BoAr: FNQ: Hereward XII
http:// boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQsupXII.htm
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edit 28 May 2008.
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The Bourne Archive
FNQ
This
thread begins with the title
page
De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis.
De secundo bello apud
Scaldemariland, et quomodo gens illa ad pugnam, vel cum quibus armis processit,
et qualiter Herwardus suum contra ordinavit exercitum.
Confestim ergo omnis illa
infesta natio et gens non approbanda, undique protinus ex insula et mari omnem
multitudinem terræ convenire jubent, et incursantes et infestantes suos fines
exterminare, et illos in xiijo die1 radicitus confestim a facie terræ
exterminare mandant, ne modicum fundati non leviter excludantur, aut potius
alienigenis his diebus subacti fierent, sicut gens Anglorum a Francigenis, nec
subdita, audierant. Collectis autem in unum omnibus ad Flandrensem exercitum ut
absciderentur mandaverunt, solummodo vita comite amissis omnibus quicunque ibi
etiam advenerant, præter aliquas naves, navalia ac insuper ducem exercitus
Robertum et Herwardum magistrum militum et tribunos cuneorum illis traderent
interficiendos pro omnibus. Conduxerant enim simul plaustra et quadrigas, ut
res eorum abducerentur et arma. Quibus perceptis, innuente et hoc Herwardo,
cunctas quadrigas et currus ante legatos igni tradiderunt et ipsos in mediis
flammis projicti judicaverint, nisi jura internunciorum apud illos frangi viderentur,
et fœdera legationis violari. Suasit ergo Herwardus exercitus [exercitui] et primatibus legatos hos
paululum vi aut blandimentis aliquantum detineri, ex eis cum donis remitti quis
aliis promaioribus moras agens, et reliquos ut interim præpararent se ad bellum
suasque acies ordinarent, constituto etiam unicuique aciei ductore imperio et
magistro. His autem omnibus facta succedunt. Porro gens illa improvisa [improvida] et inexperta, visis aliquibus
nuntiis muneribus valde honustris, ad tales æstuantes res plurimi erga illos
converterunt, sibi potiora ante alios arripere volentes. Quos obvios trecenti
electi milites cum suo duce Herwardo ante exercitum explorare præcurrentes
habuerunt, et ex eis non minimam cædem fecerunt, et aliquos usque ad tentoria
collegarum suorum persecuti sunt ; unde omnes vehementer attoniti
obstupuerunt, deceptos se incauti nunc ex hoc intelligentes. Pro quo enim cum
ira magna et indignatione maxima suo more ad bellum præparati procederent,
nullo modo nec aliquem præterire vivum conjurantes, his armis præcincti et
muniti ; cum feltreis togis pice et resina atque in thure intinctis, seu
cum tunicis ex coria valde cortis, et in manibus hastilia clavata et torta ad
pugnendum vel ad retrahendum, seu ad percutiendum, et cum tribus jaculis
quadratis aut quatuor ad jaciendum. Inter duos quippe sic munitos, unus semper
cum gladio vel cum secure constituebatur, præferens etiam scutum illorum
duorum. Habuerunt enim nimis multam et magnam multitudinem, sed incompositam. Dux vero Flandrensis exercitus et Herwardus magister
militum videntes illos in convalle descendere, super montana contra
suum statuerunt exercitum. Et pariter congressi, paulatim aliis imminentibus recedebant
omnio, volentibus illis omnes eos ab suis tentoriis longius protrahere. Quum
enim multum a suo præsidio recessissent, fugere quidem Flandrenses cessarunt et
conversi steterunt ad pugnam, et Herwardus cum mille equitibus et cum sexcentis
armatis ad castra eorum in circuitu perere que ignem succendit, et omnes
tentoria eorum custodientes necavit, et sic suam aciem a tergo Scaldemariensium
conduxit, ubi omnes pene armis vacuos offendit, nullo modo resistere valentes
dispersi sunt. Qui autem in primis aciebus fuerunt, inopinabilem rem
intelligentes, et suos undique confugere videntes, inexperti in bello et
imperfecti ex fuga in quodam districto loco pariter conglobati tandem præsidium
invenerunt. His jaculis et machinamentis Scaldemarienses usque ad tenebrosam noctem
illo in loco necabantur. Quæ obtenebrata utrumque exercitum tandem divisit, ante
ortum quidem luciferi, nocte eadem luna modicum
illucescente. Herwardus cum sexaginta viris, quos ad naves pridie custodiendas
reliquerat, intempesta nocte, ad castra Scaldemariensium, nemine ex suis hoc percipiente, reversus est, ubi et multos jaculando
peremit et innumerabiles ac majores quosque vulneratos reddidit. Quod eis
inopinabilem rem et ultra spem bellandi fuit. Quumque summo mane
exercitus ab utrisque ad opus bellicum et certamina committenda esset jam in
acie constitutus, Scaldemarienses concite legatos miserunt, cum illis
misericordiam agere orantes et deprecantes. Quo pacto, omnem justitiam de
injura se facturos promiserunt ex tunc, et sicut servi dominis servituros, et
si gratiam apud illos invenirent, atque omnes illos qui manus in suos legatos
miserant vel assensum præbuerant, seu in verbo aut in facto offenderant, se a
minimo usque ad maximum ditioni eorum tradituros. Quos gratanter acceptis
obsidibus susceperunt, in septimo die illis constituentes responsuros.
The Exploits of Hereward
the Saxon.
Of the second war at Scaldemariland, and
how that nation advanced to the fight, and with what arms :
and how Hereward arranged his army against them.
Immediately then all that dangerous
nation and outrageous people, ordered the whole population of the country from
all sides from the island and the sea to come together, and to ravage and lay
waste their borders, and they command them to do so very thoroughly within 14
days1,
lest being so little secure they should be wholly driven out, or rather
become subject within that time to the foreigners, like the English people to
the French2 ; nor had they heard a false report. And
having gathered all together into one place by the army of the men of Flanders,
they3
gave orders that they4 should be cut off ;
all the men who had come thither might have their lives spared, but to lose
everything else except a few ships and their tackling and were to deliver up
besides, Robert5, the leader of the army,
and Hereward, the master of the soldiers, and the tribunes of the companies, to
them, to be put to death in the place of all the others. For they6 had brought to the same place wagons and
chariots, so as to convey away their7
possessions and arms. Perceiving this, and at Hereward’s suggestion, they8 set all their9
chariots and cars on fire before the ambassadors ; and would have ordered them
to be cast into the flames themselves, had it not been that the rights of
intermediaries would seem to be broken, and the privilege of an embassy to be
violated. And therefore Hereward persuaded the army and the chief men that
these ambassadors should be detained for a little time, either by force or by
cajolery, and the rest10 meantime to
get ready for fighting, and arrange to take their lines, appointing likewise to
each line a leader, an appointed work, and a superintendent. All this in the
event proved successful. Because that people11,
imprudent and inexperienced, seeing some messengers heavily laden with
presents, and eagerly coveting such things, in great numbers made their way to
them, each wishing to secure the best things before the others. But three
hundred picked soldiers under the leadership of Hereward encountered these as
they were running in front of the army to reconnoitre, and made no small
slaughter of them, and pursued some right up to the tents of their comrades :
whereupon all were completely astounded, realising now that they had been taken
unawares. And accordingly with great anger and supreme indignation, they were
advancing ready for battle, vowing that they would not leave a single man
alive. And they were girt and protected with these arms :
with coats of felt dipped in pitch and resin and incense, or tunics strongly
made of leather, and in their hands spears studded with nails and twisted for
thrusting and pulling away, or for striking, and with three or four squared
javelins for throwing. And Between each couple so armed, one was always set
with a sword or an axe, bearing also a shield before the couple. For they had
an exceedingly large multitude, but badly arranged. Now the leader of the
Flemish army, and Hereward the master of the soldiers12,
seeing them go down into the valley, drew up their army against them on the
heights. And when they came together, as little by little others came against them, they altogether retreated, since they wished to draw
them all away from their tents. For when they had advanced some distance from
their quarters, the men of Flanders ceased flying, and turned and stood to
battle, and Hereward with 1000 horse soldiers and 600 armed men killed those
who were guarding their camp, and so led his force to the rear of the men of
Scaldemariland, where he came upon them all almost unarmed, and being wholly
unable to resist they were routed. But those who were in the front lines,
realising this unexpected occurrence, and seeing their men flying in all
directions, being inexperienced and untrained in war, at length found a place
of safety from their flight in a certain secluded spot. But in that place the
men of Scaldemariland kept being slain with javelins and missiles up till
nightfall. And the night, covering everything with darkness, at last separated
the armies, before the rising of the morning star, the moon the same night
shining very slightly. Hereward with 600 men, whom he had left the day before
to guard the ships, in the dead of night, returned to the camp of the men of
Scaldemariland, without anyone perceiving it, and there killed many by hurling
javelins, and wounded a great number, including some of the officers. And this
was to them quite unexpected, and beyond all their experience in warfare. And
when in full daylight the armies on both sides had been drawn up in line for
the engagement, the men of Scaldemariland hastily sent ambassadors, praying and
entreating them to have mercy. And a bargain having been made, they promised
that they would do every justice for their wrong-doing then, and would like
slaves serve their lords, and if they should find favour with them, that they
would deliver over to their sway all the men who had laid hands on their
ambassadors, or who had consented to it, or who had offended in word or deed,
from the least to the greatest. And having received hostages, they gladly
accepted them arranging that they would send them an answer on the seventh day.
Thanks to
Wikipedia for the map: green =
Charlemagne accumulated an
exceptionally large empire and soon after Pope Leon III had crowned him emperor
in 800, by way of thanks for having recovered
The mix is further complicated in that,
like
1. ↑ The use of the preposition ‘in’, the ordinal number ending ‘o’ and the ablative form of
the noun for the unit of time, ‘die’
is the Medieval Latin (ML) expression for ‘time when’ (Sidwell K p. 367). The
expression ‘in xiijo die’ might
therefore be translated as ‘on the 13th day’, but Sweeting’s ‘within
14 days’ is probably nearer to Hugh Candidus’s intention.
2. ↑ ‘Like the English’: this was of course,
written with hindsight, after the Norman Conquest
but at the time of the events recorded here, that had begun - in the preceding October.
However,
the passage ‘aut potius
.. .. audierant’ (‘or rather become .. .. a
false report’) might be better translated as ‘or rather, within that period,
they might be defeated by the foreigners; just as, they had heard, the English
nation (with ‘had been defeated’ understood), though not subdued, by the
French.’ The essence of the matter lies in the phrase ‘nec subdita’, which may be translated literally as ‘though not
subdued’, the final –a
of subdita agreeing with the
feminine noun gens, gentis f.
The verb subdo has meanings:-
i. Root: put/place under
ii. Primary: subdue, subject
iii. Secondary: substitute (especially falsely), counterfeit
The
suggested translation takes the primary meaning while Sweeting has evidently
taken the secondary one, though this takes no account of the feminine ending. of subdita.
Hugh
Candidus, the original writer of the Latin, appears to have been leaving scope
for Hereward’s future deeds in England while Sweeting’s translation would tend
to preclude what the story goes on to tell us, happened. (FWP)
3. The
Zeelanders.
4. The Flemings.
5. Robert: this is Robert, b.
1031 son of Baldwin
V and Aelide. As
Robert I, he became Regent of Holland from 1071 to 1093.
6. The
Zeelanders.
7. The
Flemings.
8. The
Flemings.
9. The
Zeelanders.
10. ↑ The rest of the Flemish army.
11. The
Zeelanders.
12. ↑ Magister Militum is a term arising ultimately,
from reforms of civil and military organization beginning in the reign of Diocletian, in the third century.
A man
described thus was a commander of mobile field army, responsible to a superior.
It is interesting to see that the Latin term for Hereward’s position in the
Flemish army is directly reflected in his own name. The possible implications of this
are discussed on a separate page.