own chamber, while a treaty of peace existed between them, as also by reason of the exorbitant tribute which he had unjustly levied from the whole of Northumbria, on the same day, first slew his Danish household servants, Amund and Ravenswearc, whom they stopped in their flight outside of the walls of the city, and, on the following day, two hundred men of his court, on the northern side of the river Humber, and then broke open his treasury, and, carrying off all that was there, took their departure.

After this, almost all the people of that earldom, assembling together, met Harold, the duke of Wessex, and the other persons whom, at the request of Tosti, the king had sent to them for the purpose of making peace, at Northampton. First there, and afterwards at Oxford, on the day of the Apostles Saint Simon and Saint Jude, on Harold and many others attempting to reconcile them to earl Tosti, they all with one voice refused, and pronounced him an outlaw, together with all those who had encouraged him to enact unjust laws, and, after the feast of All Saints, with the aid of earl Edwin, expelled Tosti from England; on which, together with his wife, he forthwith repaired to Baldwin, earl of Flanders, and passed the winter at Saint Omer. By the king's command, Morcar was appointed earl over the people of Northumbria.

After these things, king Edward began gradually to sicken, and, on the Nativity of our Lord, held his court at London, as well as he was able, and with great glory caused the church, which he himself had erected from the foundation, in honor of Saint Peter the chief of the Apostles, to be dedicated on the day of the Holy Innocents.

In the year from the incarnation of our Lord 1066, king Edward the Peaceful, son of king Egelred, that honor to the English, departed this life at London, in the fourth year of the indiction, on the vigil of the Epiphany of our Lord, being the fifth day of the week, after having held the kingly authority over the Anglo-Saxons twenty-three years, six months, and twenty-seven days; and, on the following day, he was buried with royal honors, and most bitter was the grief of all then present, and attended with plenteous tears.

After his burial, the viceroy Harold, son of earl Godwin, whom, before his decease, the king had appointed his successor, was elevated to the throne by all the chief men of Eng

land, and was on the same day, with due honor, consecrated king by Aldred, the archbishop of York.

Respecting the miracles which God, who is ever wonderful and glorious in his Saints, deigned to work for Saint Edward, the king and confessor, during his life, a few words are here annexed. On a certain day, while the said king lay prostrate in prayer before the altar at Westminster, during the celebration of the mass, he saw in a vision, as though the king of the Danes had prepared a great ship, for the purpose of a hostile invasion of England; but, when he was about to enter from a boat into the larger ship, he slipped down between them and sank, immediately on which his ship went to pieces. On seeing this miracle, the blessed king Edward smiled, and gave exceeding thanks to God. On this, the bishop, who was celebrating the mass, was afraid that the king had seen something about him in the celebration thereof to cause his laughter. Consequently, after the mass was finished, the bishop, having called together earl Harold and others of the king's nobles who were then present, anxiously asked the king why he had smiled during the celebration of the mass; on which, the king related to him the vision he had seen; and the day and hour being marked, they sent messengers to Denmark, and found that it had happened to the king of the Danes just as king Edward had predicted.

Another story relative to the same king. One day, when the before-named Edward, king of the English, was on a journey, there met him John, the blessed Apostle and Evangelist, under the form of a poor man, and begged alms of him. As the king had no money at hand to give him, he took his ring from off his finger and gave it to him. Now, on the same day, the same blessed Evangelist appeared to a certain stranger, as he was going forth from the holy city of Jerusalem, and said to him, "Whence comest thou, and whither art thou going?" To which the stranger made answer, "I am from England, and I am desirous of returning thither." The Apostle then said to him, "Dost thou know Edward, the king of England?" On which he made answer, 66 My lord, I do know him." The Apostle then said to him, "Take this ring, and carry it to king Edward, and tell him that the Apostle John sends him back this ring, which he himself gave to him this day on the road as he was walking; and may the good angel of the Lord accompany

thee, and grant thee a prosperous journey, Amen." On this, taking the ring and bidding him farewell, he saw the Apostle

no more.

Now, on the same day, under the guidance of the Lord, to whom nothing is impossible, this stranger arrived in England, and, delivering the ring to the king, told him everything that had happened to him on the road, and how, on that day, he had returned from Jerusalem. Although this seemed to be impossible, still, in consequence of the assertions of sojourners who had been with him at Jerusalem, and who, a long time after this, returned into England, it was found to be the truth.

On another occasion it befell the same king Edward, that, on a certain day, he was taken by the queen and earl Harold to his treasury, to see a large sum of money which the queen and earl Harold, without the knowledge of the king, had collected for his necessities (namely, four pennies from every hide of land throughout each province of England, in order that the king might, by the day of the Nativity of our Lord, purchase clothes for the necessities of the soldiers and his servants); having entered the treasury, the queen and earl Harold accompanying him, he beheld the devil seated upon the money; on which the king said to him, "What dost thou do here?" Whereto the devil made answer, "I am here keeping guard over my money." Upon this, the king said to him, "I conjure thee by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, tell me how it is that this money is thine." To this the devil made answer, and said, "Because it has been unjustly obtained out of the substance of the poor." During all this, those who attended him were standing astonished at hearing them talk, but seeing no one except the king; who afterwards said to them, "Restore this money to those from whom it was taken;" and his commands were immediately complied with.

Another story relative to this king. On a certain day of state, when Edward, the above-named king of the English, had been crowned at London and was clothed in royal vestments, and was going from his palace towards the monastery, 23 accompanied by a crowd of nobles, archbishops, bishops, clergy, and people, there sat in the way by which the king was

23 Probably of Westminster.

about to pass, a certain leprous man, full of running sores. Those who went before rebuked him, and, wishing to remove him thence, bade him hold his peace; on which, the king said to them, "Allow him to sit there." When the king had approached him, the leper thus addressed him, "I conjure thee, by the living God, to carry me on thy shoulders into the church';" upon which the king, bowing down his head, ordered the leper to be placed on his shoulders. And it came to pass, that, when the king moved on, and prayed to the Lord that He would restore the leper to health, his prayers were heard, and the leper was made whole from that hour, praising and blessing the Lord.24

Harold, as soon as he had begun to reign, proceeded to abolish all unjust laws and to enact just ones, to become the zealous patron of churches and monasteries, to venerate and encourage the bishops, abbats, monks, and clergy, to show himself pious, humble, and affable to all, and to hold evil-doers in detestation. For he gave general orders to the dukes, earls, sheriffs, and thanes, to seize all thieves, robbers, and disturbers of the realm, and himself used every exertion, for the defence of the country, both by sea and land.

In the same year, on the eighth day before the calends of May, there appeared a comet, not only in England, but even, it is said, throughout the whole world. It made its appearance during seven days, and shone with extreme brightness; whence the saying;

In the year one thousand sixty-six

A comet all England's gaze did fix.24*

Shortly after this, earl Tosti, returning from Flanders, landed in the Isle of Wight, and, having compelled the islanders to find him tribute and provisions, took his departure and collected plunder near the sea-shore, until he came to the port of Sandwich. On hearing this, king Harold, who was then staying at London, ordered a considerable fleet, and an

24 With this king originated the supposed efficacy of the royal touch for king's evil; which was supposed to be possessed by the royal family of England till the reign of queen Anne, the last who practised it.

24* This translation is about as good as the rhyming verses in the original:

Anno milleno, sexageno, quoque seno
Anglorum metæ crinem sensêre cometa.

army of horse, to be levied, and himself made preparations to set out for the port of Sandwich. When this was reported to earl Tosti, taking with him some of the mariners who were well inclined and some who were ill-wishers to him, he retreated, directing his course to Lindesey, where he burned a great number of towns, and put many men to death.

On learning this, Edwin, earl of Mercia, and Morcar, earl of Northumbria, flew to their rescue with an army, and drove him out of that country. On his departure thence, he repaired to Malcolm, king of the Scots, and remained with him all the summer. In the meantime, king Harold came to the port of Sandwich, and there waited for his fleet, which, when it had assembled, came to the Isle of Wight, and, as William, duke of the Normans, the cousin of king Edward, was making preparations to invade England with an army, all the summer and autumn he was awaiting his arrival, and, besides, kept a land force in suitable positions near the sea-shore. However, on the approach of the nativity of Saint Mary, their provisions failing, the fleet and the land force returned home.

After this, Harold Harfager, king of Norway, and brother of Saint Olaf, came with a very strong fleet, amounting to more than five hundred large ships, and anchored suddenly at Tynemouth; on which earl Tosti met him, as they had previously arranged, with his fleet, and, making all speed, they entered the mouth of the river Humber, and then, sailing against tide up the river Ouse, landed at a place which is called Richale. When this became known to king Harold, he speedily moved his troops towards Northumbria; but, before the king could come thither, the two brothers, earls Edwin and Morcar, with a large army, had had an engagement with the Norwegians on the northern bank of the river Ouse, near York, on the vigil of Saint Matthew the Apostle, being the fourth day of the week; and had at the first onset, manfully fighting, slain great numbers. But, after the battle had lasted a long time, the English, being unable to sustain the attack of the Norwegians, and having lost a great number of their men, turned their backs, and far more were drowned in the river than slain in the battle.

The Norwegians having gained the victory, and having taken one hundred and fifty hostages from the city of York,