Note 1471 — Chapter XV · THE NORMAN INVASION AND THE CAMPAIGN OF HASTINGS.[1055] (continued 3)
Reading edition
Will. Pict. 139. “Par fuisset Anglorum, qui sese per injuriam tantam pessumdederunt in mortem, carnes gulâ vulturis lupique devorari, ossibus insepultis campos fore sepultos. Cæterum illi crudele visu est tale supplicium. Volentibus ad humandum eos colligere liberam concessit potestatem.” So more at length, Roman de Rou, 14083–14092. Guy however (571) says,
“Vermibus atque lupis, avibus canibusque voranda,
Deserit Anglorum corpora strata solo.”
The easiest way to reconcile the statements is that William did not order the burial of the English; he allowed the bodies which were claimed to be carried away, but those which were unclaimed remained unburied.