d to the Thames
and burnt Southwark. He did not, however, try to force his way into
London, as he wanted to induce the citizens to submit voluntarily to
him, or at least in a way which might seem voluntary. He therefore
marched westwards, crossed the Thames at Wallingford, and wheeled
round to Berkhampstead. His presence there made the Londoners feel
utterly isolated. Even if Eadwine and Morkere wished to do anything
for them, they could not come from the north or north-west without
meeting William's victorious army. The great men and citizens alike
gave up all thought of resistance, abandoned Eadgar, and promised to
take William for their king. On Christmas Day, =1066=, William was
chosen with acclamation in Eadward's abbey at Westminster, where
Harold had been chosen less than a year before. The Normans outside
mistook the shouts of applause for a tumult against their Duke, and
set fire to the houses around. The English rushed out to save their
property, and William, frightened for the only time in his life, was
left alone with the priests. Not knowing what was next to follow, he
was crowned king of the English by Ealdred, Archbishop of York, in an
empty church, amidst the crackling of flames and the shouts of men
striving for the mastery.

[Illustration: Coronation of a king, _temp._ William the Conqueror.
(From a drawing in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries.)]

_Books recommended for further study of Part I._

DAWKINS, W. Boyd. Early Man in Britain.

RHYS, J. Early Britain.

ELTON, C. J. Origins of English History.

GUEST, E. Origines Celticae. Vol. ii. pp. 121-408.

FREEMAN. History of the Norman Conquest. Vols. i.-iii.

GREEN, J. R. The Making of England.

---- The Conquest of England.

---- History of the English People. Vol. i. pp. 1-114.

BRIGHT, W. Chapters of English Church History.

STUBBS, W. The Constitutional History of England. Chaps. I.-IX.

CUNNINGHAM, W. The Growth of English Industry and Commerce during the
Early and Middle Ages. pp. 1-128.

HODGKIN, T. The Political History of England. Vol i. From the Earliest
Times to 1066.

PART II.

_THE NORMAN AND ANGEVIN KINGS._

CHAPTER VII.

WILLIAM I. =1066--1087.=

LEADING DATES

William's coronation 1066
Completion of the Conquest 1070
The rising of the Earls 1075
The Gemot at