The Ecclesiastical History of
Orderic Vitalis
I am using the translation by Marjorie Chibnall from the Oxford Medieval
Texts. ( ISBN 0-19-820220-2). The page number of the English translation and
the quotation are presented in bold.
Page 173 “Several men of
religion had come with the warriors from Normandy”
Until I read this, I had no idea that Odo was not the only bishop to
have come over with William. Orderic names the other bishop as Geoffrey of
Coutances. This backs up what Wace wrote in his Roman de Rou. It further
solidifies in my mind that the final Scenes of the Bayeux Tapestry from Scene
51 onwards are linked to specific times of the day. It may be that the group
working on the Tapestry were working from notes made at the time of the
battle(s) by observing clergy
Page 173 “Battle was
joined on 14 October at the third hour and was bitterly contended all day long
with heavy slaughter on both sides. “
Orderic here is thought to be parroting William of Jumièges whose Gesta
Normannorum Ducum Orderic edited between the dates 1109 and 1113. Again, we are
left in the dilemma of what is exactly meant by “all day long”. No indication
is given if Orderic meant a continual or continuous fight throughout the day.
Page 173 “To oppose him a
great multitude of English flocked together from all sides to the place whose
early name was Senlac,3”.
The present day estimate of the armies’ strengths gives us about 7000
personnel on each side. I’m in no position to doubt that figure. There does
seem to be a discussion to be had around the name “Senlac”. As Orderic details
that the name was “early”, it could mean that the name was of Saxon origin.
Therefore, anyone trying to turn it into an Anglo-Norman place name is being
misguided. M Chibnall, whose translation I am working from, put in the footnote
3 that it was derived from “Sandlacu” meaning sand stream. There doesn’t seem
to be a stream at any of the places thought to be the alternate battlefield.
Another translator, S Charnock (n.d.), indicated in the journal “On
Certain Geographical Names in the County of Sussex. Report of the 42nd
Meeting British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 177.” That
Senlac could be a corruption of “Scan- leag”. This alters the translation to
“beautiful meadow”. If one checks with the Bayeux Tapestry Scenes 51 and 52 and
part of Scene 53, all the action takes place on flat “broken ground”.
Another point to ponder is the closeness to Mount Joy in Battle or
Mountjoie. Instead of commemorating a victory at the top of Caldbec Hill it
commemorates a victory over the advanced guard of the English Army admittedly
the best troops Harold had.
Now this is just for the initial encounter and furthermore Orderic goes
on to write :
Page 173 “Reaching the
spot they all dismounted from their horses and stood close together in a dense
formation on foot”.
So now we have a scene unfolding before our eyes namely, that
fighting took place from the third hour at a place called Senlac. And all the
English combatants got off their horses and formed a shield wall. That word
“all” should tell us that that we are dealing with Huscarls not the lowly
levies or Fyrd. So, are we are witnessing what has been drawn on the Bayeux
Tapestry in Scenes 51 and 52? Then, is it only logical to assume that the
King and the lowly Fyrd are missing from this encounter on the Tapestry because
they are not there? In my opinion Orderic is confirming what has been hinted at
in the Bayeux Tapestry, Gesta Guillelmi and the Carmen in that this was a
skirmish of sorts. I say that because a skirmish is usually fought by a small
number of troops on one side and the lead elements of the opposing side.
However, the word “skirmish” does not appear in the English language until the
13th century as a verb as in “to skirmish” ( 14th Cent as a noun)
according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, so, perhaps the monks didn’t have
a broad enough vocabulary to describe what was happening.
Page 177 “So the battle
raged from the third hour, and Harold the king was slain in the first assault.”
Now this is the controversial part of Orderic’s account. I’m inclined to go along with the official narrative considering that Orderic heavily edited William of Jumièges “Gesta Normannorum Ducum”. Again, Orderic emphasises that the battle started at the third hour and this time adds the rider that we find in William of Jumièges’ opus that Harold was killed in the first assault. Interestingly, the Chronicle of Battle Abbey has a Standard of Harold’s falling to the ground where the High Altar was set up. Could it be that the eye witness was confused as to what the Standard signified? The other 11th century sources put Harold’s death later ( Vespers – Carmen, past None – William of Poitiers and about Vespers – Bayeux Tapestry).
Page 177 “For by chance
long grasses concealed an ancient rampart, …” Seeing that they could be
sheltered by the broken rampart they reformed their ranks and unexpectedly made
a stand, …”
I have problems understanding the terrain when the 12th
century writer mentions “ramparts”. Having grown up in the era of Hollywood
films, my imagination places big stone walls with crenellations on top into the landscape. However, the
landscape feature that present itself at my chosen location for the Malfosse is
a cleft. So, the “ramparts” are the steep sides of the footpath going through
Ashes Wood. Even places that have been nominated as potential Malfosse sites do
not have such a thing that I have imagined. But all sites do have very steep
sides to a cleft in the ground. So, perhaps I need to redefine the medieval
word “rampart” in my mind to mean a steep sided cleft in the ground.
Page 179 “Meanwhile the
duke had finally routed the enemy and returned to the battlefield, “
Again, Orderic might have picked this up from William of Jumièges as
William states that Duke William returned to the battlefield at midnight after
slaughtering his enemies. In my opinion this fact is not confirmation of the
Duke’s action but just a repeat of William of Jumièges assertion.
Page 191 “… he built the
abbey of the Holy Trinity at Senlac, the site of the battle, and endowed it
with wealth and possessions … “
This seems like confirmation that the Abbey was built on the battlefield
of Senlac and the monks were justified in building the Abbey where they did.
Let’s remind ourselves of the conditions that Orderic relates in conjunction
with Senlac. He relates that ALL of the English combatants RODE
up to the battle (Huscarls only) and using three 11th century
sources ( Bayeux Tapestry, Gesta Guillelmi and the Carmen) we can surmise that
this encounter was a skirmish as was common in that time but perhaps the
observers having a limited understanding of war just saw this as the start of
hostilities.
