Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/478

 4o8 Outlines of European History Unfavorable position of Harold Harold, the English king, was in a very unfavorable position to defend his crown. In the first place, while he was expecting William's coming, he was called to the north of England to repel a last invasion of the fierce North- men, who had again landed in England and were devastating the coast towns. He was able to put them to flight, but as he was cele- brating his victory by a banquet, news reached him that William had actu- ally landed with his Normans in southern England. It was autumn now and the peas- ants, who formed a large part of Harold's forces, had gone home to harvest their crops, so he had to hurry south with an insuffi- cient army. The English occupied the hill of Senlac, west of Hastings, and Fig. i6i. Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen William the Conqueror married a lady, Matilda, who was remotely related to him. This was against the rules of the Church, and he took pains to get the Pope's sanction to his marriage. But he and his queen were afraid that they might have committed a sin in marrying, so William built a monastery for men and Matilda a nunnery for women as a penance. The churches of these monasteries still stand in the Norman city of Caen. William was buried in his church. The picture represents the interior of Matilda's church and is a good example of what the EngHsh called the Norman style of architecture