Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/101

Wulfstan curses the rebels.

Victory of the king's men. the church-lands, and pressed by the urgent prayer of all around him, Wulfstan pronounced a solemn anathema against the rebellious and sacrilegious invaders.^[1] The loyal troops, strengthened by the exhortations and promises of their Bishop, set forth. The bridge was made firm; the defenders of Worcester marched across it;^[2] and the working of Wulfstan's curse, so the tradition of Worcester ran, smote down their enemies before them with a more than human power. The invaders, scattered over the fields for plunder, were at once overtaken and overthrown. Their limbs became weak and their eyes dim; they could hardly lift their weapons or know friend from foe.^[3] The footmen were slaughtered; the horsemen, Norman, English, and Welsh, were taken prisoners; of the whole host only a few escaped by flight. The men of the King and of the Bishop marched back to Worcester—so Worcester dutifully believed—without the loss of a single man from their ranks. They came back rejoicing in the great salvation which had been wrought by their hands, and giving all thanks to God and his servant Wulfstan.^[4]

 

Among the sorrows which rent the breast of the holy Bishop of Worcester, one may have been to see a man of

• [Footnote: Confidens ego in Domino, spondeo vobis, non hodie nocebit vobis gladius, non

quicquam infortunii, non quisquam adversarius. State in regis fidelitate, viriliter agentes pro populi urbisque salute."]regis fideles cum pontificis familia, exultantes in gaudio, sine ulla diminutione suorum, redeunt ad propria; gratias Deo referunt de rerum ecclesiæ incolumitate, gratias episcopo referunt de consilii ejus salubritate."]

1. Ib. "Episcopus ingenti concutitur dolore, videns debilitari res ecclesiæ, acceptoque inde consilio, gravi eos, ab omnibus qui circumaderant coactus, percussit anathemate." See Appendix D.
2. Ib. "Alacres pontem reparatum transeunt, hostes de longinquo accelerantes conspiciunt."
3. See Appendix D.
4. Flor. Wig. u. s. "Cæduntur pedites, capiuntur milites, cum Normannis tam Angli quam Walenses, cæteris vero vix debili elapsis fuga [were the 'milites' spared for the sake of ransom?