting it together again at such a distance as to be out of bow-shot, advanced it on wheels nearly close to the wall. In the mean time the slingers with stones, the archers with arrows, and the cross-bow men with bolts, each intent on his own department, began to press forward and dislodge their opponents from the ramparts; soldiers, too, unmatched in courage, ascend the tower, waging nearly equal war against the

The Tower of David was the old tower Psephina, or Neblosa; it was likewise called Castellum Pisanum, from the patriarch Daimbert. Danville, p. 19.

enemy with missile weapons and with stones. Nor, indeed, were our foes at all remiss; but trusting their whole security to their valour, they poured down grease and burning oil upon the tower, and slung stones on the soldiers, rejoicing in the completion of their desires by the destruction of multitudes. During the whole of that day the battle was such that neither party seemed to think they had been worsted; on the following, which was the 15th of July, the business was decided, for the Franks, becoming more experienced from the event of the attack of the preceding day, threw faggots flaming with oil on a tower adjoining the wall, and on the party who defended it, which, blazing by the action of the wind, first seized the timber and then the stones, and drove off the garrison. Moreover, the beams which the Turks had left hanging down from the walls in order that, being forcibly drawn back they might, by their recoil, batter the tower in pieces in case it should advance too near, were by the Franks dragged to them, by cutting away the ropes; and being placed from the engine to the wall, and covered with hurdles, they formed a bridge of communication from the ramparts to the tower. Thus, what the infidels had contrived for their defence became the means of their destruction; for then the enemy, dismayed by the smoking masses of flame, and by the courage of our soldiers, began to give way. These advancing on the wall, and thence into the city, manifested their excess of joy by the strenuousness of their exertions. There was no place of refuge for the Turks, so indiscriminately did the insatiable rage of the victors sweep away both the suppliant and the resisting. Ten thousand were slain in the Temple of Solomon; more were thrown from the tops of the churches, and of the citadel.* After this, the dead bodies were heaped and dissolved into the airy fluid by means of fire; lest, putrifying in the open air, they should pour contagion on the heavy atmosphere. The city being thus expiated by the slaughter of the infidels, they proceeded with hearts contrite and bodies prostrate to the sepulchre of the Lord, which they had so long earnestly sought after, and for which they had undergone so many labours. Malmsbury, p. 387.

BUILDING OF WESTMINSTER HALL. Besides a great scarcity occasioned by bad weather, which lasted several months, the king laid heavy taxes upon the people, so much the more grievous as the money was to be expended on works that were unnecessary, or, at least, might have been deferred to some other time. He not only rebuilt London Bridge, which had been carried away by an unusual flood, but chose this time of scarcity for other works which required vast sums of money. He raised a new wall round the Tower, and built a great hall at Westminster, two hundred and seventy feet long, and seventy broad. Howsoever spacious this hall was, William, on his return from Normandy,

* Rapin says 40,000 Saracens were put to the sword.