Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 38.djvu/398

 After the battle of Hastings Morcar and his brother arrived at London, sent their sister Aldgyth [q. v.], Harold's widow, to Chester, and urged the citizens to raise one or other of them to the throne (, Gesta Regum, iii. 247). They concurred in the election of Edgar or Eadgar the Ætheling [q. v.] (, p. 502), but disappointed of their hope left the city with their forces and returned to the north, believing that the Conqueror would not advance so far. Before long, however, they met William either at Berkhamstead (A.-S. Chronicle, an. 1066, Worcester ; at 'Beorcham,', an. 1066 ; , Historia Regum, c. 150), or more probably at Barking, after his coronation (, pp. 147, 148, see {sc|Freeman}}, Norman Conquest, iii. 794 ; , Early History of Oxford, pp. 186- 190). William accepted their submission, received from them gifts and hostages, and they were reinstated. The Conqueror carried Morcar and his brother with him into Normandy in 1067, and after his return kept them at his court. In 1068 they withdrew from the court, reached their earldoms, and rebelled against William. They were supported by a large number both of English and Welsh; the clergy, the monks, and the poor were strongly on their side, and messages were sent to every part of the kingdom to stir up resistance. Morcar's activity may perhaps be inferred from the prominent part taken in the movement by York (, p. 511). It seems probable, however, that Eadgar was nominally the head of the rebellion, and that he was specially upheld by the Bernician district under Gospatric [q. v.] Morcar and his brother were not inclined to risk too much ; they advanced with their men to Warwick, and there made submission to the Conqueror, were pardoned, and again kept at court, the king treating them with an appearance of favour. On their defection the rebellion came to nothing. In 1071 some mischief was made between them and the king, and William, it is said, was about to send them to prison, but they escaped secretly from the court. After wandering about for a while, keeping to wild country, they separated, and Morcar joined the insurgents in the isle of Ely, and remained with them until the surrender of the island. Morcar, it is said, surrendered himself on the assurance that the king would pardon him and receive him as a loyal friend (ib. p. 521 ; nothing is said about this by the chronicle-writers or Florence). William, however, committed him to the custody of Roger de Beaumont [see under, d. 1118], who kept him closely imprisoned in Normandy. When the king was on his deathbed in 1087 he ordered that Morcar should be released, in common with others whom he had kept in prison in England and Normandy, on condition that they took an oath not to disturb the peace in either land. He was not long out of prison, for William Rufus took him to England with him, and on arriving at Winchester put him in prison there. Nothing further is known about him, and it is therefore probable that he died in prison. Little can be gathered about Morcar's character, for until the death of Edwin, who was slain by his own men, shortly after the brothers parted in 1071, he almost invariably appears as acting in conjunction with his elder brother, and apparently playing a secondary part. The actions of the brothers show that they were ambitious, selfish, and untrustworthy. Edwin was personally attractive and lovable; his death was universally mourned both in England and Normandy, and the Conqueror wept when he heard of it. The terms in which the brothers are spoken of (, p. 521;, Gesta Regum, iii. 252; Liber Eliensis, pp. 230, 243, 245) indicate that Morcar had some share in his brother's more pleasing qualities.  MORDAF (i.e. the ) (fl. 550?), North British prince, figures in the 'Historical Triads' (Myvyrian Archaiology, 2nd edition, pp. 389, 397, 404) as one of the three lavish (princes) of the isle of Britain.