Page:15 decisive battles of the world Vol 2 (London).djvu/27

 the enterprise, which the very elements thus seemed to fight against; though, in reality, the north-east wind which had cooped them so long at the mouth of the Dive, and the western gale which had forced them into St. Valery, were the best possible friends to the invaders. They prevented the Normans from crossing the Channel until the Saxon king and his army of defence had been called away from the Sussex coast to encounter Harald Hardrada in Yorkshire; and also until a formidable English fleet, which by King Harold's orders had been cruising in the Channel to intercept the Normans, had been obliged to disperse temporarily for the purpose pf refitting and taking in fresh stores of provisions. Duke William used every expedient to reanimate the drooping spirits of his men at St. Valery; and at last he caused the body of the Patron Saint of the place to be exhumed and carried in solemn procession, while the whole assemblage of soldiers, mariners, and appurtenant priests, implored the Saint's intercession for a change of wind. That very night the wind veered, and enabled the mediæval Agamemnon to quit his Aulis. With full sails, and a following southern breeze, the Norman Armada left the French shores, and steered for England. The invaders crossed an undefended sea, and found an undefended coast.