HI SOLDIERS AND SAILORS Henry; he conciliated Philip, King of France, by offering to hold England as his vassal ; and most important of all he obtained the sanction of Rome. Pope Alexander II., not' only issued a bull declaring William to be the right- ful heir to the throne, but sent him a ring and a banner as symbols that the bless- ing of heaven was on his claim. Embarking at St. Valery, William landed, on 28th of September, at Pevensey. The battle of Senlac or Hastings (October 14, 1066), was a decisive victory for the Duke of Normandy; but it took five years more to complete the conquest of England. Early in 1067 William made a progress through the eastern and central parts of his new dominions. All that had as yet submitted to him was comprised in the old kingdoms of Wessex and East Anglia, and a small portion of Mercia. He at once secured his hold over these districts by the erection of fortresses in London. Norwich, and elsewhere. He received homage from the great men ; he confiscated the lands of those who had resisted him ; and, while keeping a large number of manors for himself, he granted others to his followers. Even those who had not resisted were regarded as having legally forfeited their title and had to submit to a re-grant on less advantageous terms. In March, 1067, William returned to Normandy, taking with him as hostages the Earls Eadwine, Morkere and Waltheof. The revolts which broke out in the north arjji southwest compelled him to return to England in December. Early in 1068 he marched on Exeter, as the centre of the western revolt. He took the town and built a castle, after which he subdued Cornwall, and then marching northward forced Bristol to submit. In the summer of 1068 there was a general rising of the North, of which Eadgar was the nominal head ; but Eadwine and Morkere were the moving spirits. The in- surgents were aided by Malcolm, King of Scotland. William had, however, only to show himself in order to put down the insurrection. He journeyed north- ward, by way of Warwick and Nottingham, to .York, received the submission of Eadwine, Morkere, and Malcolm, and returned by way of Lincoln and Cam- bridge. His march was accompanied by heavy confiscations, and great castles, rising in places of vantage, rendered the Norman power at once visible and se- cure. In the spring of 1069 a fresh revolt broke out. Robert of Comines, the newly appointed Earl of Northumberland, was slain at Durham ; a Danish fleet entered the H umber, and a Danish army, joined by Eadgar and Waltheof, seized and burned York. The sons of Harold attacked Devon, while other isolated outbreaks took place in the west. These were speedily put down by William's lieutenants; and in the autumn the king himself, going northward a second time, recovered York, and harried Northumberland with ruthless deliberation. Returning to keep Christmas at York, he set out again in January, 1070, to oppose Malcolm, who had crossed the border in aid of the insurgents. He forced Waltheof to submit, and drove the Scottish king back into his own coun- try ; then, marching over pathless fells in the depth of winter, he reached Ches- ter, took the town, and founded another castle.
