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قراءة كتاب Danes, Saxons and Normans; or, Stories of our ancestors
تنويه: تعرض هنا نبذة من اول ١٠ صفحات فقط من الكتاب الالكتروني، لقراءة الكتاب كاملا اضغط على الزر “اشتر الآن"
Danes, Saxons and Normans; or, Stories of our ancestors
DANES, SAXONS, AND NORMANS;
or,
Stories of our Ancestors.
by
J. G. EDGAR,
AUTHOR OF "BOYHOOD OF GREAT MEN," "CAVALIERS AND ROUNDHEADS," ETC.
LONDON:
S. O. BEETON, 248, STRAND.
1863.
PREFACE.
In the following pages I have endeavoured to tell in a popular way the story of the Norman Conquest, and to give an idea of the principal personages who figured in England at the period when that memorable event took place; and I have endeavoured, I hope not without some degree of success, to treat the subject in a popular and picturesque style, without any sacrifice of historic truth.
With a view of rendering the important event which I have attempted to illustrate, more intelligible to the reader, I have commenced by showing how the Normans under Rolfganger forced a settlement in the dominions of Charles the Simple, whilst Alfred the Great was struggling with the Danes in England, and have recounted the events which led to a connexion between the courts of Rouen and Westminster, and to the invasion of England by William the Norman.
It has been truly observed that the history of the Conquest is at once so familiar at first sight, that it appears superfluous to multiply details, so difficult to realize on examination, that a writer feels himself under the necessity of investing with importance many particulars previously regarded as uninteresting, and that the defeat at Hastings was not the catastrophe over which the curtain drops to close the Saxon tragedy, but "the first scene in a new act of the continuous drama." I have therefore continued my narrative for many years after the fall of Harold and the building of Battle Abbey, and have traced the Conqueror's career from the coast of Sussex to the banks of the Humber and the borders of the Tweed.
For the same reason I have narrated the quarrels which convulsed the Conqueror's own family—have related how son fought against father, and brother against brother—and have indicated the circumstances which, after a fierce war of succession in England, resulted in the peaceful coronation of Henry Plantagenet, and the establishment of that great house whose chiefs were so long the pride of England and the terror of her foes.
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PAGE | |
| Rolfganger and his Comrades:—Rolfganger's banishment—Settles in France—Ludicrous incident during the ceremony of Rolfganger'staking the oath of fealty to Charles the Simple | 1 |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| 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—Conspiracy headed by Bessi and Cotentin—William flees from them—Defeat of the conspirators, and accession of William to the ducal throne of Normandy—Hiscruelty—Good qualities of William | 8 |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| 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, and accession of Alfred the Great to the throne of England—Alfred in the swineherd's cottage—Visits the Danish camp—Drives the Danes from England—Sweyn, King of Denmark, invades England—Is bribed to retire—Massacre of St. Brice—Sweyn again invades England—His sudden death—Canute succeeds him—Treachery and punishment of Edric Streone—Canute's marriage—Death of Canute—Accession of Harold Harefoot—His death—Accession of Hardicanute—His death | 14 |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| 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 Hardicanute—Godwin procures the crown of England for Edward the Confessor | 21 |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Edward the Confessor:—His parentage—Death of his brother Alfred—Edward demands justice of Hardicanute—Ascends the English throne—Edward and the leper—Edward marries Edith, daughter of Godwin | 25 |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| 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 with Edward—Godwin is outlawed—William of Normandy visits England—His reception—Godwin returns to England—Is restored to power—Godwin's awful death | 29 |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| 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 espousal—William's love-making—Matilda's consent is obtained—The Pope's opposition to the marriage—William overcomes the Pope's scruples—Obtains a dispensation—Marries Matilda of Flanders | 36 |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| 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 Siward—Siward is sent by Edward the Confessor to defend the Northumbrian coast—Death of Siward | 40 |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| Harold, the Saxon King:—Harold's personal appearance—Harold's first appearance in national affairs—His great military reputation—Harold proposes to visit |