It was held that no Norman was bound to follow the Duke in an
attempt to win for himself a crown beyond the sea. But voluntary
help was soon ready. A meeting of the whole baronage of Normandy
was held at Lillebonne. The assembly declined any obligation which
could be turned into a precedent, and passed no general vote at
all. But the barons were won over one by one, and each promised
help in men and ships according to his means.

William had thus, with some difficulty, gained the support of his
own subjects; but when he had once gained it, it was a zealous
support. And as the flame spread from one part of Europe to
another, the zeal of Normandy would wax keener and keener. The
dealings of William with foreign powers are told us in a confused,
piecemeal, and sometimes contradictory way. We hear that embassies
went to the young King Henry of Germany, son of the great Emperor,
the friend of England, and also to Swegen of Denmark. The Norman
story runs that both princes promised William their active support.
Yet Swegen, the near kinsman of Harold, was a friend of England,
and the same writer who puts this promise into his mouth makes him
send troops to help his English cousin. Young Henry or his
advisers could have no motive for helping William; but subjects of
the Empire were at least not hindered from joining his banner. To
the French king William perhaps offered the bait of holding the
crown of England of him; but Philip is said to have discouraged
William's enterprise as much as he could. Still he did not hinder
French subjects from taking a part in it. Of the princes who held
of the French crown, Eustace of Boulogne, who joined the muster in
person, and Guy of Ponthieu, William's own vassal, who sent his
son, seem to have been the only ones who did more than allow the
levying of volunteers in their dominions. A strange tale is told