The outlaws had, at this time, what they called a Camp of Refuge, in
the midst of the fens of Cambridgeshire. Protected by those marshy
grounds which were difficult of approach, they lay among the reeds and
rushes, and were hidden by the mists that rose up from the watery
earth. Now, there also was, at that time, over the sea in Flanders, an
Englishman named Hereward, whose father had died in his absence, and
whose property had been given to a Norman. When he heard of this wrong
that had been done him (from such of the exiled English as chanced to
wander into that country), he longed for revenge; and joining the
outlaws in their camp of refuge, became their commander. He was so good
a soldier, that the Normans supposed him to be aided by enchantment.
William, even after he had made a road three miles in length across the
Cambridgeshire marshes, on purpose to attack this supposed enchanter,
thought it necessary to engage an old lady, who pretended to be a
sorceress, to come and do a little enchantment in the royal cause. For
this purpose she was pushed on before the troops in a wooden tower; but
Hereward very soon disposed of this unfortunate sorceress, by burning
her, tower and all. The monks of the convent of Ely near at hand,
however, who were fond of good living, and who found it very
uncomfortable to have the country blockaded and their supplies of meat
and drink cut off, showed the King a secret way of surprising the camp.
So Hereward was soon defeated. Whether he afterwards died quietly, or
whether he was killed after killing sixteen of the men who attacked him
(as some old rhymes relate that he did), I cannot say. His defeat put
an end to the Camp of Refuge; and, very soon afterwards, the King,
victorious both in Scotland and in England, quelled the last rebellious
English noble. He then surrounded himself with Norman lords, enriched
by the property of English nobles; had a great survey made of all the
land in England, which was entered as the property of its new owners,
on a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to put out their
fires and candles at a certain hour every night, on the ringing of a
bell which was called The Curfew; introduced the Norman dresses and
manners; made the Normans masters everywhere, and the English,
servants; turned out the English bishops, and put Normans in their
places; and showed himself to be the Conqueror indeed.
But, even with his own Normans, he had a restless life. They were
always hungering and thirsting for the riches of the English; and the
more he gave, the more they wanted. His priests were as greedy as his
soldiers. We know of only one Norman who plainly told his master, the
King, that he had come with him to England to do his duty as a faithful
servant, and that property taken by force from other men had no charms
for him. His name was Guilbert. We should not forget his name, for it
is good to remember and to honour honest men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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