Winter of Discontent

be very frustrating for him as he’s a man who likes to be in control of events, not to be reacting to them. The deteriorating situation in Maine is potentially very damaging, particularly when combined with the activities of Fulk in Anjou. The king is rushing around putting out brush-fires everywhere.

In a change of topic Alan asked Herfast, “You know, one thing that has had me puzzled for years is why Harold fought the way he did at Hastings. Do you know? Was it because of the pope’s anathema and threat of excommunication of any who opposed William? He could have waited another week and raised an extra 10,000 men from the shires that were further away and had Morcar and Edwin provide men from the north. Then, when he did set up at Hastings, it was like his men had taken root. No movement and no maneuver at all.”

Regenbald gave a laugh of genuine amusement. “To answer the first part of the question, you obviously didn’t know Harold and clearly still don’t understand the English- both those of the south and of the north. Neither he nor his men would have cared much about Pope Alexander deciding to favour William without his even hearing Harold’s side of the argument. That was an interesting piece of political skullduggery in itself that may yet come back to haunt William, which I’ll go into in a minute. Harold beat the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge because he moved quickly and took them by surprise, even though they outnumbered him. Again, he didn’t wait to muster his full strength nor did he wait for Morcar and Edwin to bring those of their men who had survived the battle at Fulford Gate. He gathered what men he could on the ride to the north, plus his own huscarles of course. He just went at them like a bull at a gate, killed Harald Hardrada and his own brother Tostig and the forces they had with them that morning, and then beat the Norwegians who came up from the ships- effectively he had two battles that day. Then Harold and his men were celebrating their victory when news of William’s landing arrived.

“He and his remaining thegns and huscarles took horse south to London and left the infantry to straggle down as best they could. I was in London and helped to send out the calls to the thegns and fyrd of the south to rally. It was then, in London, that we heard about the anathema from that French monk that William used as a messenger. It was quite interesting and humorous, the messages and taunts that Harold and William sent back and forth over those few days. They were like two young boys arguing over a toy, with insults and threats. Gyrth was more concerned about the pope than Harold was, and offered to lead the army to avoid the risk that his brother would be excommunicated. Harold wasn’t too bothered as he knew that whoever won the battle would have the last say with the pope. Remember that Archbishop Stigand has been under anathema and excommunicated since 1052, by five successive popes, and that didn’t stop even the pious King Edward keeping him in the position as the most senior prelate in the country- or King William for that matter. It just meant that, to be safe, Harold had Ealdred of York place the crown on his head at his coronation, rather than Stigand- as did William.

“I’m sure that when the banner of St Peter was unfurled on the Norman’s side at Hastings the English rank- and-file wouldn’t have been happy, but neither they nor Harold would have let that stop them, any more than would consideration of what promises may have been made by who in the past. They were fighting for their anointed king and their country against foreign invaders, and Pope Alexander would have been seen as just another foreigner.

“Also remember that when Harold was a ‘guest’ of Duke William he attended at the campaign in Brittany in 1064. Although a lot of that was castle sieges, he saw what heavy cavalry can do in battle and how well William uses that cavalry. At Hastings he had an army composed almost entirely of infantry and knew that if he gave William any room to maneuver his forces that his army would be cut to pieces. He was also getting upset that William and you Normans were burning and ravaging lands that belonged to him personally, but that wasn’t a large factor in his thinking.

“He knew that to beat a force largely composed of heavy cavalry he would either have to take them by surprise or fight on a battlefield that gave his army every advantage. So he took his men quickly and stealthily through the Andreswald, trying to repeat the surprise he achieved at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately for him William was a better general than Hardrada and had his scouts out, knew Harold was coming and when Harold emerged from the forest the Normans were there.

“As to the battlefield and numbers of men, do you think an extra 10,000 men, mainly untrained, would have made much difference? I’m not surprised that Morcar and Edwin didn’t bring their men south. They didn’t have time to do so and they’d taken huge losses from the Norwegians at Fulford Gate, where they had been beaten like a drum. Even if they hadn’t, being Anglo-Danes they probably wouldn’t have come to the call of the House of Wessex anyway.”

Alan nodded. “You’re right. Another 10,000 men couldn’t have fitted onto the battlefield at Caldbec Hill, but if he had them threatening our flank…”

“How could he have got troops onto the flank in time? You know the lack of roads in the area. Anyway, that may have allowed William the opportunity to defeat the army piecemeal. Remember, Harold didn’t need to win. He just needed to make sure that William didn’t win. It was October. While campaigning in winter is possible, it isn’t easy. The land around Hastings had been stripped bare of food by you Normans. That part of the south would have had lean pickings for provender over the winter and both storms and English longships would have restricted resupply by sea. All Harold had to do was maintain an army in the field and keep the Normans bottled up. And stay alive. Unfortunately for him he didn’t manage to do any of the three requirements.”

Allan nodded his understanding about what he had just been told and then prompted, “And Pope Alexander?”

“As I said, that was an interesting piece of political skullduggery. William sent Bishop Lanfranc to Rome. Have you met Lanfranc? No? A most impressive, learned and intelligent man- and extremely eloquent. He spent some time with the pope and his advisers, firstly going through the usual details of William’s own claim to the throne by way of blood, which we all know existed but wasn’t strong, and the promises made by both King Edward and by Harold including the famous oath-swearing. He derogated Harold’s personality and personal life. All the usual things.

“But what was really important was, and still is, the position of the church here in England. The English church, while it recognises the authority of Rome, does not always follow the direction that Rome wishes. We have bibles and psalters written in the vernacular tongue. Services and prayers are also said in the vernacular and not Latin. We do not follow Rome in all matters of either the liturgy or theology. In the moderately recent past we had the situation of Cnut marrying Aethelred’s widow Emma, who was daughter to Richard Duke of Normandy. This was polygamy by Cnut, who was already married, but an act which the English church consented to- although I understand under the threat of death to the archbishop if he didn’t perform the ceremony. And, of course, we had and still have an archbishop who is excommunicate. All in all that’s not a set of facts that would encourage further tolerance on the part of the pope.

“Rome was more interested in bringing the English church ‘back into the fold’, by force if necessary, than it was with whether the king is English or Norman. Lanfranc played on those concerns wonderfully well. Firm promises of church reform were made and I’m sure will be put in place when King William gets a chance to attend to them. Most particularly, William promised to become the vassal of Rome, at least in respect to England but not his duchy. Of course, William hasn’t gone to Rome to make formal homage for England- and has no intention of doing so. That will be yet another promise regarding the kingship that slowly slips by, but this time by William.

“William’s various claims to the throne, not just by conquest but particularly by papal approval, have apparently been accepted throughout Christendom and have helped to keep Fulk of Anjou from attacking Normandy when William has been busy elsewhere. Apart from the Angevins and dissent in Maine, which William seized by force in ’63, William has been fortunate in the current political situation on the continent. William’s father-in-law is both Count of Flanders and guardian of King Philip of France, although the young king is apparently ‘champing at the bit’ somewhat. The important Norman barons are firmly under control- because William has been so generous in return for their support for the invasion, the fact that most of them are here in England and that William has forged them all into one big family by cross-marriages. There’s the usual situation of the minor barons or fief-holders in Normandy attacking each other when they get bored or feel they’ve been insulted, but the greater lords are keeping a lid on that, more so than is usual.”

“So, all in all everything is bright and sunny!” said Alan with some degree of sarcasm. Both Regenbald and Herfast gave a laugh in reply. “All of Christendom accepts William as king- except the English,” he continued.

Herfast replied, “I was speaking to a monk the other day. He made the comment that ‘the English submitted out of necessity’. Not because they wanted to, but because they saw no other choice. They aren’t happy about the choice that they had to make after Hastings. Some would like to change that choice if they could. That’s not only an English trait- in politics you can’t trust anybody. Anybody who trusts Edwin and Morcar in particular, or any of the