Boar:FNQ:HerewardXX
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De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis.
XX.
Quomodo illi qui in insula
Eliensi fuerunt, pro Herwardo miserunt, ubi in via insidias comites de Warenne
percepit.
At vero
illi qui in Eliensi insula erant, et qui jam illam contra regem Willelmum, qui
Angliam bello obtinuerat, tenere inceperant, tanti viri videlicet Herwardi
reversionem audientes, pro eo statim miserunt, atque ei etiam per nuncios
mandata exponunt, ut ad eos simul cum omnibus suis veniat, una cum eis in
defensionem patriæ et paternæ libertatis consors effecturus, et inter illos
sicut tantus miles omnibus modis honore habendus. Et hi enim nominatim ex parte
abbatis Eliensis ecclesiæ Turstani et monachorum ei magis proponunt et mandant,
quorum dominio insula quidem erat, et a quibus et per quos magis contra regem
munietabur, quia ipse rex quendam externum monachum super eos constituere
voluerat, ex eis pro quibus jamdudum miserat de gente Franchorum monachis, ut
in omnibus ecclesiis Anglorum decanos constitueret et præpositos.
Ast quidem
insignis miles et maritima cognoscens eorum Brumannus nomine, hoc prænoscens,
in mari illos obvios habuit, et omnes in pelago mersos per saccum maximum quem
ad caput navis digaverat transire fecit, sic monasteria Anglorum et cognatos ab
externa dominatione tunc liberans. Qua legatione percepta gravisus est, et suum
iter illuc tandem præparatum Herwardus direxit, apud Bardeneiam navim
ingressus. Quod audiens comes de Warenne, cujus fratrem jamdudum ipse Herwardus
occiderat, in occursum ejus multas
insidias per occultas latebras juxta paludem insulæ exitus præparante,
et circa aquas prope terram custodiam posuit caute, et absque suorum gravi cæde
eum capere sperans. Tandem ista tamen Herwardo non latuerunt, offensis quibusdam
ex custodibus super quosdam ex suis extentas manus
habentes et telis eos etiam persequentes. Quibus adjutis, et illis invasoribus
captis, ab eis didicit a comite de Warenne has insidias factas, et ipsum in
crastino apud Herbeche esse venturum. Quo accelerans naves suas Herwardus, et
suos ibi collocavit, et prope ripam fluminis armatos abscondit, et ipse cum
tribus militibus et quatuor sagittariis bene armis munitis ad alvei flumen
accessit, ubi etiam comes cum suis ex parte altera juxta ripam et tunc super
venerat. Quibus visis quidam propius ad illos mittunt, qui ita ad illos
exoritur : Nunquid et vos ex collega illius sceleratissimi Herwardi estis,
qui tantos dolo oppressit, et tam multos secum ad nefanda opera contraxit?
Proditus nunc domino nostro comiti utinam malignus ille sit, condignos vos cum
eo mercede et honore habituro, si adquiescitis. Quæ non infesta vis inimici nos
ulterius ad hoc sollicitet in invisa ista palude ultra habitare et per luteam
paludem atque inter aquarum gurgites et arundinum asperitates sequi inermem, in
proximo una die cum eo omnes morti tradendos. Jam enim rex totam insulam
exercitu suo undique circumdedit, et terram de eo exterius co-operuit ut omnes
habitatores illius perdat. His dictis, quidam ex eis adjecit : Quousque,
nequissime, quanto nobis proditionem domini et dominum derelinquere
instruis ? cito revertens amove pedem, ne
sævis jaculis occumbas, et domino tuo
ipsum esse citra aquam interrogat refer. Comes quidem his cognitis statim
adfuit, et, viso illo, suis exhortatus est ut ad eum omnes cum illo natatu
aquam transcenderet, in illo fratris sanguinem vindicaturus et mortem. Id vero
nequaquam posse fieri intulerunt, dicentes eum ad hoc venisse ut eos isto modo
deciperet, unde ingemiscens erga illos aquam ultra positos affatur :
Unitam iste vir Belial8, magister vester, meæ
manui nunc subjaceret, vere ex ea pœnas gustaret et mortem. Quæ verba Herwardus
intelligens, intulit : Et si soli in aliquo loco nos optanda fortuna
coiret, vere non me tuis invalidis manibus subjacere peroptares, nec societatem
approbares ; et modicum Herwardus inclinans se, tetendit arcum sagittamque emisit injecto pectore
ipsius comitis fortiter. Ast lorica protegente resiluit, tamen ex animis pene
factus ex ictu.
Quo facto,
sui erga suum dominum valde solliciti quod ex ictu de proprio inclinaverat
equo, cum in ulnis velociter asportarunt. At Herwardus interdum discessit, et
in Eliensi insula eadem die cum suis secessit, ubi nunc maxima cum veneratione
ab abbate ejusdem loci et a monachis suscipitur, et a majoribus ejusdem insulæ
veneratur, silicet a quodam comite de Leycestre Adwino, et a fratre ipsius
Morkere comes de Warwic, et ab alio comite Tosti nomine, qui ad eos in insula
confugerant, a prædicto rege multis injuriis passi, a plurimis exactionibus
angariati, cum nonnullis insignioribus patriæ ipsius, quos eadem causa illuc
conduxerat et fuga.
The Exploits of Hereward the Saxon.
XX.
How the men in the
But the men in the Isle of Ely1, who had begun to hold it against King William2, who had won England in war, hearing of the
return of such a man as Hereward, sent for him, and by their messengers desire
him to come to them with all his men, and take part with them in defence of
their country and the liberty3 of their
fathers, assuring him that he would in every way be most highly esteemed among
them. And these messages they deliver more especially in the name and on behalf
of Thurstan, Abbot of the Church of Ely, and his monks, whose dominion was the
Isle, and by whom it was put in defence against the King, more particularly
because he had designed to set a certain foreign monk over them ; one of those
monks for whom he had already sent from the French nation, to set as deans and
heads in all the churches of the English.
But a famous soldier, Brumannus by name,
well acquainted with the coast, having knowledge of this, met them by sea,
dipped them all in the sea in a large sack that he had attached to the prow of
his vessel, and sent them back ; thus, for the time, delivering the monasteries
of the English and their friends from foreign rule. On receiving the message
Hereward was delighted, and at once set out on the journey, embarking at
Bardney4.
Hearing this, the Earl of Warenne5, whose
brother Hereward had lately slain6,
prepared several ambushes by his road in secret places near the marsh, and with
caution put a guard round the waters by the side of the land, hoping to take
Hereward without serious loss of his own men. But these designs were not hid
from Hereward, some of the guards having fallen in with some stragglers of
Hereward’s force, and attacked them. Sending to their assistance and capturing
the attacking party, Hereward ascertained from them that the ambush was formed
by the Earl of Warenne, and that he himself was coming to Herbeche7 the next day. Whereupon Hereward made haste, and
stationed his ships and men at the spot, and hid some armed men near the river
bank ; and he himself with three knights and four archers all well armed went
close to the bank of the river, where the Earl with his men had just arrived on
the other side. On seeing them one of the Earl’s men drew near and spoke thus :
“Are you of the company of that scoundrel Hereward, who by his cunning ruined
such numbers, and has drawn so many to himself to help his nefarious deeds? I
wish the rascal could be betrayed to our lord the Earl : if you will connive at
this he will deem you worthy of reward and honour. For this force of the enemy,
though not dangerous, may drive us to this, to dwell in a dismal swamp, and to
pursue one without arms through a muddy marsh, and among the eddies of the
waters and the sharp reeds, every one of them destined to death together with
the leader at an early date. For now the King has entirely surrounded the whole
Isle with his army, and has closed in the whole land, that he may destroy all
its inhabitants.” At these words one of Hereward’s men replied : “How much
longer, you wretch, will you try to persuade us to betray and desert our
master? Make haste and withdraw, lest you fall beneath our fierce javelins ;
and tell your lord that the man for whom he is asking is on this side of the
water.” At this intelligence the Earl immediately presented himself, and at
sight of Hereward urged all his men to swim across the water with him, to avenge
the death of his brother. But they declared that this could not possibly be
done, declaring that he had come there for the very purpose of beguiling them
in that manner ; whereupon with a groan he addressed the men across the water :
“Oh! that that man of Belial8,
your master, were here now in my hands ; he should of a truth taste his due
punishment, death.” Hearing these words Hereward replied : “Yes ; and if by
good fortune we two were by ourselves in any place, you would not obtain your
wish that I should be in your weak hands, nor would you have reason to be glad
of our meeting.” And Hereward, leaning a little forward, stretched his bow and
discharged an arrow with great strength upon the breast of the Earl. And though
it glided off the corslet that protected him, yet he was almost killed by the
blow.
Upon this his men, very anxious for
their lord because he had fallen from his horse at the blow, quickly carried
him away in their arms. And Hereward went away, and the same day arrived with
his men in the Isle of Ely, where he was received with the greatest respect by
the Abbot of the place and the monks ; and much honoured by the principal men
of the Isle, namely, by Adwin Earl of Leicester9,
and his brother Morkere, Earl of Warwick10,
and another Earl, Tosti11 by name, who had
all fled to the men in the Isle, having suffered many wrongs at the hands of
the aforesaid King, being worried with many grievous exactions, with some
eminent men of the country, whom the like reason had drawn to the place.
Commentary.
1. From 970, the Isle of Ely was a liberty
governed by the Abbot of Ely but that included large areas which were in
Hereward’s time, the fen surrounding the geographical island on which the town
and its abbey were built.
In 1070, the abbey had not yet become also the, the cathedral.
2. William I
of
3. The use
of this word looks modern but it means here an area of country under local
government which was in specified ways independent of the king. In this
instance, the abbot had broad civil powers. For example, until 1837, the abbot and
latterly, the bishop ran the police force, court and jail.
4. ↑ Bardney was the site of another
abbey in the fens, this time on the River Witham in
5. William,
Earl Warenne. Later, under William II, he was made Earl of Surrey. See the
section, Estates and their management
in article William Warenne, First Earl of Surrey (DNB 2007).
6. The ‘brother’
was Frederick, William’s brother-in-law. For his place in the story see Chapter XVII.
7. While
certainty is not possible, Holbeach (TF3625) would be in a likely position for
a landfall for someone sailing from Bardney towards Ely. Also, his brother Ælfgar had held
14 carucates of land there, a holding, likely to have left a significant number
of people feeling beholden to his family (MorrisJ31 12,83-84). Indeed, it is not impossible that it had belonged
to Hereward before his family took it over when he was exiled. It is still at
some distance from Ely but trying incautiously, to approach Ely too closely by
river might be asking for trouble. The ‘bech’ element in its name implies a
tidal river through the silt bank known as the Townland but to go from Holbeach
to Ely in a day in the face of hostile patrols and potential ambush would be
very rapid progress.
Perhaps
the place of the meeting between the two leaders was already some way on from
Holbeach. It is not obvious that there should have been a fresh water
connection across Fleet, Gedney and Sutton fens to Lady Nunn’s Old Eau, for a
route to Ely but it is certainly not impossible. The text does not rule out the
possibility of his having coasted round to Wisbech and then to have met Earl
Warenne on the Well Stream, though this is not a natural interpretation of what
it does say.
Holbeach appears in the Domesday Book as
Holebech, Holoben, Holobec and Holobech. In abbreviated Latin (com Algar), it calls Hereward’s half-brother
Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, ‘Earl Algar’.
8. ↑ This is a Biblical
word deriving from Hebrew meaning worthless but it developed into being a name
for a personification of evil – Satan. (OED)
9. This will
be Edwin, Earl of Mercia, Ælfgar’s son. The question of the earldom of
10. This is the younger brother of Edwin. By
this time he was Earl of Northumbria by election.
11. The
well-known Earl Tosti(g) had been deposed from the
earldom of Northumberland, in favour of Morkere. They would not have been
likely to trust each other but that Tostig had been killed in 1066. I have
not been able to trace another Earl Tostig. Dropping the final g of a Danish
name would be natural for an English writer as to his ear, it would be silent.
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