palities and
baronies; and the possessors, enjoying the civil jurisdiction within
them selves, as well as the right of arms, acted, in many respects, as
independent sovereigns, and maintained their propertied and privileges,
less by the authority of laws, than by their own force and valor. A
military spirit had universally diffused itself throughout Europe;
and the several leaders, whose minds were elevated by their princely
situation, greedily embraced the most hazardous enterprises; and being
accustomed to nothing, from their infancy, but recitals of the success
attending wars and battles, they were prompted by a natural ambition to
imitate those adventures which they heard so much celebrated, and which
were so much exaggerated by the credulity of the age. United, however
loosely, by their duty to one superior lord, and by their connections
with the great body of the community to which they belonged, they
desired to spread their fame each beyond his own district and in all
assemblies, whether instituted for civil deliberations for military
expeditions, or merely for show and entertainment, to outshine each
other by the reputation of strength and prowess. Hence their genius for
chivalry; hence their impatience of peace and tranquillity; and hence
their readiness to embark in any dangerous enterprise, how little soever
interested in its failure or success.

William, by his power, his courage, and his abilities, had long
maintained a preeminence among those haughty chieftains; and every one
who desired to signalize himself by his address in military exercises,
or his valor in action, had been ambitious of acquiring a reputation
in the court and in the armies of Normandy. Entertained with that
hospitality and courtesy which distinguished the age, they had formed
attachments with the prince, and greedily attended to the prospects
of the signal glory and elevation which he promised them in return for
their concurrence in an expedition against England. The more grandeur
there appeared in the attempt, the more it suited their romantic spirit;
the fame of the intended invasion was already diffused everywhere;
multitudes crowded to tender to the duke their service, with that of
their vassals and retainers;[*] and William found less difficulty in
completing his levies, than in choosing the most veteran forces, and in
rejecting the offers of those who were impatient to acquire fame under
so renowned a leader.

Besides these adv