Every house was given to the flames; men
were slain, women and children taken as slaves, and the destruction was so
complete that it seemed as if it had been done with the deliberate purpose
of forcing Harold to come down and give battle.
No sooner did Harold hear the news that the Normans had landed and were
harrying the land than he ordered the hall to be cleared and issued a
summons for the assembly of a Gemot, and in an hour an assemblage of all
the thanes gathered at York was held in the hall that had so shortly before
been the scene of peaceful feasting. Harold proclaimed to them the news he
had heard, and called upon them to arm and call together their levies for
the defence of England. An enthusiastic reply was given. As the men of the
South had crushed the invaders of the North, so would the men of the North
assist to repel the invasion of the South. Morcar and Edwin promised
solemnly to lead the forces of Northumbria and Mercia to London without a
day's delay, and though Harold trusted his brothers-in-law but little, he
hoped they would have to yield to the patriotic spirit of the thanes and to
play their part as Englishmen.
An hour later messengers started on horseback for the South, bidding all
men to assemble at London to fight for home and freedom against the foreign
invader, and orders were issued that the troops who had fought at Stamford
Bridge should march at daybreak. As soon as the council was over Wulf
mounted his horse and rode at full speed to Helmsley.
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