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But the umpire was finally feeling the strain of it all. Not surprising when, aged 60, William still couldn' t resist playing the warlord. In 1087, he subdued a border dispute in France by of course totally destroying the town of Mantes. But perhaps this last devastation was one too many, for a flaming timber from one of the houses burned by William' s soldiers fell right in front of the King. William' s horse suddenly bucked, throwing the now overweight King violently against his saddle, his gut taking the force of the blow. Mortally wounded, William was taken to a priory at Rouen. At the very end, Orderic Vitalis puts into William' s mouth an extraordinary deathbed confession, so penitential, so utterly out of character that it seems on the face of it completely incredible. But whether William actually spoke those words or not, they clearly reflected what some, perhaps many people, felt about William the Conqueror that when all the battles were won, when the laws were all been laid down, he was what he had always been, a brutal adventurer. And the conquest of England not a righteous crusade, but just a grand throw of history' s dice. |
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zhè wèi cái jué zhě zuì zhōng gǎn shòu dào le quán miàn dí yā lì, suǒ yǐ liù shí suì de wēi lián. réng wú fǎ kè zhì zhēng zhàn de yù wàng, biàn bù zú wéi qí le. 1087 nián tā zhēng fú le yī chǔ hé fǎ guó yǒu zhēng yì de biān jìng, chè dǐ cuī huǐ le máng tè zhèn, dàn yě xǔ zhè zuì hòu yī cì pò huài tài guò fèn, yóu wēi lián dí shì bīng suǒ diǎn rán yī jiān fáng wū de mù liáng zá dào le guó wáng miàn qián. wēi lián de mǎ tū rán gōng bèi yuè qǐ, bǎ zhè wèi féi pàng de guó wáng chóng chóng dì shuāi xià le mǎ ān. tā de shēn tǐ chéng shòu le zhè cì yì wài luò mǎ, yóu yú jīng shén shòu dào jīng xià, wēi lián bèi sòng zhì lǔ áng de yí gè xiǎo xiū dào yuàn. zuì hòu, ào ěr dé lǐ kè wéi tǎ lì sī qiǎng pò wēi lián, jìn xíng le yīng wǔ xué shé bān fēi fán de lín zhōng chàn huǐ. yán cí jí qí chàn huǐ, wán quán hé tā de xìng gé bù fú. zhà yī kàn lái, zhēn shì ràng rén nán yǐ zhì xìn. dàn shì wú lùn wēi lián shì fǒu zhēn de shuō chū le zhèi xiē huà,. tā men dōu fǎn yìng chū le yī xiē rén, huò xǔ shì xǔ duō rén yǎn zhōng de zhēng fú zhě wēi lián, zhè biàn shì, jí biàn qǔ shèng jiāng chǎng zòng rán ān bāng dìng lǜ. tā què yī rán gù wǒ, yí gè yě mán de mào xiǎn zhě zhēng fú yīng gé lán de, bìng fēi zhèng yì zhī shī, zhǐ bù guò shì lì shǐ de ǒu rán. |