The statesmanship of William had triumphed.The people of England had chosen their king, and a large part of the world had been won over by the arts of a foreign prince to believe that it was a righteous and holy work to set him on the throne to which the English people had chosen the foremost man among themselves.No diplomatic success was ever more thorough.Unluckily we know nothing of the state of feeling in England while William was plotting and pleading beyond the sea.Nor do we know how much men in England knew of what was going on in other lands, or what they thought when they heard of it.We know only that, after Harold had won over Northumberland, he came back and held the Easter Gemot at Westminster.Then in the words of the Chronicler, "it was known to him that William Bastard, King Edward's kinsman, would come hither and win this land." This is all that our own writers tell us about William Bastard, between his peaceful visit to England in 1052 and his warlike visit in 1066.But we know that King Harold did all that man could do to defeat his purposes, and that he was therein loyally supported by the great mass of the English nation, we may safely say by all, save his two brothers-in-law and so many as they could influence.
William's doings we know more fully.The military events of this wonderful year there is no need to tell in detail.But we see that William's generalship was equal to his statesmanship, and that it was met by equal generalship on the side of Harold.Moreover, the luck of William is as clear as either his statesmanship or his generalship.When Harold was crowned on the day of the Epiphany, he must have felt sure that he would have to withstand an invasion of England before the year was out.But it could not have come into the mind of Harold, William, or Lanfranc, or any other man, that he would have to withstand two invasions of England at the same moment.
It was the invasion of Harold of Norway, at the same time as the invasion of William, which decided the fate of England.The issue of the struggle might have gone against England, had she had to strive against one enemy only; as it was, it was the attack made by two enemies at once which divided her strength, and enabled the Normans to land without resistance.The two invasions came as nearly as possible at the same moment.Harold Hardrada can hardly have reached the Yorkshire coast before September; the battle of Fulford was fought on September 20th and that of Stamfordbridge on September 25th.William landed on September 28th, and the battle of Senlac was fought on October 14th.Moreover William's fleet was ready by August 12th; his delay in crossing was owing to his waiting for a favourable wind.When William landed, the event of the struggle in the North could not have been known in Sussex.He might have had to strive, not with Harold of England, but with Harold of Norway as his conqueror.
At what time of the year Harold Hardrada first planned his invasion of England is quite uncertain.We can say nothing of his doings till he is actually afloat.And with the three mighty forms of William and the two Harolds on the scene, there is something at once grotesque and perplexing in the way in which an English traitor flits about among them.The banished Tostig, deprived of his earldom in the autumn of 1065, had then taken refuge in Flanders.
He now plays a busy part, the details of which are lost in contradictory accounts.But it is certain that in May 1066 he made an ineffectual attack on England.And this attack was most likely made with the connivance of William.It suited William to use Tostig as an instrument, and to encourage so restless a spirit in annoying the common enemy.It is also certain that Tostig was with the Norwegian fleet in September, and that he died at Stamfordbridge.We know also that he was in Scotland between May and September.It is therefore hard to believe that Tostig had so great a hand in stirring up Harold Hardrada to his expedition as the Norwegian story makes out.Most likely Tostig simply joined the expedition which Harold Hardrada independently planned.One thing is certain, that, when Harold of England was attacked by two enemies at once, it was not by two enemies acting in concert.The interests of William and of Harold of Norway were as much opposed to one another as either of them was to the interests of Harold of England.
