They would not listen to any proposition that involved the possibility of
the return of Tostig, and boldly said that if the king wished to retain
Northumbria as part of his realm he must confirm the sentence of their
Gemot upon Tostig, and must recognize their election of Morcar to the
earldom.
In all this Harold perceived clearly enough that, although it was the
Northumbrian leaders who were speaking, they were acting entirely under the
influence of Edwin and Morcar. All that he could obtain was that some of
the northern thanes should accompany him to lay their demands before the
king himself. Edward, upon hearing, by a swift messenger sent by Harold, of
the failure of his attempt to induce the Northumbrians to lay down their
arms, reluctantly abandoned the pleasures of the chase, and proceeded to
Bretford, near Salisbury, where there was a royal house, and summoned a
Witenagemot. As, however, the occasion was urgent, it was attended only by
the king's chief councillors, and by the thanes of that part of Wessex.
Between Tostig and Harold the quarrel that the latter had feared had
already broken out. Harold was anxious above all things for peace, and
although the blow to his own interests and to those of his family, by the
transfer of Northumbria from his brother to one of the Mercian earls, was a
most serious one, he preferred that even this should take place to
embarking in a war that would involve the whole of England.
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