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SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS.
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shore. He added, with a sneer, "Harold mounted guard on the coast while he was alive, he may continue his guard now he is dead." The taunt was an unintentional eulogy; and a grave washed by the spray of the Sussex waves would have been the noblest burial-place for the martyr of Saxon freedom. But Harold's mother was urgent in her lamentations and her prayers; the Conqueror relented: like Achilles he gave up the dead body of his fallen foe to a parent's supplications, and the remains of King Harold were deposited with regal honours in Waltham Abbey.

On Christmas-day in the same year William the Conqueror was crowned at London King of England.


Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Hastings a.d. 1066, and Joan of Arc's Victory at Orleans, 1429.

A. D. 1066—1087. Reign of William the Conqueror. Frequent risings of the English against him, which are quelled with merciless rigour.

1096. The first crusade.

1112. Commencement of the disputes about investitures between the emperors and the popes.