But for the cause of the animosity existing between the
two nations, you must, I suspect, go back as far as the eleventh
century, to the time of William, Duke of Normandy."
"What had he to do with it?"
"A great deal. He claimed a right, real or pretended, to the English
throne. He crossed the Channel, and, in 1066, defeated Harold, King of
England, at the battle of Hastings."
"Both William and Harold were originally Danes, were they not?"
inquired Jack.
"Yes; I think Rollo, William's grandfather, was a Norman adventurer,
or sea-king, as these marauders were sometimes called. William, after
the victory of Hastings, proclaimed himself King of England and Duke
of Normandy, and assumed the designation of William the Conqueror."
"Then how did France get mixed up in the affair?" inquired Willis.
"William's grandfather, when he seized the dukedom cf Normandy, became
virtually a vassal of the King of France, though it is doubtful
whether he ever took the trouble to recognize the suzerainty of the
throne. As sovereign, however, the King of France claimed the right of
homage, which consisted, according to feudal usage, in the vassal
advancing, bare-headed, without sword or spurs, and kneeling at the
foot of the throne."
"Was this right ever enforced?"
"Yes, in one case at least. John Lackland--or, as the French called
him, John Sans Terre--having assassinated his nephew Arthur, Duke of
Brittany, in order to obtain possession of his lands, was summoned by
Philip Augustus, King of France, to justify his crime.
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