Read an Excerpt
William's claims to the English throne. The Lady Emma. Chapter VI. The Lady Emma. TT is not to be supposed that, even in the war- -- like times of which we are writing, such a potentate as a duke of Normandy would invade a country like England, so large and powerful in comparison to his own, without some pretext. William's pretext was, that he himself was the legitimate successor to the English crown, and that the English king who possessed it at the time of his invasion was a usurper. In order that the reader may understand the nature and origin of this his claim, it is necessary to relate somewhat in full the story of the Lady Emma. By referring to the genealogy of the Norman line of dukes contained in the second chapter of this volume, it will be seen that Emma was the daughter of the first Richard. She was celebrated in her early years for her great personal beauty. They called her the Pearl of Normandy. She married, at length, one of the kings of England, whose name was Ethelred. England was at that time distracted by civil wars, waged Claimants to the English throne. Ethelred. between the two antagonist races of Saxons and Danes. There were, in fact, two separate dynasties or lines of kings, who were contending, all the time, for the mastery. In these contests, sometimes the Danes would triumph for a time, and sometimes the Saxons; and sometimes both races would have a royal representative in the field, each claiming the throne, and reigning over separate portions of the island. Thus there were, at certain periods, two kingdoms in England, both covering the same territory, and claiming the government of the same populationwith two kings, two capitals, two administrationswhilethe wretched inhabitants were distracted and ruined by the terrible conflicts t...
