ed that the present grandeur of Harold's family,
which supported itself with difficulty under the jealousy and hatred
of Edward, should receive new increase from a successor, who would be
so greatly beholden to him for his advancement. Harold was surprised
at this declaration of the duke; but being sensible that he should
never recover his own liberty, much less that of his brother and
nephew, if he refused the demand, he feigned a compliance with
William, renounced all hopes of the crown for himself, and professed
his sincere intention of supporting the will of Edward, and seconding
the pretensions of the Duke of Normandy. William, to bind him faster
to his interests, besides offering him one of his daughters in
marriage, required him to take an oath that he would fulfil his
promises; and in order to render the oath more obligatory, he employed
an artifice well suited to the ignorance and superstition of the age.
He secretly conveyed under the altar, on which Harold agreed to swear,
the relics of some of the most revered martyrs; and when Harold had
taken the oath, he showed him the relics, and admonished him to
observe religiously an engagement which had been ratified by so
tremendous a sanction [a]. The English nobleman was astonished; but
dissembling his concern, he renewed the same professions, and was
dismissed with all the marks of mutual confidence by the Duke of
Normandy.
[FN [a] Wace, p. 459, 460. MS. penes Carte, p. 354. W. Malm. p. 93.
H. Hunt p. 366. Hoveden, p. 449. Brompton, p. 947.]

When Harold found himself at liberty, his ambition suggested casuistry
sufficient to justify to him the violation of an oath, which had been
extorted from him by fear, and which, if fulfilled, might be attended
with the subjection of his native country to a foreign power. He
continued still to practise every art of popularity; to increase the
number of his partisans; to reconcile the minds of the English to the
idea of his succession; to revive their hatred of the Normans; and by
an ostentation of his power and influence, to deter the timorous
Edward from executing his intended destination in favour of William.
Fortune, about this time, threw two incidents in his way, by which he
was enabled to acquire general favour, and to increase the character,
which he had already attained, of virtue and abilities.

The Welsh, though a less formidable enemy than the Danes, had long
been accustomed to infest the western borders