They did not flee away; they all staid, and were killed,
fighting to the last; and only then was Harold's standard of the
fighting man rooted up, and William's standard--a cross, which had
been blessed by the Pope--planted instead of it. So ended the battle
of Hastings, in the year 1066.
The land has had a great many "conquests" hitherto--the Roman conquest,
the English conquest, and now the Norman conquest. But there have
been no more since; and the kings and queens have gone on in one long
line ever since, from William of Normandy down to Queen Victoria.
CHAPTER VII.
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. A.D. 1066--1087.
The king who had conquered England was a brave, strong man, who had
been used to fighting and struggling ever since he was a young child.
He really feared God, and was in many ways a good man; but it had not
been right of him to come and take another people's country by force;
and the having done one wrong thing often makes people grow worse and
worse. Many of the English were unwilling to have William as their
king, and his Norman friends were angry that he would not let them
have more of the English lands, nor break the English laws. So they
were often rising up against him; and each time he had to put them
down he grew more harsh and stern. He did not want to be cruel; but
he did many cruel things, because it was the only way to keep England.
When the people of Northumberland rose against him, and tried to get
back the old set of kings, he had the whole country wasted with fire
and sword, till hardly a town or village was left standing.
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