But for the cause of the animosity existing between the two nations, you must, I suspect, go back as far as the eleventh century, to the time of William, Duke of Normandy." "What had he to do with it ?" "A great deal.

He claimed a right, real or pretended, to the English throne.

He crossed the Channel, and, in 1066, defeated Harold, King of England, at the battle of Hastings." "Both William and Harold were originally Danes, were they not ?" inquired Jack.
"Yes; I think Rollo, William's grandfather, was a Norman adventurer, or sea-king, as these marauders were sometimes called.

William, after the victory of Hastings, proclaimed himself King of England and Duke of Normandy, and assumed the designation of William the Conqueror." "Then how did France get mixed up in the affair ?" inquired Willis.
"William's grandfather, when he seized the dukedom cf Normandy, became virtually a vassal of the King of France, though it is doubtful whether he ever took the trouble to recognize the suzerainty of the throne.

As sovereign, however, the King of France claimed the right of homage, which consisted, according to feudal usage, in the vassal advancing, bare-headed, without sword or spurs, and kneeling at the foot of the throne." "Was this right ever enforced ?" "Yes, in one case at least.