Page:The child's pictorial history of England; (IA childspictorialh00corn).pdf/65

 6. Two or three days after this he was enjoying himself at a great feast, at York, when news was brought to him that the Normans had landed in Sussex, where they were doing all manner of mischief, driving the people away from the towns and villages, and taking every thing they could lay their hands on.

7. The king made all the haste he could to get his soldiers together, and began his march to oppose the invaders, but it took nearly a fortnight to get to where they were; and all that time the invaders were making dreadful havoc for miles round their camp, so that the terrified people fled to the woods, or shut themselves up in the churches, for fear of being killed.

8. At last, Harold came, and a battle was fought near Hastings, on the 14th of October, 1066, where the king and two of his brothers, with a great many of the English nobles, were slain, and the conqueror from that day looked upon himself as the master of the country.

9. But the English had seen enough of the Normans to know that they should be very badly treated if they once suffered a Norman government to be established, so they resolved to do their utmost to prevent it, and thus the Normans had to fight for every town, and castle, before it was given up to them.