by
J. G. EDGAR,
AUTHOR OF "BOYHOOD OF GREAT MEN," "CAVALIERS AND ROUNDHEADS," ETC.
LONDON:
S. O. BEETON, 248, STRAND.
1863.
In the following pages I have endeavoured to tell in a popular way thestory of the Norman Conquest, and to give an idea of the principalpersonages who figured in England at the period when that memorableevent took place; and I have endeavoured, I hope not without somedegree of success, to treat the subject in a popular and picturesquestyle, without any sacrifice of historic truth.
With a view of rendering the important event which I have attempted toillustrate, more intelligible to the reader, I have commenced byshowing how the Normans under Rolfganger forced a settlement in thedominions of Charles the Simple, whilst Alfred the Great wasstruggling with the Danes in England, and have recounted the eventswhich 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 onceso familiar at first sight, that it appears superfluous to multiplydetails, so difficult to realize on examination, that a writer feelshimself under the necessity of investing with importance manyparticulars previously regarded as uninteresting, and that the defeatat Hastings was not the catastrophe over which the curtain drops toclose the Saxon tragedy, but "the first scene in a new act of thecontinuous drama." I have therefore continued my narrative for manyyears after the fall of Harold and the building of Battle Abbey, andhave traced the Conqueror's career from the coast of Sussex to thebanks of the Humber and the borders of the Tweed.
For the same reason I have narrated the quarrels which convulsed theConqueror's own family—have related how son fought against father,and brother against brother—and have indicated the circumstanceswhich, after a fierce war of succession in England, resulted in thepeaceful coronation of Henry Plantagenet, and the establishment ofthat great house whose chiefs were so long the pride of England andthe terror of her foes.
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PAGE | |
| Rolfganger and his Comrades:—Rolfganger's banishment—Settles inFrance—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'spride in him—Is declared successor to Robert the Devil—DukeRobert's death—Opposition to William's succession—Conspiracyheaded 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 t ... BU KİTABI OKUMAK İÇİN ÜYE OLUN VEYA GİRİŞ YAPIN!Sitemize Üyelik ÜCRETSİZDİR! |