attle of Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire, when
news was brought to him of the landing of William.

It was this fatal want of unity in England which made the Norman
Conquest possible. If Harold's own brother, Tostig, had not turned
traitorously against him, or if the north country had stood squarely
by the south, Duke William might have found his fall on the beach an
omen full of disaster.

72. What Duke William did after Landing.

As there was no one to oppose him, William made a fort in a corner of
the old Roman wall at Pevensey (S70), and then marched to Hastings, a
few miles farther east, where he set up a wooden castle on that hill
where the ruins of a later stone castle may still be seen. Having
done this, he pillaged the country in every direction.

73. Harold marches to meet William.

King Harold, having gathered what forced he could, marched to meet
William at a place midway between Pevensey and Hastings, about five
miles back from the coast. Harold had the advantage of a stockaded
fort he had built; William, that of a body of cavalry and archers, for
the English fought on foot with javelins and battle-axes mainly. The
Saxons spent the night in feasting and song, the Normans in prayer and
confession; both were eager to fight.

74. The Great Battle of Hastings, 1066.

On the morning of the 14th of October the fight began. It lasted
until dark, with heavy loss on both sides. At length William's
strategy carried the day, and Harold and his brave followers found to
their cost that then, as now, it is "the thinking bayonet" which
conquers. The English King was slain and every man of his chosen
troops with him. A monk who wrote the history of the period of the
Conquest, says that "the vices of the Saxons had made them effeminate
and womanish, wherefore it came to pass that, running against Duke
William, they lost themselves and their country with one, and that an
easy and light, battle." Doubtless the English had fallen off in many
ways from what hey had been generations earlier; but the record at
Hastings shows that they had lost neither strength, courage, nor
endurance, and a harder battle ws never fought on British soil.

75. Battle Abbey; Harold's Grave; the Beyeu^x Tapestry.

A few years later, the Norman Conqueror built the Abbey of Battle on
the spot to commemorate the victory by which he gained his crown. He
directed that the monks of the abbey should chant perpetual prayers
over the Norman sol