the subtle wit of Lombard Lanfranc and Tuscan Hildebrand did as
much to overthrow us as the lance and bow of Normandy.



CHAPTER VII--WILLIAM'S INVASION OF ENGLAND--AUGUST-DECEMBER 1066



The statesmanship of William had triumphed. The people of England
had chosen their king, and a large part of the world had been won
over by the arts of a foreign prince to believe that it was a
righteous and holy work to set him on the throne to which the
English people had chosen the foremost man among themselves. No
diplomatic success was ever more thorough. Unluckily we know
nothing of the state of feeling in England while William was
plotting and pleading beyond the sea. Nor do we know how much men
in England knew of what was going on in other lands, or what they
thought when they heard of it. We know only that, after Harold had
won over Northumberland, he came back and held the Easter Gemot at
Westminster. Then in the words of the Chronicler, "it was known to
him that William Bastard, King Edward's kinsman, would come hither
and win this land." This is all that our own writers tell us about
William Bastard, between his peaceful visit to England in 1052 and
his warlike visit in 1066. But we know that King Harold did all
that man could do to defeat his purposes, and that he was therein
loyally supported by the great mass of the English nation, we may
safely say by all, save his two brothers-in-law and so many as they
could influence.