The Irish suffered also from the invasions of the Danes, but the Northmen were definitely defeated by Brian Baru at the great battle of Clontarf not far from Dublin, 1014. Brian had secured his place of High King by previous defeats of the Danes and gave the example of military success as a claim for the position of ruler with very unfortunate effects during the next two centuries. Brian himself and his son and grandson were killed at the battle of Clontarf, and after this Ireland was plunged into internal dissensions.
England was destined to have a quarter of a century of peace and goodwill in the reign of Edward the Confessor who on Hardicanute's sudden death in 1042 was called by acclamation to the throne, at the age of about 40. There were no wars except to repel an inroad of the Welsh and to assist Malcom III of Scotland against Macbeth the usurper. Edward de voted himself to the welfare of his people. His royal patrimony sufficed for even his generous donations to the poor and for religion without taxes. "The good Saint Edward's laws') were often demanded by the English of subsequent generations in times of oppression. In their affection and reverence for him the people came to be touched by his hands in certain ailments and so "the King's Touch" became a tradition for English royalty.
For the west of Europe the significant event of the century was the Conquest of Eng land by the Normans, 1066. The duchy of Nor mandy, the district at the north of France which had been given over to the sea rovers from the Scandinavian countries in the hope thus to create a barrier against further in vasion, had been growing in power and pros perity for several generations. William the Conqueror became one of the most important sovereigns by his acquisition of England. He led some 60,000 soldiers of fortune on the ex pedition. Emerson in
ants have since ruled
Britain which up to this time had been ,outside
circle of European affairs was nosy drawn Into Con tinental politics. With a ruler who had do mains on the Continent
else could well have happened. Royal clams on various parts of France embroiled Engthnd in war for cen turies. Conflicts betweee,i sovereigns and various petty rulers continued to be constant during the century. More and more the nobil ity refused to acknowledge obligations to their feudal lords in the matter of abstaining from war, and private wars of various kinds became almost the rule. As a consequence, the reli gious and intellectual life as well as the com mercial and agricultural life of the people suffered severely. Feudalism at the beginning of the 11th century had broken down as an instrument for maintaining peace. It is inter esting then to see what was accomplished, and how successfully, to put an end to this state of affairs. It is almost the last place at the be ginning of the second millennium of modern history to find a great movement for peace, but here it is.
In order to save bloodshed and protect people generally, the Church succeeded in bring ing about the introduction of the "The Truce of God.° Councils of the Church early in the 11th century forbade hostilities from Saturday night until Monday morning. This prohibi tion was subsequently extended to other days in the week, and Friday in honor of the Pas sion and Saturday the day of the Resurrection were declared illegal for military or judicial contests. About the middle of the century ecclesiastical regulations made it unlawful to fight during Lent and then during Advent. The Truce was first successfully proclaimed in France and spread to Italy and Germany to the great advantage of the people of the time. The Truce required that people were to be allowed to go quietly to and fro on their busi ness without being disturbed by soldiers on the designated days and special regulations were issued protecting the peasant and his cat tle and his agricultural implements. Before this councils had proclaimed the Peace of God which protected consecrated persons, places and times from warlike invasion. This protec tion was extended to the poor, pilgrims, Crusaders, and eventually even merchants on a journey. The further development in the Truce of God gave the impetus to peace which was finally taken up by the public authorities. throuqh leagues for the enforcement of peace, and municipal federations until war was re stricted to international conflict.