King Harold was dead, but England was not subdued. The Wittenagemot had already reassembled in London to choose a new leader for resistance to the invasion. The sons of Harold were still children; and in accordance with a passion for hereditary right remarkable in a country which had often rejected that principle, the popular assembly chose Edgar Atheling, a grand-nephew of Edward the Confessor, to receive the perilous title of king of England. But Edgar was young, his intellect was feeble, and the chiefs who surrounded him were haughty and undisciplined. Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury, was still endeavoring to organize the army, with the assistance of the Earls Edwin and Morcar, when the approach of the Normans rendered it necessary to make an immediate effort. After leaving Hastings, near which town he afterwards built Battle Abbey, the Conqueror had begun his march upon London. The city was well defended: after a slight attack William set fire to Southwark, and, spreading his troops over the country, pillaged the domains of all the thanes assembled at the Wittenagemot. He enclosed the capital in a circle of fire and plunder which raised fears of a famine. Edwin and Morcar, as well as the Saxon prelates, had already begun to lose courage. The reinforcements expected from the distant provinces were stopped by the Normans. William was at Berkhampstead, still threatening London. An embassy was despatched with a view to conciliate him. {104} Soon afterwards the young king Edgar and all his counsellors, including Stigand, Edwin, and Morcar, presented themselves before the Norman--the king to renounce his empty title, the earls to swear fidelity to the conqueror. The duke received them affably: he promised in his turn to govern with mildness, in accordance with the ancient laws, and raising his camp at Berkhampstead he advanced towards London. For a moment he had appeared to hesitate with regard to the opportunity for his coronation; but his barons urged him to take the title which he had won at the point of the sword, and William voluntarily allowed himself to be guided by them, though only consenting to stay in London after he should have built a fortress for his residence.