Note 116 — PART II HISTORICAL STUDIES

Now what was the intention of this advance? Mr Freeman assumed, without hesitation, that the foot 'were to strive to break down the palisades ... and so to make ready the way for the charge of the horse' (p. 467); that 'the infantry were, therefore, exposed to the first and most terrible danger' (Ibid.); 'that the French infantry had to toil up the hill, and to break down the palisade' (p. 477).116 But we find, on reference, that the above writers say nothing of any such intention, and do not even mention the existence of a palisade.117 Moreover, the only weapons they speak of are crossbows and bows and arrows, which are scarcely the tools for pioneers. But William of Poitiers puts us on the track of a very different explanation: 'Pedites itaque Normanni propius accedentes provocant Anglos, missilibus in eos vulnera dirigunt atque necem'. Here Baudri comes to our aid: