Master Wace, His Chronicle of the Norman Conquest From the Roman De RouWace
History
Master Wace, His Chronicle of the Norman Conquest From the Roman De Rou
Wace
Great Britain -- History -- William I, 1066-1087
He landed at Dover; he
climbed the lofty cliff; and again he saw the land which was once his
own. Our legend does not expatiate upon the feelings which must have
swelled within his breast as he gazed: we are told, however, that they
were checked and subdued by the pre-dominating influence of religion,
which had taught him to understand the relative happiness of his former
and his present condition. Having assumed the name of Christian, and
concealed his scarred features beneath a cowl, he journeyed through
Kent, and arrived at a secluded spot in Shropshire, which the legend
names Ceswrthin. Here he constructed himself a cell, in which he
remained ten years; but at length he was compelled to seek some other
abode; 'not,' says the legend, 'because he shrank from enduring the
annoyances to which the Welsh frequently exposed him by beating him and
stealing his clothes, but because he wished to devote the remainder of
his existence to undisturbed meditation and prayer.' He left this cell
without any definite idea as to his future residence; but having
wandered to Chester, he there received a supernatural intimation that he
would find a dwelling prepared for him in the chapel of St. James,
within the churchyard of St. John the Baptist, situated upon the banks
of the river Dee, a little beyond the walls of that city. Upon arriving
at the spot thus pointed out, he found that a hermit, the late tenant of
the cell, had recently expired, and he gladly took possession of the new
residence thus provided for him. During the space of seven years which
he spent in Chester, circumstances occurred which originated and
gradually strengthened into certainty the suspicion that this recluse
was a Saxon chief of former importance, if not Harold himself. When
questioned as to his name and origin, he returned evasive answers, but
never a direct negative to those who asserted that he was once the king
of England. He admitted that he had been present at the battle of
Hastings; and that no one was nearer or dearer to Harold the king than
was Christian the hermit. But the approach of death revealed the secret,
and converted doubt into certainty; for he acknowledged in his last
confession that he was indeed the last Saxon king of England."
INDEX.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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