WALCHERE AND LEOBWINE.

543

1079

ambiguous conduct.

slew him and the whole of his household. Having perpetrated the deed, they repaired at once to the bishop, seeking his protection, and informing him of all their vengeance." Thou hast killed me and thyself and all who are ours, thou wicked and foolish Leobwine," exclaimed the bishop, as he tore the hood off his head and flung it on the ground in anger and despair; and truly did he augur the consequences. He immediately took refuge in that Walchere's strong castle so recently raised by Waltheof, protecting the cathedral, and itself guarded by the sanctity of the ground. He closed the portals, and sent messengers all about and around Northumbria, declaring that he had neither art nor part in the slaughter, that Gilbert and all his associates were or should be outlawed from Northumbria, and how he, the bishop, would clear himself of all suspicion of guilt by solemn compurgation, according to the canon law. This great anxiety shewed how much the prelate dreaded the avengers of blood, and that he himself was conscious that he had incurred great suspicion. Indeed his acts had not corresponded with his words. Outlaws he had proclaimed the murderers to be; but he had received them, sheltered them, consorted with them, and at this very time they were protected within his walls.

As was usual in such cases, the offence had become a feud between men and between famiVOL. III.

N N

1080

meet at

lies, in which all participated who were involved in the act, whether as offenders or as sufferers. Adherents on either side swelled the dissension more and more. It was evident that the long prevailing discontents against the bishop were now coming to a crisis, and that the question to The parties be decided at the tryst at Gateshead was wheGateshead. ther the respective parties of national Northumbria or the French government of the Lotharingian bishop were to prevail. Walchere and the perpetrators of the great offence, Leobwine his archdeacon, Gilbert his seneschal, his clerks, and his knights, repaired thither; and there also had assembled the vast multitude from beyond the Tyne, prepared to assert or to avenge their complaints against their enemies. Pledges of peace had been given, and the pleadings were to begin according to law in the open air, upon the green turf and beneath the sky. against the But as the bishop looked round and beheld the angry multitude, his heart failed him. Would

Feeling

Bishop.

any pledge restrain the hands of those who already had declared him guilty? of what avail would the compurgators prove? the twelve, or the twenty-four, or the thirty-six priests and deacons, placing their hands on the Gospelbook, and swearing that they believed in the innocence of him whom the uncontrollable power of popular opinion had already condemned.

Walchere therefore refused to proceed with

1080

withdraws.

the discussion otherwise than within the walls of the church. Into this humble and then se- Walchere cluded edifice he and the accused entered, accompanied by some portion of his meisné. Without, on the bleak and then desert banks of the Tyne, were assembled the roaring and yelling multitude. From the sanctuary, the bishop sent forth a deputation of those who were to propose the terms of pacification. The messengers never returned. They were immediately slaughtered, and the same fate befel the others of the bishop's party, who, trusting to the legal truce, had remained without, unsuspicious of any harm.

killed.

There was now no longer any doubt as to the mind of the Northumbrians. Peace they never had really sought with the bishop: their intent was his death, and the extermination of the foreign rulers. Could any sacrifice avert the fate of the prelate? could the blood of Gilbert be accepted as a sufficient expiation? Whether urged by conscience or driven out by Gilbert is the despair of those within the unavailing sanctuary, the seneschal came forth, and was instantly transfixed by the spears and weapons of the assailants. Loud cries were now raised for Leobwine; the bishop knew that no sacrifice would appease them except the death of the archdeacon, who was considered as the root of the whole calamity, and sought to purchase his own life by surrendering the offender. Leob

1080

Walchere and Leobwine are also slain.

The riot becomes rebellion.

wine shrunk from his fate. The attacks upon
the building continued; the massy walls and
iron-bound doors of the church at first resisted.
Fire was threatened: the miserable Walchere
came forth, and standing upon the threshold
earnestly prayed for pardon.
"Good rede,
short rede, slay the bishop," was the pithy ad-
vice given by the outcry of a Waltheof, the
most determined of the bishop's enemies. He
wrapped his head in his garment and was slain.
The church was fired. Leobwine madly rushed
out, and was cut to pieces, and all within per-
ished.

11. The rebellion spread throughout the country: the insurgents attacked Durham, occupied the city, and laid siege to the castle; but after four days' blockade they were compelled to abandon this enterprize, though the whole country continued in a state of insurrection. But there was a governor in England fully able to punish them. Odo, at this period, was supreme in command. Whether acting by his own discretionary powers, or, as is more probable, by William's directions, he advanced to the north. Northumbria was completely devastated. Had the Earl of Northumbria been a layman, the offence against the civil authority would have deserved severe punishment, but the clerical character of the victim encreased the indignation excited by his murder, and furnished an excuse, and in some degree a reason

ODO PACIFIES NORTHUMBRIA.

547

1080

pacification.

for the greatest severity. The country was
entirely desolated; the innocent, and they Odo's
were many, who had taken no part in the in-
surrection, were all subjected to the same
punishment; and those who opposed no re-
sistance whatever to the Norman forces, were
either put to death or cruelly mutilated, a prac-
tice constantly and consistently employed by
the Normans, and which equally had the effect
of awing the people and of irritating them
against their oppressors.

Malcolm continued bound by the homage rendered at Abernethy, only until he could disavow the engagement which he had formed. He could not consider the Norman as his legitimate superior, and the miserable conflict prevailing in Normandy between the father and the son might well encourage all the enemies of the new dynasty to anticipate that a family thus divided was hastening to ruin. Malcolm crossed Malcolm the border, and penetrated as far as the Tyne. The country was defenceless. Captives, cattle, English sterling silver, rewarded the invaders, and the spoil was carried off by Malcolm in safety, and therefore with honour, to his own land; and it is most probable that, at the same period, the greater portion of Cumbria was regained by the Scottish sovereign.

ravages

England.

12. Important affairs in Normandy: a coun- Normandy. cil held at Lillebonne under William's presidency, in which some of the best laws of the govern