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ï~~HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
FROM THE FIRST
INVASION BY THE ROMANS
TO TIHE
ACCESSION OF WILLIAM AND MARY,

IN 1688.
BY JOHN     LINGARD, D. D.
FROM THE LAST REVISED LONDON EDITION.
IN THIRTEEN VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY,
110 WASHINGTON STREET.
MDCCCLIII.




ï~~Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18t%2 oy
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Mass achusetts




ï~~PREFACE

TO THE NEW     AMERICAN EDITION       OF LINGARD'S
HISTORY.
THIs is the latest history of England, claiming original authority, so far as it is a record of the events of
the first seventeen centuries of the Christian era. For
that period, no other leading historian has made use of
the great mass of materials recently thrown open to
examination. For the whole time, therefore, previous
to that treated by Mr. Macaulay, Dr. Lingard's history
may fairly be considered a leading authority by the
general reader.
Roman Catholics, especially, will always hold his
work in esteem. But most critics have awarded to him
the credit of attempting complete impartiality in his
decisions of questions bearing on the history of the
Roman church.    His early studies as an ecclesiastic of
that church predisposed him to use for it authorities in
church history which had escaped the notice or the
study of other authors. It cannot be supposed, of course,
that, with such early studies, and with a conscientious
attachment to that church, he should exhibit no bias
towards it, or write such a history as a Protestant




ï~~IV      PREFACE TO TIfE NEW AMERICAN EDITION.
would do.   It is not to be wished that he should.  All
that should be asked is, that he should tell truly the
sincere convictions at which he has himself arrived.
The attractive style of Hume's history, and the
interest attaching to his speculations, will always win
popularity for that work, however vehemently its statements may be impugned, or however often Hume's carelessness or prejudices may be detected. But it is quite
certain that since Hume's death new authorities from
every quarter have been brought forward, bearing upon
the history of England. They are such authorities as
demand for their right use more labor than Hume seems
ever to have bestowed upon the materials in his hands.
Dr. Lingard conscientiously studied this mass of
authorities. The notes to his book are evidence how
fully he has consulted them.   Even Mr. Hallam, who
speaks of him as an author who cannot repress "the
inveterate partiality of his profession," admits, as if compelled to, that "his acuteness and industry would otherwise have raised him to a very respectable place among
our historians."
The publishers of this edition reprint it from the fifth
and last London edition, which left his hand only
eighteen months before his death, having received very
great corrections and alterations. The publishers feel
assured that their Historical Series, now containing
Hume's, Macaulay's and Lingard's histories of England, offers fairly, to general readers, all the most
decided points of view which can be taken of the rise
and progress of the British empire, as they have been
presented by the labors of its best scholars.




ï~~PREFACE TO THE NEW AMERICAN EDITION.

Mr. Macaulay, in his severe way, after calling Dr.
Lingard an able and well-informed writer, says that
" his fundamental rule of judging seems to be, that the
popular opinion on a historical question cannot possibly
be correct." Making full allowance for a generous
rivalry between two contemporary writers, the publishers feel that such a difference of opinion as Mr. Macaulay thus alludes to offers to the reader the best means
of forming his own. With this impression, they have
been eager to make the addition of this work to their
Historical Series.
This edition will be found to follow exactly the London edition of 1849.  The numerous changes by the
author make it, in those parts, a completely new work.
The reprint has been made under the oversight of a
careful editor. His duty has enabled him to correct
some misprints which had escaped the attention of the
editor abroad.  In a few instances he has added notes,
which seemed to illustrate the text; but, with these
exceptions, no alterations whatever have been made
from the English edition.
Dr. Lingard died, soon after completing this edition,
on the 13th of July, 1851. He was in his 82d year,
having been born on the 5th of February, 1771, in the
city of Winchester. He prosecuted his early studies at
Douay, and experienced a narrow escape from the
destruction to which the fury of the populace had
designed all the clergy, on the outbreak of the French
Revolution. From the year 1805, when he published,
in Nottingham, a series of letters in vindication of
Roman Catholic loyalty, till his death, he was known as




ï~~V1      PREFACE TO TEE NEW AMERICAN EDITION.
one of the most distinguished authors of the Roman
church in England.   Pope Leo XII. offered him a
cardinal's hat, wishing him to become Cardinal Protector
of the English Missions. Dr. Lingard had, however,
already engaged in his history, and declined the offer,
saying to his holiness that the office would put a stop to
the progress of this work, and that he had not the qualifications demanded for the duty proposed. His holiness
pressed the offer, lbut Dr. Lingard remained firm.
Several editions have been published of his " Catechetical Instructions on the Doctrines and Worship of the
Catholic Church." An anonymous English version of
the New Testament, published by Dolman, in London,
in 1836, was his work. It is said to be accurate and
faithful in many passages where the Douay version is
faulty.
The first volume of the first edition of this history
was published in 1819. The edition was completed in
6 vols. quarto, in 1825. It is from this edition that
the only previous American edition was printed in
1827. An octavo edition, in fourteen volumes, was
published between 1823 and 1831. A stereotype edition, of the general arrangement of this, was published
in 1837, and in 1849 and 1850 the edition appeared in
London, in 10 vols. octavo, from which this is printed.
Dr. Lingard's preface to it will show how many new
authorities had been brought to light, requiring his
attention, since the first publication of his first volume.
The alterations frequently involved the re-writing of
several pages together, and generally quite reversed the
opinion which he formerly expressed.




ï~~PREFACE TO TIHE NEW AMERICAN EDITION.  VII
Dr. Lingard never took any part in the ecclesiastical
government of the Roman Oatholic church. He was
greatly beloved in the village and neighbourhood where
he resided; - known universally as gentle, kind, and
obliging.




ï~~


ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE.*
SINCE the year 1819, in which the first portion of this
work was sent to the press, many new sources of information have been opened to the writer of English history.
From time to time, ancient documents of high interest and
indisputable authority have been rescued from oblivion,
by searches made under the auspices of the Record Comjnission, or through the zeal and enterprise of literary
societies, and of private individuals. It has been my
endeavor to embody the substance of all such discoveries
in this present library edition,-not, indeed, by the introduction of notes or dissertations at corresponding epochs,
but by interweaving the new matter with the old in one
continuous narrative throughout the work. At the same
time, I have availed myself of the opportunity to fix the
dates of events with greater precision, to correct former
errors of the pen and of the press, and to alter certain
paragraphs, occasionally whole chapters, of the last edition, by recasting or expanding them in conformity with
the improvements which I wished to introduce.
The new information of which I speak is spread over
every period of our history, from the mention of the Tinislands by Ierodotus, to the flight of James II., in the
* This notice, by Dr. Lingard, takes the place of all previous prefaces in
the last English edition. - Au. ED.




ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

seventeenth century. In the Corpus Historicum, the late
Mr. Petrie, with the aid of his fellow-labourers, has collected every notice that could be found of Britain in the
Greek and Roman authors; and after them, in native and
contemporary writers of any nation whatsoever, together
with all such memorials as tended to throw light on the
history of these islands, previously to the Norman conquest; a work of infinite labour, and of commensurate
utility. Still it left room for additional research: much
information was yet to be extracted from the remains of
Anglo-Saxon literature: and a considerable portion of
that information has been laid before the public by two
eminent antiquaries and philologists, Benjamin Thorpe,
Esq., in his "Ancient Laws and Institutes of England,"
and his text and translation of "The Homilies of
Elfric;" and John M. Kemble, Esq., in his very valuable " Codex Diplomaticus Evi Saxonici." * These works
open to us a pretty clear insight into the state of society
and of literature, and the civil and religious polity which
prevailed during the Anglo-Saxon period: a period the
more interesting to Englishmen, because it was the cradle of many customs and institutions which exist among
us even at the present day.
The first voluminous collection of documents after the
conquest has been provided for us by the industry of the
Rev. Dr. Giles, and regards the controversy between
Henry II. and St. Thomas of Canterbury. It filled originally eight volumes in his Patres Ecclesiae Anglicana,
and has been extended by subsequent publications to
almost as many more. In these volumes may be found
whatever was said and written in favour of the archbishop or against him, by friends or foes, natives or
* I do not mention his "Saxons in England," because the first volume of
this edition had been printed before that work was published.




ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

x1

foreigners, either before or soon after his death. They
contain also narratives of his manner of life during his
favour with the king, and subsequently to the great council at Clarendon; and the history of his exile, return,
and martyrdom, related by eye-witnesses, his constant
companions; besides a most numerous collection of letters on the same subjects, from the most celebrated characters in the western church at that period.
The next collection, next in point of time, but still more
voluminous and more useful, is that of the Close and
Patent Rolls, still extant in the Tower, appertaining to
the reigns of John, and of his son and successor, Henry
III. They have been most carefully edited by Thomas
Duffus Hardy, Esq., under the direction of the Record
Commission; and contain some thousands of entries,
which reveal to us historic facts previously unknown,
expose the intrigues and correspondence of John during
his quarrel with Pope Innocent, and make tis acquainted
with the whole framework of the government, as the
government was then exercised under the despotic sway
of our more early monarchs.
This publication of national documents is followed by
another, under the direction of the Record Commission,
and edited by Sir Francis Palgrave, with the title of
" Parliamentary Writs." It commences about the reign
of Edward I., and exhibits to us copies of the original
writs of summons to individuals, calling on them to
attend the great councils or parliaments of the nation;
writs for the election of members of the House of Commons, and returns of the persons so elected; writs to
individuals, summoning them to the performance of military service, commissions of array, and a variety of matters connected with military levies. These instruments
are accompanied with appendices of other records calcu



ï~~XII

PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

lated to throw light upon the former, to which has been
added a full chronological abstract, to aid the inquirer
in the investigation of any particular fact or summons.
The immense value of the collection will strike us at
once, if we reflect how, step by step, the despotic form
of government introduced with the Norman kings was
gradually moulded into that more regular shape which
it afterwards assumed, and that we often learn from it
the real causes and consequences of transactions which
before its appearance were not clearly understood.
Several minor but not unimportant collections bring us
down to the reign of Henry VIII., whose character and
policy have been greatly elucidated by the publication,
not long ago, of a multitude of papers and instruments
preserved in the State Paper Office, and appertaining to
that period. The first volume was published in 1830,
and purported to contain the correspondence of Henry
and his ministers of state, his ambassadors, envoys and
agents, public and secret; with his commanders, military and naval; with his bishops, and with his council,
when he happened to be at a distance from it. They
offer us the most interesting information respecting the
pride, ambition, and character of Cardinal Wolsey, and
his power and downfall; respecting the proceedings of
Archbishop Cranmer, in his court at Dunstaple, and his
Subsequent servility to the caprice of his imperious master; respecting the treatment and fate of the unfortunate
queen, Catharine Howard, and her relatives; respecting
the persecution by the king of Catholics and reformers,
together with several other domestic matters, down to
the close of his reign. In the following years four more
volumes were added, regarding the government of Ireland
and the king's correspondence with his commanders and
agents on the northern borders on occasion of his hostil



ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

ities with Scotland, and intrigues with the discontented
in that kingdom. The reader will see at once the value
of these volumes to the historian.
From Henry we pass to his daughter Elizabeth, whose
long reign has been most prolific in voluminous collections, some as old as the last century, and others of much
later date; as Sir Cuthbert Sharpe's Memorials of the
Rebellion of 1569, the copious "Recueil des Lettres de
Marie Stuart," by prince A. Jabanoff, the "Bares Correspondence," the "Leicester Correspondence," and the
"Dipeches" of De la Mothe Fenelon, the French ambassador, who came to England about the close of the year
1568; a publication which we owe to the zeal and exertions of Charles Purtar Cooper, Esq., secretary to the
Record Commission. During the seven years of his residence in England, De la Mothe Fenelon was commissioned
by his court to make to the queen a proposal of marriage
from the duke of Anjou, and afterwards from the duke of
Alenson; to mitigate to the best of his power Elizabeth's
hatred of the queen of Scots, and her displeasure against
the duke of Norfolk; to appease her indignation at the
massacre in Paris on the feast of St. Bartholomew, and
to dissuade her from joining with the king of Spa'in in
hostility to France. In the prosecution of these duties he
made the most tempting offers to the queen's ministers
and their dependents, and spent large sums of Money in
securing the services of the principal courtiers, and of
certain ladies supposed to possess paramount influence
over the mind of their sovereign. He had also the advantage of numerous private communications with the queen,
both on questions of state, and others, of great delicacy,
respecting herself; and the minuteness with which he
describes her deportment and language on all these occasions, even on occasions of amusement and at royal ban.




ï~~MYV

PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

quets, imparts a freshness and charm of surpassing interest to his narrative. They exhibit to us the daughter of
Henry VIII. in the several phases of her character without disguise, and in all her pride, and with all her foibles;
though I must not conceal my suspicion that in his secret
despatches to Catherine, the queen mother, he may occasionally indulge in fanciful embellishments on matters
connected with the private life of the English queen.
The next large collection of documents comprises the
'" Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell," which have
been collected and published with great care and accuracy by Thomas Carlyle, Esq. In these the character of
the principal personage is not drawn, as was that of
Queen Elizabeth, by the pencil of another, but by the
man himself; and in them we may discover all the idiosyncrasies that marked his conduct from the time of his
derangement at Huntingdon to his death at Whitehall
On that account these documents are well worth the
serious attention of the historical student. I mean the
letters and speeches themselves, not the running commentary with which the editor has accompanied them,
in language most glowing and oracular. In every edition
of this work I have allotted to Cromwell that praise
which I thought and still think his due, - a much larger
share than he has received from many other writers; but
I feel no disposition to fall down before the idol and worship him, at the command of his panegyrist.
During the reigns of Charles II. and James II., the
documents the most interesting to Englishmen are the
despatches from the French ambassadors and agents,
detailing their own proceedings, and the most important events in England and Holland.  They have never
yet been published. Dalrymple, long ago, inserted copies
of some, and extracts from others, in his "Memoirs of




ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE,

XV

Great Britain and Ireland;" and Mr. Fox, when he visited Paris in 1802, was careful to have many transcribed
for his own use, of which some, but a few only, have
been published. On this account Mazure, when he was
preparing materials for his "Histoire de la Revolution de
1668 en Angleterre," sought out every despatch appertaining to the subject, from whatever quarter it might
come; and as he possessed unrestricted access to the
archives of the Ministere des Affaires 6trangeres de
France, transcribed, for the sake of accuracy, every separate piece with his own hand.   He did not publish
them, but was content to incorporate them in his own
work.
It will undoubtedly be noticed that, with respect to
the same subjects, I repeatedly quote passages from documents hitherto inedited: and it may with reason be
asked from. what source I procured them. I answer,
from the very transcripts which were made by Mazure
himself. After his death his papers came into my possession; and from them I was enabled sometimes to
extract passages which he had passed over, because to
him, a foreigner, they did not appear of so much importance as they must appear to a native; and sometimes to
correct unintentional mistakes in Mazure's own history,
when he occasionally suffered his prepossessions to give
to passages an interpretation which the words themselves
in those particular circumstances could not bear.
In addition to the voluminous compilations already
mentioned, we owe numbers of important papers, and
collections of papers, to eminent scholars, who have
deserved well of their country in this department of literature; to Sir Henry Ellis, Sir Frederic Madden, the
late Sir Harris Nicolas,[Sir Thomas Phillips Bart., the
Rev. Jos, Stevenson, John Gough Nichols, Esq., John




ï~~xv1

PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

Bruce, Esq., and many others, - too many, indeed, to be
enumerated here; but their names will be recorded and
their services acknowledged in the following volumes.
There remains, however, one name, which shall not be
passed over in silence, - that of a female writer, Miss
Agnes Strickland, whose claim to the distinction is of a
different kind, and peculiarly her own, - the discovery
of a new mine of historic lore, previously unexplored; a
mine which she has also worked with great success in
those attractive volumes, her "Lives of the Queens of
England."
In disposing of the new matter derived from these
several sources, I have strictly adhered to the same rules
to which I limited myself in the former editions; to
admit no statement merely upon trust, to weigh with
care the value of the authorities on which I rely, and to
watch with jealousy the secret workings of my own personal feelings and prepossessions.  Such vigilance is a
matter of necessity to every writer of history, if he aspire
to the praise of truthfulness and impartiality. He must
withdraw himself aloof from the scenes which he describes, and view with the coolness of an unconcerned
spectator the events which pass before his eyes, holding
with a steady hand the balance between contending parties, and allotting to the more prominent characters that
measure of praise or dispraise which he conscientiously
believes to be their due. Otherwise, he will be continually tempted to make an unfair use of the privilege of
the historian; he will sacrifice the interests of truth to
the interests of party, national, religious or political.
His narrative may still be brilliant, attractive, picturesque; but the pictures which he paints will derive their
colouring from the jaundiced eye of the artist himself,
and will therefore bear no very faithful resemblance to




ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

XVII

the realities of life and fact. Some of my readers may
here, perhaps, recollect with what confidence the offence
which I have just mentioned, that of sacrificing to party
the interests of truth, was laid to my charge on the first
appearance of this work; nor is it without feelings of
honest pride that I now call to mind those statements
of mine which were then received by popular writers of
the day with bursts of indignation, and contradicted by
them with sneers of contempt. I allude to the irreverent
manner in which I had spoken of the Scottish hero, Sir
William Wallace; to the unfair character - so it was
deemed-which I had drawn of Archbishop Cranmer;
and to the cause to which I had attributed the massacre
at Paris on the feast of St. Bartholomew. More than
twenty years have not elapsed, and what has been the
result? 1. Every contemporary scrap of paper that
could be discovered, having any connection with the name
of Wallace, has been sought out and laid before the public; but not a single document has yet appeared to show
that the hero ever performed any great service to his
country during the seven years that passed between his
loss of the great battle of Falkirk and his death on a
scaffold in England, by command of Edward III. That
death still appears to me to have been the apotheosis to
which he was indebted for the worship afterwards paid
to his memory in Scotland. 2. The character and conduct of the archbishop have been elucidated by his admirers from his register, from his correspondence at
home and abroad, and from his printed works: still
nothing has yet been drawn from these sources to prove
that I had formed an erroneous estimate, either of his
sincerity or of his courage. 3. The publication of the
secret despatches from Salriati, the papal nuncio at
Paris, has proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt,
VOL. 1.     2




ï~~.II

PRELIMINARY NOTICE.

that the massacre was not the result of a premeditated
plan, but rose, as I had maintained, out of an accident
unforeseen and unexpected.
The result of these controversies may prove a useful
lesson to those who are always ready to charge a writer
with prejudice, if he dare to call in question notions
which they have long cherished; the shibboleth, perhaps, of party, or remaining impressions of early education. Few persons are, indeed, aware how many statements may be found in most modern histories, which,
though generally credited, have no foundation in fact,
but are admitted at once, because they have long been
repeated by writer after writer, without scruple or refutation. Such misstatements abound in the annals of
almost every reign, and seem to have frequently originated in the conjecture or indolence of some popular
historian.
For instance, we are generally told that Henry VIII.
made his last will and testament on December 30 of the:year before his death, that he executed it with his own
hand, and that he observed in it all the provisions of the
statutes passed in his reign. Of fraud or illegality no
suspicion is ever hinted: but let the reader turn to the
close of the fifth chapter in the sixth volume of this
work, and watch the intrigues and manoeuvres of the
Camarilla which besieged the bed of the sick monarch,
and monopolized his confidence. There he will see how
the king was induced to remodel his will, and bequeath
to the earl of Hertford, and that nobleman's party, the
whole government of the realm during the minority of
Prince Edward, his legitimate successor; how, towards
the end of January, instead of subscribing this instrument with his own hand, he ordered it to be stamped,
thus rendering it a nullity by the statutes of the twenty



ï~~PIRELIMINARY NOTICE.

X

eighth and thirty-first of his reign; how, by a fraudulent
manoeuvre, several gentlemen of the court were led to
attest that the will had been signed by the king himself,
in their presence, on the 30th of December; how his
death was concealed by the same faction from the knowledge of the nation and parliament during three days;
and how, when his demise was announced to the two
houses by the chancellor, these skilful plotters were
careful to make known the testamentary provisions in
their favour, but most ingeniously contrived to preserve
the instrument itself from inspection, that the absence
of the royal signature might not be detected. It was a
case, perhaps, without parallel in the history of nations.
Yet every step in this long course of fraud and imposture
is made evident by authentic documents, to which it is
impossible to refuse credit.
It is long since I disclaimed any pretensions to that
which has been called the philosophy of history, but
might with more propriety be termed the philosophy of
romance.    Novelists, speculatists and  philosophists,
always assume the privilege of being acquainted with
the secret motives of those whose conduct and characters
they describe; but writers of history know nothing more
respecting motives than the little which their authorities
have disclosed, or the facts necessarily suggest. If they
indulge in fanciful conjectures, if they profess to detect
the hidden springs of every action, the origin and consequences of every event, they may display acuteness of
investigation, profound knowledge of the human heart,
and great ingenuity of invention; but no reliance can be
placed on the fidelity of their statements. In their eagerness they are apt to measure fact and theory by the same
visionary standard: they dispute or overlook every adverse or troublesome authority, and then borrow from




ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
imagination whatever may be wanting for the support or
embellishment of their new doctrine. They come before
us as philosophers, who undertake to teach from the
records of history; they are in reality literary empirics,
who disfigure history to make it accord with their philosophy. Nor do I hesitate to proclaim my belief that
no writers have proved more successful in the perversion of historic truth than speculative and philosophical
historians.
From these imaginative theories I pass to another topic.
Some readers have been known to complain that in the
course of my narrative I have so very sparingly introduced those many curious and miscellaneous subjects,
which, however foreign to the general purpose of history,
are usually welcome to readers of fanciful or limited
tastes and pursuits. The objection reminds me of the
following very pertinent passage from Tacitus, the Roman
historian: - Nerone secundum L. Pisone consulibus,
pauca memoria digna evenere, nisi cui libeat laudandis
fundamentis et trabibus quis molem amphitheatri apud
campum Martis Caesar extruerat, volumina implere; calm
ex dignitate populi Romani repertum sit res inlustres
annalibus, talia diurnis urbis actibus mandare. - Tac.
Annal. xru. 31.
In the composition of these volumes 1 have repeatedly
had occasion, like Tacitus, to lament the dearth of important incidents; and have been tempted, as he was, to
look out for supplementary matter from some foreign
source. But the same judicious rule which he had laid
down for his guidance has in all such cases suggested
itself to me. One thing for the annals of a great people,
another for the journals of the city council: one for the
history of England, another for the chronicles of an
abbey, or the fortunes of a family, or the subject-matter




ï~~PRELIMINARY NOTICE

xIx

of any of the severa. departments into which literature
at present is divided. The historian, the genealogist,
the typographer, the biographer, the antiquary, the
architect, the ecclesiologist, the lectdrer (not to mention
numberless other candidates for literary fame), have all
their peculiar spheres of action: but if the historian
encroach on their domain, if he take upon himself their
respective duties, he will probably desert the stately and
dignified march of the historic muse, to bewilder himself
in a labyrinth of dry details and tedious computations;
or perhaps substitute, in the place of pure history, an
incoherent medley of fragmentary and elementary essays,
calculated rather to perplex than to enlighten the minds
of his readers.
It had been my intention to accompany this prefatory
announcement with remarks on several important passages in English history. For our annals, spread over so
many centuries, are fraught with animating scenes ci
national glory, with bright examples of piety, honour,
and resolution, and with the most impressive and instructive lessons to princes, statesmen, and people. But a
long and painful malady, joined with the infirmities of
age, has rendered me incapable of executing the task
which I had marked out, and has admonished me to bid
a final adieu to those studies with which I have been so
long familiar.
The other editions of this work have been received with
a kindness for which I ought to feel grateful,. and have
been honored with testimonies of approbation of which
I ha-e reason to be proud. The present edition, the last
which I can expect to see, will, on account of more recent
discoveries and improvements, contain much new and
important matter. I here commit it, with all its imperfections, whatever they may be, without anxiety, to the




ï~~IXII             PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
kind indulgence of my readers, under the impression that
it will not be found less worthy of their favour and approbation than any of its predecessors. With this flattering hope and anticipation before me, I now take my leave
of the public, and - to borrow the words of the retiring
veteran in Virgil -
"Hic cistus artemque reono."
IORNBY, DECEMBER 20, 1849.




ï~~PREFACE.
THESE volumes contain the History of England from
the first invasion by the Romans to the Revolution
in 1688.
To the reader it can matter little what were the
motives, which induced me to undertake this work:
yet I may be allowed to say, that I was neither ignorant of the difficulty of the attempt, nor insensible to
the merits and fame of those, who have preceded me
in the same career. It is long since curiosity first
led me to consult the original writers; and an intimate acquaintance with these authorities convinced
me, that if much had already been accomplished, yet
much remained to be done; that in the best of our
histories there were errors to be corrected, and omissions to be supplied; and that on several importan..
subjects new information might be brought forward,
to elucidate what was obscure, and to rectify what
had been misrepresented. To these objects I originally limited my plan: but to search out and r'medy
the defects of others was soon felt an irksome, as
well as ungracious office: I abandoned the design,
and ventured on a more arduous and laborious task,
the composition of the present volumes.




ï~~XXIy

PREFACE.

To render them more deserving of the public
approbation, I did not hesitate, at the commencement of my labours, to impose on myself a severe
obligation, from which I am not conscious of having
on any occasion materially swerved: to take nothing
upon trust; to confine my researches, in the first
instance, to original documents, and the more ancient
writers; and only to consult the modern historians,
when I had satisfied my own judgment, and composed my own narrative. My object was to preserve
myself from copying the mistakes of others, to keep
my mind unbiassed by their opinions and prejudices,
and to present to the reader from authentic sources
a full and correct relation of events. These restrictions would indeed add to the toil of the writer; but
they promised to stamp the features of accuracy and
novelty on his work. How far I have succeeded,
must be for the public to determine: but this, I trust,
will be admitted, that whatever may be in other
respects the defects of this History, it may fairly
claim the merit of research and originality.
The labour was at first comparatively trifling. For
the description of ancient Britain the writer must be
content with the scanty information, which he may
glean from the notices, scattered here and there in
the works of classic antiquity. In the next stage of
his progress he is introduced to a race of native historians, who, having received with the doctrines of
Christianity the rudiments of literature, hastened to
commit to writing the transactions of the age, or
were satisfied to copy the records left to them by their
predecessors. Their manner is jejune, their language homely, their selection injudicious: yet from




ï~~PREFACE.

them, with the aid of the Saxon laws and the Saxon
councils, published by Spelman and Wilkins, it is
possible to form an interesting, if not satisfactory,
account of England previously to the Norman conquest. After that period the materials thicken upon
the historian: in each succeeding reign they increase
in number and importance; and, in proportion as he
approaches to more modern times, they present a
voluminous and formidable array of annalists and
historians, of rolls and journals of parliament, and
of collections of state papers, of dispatches of ambassadors, and of private letters of ministers and
courtiers. All these it is his duty to peruse and
compare; that he may ascertain the dates, may decide between the conflicting testimony of witnesses,
may unravel the intrigues of statesmen, and may
clear the truth from the rubbish which has been
thrown over it by ignorance, or prejudice, or passion.
Among these sources of historical information there
is one, which deserves his peculiar attention; the
confidential correspondence of persons in high and
official situations. This offers to him the most valuable assistance. It removes the veil which policy
has drawn before the counsels of princes, reveals the
secret springs which set in motion the machinery of
government, and exhibits kings and ministers in their
true characters, not as they affect to appear to the
public eye, but as they really were in the privacy of
their own houses, and in the circle of their familiar
acquaintances. Without such documents history is
an inert and spiritless mass; from these it may derive both life and vigour.
In addition, he must not fail to seek for informs
VOL. I.    3




ï~~XXVI

PREFACE.

tion in the works of the continental historians. In
matters of extraneous policy, in the contests and
negociations between the sovereigns of this and of
other countries, he will often be misled, if he trust
solely to the fidelity of his English guides. It is his
duty to contrast foreign with native authorities, to
hold the balance between them with an equal hand,
and, forgetting that he is an Englishman, to judge
impartially as a citizen of the world.  Even with
respect to domestic history, the most authentic and
interesting information may often be drawn from the
reports made by foreign ambassadors in England to
their respective sovereigns. In the course of the
following pages the reader will see how much I am
indebted, during the reign of Mary, to the dispatches
of the imperial ambassador preserved in the library
at Besancon in France; how much, during the reign
of Elizabeth, to extracts from the papers deposited
by Philip II. at Simancas in Spain.
Among later writers Dr. Henry ventured to deviate from the beaten track, and composed a his'
tory of England on a plan entirely new. He broke
the time into small portions, and divided the subject
into different heads, allotting to each portion a separate book, and to each head a separate chapter. This
arrangement has met with many admirers; and must
be acknowledged to possess the advantages of classi.
fication and perspicuity. But to me it appears liable
to strong objections. It interrupts the continuity of
the narration; it insulates facts which, to be properly
understood, should be viewed in conjunction with
others; it separates effects from their causes, which are
often to be found in different chapters; and it deprives




ï~~PREFACE.

XVR

history of its native and most pleasing charm, by
giving to it the semblance of a study rather than an
amusement. For these reasons I did not hesitate to
prefer the method consecrated by the practice of the
great writers of antiquity, and by the adoption of the
majority of their successors. It is easy for a skilful
hand to interweave in a continued narrative every
notice that may be necessary to delineate the manners and habits of thinking, the arts, the literature,
and the legislative principles of the age.
The reader of these pages will soon discover that I
advance but few pretensions to that which has been
called the philosophy of history, and which on a former occasion I had the temerity to denominate the
philosophy of romance *. It is the privilege of the
novelist, as I then remarked, to be always acquainted
with the secret motives of those, whose conduct
and characters he delineates: but the writer of history can know no more than his authorities have
disclosed, or the facts themselves necessarily suggest.
If he indulge his imagination, if he pretend to detect
the hidden springs of every action, the real origin of
every event, he may embellish his narrative, but he
will impose upon his readers, and probably upon himself. Much research and experience may perhaps
have entitled me to form an opinion: and I have
little hesitation in saying, that few writers have done
more to pervert the truth of history than philosophical
historians. They may display great acuteness of
investigation, a profound knowledge of the human
heart; but little reliance can be placed on the fidelity
* In the advertisement prefixed to the fourth volume of the
first edition.




ï~~VIII

PREFACE.

of their statements. In their eagerness to establish
some favourite theory, they are apt to overlook every
troublesome or adverse authority, to distort facts in
order to form a foundation for their system, and to
borrow from their own fancy whatever may be want.
ing for its support and embellishment. Of the ease
with which history may thus be made to bend to any
hypothesis, a strong illustration is furnished by the
controversy respecting the unfortunate Mary Stuart.
The leading facts of her story admit of no dispute;
but her enemies have attributed to the Scottish
queen one set of motives, her advocates another:
from either, the explanation of her subsequent conduct naturally follows; and in one case she stands
before us convicted of adultery and murder, in the
other she appears an innocent and much injured
woman.
When I consider the extent of this work, that the
narrative runs through thirteen volumes, and comprises the transactions of more than sixteen centuries,
it would be idle to flatter myself with the hope that it
is exempt from occasional error. Those only, who
are accustomed to historical composition, can be fully
aware how difficult it is, in works of multifarious
research, to guard at all times against mistakes. In
defiance of the most vigilant eye, a wrong name, a
false date, will often slip unobserved from the pen:
sometimes a valuable authority, or an important circumstance will be overlooked or forgotten; and the
writer, as he is always exposed to the danger, will
occasionally suffer himself to be misled by the secret
prejudices, or the unfair statements of the authors,
whom it is his duty to consult. These errors, how.




ï~~PREFACE.

XXIX

ever, let them be what they may, will, I trust, be
found on examination comparatively few and unimportant. They certainly have not sprung from negligence or design. On the one hand I have spared
no labour, shrunk from no investigation; on the
other I am not conscious to myself of any feeling which
should induce me to pervert the truth. It has been
my constant endeavour to separate myself as much
as possible from every party; to stand as it were
aloof, the unconcerned spectator of the passing events;
and to record them fairly in these pages, as they
came in review before my eyes. That they should
always appear to others in the same light in which
they appeared to me, I cannot expect: but before
the reader accuse me of prejudice, let him be assured
that he is free from prejudice himself.
Before I conclude, 1 ought perhaps to observe,
that where, not to load the page with a multitude of
notes, I have classed several references in the same
line, it is not pretended that each of them separately
will fully authorize the statement to which it belongs.
Some have perhaps furnished only particular circumstances; some may partially contradict the others:
the text is the result from the comparison of them
all; and should not be charged with inaccuracy, till
all have been collated in their different bearings, and
the value of each has been carefully ascertained.
* This preface was originally dated Hornby, June 14, 1823. It
was written before the history was completed. This is omitted in
the last London edition.




ï~~


ï~~CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
ROMAN       BRITAIN.
OESAR TWICE INVADES BRITAIN-TIHE BRITISH TRIBES-.
THEIR MANNERS-RELIGION-GOVERNMENT-GRADUAL CONQUEST OF BRITAIN BY THE ROMANS-ITS STATE UNDER THE
EMPERORS-CONVERSION OF THE NATIVES TO CHRISTIANITY
-THE ROMANS ABANDON THE ISLAND,
Caesar's first invasion of Britain, 1. His return to Gaul, 3.
The second invasion, 4. Resistance of Cassibe!an, 5. And
his submission, 6. Origin of the Britons, 7. British tribes, 8.
Their manners, 9. Discovery of the tin islands, 11. Exports and imports, 13. Religion, 14. Sacrifices, 15. Doc.
trines, 16. Authority of the Druids, 17. The Bards, 18.
Government of the Britons, 19. Augustus, 20. Caligula, 20.
Claudius, 21. Ostorius, 22. Fate of Caractacus, 23. Re.
duction of Anglesey, 24. Rebellion of Boadicea, 25. Defeat of Boadicea, 27. Victories of Agricola, 29. He invades
Caledonia, 30. The Government established in Britain, 31.
The Prefect, 31. Procurator and taxes, 31. Army, 32.
Provinces, 34. Colonies, 35. Municipia, 36. Latian cities, 36. Stipendiary towns, 36. Roman walls, 37. Vallum of Hadrian, 37-. Vallum of Antoninus, 38. Ulpius
Marcellus, 38. Clodius Albinus, 38. Virius Lupus, 39.
Severus in Britain, 39. Grants peace to the Caledonians, 40.
Builds his celebrated wall, 41. He dies, 41. Usurpation
of Carausius, 43. His death, 43. Reign of Allectus, 43.
His death, 44. Introduction of Christianity, 44. Conversion of Lucius, 46. Persecution, 46. Constantine emperor,
48. Government of Britain, 48. Tyranny of Paulus, 49.
Export of corn from Britain, 50. Origin pf the Picts and
Scots, 50. Theodosius, 53. Usurpation of Maximus, 54.
He is slain, 54. Marcus, Gratian, and Constantine emperors, 55.. Britain abandoned by the Romans, 57. The
natives invite the Saxons, 58. Theoloogical disputes, 58.




ï~~XXXIi

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER If.
A N G L O-SA XON S.
ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF TILE ANGLO-SAXONS-THEIR RE*
PEATED DESCENTS IN BRITAINTrI EY FOUND EIGHT DISTINCT
KINGDOMS-THE NATIVES RETIRE TO THE WESTERN COASTREIGNS OF TEE SAXON ERETWALDAS-1RLLA-CEAWLIN
ETIIELBERT--RI WAL.D-ED WIN--OS W ALD-OS WIO.
Original country of the Saxons, 60. Their manners, 61.
Arms, 61.   Ships, 62. Foundation of the kingdom  of
Kent, 64. British fictions, 65. Sussex, 55. Wessex, 67.
Essex, 68. East-Anglia, 68. Bernicia, 69. Deira, 69. Mercia, 69. Conduct of the Britons, 70, Their chieftains, 71.
Effects of the Saxon conquests, 72.  Octarchy established, 74. Ella, Bretwalda I.: Reign of XElla, 74.
~Cea wecn, Bretwalda II.: Reign of Ceawlin, 74. Etkelbert,
Brelwalda III.: Reign of Ethelbert, 75. Conversion of
the men of Kent, 76. Ethelbert baptized, 76. Conversion
of Essex, 78. Controversy with the Briton,. 78. Laws
of Ethelbert, 79. Reign of' Eadbcld, 80. JRedwald,
Bretwalda IV: Reign of Redwald, 81. Conquests of
Edifrid, 81. Adventures of Edwin, 83. Death of Edilfrid, 83.  Edwin, Bretwalda F.: Reign of Edwin, 84.
His marriage, 84.  Attempt to assassinate Edwin, 85.
His revenge, and conversion, 85. Ed1win's power, 88.
His death, 88.  Sufferings of the Northumbrians, 89.
Oswald, Brelwalda VI.: Murder of the Northumbrian
kings, 90. Accession of Oswald, 90. Conversion of the
Northumbrians, 91. Death of Oswald, 92. Oswio, Brettvalda VII.: Reign of Oswio, 93. Murder of Oswin, 94.
Enmity of Penda, 95. Defeat and death of Penda, 97.
Dedication of Al lfleda, 97. Power of Oswio, 98. Reli-.
gious disputes. 99. Uniformity established, 100. Yellow
Plague, 101. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, 102.
Death of Oswio, 103.
CH~APTER III.
ANGL 0-S AXONS.'
WINGS OF NORTHUMBiIA-OF MERCA-ETHELBALD-OFrA-;--
CENUI.F-OP WUSSEX-CIADWALLA-INA-CYNEWULFKGBERT--ETHELWULF-ETHIELBALD--ETHE,I5ERT--ETHEI.RED.
4Vorhumria: Northumbrian kings, 105. Egfrid's wars and
death, 107. Aldfrid, 108. Succession of Northumbrian kings,




ï~~CONTENTS.

XXXIII

109. Notice of Bede, 113. Of A'cuin, 114. Mercia: Mercian kings. Wulphere, 115. Ethelred, 116. Canred, 116.
Ceolred, 117. Ethelbald, 117. Offa, 119. His victories, 120.
Archbishopric of Lichfield,121. Offa and Charlemagne, 123.
Murder of Ethelbert, of East-Anglia, 124. Offa's death, 125.
Egferth, 125. Cenulf deposes Eadbert of Kent, 126. Restores the prerogatives of Canterbury, 126. Persecutes
archbishop Wulfrid, 127. Kenelm murdered, 128. Ceolwulf, 128. Wessex: Kings of Wessex, 128. Ceolwulf, 129.
Death of Tewdric of Wales, 129. Cynegils and Cuichelm,
129. Coinwalch, 130. Expelled and restored, 131. Sexburga, 131. Caeadwalla, 132. In Sussex, 133. Made king
of Wessex, 133. Conquers the Isle of Wight, 133. Puts
to death the brothers of Arvald, 134. Loses his brother in
Kent, 134. Goes to Rome, 135. Is baptized, 135. Dies, 135.
Ina, 135. P,ublishes a code of laws, 135. Invades Kent
and Cornwall, 136. Is opposed by pretenders to the crown,
136.  Founds monasteries, 137. Resigns the crown, 138.
Goes to Rome, 138. Dies, 138. 'Ethelheard, 138. Cuthred, 139. Sigebyrcht, 139. Is deposed, 140. Cynewulf,
140. Is murdered, 141. Punishment of the murderers. 142.
Brihtric, 142. Is poisoned by his queen, 142. Her fate, 143.
Egbert: Egbert, 143. Subdues the Britons, 143. The
Mercians, 144. The Northumbrians, 144. The Danes and
Northmen, 145. Their descents, 146. Death of Egbert, 146.
Ethelwulf: Succession of Ethelwulf, 147. Danish invasions, 149. Ethelwulf assists the Mercians, 150. Grants
a liberal donation to the church, 150. Visits Rome, 150.
Ethelbald rebels, 152. Pacification, 152. Ethelwulf dies,
152. Ethelbald: Ethelbald marries his mother-in-law, 153,
His death, 154. Ethelbert: Ethelbert, 154. Adventures
of Ragnar Lodbrog, 155. His death by Ella, 155. Ethelred: Invasion lby the sons of Ragnar 156. They conquer
Northumbria, 156. Invade Mercia, 157. Plunder and destroy the churches, 158. Enter East-Anglia, 158. Murder
king Edmund, 159. Invade Wessex, 159. Death of Ethelred, 160.
CHAPTER IV.
ANG LO-SAXONS.
BIRTH, EDUCATION, AND ACCESSION OP ALFRED-SUCCESSES OF
THIIE DANES-ALPRED OPPOSES THEM BY SEA-HIS VICTORIES
A ws, AND IMPIROVEMENTS-REIGNS OF EDWARD-ATHELSTAN
-EDMUND--AND EDRED.
Alfred the Great: Birth of Alfred, 161. His education, 162.
*His malady, 163. His succession to the crown, 163. Ho




ï~~XXXIV

CONTENTS.

purchases peace, 164. Danes conquer Mercia. 164. Pillage north of the Tyne, 165. Invade Wessex, 166. Alfred
builds a fleet, 167. Faults in the character of Alfred, 168.
He is driven from his throne, 169. Submission of Wessex,
170. A partyof Danes defeated, 171. Alfred reappears, 172.
Fights with the Danes, 172. Is victorious, 172. Alfred's
improvements in the army, 175. The fortifications, 175.
The navy, 176. The administration of justice, 177. He
encourages learning, 178. His translations, 179. Arrangement of his time, 180. Of his finances, 180. His power,
181, Invasion by Hastings, 182. Who retires to France,
184. The war continues, 185. Its termination, 186. Battles by sea, 186.. Death of Alfred, 187. Edward: Ethelwold aspires to the crown, 189. And perishes in battle,
189. Edward takes possession of Mercia, 190. Attacks
the northern Danes, 190. Success of Edward and Ethelfleda, 191. Edward pursues his success, 192. Dies, 192.
His family, 193. Eadburga, 193. Edward fortifies the
burghs, 193, Ecclesiastical affairs, 194, Athelstan, the first
monarch of England: Succession of Athelstan, 195. Tale
about the mother of Athelstan, 195. Alfred aspires to the
crown, 196. Athelstan takes possessionof Northumbria, 197.
Extends his authority over the Britons, 197. Death of his
brother Edwin, 198. Scots rebel and submit, 198. Invasion of Anlaff, 199. Victory of Brunanburgh, 201. Power
of Athelstan, 202. He protects foreign princes, 202. Haeo
of Norway, 203. Alan of Bretagne, 203. Louis of France,
203. Marriages of his sisters, 205. Ethilda, 205. Editha,
205. Adiva, 205. Elgiva, 205. Athelstan's death, 205.
Manners, 206.   Charities, 206.  Laws, 206. Edmund:
Northumbrian princes, 207. Anlaff's success, 208. His
death, 208. Edmund conquers Northumbria, 209. And
Cumbria, 209. Edmund's death, 210. Edred succeeds,
210. Edred: Final subjection of the Northumbrians, 210.
Account of Turketul, 212. And of Dunstan, 213. Edred's
toath, 214,
CHAPTER V.
ANGLO-SAXONS.
REIGN OF EDWYv-EDGAR-EDWARD THE IMARTYR-ETHELREDAND EDMUND, SURNAMED IRONSIDE.
Edwy: Edwy, 215. His misconduct, 216. His amour with
Ethelgive, 216. Dunstan punished, 217. Ethelgive's banishment. Edwy driven into Wessex, 218. Division of
the kingdom, 219. Edwy's death, 219. Edgar: Edgar's




ï~~CONTENTS.

XXXV

infancy, 220. le recalls Dunstan, 220. Becomes king of
Wessex, 221. Surnamed the peaceful, 222. Pleases the
Northumbrians, 222. Divides their territory, 222. Permits them to make their own laws, 223. His naval expeditions, 223. His power, 224. Administration of justice,
225. The restoration of the monks, 227. The reform of the
clergy, 227. Edg~ar's magnificence, 228. His courage,
229. His death, 229. Edward the.Martyr: Succession
of Edward, 231. His murder, 232. Ethelred: Ethelred
succeeds, 233. Invasions and ravages of the Northmen,
235. Brithnorth's death, 236. Siric's treaty, 237. Other
invasions, 237. Ethelred marries Emma, 240. Massacre
of the Danes, 241. Revenged by Sweyn, 243. Exertions
of Ethelred, 244. Invasion by Thurchil, 244. Distress
of the English, 245. Taxation, 247. Last invasion by
Sweyn, 247. Flight of Ethelred, 249. Death of Sweyn,
250. Return of Ethelred, 250. Invasion by Canute, 250.
Death of Ethelred, 254. Edmund. Siege of London, 255.
Battles between Edmund and Canute, 257. Pacification,
257.. Death of Edmund, 257.
CHAPTER VT.
DANES.
DANISH SOVEREIGNS -  CANUTE -- HAROLD -  5IARDECANUTE -
SAXON LINE RESTORED - EDWARD THE CONFESSOR - HAROLD -
VICTORY OF WILLIAM, THE CONQUEROR.
Canute: Canute succeeds, 259. Sends away the children of
Edmund, 259. Murders Edwy, 260. Marries Emma, 260.
Punishes Edric, 261. Rewards the Danes, 262. Establishes guards, 262. Pleases the English, 263. Publishes
laws, 264. Visits Denmark, 265. His pilgrimage to Rome,
265. His letter, 266. Conquers Norway, 268. And subdues the Scots, 269. He rebukes his followers, 269. His
death, 269. Harold, surnamed Harefoot: Succession of
Harold, 270. Invasion by Edward, 271. Another by
Alfred, 271. Flight of Emma, 273. Death of Harold,
274. Hardecanute: Succession of Hardecanute, 274.
His revenge, 275. His magnificence, 277. His death, 277.
Edward the Confessor: Succession of Edward, 277. His
character, 278. Punishes his mother, 280. Is opposed
by the king of Norway, 280. Marries Editha, 281. History of Sweyn, 282. Beone murdered, 283. Council at




ï~~XXXvI

CONTENTS.

Rome, 283. Robert made Archbishop of Canterbury, 284.
Rebellion of the Godwins, 286. Their banishment, 288.
Visit from William of Normandy, 289. Restoration of the
Godwins, 290. Promotion of Stigand, 290.  Death of
Godwin, 291. Edward's humanity, 293. War with Macbeth, 293. Civil war, 294. Conquest of Wales, 295.
Edward sends for his nephew from Germany, 297. Aldred's pilgrimage, 297. Harold in Normandy, 300. Insurrection of the Northumbrians, 303. Death of Edward,
304. Harold: Succession of Harold, 306. William claims
the crown, 307. Invasion by the king of Norway, 309.
Who falls in battle, 310. William prepares to invade England, 311. Lands in England, 313. Conduct of Harold,
314. Battle of Hastings, 315. Death of Harold, 319.
CHAPTER VII.
POLITY OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS - FEUDAL CUSTOMS - RANKS IN
SOCIETY - COURTS OF LAW- CRIMES - SLAVES.
Manners of Anglo-Saxons, 320. Feudal customs, 321. Lord
and vassal, 321. Homage, 321. Division of lands, 325.
Military service, 326. Other services to king or ealdorman, 326. Heriots, 327. Marriage licenses, 328. Ranks.
-The eorl, 329. King, 330. Queen, 332. Ealdorman,
333. Gesith, 334. Thane, 335. Gerefa, 336. The ceorl,
336. Administration of justice, 337. Hundred motes,
338. Shire-motes, 339. Origin of shires, 340. Of hundreds, 341. Tythings, 341. King's court, 342. Witenagemot, 342.  Its members, 343.   Its authority, 345.
Judicial proceedings, 345.  In civil actions, 345. In
criminal prosecutions, 347. Purgation by oath, 347. Purgation by ordeal, 348. Obstacles to the administration of
justice, 349. Crimes of the Anglo-Saxons, 350. Homicide
punished by fine, 351. Weres, 352. Mode of payment,
352. Theft and robbery, 353. Their punishment, 353.
Number of slaves, 353. Their diffeibrent classes, 354.
Manumission, 357. Trade in slaves, 358. Burghers, 359.




ï~~LINGARD'S

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
ROMAN     BRITAIN;
Caesar twice invades Britain-The British Tribes-Their Manners-.
Religion-Government-Gradual Conquest of Britain by the Romans
-Its State under.the Emperors-Conversion of the Natives to Christianity-The Romans abandon the Island.
IT is to the pen of a Roman general that we are indebted A. C.
for our first acquaintance with the history of Britain. 55.
Julius Caesar, in the short space of three years, had conducted his victorious legions from the foot of the Alps to
the mouth of the Rhine. From the coast of the Morini
he could descry the white cliffs of the neighbouring
island: and the conqueror of Gaul aspired to the glory
of adding Britain to the dominions of Rome. The inabihlity or refusal of the Gallic mariners to acquaint him
with the number of the inhabitants, their manner of
warfare, and their political institutions; and the prudence or timidity of Volusenus, who had been sent to
procure information, but returned without venturing to
communicate with the natives, served only to irritate his
curiosity and to inflame his ambition. The Britons, by
lending aid to his enemies, the Veneti, supplied him with
a decent pretext for hostilities; and on the twenty-sixth
of August, in the fifty-fifth year before the Christian era
Caesar sailed from Calais, with the infantry of two legions. To cross the strait was only the work of a few
hours: but, when he saw the opposite heights crowned
with multitudes of armed men, he altered his course,
vol. I.     1




ï~~ROMAN BRITAIN.

tCHAP. 1.

and steering along the shore, cast anchor before the spot
'which is now occupied by the town of Deal. The natives
carefully followed the motions of the fleet, urging their
horses into the waves, and, by their gestures and shouts,
bidding defiance to the invaders. The appearance of the
naked barbarians, and a superstitious fear of offendinj
the gods of this unknown world, spread a temporary
alarm among the Romans: but after a short pause, the
standard-bearer of the tenth legion, calling on his comrades to follow him, leaped with his eagle into the sea
detachments instantly poured from the nearest boats;
the beach, after a short struggle, was gained; and the
untaught valour of the natives yielded to the arms and
the discipline of their enemies.
If the Romans were pre-eminent in the art of war,
they were greatly deficient in nautical science. On the
fourth night after their arrival, the violence of the wind
augmented the usual swell of the waves at a spring tide;
the ships, that had been hauled on shore, were filled
with water; those which rode at anchor were driven out
to sea; and a squadron, employed to bring the cavalry
from Gaul, was entirely dispersed. The British chieftains, who had come to the camp to solicit peace, observed the consternation excited by these untoward
events, and, having retired separately under different
pretexts, concealed themselves, with their forces, in the
neighbouring woods. Casar was not aware of their
design, till he heard that the seventh legion, which had
been sent out to forage, was surrounded and overwhelmed
by a hostile multitude. The timely arrival of the rest
of the army rescued the survivors from utter destruction:
but the Britons, steady in their plan, despatched messengers to the neighbouring tribes, to represent the
small number of the invaders, and inculcate the necessity of intimidating future adventurers by exterminating
the present. A general assault was soon made on the
Roman camp; and, though it proved unsuccessful, it
taught Casar to reflect on the evident danger of his
4."




ï~~A. c. 54.]

INVASION OF CIESAR.

situation, if the inclemency of the weather should interrupt his communication with Gaul, and confine him,
during the winter, to a foreign shore, without supplies
of provisions. To save his reputation, he gladly accepted
an illusory promise of submission from a few of the natives, and hastened back with his army to Gaul, after a
short absence of three weeks. It is manifest that he had
little reason to boast of the success of this expedition
and on that account he affects in his Commentaries to
represent it as undertaken for the sole purpose of discovery. But at Rome it was hailed as the forerunner of
the most splendid victories; the mere invasion of Britain was magnified into the conquest of a new world;
and a thanksgiving of twenty days was decreed by the
senate to the immortal gods *.
The ensuing winter was spent by each party in the A. c.
most active preparations. In spring the Roman army, 54.
consisting of five legions and two thousand cavalry, sailed
from the coast of Gaul in a fleet of more than eight
hundred ships. At the sight of this immense armament
stretching across the channel, the Britons retired with
precipitation to the woods; and the invaders landed
without opposition on the very same spot which they had
occupied  the preceding   year.   Casar immediately
marched in pursuit of the natives, but was recalled the
next day by news of the disaster which had befallen his
fleet. A storm had risen in the night, in which forty
vessels were totally lost, and many others driven on
shore. To guard against similar accidents, he ordered
the remainder to be dragged above the reach of the tide,
and to be surrounded with a fortification of earth. In
this laborious task ten days were employed, after which
the invaders resumed their march towards the interior
of the country. Each day was marked by some partial
* Cas. de Bel. Gal. iv. 20-36. Dio, xxxix. 120. Caesar, in his letters,
described the island as of immense extent-another world: ahum orbem
terrarum. Eumen. Paneg. p. 174. Of his success, Lucan says plainly:
Territa quasitis ostendit terga Britannis. Luc.ii. 572.




ï~~ROMAN BRITAIN.

(CHAP. I.

rencounter, in which the natives appear to have frequently obtained the advantage. It was their policy to
shun a general engagement. Divided into small bodies,
but stationed within hail of each other, they watched the
march of the enemy, cut off the stragglers, and diligently improved every opportunity of annoyance. Their
principal warriors, who fought from chariots, extorted
by their skill and intrepidity the applause of the Romans. On the brink of a precipice, or on the rapidity
of a descent, they guided their vehicles with as much
safety as on the level plain. No danger appalled them.
They drove fearlessly along the Roman line, espied
every opportunity of breaking the ranks of the enemy,
and during the heat of the action would run along the
pole, leap on the ground, or regain their seats, as the
events of the moment seemed to demand. If they
despaired of success, they retired with rapidity: if they
were pursued, they abandoned their chariots, and with
their pikes resisted on foot the charge of the cavalry. It
required all the art of Cmaesar to inflict any serious injury
on so active a foe. At length three of the legions with
all the cavalry were sent out to forage, and their apparent disorder invited the Britons to attack them with
their whole force. Descending from the hills, they
poured through every opening, and penetrated as far as
the eagles: but the veterans received them with coolness; the cavalry pursued them in their flight, and few
were able to regain the mountains and woods. Dispirited by this check, many of the confederate tribes
retired to their homes; and Cassibelan, king of the
Cassii, the chief of the allies, was left to support the
whole pressure of the war.
By repeated victories over his neighbours, Cassibelan
had acquired high renowi among the natives.     The
tribes on the right bank of the Thames had invited him
to place himself at their head; and his conduct during
the war seems to have justified the selection. Deserted
by his confederates, he retreated into his own territories,




ï~~.c. 54.]j

CASS1BELAN.

and attempted to place the Thames between him and
his pursuers. At the only ford he ordered sharp stakes
to be fixed in the bed of the river; lined the left bank
with palisades; and stationed behind these the principal
part of his army But the advance of the Romans was
not to be retarded by artificial difficulties. The cavalry,
without hesitation, plunged into the river; the infantry
followed, though the water reached to their shoulders;
and the Britons, intimidated by the intrepid aspect of
the invaders, fled to the woods. Such is the account of
this transaction which has been given by Casar: but
Polymnus attributes his success to the panic caused by
the sight of an elephant. At the approach of this unknown animal of enormous magnitude, covered with
scales of polished steel, and carrying on his back a turret
filled with armed men, the Britons abandoned their defences, and sought for safety by a precipitate flight*.
The king of the Cassii was not, however, discouraged.
To impede the progress of the enemy, he laid waste his
own territories. By his orders the habitations were
burnt, the cattle driven away, and the provisions destroyed, and, as the Romans marched through this
desert, Cassibelan himself, with four thousand chariots,
carefully watched all their motions. But the unfortunate chieftain, besides his foreign enemies, had to contend against the jealousy and resentment of his own
countrymen. lie had formerly subdued the Trinobantes,
a contiguous nation. In the contest, their king Immanuentius had been slain; and his son Mandubratius was
now an exile, and served in the army of the invaders.
The Trinobantes offered to submit to the Romans, on
condition that they should be governed by the son of
Immanuentius; and several tribes, which bore with impatience the yoke of the Cassii, following their example,
solicited the protection of Casar. By these he was conducted to the capital or principal fortress of Cassibelan,

Polyn. viii. 737. Lug. Bat. 1691.




ï~~ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I.

situated on the spot where afterwards Verulam was
Duilt, and near to the present town of St. Alban's. It
was surrounded by a rampart and a ditch, and covered
on every side by extensive marshes and forests. Even
Casar admired the judgment with which the position
had been selected, and the art with which it was fortified. Its defences, however, were easily forced by the
Romans; and the cattle of Cassibelan, his principal
treasure, became the prey of the conquerors.
The British king still waited the issue of his plans in
another quarter. He had instructed the four chieftains
of Kent to assemble their forces, assault the Roman
camp, and set fire to the ships. If this attempt had succeeded, the Romans would have been involved in inextricable difficulties. But the men of Kent were defeated;
and Cassibelan condescended to sue for peace. Casar,
who feared the approach of the equinox, willingly prescribed the following conditions: that he should give
hostages, should live in amity with the Trinobantes, and
should furnish his share to the annual tribute which
was to be imposed on Britain. The Romans immediately
marched back to the coast, and as the fleet had been
refitted, returned to Gaul in the month of September *.
Such were the petty results of this mighty expedition.
The citizens of Rome celebrated with joy the victories of
their favourite general: but the conqueror of Britain
was not master of one foot of British ground. The
inhabitants, however, and the productions of "the new
world," became objects of interest to the more civilized
nations of Greece and Italy; and the industry of writers
was eagerly employed to satisfy the curiosity of the
public. Of their works, many have undoubtedly perished; from those which remain has been gleaned the
following account of ancient Britain, such as it is described to have been about the commencement of the
Christian era.
* Cis. v.1-23. Dio, xl. 146. On the calends of S4ptember Caesar had sent
to Cicero an account of the campaign in a private letter. From the lan



ï~~CHAP..

ORIGIN OF THE BRITONS.

The principal nations of Europe are shown, from the
radical difference in their languages, to be descended
from the three great families of the Celts, Gothi, and
Sarmate: and from       the countries which they have successively occupied, it appears that the Celtt were the
first who crossed the limits of Asia into Europe; that,
as the tide of population continued to roll towards the
west, they were pushed forward by the advance of the
Gothic nations; and that these in their turn yielded to
the pressure of the tribes of the Sarmate. At the dawn
of history we find the Celta dispersed over a great part
of Europe:     in  the  time of Casar they occupied         the
principal portion of Spain, of Gaul, and of the British
isles*. That conqueror, in describing the inhabitants of
Britain, could speak from personal knowledge of none
but the tribes that dwelt near the mouth of the Thames.
These, he.informs us, were of Belgic descent. Their ancestors had, at no very distant period, invaded the island,
expelled the original inhabitants from the coast, and in
their new settlements still retained the names of the
parent statest.     Beyond them      dwelt other tribes less
familiarized with the habits of civilized life.      When he
inquired after their origin, he was told that their ancestors were the spontaneous production of the soil: later
discoveries showed that they were Celta, the descendants of the first colonists of Britain$.
guage of Cicero, that it "was favourable or satisfactory enough," literas satis
commodus de Britannicis rebus (ad Quint. Frat.1. iii. ep. 1), we may infer
that he did not deem it very glorious to the arms of Rome. Had the expedition proved successful, we should probably have had a poem on the conquest of Britain from the pen of Cicero; for so he had promised to his brother
Quintus, who accompanied Caesar. "Modo mihi date Britanniam, quam
pingam coloribus tuis penicillo meo." Lib. ii. Ep. 14.
* It is doubtful whether the Belgic tribes should be considered as of Celtic
or Gothic origin.                        t Ces. ii. 3. v. 12.
$ I shall not notice the fable of Brutus, the great-grandson of Eneas, who
gave his name to the island, and whose descendants are said to have swayed
the sceptre for many generations (Nennius says he extracted it ex veteribus
scriptis veterum nostrorum. Edit. Bert. 104; which makes it older than
Geoffry or Tyssilio): nor the dreams of more recent antiquaries,;who have
sought out the patriarch of the Cymri in the ark of Noah, and conducted him
and his children through a thousand perils to Britain. The triads have given
us the names, and, in some instances, the origin of the three priheval tribes
that settled in Britain; of the three foreign tribes, that were peaceably adi
mitted; and of the three usurping tribes, that obtained possession of the




ï~~ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP..

The number of the inhabitants in the districts which
fell under his observation, astonished the Roman general: and there is reason to believe that many other districts were equally well peopled *. The population of
the whole island comprised above forty tribes, of which
several, while they retained their former appellations,
had been deprived of their independence, at the same
time that others, amid the revolutions of two or three
centuries, had risen to a high Ire-eminence of power.
The long tract of land to the south of the Severn and
the Thames was unequally portioned among ten nations,
of which the principal were the Cantii, or men of Kent;
the Belge, or inhabitants of the present counties of
Hampshire and Wilts; and the Damnonii, who, from
the river Ex, had gradually extended themselves to the
western promontory. Across the arm of the sea, now
called the Bristol Channel, the most powerful was the
tribe of the Silures. From the banks of the Wye, their
original seat, they had carried their arms to the Dee
and the ocean; and their authority was acknowledged
by the Ordovices and the Dimetae, the inhabitants of the
northern mountains, and of the western district of
Wales. On the eastern coast of the island, between the
Thames and the Stour, lay the Trinobantes, whose capital was London; and from the Stour to the Humber
stretched the two kindred nations of the Iceni, called
Cenimagni and Coitanni. The Dobuni and Cassii, confederate tribes under the rule of Cassibelan, extended
along the left bank of the Thames, from the Severn to
the Trinobantes; and above them dwelt the Carnabii
and several clans of minor consequence. The Brigantes
were the most powerful of all the British nations. They
were bounded by the Humber on the south, and by the
greater part of the island. But whatever may be the antiquity of the triads,
their testimony must be doubtful, as being founded either on oral tradition, or
on fictions framed originally to solve appearances. For Gildas informs us
that in his time there did not exist among his countrymen any historical documents: quippe que, si qua fuerint, aut ignibus hostium deleta, aut civium
exilii classe longius deportata, non compareant. Gild. edit. Bert. p. 69.
* Hominum est infinita multitudo. Ca3s. v. 12. IHo2v qws',9Q o ro 7ooq.
Diod. Sic. v. 347. Brigantes, civitas numerosissima. Tac. Agric. c. 17.




ï~~CHAP. 1.]      MANNERS OF THE BRITONS.               9
Tyne on the north; and had subdued the Volantii and
Sistuntii of the western coast. To the north of the
Brigantes were five tribes; known by the general appellation of Maetwe: and beyond these wandered amid the
lakes and mountainis various clans, among which the
Caledonians claimed the praise of superior courage, or
superior ferocity *.
By the Roman writers all the natives of Britain are
indiscriminately denominated barbarians, a term of indefinite import, which must vary its signification with
the subject to which it is applied. Though far removed
from the elegance and refinement of their invaders, the
Belgic tribes of the south might almost claim the praise
of civilization, in comparison with their northern brethren. Their dress was of their own manufacture. A
square mantle covered a vest and trowsers, or a deeply
p)laited tunic of braided cloth; the waist was encircled
with a belt; rings adorned the second finger of each
hand; and a chain of iron or brass was suspended from
the neck 1. Their huts resembled those of their Gallic
neighbours, A foundation of stone supported a circular
wall of timber and reeds; over which was thrown a
conical roof, pierced in the centre for the two-fold'purpose of admitting light and discharging the smoke.
In husbandry they possessed considerable skill. They
had discovered the use of marl as a manure; they
raised more corn than was necessary for their own consumption; and, to preserve it till the following harvest,
they generally stored it in the cavities of rocks Â~. But
beyond the borders of the southern tribes, these faint
traces of civilization gradually disappeared. The midland and western nations were unacquainted with either
agriculture or manufactures. Their riches consisted in
* Ptolem. viii. 2. Ricard. Corin. i. 6. Whitaker's Manchester, i. 91; iL
201.
t Plin. viii. 48; xxxiii. 1. Dio Nic. in Nerone, p. 169, Whitaker's
Manchester, vii. 5
$ Cres. v. 12. Diod. Sic. v. p. 347. Strabo, iv. 197,
Plin. Hist. Nat. xvii. 6.8. Diod. Sic. v. p. 347,




ï~~10

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I.

the extent of their pastures, and the number of their
flocks. With milk and flesh they satisfied the cravings
of hunger; and, clothed in skins, they bade defiance to
the inclemency of the seasons*. But even sheep were
scarcely known in the more northern parts; and the
hordes of savages who roamed through the wilds of Caledonia often depended for support on the casual produce of the chase. They went almost naked; and sheltered themselves from the weather under the cover of
the woods, or in the caverns of the mountains. Their
situation had hardened both their minds and bodies. If
it had made them patient of fatigue and privation, it
had also taught them to be rapacious, bloody, and revengeful. When Severus invaded their country, the
Roman legions were appalled at the strength, the activity, the hardihood, and ferocity of these northern Britons 1.
The superior civilization of the southern tribes was
attributed by historians to their intercourse with the
strangers whom the pursuits of commerce attracted to
their coast. When the Spanish ores began to be exhausted, the principal supply of tin was sought from the
mines of Britain. The first who exported this metal
from the island, and conveyed it to the different ports in
the Mediterranean, were certain Phenician adventurers
from  Cadiz.  To monopolize so valuable a branch of
commerce, they carefully concealed the place from the
knowledge of their neighbours; and about five centuries before the birth of Christ, Herodotus, the father oa
profane history, candidly acknowledged that he had been
unable to discover the real position of the " Cassiterides,
or Tin-islands ~S." The Phenicians of Carthage were
more successful. Anxious to share in the trade with
their brethren of Cadiz, Hanno and Himilco undertook
SCums. v. 14.
t Mela, iii. p. 264. Dio Nic. in Severo, p. 340. Herodian, iii. 47,
$ Cas. v. 14.  Diod. Sic. v. 347.
SStrab. iii. 175.  Plin. vii. 56.  Herod, iii. 203.  Lug. Bal. 1715.




ï~~CHAP. I.]

THIE TIN-ISLANDS.

separate voyages of discovery.       Having    passed   the
Straits, Hanno turned to the left, and explored the coast
of Africa: Himilco, shaping his course to the north,
crept along the shore of Spain, stretched, by accident or
design, across the ocean, and in the fourth month discovered the object of his voyage. The (Estrymnides (so
the tin-islands are called in his journal, which was extant as late as the fifth century) were distant two days'
sail from " the sacred isle of the Hibernians," and that
isle lay near to the isle of the Albions *. The success
of the Carthaginians awakened the hopes of the Grecian
colonists of Marseilles; and Pytheas, their most celebrated navigator, during his voyage in the northern seas,
had also the good fortune to discover the Cassiterides 1.
They were ten in number, abounding in mines of tin
and lead, and divided by a narrow but boisterous strait
from the coast of the Damnonii.     The largest was called
Silura or Sigdelis, a name in which may be discovered
the origin of their present appellation, "the Scilly isles."
Nine out of the ten were inhabited: and the natives are
described as a peaceful and industrious race, much addicted to habits of religious worship and divination.
They wore long tunics of a dark colour; were unhacquainted with the use of money; had no fixed places of
habitation, and crossed from isle to isle in boats of
wicker-work covered with leather.
* Fest. Avien. Ora. Marit. v. 117. 410.
Ast hinc duobus in sacram (sic insulam
Dixere prisci), solibus cursus rati est,
Eamaque late gens Hibernorum colit.  Ibid. v. 108.
Why Sacram? Diodorus says it was called Irin, the very name by which
it is known to the natives at this day: -T7v ovesagopsvv:ty. Diod. Sic.
355. May not the resemblance between spy and iseav have given rise to
the epithet " sacred?"
t Piin. ii. 75. Voss. de Hist. Grec. iv. The Romans also, after several
fruitless attempts, discovered the Cassiterides. A story is told of a Pheniclan merchant, who, seeing himself closely watched by a Roman trader,
ran h!s ship ashore, that he might not disclose the secret to a rival. He
was recompensed for his loss out of the public treasury.-Strab. iii. 175.
* Sol. xxii. 42. Fest. Avien. v. 95. Strab. iii. 175. The encroachments
of the sea, by gradually inundating the low lands, have multiplied the
number of islets.




ï~~32

ROMAN BRITAIN.

(CHAP. I.

By these successive discoveries the trade was at last
thrown open to different nations. Publius Crassus, a
Roman officer, who having, in a visit to the Cassiterides,
observed that the metal lay a short depth below the surface, and that the natives were beginning to devote themselves to the practice of navigation, described on his return the real position of the islets to those merchants, who
wished to trade directly with the inhabitants, though the
voyage thither would be longer than the usual passage
from Gaul to Britain. The tin was bought up by factors on the coast of the Mediterranean, and conveyed
over land to the remote provinces of India*. But the
navigation by the Pillars of Hercules was now abandoned as too expensive and dangerous. The British
miners having cast their tin into square blocks, conveyed it to the Isle of Wight, the general deposit.
Thence it was exported by Gallic traders to the mouths
of the Seine, the Loire, or the Garonne; and ascending
these rivers, was carried across the land on the backs of
horses, till it could be conveyed by water carriage to the
great commercial cities of Marseilles or Narbonne t. In
return for this metal, so highly prized by the ancient
nations, the Britons received articles of inferior value to
the importers, but of high estimation to an uncivilized
people; salt for the preservation of provisions, earthenware for domestic use, and brass for the manufacture of
arms and ornaments $
The enterprise and researches of the foreigners quickened the industry of the natives. Tin had originally
formed the sole article of their commerce; to the exportation of tin was soon added that of hides, which were
procured in immense numbers from the tribes in the
interior; lead was next extracted from veins open to the
day; and then followed a most valuable acquisition, the
discovery and use of iron jS. But report had exaggerated the productions of the country far beyond their
* Strab. iii. 175. Plin. xxxiv. 17.  t The whole Journey was performed In
about thirty days. See Diod. Sic. v. 346, 347, 361. Strab. Ill. 147.
t Strab. iii. 175.   Plin. iv. 22; xxxiv. 17. Cies, v. 12.




ï~~CIHAP. I.]

CUSTOMS OF THE BRITONS.

real value: and at the time of the invasion, the Romans
flattered themselves with the hope of conquering an
island, of which the shores abounded with pearls, and
the soil with ores of the more precious metals. Their
avarice was, hoivever, defeated. Of gold or silver not
the smallest trace was discovered*; nor were the British pearls of a size or colour which could reward the
labour of the collector -i  Yet the invasion produced
one advantage to the natives. They sought and at last
discovered ores of the very metals after which Roman
avarice had so anxiously but fruitlessly inquired: and
the British exports, at the commencement of the Christian era, comprised, if we may credit a contemporary
and well-informed writer, corn and cattle, gold and silver, tin, lead and iron, skins, slaves, and dogs $.
Of the peculiar customs of the Britons but few and
imperfect notices have been transmitted to posterity.
One strange and disgusting practice, that of painting
the body, seems to have prevailed in many parts of the
island. For this purpose the southern tribes employed
a blue dye, extracted from woad, which gave to them,
min the eyes of foreigners, the appearance of Ethiopians.
It was adopted equally by both sexes; and was consecrated in their estimation by ceremonies of religion S.
Connected with this was the still more barbarous practice of tatooing, so long in use among the more northern
Britons. At an early age, the outlines of animals were
impressed with pointed instruments in the skin: a
strong infusion of woad was rubbed into the punctures;
and the figures, expanding with the growth of the body,
retained their original appearance through life. The
Briton was vain of this hideous ornament: and to ex* Illud cognitum est, neque aurl neque argenti scrupulum esse ullum in illa
Insula. Cic. Ep. ad Fam. vii. 7; ad Att. iv. 10.
t Parvos atque decolores. Plin. ix. 35. Origen says, they were cloudy, and
less bright than those of India. Com. in Matth. 211. Yet Cesar dedicated to
Venus a breastplate ornamented with pearls, which he pretended to have
found in Britain. Plin. Ibid.  r Tac. Vit. Agric. xii. Strab. iv. 199.
Pan. xxii. 1. Mela, iii. 6. Casar (v. 14) says: omnes vero se Britanni
vitro inficiunt. As, however, he had not seen any of the more remote tribes,
it is uncertain whether his observation should be applied to them.




ï~~14

ROMAN BRITAIN.

(CHAP. I.

hibit it to the eyes of his enemies, he was always careful
to throw off his clothes on the day of battle *.
The religion of the natives was that of the Druids,
whether it had been brought by them from Gaul, as is
the more natural supposition, or, as Caesar asserts, had
been invented in the island. The druids adored, under
different appellations, the same gods as the Greeks and
Romans. Pluto they considered as their progenitor:
Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva were severally worshipped: but to Mercury, as the inventor of the useful
arts, they paid a more particular veneration t. To
these, the superior gods, they added, like other polytheists, a multitude of local deities, the genii of the
woods, rivers,'and mountains 1. Some fanciful writers
have pretended that they rejected the use of temples
through a sublime notion of the Divine immensity: perhaps the absence of such structures may, with more
probability, be referred to their want of architectural
skill. On the oak they looked with peculiar reverence.
This monarch of the forest, from its strength and durability, was considered as the most appropriate emblem
of the DivinityÂ~. The tree and its productions were
deemed holy: to its trunk was bound the victim destined for slaughter; and of its leaves were formed the
chaplets worn at the time of sacrifice. If it chanced to
produce the mistletoe, the whole tribe was summoned:
two white heifers were immolated under its branches;
the principal druid cut the sacred plant with a knife of
gold; and a religious feast terminated the ceremonies
of the day [(.
The druids were accustomed to dwell at a distance
* Solin. xxii. 43. Herod. iii. 47. It was practised by the Picts as late
as the fifth century.
Perlegit exangues Picto moriente figuras.-Claud. de Bel. Get. v. 165.
+ Caes. vi. 15, 16.  t Gild. ii. Many of these local deities are
named in inscriptions which still exist.
Â~ AcyaXea  Oo; xsX'xoe vo4'Xn lee;. Max. Tyr. Dissert. xxxviii.
p. 67.                 11 Plin. xvi. 44.




ï~~CHAP. I.]  SACRIFICES AND DOCTRINES.

I 5

from the profane, in huts or caverns, amid the silence
and gloom of the forest. There, at the hours of noon
or midnight, when the Deity was supposed to honour
the sacred spot with his presence, the trembling votary
was admitted within a circle of lofty oaks, to prefer his
prayer, and listen to the responses of the minister *. In
peace they offered the fruits of the earth: in war they
devoted to the god of battles the spoils of the enemy.
The cattle were slaughtered in his honour; and a pile
formed of the rest of the booty was consecrated as a
monument of his powerful assistance 1.      But in the
hour of danger or distress human sacrifices were deemed
the most efficacious. Impelled by a sul,rstition, which
steeled all the feelings of humanity, the officiating priest
plunged his dagger into the breast of his victim, whether captive or malefactor; and from the rapidity with
which the blood issued from the wound, and the convulsions in which the sufferer expired, announced the future happiness or calamity of his country *.
To the veneration which the British druids derived
from their sacerdotal character, must be added the respect which the reputation of knowledge never fails to
extort from the ignorant. They professed to be the
depositaries of a mysterious science, far above the comprehension of the vulgar: and their schools were opened
to none but the sons of illustrious families. Such was
their fame, that the druids of Gaul, to attain the perfection of.the institute, did not disdain to study under their
British brethren S. With them, as with similar orders
of priests among the ancients, a long course of preparatory discipline was required: and we are told that many
had the patience to spend no less than twenty years in
* Mela, iii. 243. Luc. i. v. 453; iii. v. 399. 423. Tac. Ann. xiv. 20. I
have not noticed the circles of unhewn stones, the remains of which still
exist at Stonehenge, Abury, &c., because I do not find that such stones
are ever mentioned by ancient writers, as appendages to places oi" orship
among the Celtm.? Cms. iv. 16.
T Diohud. Sic. v. 354. Tac. Ann. xiv. 30. C s. vi. 15. I'li xxx. l.
Strab. iv. 198.                  Â~ Caes. vi. 19,




ï~~16

ROMAN BRITAIN.

ICH AP. 1.

this state of probation. To the initiated they enjoined
the most inviolable secrecy; and, that the profane might
not become acquainted with their doctrines, the use of
letters was prohibited, and each precept was delivered in
verse by the teacher, and committed to memory by the
disciple *.
Of tenets thus anxiously concealed, it is not to be expected that much should be distinctly known: the following particulars have been collected from the few
notices contained in the ancient historians, compared
with the doctrines peculiar to the bards. The druids,professed to be acquainted with the nature, the power,
and the providence of the Divinity; with the figure,
size, formation, and final destruction of the earth; with
the stars, their position and motions, and their supposed
influence over human affairs 1. They practised the art
of divination. Three of their ancient astrologers were
able, it is said, to foretell whatever should happen before
the day of doom; and their skill in magic was so great,
that, according to Pliny, the Persians themselves might
be thought to be their disciples *. To medicine also
they had pretensions: but their. knowledge was principally confined to the use of the mistletoe, vervain, savin,
and trefoil; and even the efficacy of these simples was
attributed not to the nature of the plants, but to the influence of prayers and incantations Â~. The great objects
of the order were, according to themselves, "to reform
" morals, to secure peace, and to encourage goodness:"
and the following lesson, which they inculcated to the
people, was certainly conducive to those ends: "The
"three first principles of wisdom are, obedience to the
" laws of God, concern for the good of man, and forti" tude under the accidents of life II."  They also taught
* Caes. vi. 13. Amyy1hai;. Diog. Laert. in proem. p. 5. Amstel.
apud West.       t Cas. vi. 13. Mela, iii. 243. Amm. Mar. xv. 427.: Mela, iii. 243. Plin. xxx. 1. Solin. xxii. 42. Diod. Sic. v. 354. Cic.
de Div. i. 41. Triad, 89.  Â~ Plin. xvi. 44; xxiv. 11; xxv. 9; xxx. 1.
a These two triads may be seen in Davis (Celtic Researches, 171. 182).
It is remarkable that the latter had been translated by Diogenes Laertius




ï~~CHAP I.]

AUTHORITY OF DRUIDS,

17

the immortality of the human soul: but to this great
truth they added the absurd fiction of metempsychosis *.
Man is placed, according to their doctrine, in the circle
of courses. good and evil are placed before him for his
selection. If he prefer the former, death transmits him
from the earth into the circle of felicity: but if he prefer
the latter, death returns him into the circle of courses:
he is made to do penance for a time in the body of a
beast or reptile; and then permitted to reassume the
form of man. According to the predominance of vice or
virtue in his disposition, a repetition of his probation
may be necessary: but, after a certain number of transmigrations, his offences will be expiated, his passions
subdued, and the circle of felicity will receive him
among its inhabitants #'. It was to this doctrine that
the Romans attributed that contempt of death which
was so conspicuous in the Celtic nations X.
It will not excite surprise that men, whose office and
pretended attainments raised them so much above the
vulgar, should acquire and exercise the most absolute
dominion over the minds of their countrymen. In public and private deliberations of any moment, their opimany centuries ago. I  siy tsou;, xa ps sxaxov xav: as  sdai
acsn'. (Diog. Laert. in proem. p. 5.)
* Caes. vi. 13. Mel. iii. 243. Diod. Sic. v. 352. Strabo, iv. 197. I have
added an explanation of the metempsychosis from the writings of the
bards. It is so improbable that such a system should have been invented
after the introduction of Christianity, that 1 think it may fairly be considered a relic of the druidical doctrine. For the same reason I would attribute to these ancient priests the rhyn or mysterious language, so often
mentioned by the bards. To every tree and shrub, to their leaves, flowers,
and branches, they seem to have affixed a fanciful and symbolical meaning: and these allegorical substitutes for the real names of beings and
their properties must have formed, in their numerous combinations, a
species of jargon perfectly unintelligible to any but the adepts. This acquirement appears to have been prized for many centuries in proportion
to its difficulty and folly. Taliessin boasts with complacency, that he is
acquainted with every sprig in the cave of the diviner: that he knows the
intent of the trees in the memorial of compacts: that he knows both good
and evil. See Davis, Celtic Researches, 245-253.
t See the triads in William's Poems, ii. 227, and the epitome of them in
Davis, p. 185.
t Ces. vi. 13. Mela, iii. 243.
Inde ruendL
In ferrum mens p.rona viris, animaeque capaces
Mortis, et icnavum rediturce parcere vit.-Lucan, i. 460.
VOL. I.    2




ï~~18

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I

nion was always asked, and was generally obeyed. By
their authority peace was preserved; in their presence
passion and revenge were silenced: and at their mandate contending armies     consented to sheathe their
swords. Civil controversies were submitted to their
decision; and the punishment of crimes was reserved to
their justice. Religion supplied them with the power
of enforcing submission. Disobedience was followed by
excommunication: and from that instant the culprit was
banished from their sacrifices, cut off from the protection of the laws, and stigmatized as a disgrace to his
family and country *.
As the druids delivered their instructions in verse,
they must have had some notion of poetry, and we find
among them a particular class distinguished by the title
of Bards. By the triads their origin is ascribed to certain personages, who, from their names, appear to be
enigmatical, rather than real, characters t. The bard
was a musician as well as a poet: and he constantly accompanied with his voice the sounds of his harp. Every
chieftain retained one or more of them in his service.
They attended in his hall; eulogized his bounty and his
valour; and sang the praises and the history of their
country. At the festive board, in the hour of merriment and intoxication, the bard struck his harp; and
every bosom glowed with admiration of the heroes whom
he celebrated, and of the sentiments which he aimed to
inspire. He accompanied the chief and his clan to the
field of battle; to the sound of his harp they marched
against the enemy; and in the heat of the contest animated themselves with the hope that their actions would
be renowned in song, and transmitted to the admiration
of their posterity $.
* Caes. vi. 12. Diod. Sic. v. 354. Strabo, iv. 197. Dio. Chrys. orat.
xlix. p. 538.                            t Triad, 58.
t Diod. Sic. v. p. 354. Atheneus, vi. p. 246. Ammian. Mar. xv. 24.
Strabo, iv. 197.
Vos quoque, qui fortes animas, belloq:e peremptas
Laudibus in longum vates dimittitis e.um,
Plurima securi fudistis carmina Bardi.-,Lucan, i. v. 447.




ï~~CHAP. I.]   GOVERNMENT OF BRITONS.

].9

The form of government adopted by the British tribes
has scarcely been noticed in history. In some, the supreme authority appears to have been divided among
several chieftains; in, most, it had been intrusted to a
single individual; but in all, the people continued to
possess considerable influence. With respect to the succession, there are instances in which the father had portioned his dominions among his children, and others in
which the reigning prince left his crown to his widow,
who both exercised the more peaceful duties of royalty,
and with arms in her hands conducted her subjects to
the field of battle *. But in the absence of any fixed
notions of succession, it is probable that power would
frequently supply the place of right, and the weaker
state fall a victim to the ambition of a more warlike
neighbour. We are told that the Britons were quarrelsome, rapacious, and revengeful; that every nation was
torn by intestine factions; and that pretexts were never
wanting to justify oppression, when it could be committed with impunity. It was this rancorous hostility
among themselves Which accelerated their subjugation
to the power of Rome. "There is not," says Tacitus, "a
" more fortunate circumstance, than that these powerful
"nations make not one common cause. They fight sin"gle, and unsupported; and each in its turn is corn"pelled to receive the Roman yoke t."
Such were the Britons, who by their bravery and perseverance baffled the attempts of the first, and the most
warlike, of the Caesars. From that period to the reign
of Claudius, during the lapse of ninety-seven years, they
retained their original independence. During the civil
wars, the attention of the Romans was too actively em
ployed at home, to think of foreign conquest. Augustus
* Caes. v.. 11. 20. 22.  Diod. Sic. v. p. 347.  Mela, iii. p. 264.  Tac.
Agric. xvi. Dio. Cass. lx. p. 779. Dio, in Sever. p.339.
t Msxime imniperitandi cupidine, et studio prolataudi ea que possident.
Mela, iii. 265.  Tacit. Agric. xii.




ï~~20

ROMAN BRITAIN.

(CHAP. I.

thrice announced his intention of annexing Britain to
the empire: but the danger was averted, on one occasion by a submissive embassy from the natives, on the
others by the intervention of more important concerns*.
Instead of exacting the tribute imposed by Caesar, he
contented himself with levying duties on the trade
between Gaul and Britain, a measure which brought a
larger sum into the imperial treasury, and was borne
without murmuring by the inhabitants t. Yet this fiA. D. nancial experiment has been magnified, by the flattery
21. of a courtier, into the conquest of the whole island.
Tiberius pretended that the empire was already too
extensive; and sought to justify his. own indolence by
the policy of Augustus Â~. In opposition to his conduct,
A. D. his nephew and successor Caligula exhibited to the
40. world a farce, worthy of the childish prince by whom it
was planned. Cunobeline, the most powerful of the
successors of Cassibelan, had banished his son Adminius.
The exile repaired to the emperor, and, as if Britain had
been his patrimony, made a surrender of the island into
the hands of Caligula. The glorious intelligence was
immediately transmitted to the senate: and the army,
raised for the war against the Germans, was ordered
to assemble on the coast of Gesoriacum 1[. As soon as
the emperor arrived, he arrayed the legions on the shore,
rowed out to sea in the imperial galley, returned precipitately, and gave the signal of battle. The soldiers, in
suspense and astonishment, inquired for the enemy.
but Caligula informed them, that they had that day conquered the ocean, and commanded them to collect its
spoils, the shells on the beach, as a proof of their victory.
To perpetuate the memory of his folly, he laid the founDio. xlix. p. 472; liii. 586. Hor. 1. L Ode 22, iv. 12.
+ Strabo, iv. p. 200.
$ Praesens divus habebitur
Augustus, adjeetis Britannis
lmperio.-Hor. iii. 5.
Tac. Agrie. xiii.          I Boulogne,




ï~~A. D. 43.]

CLAUDIUS.

dation of a lofty beacon, and returned to Rome to give
himself the honours of a triumph*.
But the empty pageantry of Caligula was soon suc- A. D.
ceeded by the re4al horrors of invasion. Instigated by 43.
Beric, a British chieftain, whom domestic feuds had expelled from his native country, the emperor Claudius
commanded Aulus Plautius to transport four legions
with their auxiliaries into Britain. It was with difficulty
that the troops could be induced to engage in the expedition: but, as they crossed the channel, a meteor was
seen moving in the direction of the fleet, and was hailed
as a certain omen of victory. The Britons, under the
command of Caractacus and Togidumnus, the two sons
of Cunobeline, adopted the policy of their ancestors, and
endeavoured to harass, rather than to repel, the invaders.
But the German auxiliaries, better fitted for such warfare than the legionary soldiers, followed them across
rivers and morasses: and though the natives made a
gallant resistance, drove them, with the loss of Togidumnus, to the northern bank of the Thames. The emperor
himself now took the command, penetrated to Camalodunum 1, and received the submission of the Britons in
the vicinity. At his departure, he divided the Roman
forces between the legate Plautius, and Vespasian, an
officer whose merit afterwards invested him with the
purple. To the care of Plautius was assigned the left,
to that of Vespasian the right bank of the Thames. Both
experienced from the natives the most determined resistance. Vespasian fought no less than thirty battles,
before he could subdue the Belgie and the natives of
the Isle of Wight: Plautius, during the five remaining years of his government, was opposed by Caractacus
at the head of the Cassii and Silures, who, though frequently beaten, as often renewed the contest. Claudius
* Suet. in Calig. 46, 47. Dio, lix. 754. The ruins of Britenhuis on the
coast of Holland have been supposed to be the remains of this beacon.
Camd. p. liv. Gibson's version. But in all probability it would be raised
at Boulogne.
t Malden or Colchester




ï~~22

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I1

had entered Rome in triumph: to Plautius, for his services, was decreed the inferior honour of an ovation *.
A..   Ostorius Scapula was the successor of Plautius. To
50. repress the inroads of the unsubdued Britons, he erected
two chains of forts, one in the north along the river
Avon, the other in the west along the left bank of the
Severn. The reduced tribes were gradually moulded
into the form of a Roman province: arid, when the
Iceni dared to refuse the yoke, their rebellion was severely punished, and' a colony of veterans was planted
at Camalodunum to insure their obedience. The freedom of Britain now sought an asylum among the Silures.
The enthusiastic attachment of that people to their independence had caused them to be compared to the
ancient Sicambri; and their hatred of the Roman name
had been envenomed by an incautious expression of
Ostorius, that their existence as a people was incompatible with his projects. In Shropshire, at the confluence of the Coln and Teme, stands a lofty hill called
Caer-Caradoc, still retaining the vestiges of ancient
fortifications. There Caractacus and the Silures determined to defend the liberty of their country. The bank
of the river was lined with troops, and the ascent of the
hill was fortified with ramparts of loose stones. At the
approach of the Romans, the Britons bound themselves
by an oath to conquer or die, and defied with loud exclamations the attack of the enemy. Ostorius himself
hesitated: but at the demand of the legions the signal
of battle was given: the passage of the river was forced:
and the Romans, under showers of darts, mounted the
hill, burst over the ramparts, and drove the Silures
from the summit. The wife and daughter of Caractacus
fell into the hands of the victors; his brothers soon after
surrendered; and the king himself was delivered in
* Dio, lx. 779-781. Suet. in Claud. xxii. xxiv. Tac.. Agric. xiii. The
Roman army brought with it several elephants, probably to terrify the
natives. Dio, ibid. The exploits of Plautius are mentioned in an inscription in his honour, which is still extant, on the mausoleum of the Plautian
family, near Ponte Lucano, on the road from Rome to Tivoli.




ï~~A. D. 52.]

CARACTACUS.

chains to Ostorius by his step-mother Cartismandua,
queen of the Brigantes, under whose protection he had
hoped to elude the vigilance of his pursuers.
The fame of Caractacus had already crossed the seas;
and the natives of Italy were anxious to behold the man
who had braved for nine years the power of Rome.      As
he passed through the imperial city, he expressed his
surprise that men, who possessed such palaces at home,
should deem it worth their while to fight for the wretched
hovels of Britain. Claudius and the empress Agrippina
were seated on two lofty tribunals, with the pretorian
guards on each side, and the senate and people in front,
as witnesses of the spectacle. First were borne the
arms and the ornaments of the British prince; next
followed his wife, daughter, and brothers, bewailing
with tears their unhappy fate; lastly came Caractacus
himself, neither dispirited by his misfortunes, nor dismayed at this new and imposing scene. Claudius, to
his own honour, received him graciously, restored him
to liberty, and, if we may credit a plausible conjecture,
invested him with princely authority over a portion of
conquered Britain *. The event was celebrated at Rome
with extraordinary joy. By the senate the captivity of
Caractacus was compared to the captivity of Perses and
Syphax: by the-poets Claudius was said to have united
the two worlds, and to have brought the ocean within
the limits of the empire t.
The Silures, however, did not abandon themselves to
despair. Taught by experience that uninstructed valour
was not a match for the discipline and defensive armour
of the legions, they adopted a more desultory but san* Quwdam civitates Cogiduno regi donate: (is ad nostram usque memoriam fidissimus mansit.) Tac. Agric. xiv. Though great authorities
conceive Cogidunus to have been the same person as Caractacus, I entertain a suspicion that he was the very Togidumnus whom Dio supposed
to have fallen in battle.
t Tacit. Ann. xii. 31-38.
At nunc oceanus geminos interluit orbes:
Pars est imperil: terminus ante fuit.
Ex Catalect. Scalig. apud Camd.lix.




ï~~24

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I

guinary mode of warfare; and contented themselves
with harassing the Romans in their quarters, interrupting their communications, and surprising their detachments. If they sometimes received, they often inflicted,
considerable injury: and Ostorius was so exhausted by
labour and vexation, that his death was attributed to his
A. D. chagrin. His successor, Aulus Didius, found himself
53. involved in a new war. Venusius, a chieftain of the
Jugantes, had married Cartismandua. Both had been
faithful allies to the Romans: but the queen, after a
short interval, separated from her husband, and took to
her bed a Briton, named Vellocatus. Hostilities were
the immediate consequence. Cartismandua, for her
ancient services, claimed the aid of the Romans: the
Brigantes, through hatred of the adulteress, fought for
Venusius.   After several battles, the queen was compelled to leave the throne to her husband, and to lead a
degraded life under the protection of her allies *.
To Didius succeeded Veranius, whose early death
made way for Suetonius Paulinus, a general of consummate skill and distinguished reputation.     The isle of
57. Anglesey, the nursery and principal residence of the
druids, had hitherto offered a secure retreat to those
priests; to whose influence and invectives was attributed
the obstinate resistance of the Britons. To reduce it,
A.. Suetonius ordered his cavalry to swim across the strait,
61. while the infantry should pass over in boats. On their
approach to the sacred isle, they beheld the shore lined
not only with warriors, but with bands of male and female druids. The former, with their arms outstretched
to heaven, devoted the invaders to the god of war; the
latter, in habits of mourning, with their hair floating in
the wind, and lighted torches in their hands, ran in all
directions along the beach    The Romans were seized
* Tac. Ann. xii. 40. Hist. iii. 45. This fact is sufficient to induce a
doubt of the accuracy of Cesar (v. 14), and of Dio Nicaus (in Sev. p. 339),
who represent a community of wives as a national institution among the
Britons. Perhaps the story might have arisen from the circumstance
that several families were accustomed to dwell in the same hut.




ï~~A. D. 61.]

PAULINUS.

with a superstitious horror. For a moment they refused
to advance: shame and the reproaches of their leader
urged them to the attack. The victory was easy and
bloodless. On that day the power of the druids received
a shock from which it never recovered. Their altars
were overturned; their sacred groves fell beneath the
axe of the legionaries; and their priests and priestesses
were consumed in the flames which they had kindled
for the destruction of their captives *.
But the absence of Suetonius in Anglesey was the
signal of a most formidable insurrection. Prasutagus,
king of the Iceni, who had long been the faithful ally of
Rome, to secure the disposition of his property, had
made the emperor joint heir with,his own daughters.
But Roman avarice was not easily defeated. The whole
succession was immediately seized by Catus, the imperial procurator. Boadicea, the widow of the late king,
who ventured to remonstrate, was scourged as a slave;
and the chastity of her daughters was violated by the
Roman officers. The unhappy princess grasped the
first opportunity of revenge. The history of her wrongs
reminded each individual of his own sufferings; and in
a few days almost all the conquered tribes were in arms.
To account for this general disaffection we are told, that
the insults and oppression of the conquerors were beyond endurance; that the British youth had been forcibly conveyed to foreign countries to serve among the
cohorts of auxiliaries; that, to pay the contributions,
their chieftains had been compelled to borrow ten millions of drachmas   from  the philosopher Seneca, by
whom they were harassed with the most vexatious prosecutions; that their estates had been lately registered,
and loaded with imppsts; and that many of their most
noble families had been reduced to indigence and slavery $. All these causes contribut,d to swell the tor* Tacit. Ann. xiv. 29, 30.       " About 480,0001,
Â~ Compare Tac. Ann. xiv. 31, with Dio Nicaeus apud Xiphil. in Net.
p. 169.
VOL. 11  3




ï~~26

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I,

rent which now burst on the Roman establishments.
Camalodunum was the first to experience its fury.
Within the walls of the colony had been erected a temple to the divinity of Claudius, the subjugator of Britain,
and the natives were eager to demolish this monument
of their servitude. At the first assault the town was
reduced to ashes: the walls of the temple protracted
the fate of the garrison only two days. Petilius marched
with the ninth legion to their assistance. It was trodden under foot by the multitude of the insurgents.
By this time Suetonius had returned to London,
already a populous and opulent mart *. Unable to protect the town, he retired, taking with him such of the
inhabitants as were willing to share his fortunes. London was soon consumed by the flames; and shortly
afterwards the municipal town of Verulam experienced
the same fate. The fury of the Britons treated as enemies all who had not joined in the insurrection; and
those who fell not by the sword, were immolated with
still greater cruelty to Andraste, the goddess of victory.
The reported slaughter of seventy thousand victims,
without distinction of sex or age, of rank or country,
attests both the violence of their revenge, and the extent of country through which they followed the Romans -.
Suetonius was at last compelled to turn his face to
the enemy. Though fear had prevented the second
legion from joining in lhis retreat, he had collected
from the different garrisons ten thousand men, and
had chosen a position in which he could be attacked
only in front. The Britons were collected in masses
around their different chieftains; their wives and children occupied a long line of carriages in the rear; and
the air resounded with their cries and imprecations.
* Copil negociatorum et commeatuum maxime celebre. Tac. 33.
t Tac. ibid. Dio Nic. ibid. Their rejoicings were celebrated in the
woods sacred to Andraste. Some of the victims were crucified, others were
burnt. The female captives, after the amputation of the'r breasts, were
hanged or impaled.-lbid.




ï~~A.D. 70.]

BOADICEA.

27

The Romans, motionless and silent, permitted them to
approach; and then, rushing forward in the form of a
wedge, overturned every thing within their reach. The
battle, however, was long and fiercely maintained.
Numbers on the part of the natives supplied the want
of discipline; and a succession of conflicts almost exhausted the patience of the legionaries. Victorious at
last, the Romans took a severe revenge. They granted
no quarter: and the women and children were involved
in the same carnage with the combatants. Were success to be estimated by the multitude of the slain, Tacitus was justified in comparing this with the most
glorious victories of ancient Rome. He estimates the
loss of the Britons at eighty thousand men. The fugitives, however, who escaped, offered to try again the
fortune of war: but Boadicea, who had led them to the
field, and shared the dangers of the day, refused to
survive this defeat, and terminated her misfortunes by a A.D.
voluntary death*.                                       62.
If this splendid action preserved the ascendency of
the Roman arms, it did not put an end to the war. A
notion prevailed in the imperial court, that the obstinacy of the Britons arose from the dread which the
severity of Suetonius had inspired. He was recalled;
and under the milder administration of his three successors, Turpilianus, Trebellius, and Bolanus, the natives
within the Roman pale were gradually inured to the
yoke. But the task of tranquillizing the province, the
mutinous spirit of the army, and the rival claims of
competitors for the empire, prevented these governors
from making any attempts against the independent portion of Britain. As soon as Vespasian had assumed the A. D,
purple, a new era commenced. Petilius Cerealis was 70.
ordered to reduce the Brigantes, and in thu space of
* Tac. 34-37. Dio Nic. aptd Xiphil. in Ner. p. 176. Dio has described this British heroine as a woman of lofty stature and severe conateuance. Iler yellow hair reached almost to the ground. She irte a
llaiied tunic of various colours, round her waist a chain of gold, unt ove
these a long mantle.-p. 173.




ï~~ROMAN BRITAIN

[CHAP. a.

five years that powerful tribe was added to the subjects
A.v D. of the empire. Julius Frontinus was his successor;
75. and during the three years of his government he nearly
subdued the warlike nation of the Silures*.
A. D. But the reputation of preceding governors was ob78. scured by the more splendid and more lasting fame of
Cneius Julius Agricola.   When that commander arrived, the army had been dismissed into winter quarters. He immediately summoned it again to the field,
marched into the territory of the Ordovices, who had
surprised a squadron of Roman horse; and put to the
sword the greater part of that nation. Preceded by the
terror of his name he crossed over to Anglesey: the
natives offered no resistance, and the sacred isle was a
second time added to the empire.     In the two next
campaigns he gradually extended the limits of his government to the Tay. Tribe after tribe was compelled
to submit; garrisons were stationed in every commanding situation; and with the prospect of success was
removed the principal incentive to rebellion.     The
fourth summer was employed in securing a strong frontier to the Roman conquests; and a line of forts from
the Frith of Forth to that of Clyde bade defiance to the
inroads of the more northern Britons l.
But Agricola aspired to more solid praise than that of
conquest, and devoted his winters to the less ostentatious, but more useful, arts of peace. Sensible of the
errors of his predecessors, he reformed the civil administration in all its branches; established a more equitable system  of taxation; listened with kindness to the
complaints of the natives; and severely punished the
tyranny of inferior officers. The Britons were charmed
with the mildness and justice of his government, and
publicly pronounced him their benefactor. At his instigation the chieftains left their habitations in the
* Tac. Ann. xiv. 37-39. Hist. i. 9. 60; ii. 97. Vit. Agric. 8, 16, 17.
{ Agricola seems to have proceeded across the Dee, through Lanca
shire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Annandale, to the narrow isthmus be*ween the Friths of Forth and Clyde. Gordon's Itiner. Septent.




ï~~A.D. 84.]

AGRICOLA.

29

forests, and repaired to the vicinity of the Roman stations. There they learned to admire the refinements of
civilization, and acquired a taste for improvement. The
use of the Roman toga began to supersede that of the
British mantle; houses, baths, and temples, were built
in the Roman fashion; children were instructed in the
Roman language; and with the manners were adopted
the vices of the Romans. In these new pursuits the
spirit of independence speedily evaporated; and those
hardy warriors, who had so long braved the power of
the emperors, insensibly dwindled into soft and effeminate provincials *.
Ambition and curiosity now induced Agricola to
transgress the boundary which he had fixed to his conquests. An Irish chieftain, expelled from his native
country, had sought protection in the camp of the Romans. From him it was understood that the sister
island possessed a climate and soil like those of Britain,
and was inhabited by tribes of similar manners and
similar dispositions. Agricola was not insensible to the
glory of adding this unknown country to the provinces
of the empire: but prudence forbade him to engage in
a second conquest before he had completed the first,
and he contented himself with obtaining possession of
the western coasts of Britain; that he might be prepared to take advantage of the first opportunity which
the course of events might offer.
The next year, having received the submission of the
tribes in the neighbourhood of the Forth, he pushed
his advances along the eastern shore. The operations
of the army on land were combined with those of a
numerous fleet at sea. If the sight of the shipping
alarmed the natives, the Romans were also terrified by
reports of the multitude and ferocity of their enemies.
In the darkness of the night the Britons attacked the
quarters of the ninth legion, burst into the camp, and
maintained a doubtful fight within the intrenchments
* Tac. Agric. 18-24.




ï~~30

ROMAN BR1TAIN.

[CHAP. I

until the break of day disclosed the eagles of the other
legions advancing to the support of their comrades
This campaign seems to have conferred little honour on
the imperial arms.
Resolved to distinguish the eighth and last year of
his government, Agricola assembled all his forces, and
added to their number several cohorts of tritons raised
among the tribes of the south. The Caledonians were
apprized of their danger: and thirty thousand warriors
under the command of Galgacus undertook to defend
the passage of the Grampian mountains. They were
discovered, divided into clans, posted one below the
other on the declivity of a hill. The plain at its foot
was covered with horsemen and armed chariots. Agricola drew up his army in two lines, in the first of which
he placed the auxiliaries, in the other the legions. As
long as they fought with missile weapons, the Britons,
from their numbers, retained the advantage; but their
unwieldy and unpointed swords were of little use in
close action, and they were gradually driven up the hill
by the steady pressure of the auxiliaries *. An attempt
to surprise the rear of the Romans was defeated by the
vigilance of the general, who charged in return the
flank of the Br:itons, and threw them into disorder. The
courage or despair of a few detached bodies protracted
the conflict till night. The next morning presented a
very different scene. A vast and dreary solitude had
succeeded to the noise and turmoil of the preceding
day: and columns of smoke rising on the verge of the
horizon proved that the Britons had bLurnt their cottages in their flight. Ten thousand Caledonians, and
about four hundred Romans, are said to have fallen in
the battle e.
After this victory the army returned to winter quarters: the fleet pursued its voyage, and sailing round the
* They had osier targets covered with skins, and long heavy swords
without points, with which they' were accustomed to cut, but not to push.
Tac. Agric. xxxvi.                Â~ Tac. Agric. 24- 38.




ï~~A. D. 96.]  GOVERNMENT OF BRITAIN.

31

island, arrived at the port of Sandwich, from which it
had commenced the expedition    By the jealousy of
Domitian the ornaments, but not the parade, of a
triumph were granted to Agricola, who, having surrendered the command to his successor, Lucullus, returned to Rome, waited on his imperial master, and
sunk into the obscurity of private life *.
The Roman power was now firmly established in the
island.  The tribes which had submitted, made no attempt to recover their independence: and the Caledonians, humbled by their last defeat, were content to
roam without molestation in their native forests. The
successors of Agricola, instead of conducting the legions
in the field, were employed in protecting the public
tranquillity, in settling the details of the provincial government, and in assimilating the state of Britain to
that of the other countries which had been incorporated
in the empire. A short sketch of this system will not
be unacceptable to the reader.
1. The governor was denominated the Prefect or
Propretor of Britain. His power was supreme within
the island, but precarious in its duration, and dependent
on the will of the emperor. He united in his own person every species of authority which was exercised by
the different magistrates within the city of Rome. He
commanded the army; he was invested with the administration of justice; and he possessed the power of
substituting his own notions of equity in the place of
the strict letter of the law. An authority so extensive
and irresistible would frequently give birth to.acts of
injustice; and though the imperial court and the senate-house were open to the complaints of the natives,
yet the distance of the capital, and the influence of
friends, promised, or rather insured, impunity to the
oppressor. In a few years, however, the exorbitant
power of the prefects was confined by the emperor Hadrian, who, in his "perpetual edict," laid down a system

* 'fac. Agric 40.




ï~~RfOMAN BRITAIN,

[CHAP. 1.

of rules for the regulation of their conduct, and established a uniform administration of justice through all
the provinces of the empire *
2. Subordinate to the prefect, but appointed by the
emperor, was the procurator or qulestor. It was his
duty to collect the taxes, and to administer the revenue
of the province. That revenue arose from a variety of
imposts; a poll-tax, which was not confined to the living,
but extended to the funerals of the dead; a tax on legacies, the sale of slaves, and purchases at auctions;
the tenth part of the produce of mines; and a certain
proportion of corn, hay, and cattle, which was paid
either in kind or in money, at the option of the procurator '.  He was also employed occasionally in the
dishonourable office of a spy: and his reports were frequently swelled with exaggerated accounts of the riches,
the power, and the ambition of the prefect. For the
distance of that officer from the seat of government, and
the natural strength of the island, were constant sources
of suspicion to the emperors; and in the course of this
history we shall see that suspicion justified by the conduct of the usurpers, who, at the head of the British
legions, will assume the purple, and contend for the
empire of Rome.
3. The amount of the army maintained in Britain
must have varied according to circumstances. When
Plautius undertook the reduction of the island, he was
at the head of four legions with their auxiliaries, a force
which, at a moderate calculation, would exceed fifty
thousand men *. If the different military stations,
" Tillem. Emp. ii. 51.
t In provinces which submitted voluntarily, a tenth of the corn was
exacted (frumentum decumanum): in those which were conquered, an
arbitrary quantity (frumentum stipendiarium). Besides this the natives
supplied the corn wanted for the army at a fixed price (frumentum
-mptum): and a certain quantity for the use of the governor, for which a
composition was usually paid in money (frumentum mstimatum). See
Murphy's Tacitus, from l.a Bleterie, vol. iv. p. 402.
$ At that period a legion consisted of 6100 infantry, 726 cavalrv, and
nearly the same number of auxiliaries (Veget. ii. 6. Tac. Ann. iv. 5).
Under the successors of Constatine the number of the legions had increased from twenty-five to one hundred and thirty-two: but their bulk
had dwindled firom nearly 7000 to 1100 men (Paneir. ad Notit. Imp.f. 23?




ï~~CHAP. I.    ROMAN ARMY IN BRITAIN.

33

which were so thickly scattered over the country, had all
been garrisoned at the same time, they would have required a still greater number*: but it is probable that,
in proportion as the Roman power was established, many
of them were abandoned; and we know that, during the
decline of the empire, the army under the three military
commanders in Britain did not exceed 22,000 men. Into
the ranks of the legions none but Roman citizens could
claim the privilege of admittance: but the auxiliaries were
composed of provincials who had not obtained the freedom
of the city, or of barbarians, whom the fate of war, or
the prospect of wealth, had drawn into the imperial service. These auxiliaries nearly equalled the legionaries
in number: and from the notices of ancient writers,
and the inscriptions on ancient monuments, have been
discovered the names of three-and-thirty cohorts of auxiliary foot, and of eleven squadrons of auxiliary horse,
which were stationed in Britain 1. All these were composed of foreigners; for though by the law of conscription the natives were compelled to serve, they were not
permitted to remain in the island. At home they might
have employed their swords in asserting the independence of their country: but on the continent they were
unconnected with the inhabitants: for their subsistence,
they depended on the bounty of the emperor; and far
from combining to subvert, were always prepared to
support, the throne of their benefactor. What their
number might be, is uncertain: but there exists evidence to show, that they amounted to at least six-andtwe:ty cohorts; that they were dispersed as far as
Egypt and Armenia; and that some of them had acquired the surname of" Invincible," from their valourt.
When the Roman conquests in Britain had reached
their utmost extent, they were irregularly divided into
* There were in all one hundred and sixty-six stations, besides several
smaller forts.  Ric. Corin. i. p. 17.33.  Whilaker's Manehes. iii. 2. xi. 2.
f It is net, however, improbable that the same cohort or squadron may
be sometimes designated under two different names.
I Apud Camd. introd. p. cvii.




ï~~34

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I.

six provinces under the government of pretors appointed
by the prefect. The long tract of land which runs from
the western extremity of Cornwall to the South Foreland in Kent, is almost separated from the rest of the
island by the arm of the sea, now called the Bristol
Channel, and by the course of the river Thames. This
formed the most wealthy of the British provinces; and
from priority of conquest or proximity of situation was
distinguished by the name of Britannia prima. Britannia secunda comprised the present principality of Wales
with the addition of that tract which is included by the
Severn in its circuitous course towards St. George's
Channel. Flavia Cmaesariensis was the next in order, but
the first in extent. It was bounded on two sides by the
former provinces, and on the two others by the Humber,
the Don, and the German ocean. To the north of the
Humber lay the province of Maxima. It reached to the
Eden and Tyne, and its opposite shores were washed by
the western and eastern seas. Valentia followed, including the Scottish lowlands as far as the friths of Clyde
and Forth.    The tribes beyond the friths formed the
sixth government of Vespasiana, divided from the independent Caledonians by the long chain of mountains,
which rising near Dunbarton, crosses the two counties
of Athol and Badenoch, and stretches beyond the frith
of Murray. But the greater part of this province was
wrested at so early a period from the dominion of Rome,
that it is seldom mentioned by writers, and the pretentura of Agricola has been generally considered as the
northern limit of the empire in Britain *, To each of
these divisions was allotted a separate government under
the general superintendence of the prefect: but the interests of the rulers were most jealously separated from
0 Ric. Corin. i. p 15. Not. Imp. oceid. f. 155. The capitals of these
provinces were Richborough, Caerleon, London, York, Whithern, and Inverness. The existence of the last province of Vespasiana has been questioned: but thle authority of Richard is corroborated by the testimonyrof
Ptolemy, who mentions the military station of Pterotone or Inverness.
Ptl. viii. 2. apud Gale.  Whit. Manch. i. 8. iii. 2. xi. 2.




ï~~CHAP. I.]   TOWNS IN ROMAN BRITAIN.

35

those of the provincials. Every Briton by his birth was
excluded from all offices of trust and authority in his
own country; and every holder of such office was prohibited by law from marrying a native, or purchasing
property within the island *.
Throughout these provinces was scattered a great
number of inhabited towns and military posts, the
names of which are still preserved in the itineraries of
Richard and Antoninus. They were partly of British
and partly of Roman origin; and were divided into
four classes, gradually descending in the scale of privilege and importance. 1. The first rank was claimed by
the colonies. It had long been the policy of Rome to
reward her veterans with a portion of the lands of the
conquered nations; and for this purpose those situations
were generally selected, which combined the double
advantage. of a fruitful soil, and a military position.
Each colony was a miniature representation of the parent city. It adopted the same customs,.was governed
by the same laws, and with similar titles conferred on
its magistrates a similar authority. In Britain there
were nine of these establishments, two of a civil, seven
of a military description '. In the constitution of the
latter, we discover a striking similitude to the feudal
tenures of later ages. The veteran received his land
from the bounty of the emperor; and was obliged to
enrol his sons in the army, as soon as they should attain the years of manhood. Disgrace, imprisonment, or
sometimes death, was the punishment of the youth who
refused to serve the benefactor of his father and family.
2. The advantages enjoyed by the colonies were nearly
equalled, in some respects surpassed, by the privileges
of the municipal cities; the inhabitants of which were
exempted from the operation of the imperial statutes,
and with the title of Roman citizens, possessed the
*  See the Pandects, xxiii. tit. ii. n. 38.57. 63.  Cod. Thcod. viii. tit. xv.
leg. I.
4 Richborough, London, Colchester, Bath, Gloucester, Caerleon, Chester  lincoln, and Chestertield. Rie. Coriu. i. p. 36.




ï~~36

ROMAN BRITAI w,

jCHAP. I

right of choosing their own decuriones or magistrates,
and of enacting their own laws. Privileges so valuable
were reserved for the reward of extraordinary merit,
and Britain could boast of only two municipia, Verulam
and York*. But the jus Latii, or Latian right, as it
conferred more partial advantages, was bestowed with
greater liberality. Ten of the British towns had obtai4ed it from the favour of different emperors, and
were indulged with the choice of their own magistrates,
who, at the expiration of the year, resigned their offices,
and claimed the freedom of Rome 1'. That freedom
was the great object of provincial ambition; and by the
expedient of annual elections, it was successively conferred on almost all the members of each Latin corporation.  4. The remaining towns were stipendiary,
compelled, as the term imports, to pay tribute, and
governed by Roman officers, who received their appointment from the pretor. These distinctions were, however, gradually abolished. Antoninus granted to every
provincial of rank and opulence the freedom of the city:
Caracalla extended the indulgence to the whole body of
the natives $.
Though Agricola had defeated, he had not been able
to subdue, the Caledonians. After his departure they
continued to insult the Roman power; frequently crossed
the line of forts between the two friths; and by their
successful example, rekindled the flame of independence in the breasts of many among their countrymen.
In less than thirty years the state of Britain had become
so precarious, as to require the presence of the emperor
a D. Hadrian. Of his exploits history is silent; but on the
120. testimony of medals and inscriptions, we may believe
that he expelled the barbarians, and recovered the pro* Ric. Corin. i. p. 36.
$ Inverness, Perth, Dunbarton, Carlisle, Catterick, Blackrode, Ciren.
cester, Salisbury, Caister in Lincolnshire, and Slack in Longwood. Ric.
ibid.
STillem. Emp. ii. 103. Hence he is thus addressed by Rutullus:
Urbem fecisti quod prius orbis erat.-Rutil. Itin. v. 66




ï~~A. D 120.;

WALL OF HADRIAN,

37

vinces which had been lost *. If, however, his victories
have been forgotten, his memory has been preserved by
a military work, whichk was executed under his direction,
and has hitherto defied the ravages of time. Convinced
by experience that the pretentura thrown up by Agricola could not confine 'the 'northern tribes, he resolved
to oppose a second barrier to their incursions, by drawing a ditch and rampart across the island, from the
Solway frith on the western, to the mouth of the Tyne
on the eastern coast. This mighty fortification measured in length more than sixty of our miles; and
strong bodies of troops were permanently stationed at
short intervals on the whole extent of'the line t.
But the tranquillity which had been established by A. D.
Hadrian, was repeatedly disturbed during the reign of 146.
his successor, Antoninus. On the north of the vallum
the six tribes of the Mateta reasserted their independence; on the south the Brigantes took up arms, and
invaded the territory of the Ordovices. Lollius Urbicus was appointed propretor of Britain. He chastised
the Brigantes, subdued the Maatte, and, in imitation of
Hadrian, carried a similar fortification across the Isthmus, from Caer-riden on the Forth to Alcluid on the
Clyde, a distance of more than thirty-six miles. In honour of the emperor, it was called the vallum of Antoninus; and from numerous inscriptions which have
been preserved, we learn the names of the different
* See Speed, 96. Camd. introd. lxxix.
f Spartian. in Hadrian. p. 290. The vallum may be traced from Burgh
on the sands to the town of Newcastle, avoiding the mountains, and
winding along the valleys. The ditch appears to have been eleven feet
in breadth, and nine in depth: the rampart, at the present day, rises in
some parts six feet above the original surface. Besides this, two aggeres
or mounds of earth, one on the north, the other on the south, run the
whole length in lines parallel to the ditch, at the distance of nearly twenty
feet. It is probable, that the mound to the south was a military road;
and that the original work of Hadrian, like thatof Antoninus between the
Friths, consisted of no more than the ditch the rampart, and the rbad.
lhe auger on the north mi ht be afterwards added as a military way for
the wall of Severus, when the vallum could be no longer considered as a
work of defence.




ï~~38

ROMAN BRITAIN.

tCHAP. L

corps by which it was raised, and the different portions
of work which were respectively allotted to each*.
A.D.   Hostilities were now become habitual between the
180. Caledonians and the Romans. Urged by national animosity and the love of plunder, these intractable barbarians annually assaulted the vallum of Antoninus; often
eluded the vigilance, or overpowered the opposition, of
the guards; and spread devastation over the province.
But in the reign of Commodus their incursions assumed a more formidable appearance; and the discontent of the legions alarmed the emperor for the safety
of Britain. Ulpius Marcellus, a soldier of approved
valour and unsullied integrity, was made propretor.
He restored the discipline of the army, and drove the
Caledonians back to their native mountains. But his
services were requited with ingratitude. By his severity he incurred the hatred of a seditious soldiery;
while his glory excited the jealousy of a dissolute prince.
From the swords of the former he escaped with difficulty; Commodus recalled him from his command, and
reluctantly abstained from depriving him of life t.
But the British legions soon made a trial of the resolution, or the weakness, of the emperor. They sent a deputation of fifteen hundred men to demand the head of
the minister Perennis. Without opposition these dangerous petitioners marched through Gaul and Italy, and
were met at the gates of Rome by Commodus himself.
To that prince, immersed in pleasure, and reckless of
blood, the life of a favourite was a trivial object. He
surrendered Perennis to their revenge; the unhappy
victim was scourged and beheaded; and his wife and
daughters were immolated on his remains.
A. D.  The government of Britain was next conferred on
190- Clodius Albinus. His birth and abilities awakened the
197.
* Pausan. in Arcad.1. viii. p. 698. Capitol. in Anton. p. 297 IHorsley,
Brit. Rom. p. 160.  Henry ii. App. ix. 476.
+ Dio papud Xiphil. in Commodo, p. 286, 287.
1  Ibid. p. 287.  lampid. in Com. p. 311.  Zonar. p. 209.




ï~~A.D. 207.]

SEVERUS.

39

jealousy of his imperial master, who, either with the
view of securing his fidelity, or, as is more probable, of
trying his ambition, offered him the rank and authority
of Casar.  Albinus had the prudence to decline the
insidious present: but after the death of Commodus,
and the ephemeral reigns of Pertinax and Julian, he
willingly accepted the same dignity from the emperor
Severus. It soon, however, appeared, that with all the
parade of friendship, Severus was a secret and mortal
enemy; and Albinus, by the advice of his friends, assumed the imperial purple, and led the British legions
into Gaul. The two armies, amounting to one hundred
thousand men, fought in the plain of Trevoux, near
Lyons. At first the cause of Albinus was seen to triumph.   Severus disappeared from the field: but he
soon returned with a fresh body of men, renewed the
battle, and obtained the victory. The British Caesar
paid with his head the forfeit of his ambition*.
Severus was now undisputed master of the empire. A.D.
To abolish the exorbitant power of the prefect of Britain, 198.
he divided the island into two governments, bestowing
the one on Heraclianus, and the other on Virius Lupus'.
The latter with an army of new levies was unable to
withstand the united efforts of the Maots and Caledonians, and was compelled to purchase with money a
precarious respite from their incursions. The expedient,
though it procured a temporary forbearance, invited
them to a repetition of the attempt; and Lupus, wearied
with continued hostilities, solicited the presence of the
emperor, and the aid of a numerous army $.
Though Severus was advanced in years, and declining A. D.
in health, he cheerfully obeyed the summons of his lieu- 207 -tenant. He was accompanied by his two sons, Cara- 211.
calla and Geta: to the younger he committed the civil
SHerodian, iii. 1f-23. Dio apud Xiphil. in Sever. p. 322-324.
4 Ei; luoe  ysenae.  Herod. iii. 24.  Spartan. in  Sever. p. 320.  Inscriptions in Speed, p. 139, by mistake for Ill.
I lierod. iii. 46.




ï~~40

ROMAN BRITAIN.

CHAP. I

government of the province; to Caracalla he assigned
a part in the projected expedition. When the army
moved from York, the selection of the commanders, the
number of the legions and auxiliary cohorts, and the
long train of carriages loaden with provisions and implements of war, proclaimed the determination of the
emperor to subdue, if not to exterminate, all the rebellious tribes in the north. The Britons were but ill provided against so formidable an invasion. They possessed
no other defensive armour than a narrow target. Their
weapons were a dirk, an unwieldy swoitl hanging from
the waist by an iron chain, and a short lance, from one
extremity of which was suspended a bell. But they
were aided by the nature of the country, abounding in
mountains, lakes, and forests; by constitutions inured
to fatigue, hunger, and every privation; by habits of
running, swimming, and wading.through rivers and
morasses; and above all, by a contempt of danger, and
an unconquerable love of freedom. The progress of the
Romans was constantly interrupted by the necessity of
opening roads through the woods, of throwing bridges
over the rivers, and of erecting causeways across the
marshes. It was in vain that Severus sought for an
enemy in front. The natives had wisely divided themselves into detachments, which hung on the flanks of
the Romans, watched every advantage, and often inflicted
a sudden and severe wound on the long and encumbered
line of their enemies. Still the emperor, regardless of
his losses, and unappalled by difficulties, pressed forward
till he reached the Frith of Cromarty, where he condescended to accept the offers of submission which he had
formerly refused; and, that he might appear to punish
the obstinacy of the natives, exacted the nominal surrender of a part of their territory. But this trivial advantage had been dearly purchased; and the number
of the Romans, who perished by fatigue, by disease, and
by the sword, has been estimated at fifty thousand.*
* Dio apud Xiphil. in Severo, p. 340. Herod. iii. 46-49.




ï~~CHAP. I.]

'\VLLT OF l VER S.

41

When Severis returned to York, he had leisure to
devise means for the future security of the southern
provinces. From what he had seen, he was convinced
that no rampart of turf could resist the assaults of these
active and persevering barbarians; and he determined
to confine their incursions by raising a solid wall of
stone a few paces to the north of the vallum of Hadrian.
In the neighbourhood of the sea it preserved a parallql
direction: but as it approached the higher ground,
leaving the work of that emperor to wind its circuitous
course.along the valleys, it boldly ascended the most
lofty eminences, and ran along the margin of the most
abrupt precipices.  Its height was twelve feet *; its
breadth at the foundation varied from two to three
yards. In front was sunk a ditch of the same dimensions with that of Hadrian: and for its protection were
assigned four squadrons and fourteen cohorts, composing an army of ten thousand men, quartered in eighteen
stations along the line of the wall. By the historian of
Severus, this stupendous erection is pronounced the
principal glory of his reign: by the traveller of the present day its remains are viewed with feelings of astonishment and delight t.
Scarcely had the Romans evacuated the territory of
the Caledonians and Masts, when information was
brought to Severus, that the barbarians had recommenced hostilities. His infirmities had been so much
increased by the fatigue of the late campaign, that he
was no longer able to join the army. He gave the command to Caracalla, with an injunction to extirpate the
whole race without mercy. But that prince had a far
different object in view--to exclude his brother Geta
from the succession. Instead of marching against the
B3ritons, he endeavoure:1 to gain the affection of the
troops, by indulgence and donatives; and, as soon as his
* Bede, Hist. i. 12.
+ Notit. imp. Pancirol. f. V.C,,77. Maximum decus. Spart. in Severo,
321.
YOL. I.   4




ï~~42

AOMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I.

father hadl expired at York, renewed the peace, disbanded the army, and returned to Rome*.
A. D.  History is little more than a record of the miseries
211- inflicted on the many by the passions of a few. If then,
284. for more than seventy years from the death of Severus,
Britain has escaped the notice of the ancient annalists,
we may infer that they were years of comparative tran-,quillity and happiness. The northern tribes respected
the strength of the new fortification, and the valour of
the army by which it was guarded: and the natives ot
the south, habituated from their infancy to submission,
bore without impatience the yoke, which had pressed so
heavily on their free-born fathers. The rest of the empire was convulsed by the claims of the numerous competitors, known by the name of the thirty tyrants; and
from coins, which have been occasionally discovered in
the island, it is supposed that Posthumus, Lollianus,
Victorinus, Tetricus, Bonosus, and.cElianus were successively acknowledged in Britain. If the inference be
accurate, the silence of history shows, that their authority was admitted without opposition, and not established
at the point of the sword, as it was in the other provinces. Probably Britain constantly followed the fortune of Gaul.
A...This distracted state of the empire had opened new
284. prospects to the barbarians who, under the appellations
of Franks and Saxons, possessed the coast from the
mouth of the Rhine to the extremity of the Cimbrican
Chersonesus. They swept into their own ports the
commerce of the narrow seas, and insulted by their
predatory expeditions the shores of Gaul and Britain.
To chastise or restrain their insolence, the command of
a powerful fleet, with the title of Count of the Saxon
shore, was given by the emperors Dioclesian and Maximian to Carausius, an experienced officer, and a Menapian by birth. His conduct soon awakened suspicion
* Dio. p. 342. Herod. ibid.




ï~~A.D. 297.]

ALLECTUS.

43

The pirates continued their depredations with impunity;
a portion of their spoil was regularly surrendered to
Carausius; and the money was employed in debauching the loyalty of the mariners. Maximian prepared to
punish his perfidy. But the Menapian unexpectedly
fortified Boulogne, concluded an alliance with the barbarians, sailed to Britain, induced the army and fleet to
espouse his cause, and assuming with the imperial
purple the name of Augustus, set at defiance the whole
power of Rome.
The reign of this adventurer was fortunate and glo- A..
rious. The Caledonians were compelled to flee before 293.
his arms; his authority was acknowledged on the western coast of Gaul; and a numerous fleet carried the
terror of his name to the entrance of the Mediterranean.
It was not, however, to be expected, that the emperors
would tamely acquiesce in his usurpation. At first indeed they thought it more prudent to admit him as their
colleague: but, when they had adopted the two Caesars
Galerius and Constantius, they assigned to the latter
the task of wresting Britain from his dominion. Constantius began the attempt with the siege of Boulogne.
By his orders the mouth of the harbour was obstructed
by a mound of stones; and the garrison, cut off from any
assistance from Britain, was, after an obstinate resistance, compelled to surrender  This loss might grieve,
but did not dishearten Carausius. He was still master
of the sea, and at the head of a numerous army. But,
while he was employed in providing against a distant
danger, he fell a victim to domestic treachery; and in
the eighth year of his reign was murdered at York by A.n
Allectus, a minister who had abused his confidence, and 297
dreaded his resentment.
Allectus enjoyed during three years the reward of
his treachery. The time was spent by Constantius in
preparing a fleet which might safely transport his
troops to the island. To distract the attention of the
enemy, it was divided into two squadrons, of which one




ï~~44

ROMAN BRITAIN.

CHAP.,.

under his own command was stationed at Boulogne, the
other, under that of the prefect Asclepiodotus, in the
mouth of the Seine. The latter, owing to the impatience
of the mariners, was the first which put to sea; and
sailing under the cover of a fog, passed unobserved by
the British fleet near the Isle of Wight, and reached
without opposition the adjacent coast. The Caesar himself with a still more powerful armament directed his
course to the shore of Kent; and at his landing received
the pleasing intelligence that Allectus was dead. On
the first news of the arrival of Asclepiodotus, the usurper had hastened towards the spot: but.the greater part
of his forces was unable to equal his speed; and with
his guard, a band of Franks, he was speedily overA. D. whelmed by the Romans. Nor was this the only in297 stance of the good fortune of the Casar. A division of
his fleet, which had separated in the dark, entered the
Thames, and advanced without meeting an enemy to the
neighbourhood of London. At that moment a body of
auxiliaries in the pay of Allectus, hearing of his death,
began to plunder the city. It was saved from destruction by the accidental arrival of the Romans; and Constantius himself was soon afterwards hailed by the
inhabitants as their sovereign and deliverer. He immediately restored the imperial authority: Britain became his favourite residence; and the natives enjoyed
the benefit of a mild and equitable administration, till
their happiness was disturbed by religious persecution *.
At the distance of so many ages it is impossible to
discover, by whom Christianity was first preached in the
island. Some writers have ascribed that province to
St. Peter; others have preferred the rival claim of St.
Paul: but both opinions, improbable as they are in
Sthemselves, rest on the most slender evidence; on testimonies, which are many of them irrelevant, all ambiguous and unsatisfactory. It is however certain that
a  Panegr. vet. p. 17, 180.  Eutrop. ix. p. 659.  Aure'. Vict. in Const-in.




ï~~A.D. 297.]     CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN.               45
at a very early period there were Christians in Britain:
nor is it difficult to account for the circumstance, from
the intercourse which had long subsisted between the
island and Rome. Within a very few years from the
ascension of Christ, the church of Rome had attained
great celebrity: soon afterwards it attracted the notice
and was honoured with the enmity of Claudius and
Nero*. Of the Romans whom at that period choice or
necessity conducted to Britain, and of the Britons who
were induced to visit Rome, some would of course become acquainted with the professors of the gospel, and
yield to the exertions of their zeal. Both Pomponia
Graecina, the wife of the proconsul Plautius, the first
who made any permanent conquest in the island, and
Claudia, a British lady, who had married the senator Pudens, are, on rather probable grounds, believed to
have been Christians t. But whether it was owing to
the piety of these, or of other individuals;, that the
doctrine of Christianity was first introduced among
the Britons, it appears to have made proselytes, and to
have proceeded with a silent but steady pace towards
the extremity of the island. The attention of the
Roman officers was absorbed in the civil and military
duties of their stations: and while the blood of the
Christians flowed in the other provinces of the empire,
the Britons were suffered to practise the new religion
without molestation. There is even evidence that the
knowledge of the gospel was not confined to the subjects
of Rome. Before the close of the second century, it had
penetrated among the independent tribes of the north S.
* Epist. to Romans, i. 8. Suet. in Claud. xxv. Tac. Ann. xv. 44.
t For Pomponia, see Tacitus, Ann. xiii. 32; for Claudia compare St.
Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 21, with Martial, epig. ii. 54. iv. 13.
Nothing can be less probable in itself, nor less supported by ancient
testimony, than the opinion that Britain was converted by oriental missionaries. The only foundation on which it rests, is, that in the seventh
century the Britons did not keep Easter on the same day as the church of
Rome. That, however, they did so in,the beginning of the fourth century,
is plain from Eusebius (Vit. Con. iii. 19), Socrates (Hist. v. 22), and the
council of Aries (Spelman, p. 40, 42).
Â~ Britanniarum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita. Tertul.
adver. Jud. c. vii. p. 189. Ed. Rigalt.




ï~~46

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I

It might have been expected that the British writers
would have preserved the memory of an event so important in their eyes as the conversion of their fathers.
But their traditions have been so embellished or disfigured by fiction, that without collateral evidence, it is
hardly possible to distinguish in them what is real from
that which is imaginary.      After deducting from      the
account of Nennius and his brethren every improbable
circumstance, we may believe that the authority conferred by the emperor Claudius on Cogidunus, was continued in his family; that Lucius (Lever maur, or the
great light), one of his near descendants, was a believer
in the gospel; that he sent to Rome Fagan and Dervan
to be more perfectly instructed in the Christian faith;
and that these envoys, having received ordination from
Pope Eleutherius, at their return, under the influence of
their patron, increased the number of the proselytes by
their preaching, and established the British, after the
model of the continental churches.* But independently
of such authority, we have undoubted proof that the believers were numerous, and that a regular hierarchy had
been instituted, before the close of the third century. For
by contemporary writers the church cf Britain is always
put on an equality with the churches of Spain and Gaul;
and in one of the most early of the western councils, that
of Arles in 314, we meet with the names of three British
bishops, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius of Lincoln.t
A. D. It has been observed that the British Christians had
303. hitherto escaped the persecutions to which their continen305. tal brethren were repeatedly exposed.    But in the beginning of the fourth century, Dioclesian and Maxiniian
The substance of this account is confirmed by Beda, who twice in his History, and once in his Chronicle, tells us that Lucius, a British prince, sent
messengers to Rome to Pope Eleutherius for instruction in the Christian faith.
He places this message in the short interval between the death of the Emperor Commniodus (Chron. Op. Min. 173) and that of the Emperor Aurelius (Hist.,
I. c. 4); that is, between the years 169 and 180. It is difficult to reconcile this
date with that which he assigns to the accession. of Aurelius, namely, 156.
But that number is evidently an error, arising perhaps from the negligence
of some copyist, who wrote clvi. for clxi., the correct date.
t Spelm. conc. 42, 45. Labbe. Conc. i. 1430. Eusebius, v. 23. Socrates, v. 21.
Col. Lond. should be Col. Lind. Lindum or Lindicolinum, Lincoln.




ï~~A. D 306.j

CONSTANTIUS.

47

determined to avenge the disasters of the empire on the
professors of the gospel; and edicts were published, by
which the churches in every province were ordered to be
demolished, and the refusal to worship the gods of paganism was made a crime punishable with death. Though
Constantius might condemn, he dared not forbid the
execution of the imperial mandate: but he was careful
at the same time to show by his conduct his own opinion
of religious persecution. Assembling around him the
Christian officers of his household, he communicated to
them the will of the emperors, and added, that they
must determine to resign their employments, or to abjure the worship of Christ. If some among them preferred their interest to their religion, they received
the reward which their perfidy deserved. The Cwsar
dismissed them from his service, observing that he
would never trust the fidelity of men, who had proved
themselves traitors to their God*. But the moderation
of Constantius did not restrain the zeal of the inferior
magistrates. The churches in almost every district
were levelled with the ground: and of the Christians
many fled for safety to tne forests and mountains, many
suffered with constancy both torture and death. Gildas
has preserved the names of Julius and Aaron, citizens
of Caerleon upon Usk; and the memory of Alban, the
protomartyr of Britain, was long celebrated both in his
own country and among the neighbouring nations. But
within less than two years Dioclesian and Maximian
resigned the purple; Constantius and Galerius assumed
the title of emperors; and freedom of religious worship
was restored to the Christian inhabitants of the island.t
Constantius, while he was yet in an inferior situation, A.
had married Helena, a native of Bithynia according to 306.
some writers, the daughter of a British prince, if we
may believe our national historians.  When he was
raised to the dignity of Cesar, he was compelled to
repudiate Helena for Theodora, the daughter-in-law of
* Euseb. Vit. Cons. i. 16. Sozom. i. 6. Lact. de mortib. persec. 15, 16.
f Gild. vii. viii. Bed. i. vii.




ï~~48

ROMAN BRITAIN.

LCHAP. I.

Maximian; but Helena had already borne him a son
in Britain *, the celebrated Constantine, on whom posterity has bestowed the epithet of the "great." The
young prince was educated an honourable hostage in the
court, first of Dioclesian, and then of Galerius: but on
the report that his father's health was rapidly declining,
he snatched a favourable moment to escape, and maiming at every post the horses which were not necessary
for his flight, contrived to retard the speed of his pursuers. He reached York a few days before Constantius
expired; was recommended by him to the affection of
the soldiery; and assumed, with their approbation, the
titles of Casar and Augustus. The sequel of his, story,
and the long course of victories by which he united the
whole empire under his own authority, are subjects
foreign from these sheets: but it will be necessary to
notice an important alteration which he made in the
government of Britain '.
Dioclesian had divided the whole empire into four
parts, under himself, Maximian, and the two Casars.
When Constantine became sole emperor, he adopted a
similar partition under four pretorian prefects. At the
same time new titles and employments were devised;
and throughout the whole gradation of office, the military was jealously separated from the civil administration. By this arrangement Britain was placed under
the jurisdiction of the prefect of the Gauls, whose
authority extended from the wall of Antoninus to the
southern limits of Mauritania Tingitana. His deputy
with the title of vicar of Britain resided at York:
while the subordinate charge of the provinces was entrusted to the two consulars of Valentia and Maxima,
and the three presidents of Flavia, Britannia prima, and
Britannia secunda. The administration of justice, and
of the finances, was continued in the hands of these
ministers: but the command of the army was divided
* Tu nobiles illic oriendo fecisti. Paneg. veter p. 199 Item. p. 207.
t Zosim. ii. 78, 79. Philostorg. i. p. 477.




ï~~A.D. 306.3

P AULUS.

49

among three military officers, who acknowledged for
their superior the master of the cavalry or infantry stationed on the banks of the Rhine. they were distinguished by the titles of the duke of Britain, whose command reached from the northern boundary to the
Humber; the count of the Saxon shore, whose duty it
was to guard the coast, from the Humber to the Land's
End in Cornwvall; and the count of Britain, to whom
were subject all the other garrisons in the island *.
Under Constantine and his sons Britain enjoyed more
than fifty years of tranquillity. The aggressions of the
barbarians were repressed.; and industry and commerce
were encouraged. The first check was given to the
public prosperity by the cruelty and avarice of Paulus,
a Spanish notary. He had been sent to the island with
a commission from the emperor Constantius to inquire
into the conduct of the officers, who, during the general
defection of the western armies, had adhered to the
usurper Magnentius. Paulus was eminently skilled in
all the arts of rapacity and chicanery; with him wealth
was a sufficicnt presumption of guilt; and no man,
whose possessions might fill the coffers of the notary
and his imperial master, was ever acquitted at his tribunal. Martin, the vicar of Britain, had lamented, and
sometimes interposed to prevent, these iniquitous proceedings. But he was informed that a deep scheme
had been laid to involve him in the common delinquency; and, impelled by despair, he made an attempt
on the life of the notary. The stroke was parried: and
Martin instantly plunged his sword into his own heart.
His real or pretended accomplices were punished with
torture and confiscation, exile or death; and Palus
continued his career regardless of the hatred and imprecations of the natives. By Constantius he was applauded for his fidelity: Julian, the succeeding emperor,
commanded him to be burnt alive1-.
* Zosim. ii. 109, 110.  Tillem. iv. 117.  Not. Imp. f. 155. 161. 162. 176
177.   1                   Amt. Marcel. xiv. 12. xx. 9,
VOL. I.  5




ï~~50

ROMAN BRITAIN

[CHAP. I.

While Julian held with the title of Caesar the prefecture of Gaul, an event sxeurred which proves the great
resources of Britain at this period. The Franks, Saxons, and Alemanni had previously crossed to the left
bank of the Rhine, laid waste an extensive tract of
country, reduced to ashes forty towns, and carried the
inhabitants into captivity.  By repeated victories the
Casar compelled the barbarians to restore their prisoners: his next object was to provide the multitude with
food, in a country which for years had been desolate.
The granaries of Britain offered an immediate aid
plentiful supply. A fleet of eight hundred small vessels
was collected in the mouths of the Rhine; repeated
voyages were made to the British coasts: the cargoes
were conveyed in lighters up the river; and the almost
famished inhabitants received an ample provision of
corn both to sow their lands, and to support themselves
till the following harvest*. Nor was the island equal
only to a temporary supply. It exported annually great
quantities of corn to the continent t.
It is remarkable that from this period, the Caledonians and Maaet, tribes which for two centuries had
been the terror of the civilized Britons, disappeared without any ostensible cause from the page of history: and
their places are supplied by the Picts and Scots, who
though differing from them in name, are described as
barbarians equally savage in disposition and equally
addicted to invasion and rapine.   Of the origin of
these two nations, which appear to start suddenly into
existence in the course of the fourth century, many
learned but fanciful theories have been invented. 1. To
me it seems manifest that the Picts were, under a new
denomination, the very same people, whom we have
hitherto called Maieta and Caledonians S. The name
* Zosim. iii. 145.  t Amm. Marcel. xviii. 2. p. 204. Edit. Gronov.
Liban. orat. x. tom. ii. p. 281.      t See Gild. c. 25.
SThis appears, 1. Because we have no evidence of the extirpation or
emigration of the ancient tribes: 2. Because the character of the Picts is
the same as that given of the Caledonians by Herodian, Dio, and Solinus.




ï~~A. D. 354.]

PICTS AND SCOTS.

of Caledonians properly belonged to the natives of that
long but narrow strip of land, which stretches from
Loch Finn on the western, to the Frith of Tayne on the
eastern coast: but it had been extended by the Romans
to all the kindred and independent clans which lay between them and the northern extremity of the island.
In the fourth century the mistake was discovered and
rectified: and from that time not only the Caledonians,
but their southern neighbours, the five tribes of the
Mateta, began to be known by the generic appellation of
Picts, a word derived perhaps from the national custom
of painting the body *, more probably from the name
which they bore in their own language. 2. The Scots
came undoubtedly from Ireland, which, like its sister
island, appears to have been colonized by adventurers
from different countries. Thus we meet with tribes of
Damnii, Volantii, Brigantes, and Cangii, names which
point out a British origin; of Menapii and Cauci, descended from the parent tribes in Belgium and Germany, and of Iberni and Concani, who seem to have
emigrated from Spain ". These were scattered on different points of the coast; while the interior was held
They lived by rapine: they went almost naked (Gild. 15): they punctured the figures of animals on their bodies (Claud. de bello Get. 165):
3. Because Eumenius, the first who mentions them, numbers the Caledonians with the other Picts (Eum. paneg. Constan. p. 235): 4. Because
Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. xxvii. p. 520), about eighty years after Eumenius, divides the Picts into the Dicaledones, confessedly the Caledonians, and the Vecturiones, who dwelt in the vicinity of the river Tay
(Ptol. viii. 3. Ric. Cor. i. 6). The territory of the Picts extended from the
northern ocean as far as the south of Galloway. (Bed. iii. 4.)
* Nec falso nomine Pictos
Edomuit.-Claud. in iii. consul. Honor. 54.
" Ptol. viii. 2. Ric. Corin. i. 8. Dionysius places a Spanish colony also
in the Scilly islands.
Toes x'aovrseoo yvs"'-,
Apvsses vaIxotvey avosaerctlICneanv.
Dion. Periery. v. 563.
As the Roman arms never penetrated into Ireland, the ancients may
have entertained very false notions of its inhabitants. By Diodorus
(v. 355), Strabo (iv. 201), Mela (iii. 266), and Solinus (xxii. 42), they are
described as cannibals, and the most barbarous of the human race. But
from Tacitus we learn that the ports of Ireland were frequented by merchants, and that in manners and disposition the natives resembled the
Britons. (Vit. Agric. xxiv)




ï~~52

ROMAN BRITAIN

[CHAP. Y.

by numerous clans of the Scoti*, many of whom, in the
fourth century, united with the Attacotti, a kindred clan
in the neighbourhood of Loch Lomond, to plunder the
rich provinces of the Roman Britons. But the Scots
soon aspired to something more permanent than plunder. From the north of Ireland the passage was short
and inviting: hordes of adventurers followed each other;
settlements were obtained from the friendship, or extorted from the weakness, of the Picts; and at last tho
strangers acquired so marked a superiority over the
indigenous tribes, as to impart the name of Scotland to
the northern division of Britain '. It was long, however,
before the two nations were blended in one people. We
find the Picts distinguished from the Scots as late as the
twelfth century $.
A. D.   In the reign of Constantius the Picts and Scots en360. tered the Roman province in considerable numbers.
The Caesar Julian could not be spared from Gaul:
and Lupicinus, whom he sent as his deputy, did not
venture to meet the        invaders.    This confession    of
weakness incited them to repeat their inroads; and at
each repetition they penetrated farther into the country.
* In the fourth century, they were universally known by the name of
Scots (Scoticae gentes. Porphyr. apud S. Hieron. ad Ctesiph.iv. 481.) Thus
Claudian, speaking of their depredations, says:
Me juvit Stilicho, totam cum Scotus Iernen
Movit, et infesto spumavit remige Tethys.
De Laud. Stil. ii. v. 249.
Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis lerne.
In consul. iv. Honor. v. 33.
The island itself was called Scotia. Scotia eadem et Hibernia-cujus
partes priores Iberiam intendunt, unde et Ibernia dicta: Scotia autem,
quod ab Scotorum gentibus colitur, appellata. Isid. Orig. xiv. 123. She
also Orosius (i. 2.), Ethicus (Cosmog. 507), Ravennas Geographus (Gale,
i. 748), and Bede (Haec autem proprie patria Scotorum est. Hist. i. 1.)
It is not improbable that the Scoti were the most numerous tribe in the
interior of the island, and a division of the great Celtic family of the
Cotti. The language of the Waldenses, the natives of the valleys amid
the Cottian Alps, hears to this day a great affinity to the vernacular
tongues of Ireland and Scotland. See Chamberlayne's Oratio Domin.
andt Pinkerton's Dissert. p. 84.
- Loarn, Fergus, and Angus, the sons of Erc, a chieftain of Dalraida,
in Ulster, settled in the isthmus of Cantire in 503. From them the Scottish kings claimed their descent. See Dr. O'Conor, Proleg. i. 126. ii. 83.
S Ric. Hagul. 291. 316.




ï~~A.D. 367.]     USIRPAT[ION CF MAXIMUS.          53
They maintained spies in the Roman army; they
tempted the fidelity of the garrisons; and they seduced
many of the foreign auxiliaries to join them in the pursuit of plunder. At length the emperor Valentinian
was alarmed for the safety of the island. Fallofaudes,
the Roman general, had been slain by treachery; Nectarides, the count of the Saxon shore, had fallen in
battle; and the flames of devastation spread along the
right bank of the Thames. First the steward of the
imperial household, then Jovinus, and lastly Theodosius,
were appointed to the command. That celebrated officer, with the flower of the Gallic army, landed at Richborough, and, having divided his troops into several
corps, attacked and defeated the marauding parties
of the barbarians. He entered London in triumph, A. D.
and spent a few weeks in making preparations for new 367.
victories. The deserters were induced by an act of
amnesty to rejoin their standards; the ancient discipline
of the army was revived; supplies and reinforcements
were provided; and, on the recommencement of hostilities, the invaders were taught in several bloody encounters to respect the bravery of the troops, and the
talents of the general. They sullenly retired beyond
the ancient limits of the empire; and Theodosius applied himself to re-establish the former system of government. The political and financial departments he confided to the vicar Civilis: and, as commander of the
army, repaired the fortifications, placed garrisons in the
military stations, and restored the province of Valentia,
wyhich had long been abandoned. When he left the
island, his services were attested by the gratitude of
the natives, who accompanied him in crowds to the seashore; and by the acknowledgment of his sovereign,
who loaded him with distinguished honours*.
Gratian succeeded his father Valentinian in the
Amm. Mar. xxvii. c. 8. xxviii. c. 3. Claud. in iv.  Ion. v. 26.  Theodosiis ab Augusta profectus, quam veteres appellavere Lundinium. Amm.
Mar. ibi'd




ï~~ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I.

A P. empire, and invested with the purple Theodosius the
375. younger, the son of the deliverer of Britain. There
A. n. was at the time in the island an officer, named Maxi379. mus, of great abilities, and of greater ambition *. Inflamed with jealousy by the promotion of one who had
been his equal, he began to intrigue with the soldiery;
and artfully extorted from their gratitude or their creduhlity an offer of the title of Augustus. It was not without apparent reluctance that he yielded to their entreaties: but his subsequent conduct betrayed his real
sentiments. Not content with the possession of Britain,
he aspired to the whole of the western empire. At the
head of the British army he sailed to the mouth of the
Rhine; the murder of Gratian gave him possession of
Gaul; and, by the precipitate flight of Valentinian, the
greater part of Italy was compelled to submit to his authority. He reigned with dignity, and severely chastised the
Picts and Scots, who attempted to renew their inroads.
Theodosius received his image, and acknowledged his
title; but roused at last by shame and apprehension,
took the field against the usurper. On the banks of the
Save in Pannonia, the first shock was given to the power
of Maximus; and the city of Aquileia soon afterwards
saw him stripped of the imperial ornaments, and beA. n. headed by order of his victorious opponent. The Bri388. tons, who had followed his standard, never revisited their
country: and the native writers lament the defenceless
state in which it was left by their absence, exposed to
the insults of its inveterate enemies t.
This favourable opportunity did not escape the vigilance of the Picts and Scots. They experienced only a
feeble resistance from the small force that remained in
the island, and returned home laden with the plunder
of the provinces. Their repeated inroads impelled the
* Maximus is called a Spaniard by Zosimus (iv. 247), a Briton by
Socrates (v. 11) and Gildas (c. x.), the Robber of Richborough by Ausonius (Latro Rhutupinus. De clar. Urb. vii. p. 1301. apud Poet. vet.)
1 Prosper. in Chron. an. 387. Sozom. Hist. vii. p. 721. Gi.d. c. 11.
Nenn. xxiii.




ï~~A.D. 403.]     MARCUS, GRATIAN, ETC.              55
Britons to lay their distressed situation before the imperial court, ptrobably through the means of Chrysantus
the vicar, whose administration is mentioned with applause: and Stilicho, the master of the infantry and
cavalry, despatched to their assistance a body of troops,
which repelled the invaders, and confined them within
their own territories*.
But the great fabric of the Roman power was now
shaken to its foundation. Hordes of barbarians, under
different denominations, issuing from the unknown regions of the east and the north, had depopulated the
fairest of the provinces; and a torrent of Goths, Vandals, and Alans, under the celebrated Alaric, had poured
from the summit of the Julian Alps into the flourishing
plains of Italy. It became necessary to recall the troops
from the extremities to defend the heart of the empire;
and the cohorts which had been stationed along the walls
in Britain, fought and triumphed under the command
of Stilicho in the bloody battle of Pollentia I. After A. D.
the retreat of Alaric, the British forces seem to have 403.
returned to the island, and to have driven back the
Picts, who had taken advantage of their absence to
plunder the neighbouring province. But within two or
three years the German nations bursting into Gaul,
spread devastation from one extremity to the other;
and the legions in Britain, cut off from all communication with the emperor Honorius, determined to elect
an emperor for themselves. The purple was bestowed A. D.
on Marcus, one of their officers,, who soon lost his life 406
in a sedition of the soldiery. The next object of their
choice was Gratian, a native of one of the British
municipia, who, at the end of four month, experienced
the fate of his predecessor. This dangerous pre-eminence was, however, still an object of competition. Constantine, a soldier in the ranks, with no other pretensions than his name, offered himself to their suffrages.
* Compare Gildas (c. 1_) and Bede (i. 12) with Claudian de land,
Stilic. ii. ver. 247.       f Claudian le hello Get. v. 416.




ï~~56

ROMAN 3RITAIN.

[CHAP. 1.

He was proclaimed Augustus, led them to Boulogne,
and with the assistance of some Roman corps, which lay
dispersed in the neighbourhood, cleared the province of
the barbarians. His son Constans, who is said to have
worn the monastic habit at Winchester, was named
Caesar and hastened to take possession of Spain. But
their prosperity was of very short duration. The son
was put to death at Vienne by Gerontius, one of his own
A. D. officers; and the father was beheaded at Arles by the
411. order of Constantius, who commanded the forces of
Honorius *.
While Constantine was thus hastening to his ruin,
Britain had been the theatre of an important revolution.
The natives, left without a military force, and exposed
to the inroads of their enemies, determined to reject an
authority which was unable to afford them protection.
They deposed the Roman magistrates, proclaimed their
own independence, took up arms, and with the spirit of
freemen, drove the barbarians out of their territories t.
When the intelligence reached Ravenna, Honorius, the
legitimate emperor, wrote to the states of Britain, "to
"provide for their own defence."  By this ambiguous
expression he has been thought to have released them
from their allegiance: perhaps his only object was to
authorize their present efforts, that he might thus reserve a claim to their future obedience $.
It would be interesting to delineate the conduct of the
natives on this memorable occasion, and accurately to
exhibit the causes which transferred the greater part of
this island from the milder dominion of the Romans to
the exterminating sword of the Saxons. But Britain,
after its separation from the empire, ceased to attract the
notice of foreign historians; and our national writers
lived at so distant a period, and have interwoven so much
fable in their narratives, that they possess but little
claim to our confidence. From Zosimus we learn, that,

* Zosim. vi. p. 371- 375.!1 d. 376.

Id. 381.




ï~~CHAP. 1.]    THE ROMANS ABANDON BRITAIN.         57
on the extinction of the imperial authority in the island,
the British states established domestic governments according to circumstances. These states were undoubtedly the different cities, which have been previously
enumerated, and to which Honorius had directed his
letters. As the colonies, municipia, and Latin towns,
had always formed so many separate commonwealths
under the superintendence of the provincial presidents,
they would probably wish to retain the forms of government to which they had so long been habituated. It is,
however, easy to conceive, that during the anarchy that
must have been produced by the sudden removal of the
Roman magistrates, and the confusion occasioned by the
repeated incursions of the Picts and Scots, many a fortunate leader would abuse his own power and the confidence of his fellow-citizens to usurp the sovereign authority. In a few years every trace of popular government had vanished: and all the provinces which had
belonged to the empire were divided among a multitude
of petty chieftains, principally of British, but partly of
Roman origin. They were dignified with the title of
kings, though the dominions of many were confined
within narrower limits than most of our present counties. and their ambition, their wars, and their vices,
inflicted on the country more permanent and extensive
injuries than had ever been suffered from the incursions
of foreign enemies*.
Soon after the Britons became independent, the
greater part of Europe was depopulated by the two
dreadful scourges of pestilence and famine. This island
did not escape the general calamity: and the Scots
and Picts seized the favourable moment for the renewal
of their inroads. The dissensions of the native chieftains
facilitated their attempts; district after district became
the scene of devastation; till the approach of danger
admonished the more southern Britons to provide for
* Gild. c. xix. xxiii. xxv. Epist p.10. 12. Nen. c. lxi. Procop. Hist. Vand.
1. i. p. 8, 9.




ï~~58

ROMAN BRITAIN.

[CHAP. I.

their own safety. Some solicited, but in vain, the protection of ZEtius, the Roman general in Gaul*: others,
under the guidance of Vortigern, the most powerful of
the British kings, had recourse to an expedient, which,
however promising it might appear in the outset, proved
in the result most fatal to the liberty of their country.
The emperors had long been accustomed to purchase
the services of the barbarians; and the Armoricans,
who, like the Britons, had thrown off the Roman yoke,
had, with the assistance of the Saxons, successfully
maintained their independence 1. Vortigern resolved
to pursue the same policy. A Saxon squadron of three
ehiules, or long ships, was cruising in the Channel in
quest of adventures; and its two commanders, the brothers Hengist and Horsa, eagerly accepted the overtures
of the British prince, to aid in fighting his battles, and
to depend for their reward on his gratitude. They
A.D. landed at Ebbsfleet, and were cantoned in the isle of
449. Thanet $T
Amidst these calamities, the Britons found leisure to
attend to theological disputes. About the commencement of the fifth century Pelagius a Briton, and Celestius
a Scot, had advanced several new and heterodox opinions
respecting the nature of original sin and divine grace.
Agricola, one of their disciples, made an attempt to diffuse the new doctrine among their countrymen; and
the British prelates, unaccustomed to the subtleties of
controversy, solicited the assistance of their neighbours,
the bishops of 'Gaul.  With the concurrence of Pope
Celestine, Germanus of Auxerre twice visited Britain,
once in 429 in company with Lupus of Troyes, and again
in 446 with Severus of Treves. By his authority the
doctrines of Pelagius were condemned and suppressed,
and schools for the education of the clergy were opened
in several dioceses. On one occasion the Gallic prelate
resumed a character, in which he had dis:in guished
* Gild. c. xvi. xvii. xxi.. Sid. Arol. Paneg. Avit. v. 369.
SGild. c. xxiii.  Nen. xx.viii.




ï~~A. D. 449.]     THEOLOGICAL DISPUTES.             59
himself during his youth. A party of Picts and Saxons
were plundering the coast. Germanus put himself at
the head of the Britons, and led them to a defile, where
they awaited in ambush the approach of the invaders.
On a sudden, by his command, they raised a general
shout of Hallelujah: the cry was reverberated from the
surrounding hills; the enemy fled in amazement, and
numbers perished in an adjoining river. By our ancient
writers this action was celebrated under the name of the
Hallelujah victory *.
* Prosp. in Chron. p. 630. ad. ann. 429. Constan. vit. S. Ger. c. L S
Bed, L. 17. hunt. 178.




ï~~CHAPTER II.

ANGLO-SAXONS.
Origin and character of the Anglo-Saxons-Their repeated descents in
Britain-They found eight distinct kingdoms-The natives retire to
the western coast-Reigns of the Saxon Bretwaldas-Ella-Ceawlin
-Ethelbert-Redwald-Edwin-Oswald-Oswno.
ABOUT the middle of the second century the Saxons, an
obscure tribe of barbarians, occupied the district between
the Elbe and the Eyder, on the neck of the Cimbrican
Chersonesus*: in the course of two hundred years the
same appellation had become common to all the nations
from the extremity of the peninsula to the Weser, the
Ems, and the Rhine t. They formed a kind of voluntary association, which was loosely held together
by similar interests and congenial pursuits. Pillage
by land, piracy by sea, were their only profession: and
though the imperial fleet had often been employed to
check, it could never subdue their dauntless and enterprising spirit. But as the power of Rome declined,
the audacity of the Saxons increased* their expeditions
became more frequent, their descents more destructive;
from plunder they proceeded to colonization; and the
men who had depopulated, afterwards repeopled the
better portion of Britain. Adventurers from each of
the associated tribes were among the colonists; but the
majority consisted of Jutes, Angles, and Saxons properly so called *. The original seat of the Saxons has
already been mentioned: the Angles were their neighbours on the north as far as the site of the present town
of Flensburgh; and beyond      the Angles dwelt the
* Ptol. in 40 Europre tab.         4 Eutrop. ix. p. 659.
$ Bed. 1. 15. lEthelwerd, Chron. p. 476.




ï~~CHAP. II.1 MANNERS OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

61

nation of the Jutes, with no other boundary than the
ocean.
From the language of the Saxons, their lofty stature, and national institutions, it is evident that they
were of Gothic descent. Their whole time was alternately devoted to indolence and to rapine. To earn by
labour what might be acquired by force, they deemed
unworthy the spirit of a freeman, and consigned the
culture of their lands with the care of their flocks to the
meaner labour of women and slaves. Every warrior
attached himself to the fortunes of some favourite chieftain, whom he followed in his piratical expeditions.
These chieftains guided the councils of the tribe; and
from them, in times of danger, was selected a leader,
who exercised the supreme command, and was dignified
with the title of Cyning or king. His authority, however, was but temporary. It expired with the exigency
to which it owed its existence t.
The warlike exertions of these tribes were at first
checked by their want of arms: but during three centuries of intercourse or hostility with the Romans, they
had learned to supply the deficiency. They bore a target on the left arm, and employed for offence the spear,
the sword, and the battle-axe. The two latter were long
and ponderous; and to their destructive effects is attributed the havoc which the Saxons never failed to make
in the broken ranks of an enemy$. As their ships
were not fitted for the transportation of cavalry, they
usually fought on foot in one compact body; but after
their settlement in Britain, the chieftains, with the most
wealthy of their retainers, came mounted into the field.
Their esteem for the war-horse rose to a species of veneration; but previously to his initiation, his nostrils
* Bede mentions also the Frisians, Boructuari or people of Berg, the
Rugini, Danai, and Hunni. v. 9. Alfred, in his Orosius, distinguishes
Angle-land, Sealand, and Denmark: but afterwards observes that Jutland, Sealand, and the other islands were originally inhabited by the Angles. " On them landum eardodon Engle er hi hider on land comon."
Barrington's Orosius, p. 20.
t Bed. v 10. Wittich. i. p. 7.      $ Huntingd. 178.181.




ï~~62

ANGLO-SAxONS.

[CHAP. II.

were slit, his ears were stitched up, and his sense of
hearing was entirely destroyed. From that moment he
became sacred to the God of war, and was conceived on
important occasions to announce the will of the deity *.
In the infancy of their naval power the Saxon boats
resembled those of the other northern tribes; and a few
planks, surmounted with works of osier, and covered
with skins, bore the fearless barbarian across the ocean,
in the search of spoil and adventures '. But in the fifth
century their chiules or war-ships had assumed a more
formidable appearance *: and from the number of warriors whom they carried, and the length of the voyages
which they made, we may conclude that they were
formed of more solid and lasting materials. In these
the Saxons repeatedly issued from their ports, sometimes
steering for a particular point, sometimes trusting entirely to the guidance of the winds: but whether they
were conducted by chance or design, their object was
invariably the same,--to surprise and pillage the unoffending inhabitants on some part of the British or Gallic
coasts. Sidonius, the eloquent bishop of Clermont, has
described in animated language the terrors of the provincials and the ravages of the barbarians.-" We have
" not," he says, "a more cruel and more dangerous
" enemy than the Saxons. They overcome all who have
"the courage to oppose them. They surprise all who
Sare so imprudent as not to be prepared for their at" tack. When they pursue, they infallibly overtake:
" when they are pursued, their escape is certain. They
"despise danger: they are inured to shipwreck: they
"are eager to purchase booty with the peril of their
"lives. Tempests, which to others are so dreadful, to
' them  are subjects of joy. The storm is their protecSWilk. Con. i. 150.
t -- Cui pelle salum sulcare Britannum
Ludus, et assuto glaucum mare findere lembo.-Apo. Pan. A4vit. v.370.
$ The word is still employed on the rivers Tyne and Were. By ancient
writers it is translated a long or a large ship. See Bede, 1.15. Alfred's
Version, ibid.. Chron Sax. 12. Gildas, c. xxiii.




ï~~A.D. 450 y MANNERS OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

63

" tion when they are pressed by the enemy, and a cover
" fr their operations when they meditate an attack
"Before they quit their own shores, they devote to the
"altars of their gods the tenth part of the principal
" captives: and when they are on the point of returning,
" the lots are cast with an affectation of equity, and the
"impious vow is fulfilled*."   The character which is
thus given of them by Sidonius, is confirmed by every
ancient authority. Marcellinus has recorded the terror
excited by their sudden and unexpected aggressions
Zosimus allots to them the superiority in courage,
strength of body, and patience of fatigue; and by the
emperor Julian they are pronounced the most formidable of all the nations that dwelt beyond the Rhine, on
the shores of the western ocean '.
Such was the terror of the Saxon name, when Hengist and Horsa, in 449, were invited by Vortigern to
fight his battles. For six years they served him with
fidelity. The Picts were taught to respect, the Britons
were eager to reward, their valour.   Hengist, whether
he had already formed designs of conquest, or was desirous of rendering greater service to his employers,
obtained permission to solicit reinforcements from his
own country. The messengers, whom he sent, were
received with welcome: chieftain after chieftain led his
followers to Thanet; and the isle was crowded with
strangers, till their number became an object of jealous
apprehension to the Britons. An increased supply of
provisions was demanded; and the refusal was to both
parties the signal for war. The Saxons marched to the A.D.
Medway, and at Aylesford were opposed by the natives. 455.
The passage of the river was fiercely disputed; Vorti* Sidon. viii. 6.
t Saxones prm caeteris hostibus timentur. Amm. Mar. xxvm. p. 526.
Kae rsewe rares view,es ai en 7xszi ae rs~es ia r  rse era; ceasi.
Zos. iii. p. 147. Tae varq e Psov o a v rso rrseIav.9zXarms dv ese
ra wpayslrara. Jul. orat. i. in laud. Const. p. 34. Angli homines
omnium quos novimus barbarorum ad bella acerrimi. Procop. Hist. Got.
iv. p. 469. Gentem virtute atque agilitate terribilem. Oros. vii. p. 549.




ï~~64

ANG LO -SAXONS.

LcHAuP. 1a

gemrn lost a son, and Hengist his brot hier, but the issue
appears to have been favourable to the strangers. After
the death of Horsa, Oisc, the son of Hengist, was associated with his father in the command, and a second
battle was fought more to the west, on the banks of the
Cray. It proved most disastrous to the Britons. Four of
their leaders were left on the field; their troops fled with
precipitation to London: and Kent was abandoned to
the possession of the invaders. It was at this time that
Hengist ventured, if ever he ventured, beyond the limits
of that county. We are told by Gildas that the Saxons
traversed the island without opposition, that they spread
on every side the flames of devastation: but that on
their return the natives collected in considerable numbers, and inflicted a signal vengeance on the plunderers.
Some such event may perhaps have happened: but the
Saxon writers are silent, and the hyperbolical declamation of Gildas must not be literally received. Eight
years later was fought a most bloody battle, in which
twelve of the British chieftains were slain; and the
Saxons lost a renowned leader called Wypped, from
whom the spot was named Wyppedsfleet. The last victory of Hengist was obtained in 473. The Britons are
said to have fled from their enemies as "from a devouring.conflagration," and to have left behind them spoils
of incalculable value. The conqueror survived fifteen
years, and dying in 488, left the peaceable possession of
Kent to his son Oise, from whom his successors were
called Oiscingas *.
A very different tale is told by the British writers,
whose vanity has attributed the loss of Kent to the
infatuation of Vortigern, and the treacherous policy of
Hengist. That chieftain, if we ma3 credit their relation,
had a daughter, Rowena, of transcendent beauty. It
was so contrived, that at a banquet given to the British
nobles, she waited on Vortigern, who was captivated by
* Chron. Sax. 13, 14.  Bed. i. 15; fi. 5.




ï~~A. D. 480.]

SUSSEX.

65

her charms, took her to his bed and bestowed on his
father-in-law the kingdom of Kent. But his attachment to the Saxons deprived him of the affections of the
Britons. His son Vortemir was placed on the throne,
fought three batties with the strangers, and ultimately
expelled them from Kent. During five years Hengist
wandered an adventurer on the        ocean: but at the
death of Vortemir the father recovered his crown, and
the son-in-law demanded the restoration of the possessions which he had lost. Three hundred deputies from
each nation assembled in council to determine the question: but during the conference each Saxon singled out
his victim: at the proper moment Hengist exclaimed,
"Nemeth yure seax, Draw your daggers:" and the
ground was covered with the dead bodies of two hundred
and ninety-nine Britons. The one, who had been spared,
was Vortigern himself" and to free from captivity a
prince whom they hated, the natives yielded to Hengist
the territory which has since been divided into the
counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex. Can
it be necessary to say that many of these pretended
events are contradicted by undeniable evidence, and
that all escaped the notice of Gildas, a British, and
almost a contemporary, writer? The whole appears to
be a fable invented by the natives, to account for the
first settlement of the Saxons without the admission of
conquest*.
Hengist and his successors were content with the
possession of Kent.    On the north, east, and south,
their small domain was protected by the Thames and
the sea; on the west they were removed from the hostility of the natives by the interposition of a new band of
* Nen. c. 36. 44--47. I should not have noticed these fictions had it not
been thought that the account of HTengist's expulsion is favoured by a passage in Gildas (aliquanto cum recessissent domum, c. 25): but it is evident
that by domum he means their settlement in Kent, as he adds that the
Britons attacked and defeated them there. Perhaps he may allude to the
battle of Wyppedsfleet. There is a place of that name in the isle of Thanet:
but it is very uncertain that it was the scene of combat.
VOL. T.        6




ï~~66

SNTG1co-S XoS.

[CHAP. I

adventurers, under the command of Ella and his three
sons. In 477, these marauders landed at Cymensore,
near Withering, in the isle of Selsey.  The Britons
made an obstinate resistance: but were defeated with
considerable loss, and compelled to shelter themselves
in the Andredswold, a forest of one hundred and twenty
miles in length and thirty in breadth. The progress of
Ella was slow. In 485 he fought a great battle, the
result of which is unknown: and it was not till 490 that
he could penetrate as far as the city of Anderid, which
gave its name to the tract, and was deemed an impregnable fortress.  Its fate is celebrated in our annals.
While the Saxons besieged the city, they were besieged
in their turn by a numerous army of Britons, who allowed them no rest either by day or night. As often as
they began the assault, the natives attacked them in the
rear: and if they turned on the assailants, these immediately found an asylum in the woods; from which they
issued again, the moment that the Saxons moved to
their former position. This harassing species of warfare suggested to the barbarian the obvious expedient of
dividing his force into two armies: of which one conducted the siege, while the other watched the motions
of the enemy wiliout the walls. At last the Saxons
forced their way into the place; Anderid was reduced
A. D. to ashes; and every inhabitant was put to the sword *.
489. This conquest secured to Ella the possession of his
former acquisitions, and he became the founder of the
kingdom of Sussex.
Five years after the destruction of Anderid, a more
powerful armament of five chiules appeared in the
Channel. This was under the command of Cerdic, who,
sailing past the previous conquests of his countrymen,
landed more to the west, at a place which, from the circumstance, received the name of Cerdicsore t'. NatanChron. Sax. 14, 15. Hunt. 179. Sussex was computed to contain
7000 hides of land.  Bed. iv. 13.
l Higden tells us that this " shore of Cerdic" is Yarmouth (Gale,
p. 224). Ie problably means Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight.




ï~~A. D. 508.]

EAST ANGLIA

67

leod, the king of the district, opposed the foreigners
with intrepidity and perseverance; and Cerdic was repeatedly compelled to solicit the co-operation of other
adventurers. In 501, Porta, with two chiules, arrived
at Portsmouth, and slew a British prince who opposed
his landing. Still Natanleod retarded the advance of
the invaders; and in 508 he routed Cerdic, but was
attacked during the pursuit by Cynric, and perished in
the field with five thousand Britons. Even this important victory did not give to the Saxon quiet possession
of the country. In 514 he received a great accession of
strength by the arrival of his nephews Stuffa and Whitgar with three chiules at Cerdicsore: repeated victories
gradually extended the conquests of the strangers; and
in 519 the great battle of Charford on the Avon finally
established the kingdom of Wessex, or of the WestSaxons. Cerdic, having associated his son Cynric in
the regal dignity, and bestowed upon his nephews the
subordinate sovereignty of the isle of Wight, died in
534*. His was the kingdom of the West Saxons.
The success of these adventurers had given a new
direction to the policy 'of the Saxons.  Their object,
which had formerly been plunder, was now converted
minto that of colonization. In pursuit of new settlements
in a more opulent country and under a more genial sun,
the most enterprising chieftains abandoned their homes,
and were followed by numbers anxious to share their
fortunes. There was no part of the eastern shore, from
the frith of Forth to the mouth of the Thames, which
was not visited by hordes of barbarians. While Cerdic
was struggling with the southern Britons, several independent chieftains had pushed their conquests along
the left bank of the Thames: and in 527 Erkenwin had
assumed the sovereignty of Essex, or of the EastSaxons '. The enterprising spirit of the Angles had
led them to desert entirely their native country. I  Se* Chron. Sax. 15-19. Hunt. 179. Whitgar and Stuffa put to the sword
every Briton in the island. Asser, p. 5.
Mat. West. ad an. 54.    + Bed. 1. 15. Chron. Sax. 12.




ï~~68

ANGLO-SAXONS

[CHAP. II.

veral divisions landed to the north of the East-Saxons:
Uffa, from whom his successors were called Uffingas,
was chosen for their monarch: and so great was their
power, that even while they were making conquests on
the Britons, they could furnish men for a foreign expedition.*  We are told by Procopius, a contemporary
writer, that the daughter of one of their chiefs had been
betrothed to Radigis, prince of the Varni, a people on
the north bank of the Rhine. But on the death of his
father, Radigis married his step-mother, the daughter
of Theodobert the Frank, and the East-Angles resolved
to revenge the insult.  An expedition sailed up the
Rhine: the Varni were defeated; and the country was
pillaged. When the victors returned to the disappointed
princess, whom they had left with a sufficient guard,
she loaded them with reproaches for having permitted
the escape of Radigis. They returned to the pursuit;
discovered the fugitive in a wood, and laid him in chains
at her feet. His punishment was probably less severe
than the reader will have anticipated. He was compelled to dismiss the daughter of Theodobert, and to
take the East-Anglian lady to his bed. The story may be
substantially true, but it has undoubtedly been embellished with fiction.t
But the majority of the Angles had spread themselves
more to the northward. Ida, who commanded a fleet of
forty chiules, after many severe conflicts, succeeded in removing the Bernician Britons from the vicinity of the
coast; -and fixed his residence at Bebbanburgh, a castle
which he had built on a lofty promontory, and to which
he had given that name in honour of his consort BebbaÂ~.
He obtained the regal title in 547, and reigned twelve
years. His states, from their British name Bryneich,
were called the kingdom of Bernicia, and were bounded
on the south by the river Tyne or the Tees.
The Britons who lived on the right bank of those rivers
* Hunting. 312.  Bed. ii. 15.  t Procop. Hist. Goth. iv. 468.
+ Chron. Sax. p. 19.  Bed. iii. 6.  Nen. 63, 64.




ï~~A.D. 586.]  THE KINGDOM OF MERCIA. 

69

were called Deiri, from Deyfyr. The first of the Anglian chieftains, by whom they had been assailed and
defeated, was Seomil. IElla, one of his descendants, in
560, obtained the undisputed possession of the country,
and formed a new kingdom, which preserved its British
appellation *.
The Angles of Deira stretched themselves as far as
the Humber. In 586, a colony under the command of
Creoda passed that river, and after clearing the coast of
the Britons, pushed their conquest behind the EastAngles, till they had reached the very centre of the
island. They were in general called Mercians, perhaps
from the marshy district in which they first settled;
but some of them took the name of Middle-Angles from
their central position -.
From the arrival of Hengist to the last successes of
Creoda, a period had intervened of more than one hundred and fifty years. The natives had gradually retired
before their enemies from the coast to the mountains,
and had left about one half of the southern division of
the island in the possession of the invaders. Eight new
kingdoms had been formed. Kent and Sussex were
comprised within the small extent of the counties still
known by those names. The East Saxons possessed
Essex, Middlesex, and the south of Hertfordshire. East
Anglia comprehended Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and
the isle of Ely. These states were prevented from extending their territories by their position on the coast, ard
the contiguity of other Saxon adventurers. But the remaining kingdoms bordered on the Britons, and were successively augmented by conquest. When theyhad attained
their full growth, Bernicia on the north, and Deira on the
south of the Tees, extended from the Forth to the Humber, and from the eastern sea to the western. Wessex
* Nen. 64. When Bernicia was afterwards united with Deira under
one sovereign, the whole was called the kingdom of Northumbria, from
its comprizing the Saxon conquests north of the Humber.
f Mercia was divided by the river Trent into north and south. North
Mercia was computed to contain 7000, South Mercia 5000 hides or lands
ufflhmilies. Bed. it. 24.




ï~~70

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. 11.

was bounded by the Thames and the Severn on the
north, and stretched from the borders of Kent and Sussex to the Land's End in Cornwall. Mercia comprized
all the interior of the island as far as the mountains of
Wales. It is easy to point out the continental origin of
these different peoples. The nations of the Saxons discover themselves by their very name. The conquerors
of Kent, of the Isle of Wight, and the coast of Hampshire opposite to that island, were Jutes. All the remaining kingdoms were founded by the Angles*.
During this long and eventful period, the Britons,
though finally unsuccessful, had displayed a considerable
share of courage and resolution. In the other provinces
of the empire the natives had remained tame spectators
of the contest between the imperial forces and the barbarians; and, whenever the fortune of war declared in
favour of the latter, had patiently submitted to the rule
of the conquerors. The Britons alone, with the exception
of the natives of Armorica, had ventured to unsheath
the sword in the defence of their liberty. If during the
struggle they lost the fairer portion of the island, the
origin of their misfortunes will be found in the want of
union among their chieftains. Like their fathers of old,
they were vanquished in detail. Their national writers
talk of kings who at this period wielded the whole power
of Britain: but of the existence of any such authority no
trace can be discovered in genuine history. The population of the country was divided among a multitude of
chieftains, whose crimes and dissensions had rendered
them too attentive to objects of personal jealousy or aggrandizement, to act with any combined effort against
the common enemy. The chief opposition made to the
* But whatever names these several tribes gave to themselves separately,
collectively as a people they were called Angles both by themselves and by
the nations on the continent. That they were so called by themselves, is
plain from innumerable passages in the works of Beda, and of St. Boniface:
and that they were so called by foreigners appears from the correspondence
of Pope Gregory with individuals in Gaul, and Greece, and Sicily, both before
and after the mission of St. Augustine; in which correspondence he continually terms these Germanic tribes, the nation of the English - gentem Anglorum. Still the natives of Britain and Ireland, whose ancestors had known
the first marauders by the name of Saxons, continued to give that appellation to all the subsequent invaders.




ï~~A. D. 586.]

CHIEFTAINS,

71

Saxons seems to have proceeded from the inhabitants of
the places in which they successively landed: and so unconscious were the other tribes of the danger which threatened them, or so indifferent to the fate of their more distant
countrymen, that about the year 470, at the very time
when the barbarians were establishing kingdoms in the
south-west of the island, an army of twelve thousand
Britons, under the command of Riothamus, fought against
the Visigoths in the neighbourhood of Bourges.*
Of the chieftains, who signalized their valour against
the Saxons, we possess only an imperfect catalogue.
1. The first is Aurelius Ambrosius, who is described as
of Roman origin; the son of parents that had worn the
purple; a brave, faithful, and unassuming warrior. He
seems to have fought against Hengist, and to have
perished in a domestic quarrel with Guitolin 1+. 2. The
fame of Natanleod has been preserved by the Saxon
Chronicle. He was the opponent of Cerdic, and falling
in battle, left his name to a considerable district in
Hampshire $. 3. The territory of Urien, and the scene
of his prowess, lay in the north. Ida and his Angles
experienced in Urien a formidable antagonist: but the
Briton, after a long, and in some instances successful,
struggle, was deprived of life by the jealousy of a confederate chieftain, named Morcant. 4. The fame of
Arthur has eclipsed that of all his contemporaries. Yet
if we divest his memory of that fictitious glory, which
has been thrown round it by the imagination of the bards
and minstrels, he will sink into equal obscurity with his
fellows. We know neither the period when he lived,
nor the district over which he reigned. He is said to
have fought and to have gained twelve battles. In most
of these, from the names of the places, he seems to have
been opposed to the Angles in Lincolnshire, from the
last, at Mount Badon, to the Saxons under Cerdic or
* Jornand. cxlv. p. 678. Sid. Apol. iii. ep. 9. But might not Riotham and
his followers be Armorican Britons? The authorities call them Britons, but
do not state that they came from the island of Britain.
t Gild. c. 25.       $ Ohron. Sax. p. 17.  Nen. c. 64.




ï~~72

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CI AP. II.

Cynric.* This, whether it were fought under Arthur or
not, was a splendid and useful victory, which for forty years
checked the advance of the strangers.j    Perhaps, when
the reader has been told that Arthur was a British chieftain, that he fought many battles, that he was murdered
by his nephew, and was buried at Glastonbury, where his
remains were discovered in the reign of Henry II., he will
have learned all that can be ascertained at the present
day, respecting that celebrated warrior.t
By the conquests of the Saxons the island was replunged into that state of barbarism from which it had
been extricated by the Romans. The victors had long
been inured to pillage and slaughter. On many occasions the towns and villages were with their inhabitants
involved in the same ruin. A mighty conflagration,
says Gildas, was lighted up by the barbarians on the
eastern coast, which gradually devoured the whole surface of the island.  To escape from the exterminating
sword of their enemies, the natives, as soon as opposition'
appeared fruitless, fled with their most valuable effects
to the hills and forests Multitudes found a secure
asylum among the mountains which cover the west of
the island: where, struggling with poverty, and engaged
in constant warfare, they rapidly lost the faint polish of
provincial civilization, and relapsed into many of the
habits of savage life. Others under the conduct of their
prelates and chieftains abandoned their native country
altogether. Crossing the ocean, they scized the desolate
lands on the western extremity of Armorica; subdued the
independence of the neighboring cities; and gave to the
tract which they subdued the appellation of their parent
country. It is still known by the name of Bretagne. 1
But the work of devastation was checked by views of
personal interest   The habitations of the Britons were
* Id. c. 61, 62, cum not. Gale, p. 131.? Gild. c. 26. 1 Girald. apud Langhorn, p. 91. Lel. Coll. v. 8, 9.  1 Gild. c. 24. Chron. Sax. p. 15. Ethelward
i. f. 475. Asserp. 5.
I1 Gild. c. 25, and the testimonies in Usher, Antiq. p. 225-227. Also Bouquet's Rerum Gallic. tom. v. p. 149, vii. 298. and in tom. vi. Eginhard, Annal. ad an. 786, and Ermold. Nigel. de reb. Ludov. 1. Iii.




ï~~A. D. 580.]       THE SAXON CONQUESTS.                73
wanted for the use of the conquerors; and the labours
of the captives were found necessary for the cultivation
of the soil. Hence it was that, as the Saxons extended
their conquests, the buildings were suffered to stand;
and the lives of the Britons who fell into their hands
were spared, unless the thirst of vengeance had been
excited by the obstinacy of their resistance. The captives were divided, together with the land, among the
conquerors: they became the property, the chattels, of
their lord, subject to his caprice and transferable at his
will. The same fate attended their descendants for
many generations: and from the authentic record of
Doomsday it appears, that as late as the eleventh century
a great part of the population of England remained in
a state of slavery *.
The conquerors had established eight independent
kingdoms in the island, though from the frequent union
of Bernicia and Deira under the same head, they have
generally been considered as only seven. The history
of their different dynasties, were they to be arranged
either collaterally or in succession, would perplex and
fatigue both the writer and the reader. A sufficiently
accurate notion of the period which precedes the preponderance of' the West-Saxon kings, may be obtained
by attending to the reigns of the more powerful monarchs. For there frequently was one among the number, whose authority was acknowledged by all or by most
of his contemporaries. The title by which he was designated was that of Bretwalda, the wielder or sovereign
of Britain. Whether he obtained it by the influence of
his power, or received it from the spontaneous suffrage
of his equals, is doubtful; nor do we know whether any
0 But after the adventurers had formed and fixed permanent settlements, they gradually abandoned their lormer exterminating policy, and
suffered the natives to retain their national institutions, and their own
princes, as subordinate and tributary states. Bede gives an instance of
both in Edilfrid of Northumbria about the year 600, qui terras eorum,
subjugatis aut evterminatis indigenis, aut tributarias genti Anglorum aut
habtabiles fecit. Bed. 74.
VOL.      7




ï~~74

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. II

duties or prerogatives were attached to his dignity. By
Bede the title is given to seven of the Saxon princes;
other historians add an eighth. To their reigns may
with propriety be referred the principal events which
occurred in the kingdoms not immediately subject to
their control *.
ELLA, BRETWALDA I.
The descent of IElla on the southern coast, and his
subsequent success, have been previously noticed. It is
difficult toconjecture, by what means he acquired the
precedency among the confederate      chieftains.  The
kingdom of Sussex, which he founded (477), was the
smallest and the least powerful of all the new principalities. This distinction may perhaps have been conceded
to some pre-eminence which he enjoyed in his native
country, or to some exploit of which the memory has
perished. He has scarcely obtained the notice of our
ancient chroniclers t.
CEAWLIN, BRETWALDA II.
Ethelbert, the fourth king of Kent, was the first to disturb the harmony which had united the Saxon princes.
A. D. At the age of sixteen, he was taught to believe that the
568. dignity of Bretwalda belonged to him as the representative of Ilengist $. Under this impression he led
an army against Ceawlin, king of Wessex, the grandson
of Cerdic.  At Wimbledon his temerity was severely
chastised. Oslac and Cnebba, his two ealdormen, fell in
the conflict, and Ethelbert himself escaped with difficulty
from the pursuit of the enemy. Ceawlin, content with
the humiliation of the king of Kent, directed his arms
A.,. against the Britons. The battle of Bedford, which was
571. fought under the direction of his brother Cuthwin, added
SSee Bede. ii. 5. and the Saxon chronicle, p. 71. From the strong ex.
pressions cf Bede, it would not be rash to infer that the inferior kings acknowledged themselves the vassals of the Biretwalda.
1 Bed. et Chron. Sax. ibid.     Mi,ms. p. 12. hunt. p. 315.




ï~~.D. 589.]      REGN OF LTHELI3LRT.            73;o his dominions the towns of Leighton, Ailesbury, BenIington, and Eynsham: and six years afterwards the
victory of Derham in Gloucestershire was marked by
Lhe fall of three British kings, Conmail, Condidan, and
Farinmail, and was followed by the surrender of the
important cities of Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath.
When Ceawlin had settled his new conquests, he
resumed offensive operations against the Britons. At
Frithern on the left bank of the Severn he lost his son
Cutha: but victory declared for the Saxons, the neighbouring towns were plundered, and the army returned
home laden with booty. A few years afterwards, on the
death of Cissa, the son of Ella, Ceawlin added Sussex
to his other dominions. But fortune deserted him in
the zenith of his power. His own subjects rose in arms
against him; Angles and Britons hastened to assist.1 D
them; and after a bloody battle at Woodensburg in 5.
Wiltshire, the king was driven from the throne. He died
in 593,* and was succeeded by his nephew Cedric.
ETHELBERT, BRETWALDA III.
The disgrace which had clouded the first years of
Ethelbert, king of Kent, was afterwards dispersed by the
glory of a long and prosperous reign. At the death of A.D.
Ceawlin he had acquired (by what means we are not 589.
informed) the dignity of Bretwalda, and his authority
was admitted by all the Saxon princes south of the
IHumber. While he was in possession of this dignity A. D.
he received intelligence that forty strangers had landed 596.
on the isle of Thanet. These were Augustine and his
associates, partly Gauls, partly Italians, whom Pope
Gregory the Great had sent for the benevolent purpose
of converting the pagans. Ethelbert could not be unacquainted with the Christian religion. It was probably the
belief of the majority of the British slaves in his dominions: it was certainly professed by his queen Bertha,
* (Chron. Saix. 23--23.  Ethelverd(, 834.  Hunt. 315.  In writing the
w;n w i  t his king, Belde (ii. 5) observes that the Angles and Saxons spoke
"i1.Â~I  i 'it dib ct-:  (  elin, X7,1 1i  a  o( ru m ' CEaulin  vo,cabatur.




ï~~76

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. ILI.

the daughter of Charibert, king of Paris. The Saxon
prince received the missionaries under an oak, in an
open field, at the suggestion of his priests, who had told
him that in such a situation the spells of the foreign
magicians would lose their influence. At the appointed
time, Augustine was introduced to the king. Before
him were borne a silver cross,and a banner representing
the Redeemer: behind him his companions walked in
procession; and the air resounded with the anthems
which they sang in alternate choirs. As soon as the
interpreter had explained the object and motives of
their mission, Ethelbert replied, that he had no inclination to abandon the gods of his fathers for a new and
uncertain worship: but that, as the intention of the
strangers was benevolent, and their promises were inviting, they might preach without molestation, and
should be supported at his expense. This favourable
answer filled them with joy; and they proceeded to
Canterbury chanting, as they went, the following
prayer: "By thy great mercy, O Lord, turn away, we
"beseech thee, thy anger from this city and thy holy
Stemple, for we are sinners. Hallelujah * "
The care of the queen had already prepared a residence for the new apostles. They were lodged in the
ancient church of St. Martin, which had originally belonged to the Britons, and had lately been repaired for
the use of Liudhard, a Christian prelate who accompaniiied Bertha from Gaul. Curiosity led the Saxons to
visit the strangers: they admired the ceremonies of
their worship, compared their lives with those of the
pagan priests, and learned to approve a religion, which
could inspire so much piety, austerity, and disinterestedness. With secret pleasure Ethelbert viewed the
alteration in the sentiments of his subjects: on the feast
of Pentecost, in the year 597, he professed himself a
Christian, and received the sacrament of baptism; and

* Bed. i. 25.




ï~~A. D. 600.]  CONVERSION OF ESSEX.

77

on the following Christmas ten thousand of his subjects
followed the examp'le of their sovereign*.
The willing mind of the royal proselyte was now
quickened by the letters and presents of the pontiff.
He exerted all his influence to second the efforts of the
missionaries; not indeed by violence (which he had
learned to be repugnant to the mild spirit of the gospel),
but by private exhortations, and by distinguishing the
converts with marks of the royal favour. As soon as
Augustine had received the episcopal consecration from
the archbishop of Arles, the king retired to the city of
Reculver, and gave to the missionaries Canterbury with
the surrounding country. By his munificence the church
of St. Saviour, originally built by the Britons, was repaired and allotted for the residence of the bishop and
his clergy; while a new monastery was raised without
the walls, for the use of the monks, and dedicated in
honour of the apostles Peter and Paul. At the same
time the number of the missionaries was augmented by
the care of Gregory; and their success was rapidly extended to the boundaries of the kingdom. As each
canton embraced the new doctrine, the heathen temple
was converted into a Christian church; and, in order to
wean the proselytes from their idolatrous practices, they
were permitted, instead of the feasts which they had
formerly celebrated around the altars of their gods, to
assemble upon the more solemn festivals in the neighbourhood of the church, and to partake of a sober repast.
To preside over the more distant converts, Augustine
conferred the episcopal dignity on his disciple Justus.
The new prelate fixed his residence in Rochester, in
which the church of St. Andrew was erected by the
piety of Ethelbert.
The kingdom of Essex was, at this period, governed
by Saberet, the son of its founder, and the nephew of
Ethelbert. The influence of the uncle introduced a

Bed. i. 26.     Greg. Epist. vii. 30.




ï~~78

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. Il

D. D. missionary, the abbot Mellitus, to the notice of Saberct,
SO4. who soon consented to receive the sacrament of baptism. The episcopal consecration was conferred on
Mellitus: and London, which is represented as a populous and commercial city, was selected for the see of
the new bishop. The cathedral was built and endowed
at the joint expense of Ethelbert and Saberct *.
From the conversion of the Saxons the zeal of Augustine was directed to the reformation of the Britons.
During one hundred and fifty years of unsuccessful
warfare, the ancient discipline of their church had been
nearly abolished, and the lives of their clergy were disgraced by vices the most repugnant to their profession-i.
To which of the British sees the archiepiscopal jurisdiction had been originally attached, is at present unknown;
but Gregory had written to Augustine, that he had subjected all the bishops of Britain to his authority. The missionary, with the aid of Ethelbert, prevailed on the British prelates to meet him at a place, which has since been
called Augustine's oak, in Worcestershire. After a long
and unavailing debate, the conference was adjourned to
another day. In the interval the Britons consulted a
neighbouring hermit, who advised them to watch the
conduct of Augustine; if he rose to meet them, they
were to consider him as a man of unassuming disposition,
and to listen to his demands; but if he kept his seat,
they should condemn him of pride, and reject his authority. With this sapient admonition, which left to accident the decision of the controversy, seven bishops, with
Dinoth, abbot of Bangor, repaired to the place of conference. Augustine happened to be seated; and did
not rise at their arrival. Both his reasons and his authority were consequently despised. In points of doctrine there had been no difference between them: and
to facilitate their compliance in other matters, the arch* Bed. i. 26. 30. iii. 3.
Â~ Their character has been drawn in odious but probably too faithful
colours by Gildas, a comntr'mau and coutemporary (Gildl. ep. p13.




ï~~-. 600.]         LAWS of E  THELB1ERT.               7
bishop had reduced his demands to three heads: that
they should observe the catholic computation of Easter,
should adopt the Roman rite in the administration of
baptism, and should join with the missionaries in
preaching to the Saxons*. Each of these requests, in
obedience to the advice of the hermit, was pertinaciously
refused. " Know then," exclaimed the missionary with
the tone of a prophet, " that if you will not assist me in
" pointing out to the Saxons the way of life, they, by
" the just judgment of God, will prove to you the minis"ters of death." He did not live to see the prediction
verified ".
The reign of Ethelbert lasted fifty-six years. Before
his death he published a code of laws to regulate the
administration of justice. For this improvement he
was indebted to the suggestions of the missionaries, who,
though they had been accustomed to the forms and decisions of Roman jurisprudence, did not, in legislating
for the Saxons, attempt to abolish the national notions
of equity, but wisely retained the principle of pecuniary
compensation, a principle universally prevalent in the
northern nations. Those crimes which appeared the
most repugnant to the well-being of society, were scrupulously enumerated; theft in its different branches,
murder, sacrilege, insults offered to female chastity, and
infractions of the peace of the king and of the church: and
to each was attached a proportionate fine, which rose in
amount according to the dignity of the person against
whom the offence was committed. From these laws it
appears that all freemen were classed according to their
property, and the offices which they held. To each class
* It is surprising that so many modern historians should have represented the Britons as holding different doctrines from those professed by
the Roman missionaries, though these writers have never yet produced a
single instance of such difference. Would Augustine have required the
British clergy to join in the conversion of the Saxons, if they had taught
doctrines which he condemned? Bede has related with great minuteness
all the coutroversies between the two parties. They all regard points of
discilite. Nowhere does the remotest hint ocur of any differeitec
t 1 I' iL  " t. 2.




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHIAP. IH

was allotted its peculiar mend and were.  The rnund
was the pecuniary mulct, which was intended to provide
for the security of each individual, and of those under
his roof. Thus the mund of a widow, if she were of the
highest rank, was fifty shillings; of the second, twenty;
of the third twelve; and of the fourth, six. The were was
the sum at which the life of each person was rated. If
he was killed, the murderer Laid it as a compensation to
his family: if L.e himself transgressed the laws, he forfeited it, in lieu of his head, to the king. But murder
was not only an offence against individuals; it was also
considered as an injury to the community: and the criminal was compelled to make what was esteemed a compensation to the violated justice of his country as well
as to the family of the deceased. For this purpose, besides the were, hlie paid an additional fine, called the wile,
which was received by the king or the chief magistrate
of the district. The same distinctions, and the same
punishments, with a few variations arising out of times
and circumstances, were retained in all the laws of succeeding legislators *.
A. D.  Ethelbert died- in 616.  The crown devolved upon
f16. his son Eadbald, the violence of whose passions nearly
replunged the nation into that idolatry from which it
had just emerged. The youth and beauty of his stepmother, the relict of Ethelbert, induced him to take her
to his bed; and when the missionaries admonished him
to break the unnatural connexion, he abandoned a religion which forbade the gratification of his appetite. At
the same time the three sons of Saberet (their father
was dead,) restored the altars of the gods, and banished
from the territory the bishop Mellitus. With Justus of
Rochester he retired into Gaul: and Laurentius, the
successor of Augustine in the see of Canterbury, had
determined to follow their footsteps. On the morning
of his intended departure, he made a last attempt on
* Leg. Sax. p. 1.




ï~~A. D. 616.]  CONQUESTS OF EDILFRID.

81

the mind of Eadbald. His representations were successful. The king dismissed his step-mother, and recalled the fugitive prelates. The sincerity of his conversion was proved by his subsequent conduct: and
Christianity, supported by his influence, assumed an
ascendency which it ever afterwards preserved*.
REDWALD, BRETWALDA IV.
The Saxon princes refused that obedience to Eadbald
which they had paid to his father: and the dignity of
Hretwalda passed from the Jutes to the more powerful
nations of the Angles. The East-Anglian throne was
now filled by Redwald, one of the Uffingas. He had A. D.
formerly paid a visit to Ethelbert, and at his persua-586.
sion had professed himself a Christian. But on his
return home the new convert found himself assailed by
the importunities of his wife, and the opposition of his
people. His resolution was at last subdued: but to
silence his conscience, he endeavoured to unite the two
worships, and in the same temple, by the side of the
statue of Woden, dedicated an altar to the God of the
Christians +.
We cannot appreciate his subsequent conduct, without
reverting to the history of Northumbria. Edilfrid, the
grandson of Ida, was a restless and sanguinary prince, A. D.
who for several years had directed all his efforts against 592.
the neighbouring Britons. In many districts they had
been entirely exterminated by his arms: in others
they were happy to purchase his forbearance by the
payimet of an annual tribute. Aidan, king of the
Scots, jealous of so formidable a neighbour, assembled
all his forces, and marched as far as the stone of
Degsa, a spot long celebrated in the traditions of the
country. Though Theodbald, the brother of Edilfrid, A.D.
was slain with his followers, victory declared for the 60
Northumbrians. The greater part of the Scots were

* Bed. ii. 5.

Ibid. it. 1-.




ï~~82

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. 11.

immolated to their vengeance; and the narrow escape
of Aidan with a handful of attendants proved an instructive lesson to him and his successors. For more
than a century no king of the Scots dared to meet the
Northumbrians in battle*.
At the death of.Ella, the founder of the kingdom of
Deira, Edilfrid, who had married his daughter, took
possession of his dominions.,Ella had left a male child
of the name of Edwin, about three years old, who was
conveyed beyond the reach of the tyrant, and intrusted
to the protection of Cadvan, the king of North Wales.
The hospitality of the British prince drew on him the
vengeance of the Northumbrian; and the two armies
met in the vicinity of Chester. On the summit of a
neighbouring hill Edilfrid espied an unarmed crowd,
the monks of Bangor, who, like Moses in the wilderness,
had hoped by their prayers to determine the fate of the
battle.  "If they pray," exclaimed the pagan, "they
" fight against us;" and ordered a detachment of his
army to put them to the sword. Victory was, as usual,
true to his standard. Chester was taken and Bangor
demolished. The scattered ruins demonstrated to subsequent generations the extent of that celebrated monastery t.
The son of.Ella, who was incessantly harassed by the
jealousy of Edilfrid, wandered from the hospitable
mansion of Cadvan through the different principalities
of the Britons and Saxons. At last he found an asylum
in the court of Redwald. The fidelity of that prince was
immediately tempted by the threats and promises of
Edilfrid; and after a long struggle he preferred the
* Bed. i. 34. The stone of Degsa is thought to be either Dalston near
Carlisle, or DI)awston near Jedburgh. Aidan was the seventh of the Scottish kings, reckoning Loarn for the first. O'Conor, Proleg. i. p. cxxvi.,
ii. p. lxxxiii.
t Bed. ii. 2. The number of the monks slain on the hill is generally
said to have been 1200, but Bede observes that others besides the monks
had assembled to pray. He supposes that the victory of Edjilfrid fulfilled
the prediction of Augustine.




ï~~A. D. 616.]

I)EATHI     OF   EDILI-RIDI).

friendship of a powerful monarch to the danger of protecting a solitary exile. On the very evening while the
council deliberated on his fate, Edwin was sitting alone
in the dark at the gate of the palace, when a friendly
voice whispered in his ear that it was time to flee, for
the king had given his assent to the demands of his
enemy. " I have known too much misery," replied the
prince, "to be anxious for life. If I must die, no death
" can be more acceptable than that which is inflicted by
" royal treachery."  He remained in the same place
musing on his melancholy situation, when a favourable
dream, which had considerable influence on his subsequent conduct, afforded him a faint gleam of hope, and
his friend, stealing to him a second time, informed him
that he was safe. The solicitations of the queen had
overcome the perfidious resolve of her husband*.
The moment Redwald determined to reject the proposals of Edilfrid, he saw the necessity of anticipating
his resentment. The Northumbrian with a small body A, D.
of followers was hastening to surprise his enemy, when 616.
he was met by the whole of the East-Anglian forces
on the right bank of the Idel in Nottinghamshire.
They were skilfully (so we are told) arrayed in three
bodies: and their helmets, spears, and banners gave
them a martial and formidable appearance. Edilfrid,
though disconcerted, scorned to retire; and rushing on
the first division, destroyed it with its leader, Regenheri or Rainer, the son of Redwald. But the Northumbrians were quickly trampled under foot by the multitude of the East-Anglians; and thie king, having opened
with his sword a way into the midst of his enemies, fell
on the bodies of those whom he had slain. The conquerors hastened to improve their advantage. By the
men of Deira Edwin was received with acclamations of
j: the children of Edilfrid fled into the north of the
i:a.d: and the Bernicians submitted cheerfully to the




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

I CHAP. II.

good fortune of the son of iElla. Redwald, having placed
his friend on the united throne of the two kingdoms,
returned in triumph to his dominions*.
EDWIN, BRETWAL1DA V.
The martial genius of Edilfrid had raised Nortnumbria to an equality with the most powerful of the AngloSaxon states: under the government of Edwin it assumed
a marked superiority, and conferred the title of Bretwalda on him and his immediate successors. The steps
by which he ascended to this pre-eminence are not recorded: but the history of his conversion to Christianity
has been preserved by the pen of the venerable Bede.
In the ninth year of his reign Edwin had married
Edilberga, the daughter of Ethelbert, the deceased king
of Kent. The zeal of Eadbald had previously stipulated
that his sister should enjoy the free exercise of her religion; and had obtained from Edwin a promise that he
would himself examine the evidences of the Christian
faith. The queen was accompanied by Paulinus, a Roman
missionary, who had lately received the episcopal consecration. The king faithfully observed his word: but,
though he made no objection to the practice of Christianity by Edilberga, he shewed no inclination to embrace it himself. It was in vain that Paulinus preached;
that the queen entreated; that pope Boniface V. sent
letters and presents. Edwin appeared immovably attached to the worship of his fathers.
The-kingdom of Wessex was now governed by two
princes, Cuichelm and Cynegils, the successors of CeolA. D. wulf. They bore with impatience the superiority assumed
626. by Edwin; and, unable to contend with him in the field,
attempted to remove him by assassination.   Eumer,
in quality of an envoy from Cuichelm, demanded an
audience of Edwin. lie had concealed under his clothes
a two-edged dagger, which had been previously dipped
in poison; and while the king earnestly listened to his
*  Be1. ii. 12.  Chron. Sax. p. 27.  Hunt. 1.1.




ï~~A. D. 626.1

EDWIN.

discourse, the assassin aimed a desperate stroke at his
heart. His design did not escape the eye of the faithful
Lilla, who threw himself between Edwin and the dagger,
and fell dead at the feet of his master. So great was the
force of the stroke, that the king was wounded through
the body of his attendant. Every sword was instantly
drawn: but Eumer defended himself with such desperate courage, that he killed Frodheri, another thane,
before he was overpowered by numbers.
The preceding night Edilberga had been delivered of
a daughter, and Edwin publicly returned thanks to the
gods for his own preservation, and the health of his consort. Paulinus did not omit the opportunity of ascribing
both events to the protection of Christ, whose resurrection from the grave had been that very day celebrated
by the queen. His discourse made impression on the
mind of the king, who permitted him to baptize his
daughter, and promised to become a Christian, if he returned victorious from his meditated expedition against
the perfidious king of Wessex *.
At the head of a powerful army, Edwin marched
against his enemies. The two brothers were defeated;
five of the West-Saxon chieftains fell in the battle; and
the country was pillaged by the victors. Having satisfied his resentment, the king returned to Northumbria,
and was reminded of his promise by Paulinus. From
that moment he abstained from the worship of his gods;
though he still hesitated to embrace Christianity. He
consulted alternately his priests and the missionary, and
revolved in solitude their opposite arguments. His mind
was strongly influenced by the recollection of his dream
in East-Anglia; and as it had been fulfilled in ever;
other particular, he deemed it his duty to accomplish i
by becoming a Christian. Having taken this resolutioi
he called an assembly of his witan or counsellors, anti
* She was baptized with eleven other female children belonging to the
queen's household. Bed. ii. 9. Chron. Sax. 27




ï~~86

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[,CHAP. II.

required each to state his sentiments on the subject.
The first, who ventured to speak, was Coiffi, the highpriest, who, instead of opposing, advised the adoption of
the foreign worship. His motive was singular. No
one, he said, had served the gods more assiduously than
himself, and yet few had been less fortunate. He was
weary of deities who were so indifferent or so ungrateful, and would willingly try his fortune under the new
religion.  To this profound theologian succeeded a
thane, whose discourse, while it proves the good sense
of the speaker, exhibits a striking picture of national
manners. He sought for information respecting the
origin and the destiny of man. "Often," said he, "O
"king, in the depth of winter, while you are feasting
"with your thanes, and the fire is blazing on the hearth
"in the midst of the hall, you have seen a bird, pelted
"by the storm, enter at one door, and escape at the
" other. During its passage it was visible: but whence
" it came, or whither it went, you knew not. Such to
"me appears the life of man. He walks the earth for a
"few years: but what precedes his birth, or what is to
"follow after his death, we cannot tell. Undoubtedly,
" if the new religion can unfold these important secrets,
" it must be worthy our attention."  At the common
request Paulinus was introduced, and explained the
principal doctrines of Christianity. Coiffi declared himself a convert, and to prove his sincerity, offered to set
fire to the neighbouring temple of Godmundingham.
With the permission of Edwin, he called for a hore and
arms, both of which were forbidden to the priests of the
Angles. As he rode along, he was followed by crowds,
who attributed his conduct to temporary insanity. To
their astonishment, bidding defiance to the gods of his
fathers, he struck his spear into the wall of the temple.
They had expected that the fires of heaven would have
avenged the sacrilege. The impunity of the apostate
dissipated their alarms: and urged by his example and




ï~~A.D. 627.

EDWIN.

87

exhortations they united in kindling the flames, which
with the fane consumed the deities, that had been so
long the objects of their terror and veneration *.
When Gregory the Great arranged the future economy of the Anglo-Saxon church, he directed that the
northern metropolitan should fix his residence at York.
Edwin accordingly bestowed on Paulinus a house and
possessions in that city, and was baptized in a church
hastily erected for the ceremony. Pope Honorius was
immediately informed of the event; and at his request
granted the use of the pallium to the archbishops of
Canterbury and York, with the permission, that when
one of these prelates died, the survivor should consecrate
his successor, without waiting to consult the Roman
pontiff. To Paulinus Edwin continued to prove himself
a patron and assistant; and his mansions at Yeverin in
Glendale, and at Catteriek in Yorkshire, were long
respected by posterity, as tne places where their fathers
had been instructed in the doctrine of the gospel, and had
received the sacrament of baptism. Nor could his zeal
be satisfied with the conversion of his own subjects. At A. D.
the death of Redwald, the thanes of East-Anglia, who 627
had witnessed his virtues and abilities, offered him the
regal dignity. His gratitude declined it in favour
of Eorpwald, the son of his benefactor; and his piety
profnpted him to explain to the young king the principles of Christianity. But Eorpwald was slain after a
short reign of three years; and the conversion of the A. D
East-Angles was reserved for the united efforts of Sige- 631.
bert, his brother and successor, and of Felix, a Burgundian prelate, who received his mission from Honorius,
archbishop of Canterbury 1'.
The empire of Edwin was more extensive than that of
any preceding Bretwalda. The islands of Anglesey and
Man were subject to his authority $; all the princes of
*  Bed. ii. 13.        +  Ibid. 14, 15.
SAnglesey was computed at 960 hides, Man at seometbing more tlIan
300. Betd. ii. 9.




ï~~ANGLO SAXONS.

LCHAP. I11

the Britons paid him tribute; and, if among the Saxon
kings, Eadbald of Kent retained a nominal independence,
he owed the benefit, not to his own power, but to the influence of his sister Edilberga. As a token of his authority, the Northumbrian assumed a distinction unknown
to the Saxons; and the Tufa, a military ensign of Roman
origin, was always borne before him when he appeared
in public. Anxious to enforce the observance of the
laws, he severely punished every act of theft or rapacity;
and the advantages resulting from his inflexible administration of justice were long preserved in the recollection of posterity by a proverb, the truth of which is
attested by Bede: "That in the days of Edwin a woman
"with a babe at her breast might have travelled over
"the island without suffering an    insult."   On the
highways, at convenient intervals, he placed cisterns of
stone to collect water from the nearest fountains, and
attached to them cups of brass for the refreshment of
passengers; an improvement which in the seventh century excited applause and gratitude*.
A. D. After the death of Ceorl of Mercia, Penda, the son of
627. his predecessor, possessed the power, without the title,
of king t.  He was then advanced in age, a brave and
experienced warrior, and of insatiable ambition. For
some years he bore with impatience the superiority of
the Northumbrian: at last he found in Ceadwalla,
king of Gwynez or North Wales, an associate of equal
daring and of similar views. They united their armies,
unfurled the standard of rebellion, and marched into
A. D. Yorkshire. The battle was fought in Hatfield chase,
633. between the Don and the Torre. The Northumbrian
army was routed; and Edwin perished with great part
of his followers. Of his sons by his first wife Quoen* Bed. ii. 5. 9. 16. The Tafa is supposed by some to have been a globe,
by others a tuft of feathers, fixed on a spear.
f By the Saxon chronicle (p. 28), and most other writers, he is said to
have begun his reign in 626, and to have re;gned thirty years: but Bede
expressly says that he reigned but twenty two. which places the firs
year of his reign at the period iof the battle of I at field.




ï~~A.D. 634.]

OSWALD.

burga, the daughter-of Ceorl, Osfrid was slain with his
father, Eadfrid implored the protection of his relation
Penda, and was afterwards murdered by him in violation
of his oath. Edilberga with her children, and Paulinus,
escaped by sea to the court of her brother in Kent*.
The confederates exercised without mercy the licence
of victory. They differed in religion; for the Britons
were Christians, the Mercians idolaters: but both were
equally solicitous to wreak their resentment on the vanquished, the one that they might revenge the injuries
formerly inflicted on their country, the other that they
might punish these apostates from the worship of their
fathers. Of the two the Britons were the more savage.
They spared neither age nor sex; and their cruelty,
instead of being appeased by the death, exulted in the
torture of their captives Having spread devastation
from one end of the country to the other, they separated.
Ceadwalla remained to accomplish his boast of utterly
exterminating the Northumbrians; Penda marched A. n.
with his Mercians into the territory of the East-An- 634.
gles. Sigebert their king had lately retired into a
monastery, and had resigned the honours and cares of
royalty to his cousin Egeric: but the East-Angles were
alarmed at the approaching danger, and clamorously
demanded the aged monarch, who had so often led them
to victory. With reluctance he left the tranquillity of
his cell, to mix in the tumult of the combat. But arms
were refused by the royal monk as repugnant to his
profession, and he directed with a wand the operations
of the army. The fortune of the Mercians prevailed;
and both Sigebert and Egeric fell in the service of their
countr- i.
OSWALD, BRETWALDA VI.
The unfortunate death of Edwin dissolved for a short
period the union of the Northumbrian kingdoms.
Among the Deiri the family of Ella retained the ascend
* Bed. ii. 20.  Chron. Sax. p. 29.
VOL. I.     8

- 1,". ii. 20  iii..R.




ï~~90

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CIAP. It,

ency; and the sceptre was placed in the hands, not indeed of the children of Edwin, but of their cousin Osric,
a prince mature in age, and experienced in battle. In
Bernicia the memory of Ida was still cherished with
gratitude, and Eanfrid, the eldest of the sons of Edilfrid,
returning from his retreat in the mountains of Caledonia, ascended the throne of his ancestors. Each of
these princes had formerly received baptism, Osric from
Paulinus, Eanfrid from the monks of St. Columba at
Icolmkill: and each with equal facility relapsed into
the errors of paganism. If their ambition was satisfied
with the possession of royalty, they quickly paid the
price of it with their blood. Ceadwalla still continued
his ravages. He was in the city of York, when Osric,
Hastening to surprise him, was attacked unexpectedly
himself, and perished on the spot. Eanfrid, terrified
by the fate of Osric and the fame of Ceadwalla, visited
the Briton with only twelve at eadants, solicited for
peace, and was perfidiously put to death. The indignant piety of the Northumbrians expunged the names
of these apostate princes from the catalogue of their
kings; and the time in which they reigned was distinguished in their annals by this expressive term, " The
' unhappy year *."
By the deaths,of Osric and Eanfrid the duty of revenging his family and country devolved on Oswald, the
younger of the sons of Edilfrid (635). Impelled by despair, he sought, with a small but resolute band, the
army of the Britons, and at the dawn of day discovered
them negligently encamped in the neighbourhood o.
Hexham. Oswald had not imitated the apostacy o.
his brother. By his orders a cross of wood was hastily
formed, and fixed in the ground: when turning to his
rmy he exclaimed: "Soldiers, let us bend our knees,
and beg of the true and living God to protect us from
the insolence and ferocity of our enemies- for he

* Bed. iii. L. 9




ï~~A.D. 635.] CONVERSION OF THE NORTHUMBRIANS.     91
" knows that our cause is just, and that we fight for the
" salvation of our country." At his command they
knelt down to pray: from prayer they rose to battle;
and victory was the reward of their piety and valour.
Ceadwalla was slain; and his invincible army was annihilated. By the common consent of the Bernicii and
Deiri Oswald assumed the government of the two nations. He was allied to each: for, if he was descended
by his father from Ida, by his mother Acha he numbered Mila among his progenitors *.
The piety of Oswald, which ascribed his success to the
interposition of Heaven, prompted him to solicit fiom
his former teachers a supply of missionaries, who might
instruct his people in the doctrines of the gospel. The
first who was sent, Corman, a monk of a morose and
rigid disposition, returned in disgust to his monastery:
but, when in presence of the community he accused
the ignorance and barbarism of the Northumbrians,
he received a severe and sensible rebuke.    "Bro" ther," exclaimed a voice, " the fault was yours. You
" exacted from the pagans more than their weakness
"would bear. You should have first stooped to them,
" and gradually have raised their minds to the sub"lime truths of the gospel."   At the sound every
eye was fixed on the speaker, a private monk of the
name of Aidan, who was chosen as the successor of Corman by the unanimous suffrage of his brethren. Haying received the episcopal consecration, he repaired to
the court of Oswald, who condescended to explain in
English the instructions, which the bishop delivered in
his native language. Aidan received from the king the
donation of the isle of Lindisfarne, since called Holy
Island, in which he built a monastery, long an object of
veneration to the Northumbrians. With unwearied
perseverance hlie traversed every part of the kingdom;
and his efforts were seconded by the industry of several
SBeE iii. 2. 6.




ï~~ANGLO -SAXONS.

c  AP. 11.

zealous monks, who had abandoned their native country
to partake in his labours. The austerity of his life, his
contempt of riches, his charity to the poor, and his attachment to the duties of his profession, gained the
hearts, while his arguments convinced the understanding, of his proselytes. Christianity soon became the
predominant religion in Northumbria-*.
Oswald not only claimed that pre-eminence over the
Saxons, which had been possessed by his predecessor,
but also compelled the princes of the Picts and Scuts to
number themselves among his vassals 9i. Like Edwin
he also contributed to add a royal proselyte to the number of Saxon Christians. At the time when Birinus, a
foreign bishop, commissioned by pope Honorius, landed
on the coast of Wessex, Oswald visited that kingdom to
demand the daughter of Cynegils in marriage. Their
united efforts induced the monarch, his family, and
principal thanes, to receive the sacrament of baptism.
Even the obstinacy of Cuichelm was subdued; and on
his death-bed that prince professed himself a Christian.
Cyhegils bestowed the city of Dorchester, near the conflux of the Tame and the Isis, on the apostle: Oswald,
in quality of Bretwalda, confirmed the donation $.
A. D.  But the fate of Edwin awaited Oswald, and the same
64. prince was destined to be the minister of his death. In
the eighth year of his reign, and the thirty-eighth of
his age, the king of Northumbria fought with Penda
and his Mercians in the field of Maser Â~, Aug. 5th).
The pagans were victorious. Oswald, surrounded by
enemies, was slain. His last words were repeated by
the gratitude of the Northumbrians, and a proverb preserved them in the remembrance of their posterity.
"Lord have mercy on the souls of my people," said
* Bed. iii. 3. 5.
X lbid. V. 6. By C nminius, a contemporary Scottish monk, he is
called, totius Britanniae imperator. Gum. Vit. St. Colum. p. 44.
Bed. iii. 7.
By most supposed to be Oswestre in Shropshire: by some Winwich
in Lancashire.




ï~~A. D. 642.J

OSWIO.

93

Oswald, as he fell. The ferocity of Penda did not spare
the dead body of his adversary, but severed the head and
arms from the trunk, and fixed them on high poles driven
into the ground.  The body of Oswald was buried at
Bardney, and his standard of purple and gold was suspended over the grave. The head and arms were taken
down the year after his death by Oswio his successor,
and deposited, the head in the monastery of Lindisfamrne, the arms in the royal city of Bamborough *.
Banrborough was the first place that ventured to stop
the destructive progress of the Mercians after the battle
of Maserfield. Situated on a rock, and protected on
one side by a steep ascent, on the other by the waters
of the ocean, it bade defiance to their exertions. But
the genius of Penda was fertile in expedients, and that
which he adopted, displays the ferocity of his disposition. By his order the neighbouring villages were demolished; every combustible material was collected from
the ruins, and reared up against the walls; and as soon
as the wind blew fiercely towards the city, fire was set
to the pile. Already were the smoke and flames wafted
over the heads of the trembling inhabitants, when the
wind suddenly changed, and the fire spent its fury in
the opposite direction.  Chagrined and confounded,
Penda raised the siege, and led back his army "1
OSWIO, BRETWALDA VII.
The retreat of Penda afforded leisure to the Northum- A. n.
brian thanes to elect a successor to Oswald. The object 642.
of their choice was his brother Oswio, who inherited
the abilities of his predecessor, and who, to strengthen
his throne, married Eanfled, the daughter of Edwin *.
But the power of the nation was now broken: and his
long reign of twenty-eight years, though it was occasionally distinguished by brilliant successes, was ha
* Bed. iii 9.11, 12. Chron. Sax. p. 32
( Ibid. iiL 1, Nen, e. 14

Bed. iii. 16.




ï~~94

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. 11.

rassed at intervals by the inroads of the Mercians, the
hostility of his nephew Oidilwald, and the ambition of
his own son Alchfrid.
In the second year of his reign, he was alarmed by
the claims of a dangerous competitor of the house of
2Ella, Oswin the son of Osric; and prudence or necessity induced him to consent to a compromise, by which
he allotted Deira to his rival, but reserved to himself
Bernicia and the northern conquests. The character of
Oswin has been drawn in the most pleasing colours by
the pencil of the venerable Bede. He was affable, just,
religious, and generous. His virtues were idolized by
his subjects; and his court was crowded with foreign
Saxons, who solicited employment in his service. Six
years the two princes lived in apparent amity with each
other; but in the seventh their secret jealousy broke
into open hostilities. Oswin, seeing no probability of
success, disbanded his army, and concealed himself, with
one attendant, at Gilling, the house of the ealdorman
A. ). Hundwald. The perfidious thane betrayed him to his
651. enemy; and nothing but his death could satisfy the
policy of Oswio. The bishop Aidan, who loved and
revered him for his virtues, bitterly lamented his fate,
and in twelve days followed him to the grave *. The
Northumbrian, however, did not reap the fruit of his
cruelty. Oidilwald, the son of Oswald, was placed on
the throne of the Deiri, probably by the superior influence of Penda ''.
That restless monarch seemed determined to obtain
the dignity of Bretwalda. He had lately expelled Coinwalch from the throne of Wessex, because that prince
had repudiated his daughter Sexburga. He now directed his arms against Northumbria, penetrated again
as far as Bamborough, and set fire to every habitation in
the line of his march *. Oswio, warned by the fate of
his immediate predecessors Edwin and Oswald, made

SBed. iii. 14.      t Ibid. and c. 23, 24.

I Ibid. iii. 17.




ï~~A. D. 6 5.J

PENDA.

every effort to mitigate the resentment of so formidable
an enemy. He sent him the most valuable presents;
his second son Egfrid was delivered as a hostage to the
care of Cynwise the queen of Penda; and Alchfrid his
eldest son married Cyneburge the daughter of the Mercian. This connexion between the two families brought
Peada, the son of Penda, to the Northumbrian court on
a visit to his sister. There he saw and admired Alchfleda, the daughter of Oswio: but the difference of religion would have opposed an insuperable obstacle to
their union, had not Alchfrid prevailed on his friend to
listen to the teachers, and embrace the doctrines, of
Christianity. When his sincerity was questioned, he
replied with warmth, that no consideration, not even
the refusal of Alchfleda, should provoke him to return
to the worship of Woden; and at his departure he took
with him four priests to instruct his subjects, the southern
Mercians, or Middle-Angles, whom he governed with
the title of king during the life of his father. It was to
be feared that the conversion of Peada would irritate the
fanaticism of Penda: but the old king, though he persevered in his attachment to the religion of his ancestors,
expressed his admiration of the morality of the gospel,
and permitted it to be taught to his subjects. To the
converts however he shrewdly observed, that as they had
preferred the new worship, it was but just that they
should practise its precepts: and that every individual
would incur his displeasure, who should unite the manners of the paganism which he had abjured, with the
profession of the Christianity which he had embraced *.
About the same time another royal proselyte was led A. U
to the waters of baptism. By gratitude Sigeberct, king 653
of Essex, was attached to Oswio, and paid frequent
visits to the court of Northurrrie. Oswio laboured to
convince his friend of the folly of idolatry. He frequently inculcated that images formed by the hand of
* Red. iii 21.




ï~~96

ANGLO-SAXONS.

(CHAP. xt,

the artist, could possess none of the properties of the
Deity, and that the God, who deserved the worship of
man, must be an almighty and eternal being, the
creator, the ruler, and the disposer of the universe *
Sigeberet listened attentively to his royal instructor,
consulted the thanes who attended him, and was baptized by Finan, the successor of Aidan, at Waubottle in
Northumberland. The presbyter Cedd was consecrated
bishop of the East Saxons, and fixed his residence in
London.
But Penda had again summoned his Mercians to
arms. The first victim of his resentment was Anna;
king of the East-Angles, who for three years had afforded an asylum to Coinwalch, king of Wessex. He
A. D. fell in battle, and was succeeded by his brother Edil654. here, who artfully directed the hostility of the conqueror against the Northumbrians. It was in vain that
Oswio endeavoured to avert the danger by the offer of
submission and tribute. The Mercian declared that it
was his object to exterminate the whole nation: the
presents which had been sent were distributed among
his auxiliaries; and thirty vassal chieftains, Saxons and
Britons, swelled with their followers the numbers of his
army. Despair at last nerved the courage of Oswio.
A. D. With his son Alchfrid, and a small but resolute force,
"655. he advanced to meet the multitude of the invaders.
The night before the eventful contest, he fervently imploredthe assistance of Heaven, and vowed, ifhe returned
victorious, to devote his infant daughter Elfreda to the
monastic profession. In the morning Oidilwald, ashamed
perhaps of fighting against his countrymen, separated
from the Mercians, and remained at a distance a quiet
spectator of the combat. The valour or despair of the
Northumbrians prevailed. Of the thirty vassal chie r
tains who served under the banner of the Mercian, only
Oidilwald, and Catgubail the British king of Gwynez,

0  6lm.




ï~~A.D. 655.1

PENDA.

97

escaped. Penda did not survive the destruction of his
army. This hoary veteran, who had reached his eightieth
year, and had stained his sword with the blood of three
kings of the East-Angles, and of two of the Northumbrians, had been borne from the field by the crowd of
the fugitives, but was overtaken by the pursuers, and
put to death. The battle was fought at Winwidfield
near Leeds; and the Are, which had overflowed its
banks, swept away more of the Mercians in their flight,
than had fallen by the sword of the enemy. The Anglo-Saxons were accustomed to preserve by proverbs the
memory of remarkable events. Of this victory it was
usually said: "In Winwid's stream was revenged the
" death of Anna, the deaths of Sigebert and Egeric, and
" the deaths of Edwin and Oswald *."
The fate of Penda and the annihilation of his army
opened an unexpected prospect to the ambition of Oswio.
With rapidity he over-ran East-Anglia and Mercia, subdued the astonished inhabitants, and made tham feel
the miseries, which they had so often inflicted. Mercia
he divided into two portions. The provinces on the
north of the Trent he annexed to his own dominions:
those on the south, out of compassion for his daughter,
he permitted to remain under the government of her
husband Peada. But that unfortunate prince did not
long enjoy the donation. At the next festival of Easter
he perished, by the treachery, it is said, of his wife; and
his territory was immediately occupied by the Northumbrians.
The obligation of his vow now demanded the attention
of Oswio. Ailfleda, a child not one year old, was entrusted to the care of the abbess Hilda; and her dower
was fixed at one hundred and twenty hides of land in
Bernicia, and at an equal number in Deira. This munificent donation enabled the sisterhood to remove from
Hartlepool to a more convenient situation at Whitby,
* Bed. iii. 24. Nenf. c. 64. Ale. de Pont. apud Gale, p. 712.
VOL. 1.  9




ï~~98

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. II.

where the royal nun lived the space of fifty-nine years
in the practice of the monastic duties, during one half of
which she exercised the office of abbess. The king soon
afterwards endowed another monastery at Gilling. His
conscience reproached him with the blood of Oswin;
and at the solicitation of his queen Eanfled. he established, on the very spot in which that prince had been
slain, a community of monks who were charged with the
obligation of offering up daily prayers for the soul of the
murdered king, and for that of the royal murderer *.
Oswio was now Bretwalda in the fullest sense of the
word. The union of Mercia with Northumbria had
placed under his control a greater extent of territory
than had belonged to any of his predecessors: the
princes of the Britons and Saxons unanimously submitted to his authority; and the greater part of the
Picts and Scots were careful to avert his enmity by the
payment of annual tribute. Yet long before his death
his power suffered a considerable diminution t. Three
Mercian ealdormen, Immin, Eafha and Eadbert, took
up arms to recover the independence of their country,
expelled the Northumbrian magistrates, and conferred
the sceptre on a prince whom they had anxiously concealed from the researches of the Bretwalda,-Wulphere,
the youngest son of Penda. In defiance of the Northumbrian he retained his authority, and united under
his government the Mercians, the Middle-Angles, and
the Lindiswaras, or natives of the county of Lincoln
(656). To add to the mortification of Oswio, his eldest
son Alchfrid required a portion of the Northumbrian
territory with the title of king. A hint in Bede would
lead us to suppose that he even drew the sword against
his father. As Oidilwald had perished, the ambition of
Alchfrid was gratified, and a kingdom was assigned him
in the country of the Deiri $.
From politics Oswio directed the attention of his de* Bed. iii. 24.  f  Bed. ii. 5; iii. 24.  Hence pope Vitzlian calls Britam,
Oswie's island-suam  insulam.  Id. iii. 29.; Bed. iii. 14; iii. 2S.




ï~~A.,. 666.J

RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.

dining years to the concerns of religion. Christi Â~,ity
had now been preached in all the Saxon kingdoms except Sussex: but as the missionaries had come from
different countries, though they taught the same doctrine, they disagreed in several points of ecclesiastical
discipline. Of these the most important regarded the
canonical time for the celebration of Easter, a subject,
which had for several centuries disturbed the peace of
the church. That it depended on the commencement
of the equinoctial lunation, was universally admitted:
but according to the Roman astronomers that lunation
might begin as early as the fifth, according to the Alexandrian it could not beginbefore the eighth, day ofMarch.
The consequence of this diversity of opinion was, that
when the new moon fell on the fifth, sixth, or seventh
of that month, the Latin celebrated the feast of Easter
a full lunation before the Greek Christians '*. In the
middle of the sixth century the Roman church, weary
of the disputes occasioned by these different computations, had adopted a new cycle, which agreed in every
important point with the Alexandrian calculation. But
this improvement was unknown to the British Christians,
who at that period were wholly employed in opposing
the invaders of their country; and they continued to
observe the ancient cycle of Sulpicius Severus, which
was now become peculiar to themselves. Hence it occasionally happened that Easter, and in consequence the
other festivals of the year depending on that solemnity,
were celebrated at different times by the Saxon Chrkstians, accordingly as they had been instructed by Scottish, or by Roman and Gallic, missionaries.
Another, but subordinate subject of dispute was the
form of the ecclesiastical tonsure. A custom had long
prevailed that the clergy should be distinguished by the
manner in which they wore their hair; and the mission* There were a few other variations in the paschal canons, which contributed still more to perplex the subject. They may be seen in Smith'a
Bede, App. ix. p. 698, and Dr. O'Conor, Proleg. ii. 119.




ï~~100

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. If.

aries, not acquainted with the different modes prevailing in different countries, were at their first meeting
mutually surprised and shocked at what they deemed
the uncanonical appearance of each other. The Romans
shaved the crown of the head, and considered the surrounding circle of hair as a figure of the wreath of
thorns, which.had been fixed on the temples of Christ
by the cruelty of his persecutors. The Scots permitted
the hair to grow on the back, but shaved in the form of
a crescent the front of the head. The former pleaded
in defence of their tonsure that it had descended to them
from St. Peter, and accused their adversaries of wearing
the distinctive mark of Simon Magus and his disciples.
The latter could not disprove the assertions of their
adversaries, but contended that their method of shaving
the head, however impious in its origin, had been sanctified by the virtues of those who had practised it. Each
party obstinately adhered to their own custom, and severely condemned that of the other.
If such questions could divide the missionaries, it
cannot be surprising that they should perplex their disciples. The restoration of concord was reserved for the
zeal and authority of Oswio. He, with the majority of
his subjects, had derived the knowledge of Christianity
from the Scots: his queen Eanfled, and his son Alchfrid, had been educated by the disciples of the Romans.
Thus Oswio saw his own family divided into factions;
and the same solemnities celebrated at different times
in his own palace. Desirous to procure uniformity, he
summoned the champions of the two parties to meet
at Whitby, and to discuss the merits of their respecA. D. tive customs.  Wilfrid, afterwards bishop of York,
664. rested the cause of the Romans on the authority of St.
Peter, and the practice of the universal church, which
ought not to yield to the pretensions of a few obscure
congregations of Christians on the western shores of
Britain. Colman boasted of the sanctity of St. Columba,
the apostle of the north, and contended that nothing




ï~~A. D. 664.]

YELLOW PLAGUE.

101

should be changed, which he and his successors had
sanctioned with their approbation. Oswio terminated
the debate by declaring that he should prefer the institutions of St. Peter to those of St. Columba. The decision was applauded by the majority of the meeting; and
of the Scottish monks, several conformed to the practice
of their opponents, the others retired in silent discontent
to the parent monastery in the isle of Hii *.
In the same year, the twenty-second of Oswio, the
beginning of the month of May was rendered remarkable by a total eclipse of the sun. The ignorance of the
observers did not fail to predict the most alarming disas
ters; and the event seemed to justify their predictions.
The summer was extremely dry: the heavens, to use the
expression of an ancient chronicler, appeared to be on
fire; and a pestilence of the most fatal description (it
was called the yellow plague) depopulated the island t.
It made its first appearance on the southern coasts, and
gradually advancing towards the north, had ravaged
before winter Deira and Bernicia. It reached Ireland
in the beginning of August. The symptoms of this
destructive disease have not been described by historians:
but it baffled the medical skill of the natives; and many
of the East-Saxons, unable to account for it on natural.
grounds, attributed it to the anger of the gods, and
reverted to their former idolatry. From the instances
in Bede, it appears that many died in the course of a
single day, and that of those who caught the infection,
hardly more than one in thirty recovered.     During
twenty years it visited and revisited the different provinces of Britain and Ireland. Bede does not attempt
to calculate the amount of its ravages, but is content
with the vague terms of depopulated districts, and multitudes of dead. In Ireland an ancient writer computes
its victims at two-thirds of the inhabitants *. The highlands of Caledonia were alone free from this dreadful
* Bed. iii. 25. 26. t Compare Bede (iii. xxvii.) with the Ulster Annals.
(Usher, Ant. Brit. p. 948.)  $ Vit. Geral. Sax. apud Ant. Brit. p. 1164.




ï~~102

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. II.

visitation. The natives piously ascribed the exemption
to the intercession of their patron St. Columba, and persuaded themselves that even in the infected countries
they were inaccessible to its attacks. Adamnan, the
abbot of Icolmkille, relates, with obvious emotions of
national pride, that twice during this period he visited
the king of Northumbria, and, though he lived in the,midst of the contagion, though numbers were daily
dying around him, neither he, nor any of his attendants,
took the infection *.
The pestilence no sooner appeared, than it proved
fatal to several of the most distinguished characters in
the island. Catgualet, king of Gwynez, Ercombert of
Kent, Ethelwald of Sussex, Deusdedit archbishop of
Canterbury, the bishops of London and Lindisfarne,
Boisil, the celebrated abbot of Mailros, and Ethelburga,
the royal abbess of Berking, were among the first of its
victims. The death of the metropolitan afforded Oswio
an opportunity of promoting his favourite system of religious uniformity. He consulted with Egbert, the new
king of Kent; and by their concurrence, the presbyter
Wighard, who had been chosen to succeed to the archiepiscopal dignity, was sent to Rome to ask the advice of
the Apostolic see. But in that city the new prelate fell
a victim to the pestilence which he had escaped in his
own country: and his death was announced in a letter
to Oswio from pope Vitalian. The pontiff, however,
assured the king that he would gratify his wishes by
selecting for the church of Canterbury a person equal
to so exalted a station; and after some delay Theodore,
a monk of Tarsus, whose virtue and erudition had been
honoured with general applause, landed in Kent, with
the title of archbishop of Britain. His authority was
immediately acknowledged by all the Saxon prelates:
new bishoprics were established; synods were held; and
uniformity of discipline was every where observed.

* Adamn. Vit. St. Columb. ii. c xlvii. v. 153.




ï~~A. D.670.1        DEATH orfoswJo.               103
Oswio died in 670. With him expired both the title
and authority of Bretwalda. The power of Northumbria
had for some years been on the decline; while the neighbouring state of Mercia, created by the genius of Penda,
had gradually matured its strength, and the southern
kingdom of Wessex had, with a slow but steady progress,
constantly advanced in the subjugation of the Britons.
These three rival nations will, in the following chapter,
solicit the attention of the reader: the feeble kingdoms
of Essex, Kent, East-Anglia, and Sussex, sometimes the
allies, but generally the vassals of their more powerful
neighbours, cannot awaken sufficient interest to deserve
a more detailed and separate narration.




ï~~CHAPTER III.
ANGLO-SAXON S
Kings of Northumbria-of Mercia-Ethelbald-OflTa-Cenulf-of Wessex
-Caeadwalla -- Ina - Cynewulf- Egbert-- Ethelwulf- EthelbaldEthelbert-Ethelred.
NORTHUMBRIA.
FROM Oswio the Northumbrian sceptre was transferred
to the hands of Egfrid, the elder of his surviving sons*.
The Picts, despising the youth of the new monarch, asA. D. sembled under their prince Bernherth, and asserted
670. their independence. But Egfrid, with a vigour which
surprised and dismayed them, put himself at the head
of a body of horse, entered their territory, defeated them
in a bloody battle, and compelled them to submit again
to the superior power of the Northumbrians.           With
equal expedition he anticipated and defeated the designs
of Wulphere, king of Mercia, who numbered among his
vassals most of the southern chieftains. The victory
broke for a while the power of the Mercians. Wulphere
died soon after: and his kingdom was at first seized by
the Northumbrian, but restored to Ethelred, who had
married Osthryda, the sister of Egfrid 1'.
Religious prejudice has conferred an adventitious
* Malmsbury (20, 21) and several later writers say that Alchfrid the
elder son was still alive, but rejected on account of illegitimacy: and that
he ascended the throne after the death of Egfrid. From a diligent examination of Bede it appears to me that they have contounded Alchfrid,
and Aldfrid, and made the two but one person. Aldfrid was illegitimate,
and thought to be the son of Oswio. IHe lived in spontaneous exile among
the Scots through his desire of knowledge, and was called to the throne
after the decease of the legitimate offspring of Oswio. See llede, p. 129.
132. 178. 206, 207. 234. 247. 293. Also the poem De Abbat. Lindis, in
Act. SS. Bened. p. 305.
t Edd. Vit. Wiltf xix. xx. 61, 62. Bed. iv. 12.




ï~~A. D. 670.]    NORTHUMBRIAN KINGS               103
interest on the reign of Egfrid; and his quarrel with
Wilfrid, the celebrated bishop of York, occupies a distinguished but disproportionate space in our modern
histories. Wilfrid was a noble Northumbrian, who had
travelled for improvement; and after his return from
Italy, had been selected as the instructor and confidant
of Alchfrid, the son of Oswio. When Tuda died, Wilfrid was chosen to succeed him in the bishopric of York,
and was sent by the two princes into Gaul to be consecrated by his friend Agilberet, bishop of Paris. Whether it was that during his absence the quarrel arose
between Oswio and his son, or that the party of the
Scottish missionaries had acquired the ascendency, as
is intimated by Eddius, Wilfrid, at his return, found
Ceadda in possession of the episcopal dignity, and retired peacefully to his monastery at Rippon. But Theodore of Canterbury restored Wilfrid, and translated
Ceadda to Lichfield. Oswio acquiesced in the decision
of the metropolitan, and the bishop enjoyed for several
years his friendship, and that of his successor Egfrid*.
Egfrid's first wife was Edilthryda, the daughter of
Anna king of the East-Angles, and widow of Tondberct,
ealdorman of the Girvii. At an early period in life she had
bound herself by a vow of virginity, which was respected
by the piety or indifference of her husband. At his
death she was demanded by Oswio for his son Egfrid, a
youth of only fourteen years: and in spite of her remonstrances was conducted by her relations to the court
of Northumbria. She persisted in her former resolution; and Egfrid, when he ascended the throne, referred the matter to the decision of Wilfrid, having previously offered him a valuable present if he could prevail
on Edilthryda to renounce her early vow. The prelate
however disappointed his hopes: the princess took the
veil at Coldingham; and the friendship between Wilfrid
and Egfrid was considerably impaired. The king now}

* Edd. i-xv. Bed. iii. 28; iv. 3; v. 19.




ï~~106

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III.

married Ermenburga, a princess, the violence of whose
character excited the discontent of the people, and the
remonstrances of the bishop.    The freedom   of his
admonitions mortified her pride, and she found in her
husband the willing minister of her vengeance *.
In the exercise of his authority archbishop Theodore
was always severe, occasionally despotic. He had already deposed three of the Saxon prelates; and Wilfrid
A. D. was destined to experience the same fate. At the so678. licitation of Egfrid and Ermenburga, he came to Northumbria, divided the ample diocese of York into three
portions; and consecrated three new prelates, one for
Bernicia, a second for Deira, and a third for the Lindiswaras.  But Wilfrid did not submit in silence.   He
complained that he had been deprived without notice
or accusation; and, with the advice of his episcopal
colleagues, appealed to the equity of the sovereign pontiff. The appeal was admitted. The injured prelate
prosecuted it in person: Cenwald, a monk, appeared as
the advocate of Theodore. After a patient hearing,
pope Agatho decided that Wilfrid should be restored to
his former bishopric; but that he should select three
proper persons out of his own clergy, should ordain
them bishops, and divide among them the more distant
parts of his diocese f.
Egfrid and Ermenburga had made several fruitless
attempts to intercept the prelate on his journey: at
A. D. his return they threw him into prison, and during
680. nine months endeavoured, by the alternate employment
of lenity and rigour, of promises and threats, to extort a
confession that the papal rescript had been procured by
bribery, or falsified by his contrivance. Wearied at last
with his constancy, and harassed by the importunities
of the abbess Ebba, they consented to his enlargement,
but on the condition that he should bind himself by an
oath never more to set his foot within the dominions of
* Bed. iv. 19.  Edd. xxiv.  t Edd. xxiv-xxxi.  Bed. iv. 12; v. 19.




ï~~CHAP, III.

DEATH OF EGFRID.

107

Egfrid. Wilfrid retired into Mercia. From Mercia he
was driven by the intrigues of his persecutors into Wessex; and from Wessex was compelled to seek an asylum
among the pagans of Sussex.     Edilwalch their king
took him under his protection; and the exile repaid the
benefit by diffusing among his subjects the doctrines of
the gospel. The South-Saxons were the last people of
the octarchy who embraced Christianity *
Though the royal families of Northumbria and Mercia
were allied by marriage, their union had been broken
by the ambition of Egfrid. The hostile armies met on A. ).
the Trent; their valour was wasted in a dubious con- 679.
flict; and peace was restored by the paternal exhortations of Theodore..Elfwin, the brother of Egfrid, had
fallen in the battle; and, as the honour of the king compelled him to demand compensation, he was persuaded
to accept the legal were instead of prolonging hostilities
for the uncertain purpose of vengeance '. Afterwards,
in the year preceding his death, he despatched Beorht,
a warlike and sanguinary chieftain, to ravage the coast
of Ireland. Of the motives for this expedition we are
not informed. Bede assures us that the Irish were a
harmless and friendly people. To them many of the
Angles had been accustomed to resort in search of
knowledge, and on all occasions had been received
kindly, and supported gratuitously. Beorht requited
their hospitality by ravaging their country, and burning
their towns, churches, and monasteries. The natives,
unable to repel the invader by force, implored on the
author of their wrongs the vengeance of heaven; and
their imprecations were believed to be fulfilled in the A. D.
following year by the unfortunate death of Egfrid. 685.
Against the advice of his council the king led an army
into the territory of the Picts. Brude, the Pictish
king, prudently retired before a superior enemy, till
his purrsuers had entangled themselves in the defiles
Edd xxxiii-xi. Bed. iv. 13; v. 19.  t Edd. xxiii. Bed. iv. 21.




ï~~108

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III.

of the mountains. At Drumnechtan was fought a
battle, which proved most fatal to the Northumbrians:
few escaped from the slaughter; Egfrid himself was
found on the field by the conquerors, and honourably
interred in the royal cemetery in the isle of Hii. The
Picts and Scots, and some tribes of the Britons, took
advantage of this opportunity to recover their independence: Trumwin, whom Egfrid had appointed bishop at
Abercorn, flel with his clergy into the south; and of
the Saxon settlers all, who had not the good fortune to
make a precipitate escape, were put to the sword, or
consigned to perpetual slavery *.
Egfrid had left no issue by Ermenburga; and the
Northumbrian thanes offered the crown to Aldfrid, the
reputed but illegitimate son of Oswio. During the last
reign he had retired to the western isles, and had devoted the time of his exile to study under the instruction of the Scottish monks. His proficiency obtained
for him from his contemporaries the title of the learned
king. Though his pacific disposition, and diminished
power, did not permit him to assume the superiority
which had been possessed by several of his predecesme,
he reigned respected by his neighbours, beloved by his
subjects, and praised by the learned whom he patronized.
If he conducted in person any military expedition, it has
escaped the notice of historians: but the celebrated
Beorlit, by his order or with his permission, attempted
to obliterate the disgrace, which the late defeat had
brought on the Northumbrian arms; and, like the unfortunate Egfrid, lost in the attempt both his life and
his army t'.
In the second year of his reign, Aldfrid, at the recommendation of archbishop Theodore, had restored Wilfrid
to his bishopric and possessions. The reconciliation was
not lasting. The prelates who had been expelled by
the restoration of Wilfrid, acquired the confidence of
* Bed. iii. 27; iv. 26. Edd. xliii. Chron. Sax. 45. Sim. Dun. Hist. ecc.
Dun. p. 48.                 t Bed. v. 24.




ï~~CHAP. III.]   NORTHUMVIBRIAN KINGS.

109

the king; Brihtwald, the successor of Theodore, was
induced to favour their cause; and the persecuted
bishop was compelled to appeal a second time to the
justice of Rome. He returned with a papal testimonial
of his innocence: but Aldfrid refused to receive him,
and he sheltered himself under the protection of Coenred of Mercia. Aldfrid died in 705; and in his last
moments regretted his treatment of Wilfrid, and bequeathed to his successor the charge of doing justice to
the injured prelate. A compromise, satisfactory to all
parties, was effected in the course of the same year*.
Hitherto the actions and abilities of the Northumbrian princes have demanded a more ample space; a
few pages may suffice for the history of their successors,
which will present nothing to the reader but one continued scene of perfidy, treason, and murder. At the
death of Aldfrid, his son Osred was eight years old. The A.D.
ealdorman Eadulf usurped the sceptre, and besieged the 701.
royal infant in Bamborough: but the people espoused
the cause of Osred, and the usurper, after a tumultuous
reign of two months, paid the forfeit of his treason. Berctfrid assumed the guardianship of the king,
and chastised the incursions of the Picts in a bloody
battle fought near the wall. But Osred soon emancipated himself from the restraint of his tutor; and the
ungovernable youth was slain in his nineteenth year on
the banks of Winandermere, in an attempt to suppress
a dangerous insurrection headed by his kinsmen, the A. nD.
two brothers Cenred and Osric.     Canred possessed 716.
the throne two years, Osric eleven, at whose death it
descended to Ceolwulf the brother of his predecessor.
The learning and piety of Ceolwulf are attested by
veneiable Pede: but he possessed neither the vigour A.D.
nor the authority requisite for his station. In the 731.
second year of his reign, he was seized, shorn, and
shut up in a monastery. From this confinement he
escaped, re-ascended the throne, and learned amid the

x Bed. v. 19. Edd. xlii-lviii.




ï~~110

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III.

splendid cares of royalty to regret the tranquillity
which hlie had reluctantly possessed in the cloister.
After a reign of eight years, he voluntarily resigned the
sceptre, and embraced the monastic profession at Lindisfarne *. He was succeeded by his cousin Eadhert,
who during a reign of one-and-twenty years enlarged
the territory, and revived for a while the ancient glory,
of the Northumbrians. The Picts and Mercians felt
the superiority of his arms: and with the assistance of.,. Ouengus, the Pictish king, he took Dunbarton from
756. the Britons, and added Cyil to his dominions. In his
old age he imitated his predecessor, and received the
A. D. tonsure among the clergy of the church of York, of
758. which his brother Egbert was the archbishop. His
retreat by some writers is attributed to compulsion;
others assign it to the impression made on his mind, by
comparing the violent deaths of two contemporary
princes with the peaceful exit of Ceolwulft. Oswulf,
the son of Eadbert, was slain by a conspiracy of his
thanes soon after his accession; and the sceptre by the
suffrage of the people was placed in the hands of Edilwold, a noble Northumbrian. But the descendants of
Ida, who claimed it as the right of their family, considered him an usurper. The death of Oswin, his prinA. D. cipal opponent, who fell in a battle which lasted three
761. days in the vicinity of Melrose (Aug. 6), seemed to
confirm him on the throne: but after a troublesome
reign of six years he resigned, in an assembly of the
witan at Finchley, in favour of Alchred, a prince of the
line of Ida*. The inconstancy of the Northumbrian
thanes was fatal to the ambition of their monarchs.
Alchred, abandoned by those who had placed him on
the throne, fled for protection to Kennet king of the
A.D. Picts, and was succeeded by Ethelred, the son of Edil774. wold, of whom we know only, that in the fifth year
of his reign, his army was twice defeated by two rebel
ealdormen Ethelwald and Heardbert, and that the loss

SMailros, 136. Sim. Dun. 100.
t Auct. Bed. p. 224. Sim. Dun. 105. Hunt. 196.
$ Sim. Dun. p. 10'- Auct. Bed. 224.




ï~~ChAP. ii.].

ALFWOLD.

ll

of his three principal captains induced him to fly, and
leave the sceptre to Alfwold the son of Oswulf*. Alfwold's reign was as tumultuous as those of his predecessors. Beorn his principal minister was burnt to death
in Silton by a party of thanes, whose enmity he had A. D.
incurred by the equity of his administration; and 780
the king himself, whose virtue was not a match for the
ferocity of his subjects, was slain by the ealdorman Sigan. The murderer, five years later, perished by his
own sword.. Osred, the son of Alchred, attempted to
seize the crown: but the thanes recalled the exiled
Ethelred, and the late claimant, to save his life, enrolled
himself among the clergy of York, and afterwards for
greater security fled to the isle of Man. Ethelred re- A.,.
turned with the thirst of revenge. He ordered Ear- 790
dulf, one of his most powerful opponents, to be slain A. D.
at the door of the church of Rippon.      The monks 792.
carried the body into the choir. During the funeral
service it was observed to breathe, proper remedies were
applied to the wounds, and the future king of Northumbria was carefully concealed in the monastery.
The fate of Elf and Elwin, the two sons of Alfwold, was'
more deplorable. They had fled to the sanctuary at
York; were drawn by deceitful promises from their
asylum; and paid with their lives the price of their credulity. Osred now returned from the isle of Man, and
braved his rival to battle, but he was deserted by his
followers, and added another to the victims of Ethelred's ambition. That prince, however, was hastening to
the close of his bloody career. In his third year the
total failure of the harvest had reduced the inhabitants
to the extremity of distress; and to famine were soon
added the ravages of pestilence. At that moment, to
complete their misfortunes, an army of Danes landing
on the coast, pillaged the country, and destroyed the A. n.
venerable church of Lindisfarne, the former residence 793.
of the apostle of the Northumbrians.- Both the ca* Chron. Sax. 62. Sim. Dun. 107, 108. Mailros, 138.
+ Chron. Sax. 62. 64. Mailros, 139.




ï~~112

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III.

lamities of nature, and the cruelties of this unknown
enemy, were attributed to the imprudence or the bad
A.. fortune of Ethelred; and he fell in a fruitless attempt
79. to quell the rising discontent of his subjects*.  The
sceptre stained with the blood of so mauy princes
was next grasped by Osbald: but it dropped from his
hands at the end of twenty-seven days, and Eardulf,
whose life had been saved by the monks of Rippon,
ascended the throne. Osbald prudently retired to the
cloister, where he enjoyed a tranquillity unknown to his
more successful competitor. Eardulf was compelled to
fight against the murderers of Ethelred, and defeated
them in a sanguinary conflict at Billinghow near WhalA.D. ley (April 2). They found a powerful protector in Ce798. nulf, king of Mercia. The two kings advanced against
each other at the head of their respective armies: but a
reconciliation was effected by the interposition of the
prelates; and they swore eternal friendship to each
other. Yet Eardulf was afterwards surprised by his
A. n. enemies, and put into close custody. These nume806. rous and bloody revolutions had excited the notice of
foreign nations. Charlemagne pronounced the Northumbrians more perfidious than the very pagans1; and
by a special messenger sought and obtained the liberation of the captive from the hands of his sanguinary
subjects. There is reason to think that the opponents
of Eardulf had consented to commit the decision of their
quarrel to the equity of the pontiff Leo III. $ The king
himself, after paying a visit to the emperor at Noyon,
repaired to Rome, where a messenger from Eanbald,
archbishop of York, had already arrived. That prelate,
the ealdorman Wado, and Cenulf of Mercia, were believed by Leo to be the secret authors of the rebellion.
In the beginning of 809 Eardulf left Rome, accompanied
* Chron. Sax. 64, 65. Mailros, 139. Sim. Dun. 110-113..t Gentem perfidam et perversam, pejorem paganis. Maims. 26.
So I infer from the fact, that Leo was careful to preserve their letters
to him even after the restoration of Eardulf, and to preserve them pro
pignore. See his letter in Bouquet, v. 604.




ï~~CHAP. III.

BEDE

113

by Aldulf the papal legate, and by the messenger of A..
Eanbald, to whom Charlemagne, in order to manifest 809;
the interest which he took in the affair, added Rotfrid,
abbot of St. Amand, and Nanther, abbot of St. Omer.
With this honourable escort he arrived in Northumbria; all opposition vanished before the papal and imperial envoys; and the deposed king was unanimously
restored to his throne *. How long he continued to
reign is uncertain.
It is unnecessary to pursue farther the history of these
princes. During the last century Northumbria had exhibited successive instances of treachery and murder, to
which no other country perhaps can furnish a parallel.
Within the lapse of one hundred years fourteen kings had
assumed the sceptre: and yet of all these one only, if one,
died in the peaceable possession of royalty. Seven had
been slain, six had been driven from the throne by their
rebellious subjects. After Eardulf, the same anarchy
and perfidy prevailed, till the Danes totally extinguished
the Northumbrian dynasty, by the slaughter of Ella and
Osbriht in the year 867.
From these worthless princes, the votaries and victims
of their ambition, the mind will turn with pleasure to
two very different characters, who, in a more humble
station, became the benefactors of their age and country.
These were Bede and Alcuin, Northumbrian scholars,
whose literary superiority was acknowledged by their
contemporaries, and to whose writings and exertions
Europe was principally indebted for that portion of
learning, which she possessed from the eighth to the
eleventh century. Bede was born at Sunderland, and
was intrusted in his childhood to the care of the
monks of Jarrow, a convent on the right bank of the
Tyne. In that seminary he spent sixty-two years, devoting, according to his assertion, the whole of his time
either to his own improvement or to the improvement
of others He had studied every science which sur* Le Cointe, Ann. eccl. Franc. p. 102. Annal. Bened. tom. ii. p. 383.
Bouquet, Rer. Gallic. tom. v. p. 72, 255. 333. 355. 602.
YOL. i.   10




ï~~114

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IIt

vived the ruin of the Roman empire; and if the reader
look into his writings, he will be astonished at the depth
and the variety of his attainments. Of his works the
most valuable is the "Ecclesiastical History of the
Nation of the Angles," which while it treats professedly
of the establishment of Christianity in the different
Saxon kingdoms, incidentally contains almost all that
we know of the history of the more early princes. This
learned monk died at Jarrow in 733. His works were
quickly transcribed, and dispersed among the rations of
Europe: and the applause with which they were received
induced the Anglo-Saxons to consider him as the ornament and pride 3f their nation *.
Alcuin was a native of York, or its neighbournood.
By archbishop Egbert he was appointed master of the
great school in the archiepiscopal city. His reputation
attracted crowds of students from Gaul and Germany to
his lectures, and recommended him to the notice of the
emperor Charlemagne. He accepted the invitation of
that prince to reside in his court; diffused a taste for
learning through all the provinces of the empire; and
numbered the most distinguished prelates and ministers
among his scholars. When, in his old age, he retired
from the distractions of the palace, many followed him
to his retreat at Tours, where he continued his favourite
occupation of teaching till his death in the commencement of the ninth century. His works are numerous.
They consist principally of poems, elementary introductions to the different sciences, treatises on a variety of
theological subjects, and an interesting correspondence
with the most celebrated characters of the age '.
* Et rectum quidem mihi videtur, says the abbot Cuthbert, ut tota gens
Anglorum in omnibus provinciis, ubicumque reperti sunt, gratias Deo
referant, quia tam mirabilem virum illis in sua natione donavit. Ep. St.
Bonif. p. 124.
t The Anglo-Saxon converts were indebted for the little learning they
acquired to their missionaries: and hence for some time those in the
north repaired for instruction principally to Ireland, those in the south to
the Roman teachers at Canterbury. This produced a kind of literary
rivalship between the two islands, of which an amusing account is given
by Aldhelm, who had studied first under Irish, and then under Roman




ï~~C-AP. III.]

MERCIA,

110

MERCIA.
In the preceding pages the reader will have noticed
the accession of Wulphere to the throne of Mercia, and
his frequent and not inglorious struggles against the
power of the Northumbrians. With equal spirit, and
eventually with greater success, he opposed his southern
rivals, the kings of Wessex. In the first conflict the
chance of war made Wulphere the prisoner of Coinwalch,
but with the recovery of his liberty he obliterated the
disgrace of his defeat. At the battle of Pontisbury the A. D,
forces of Wessex were dispersed; the victors ravaged 661,
the country of their enemies; and the Wihtwaras, the
inhabitants of the isle of Wig'ht, submitted to the dominion of Wulphere *. That prince was now the most
powerful of the kings on the south of the Humber; and
he employed his authority in promoting the diffusion of
Christianity among his dependents. Idolatry disappeared
in Mercia: the natives of Essex, who, during the pestilence, had retur ed to the worship of Woden, were reclaimed by the preaching of the bishop Jaruinnan; and
Edilwalch, king of Sussex, at the persuasion of Wulphere, professed himself a Christian. On the day of his
baptism, he received from the munificence of his royal
god-father the sovereignty of the isle of Wight, and of
the territory of the Meanwaras, a district comprehending
almost the eastern moiety of Hampshire. Wilfrid, who
had been driven into exile by the resentment of Ermenburga, improved the opportunity to establish the belief
of the gospel in the kingdom of Sussex, and Edilwalch
rewarded his zeal with the donation of the isle of Selsey,
masters. In his letter to Eadfrid, who had just returned from Ireland, he
gives due praise to the learning of the Irish scholars; but then he observes that England too has its share, that Theodore and Adrian shine
like the sun and moon at Canterbury, and that the former is surrounded
with scholars even from Ireland. Theodorus summi sacerdotii gubernacula regens, Hibernensium globo discipulorum stipatur. Usser, syllog.
ep. p. 38. See also O'Conor, prol. xix.
* This appears the most plausible manner of reconciling Ethelwerd
(p. 476) with the Saxon Chronicle (p. 39) and Bede (iv. 13.)




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III.

containing eighty-seven hides of lana, and two hundred
and fifty slaves. They were baptized, and immediately
received their freedom from the piety of the bishop *.
The power of Wulphere declined as rapidly as it had
risen. Towards the end of his reign, he was defeated by
the Northumbrians, and lost the province of the Lindiswaras. The men of Wessex, who had borne his superiority with impatience, were encouraged by the victory
of the Northumbrians to try again the fortune of war.
Though the battle was not decisive, it contributed to
break the power of Wulphere, at whose death Egfrid,
A. D. the Northumbrian monarch, over-ran and subjected the
675. kingdom '.
Ethelred was the brother of Wulphere, and had married Osthryda, the sister of Egfrid. To this alliance he
was perhaps indebted for the crown of Mercia. He led
an army against Lothaire, king of Kent, burnt the
A. D. villages and churches, carried  off the inhabitants,
676. and destroyed the city of Rochester.   He next demanded the province of the Lindiswaras from Egfrid: a
war ensued: Elfwin, the brother of the Northumbrian,
was slain; and Ethelred, though he paid the were for
the death of Ailfwin, recovered the possession of the
disputed territory. For many years he reigned with
honour: but the murder of his queen Osthryda by
A. D. the Suthenhymbre, the people between the Trent and
697. the Humber," deeply affected his mind. He gave the
government of the discontented district to his nephew
A. D. Cenred, the son of Wulphere; and at last abdicated
704. the throne in his favour.   He had children of his
own: but they were of an immature age, and the nation
preferred a successor of approved judgment and in the
vigour of manhood. Ethelred then took the monastic
vows in the monastery of Bardeney, was raised to the
office of abbot, and died at an advanced age in 716 $.
* Bed. iii. 30: iv. 13,  Edd. Vit. \vilf. xl.  - Chron. Sax. p. 41. Edd. x~.
SBed. iv. 12. 21; v. 19. Chron. Sax. 44. 49. Flo: ad an. 716. Chron.
Pet. de Burg. p. 6.




ï~~CHAP. II.j

ETHELBALD.

]17

Ccenred was a prince whose piety and love of peace
are loudly applauded by our ancient chroniclers: but
whose short reign of five years affords only a barren
theme to the historian. As soon as Ceolred, the son of
the preceding monarch,was of an age to wield the sceptre, A..
Ccenred resigned the crown, and travelling to Rome, 709.
received the monastic habit from the hands of pope
Constantine. Offa, the son of Sighere, king of Essex,
was the companion of his pilgrimage, and the imitator
of his virtues *.
The reign of Ceolred was almost as tranquil as that of
his predecessor. Once only had he recourse to the for- A. D.
tune of arms, against Ina, king of Wessex. The battle 715.
was fought at Wodensbury; and the victory was claimed
by each nation.    But Ceolred degenerated from    the
piety of his fathers, and by the licentiousness of his
morals alienated the minds of the Mercians. In the
eighth year of his reign, as he sat at table with his
thanes, he suddenly lost his reason, and shortly after
expired in the most excruciating torment t.
Contemporary with Ceolred was Ethelbald, a descendant of Alwin, the brother of Penda. He was in the
vigour of youth, graceful in his person, ambitious of
power, and immoderate in his pleasures. To avoid the
jealousy of Ceolred, by whom he was considered a rival,
Ethelbald had concealed himself among the marshes of
Croyland, where he was hospitably entertained by Guthlake, the celebrated hermit. As soon as he had learned
the death of his persecutor, he issued from his retreat;
assumed the sceptre without opposition; and afterwards,
to testify his gratitude for his former benefactor, raised
a magnificent church and monastery over the tomb of
Guthlake $. The character of Ethelbald was a compound of vice and virtue. He was liberal to the poor
and to his dependents; he watched with solicitude over
* Bed. v. 19.
t Chron. Sax. p. 50, 51. Ep. St. Bonif. apud Spelm. p. 225.
SIngul. p. 2. To construct the building, Ethelbald gave 300 pounds of
silver the first year, and 100 pounds a year bfor the ten following years, p. 3.




ï~~118

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. 11.

the administration of justice; and he severely repressed
the hereditary feuds, which divided the Mercian thanes,
and impaired the strength of the nation. Yet in his
own favour he never scrupled to invade the rights of his
subjects; and that no restraint might be imposed upon
his pleasures, he refused to shackle himself with the
obligations of marriage. The noblest families were disgraced, the sanctity of the cloister was profaned by his
amours. The report of his immorality reached the ears
of the missionary, St. Boniface, who from the heart of
Germany wrote to him a letter of most earnest expostulation*. What influence it had on his conduct, is not
mentioned: but he soon afterwards attended a synod,
held by archbishop Cuthbert for the reformation of manners; and long before his death, forsook the follies and
vices of his youth.
Of the kings who had hitherto swayed the Mercian
sceptre, Ethelbald was the most powerful. From     the
Humber to the southern channel, he compelled every
tribe to obey his authority: but he seems to have respected the power or the abilities of the Northumbrian
monarchs: and, if he ventured twice to invade their territories, it was at times when they were engaged in the
north against the Picts, and when the spoils which he
obtained were dearly purchased by the infamy of the
aggression '. In the south the kings of Wessex struggled with impatience against his ascendency, but every
effort appeared only to rivet their chains. They were
compelled to serve him as vassals, and to fight the battles
of their lord. At length, in 752, Cuthred undertook to
emancipate himself and his country, and boldly opposed
the Mercians in the field of Burford in Oxfordshire. In
the open space between the two armies, Edilhun, who
bore the golden dragon, the banner of Wessex, slew
* Ep. St. Bonif. apud Spelm. p. 225.
+ Bed. v. 23. In his charters he calls himself Rex Britannia, and Rex
non solum Merciorum sed et omnium provinciarum, que generali nomina
Sutangli dicantur. Smith's Bed. app. p. 786. Hunt. 195. Chron. Sax. 54,




ï~~CHAP. III.]

OFFA.

119

with his own hand the standard-bearer of Ethelbald; and
his countrymen hailed as the omen of victory the valour
of their champion. An ancient po'it has described in
striking language the shock of the two armies; the
shouts and efforts of the combatants, their murderous
weapons, the spear, the long sword, and the battle-axe,
and their prodigality of life in the defence of their respective standards. Chance at length conducted Ethelbald to
the advance of Edilhun: but the king of Mercia shrunk
before the gigantic stature and bloody brand of his adversary, and gave to his followers the example of a precipitate flight. This defeat abolished for a time the
superiority of Mercia*.
Ethelbald did not long survive his disgrace. Beornred, a noble Mercian, aspired to the throne, and a battle
was fought on the hill of Seggeswold in Warwickshire. A.D.
The king either fell in the engagement, or was killed by 757
his own guards on the following night. His body was
buried in the monastery of Repandune '.
The death of Ethelbald transferred the momentary
possession of the crown to Beornred: but the thanes
espoused the interests of Offa, a prince of royal descent;
and the usurper, at the end of a few months, was defeated in battle, and driven out of Mercia. Of the
reign of the new monarch the first fourteen years were
employed in the subjugation of his domestic enemies,
and the consolidation of his own power, objects which
he was unable to effect without the effusion of much
blood 1. In 771 he first appeared in the character of a
conqueror, and subdued the Hestingi, a people inhabiting the coast of Sussex Â~. Three years afterwards, he
invaded Kent, routed the natives at Otford, and stained
* Hunt. 195. West. ad ann. 755.
Â~ Ingul. p. 5. Auct. Bed. p. 224. Sim. Dun. p. 105. Malm. f. 14.
t Ep. Alcuini apud Malm. p. 33. Lel. Collect. i. 402.
Â~ Mail. p. 138. Sim. Dun. p.107. The Hestingi have been sought in
every part of the island. A charter in Dublet fixes them in Sussex. By
it Offt confirms a grant of land in the neighbourhood of Hastings to the
abbey of St. Denis, and styles Bertwald, the proprietor of Hastings and
Pevensey, his /idelis. Apud Alford, ad ann. 790




ï~~120

ANGLO-SAXONS.

f.CHAP. III.

the waters of the Darent with the blood of the fugitives*.  From   the more feeble, he turned his arms
A. D. against the more powerful states. He entered Oxford777. shire, which then belonged to Wessex; Cynewulf, the
West-Saxon monarch, fled before him; Bensignton, a
royal residence, was taken; and the territory on the
left bank of the Thames became the reward of the
conqueror 1'. The Britons were next the victims of his
ambition.   The kings of Powis were driven       from
Shrewsbury beyond the Wye; the country between
that river and the Severn was planted with colonies
of Saxons; and a trench and rampart, stretching over
a space of one hundred miles from the mouth of the
Wye to the estuary of the Dee, separated the subjects
of Offa from the incursions of their vindictive neighbours *. The Northumbrians also, but in what year is
uncertain, were compelled to own the superiority of the
Mercian Â~.
The chair of St. Peter was filled at this period by
Adrian, the friend and favourite of Charlemagne. In
785 two papal legates, the bishops of Ostia and Tudertum, accompanied by an envoy from the French monarch, landed in England; and convoked two synods,
the one in Northumbria, the other in Mercia. In the
latter, which was attended by Offa, and by all the
princes and prelates on the south of the Humber, the
legates read a code of ecclesiastical laws composed by
the pontiff for the reformation of the Anglo-Saxon
church. It was heard with respect, and subscribed by
all the members Iq. The ambition of Offa did not omit
the opportunity of attempting a project, which he had
long meditated. Jaenbercht, archbishop of Canterbury,
had formerly offended the king, and had been deprived
* Chron. Sax. 61. Mail. 138.
SChron. Sax. 61. Mail. 138. Ethel. 477.
$ Wise's Asser. p. 10. Sim. Dun. p. 118. Caradoc. p. 20. Langhorn,
p. 292.
Â~ West. 142. Offa, in a charter, dated 780, styles himself Rex Mercior1m simulque aliarum circumquaque nationum. Smith Bed. app. p. 767.
1 Chron. Sax. 64. Wilk. Con. tom. i. p. 151.




ï~~A. D. 785.]

EGFERTH

121

by him of all the manors which belonged to his see in
the Mercian territories. From the man, the enmity of
Offa was transferred to the church over which he presided. Why, the king asked, should the Mercian prelates be subjected to the jurisdiction of a Kentish
bishop? Why should the most powerful of the Saxon
kingdoms be without a national metropolitan?   According to his wishes a proposition was made in the synod,
that the jurisdiction of the see of Canterbury should be
confined to the three kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, and
Wessex; that one of the Mercian bishops should be
raised to the archiepiscopal rank; and that all the prelates between the Thames and the Humber should be
subject to his authority. Jaenbercht did not acquiesce
without a struggle in the degradation of his church; but
the influence of Offa was irresistible; and Higebert of
Lichfield was selected to be the new metropolitan *.
Still it was necessary to procure the papal approbation.
The messengers of Offa urged the great extent of the
province of Canterbury, and the propriety of appointing
a native metropolitan to preside over the churches of
so powerful a kingdom as Mercia: the advocates of
Jaenbercht alleged the letters of former pontiffs, the
prescription of two centuries, and the injustice of depriving an innocent prelate of more than one half of his
jurisdiction. Adrian assented to the wishes of the king
the pallium with the archiepiscopal dignity was conferred
upon Adulph, the successor of Higebert, in the see of
Lichfield; and Jaenbercht was compelled to content
himself with the obedience of the bishops of Rochester,
London, Selsey, Winchester, and Sherburne '.
Before the conclusion of the council, Egferth, the son
of Otfa, was solemnly crowned, and from    that period,
-M ain. f. 15. Wilk. CoVn. p1. 152. 164. It was, says the Saxon chroticle, a ' geflitfullic (quarrelsome) synod,"' p. 63.  The situation of Cal'.itl or Calcytie, where it was toheld, is disputed.  I suspect it to  be
(CuXlsey, which was called (Chelcetl.e as late as the end of the fifteeuth
century.  ILel. Col. iv. 250.
SAug. Sax. i. 460. Maims. f. 15. Spel. Con. 302
voL. 1,   11




ï~~122

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III

reigned conjointly with his father. At the same time
the king delivered into the hands of the legates a charter, in which he bound himself by oath, and promised
for his successors, to send annually the sum      of three
hundred and sixty-five mancuses to the church of St.
Peter, in Rome, to be employed partly in defraying the
expenses of the public worship, partly in the support of
indigent pilgrims *.
Alcuin, the Anglo-Saxon preceptor of Charlemagne,
had been instrumental in opening an epistolary correspondence between his royal pupil and the king of Mercia t. From the letters which are still extant, it appears
that several of the thanes, who had opposed the succession of Offa, finding it unsafe to remain in England, had
sought an asylum upon the continent. The humanity
of Charlemagne refused to abandon them to the resentment of their enemy. Those, who asserted their innocence, he sent to Rome to exculpate themselves before
the pope: the others he retained under his protection,
not, as he said, to encourage them in their rebellion,
but with the hope that time might soften the resentment of Offa, and that the fugitives might be received
into favour. Once he intrusted some of them to the
faith of Ethelheard, the successor of Jaenbercht in the
see of Canterbury: but on the express condition that
he should send them back to France in safety, unless
Offa should give the most solemn assurances, that he
would pardon their offences '.    Another subject of dis* Ang. Sax. i. 461. Chron. Sax. p. 64. luntingdon (f. 197) says, Egferth was crowned king of Kent: but in this he differs from all other historians.-The mancus was equal to thirty pennies.
+ In his letters t'harles gives himself the sounding title of " the most
powerlful of the i hristian kings of the east;" and at the same time to
sooth the vanity of Oft, calls him " the most powerful of the Christian
king, of the west." Ep. Car. Map. apud Bouquet, t(m. v. p. 620.
' The letter to Ethelheard is so io:noura le to Cha:lemague, that I
shall offer no apdogy ior transcribing a.art of it.  os miseros latriam
s.uie exuilles vesra lirexims pietati, eipree ntes, uit pro ipsis intercedere
dignemini apud frateem meum carissimumni Offautum regem.-Ilis si pacem precari valeatis, remaneant in patria. Sin vero durius de illis frater
meus respondeat, illos ad nos remittite illesos. Melius est enim peregrinare quam perire, in aliena servire patria quart in esua mori. Confido de




ï~~A. D. 785.]  TREATIES WITH CHARLEMAGNE.

123

cussion regarded the mercantile interests of the two
nations.   It was complained that the avarice of the
English manufacturers had induced them to contract
the size of the woollen gowns, which they exported to
the continent; and the vigilance of the French had
detected several adventurers, who, under the disguise of
pilgrims, had attempted to impose on the officers of the
customs*. These points were amicably arranged: but
a new occurrence interrupted for a time that harmony,
which had subsisted for so many years. Charlemagne,
as a proof of his friendship, had proposed a marriage
between his illegitimate son Charles and a daughter of
Offa.   The Mercian, as the price of his consen:t, demanded a French princess for his son Egferth. If we
reflect that the two monarchs had hitherto treated each
other on the footing of perfect equality, there will not
appear anything peculiarly offensive in such a demand.
Yet it wounded the pride of Charlemagne; he broke off
all communication with the Mercian court; and the
trade with the English merchants experienced the most
rigorous prohibitions. But Gerwold, the collector of the
customs, whose interests probably suffered from this
interruption of commerce, contrived to pacify his sovereign; and Alcuin, who was commissioned to negociate
with the Mercian, succeeded in restoring the rela:ions of
amity between the two courts t.
The most powerful of the Saxon princes were ambitious
of an alliance with the family of Offa. Brihtric and
Ethelred, the kings of Wessex and Northumbria, had
already married his daughters Eadburga and Elfleda;
and Ethelbert, the young king of the East-Angles, was
a suitor for the hand of their sister, Etheldrida. This
am:able and accomplished prince (so he is described
b)onitate fratiis mei, si ohnixe pro  illis intercedatis, ut benirrne suscipiat
tos, pro nostro amore, vel magis pro Christi charitate, qui dixit, remittite
et remittetur,obis.  Int. epist. Alcuini. ep. 61.
* Maims. f. 17. Lel. Collec. i. 402. Wilk. Con. i. 158. Bouquet, v. 627.
+ Chron. Fntanellen. c. xv. apud Pouquet, v. 315. Epist. Ale. ad
Cole. ibid. p. C07.




ï~~124

ANGLO-SAXONS.

LCHAP. III.

A.D. by the advice of his council proceeded with a nume792. rous train to Mercia. On the confines he halted, and
sent forward a messenger with presents and a letter,
announcing the object of his intended visit. A kind
invitation was returned, accompanied with a promise of
security. At his arrival he was received with the attention becoming his dignity, and expressions of affection
most flattering to his hopes. The day was spent in
feasting and merriment: in the evening Ethelbert retired
to his apartment: but shortly afterwards was invited by
'Wimbert, an officer of the palace, to visit Offa, who
wished to confer with him on matters of importance.
The unsuspecting prince, as he followed his guide
through a dark passage, was surrounded by ruffians, and
deprived of life. At the news, his attendants mounted
their horses and fled: Etheldrida, disappointed in her
expectations of worldly happiness, retired from court,
and lived a recluse in the abbey of Croyland; and Offa,
shut up in his closet, affected, by external demonstrations of grief, to persuade the world of his innocence.
Gratitude to the founder of his abbey has induced the
monk of St. Albans to transfer the whole guilt from the
king to his consort Cynedrida: by every other ancient
writer, though she is said to have suggested, he is represented as having sanctioned, the foul deed; and, if it be
true that he immediately annexed East-Anglia to his
own dominions, little doubt can be entertained that the
man, who reaped the advantage, had directed the execution of the murder *.
Offa honoured the memory of the prince, whose blood
he had shed, by erecting a stately tomb over his remains,
and bestowing rich donations on the church of Hereford, in which they reposed. About the same time he
* Westminster is merely the copyist of the monk of St. Albans, who,
besides confining the guilt to'the queen, makes Ethelbert sink through a
trap-door into a cave, where he was despatched. Vit. Off. ii. p. 980.
Wallingford (p. 530), on some ancient authority, describes him as falling
in battle. Occidit in campestri indicto tello.  See Chron. Sax. 65.
Mfalm. 15. Ethelw. 477. Asser. Ann. 154, Brompton, 749-- 752.




ï~~CHAP. 1! f.

EGFERTH.

12i)

endowed the magnificent abbey of St. Albans.    But his
heart was corroded by remorse, and his body enfeebled
by disease. Within two years he followed Ethelbert to
the grave (Aug. 10), and was buried near Bedford, in a
chapel on the banks of the Ouse. It was a tradition of
the neighbourhood, that, a few years afterwards, the
river overflowed, and that his bones were carried away
by the inundation *.
Egferth, who had been crowned nine years before,
succeeded his father. The ancient writers indulge in
reflections on the misfortunes of a family, the establishment of which had cost its founder so many crimes.
Egferth died without issue after he had possessed the
crown one hundred and forty-one days. Of his sisters,
Elfleda became a widow soon after her marriage, Eadburga died in poverty and exile in Italy, and Edilthrida
finished her days in seclusion at Croyland. Within a
few years after the murder of Ethelbert, Offa and his
race had disappeared for evert.
The throne of Mercia was next filled by Cenulf,
descended from another of the brothers of Penda. At
the commencement of his reign, a singular revolution A. D.
in Kent directed his attention to that kingdom.      By 796.
the death of Aluric the race of Hengist became extinct: and the prospect of a throne awakened the ambition of several competitors. The successful candidate
was a clergyman related to the descendants of Cerdic,
Eadbert Pren, whose aspiring mind preferred the crown
to the tonsure *. Ethelheard, the archbishop of Canterbury, beheld with sorrow his elevation: but if he
treated Eadbert as an apostate, Eadbert considered him
as a rebel; and the metropolitan, unable to maintain the
* I have not mentioned Offa's pretended journey to Rome: for it could
not have escaped the notice of every historian before the fabulous monk
of St. Albans. The institution of the Ritomescot, is attributed to him by
IHuntingdron: I suspect that writer has confounded it with the annual
donation of 365 mancuses already mentioned.
SInug. p. 6.
1 Hunting. f. 197. Wallingford says that he was brother to Ethehed
the e tet son of Withred, p.530




ï~~I!6

A NkL,SXONS.

[CHAP. III

discipline of the canons, consulted the Roman pontiff,
Leo III., who, after mature deliberation, excommunicated
the king, and threatened, that, if he did not return to
the clerical profession, he would.exhort all the inhabitants of Britain to unite in punishing his disobedience *.
Cenulf took this office on himself: and Eadbert, convinced that resistance would be vain, endeavoured to
elude the vigilance and revenge of his enemies. He
was, however, taken: the eyes of the captive were put
out, and both his hands amputated. Cuthred, a creature
of the victor's, obtained the throne, with the title, but
without the authority, of king; and Eadbert was reserved by the Mercian for the gratification of his vanity.
A day had been appointed for the dedication of the
church of Winchelcomb, which he had built with royal
magnificence: the ceremony was attended by two kings,
thirteen bishops, ten ealdormen, and an immense concourse of people; and in their presence Cenulf led his
mutilated captive to the altar, and of his special grace
and clemency granted him in the most solemn manner
his freedom. According to the national custom, the
parade of the day was concluded with the distribution of
presents. To the kings, prelates, and ealdormen he gave
horses, garments of silk, and vases of the precious metals,
to each visitor of noble birth but without landed possessions a pound of silver, and to every monk and clergyman
a smaller but proportionate sum '.
The next undertaking of Cenulfwas an act of justice,to restore to the successors of St. Augustin the prerogatives, of which they had been despoiled at the imperious
demand of Offa. The authority of the new metropolitan
had been endured with reluctance by the English prelates, his former equals; and the archbishops of Canterbury and York seized the first opportunity of conveying
to the king the sentiments of the episcopal body. He
* Anglia Sacra, i. 460. In the pope's letter the name of the king is not
mentioned: but all circumstances conspire to point out Eadbert.
t Monast. Ang i..189. Chron. Sax. 67. Sim. Dun. 114. Malim. 13.
Walling. &30.




ï~~CHAP. 111.1  ARCHBISHOP WULFRID.

127

acquiesced in their wishes: a letter in his name and that
of the nobility and clergy was written to Leo III.; and
Ethelheard proceeded to Rome to plead in person the
rights of his church.  A favourable answer was obtained; and Ethelheard, at his return, summoned a
council of twelve bishops, in which it was declared that
the decree of pope Adrian had been surreptitiously obtained; and the metropolitan of Lichfield was reduced
to his former station among the suffragans of Canterbury *.
Archbishop Wulfrid was, like his predecessor, for
some time the favourite of Cenulf1. With the origin of
the subsequent dissension between them, we are unacquainted: but we find the king displaying the most
violent hostility against the primate, and excluding him
during six years from the exercise of the archiepiscopal
authority. Both appealed to the holy see, and Wulfrid
repaired to Rome, to vindicate his character from the
charges of his royal persecutor. At his return Cenulf A. D.
summoned him before a great council at London. " I 816
" require," said the king, "that you surrender to me
"and my heirs your manor of three hundred hides at
" Yongesham, and pay to me one hundred and twenty
" pounds of silver. If you refuse, I will drive you out of
" Britain, and no solicitation of the emperor, no com" mand of the pope, shall ever procure your return."
Wulfrid heard the menaces with firmness; and Cenulf
shewed himself inflexible. After much altercation and
many remonstrances, a compromise was effected by the
interposition of the nobility and clergy. Wulfrid acquiesced in the king's demand: and Cenulf consented
that the cession should be of no value, unless hlie wrote
to the pope in favour of the archbishop, and restored him
to all the privileges which his predecessors had enjoyed.
But no sooner had he obtained possession of the manor
and the money, than he laughed at the credulity of
* Wilk. con. 163. 167. Smith's Bed. app. p. 7S7. Maim. f. 15. Evid.
reel. Christ. 2212.                      t Ing. p. 6.




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

LCnAP. 1l'

Wulfrid, who was compelled to submit in silence, and to
wait for compensation from the justice of Cenulf's successor*.
After a prosperous reign of twenty-six years, the king
was killed in an expedition against the East-Anglians.
Notwithstanding his persecution of the archbishop, he
is celebrated by our ancient writers for his piety no less
than his courage and good fortune. He was succeeded
by his only son Kenelm, a boy of seven years of age.
After the lapse of a few months the young prince acA.,. companied his tutor Ascebert into a forest, where he
819. was barbarously murdered.    Suspicion attributed his
death to his elder sister Quendrida, whose ambition, it
was said, would have willingly purchased the crown
with the blood of a brother. If such were her views,
she was disappointed. Ceolwulf, her uncle, ascended
the throne: but Quendrida succeeded to the patrimony
of her father, and is frequently mentioned in the English
councils with the titles of abbess, and heiress of Cenulf j.
The reign of Ceolwulf was short. In his second year
he was dethroned by Beornwulf, a Mercian, who had no
better title than his power and opulence. He obliged
Quendrida to compound with Wulfrid for the land which
her father had wrested from the archbishop. His abilities are said to have been unequal to his station, and he
A. D. was soon compelled to yield to the superior genius of
824. Egbert, king of Wessex;.
WESSEX.
From the kings of Mercia it is time to return to the
descendants of Cerdic, whose fortune or abilities, after a
struggle of three hundred years, triumphed over every
opponent, and united all the nations of the Anglo-Saxons
in one great and powerful monarchy. The death of the
bretwalda Ceawlin and the accession of his nephew
* Wilk. con. 172, 173. Spel. con. 332. Chron. Sax. 69.
SIng. p. 7. Wilk. and Spel. ibid. Probably she was called abbes,
because Cenulf had left her the abbey of W inchelcon b.  $ lug. p. 7.




ï~~A. D. 614.]  CYNEG1LS AND CUICIIELM.

129

Ceolric, have been already noticed. To Ceolric, after a
short reign of five years, succeeded his brother Ceolwulf,
whose enterprising spirit engaged him in constant hostilities with the Saxons, Britons, Scots, and Picts *. The
men of Sussex made a bold but unsuccessful effort
to recover their independence.    The war was con- A. 1,
ducted with the most obstinate valour; and though 607,
Ceolwulf crushed his opponents, it was with the loss of
his bravest warriors '. He next led a numerous army A. D
against the Britons, drove Mouric, their king, beyond 610.
the Severn, and penetrated to the banks of the Wye:
The pride of the natives attributed their reverses not
to the superiority of the conquerors, but to the incapacity of their leadel  His father Tewdric, it was said,
had never shewn nis back to an enemy: were he to
place himself at their head, the Saxons would not
dare to appear in his presence. Tewdric had resigned
the sceptre, and led the life of a hermit amidst the rocks
of Dindyrn. From his cell he was drawn by the entreaties of his countrymen; and assumed with reluctance the command of the army. In the battle which
followed, the hermit gained the victory, but lost his life.
He received a wound in the head, of which he died near
the confluence of the Wye and the Severn. Ceolwulf
did not survive him more than a year $.
Ceolwulf was succeeded by Cynegils, the son of Ceol- A. D.
ric, who divided the kingdom with his brother Cuichelm. 611.
This partition did not diminish the strength of the nation. The two brothers appeared to be animated with
the same spirit, and united their efforts to promote the
public prosperity. They led a powerful army to Bampton in Devonshire. The Britons fled at the martial
appearance of the enemy; and the Saxons returning
* Chron. Sax. p. 23. Hunt. 181.  " Ibid. p. 25. Hunt. 181.
$ Usher de prim. p. 292. Langhorn, p. 148. As Tewdric was killed by
pagans, the Britons styled him a martyr. Mathern, where he was buried,
derived its name from the words Merthir Teswdric. When Bishop Godwin
repaired his tomb, he found the bones entire, and the fracture of the skull
apparently recent. God. de Presul. p. 593.




ï~~130

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CRAP. 111.

from the pursuit numbered two thousand and forty-six
enemies among the slain *. The three sons of Saberct,
who had succeeded to the kingdom of Essex, ventured
to provoke the hostility of the two brothers; but they
A. D. fell on the field of battle, and of their followers but few
623. escaped to carry the intelligence to their countrymen*.
The character of Cuichelm is disgraced by the attempt of his messenger Eomer to assassinate Edwin,
A. a. king of Northumbria. What peculiar provocation he
626. might have received, it is in vain to conjecture: according to Malmsbury, he had been deprived of part of his
territory. The silence of historians acquits Cynegils of
any share in the guilt of his brother; but he was unwilling to see him fall a victim to the resentment of the
Northumbrian, and assisted him with all his forces in a
fruitless attempt to repel Edwin. Fortunately the conqueror was appeased, and left them in possession of
their territories $.
Two years afterwards, Penda, who was then beginning his sanguinary career, determined to measure his
strength with that of the West-Saxons. The obstinacy
of the two armies prolonged the contest till it was interrupted by the darkness of night. The conflict was
about to be renewed in the morning, when both parties,
appalled by the loss of the preceding day, were induced
by their mutual fears to listen to terms of reconciliation.
The battle was fought at CirencesterÂ~. Both Cynegils
and Cuichelm received baptism from the hands of the
bishop Birinus. Cynegils survived his brother seven
years, and died in 642.
The throne was next filled by Coinwalch, the son of
the last monarch, who had refused to embrace Christianity with his father and uncle.  He had formerly
married a sister of Penda; but as soon as he obtained
the crown, he dismissed her with ignominy, and beS11nut. 181. Mahln. 6. Chron. Sax. p. 25.  + Hunt. 181.
SBled. ii. 9. Chron. Sax. 27, 28.
Chron. Sax. p. 29. Ethelward, 476. Hunt. 181.




ï~~A.n. 672.]

SEXBURGA.

131

stowed his hand on a more favourite princess. The
Mercian, urged by resentment, entered Wessex, defeated
Coinwalch, and chased him out of his dominions. He A. D.
found an asylum in the territory of Aina, the vir- 645.
tuous king of the East-Angles, where he was induced
to abjure the deities of paganism. In the third year of
his exile, he recovered his throne by the assistance of
his nephew Cuthred; and as a testimony of his gratitiude, bestowed on his benefactor three thousand hides
of land at Aston in Berkshire. His next care was to A. D.
fulfil the pious bequest of his father, and to erect a 648.
church and monastery in the city of Winchester. Its
size and magnificence astonished his countrymen *.
Coinwalch was eminently successful against the Bri- A. D.
tons. He defeated them at Bradford, and afterwards 652.
at Pen; and made the Parret the western boundary of 658
his kingdom. But he was compelled to bend before the
superior power of Wulphere, king of Mercia. If the
chance of war threw that prince into the hands of Coinwalch, the reader has seen that he recovered his liberty,
defeated the West-Saxons, and transferred the sove- A.D.
reignty of the Isle of Wight, and of part of Hampshire, 661.
to his friend Edilwalch, the king of Sussex '.
At the death of Coinwalch without children, an alluring prospect was opened to the ambition of the remaining descendants of Cerdic; but the reins of government A. D.
were instantly seized by his widow Sexburga, a princess 672.
whose spirit and abilities were worthy of a crown. By
her promptitude and decision she anticipated or suppressed the attempts of her opponents. At the head of
her army she overawed the neighbouring princes, who
were eager to humble the power ef Wessex; and by the
lenity of her sway, endeavoured to reconcile her subjects
to the novelty of a female reign. Yet a general discontent prevailed; the chieftains conceived it a disgrace
to submit to the sceptre of a woman; and she would
SBed. iii. 7  Chron. Sax. 31, 32, 33. 39.  Malm. f. 6.
SChrom  Sax. 33. 39.  Bed. iii. 7; iv. 13.  Hunt. 182.




ï~~132

ANGLO-SAXONS

[CHAP. III

probably have been driven from the throne, had not her
death anticipated the attempt, before the first year of
her reign was expired *.
The government of Wessex now assumed the form of
an aristocracy. The most powerful thanes associated
for their mutual defence; and in the emergencies of
foreign war conferred on one of their number the title of
A.D kingt'. The first of these was Escuin, a descendant of
674. Ceolwulf, who fought a bloody but indecisive battle with
A.D. Wulphere, at Bedwin in Wiltshire.      He died or was
675. expelled in the following year. Centwin, the brother of
Coinwalch, succeeded, and the West-Saxons under his
A.D. conduct drove the Britons to the borders of the ocean.
681 To escape his pursuit, many joined their brethren in
Armniorica $.
Among the numerous princes of the family of Cerdic
was Cmaadwalla, of the house of Ceawlin. His youth,
activity, and courage had distinguished him above his
equals: but the qualities which attracted the admiration
of the people alarmed the jealousy of Centwin; and Caeadwalla, with a band of faithful adherehts, retired from
danger into the territory of Sussex. Yet the spirit of
the fugitive scorned to solicit assistance from the enemies of his country; and in the extensive forests of Andredswald and Chiltene he maintained his independence S. At the same time Wilfrid, the banished bishop
of York, resided in Selsey, which had been given to him
by Edilwalch. The similarity of their fortunes formed
a bond of amity between the two exiles.      Cmadwalla
frequently visited the prelate, and received from him
seasonable supplies of horses and money. Insensibly
* Chron. Sax. 41. Westminster says she was dethroned (ad ann. 672);
but I prefer the testimony of Malmsbury, f. 6.
+ This appears the only manner of reconciling the ancient chroniclers
with Bede iii. 12.
t Chron. Sax. 44. Malm.6. Hunt. 183. Ethel. 476.
Â~ De desertis Chiltene et Ondred. Edd. c. xli. The forest of Andredswald has been already mentioned: Chiltene was probably in the eastern
part of Hampshire, and in the district of the Meanwari, lately added to
Sussex. Remains of the name still exist in Chilton, Chalton, &c.




ï~~A. D. 685.]

CUEADWALLA.

133

the number of his followers increased; adventurers and
malcontents crowded to his standard; and he made a
sudden and unexpected irruption into the cultivated part
of Sussex. Edilwalch, who attempted with a few followers to oppose him, was slain; and the flames of war
were spread over the country, when the ealdormen Bercthune and Andhune returned from Kent with the army
of Sussex, and drove this band of outlaws to their former asylum in the forest. There Cmeadwalla received
the welcome intelligence that his persecutor Centwin
was dead, and had generously, on his death-bed, named
him  his successor. He hastened into Wessex: his re- A. D.
putation had already interested the people in his favour 685.
his rivals were intimidated by the martial appearance of
his followers; and Cmadwalla ascended, without opposition, the throne of Cerdic*.
The firt care of the new king was to remove the disgrace which he had so lately received in Sussex. With
a powerful army he entered that devoted country, slew
Bercthune in battle, and reduced the natives to their
former dependence on the crown of Wessex. Thence
he pursued his victorious career into Kent. The inhabitants fled at his approach: and the riches of the open
country became the spoil of the invadersi".
The isle of Wight had been formerly subjugated and
colonized by a body of Jutes. Wulphere had severed it
from Wessex: Cmadwalla resolved to reunite it to his
dominions. Though a pagan, he implored, in this difficult enterprise, the assistance of the god of the Christians,
and vowed, in the event of victory, to devote one fourth
of his conquest to the service of religion. Arvali, who
held the island under the crown of Sussex, defended
himself with courage; and Cmadwalla received several
wounds before he could subdue his antagonist. In his
rage he had determined to exterminate the natives, and
to supply their place with a colony of Saxons: but he
* Edd. c. x1i. Bed. iv. 15. Chron. Sax. 45. Maims. 151.
t Bed. iv. 15. Chron. Sax. p. 46. Hunt. 192.




ï~~134

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. I is

yielded to the entreaties and exhortations of Wilfrid;
and gave to the bishop, in execution of his vow, three
hundred hides of land, the fourth portion of the island.
By him the donation was transferred to the clergyman
Bernwine, his nephew, who, with the assistance of Hiddela, established the Christian faith among the inhabitants*.
'During this invasion two young princes, the brothers
of Arvald, had escaped from the island, and sought an
asylum among the Jutes of the opposite coast. They
were concealed at Stoneham: but the place of their
retreat was betrayed to Ceadwalla, and an order was
despatched for their immediate execution. Cynibert,
the abbot of Redbridge, hastened to solicit, and with difficulty obtained, a respite, till he should baptize the
unfortunate youths. He hastened to Stoneham, informed them of their approaching end, consoled them
with the hope of future happiness, and explained to
them the leading doctrines of Christianity. They listened
to him with gratitude; the ceremony of baptism was
performed; and the two brothers joyfuldly offered their
necks to the sword, "in the certain hope," says Bede,
" of exchanging a temporary for an immortal and bliss"ful existence t.
A.D.  The next theatre of his vengeance, or his ambition,
687. was the kingdom of Kent. His brother MVollo commanded the West-Saxon army; and the natives, recurring to the policy which they had adopted in the
former year, retired at the approach of the invaders.
Mollo, whom  the absence of an enemy had rendered
negligent, incautiously separated from his forces with
twelve attendants. He was descried by the peasants,
attacked, hunted into a cottage, and burnt to death.
Caeadwalla hastened to revenge the fate of his brother;
and devoted the whole of Kent to the flames and the
sword.

SBed. iv. 16.      T Bed. ibid.: Chron. Sax. p. 48.




ï~~A,. 688.]

IN-A.

135

From his first acquaintance with Wilfrid, the king nad
imbibed a favourable notion of the Christian worship:
when he had mounted the throne, he invited the bishop
into Wessex, honoured him as his father and benefactor,
and determined to embrace the faith of the gospel.
Another prince would have been content to receive baptism from his own prelate or his instructor: Coadwalla A.D.
resolved to receive it from the hands of the sovereign 688.
pontiff. He crossed the sea, visited in his progress the
most celebrated churches, testified his piety by costly
presents, was honourably entertained by Cunibert, king
of the Lombards, and entered Rome in the spring of the
year 688. On the vigil of Easter he was baptized by
pope Sergius, and changed his name to that of Peter, in
honour of the prince of the apostles. But before he laid
aside the white robes, the usual distinction of those who
had been lately baptized, he was seized with a mortal
illness, and died on the twentieth of April, in the thirtieth year of his age. By the command of Sergius he
was interred in the church of St. Peter; and an inscription fixed on the tomb preserved the memory, and celebrated the virtues, of the king of the West-Saxons *.
The successor of Ceadwalla was Ina, who derived his
descent from the bretwalda Ceawlin. As a warrior Ina
was equal, as a legislator he was superior, to the most
celebrated of his predecessors. In the fifth year of his
reign he assembled the Witena-gemot, and "with the
"advice of his father Cenred, of his bishops Hedda and
"Erconwald, of all his ealdormen, and wise men, and
"clergy," enacted seventy-nine laws, by which he regulated the administration of justice, fixed the legal compensation for crimes, checked the prevalence of hereditary
feuds, placed the conquered Britons under the protection
* Chr. Sax. ibid. Bed. v. 7. The concluding lines of his epitaph were
these:
Candidus inter oves Christi sociabilis ibit:
Corpore nam tumulum, mente superna tenet.
Commutasse magis sceptrorum insignia cedas,
Quem regnum Christi promeruisse vides.-bid.




ï~~136

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. Ili.

of the state, ano exposed and punished the frauds, which
might be committed in the transfer of merchandise, and
the cultivation of land *. Essex (by what means is
unknown) had already been annexed to his crown 1';
and Kent was again destined to lament the day in which
A. D. Mollo had perished. At the head of a resistless army
692. Ina demanded the were for the death of his cousin; and
Withred, king of Kent, to appease the resentment of
the invader, paid the full compensation, thirty thousand
pounds of silver 1. The West-Saxon monarch steadily
pursued the 'policy of his fathers in the gradual subjugation of the Britons; added by successive conquests
several districts to the western provinces of his kingdom;
and expelled, after long struggles, Geraint, the king of
Cornwall. His dispute with Ceolred of Mercia, was
AD. more bloody, and less glorious. The battle was fought
715at Wodnesbury. Both claimed the victory" but neither
dared io renew the engagement Â~.
If the abilities of Ina had promoted the prosperity of
Wessex, the duration of his reign exhausted the patience
of the more aspiring among the descendants of Cerdic.
He had swayed the sceptre two and-thirty years, when
A D. the etheling Cenulf ventured to claim the royal authority,
721.and in a short time paid the forfeit of his ambition (j.
The next year his example was followed by another
pretender named Eadbyrht; who seized the strong castle
of Taunton, which Ina had lately erected in Somersetshire. It was at the moment when an insurrection had
drawn the king into Sussex: but his queen Ethelburga
assembled an army, took the fortress by storm, and
levelled it with the ground. Eadbyrht had the good fortune to escape from his pursuers, and was raised by the
* Leges Sax. p.14-27.
" Malm. 7. Ina calls the bishop of'London, my bishop." Leg. Sax. p.14.
t Chron. Sax.'p. 48. Polychron. p. 243. Malmsbury (7) has too great
a sum, 30,000 marks of gold. Florence of Worcester makes it amount to
3700 pounds: Flor. ad ann. 694.
Â~ Chliron. Sax.ij. 50,51. Hunt. 193, 194.
SChron. Sax. p. 52. Flor. Wig. ad ann. 721.




ï~~A. D. 725.]

I NA.

137

enemies of Ina to the throne of Sussex. During two
years the natives successfully maintained the struggle
for their independence, but in the third they-were de- A. D.
feated, and the death of Eadbyrht consummated the 725
subjection of their country *.
Ina was the friend and benefactor of the churchmen.
All the celebrated monasteries in his kingdom experienced his bounty; and the abbey of Glastonbury was
erected by him with a munificence truly royal t. The
religious sentiments which he had imbibed in early life,
sunk more deeply into his mind as he advanced in
years; and their influence was strengthened by the
exhortations of his queen, who ardently wished for the
retirement of the cloister. With this view, if we may
credit the narrative of Malmsbury, she devised and
executed a most singular stratagem. The king and
queen had given a splendid entertainment to the nobility
and clergy of the kingdom. The following morning they
left the castle; but after a ride of a few hours, Ina, at
the earnest solicitation of Ethelburga, consented to
return. He was surprised at the silence and solitude
which appeared to reign in the castle. At each step his
astonishment increased. The furniture had disappeared:
the hall was strewed with fragments and rubbish; and
a litter of swine occupied the very bed, in which he had
passed the night. His eyes interrogated the queen, who
seized the moment to read her husband a lecture on the
vanity of human greatness, and the happy serenity of an
obscure and religious life *. It is not, however, necessary to have recourse to the story. There are other
grounds on which the determination of Ina may be
explained, without attributing it to so clumsy an artifice.
He had now reigned seven-and-thirty years. The peace
* Chron. Sax. p. 52. Alunt. 194.
+ Maim. de Ant. Glast. edit. Gale, p. 310. His donations amounted to
2900 pounds of silver, and 350 pounds of gold. Ibid. I should think this
money arose from the were paid for the death of Mollo: as Ina built the
monastery pro anima propinqui sup Mollonis. Gale, 309. Monast. Aug.
i. 13.           r      Malmt 7.
v L. r.   12




ï~~138

ANGLO SAXONS.

[CHAP. II?,

of his old age had been disturbed oy rebellion. His
body was broken by infirmity, his mind distracted by
care. Experience had laught him how difficult it was
to hold with a feeble hand the reins of government
among a warlike and turbulent nobility. He resolved
to descend spontaneously from that situation, which he
could no longer retain with dignity; and religion offered
A. n. to his grey hairs a safe and a holy retreat. In the
728. Witena-gemot he resigned the crown, released his subjects from their allegiance, and expressed his wish to
spend the remainder of his days in lamenting the errors
of his youth. Within a few weeks the royal penitent,
accompanied by Ethelburga, quitted Wessex. To watch
and pray at the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul,
was the first object of their wishes; and after a tedious
journey they arrived in Rome, and visited the holy
places. It may be, as some writers have asserted, that
Ina then built the school of the English in that city *:
but this circumstance was unknown to the more ancient
historians; and can hardly be reconciled with the humility of the king, whose endeavour it was to elude the
notice of the public, and to live confounded with the
mass of the common people. On this account he refused
to shave his head, or wear the monastic habit; and continued to support himself by the labour of his hands,
and to perform his devotions in the garb of a poor and
unknown pilgrim. He died before the expiration of the
year; and was followed to the grave by Ethelburga, the
consort of his greatness, and the faithful companion of
his poverty and repentance '".
When Ina resigned the sceptre, he recommeided for
his successors, iEthelheard, the brother of his queen, and
Oswald, who through Ethelbald, Cynebald, and Cuthwin,
traced his descent from Ceawlin *. The two princes
immediately became antagonists: Oswald, though de* West. ad ann. 727. He also attributes to Ina the establishment of
Peter-pence, which is equally improbable.
+ Bed. v. 7. Chron. Sax. p. 52. Malm. 7. Gale, 313.,Bed. v. 7. Chron. Sax. p. 53.




ï~~A. D. 752]

CUTHRED.

139

feated, did not relinquish his pretensions; and till his
death in 730,.Ethelheard reigned in anxiety and suspense. This domestic quarrel impaired the power, and
emboldened the enemies, of Wessex. The British writers
claim for their countrymen the glory of three victories,
obtained in North-Wales, South-Wales, and Cornwall *.
The superiority of the Mercians is better established.
i thelheard was compelled to obey the authority of
Ethelbald, king of Mercia: and an unsuccessful attempt A. D.
to recover his independence, was chastised by the loss of 733.
Somerton, the capital of Somersetshire. After an inglo- A. D.
rious reign of thirteen years he left his crown to his bro- 741.
ther Cuthred ".
Cuthred first drew his sword to revenge the death of
his son, the etheling Cenric, who had been slain in a
sedition of the people. The perpetrators of the crime,
apprehensive of punishment, took up arms, and placed
at their head the ealdorman Edilhun. Their army was A. D.
inferior to that of the king: but the bravery of their 750.
leader supplied the deficiency of numbers; and the
victory was doubtful, till a dangerous wound removed
the ealdorman from the field. The conqueror behaved
with generosity to his vanquished subjects, and restored
Edilhun to his favour. The services of that nobleman
in the great victory of Burford have been already mentioned. By his assistance the king defeated the Mercians,
and secured the independence of Wessex. An expedition A. D.
against the Britons, which added a considerable district 752.
to his dominions, closed the career of this warlike
monarch, who died in 754 $.
Sigebyrcht succeeded to the crown. Before the end
of the year, the majority of the thanes rejected his
authority, and elected a descendant of Cerdic, by name
Cynewulf. Hampshire alone, by the influence of the
ealdorman Cumbra, remained faithful to Sigebyrcht:
but that nobleman having presumed to remonstrate with
* Caradoc, p. 16.           J Chron. Sax. p. 54. Hunt. 195
('hron. Sax. 56. hunt. 196. Carad. 116.




ï~~140

ANGI.O.-SAXONS.

[CH AP. III

him on his conduct, was put to death by his ungrateful
master. The loss of their leader dissolved the connexion
between the Hamp -hire men and the king: they united
with their countrymen in acknowledging the claim of
Cynewulf; and Sigebyrcht fled with precipitation to the
forest of Andredswald. There he wandered for almost
a year; till he was accidentally discovered at Prevet by
one of the retainers of Cumbra, who, to revenge the
death of his lord, thrust his spear through the body of
A. D.
755.the fugitive prince. He is said to have been buried
with royal honours at Winchester *.
Of the long reign of Cynewulf we know little more
than that it was signalized by several victories over the
Britons, and disgraced by the surrender of Bensington
A. D. to the Mercians. But the history of his death deserves
775.to be preserved, as illustrative of two great features in
the Anglo-Saxon character, - devotedness of attachment,
and ferocity of revenge. Sigebyrcht had left a brother
named Cyneheard, who to escape the jealousy of the new
king, abandoned his native country. and consoled the
hours of exile with the hope of revenge. Thirty-one
years had elapsed from  the death of Sigebyrcht, when
Cyneheard returned with eighty-four adherents, and
A.D. secreted himself in the woods. It chanced one evening
785. that the king left Winchester with a slender retinue to
visit a female at Merton, to whom he was warmly attached. Cyneheard stole silently from his retreat, followed with caution the footsteps of the monarch; and
in the dead of the night surrounded the residence of his
mistress.  Cynewulf was asleep: his attendants were
dispersed in the neighbouring houses. At the first alarm
he rose, seized his sword, and descended to the door
where he descried his enemy, and springing forward
aimed a desperate blow at the head of Cyneheard. The
wound, which was but slight, was quickly revenged by
the weapons of the conspirators. Roused by the noise
* Chron. Sax.56. Ethelw. 477. Hunt. 196




ï~~A. D. 785.J   MURIDER OF CYNEWUL;.

141

of the combatants and the shrieks of the woman, the
king's attendants hastened to his assistance; but thpy
found him breathless, and weltering in blood. It was
in vain that Cyneheard offered them their lives and
possessions. They scorned his proposals: and after a
long conflict were all slain, with the exception of a Briton, who, in quality of hostage, had been detained in the
court of Cynewulf. Even he was severely wounded.
Early in the morning the news arrived at Winchester.
The ealdorman Osric, and Wiverth the thane, immediately mounted their horses, and rode to Merton, followed
by their retainers. Cyneheard met them at the gate to
justify his conduct, and to solicit their friendship. He
pleaded the obligation of revenging the wrongs of his
family; asserted his claim to the throne; offered them
valuable possessions; and bade them recollect that many
of his friends were their kinsmen.    "Our kinsmen,"
they replied, " are not dearer to us than was our lord.
" To his murderers we will never submit. If those,
" who are related to us, wish to save their lives, they
" are at liberty to depart." " The same offer," returned
the followers of Cyneheard, " was made to the king's
" attendants. They refused it. We will prove to-day
" that our generosity is not inferior to theirs." Impatient of delay, Osric forced the barrier: he was opposed
with the most desperate intrepidity; and the battle was
terminated only by the failure of combatants. Of Cyneheard's eighty-four companions one alone was saved
He was found among the slain, covered with wounds but
still alive; and owed his preservation to this fortunate
circumltance, that he was the godson of Osric.     The
body of Cynewulf was interred among the ashes of his
progenitors at Winchester, that of Cyneheard was conveyed to the church of Exeter*
* Chron. Sax. 57. 63. Hunt. 196, 197. Flor. ad ann. 784. Malm. 7.
Ethelw. 477  Westm. ad anu. 786. They all agree in substance, but
differ in minor circumstances. I have selected those which appear the
most probable.




ï~~142

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP.III-,

The vacant throne was next occupied by Brihtric.
The West-Saxon thanes had still retained the ancient
privilege of electing their kings. Though they confined
their choice to the descendants of Cerdic, they frequently disregarded the order of hereditary succession.
This practice was productive of the most serious evils.
Every prince of the royal race nourished the hope of
ascending the throne; and, as the unsuccessful candidate often appealed to the sword, the strength of the
nation was impaired by domestic dissensions; and the
reigning king. was frequently compelled to divert his
attention from the general welfare to his own individual
security. The opponent of Brihtric was Egbert, who,
unable to withstand the power of his enemy, left the
island, and sought employment in the armies of Charle -
magne. Of the exploits of the king, during the sixteen
years of his reign, historians are silent: the circumstances of his death, on account of its consequences,
A. D. have arrested their attention. Brihtric had married
787. Eadburga, the daughter of Offa, a princess as ambitious
and unprincipled as her father  By her imperious temper she governed her husband, and, through him, the
whole nation. The king had noticed with particular
distinction the ealdorman Worr. Jealous of the rising
influence of this young nobleman, Eadburga prepared
for him a poisonous potion. but unfortunately the king
drank of the same cup, and accompanied his favourite. D.to the grave. The West-Saxons vented their impreca789. tions against the murderess, who escaped with her treasures to France; and the Witena-gemot enacted a law,
by which the consorts of the future kings were deprived
of the style and privileges of royalty. Eadburga was
presented to Charlemagne, and when the jeering monarch asked her, whom she would have, him or his son,
" Your son," she replied, " for he is the younger." The
emperor was, or affected to be, displeased; but made
her a present of an opulent monastery, in which she
resided with the title of abbess. Soon, however, her




ï~~A.,. 800.3

EGBERT.

143

dissolute conduct scandalized the sisterhood, and the
public. She was expelled with ignominy, and after
many adventures, terminated her miserable existence at
Pavia in Italy, where the daughter of the king of Mercia,
and widow of the king of Wessex, was often seen soliciting in rags the charity of passengers. Brihtric died
in the year 800 *.
EGBERT.
The expulsion of Egbert, and his reception at the
court of Charlemagne, have been already mentioned.
Three years he served in the armies of that emperor,
and improved the period of his exile in acquiring a proficiency in the arts of war and government. The death
of Brihtric recalled him to his native country. He was A. D.
the only remaining prince of the house of Cerdic, de- 800
riving his descent from that conqueror, through Inigils,
the brother of Ina. By the West-Saxon thanes his
claim was unanimously acknowledged; and the day of
his coronation was ennobled by a victory, the omen of
subsequent conquests. Desirous perhaps to disturb the
joy of the ceremony, Ethelmund, the Mercian ealdorman of Gloucestexshire, attempted with a body of horsemen to cross the Isis at Kempsford, and was opposed by
Wulstan, the West-Saxon ealdorman of Wiltshire. Both
the commanders fell in the engagement: but the Mercians were routed, and pursued with considerable loss
into their own territory t.
Egbert devoted the commencement of his reign to
the cultivation of peace, and the improvement of his
people. It was not till 809 that he unsheathed the
sword: but from that period each succeeding year was
marked by new victories and conquests. He repeatedly
invaded and appropriated to himself a portion of the
territory of the ancient Britons: the havoc of war and
the flames of destruction were carried to the western

* Chron. Sax. 63. 68. Asser. p. 10. 12,

t Chron. Sax. 68.




ï~~144

ANGLO-SAXONS.

LCHAP. III

extremity of the island; and the natives of Cornwall,
exhausted by numerous defeats, reluctantly submitted
to the conqueror *. The East-Angles, who still remembered the treachery of Offa, by entreaties and presents
A. D. induced him to make war upon the Mercians. The two
823. armies met at Ellendune on the banks of the Willy;
and Beornwulf, after an obstinate resistance, yielded the
palm of victory to his adversary, who, seizing the favourable moment, overran the feeble kingdoms of Kent and
Essex, and united them to his own dominions. Beornwulf, and after him his successor Ludecan, sought to
wreak their vengeance on the East-Angles 1. Both lost
their lives in the fruitless attempt; and Wiglaf, who
next ascended the throne, had scarcely grasped the
sceptre, when he was compelled to drop it at the apA.. proach of the West-Saxons. Unable to collect an army,
827 he endeavoured to elude the pursuit of the invaders;
wandered for three years in the forests and marshes;
and during four months obtained a secure retreat in the
cell of Ethelburga, the daughter of Offa, who lived a
recluse in the church of Croyland. Time, and the entreaties of the abbot Siward, mitigated the resentment
of Egbert: who at last permitted Wiglaf to retain the
sceptre, on condition that he should pay an annual tribute, and swear fealty to the king of Wessex $. By the
submission of the Mercians and of the East-Angles,
A. D. Egbert found himself on the frontiers of Northumbria,
828. which was already subdued by the terror of his name.
The chieftains, with Eanfrid at their head, met him at
Dore, acknowledged him for their lord, and gave hostages for their obedience. Thence he directed his arms
against the Britons, penetrated through the heart of
North Wales, and planted his victorious standard in the
isle of Anglesey. Thus in the space of nineteen years
did Egbert, by his policy and victories, extend the authority of Wessex over the greater part of the island, and

* Chron. Sax. p. 69, 70, Ethelweard, 478.
L Prece oretioaue Ingul. 7. Chron. Sam. p. 70.

t Ingul.7 R




ï~~A. D. 828.]  TIHE DANES AND NORTHMEN.

145

obtain for himself the honourable title of "the eighth
" Bretwalda *."
Scarcely, however, had the king attained this superiority over the native princes, when he saw himself
assailed by a foreign and most dangerous enemy. At
this period the peninsula of Jutland, the islands of the
Baltic, and the shores of the Scandinavian continent,
were the birth-place of a race of men, who, like the
Saxons of old, spent the best portion of their lives on
the waves, despised the tranquil enjoyments of peace,
and preferred the acquisitions of rapine to the laborious
profits of industry. Their maritime situation familiarized them with the dangers of the ocean; and an
absurd law of succession, which universally prevailed
among a multitude of chieftains, consigned the majority
of their children to the profession of piracy. The eldest
son obtained the whole patrimony of his family- the
rest of the brothers received no other inheritance than
their swords and ships, with which they were expected
to acquire reputation and riches'. Till the eighth century the sea-kings (so the principal of these adventurers
were called), confined their depredations to the northern
seas: but they had heard of the wealthy provinces in
the south; and the success of their attempts incited
them to engage in more distant and important expeditions. Several chieftains associated under the banner
of a renowned and experienced leader. In spring the
pirates sailed to a distant province, landed, ravaged the
country, collected the spoil, steered to another coast,
repeated their depredations, and in autumn returned
laden with plunder to their own country. Their first
attempts were directed against the British isles: next
* Chron. Sax. 71,72. Ethelw. 478. The opinion that hie gave himself
the title of the first king of England, rests on no sufficient authority. Se
veral of his predecessors had as good a right to it as himself: and his immediate successors contented themselves with the usual style of kings of
the West-Saxons. By Monarcha Britanniee, Huntingdon (198) probably
means no more than Bretwalda.
f Gale, 533. Snorre, Havniee, 1777. p. 43. Messen. Stockholme, 1700.
voL...    13




ï~~146

ANGLo-SAXONS

[CHAP. 11I.

they desolated the coasts of France and Spain; at last
they sailed through the straits which divide Europe
from Africa, and taught the shores of the Mediterranean
to tremble at the names of the Danes and Northmen.
The establishment of a Danish dynasty in England, of
the duchy of Normandy in France, and afterwards of a
powerful kingdom in Italy, bears sufficient testimony to
their courage, their activity, and their perseverance.
Of their descents in England during the eighth century three only are recorded, one on the isle of Thanet,
and two on the coast of Northumbria. If these attempts
produced a temporary alarm, they furnished no cause
of permanent uneasiness. But towards the close of the
reign of Egbert the numbers of the pirates perpetually
increased, and their visits were annually renewed. In
832 they landed in the isle of Sheppy, conveyed away
the plunder, and returned home without molestation.
The next year a fleet of five-and-thirty sail entered the
mouth of the Dart: and Egbert had the mortification
to see his West-Saxons turn their backs to the invaders.
Convinced of the necessity of preparation, he summoned
all his vassals to meet him in London, explained to
them the measures which he had resolved to adopt, and
waited in anxious suspense for the next descent of the
enemy. Nor were they inferior in policy to the king.
A.D.They landed on the coast of Cornwall; where, by the
835. offers of friendship, they seduced the Britons from their
allegiance; and at Hengstone hill encountered with
united forces the men of Wessex. The king commanded
in person; and a bloody but decisive victory restored
the glory of his arms, crushed the rebellion of the Britons, and compelled the invaders to seek refuge in their
ships. This was the last exploit of Egbert, who died in
the following year, after a long, a glorious, and a fortunate reign*.
* Ethelw. 478. Hunt. 198. Ing. 10. Chron. Sax. ann. 836. But Egbert died
in 838 or 839, according to a charter of Ethelwulf, dated anno ab incarnatione
Christi occcxxxvn. indictione ii. primo videlicet anno regni Ethelwuldi
regis post obitum patris sul. Cod. Dipl. 1. 321.




ï~~A. D. 836.]

ETHELWULF.

147

ETHELWULF.
Egbert, about the middle of his reign, had moulded the A. D.
petty kingdoms of Kent, Essex and Sussex, into one gov- 836.
ernment, which he gave to his elder son Ethelwulf, with
the title of king.* Ethelwulf, on the death of his father,
succeeded to the higher throne of Wessex, and transferred
this, a subordinate kingdom, to his son Athelstan.t
Of this monarch it has frequently been observed, that
he was fitter to wear the cowl than to wield the sceptre.
For so unfavourable a character he is principally indebted to the pen of Malmsbury, who describes him as
a prince of inferior abilities, and assigns the merit of his
government to the wisdom of his ministers Alstan,
bishop of Sherborne, and Swithin, bishop of Winchester.
But the accuracy of this statement may be questioned.
In the pages of the more ancient afnalists Ethelwulf
appears with greater dignity; and if we may estimate
his character by his conduct, we cannot refuse him the
praise of activity and courage.
The education of his more early years had been confided to Swithin, provost of Winchester; and the care
of the tutor was repaid by Egbert with the office of royal
chaplain. From the lessons of his preceptor the young
prince was removed to study the military art under the
auspices of his father; and after the victory of Ellendune, he commanded the army which expelled Baldred,
king of Kert, from his dominions, and annexed that
province, with Surrey and Essex, to the ancient patrimony of the house of Cerdic 1% As soon as he had
*The chronicles assign the conquest of Kent to the year 823 or 824. In 827
we first meet with Ethelwulf Rex, and in 828 Egbert says of him, quem regem
constituimus in Canita. Cod. Dipl. i. 287. Athelstan was the son of Ethelwulf. Ethelward, i. c. 2. t Malmsbury (De Pont. 1. ii. f. 137) tells us that Ethelwulf, at the death of his father, was a sub-deacon; but that a dispensation
for him to ascend the throne was obtained from Leo III., because he was
the only surviving descendant of Cerdic. But Leo had then been dead more
than twenty years; Athelstan, the brother or son of Ethelwulf, was living,
and might have governed Wessex as well as Kent4 and the story itself appears to have been unknown to all preceding writers, and even to Malmsbury




ï~~148

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III,

mounted the throne he bestowed upon his former tutor
the vacant bishopric of Winchester; but retained at thb
head of the council the experienced bishop of Sherborne.
The incessant and desultory invasions of the Northmen
suggested the propriety of appointing officers in the
maritime districts, who, on the first alarm, might collect
the inhabitants, and oppose the landing or progress of
the enemy: and this arrangement, though, by dividing
the force of the country, it lessened the chance of victory,
generally succeeded in confining the depredations of the
invaders to the vicinity of the coast. The whole island
A.,. was now surrounded by their squadrons. While one
837. occupied the attention of Ethelwulf, a second of thirtythree sail entered the port of Southampton, and soon
afterwards a third effected a landing on the isle of Portland.. Of the king's success we are not informed. Wulfere defeated the invaders at Southampton; but Ethelhelm was slain at Portland with many of the men of
Dorset. The next spring a powerful army landed in
Lincolnshire. The ealdorman Herebryht, with his followers, perished in the marshes; and the barbarians
pushed their victorious career through East-Anglia to
the Thames.    The following year three bloody battles
were fought at Rochester, Canteirbury, and London: and
Ethelwulf himself was defeated in an action at Charmouth with thirty-five sail of the enemy *.
Whether it was that the pirates were discouraged by
the obstinate resistance which they experienced, or that
France, now become the theatre of intestine feuds and
fraternal ambition, offered a more inviting prospect, they
appear to have abandoned Britain for the next ten years,
when he wrote his history of the kings (De Reg. 20). The tale of Ethelwulf having been bishop of Winchester is still less entitled to credit. Both
reports probably arose from confounding together different persons with
the same or similar names. Thus in the ancient life of St. Neot (Act. S.S.
Bened. Sec. iv. tom. ii. p. 325), the bishop of Winchester his contempotary, and Ethelwold who was bishop a century afterwards, are both described as the same person.
* Citron. Sax. 73,74.' Asser. annal. 155. About this time occurred the
wars between the Scots and Picts, which ended in the subjugation of the
latter by Kenneth, king of Scots, in 842. Pordun, iv. 6. 8.




ï~~A. D. 8f$1.]

DANISH INVASIONS.

149

while they visited and revisited with impunity the different provinces on the coast of Gaul. But in 851 several
squadrons, as if by common consent, returned to the
island. One army had landed the preceding autumn in
the isle of Thanet, and had passed the winter on shore, a
circumstance which filled the Saxons with consternation,
as it seemed to denote a design of permanent conquest.
In the spring a fleet of three hundred and fifty sail
ascended the Thames: Canterbury and London were
sacked, and Bertulf, the tributary king of Mercia, to
whom the defence of the district had been assigned, was
defeated *. The barbarians turned to the left, and entered Surrey, where Ethelwulf with his West-Saxons
waited to receive them at Okeley. The battle that
ensued was the subject of a poem, fragments of which
have been preserved by the ancient chroniclers. It was
most obstinate and sanguinary. The victory remained
to Ethelwulf; and the loss of the Danes is said to have
been greater than they had ever sustained in any age
or country. The other divisions of the Saxon forces
were equally successful. Ceorl with the men of Devon
defeated the barbarians at Wenbury; and Athelstan,
king of Kent, captured nine of their ships in an engagement near Sandwich. So many victories gave to this
the name of the prosperous year: and the Northmen,
disheartened by their losses, respected during the remainder of Ethelwulf's reign the shores of Britain 'f'.
Burhred, king of Mercia, the successor of Bertulf,
had determined to chastise the insolence of the Welsh,
who made frequent incursions into his territories.
Merfyn Frych, their sovereign, fell in the battle: but
Roderic Mawr succeeded to the throne, and defied all
the power of the Mercian. Burhred had recourse to A.,.
his superior lord, the king of Wessex; and Ethelwulf, h53.
* Chron. Sax. 74. Asser, 5, 6. Ing. 11.
t Chron. Sax. 74, 75. Asser. 5, 6. The Danes made one or two desrents
afterwards, but of little importance.




ï~~150

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IlI.

uniting his forces with those of his vassal, penetrated
through Wales as far as the isle of Anglesey, and compelled the natives to acknowledge the ancient superiority
of the king of Mercia. At his return he gave his daughter Ethelswitha in marriage to Burhred; and the nuptials were celebrated with royal magnificence at Chippenham *.
The repeated invasions of the barbarians induced
Ethelwulf frequently to consult the assembly of his
A.D. thanes. On one of these occasions, by their advice, and
854. with their consent, he published a charter, of which the
copies are so different, and the language is so obscure,
that it is difficult to ascertain its real object: whether
it were to exempt from all secular services the tenth
part of each manor, whoever might be the possessor, or
to annex that portion of land to the possessions which
had already been settled on the church. That the grant,
however, was highly advantageous to the clergy, is evident from the engagement of the bishops of Sherborne
and Winchester, who appointed the Wednesday of each
week as a day of public supplication, to implore the
divine assistance against the Danes. This charter was
at first confined to the kingdom of Wessex: but in a
council of the tributary states, held at Winchester in
855, it was extended to all the nations of the Saxons.
The pious curiosity which had induced so many of
the Saxon princes and prelates to visit the city of Rome,
was not yet extinguished in the breasts of their posterity. The bishop of Winchester had lately performed
the journey, and had been accompamed by Alfred, the
youngest and best-beloved of the sons of Ethelwulf, a
boy in the fifth year of his age. The prince was honorably received by the pontiff Leo IV., who, at the request
* Chron. Sax. 75. Asser, 6,7. Carradoc, 27.
SS ee the charters in Wilk. p. 183. Spelm. p. 348. Ing. 17. Gale, 359.
Westm. 158. Also Chron. Sax. 76. Ailred, 351. Asser, 8. Ethelw. 478.
Dugdale, mon. 1. 32. 100. Hunt. 200. Malm. de Pont. 360.




ï~~A. I. 855.]

ETHELWULF.

151

of his father, conferred on him the regal unction, and
the sacrament of confirmation *. In 855, the tranquillity
which England enjoyed, encouraged Ethelwulf to undertake the same journey. Attended by a splendid
retinue, the royal pilgrim, with his son Alfred, crossed
the channel, visited the most celebrated churches of
Gaul, and was sumptuously entertained at the court
of Charles the Bald, king of France. At Rome he spent
several months in viewing the remains of ancient magnificence, and indulging his devotion at the shrines of
the apostles. He rebuilt the school or hospital of the
Saxons which had lately been burnt, made numerous
presents to the pope, the nobles, the clergy, and the
people of Rome, and solicited an ordinance that no Englishman should be condemned to do penance in irons
out of his own country '-.   In his return he again visited
the French monarch, and after a courtship of three
months was married to his daughter Judith, who probably had not yet reached her twelfth year. The ceremony was performed by Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims
At the conclusion the princess was crowned, and seated
on a throne by the side of her husband; a distinction
which she afterwards claimed, to the great displeasure of
the West-Saxons.
* Asser, 7. Chron. Sax. 77. Why did the king request the pope to
crown Alfred at so early an age? Different reasons have been suggected
by ancient and modern writers. Perhaps it was to secure his succession
to the crown after his brothers to the exclusion of their children. Such
at least was Ethelwulf's determination in his will.
+ Asser, 8, 9. Citron. Sax. 76. Anastas. Biblioth. ii. 206, 07. 'ar.
1649. Annal. Bertin. apud Bouquet, viii. 72. 2t8. 620. For partriide
and other enormous crimes, the bishops were accustomed to condemrn penitents to wear irons for a certain number of years, and on sonme occasions
sent them to Rome to be absolved by the pope. One of these crimiral. is
thus described by Wulstan of Winchester, an eye-witness:Occidit proprium crudeli morte parentem,
Unde reo statim praecepit episcopus urbis,
Ferreus ut ventrem constringeret acriter omnem
Circulus, et similem paterentur brachia poenam,
Continuosque novem semet cruciando per annos,
Atria sacrorum lustraret sape locorum,
Viseret et sacri pulcherrima limina l'etri,
Quo veniam tanta mereretur sumere culpto.
Act. Iened, s-c. iv. tm. ii. p. 72.




ï~~152

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CH.P. Ill.

Ancient writers have not mentioned to whom Ethelwulf had intrusted the reins of government during his
absence. But Ethelbald, his eldest son, a prince of impetuous passions and insatiable ambition, conceived the
design of seizing the throne for himself, and of holding
it in defiance of his father. His advisers and accomplices were Alstan7 the celebrated bishop of Sherborne,
and Eanwulf, the ealdorman of Somerset. In the forest
of Selwood the project was disclosed to some of the more
powerful thanes, whose approbation appeared to ensure. D its success. But at the return of Ethelwulf the tide of
856. popularity flowed in hi favour: the majority of the
nation condemned the treason of an unnatural son; and
a civil war would have been the consequence, had not
the moderation of the king consented to a partition of
his dominions. He resigned to Ethelbald the kingdom
of Wessex, and contented himself with the provinces
which Athelstan, who died min 853, had governed with the
title of king. He survived this compromise but two years,
which he spent in acts of charity and exercises of devotion.
By his will, which was confirmed in a general assembly
of the thanes, he left that share of the kingdom still in
his possession to his second son, Ethelbert; and, dividing
his landed property into two portions, bequeathed the
larger to his other sons, Ethelbald, Ethelred, and Alfred,
and the smaller to his daughter and more distant relatives; but with this difference, that the former was to be
held jointly by the three brothers, and to become ultimately the property of the survivor. Both portions he
charged with the obligation of maintaining one poor person on every ten hides of land, and of paying a yearly rent
of three hundred mancuses to the pope for the use of that
prelate, and the service of the churches of St. Peter and
St. Paul. He died in 857, and was buried at Winchester.*
ETHELBALD.
After the death of Ethelwulf, Ethelbald continued to
* Asser, 9, 12, 13. Testament. Alfred. ibid. 79; which, however, should
be corrected by the copy of the Anglo-Saxon original, published by Manning,
and afterwards by Cardale, and in the Cod. Dipl.11,112.




ï~~A.D. 859.]

ETHELBALD.

153

sit on the throne of Wessex: Ethelbert, in pursuance of
his father's will, assumed the government of Kent,
Essex, Sussex, and Surrey. The new king had been
the foremost to condemn the marriage of Ethelwulf with
the daughter of the French monarch: he now forgot
his former enmity to the princess, and took the young
widow to his own bed. This incestuous connexion scan- A.D.
dalized the people of Wessex: their disapprobation was 859.
publicly and loudly expressed; and the king, overawed
by the remonstrances of the bishop of Winchester, consented to a separation *. Judith (I may here be allowed
to pursue her history), unwilling to remain in a country
which had witnessed her disgrace, sold her lands, the
dower she had received from Ethelwulf, and returned
to the court of her father.  Charles, who dared not
trust the discretion of his daughter, ordered her to be
confined within the walls of Senlis, but to be treated at
the same time with the respect due to a queen. The
cunning of Judith was, however, more than a match for
the vigilance of her guards. By the connivance of her
brother she eloped in disguise with Baldwin, great forester of France; and the fugitives were soon beyond the
reach of royal resentment. The king prevailed on his
bishops to excommunicate Baldwin, for having forcibly
carried off a widow; but the pope -disapproved of the
sentence; and at his entreaty Charles gave a reluctant
consent to their marriage, though neither he nor archbishop Hinemar could be induced to assist at the ceremony. They lived in great magnificence in Flanders,
the earldom of which was bestowed on them by the
king, and from their union descended Matilda, the wife
of William the Conqueror, who gave to England a long
race of sovereigns1.
In the battles which were fought during the life of
Ethelwulf, Ethelbald had acquired peculiar distinction.
* Asser, 13.
Apud Bouquet, viii. Anna.. Bertin. 77, 78. 83. Ep. Hine. ad Nic.
uap. 214. Chron. Sith. 268. Capitul: Car. Cal. 650.




ï~~154

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CtlAP. III.

During his own reign, either he possessed no opportunity
of displaying his courage, or the memory of his exploits
has been obliterated. Yet his martial character so endeared him to the youth of Wessex, that they lamented
his death as a national calamity, and foretold that England would soon feel how severe a loss she had sustained.
Hie died in 860.
ETHELBERT.
According to some writers, the crown of Wessex,
agreeably to the provisions contained in the testament
of Ethelwulf, ought, on the demise of the last king,
to have descended to Ethelred, the third of the brothers.  But Ethelbert, who had hitherto possessed the
kingdom of Kent, advanced the claim of seniority, and
his pretensions were admitted by the great council of
Wessex.    His martial virtues are said to have been
equal to those of his late brother: and the title of
"invincible conqueror" was accorded to him by the admiration or flattery of his contemporaries.  Yet the
meagre chronicles of the times contain no record of his
victories; and we are only told that his reign was short,
and that he died in 865.
A. D. Under this prince the city of Winchester was sacked
864. by the Northmen, who, as they conveyed the plunder
to Southampton, were defeated with great slaughter by
the ealdormen of Hampshire and Berkshire. Another
army landed in the isle of Thanet, and sold to the men
of Kent their forbearance for a considerable sum of
money. But they laughed at the credulity of the purchasers; and the eastern moiety of the province was
pillaged and depopulated by the faithless barbarians *.
It was also during his reign that an event occurred in
the north, which endangered by its consequences the
very existence of the Saxons as a nation. Among the
* Asser, 14, 15. Chron. Sax. 78. Runoorn (Ang. Sac..i. 206) postpones the capture of Winchester to the first year of Ethelred: and adds,
that every monk belonging to the cathedral was slain by the infidels. The
Annales WVintonienses phlace this event in 873.-Ibid., note.




ï~~A. D. 865.]

ETHELBERT.

155

sea-kings, one of the most adventurous and successful
was Ragnar Lodbrog. On the shores of the Baltic, in
the Orkneys and the Hebrides, in Ireland, Scotland, and
Northumbria, he had diffused the terror of his name.
In France the intrepid pirate had conducted his fleet
up the Seine, spread the flames of devastation on each
side of its banks, and taken possession of the city of
IParis, which was redeemed from destruction by the payment of seven thousand pounds of silver. By his orders
ships of a larger size than had hitherto been navigated
by his countrymen, were constructed for an invasion of
England: but, whether it was owing to the violence of
the weather, or the unskilfulness of the mariners, they
were wrecked on the coast of Northumbria. Ragnar
with several of his followers reached the shore, and
heedless of the consequences, commenced the usual
career of depredation. Though the Northumbrians had
cast off the yoke imjosed on them by Egbert, their
country was torn by civil dissensions; and at this very
moment, their chieftains were divided by the opposite
pretensions of two competitors, Osbert and AElla. At A.D.
the first news of the descent of the Northmen, the latter 865.
flew to the coast, fought with the plunderers, made Ragliar prisoner, and immediately put him to death. He is
said to have been devoured by snakes, and to have consoled his last moments with the hope, that " the cubs
" of the boar" would avenge his fate *. Nor was he disappointed. His sons, who were in Denmark, swore to
punish the murderer; the relations, the friends, and
the admirers of the deceased chieftain crowded to their
standard; and eight sea-kings, with twenty jarls, combined their forces in the pursuit of revenge and plundert1
* Saxo Gram. p. 176. Sore, 1654. Pet. Olaus, apud Langbeck, p. 11.1,
1lafnihie, 1772.
t 0 agnar's death was known to the English chroniclers: but they were
ignorant of the reason which induced his sons to attempt the conquest of
i lie island. The industry of Mr. Turner has discovered the real cmuse in
he northern historians.-Turner, ii. 107. 118.




ï~~156

ANGLO-SAXONS.

fCHAP III.

ETHELRED.
By the death of Ethelbert, the crown of Wessex had
devolved on Ethelred, the third of the sons of Ethelwulf.
About the same time the northern armament, conveying
several thousand warriors, under the command of Inguar and Ubbo*, two of the sons of Ragnar, reached the
A. D. coast of East-Anglia. They landed without opposition:
866.but finding their number unequal to the enterprise
which they had undertaken, they fortified their camp,
and patiently waited the arrival of reinforcements from
the Baltic. The depth of winter was spent Jin procuring
horses for the army, and in debauching the fidelity of
some among the Northumbrian chieftains.     In February they abandoned East-Anglia, and by the first of
March were in possession of York. Alarmed for their
country, Osbert and Ella postponed the decision of their
private quarrel, and united their forces against the common enemy. On the twenty-first of March they surprised the Danes in the neighbourhood of York, drove
them into the city, and made a breach in the walls.
They had penetrated into the streets, when despair redoubled the efforts of the Northmen; and the assailants were in their turn compelled to retire. Osbert,
A. D. with the bravest of the Northumbrians, was slain: Ella
867. had the misfortune to fall alive into the hands of his
enemies; and Inguar and Ubbo enjoyed the exquisite
delight of torturing the man who had slain their father.
His ribs were divided from the spine: his lungs were
drawn through the opening; and salt was thrown into
the wounds. This victory gave the Danes undisputed
possession of the country south of the Tyne: the natives
on the north of that river solicited the friendship of the
invaders, and, with their consent, conferred the sovereign power on a chieftain called Egbert.
* Lell. Coll. i. 220.
SAsser. 17. 18. Chron. Sax. 79. Saxo Gram. 177. Pet. Olaus. 111




ï~~A. D. 868.]

ETHELRED.

1;7

The army of the barbarians now divided itself into A. D.
two bodies. The smaller remained at York to cultivate 868.
the country: the more numerous marched to the south,
and took possession of Nottingham. Burhred, king of
Mercia, immediately solicited the assistance of Ethelred, who, with his brother Alfred and the forces of
Wessex, joined th    Mercian army. The enemy prudently confined themselves within the walls of the town;
and the besiegers were unable to force them to a battle.
At length Nottingham was surrendered by capitulation,
and the Danes retired without molestation to their
countrymen at York*.
The next expedition of the Northmen led them across A. D.
the Humber into Lincolnshire. They landed at Linde- 870.
sey, burnt the rich monastery of Bardeney, and put its
inhabitants to the sword. The summer months were
devoted to the pursuit of plunder; in September they
passed the Witham, and entered the district of Kesteven.
To oppose their progress the ealdorman Algar had collected the youth of the neighbourhood. In the first
attempt he repulsed their advanced guard, and killed
three of their kings. On the following morning his
little army was surrounded by all the forces of the invaders.  The advantage of the ground enabled the
Saxons to protract the contest till the evening: at last
they were broken by an artifice of the enemy, and
slaughtered without mercy. The victors continued
their march during the silence of the night; but their
route was illumined by repeated conflagrations. As the
flames approached the monastery of Croyland, the
younger monks escaped in their boats across the lake"
Sim. Dun. 14. The punishment inflicted on Ella was usual among the
Northmen, and was called "at rista drn," from the supposed resemblance
of the victim to the figure of an eagle. The operation was generally performed by the chief himself. It is thus described by Snorre:---Ad speciem
aquilae dorsum ita ei laniabat, ut adacto ad spinam gladlio, costisque omnibus ad lumbos usque a tergo divisis, pulmones extraheret.-Snorre,
p. 10.
S Asser, 19, 0.  Chron. Sax. 79.  Ingul. 18.




ï~~158

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. III.

the more aged, with the boys, retired to the cnurch.
Oskytul, a Danish chieftain, soon forced the gates: the
abbot was beheaded on the steps of the altar; and his
companions, with the exception of one boy, were massacred in different apartments of the abbey. Having
pillaged 'and burnt the monastery, they directed their
march to Medeshamstede. An attempt was made by
the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to defend the
walls; and in the first assault one of the sons of Ragnar
received a severe wounid. But in the second the fury
of the Danes burst open the gates: the women and
children, who had sought refuge within the abbey, were
massacred: and Ubbo avenged the wound of his brother
by slaughtering, with his own hand, the abbot and
eighty-four monks. From the ashes of Medeshamstede
they proceeded to Huntingdon, and from the destruction
of that place to the isle of Ely. The nuns of this
monastery, who were descended from the noblest of
the Saxon families, were sacrificed to their lust and
cruelty: the treasures of the country, which had been
deposited in the island, were divided among 'the barbarians; and the edifice, with every other building within
the range of their devastation, was devoured by the
flames *.
It will excite surprise that the Saxon princes should
remain idle spectators of the progress of the Danes,
instead of uniting their forces for the defence of their
common country. They appear to have conceived that
the fury of the torrent would, as it rolled on, gradually
subside. The king of Mercia had seen one of his most
opulent provinces for six months in their possession,
and yet, under the pretence of opposing the Britons in
the west, had not made a single effort for its deliverance.
From Mercia the invaders entered the country of the
East-Angles. They had already burnt Thetford, when
Ulfketul, the ealdorman, retarded their advance for a

* Asser, 20. Ingul. 19. 24.




ï~~A.D. 87l.]

EDMUND THE MARTYR.

159

few days. But Edmund, the king, conscious of his inability to contend against superior numbers, and afraid
of inflaming their resentment by a fruitless resistance,
disbanded his forces, and retired towards his castle of
Framlingham*. He was intercepted at Hoxon on the
Waveney, and conducted in chains to the quarters of
Inguar. The proposals of the sea-king were rejected
by the captive as repugnant to his honour and religion.
To extort his compliance, he was bound naked to a tree,
and lacerated with whips: some of the spectators, with
cruel dexterity, shot their arrows into his arms and legs:
and the Dane, wearied out by his constancy, ordered his
head to be struck off. Edmund was revered as a martyr by his subjects and their posterityt.
The winter was spent by the Northmen in regulating
the fate of the East-Angles, and in arranging plans of
future conquest. From Thetford, the general rendezvous, Inguar returned to his former associates in Northumbria $; Gothrun assumed      the sceptre of East- A. D.
Anglia, which, from that period, became a Danish king- 871.
dom; and Halfdene and Bacseg, leading the more
adventurous of the invaders into Wessex, surprised the
town of Reading. They fortified the place, and, to
strengthen their position, began on the third day to
open a trench from the Thames to the Kennet: but the
ealdorman Ethelwulfattacked them at Englefield, killed
one of their commanders, and drove the workmen into
the camp. Four days later Ethelred and his brother
Alfred arrived with the army of Wessex. The parties,
which the pursuit of plunder had led to a distance, were
easily put to flight: but in an attempt to storm the
Danish intrenchments the Saxons experienced a loss,
which taught them to respect the skill as well as the
valour of the invaders. Ethelred, however, sensible
* In Leland's Collectanea (1. 222), we are told that Edmund fought a
great battle with the Danes, in which he lost most of his men.
Â~ Asser, 20. Ing. 24. Abbo Floriae. in Act. Sanct. West. ad ann. 870.
$ He afterwards invaded Ireland, and died there. Annal. Ulton. 65.




ï~~160

ANGLO-SAXONS

[CHAP. III.

that his crown was at stake, reinforced his army, and,
before the end of the week, met the enemy at Escesdune *. The night was spent on each side in preparation
for the combat: the morning discovered the Danes
assembled in two divisions on different parts of an eminence. Ethelred ordered the Saxons to adopt a similar
arrangement, and retired to his tent to assist at masst.
The impatience of Alfred condemned the'piety of his
brother; and ordering his men to cover their heads
with their shields, he boldly led them up the declivity,
A. D. and attacked one of the hostile divisions. Ethelred
871. followed quickly with the remainder of the army; and
the Northmen, after a most obstinate resistance, were
routed, and pursued in confusion as far as Reading.
Among the slain were Bacseg, one of their kings, and
the jarls Osbern, Frean, Harold, and the two Sidrocs.
A solitary thorn tree pointed out to posterity the spot
on which the Danes were defeated $.
Within a fortnight after the last sanguinal:y conflict,
another was fought at Basing, in which the invaders
took an ample revenge. Their numbers were soon after
increased by the arrival of another armament from the
Baltic, and a most obstinate battle ensued at Morton
in Berkshire. The Saxon chroniclers give the advantage to their countrymen, but acknowledge that the
Danes remained in possession of the field. Ethelred,
who had been wounded, survived only a few days. He
died on the 23d of March, and was buried at Winborne,
where his memory was afterwards honoured as that of a
martyr.Â~
* Escesaune has. been sought in different places by different writers.
As the Saxon Chronicle (p. 135) says, that it lay in the road from Wallingford to Cuckhamsley hill, Gibson was probably right when he fixed it
at Aston.
+ It has been said that Ethelred was "impressed with a dispiriting
"belief that he should not survive the battle" (Turner, vol. ii. p. 154): but
the words of Asser have a very different meaning. Affirmans se inde (e
tentorio) vivum non discessurum, antequam sacerdos missam finiret, e
divinum pro humano nolle deserere servitium. Asser, 22.
S~     ' sr, 24. Chror. Sax. 81.       Asser, 21-24.




ï~~CHAPTER IV.

ANGLO SAXONS.
Birth, education and accession of Alfred-Successes of the DaneAlfred opposes them by sea--His victories, laws, and improvementsReigns of Edward-Athelstan-Edmund-and Edred.
ALFRED THE GREAT.
WITH the name of Alfred, posterity has associated the A D.
epithet of "the great."  The kings, his predecessors, 871.
are chiefly known to us by their actions in the field of
battle: it is the praise of Alfred that he was not only a
warrior, but also the patron of the arts, and the legislator of his people.  Their history has been compressed
into a few pages: but his merit will deserve a more full
and detailed narration.
Alfred was born at Wantage in 849, the youngest of
the four sons, whom Osburga, the daughter of Oslac,
bore to Ethelwulf. The beauty, vivacity, and playfulness of the boy endeared him to his parents, who affected
to foresee that he would one day prove the chief ornament of the race of Cerdic. It was this partiality which
induced the king to send him, when only in his fifth
year, with a numerous retinue to Rome, to be crowned
by the pontiff; and afterwards, when the royal pilgrim
himself visited the apostolic city, Alfred was selected to
accompany his father.
The Anglo-Saxons of this period had degenerated
from the literary reputation of their ancestors. The
thanes, dividing their time between the occupations of
war and the pleasures of the chase, despised the tranquil pursuits of knowledge,.and directed the attention of
voL. 1.    14




ï~~162

ANGLO-SAXONS.

LCH AP. IV.

their children to those exercises which impart habits of
strength, agility, and courage. Osburga, however, had
the merit of awakening in the mind of Alfred that passion for learning, by which he was so honourably distinguished from his contemporaries. Holding in her hand
a Saxon poem elegantly written, and beautifully illuminated, she offered it as a reward to the first of her
children, whose pro'ciency should enable him to read
it. The emulation of Alfred was excited: he ran to his
master, applied to the task with diligence, performed it
to the satisfaction of the queen, and received the prize
of his industry.*
But soon, by the death of both parents, the education
of the young Prince devolved on his elder brothers, to
whom the pursuits of literature were probably objects of
contempt. His roficiency under their care was limited
to the art of reading: from which he could derive no other
immediate advantage than the perusal of a few Saxon
poems, and books of devotion, written in the vernacular
idiom. It proved, however, to him an acquisition of considerable importance; for it laid the foundation of his
subsequent improvement: it urged his curiosity to explore those treasures of history and science, which were
locked up in the obscurity of a learned language; and it
enabled him at a later period to apply with success to
the study of the Latin tongue. But his health was then
impaired by disease, his mind occupied with the cares of
government: and in the company of his friends he often
lamented that indulgence, which had permitted him to
throw away the years of his youth in pursuits and diversions, from which he had reaped nothing but ignorance
and regret 1t.
But if the mind of Alfred had not received the polish
of classical literature, it had been deeply impressed
with religious sentiments, which influenced, his conduct
* Asser, 16. The same writer carefully distinguishes the liberales artes
from the venatoria et ceteris artibus, q e nobilibus conveniunt, p. 43.
[But this present must be ascribed to Judith,. Alfred's step-mother. Ass,
lb. & Turner. - AniR. EIDrIT.]    + Asser, 17.




ï~~A.D. 871.]

AL RED.

through life. At the age of twenty he determined from
motives of virtue to marry. The lady, whom he honoured
with his choice, was Alswitha, the daughter of Ethelred,
a Mercian ealdorman, and of Eadburga, a princess of
the race of Penda. But the joy of the nuptial ceremony
was clouded by an unexpected calamity. In the midst
of the festivity, while Alfred was entertaining the thanes
of both kingdoms, he was suddenly seized with a most
painful disorder. Its seat was internal: its origin and
nature baffled all the science and skill of the Saxon physicians. By the ignorance of the people it was attributed
to magic, or to the malice of the devil, or to a new and
unknown species of fever. From that moment to the
day in which Asser wrote his history, during the long
lapse of five-and-twenty years, the king was afflicted
with this mysterious disease: its attacks were almost
incessant; and each short interval of ease was embittered by the prospect of a speedy return of pain. It continued to harass him till his death*,
During the reigns of his brothers, he possessed-the
government of a petty district, with the title of king. At
the death of Ethelred he was called to the throne by the
unanimous voice of the West-Saxons. With real or affected modesty he refused; alleging his own incapacity.
and the increasing multitudes of the Danes. His objections were over-ruled; the archbishop of Canterbury
placed the crown on his head; and' at the name of Alfred
the hopes of the West-Saxons revived. The first care
of the young monarch (he was only in his twenty-second
year) was to perform with decent pomp the funeral of
his late brother; and from this solemn ceremony he was
summoned to arms and the field of battle. Another
body of adventurers had joined the invaders stationed at
Reading. The confederates penetrated into Wiltshire,
and from their camp on the hills which cover the banks

'- Asset, 19. 40--42.




ï~~164

AN G(1O-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV,

of the Willy, spread devastation over the surrounding
country. Anxious to distinguish himself, the new king,
at the head of his West-Saxons, advanced to seek a more
numerous enemy. The impetuosity of the attack threw
the Northmen into disorder: but they rallied from their
flight, renewed the contest, and rather by superior numbers than superior valour, wrested the victory from the
grasp of their opponents. The unfortunate issue of this
battle gave a new direction to the policy of Alfred. He
negotiated with the Danish chieftains, and induced them,
probably by the offer of a valuable present, to withdraw
out of his dominions *.
A. D.  From Wiltshire Halfdene led his barbarians to Lon872. don, where he passed the wintei'. Burhred, the king of
Mercia, taught by the example of Alfred, made them a
liberal donative, and obtained a promise that they would
march peaceably through his territories on their road
to the north: but they halted at Torksey in Lincolushire,
and returned to their usual habits of depredation. Another present, and another treaty succeeded. The Danes
derided the simplicity of the Mercian, and on a sudden,
without pretext or provocation, surprised Repton on the
southern bank of the Trent. This monastery, the pride
of Mercian piety, they burnt to the ground: and violated
the tombs of the princes whose ashes reposed within it.
A. D. The following spring their numbers were doubled by the
874. arrival of another horde of adventurers, under the united
command of the kings Gothrun, Oskytul, and Amund.
His knowledge of their force, joined to his experience of
their perfidy, drove the Mercian king to despair. Unable
to repel them by force, or to purchase their removal by
money, he abandoned his throne, and proceeded, a reluctant pilgrim, to the tombs of the apostles at Rome.
He arrived with a broken heart, died within a few days,
and was buried in the church of the Saxon hospital. His

* Asser, 24, 25. Chro. Sax. 82.




ï~~A.D. 874.]

ALFRED.

165

queen Ethelswitha followed her lord, but had not even
the consolation of visiting his grave. She sickened and
died at Ticino *.
By the retreat of Burhred, the Mercian sceptre was
left at the disposal of the invaders. They placed it min
the hands of Ceolwulf, a native thane, who had the pusillanimity to accept it from the enemies of his country, on
the ignominious condition of paying them a yearly tribute, and of reigning in subservience to their will. This
phantom of a king was but the pander to their rapacity.
As long as he could extort money from his miserable
countrymen, he was permitted to retain the sceptre:
when he could no longer satisfy their demands, he was
stripped of the ensigns of royalty, and suffered from their
cruelty that death, which he owed to his country. He
was the last who bore the title of king of Mercial".
The whole of the 4nglo-Saxon territories were now
under the dominion of the invaders, with the exception
of the districts on the south of the Thames, and the
north of the Tyne. In 875, having arranged the plan of A. D.
their future operations, they divided themselves into two 875.
bodies. The new adventurers with their three kings
moved towards the south, and occupied Cambridge:
Halfdene and his followers embarked on board their
fleet in the Trent, steered along the coast of Deira,
entered the Tyne, and ascended that river as far as the
mouth of the Tame. Here they moored their fleet
during the winter. Upon the first appearance of spring
they issued forth to the work of devastation. Tynemouth
was levelled with the ground. The abbey of Lindisfarne
was plundered, and reduced to ashes; while the bishop
and monks precipitately fled with their treasures and
the body of St. Cuthbert to the highest of the Northumbriah mountains. At Coldingham the nuns, stimulated
by the example of their abbess, disfigured their faces
* Asser, 26. Ingul. 26, 27.
1 Asser, 26, 27. Ingul. 27. Chron. Sax. 82, 83.




ï~~166

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. i V

with wounds to escape the insults of the barbarian s.
They preserved their chastity; but perished m   tL?
flames which devoured their convent. Wherever Ha!fdene marched, his route might be traced by the smoking
ruins of towns and villages, and the mangled remainsm of
the victims of his barbarity. The summer he spent ii
ravaging the lands of the Strathclyde Britons, the Scos,
and the Picts: in the autumn he returned.into Bernicia,
and, dividing it among his followers, exhorted them to
cultivate by their industry that soil, which they had won
by their valour *.
While Halfdene was thus consolidating his conquests
in Northumbria, Gothrun with the southern army remained inactive for the space of twelve months in the
A. D. neighbourhood of Cambridge. But one night the bar876. barians suddenly hastened to their fleet, embarked, and
disappeared.  Soon afterwards they were descried,
steering towards the coast of Dorset, where they surprised the strong castle and monastery of Wareham;
situated at the conflux of the Frome and the Piddle.
From this station plundering parties were despatched
in every direction, which, on the arrival of Alfred, retired
within their intrenchments. In the art of besieging
places the Saxons seem to have been conscious of their
deficiency. They never refused to meet the enemy inl
the field; but from the day on which Ethelred was de.
feated before Reading, prudence had taught them to
respect the Danish fortifications. Alfred attempted to
negotiate: and Gothrun consented, for a considerable
sum, to retire out of Wessex. Instructed, however, by
the fate of Burhred, and not confiding in the sincerity
of the Dane, the king demanded a certain number of
hostages, and was permitted to select them from the
noblest of the chieftains. He next required their oaths.
They swore by their bracelets, which were sacred to
* Asser, p. 27. Chron. Sax. p. 83. Sim. Dunel. p. 95. Mat. West. ad
ann. 870.




ï~~CHAP. I V.

ALFRED.

167

Odin. He was not content. They swore by the relics
of the Christian saints. Satisfied that he had bound
them by every tie which his diffidence could devise,
Alfred now expected their departure; when, in the darkness of the night, a detachment of the army sallied from
the castle, surprised the Saxon cavalry, mounted the
horses of the slain, and by a rapid march took possession
of Exeter. The king, unable to dislodge them from
either position, retired with shame and disappointment *.
In the fifth century the Saxons had been formidable A. D.
for their power by sea: their conquests in Britain had 877.
directed their attention to other objects, and had annihilated their fleet. But Alfred now saw the necessity
of opposing the Danes on their own element. In 875 he
equipped a few ships, manned them with foreign adventurers, whom the hope of reward had allured to his
service, and, trusting himself to the faith of these mercenaries, sailed in quest of an enemy. Fortune threw
in his way a Danish fleet of seven ships, one of which
he captured, while the others escaped. This trifling
success elevated his hopes; ships and galleys were built;
and by unceasing efforts, he at last succeeded in creating
a navy. He had soon reason to congratulate himself on
this acquisition. A resolution had been taken by the
Northmen to evacuate Wareham. Their cavalry proceeded to join their friends at Exeter, and were followed
by Alfred, who invested the place by land: the infantry
embarked on board the fleet, and were directed to steer
to the same city. But they had scarcely put to sea, before a storm compelled them to run along the coast of
Hampshire, where they lost one half of their ships. The
others, shattered by the tempest, recovered their course,
but were opposed by the Saxon fleet, which blockaded
the mouth of the Ex, and after a sharp action were entirely destroyed. The loss of one hundred and twenty
sail induced Gathrun to treat in earnest. More hostages

* Asser, 27, 28. Chron. Sax. 83.




ï~~168

ANGLO-SAXONS.

LCHAP. IV.

were given, the former oaths were renewed, and the
Northmen marched from Exeter into Mercia *.
It has been said that the character of Alfred was without a blemish. Such unqualified praise is the language
of rhetorical declamation, rather than of historical truth.
In his early years, indeed, his opening virtues endeared
him to the nation t: and in a more advanced age he was
the guardian and the benefactor of his country. But at
the commencement of his reign there was much in his
conduct to reprehend. The young monarch seems to
have considered his high dignity as an emancipation
firom restraint; and to have found leisure, even amidst
his struggles with the Danes, to indulge the impetuosity
of his passions. The scandal of Wallingford may be dismissed with the contempt, which it perhaps deserves$:
but we learn from more ancient authorities that his
immorality and despotism provoked the censure of his
virtuous kinsman St. Neot.; and Asser, his friend and
panegyrist, acknowledges, that he was haughty to his
subjects, neglected the administration of justice, and
treated with contempt the complaints of the indigent and
oppressed. It was to this indiscretion (to borrow the
term under which the partiality of the biographer was
willing to veil the misconduct of his patron I), that
Alfred himself attributed the severe and unexpected
calamity, which overwhelmed him in the eighth year of
his reign.  For the piety of the age, instead of tracing
events to their political sources, referred them immediately to the providence of God; and considered misfor* Asser, p. 29. Chron. Sax. p. 84.
t Asser, p. 24. He adds that Alfred, had he been ambitious, might
have obtained the crown from the favour of the people, to the exclusion of
his elder brother.
t In primordiis regni sui vivebat luxui et vitiis subjugatus-virgines et
caste vivere volentes vol invitas vel voluntarias omni studio subdere festinavit. Walling. p. 535.
SPravos redarguens actus jussit in melius converti.-De tyrannidis improbitate, ac de superba regiminis austeritate acriter cumrn increpavit. Vit.
St. Neoti in act. SS. Ben. sac. iv. tom. ii. p. 330, 331.
U Asser, p. 31, 32.




ï~~CHAPIV.j

ALFRED.

169

tune as the instrument with which divine justice punished past enormities.
At the close of the last campaign we left him min the
undisturbed possession of the kingdom of Wessex: at
the beginning of the next year we discover him a soli- A.D.
tary fugitive, lurking in the morasses of Somersetshire. 878.
This sudden revolution arose from the policy of Gothrun,
the most artful of the Northmen That chieftain, on
his retreat out of Wessex, had fixed his residence at
Gloucester, and rewarded the services of his veterans by
dividing among them the lands in the neighbourhood.
But while this peaceful occupation seemed to absorb his
attention, his mind was actively employed in arranging
a plan of warfare, which threatened to extinguish the
last of the Saxon governments in Britain. A winter
campaign had hitherto been unknown in the annals of
Danish devastation: after their summer expeditions
the invaders had always devoted the succeeding months
to festivity and repose; and it is probable that the followers of Gothrun were as ignorant as the Saxons of
the real design of their leader.  On the first day of
the year 878 they received an unexpected summons to
meet him on horseback at an appointed place: on the
night of the 6th of January they were in possession of
Chippenham, a royal villa on the left bank of the Avon.
There is reason to believe that Alfred was in the place,
when the alarm was given: it is certain that he could
not be at any great distance. From Chippenham, Gothrun dispersed his cavalry in different directions over
the neighbouring counties: the Saxons were surprised
by the enemy before they had heard of the war; and
the king saw himself surrounded by the barbarians,
without horses and almost without attendants. At first
he conceived the rash design of rushing on the multitude of his enemies: but his temerity was restrained
by the more considerate suggestions of his friends; and
he consented to reserve himself for a less dangerous and
more hopeful experiment. To elude suspicion he dis
voL 1   1i




ï~~170

ANGLO-SAXONS.

LOHAI. IV.

missed the few thanes who were still near his person,
and endeavoured alone, and on foot, to gain the centre
of Somersetshire. There he found a secure retreat in
a small island, situated in a morass formed by the donflux of the Thone and the Parret, which was afterwards
distinguished by the name of Ethelingey, or Prince's
island *.
Though the escape of Alfred had disappointed the
hopes of the Danes, they followed up their success with
indefatigable activity.    The men of Hampshire, Dorset,
Wilts, and Berkshire, separated from each other, ignorant of the fate of their prince, and unprepared for any
rational system of defence, saw themselves compelled to
crouch beneath the storm. Those who dwelt near the
coast, crossed with their families and treasure to the
opposite shores of Gaul; the others sought to mitigate
by submission the ferocity of the invaders, and by the
surrender of a part, to preserve the remainder, of their
property. One county alone, that of Somerset, is said
* To account for the sudden retreat of Alfred, and the temporary extinction of the West-Saxon power, has perplexed most historians. I shall
not enumerate their different hypotheses, as the account given in the text
satisfactorily, in my opinion, explains the whole difficulty: and is supported
by authorities which seem to have been overlooked. " DCCC LXXVIII.
SThis year in mid-winter, over twelfth-night, the Danish army stole to
Chippenham; and rode over the West-Saxon land: and settled in it.
"And nmuch of the people they drove over sea, and of the rest the greater
" part they rode round, and subjected to themselves, exeept the king Al
" fred, and he with a little band, went uneasily to the woods and the fast" nesses of the moors."-Chron. Sax. 84. Their success was owing to their
celerity, obequitando, Ethelvw. f. 480.-Iter accelerans occidentales Anglicosattentavit invadere. In illis enim partibus didicerat a fugitivis ipsum
regem hiemare. Rex autem Alaredus audiens barbariiam rabiem et s,vitiam cominius irruisse, siiorutique considerans dispositionem (dispersionem, MS. Claud. A. 5. p. 157), hue illucque cmpit animo fluctuare: tanden discretiore fretus arbitrio, cessit hostibus, ac solus et inermis fugre est
expositus ldibrio.-Vit. St. Neot. in Act. SS. Ben. siec. iv. toti. ii. p. 333.
This author proceeds to notice one of the adventures, which Alfred, it is
said, delighted to narrate to the circle of his friends (Malms. de Reg. 23.)
In his retreat he was entertained in the cottage of a swineherd: and his
hostess, in the absence of her husband, desired the stranger to watch the
loaves, which she was baking on the hearth. But Alfred's mind was too
deeply occupied with the thoughtof hismistbfortunes to attend tothecharge.
The bread was burnt: and the negligence of the king was severely chastized by the tongue of the woman. This incident was soon sung in Latin
verse.
Urere quos cernis panes, gyrare myraris,
Cu   iinimium gaudes hos manducaore calentes.-Asser, p. 31.




ï~~A. D. 8-8.1

SUCCESS OF V1DIUN.

171

to have continued faithful to the fortunes of Alfred; and
yet, even in the county of Somerset, he was compelled
to conceal himself at Ethelingey, while the ealdorman
ZEthelnoth with a few adherents wandered in the woods.
By degrees the secret of the royal retreat was revealed:
he was joined by the more trusty of his subjects; and in
their company he occasionally issued from his concealment, intercepted the straggling parties of the Danes,
and returned, loaded with the spoils, often of the enemy,
sometimes (such was his hard necessity) of his own
people. As his associates multiplied, these excursions
were more frequent and successful; and at Easter, to
facilitate the access to the island, he ordered a communication to be made with the land by a wooden bridge, of
which he secured the entrance by the erection of a fort.
While the attention of Alfred was thus fixed on the
enemy who had seized the eastern provinces of his kingdom, he was unconscious of the storm, which threatened
to burst on him from the west. Another of the sons of
Ragnar, probably the sanguinary Ubbo, with three-andtwenty sail, had lately ravaged the shores of Demetia or
South Wales; and crossing to the northern coast of Devonshire, had landed his troops in the vicinity of Apledore. It appears as if the two brothers had previously
agreed to crush the king between the pressure of their
respective armies. Alarmed at this new debarkation,
Odun the ealdorman, with several thanes, fled for security to the castle of Kynwith. It had no other fortification than a loose wall erected after the manner of the
Britons: but its position on the summit of a lofty rock
rendered it impregnable. The Danish leader was too
wary to hazard an assault; and calmly pitched his tent
at the foot of the mountain, in the confident expectation
that the want of water would force the garrison to surrender. But Odun, gathering courage from despair,
silently left his intrenchments at the dawn of morning;
burst into the enemy's camp; slew the Danish chief with
twelve hundred of his followers: anl drove the remainder




ï~~I72

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV

to their fleet. The bravery of the Saxons was rewarded
with the plunder of Wales; and among the trophies of
their victory was the Reafan, the mysterious standard of
the raven, woven in one noon-tide by the hands of the
three daughters of Ragnar.      The superstition of the
Danes was accustomed to observe the bird, as they
marched to battle. If it appeared to flap its wings, it
was a sure omen of victory: if it hung motionless in the
air, they anticipated nothing but defeat. *
The news of this success infused courage into the hearts
of the most pusillanimous. Alfred watched the reviving
spirit of his people, and by trusty messengers invited
them to meet him in the seventh week after Easter at
the stone of Egbert, in the eastern extremity of Selwood
forest ''. On the appointed day the men of Hampshire,
Wiltshire, and Somerset cheerfully obeyed the summons.
At the appearance of Alfred, they hailed the avenger of
their country; the wood echoed their acclamations; and
every heart beat with the confidence of victory. But
the place was too confined to receive the multitudes that
hastened to the royal standard; and the next morning
the camp was removed to Icglea, a spacious plain, lying
on the skirts of the wood, and covered by marshes in its
front *. The day was spent in making preparations for
the conflict, and in assigning their places to the volunteers that hourly arrived: at the dawn of the next morning, Alfred marshalled his forces, and occupied the summit of Ethandune, a neighbouring and lofty eminence S.
In the mean while Gothrun had not been an idle spectator of the motions of his adversary. He had recalled
* Chron. Sax. 84. Asser, 32.
f It is now called Brixton.-Ingulf (p. 26.) and some writers after him,
inform us that the king disguised himself as a harper, and visited the
Danish camp, where he observed their negligence, and learned their ulterior
objects. The story is in itself improbable, and was unknown to Asser.
$ It is believed to ibe Leigh, not far from Westbury. In the life of St.
Neot it is described as grata salicis planities juxta silvam, p. 335.
Â~ Disposita seriatim acie proximum anticipaverunt promontorium.
fine hostium explorabantoccursum. Ibid. Anticipavit montem hostibus
nimis aptum, si praecavissent. Walling. p. 538. This is probably Brattonhill, near Eddington.




ï~~A. D. 878.]  ALFRED DEFEATS GOTHRUN

173

his scattered detachments, and was advancing with hasty
steps to chastize the insolence of the insurgents*. As
the armies approached, they vociferated shouts of mutual
defiance; and after the first discharge of their missive
weapons rushed to a closer and more sanguinary combat.
The shock of the two nations, the efforts of their leaders,
the fluctuations of victory, and the alternate hopes and
fears of the contending armies, must be left to the imagination of the reader. The Danes displayed a courage
worthy of their former renown, and their repeated conquests. The Saxons were stimulated by every motive
that could influence the heart of man. Shame, revenge,
the dread of subjugation, and the hope of independence, impelled them forward: their perseverance bore
down all opposition; and the Northmen, after a most
obstinate but unavailing resistance, fled in crowds to
their camp. The pursuit was not less murderous than
the engagement: the Saxons immolated to their resentment every fugitive who fell into their hands. Immediately, by the king's orders, lines were drawn round
the encampment; and the escape of the survivors was
rendered impracticable by the vigilance and the multitude of their enemies.   Famine and despair subdued
the obstinacy of Gothrun, who on the fourteenth day
offered to capitulate. The terms imposed by the conqueror were; that the king and principal chieftains
should embrace Christianity; that they should entirely
evacuate his dominions; and that they should bind themselves to the fulfilment of the treaty by the surrender
of hostages and by their oaths. After a few weeks,
Gothrun with thirty of his officers was baptized at Aulre
near Athelney    He took the surname of Athelstan, and
* Gytrus undique Danos convoc is, manum magnam contraxit. Waling. Ibid. Ut rumor hujus ecentus latissime diffusus profanas Gytronis
attingeret aurs-protinus juxta morem suum acies disposuerunt, ad
locum certaminis castra moventes. Vit. St. Neot. p. 335. These passages
plainly show that the Danes were not surprised by Alfred, as is generally
asserted. See also Translat. St. Cuth. in act. SS. Bened. soc. iv. tom. ii
p. 279.




ï~~174

AN'LO.-,AX ON S

[ CHAP. TV.

Alfred was his sponsor. After the ceremony both princes
removed to Wedmore, where on the eighth day Gothrun
put off the white robe and chrysmal fillet, and on the
twelfth bad adieu to his adopted father, whose generosity
he had now learned to admire as much as he had before
respected his valour. From Chippenham he marched
into Mercia, fixed his head quarters at Cirencester, and
ordered his followers to cultivate the soil. He remained
here but twelve months, when he returned to his former
kingdom of East Anglia; and though a Danish armament under the command of Hastings entered the
Thames, and solicited him to renew the war, he adhered
faithfully to his engagements. Two treaties which he
made with Alfred are still extant. By the first the
boundaries between the two kingdoms are determined
to be the Thames, the river Lee to its source, and a line
drawn thence to Bedford, and along the Ouse as far as
the Watlingstreet, and thence probably to the mouth of
the river. The lives of Englishmen and Danes are declared to be of equal value: and all unauthorised intercourse between the two nations is forbidden. By the
second the two kings engage to promote Christianity, and
to punish apostacy; the laws of the Danes are assimilated to those of the Saxons; and the fines payable for
offences are determined both in Saxon and Danish
money *. The followers of Gothrun gradually adopted
the habits of civilized life; and by acquiring an interest
in the soil, contributed to protect it from the ravages of
subsequent adventurers.
A. D.  The retreat of Gothrun gave to Wessex a long respite
880. from the horrors of war, and fifteen years of comparative
tranquillity left Alfred at leisure to attend to the improvement and civilization of his people. The army
claimed his first care. The desultory but incessant atSLeg. Sax. 47.51. In the original the line of demarcation ends at the
Watiingstreet; but, as the province of East-Anglia had been ceded to
Gothrun, Spelman is of opinion that it proceeded thence to the mouth of
the river. Vit. JElfr. 36.




ï~~A.D. 880.] ALFRED FORTIFIES THE COUNTRY.

175

tacks of the Danes had demon trated the necessity of
organizing a force, which should be ready to take the
field at the first alarm, and to march to any point of the
coast that was menaced with an attack; but at the same
time the scarcity, arising from the frequent suspensions
of agricultural labour, showed the impolicyof collecting
together the great mass of the population. Alfred adopted
an improved plan: which, while it was calculated to oppose a formidable force to the descents of the Northmen,
secured a sufficient supply of hands for the cultivation
of the soil. -The defence of the towns and cities was
intrusted to the courage and fidelity of the inhabitants
under the direction of the king's Gerefa or reeve: of the
rest of the free population the males were divided into
two classes, to each of which was allotted in rotation a
regular term of service. They were commanded by the
king or the ealdorman of the county: and instead of
pay, received from the national stores a proportionate
supply of provisions *.
The utility of fortifications had been sufficiently demonstrated by the example of the Danes, and the suecessful defence of Kynwith. By the orders of Alfred a
survey was made of the coast and navigable rivers; and
castles were built in places the best fitted to prevent the
landing, or to impede the progress of an enemy. Yet in
this undertaking, of which the necessity was so apparent,
he had to encounter numerous difficulties, arising from
the prejudices and indolence of his people. In many instances the execution of the royal orders was postponed:
in others the buildings were abandoned as soon as the
foundations had been laid. But occasional descents of
the Danes came in aid of the king's authority: those who
had lost their property by their negligence, were eager
to repair the fault by their industry; and before the close
of his reign Alfred had the satisfaction to see more than
fifty castles built according to his directions i.
* Chron. Sax. p. 92,93.  f Asser, p. 59, 60.  Spelm. Vit. Alfred. p.129. not.




ï~~1l76

A NGLO S&AX)NS.

FCHAP-. IV

The first attempt which the king made to create a
navy has been already mentioned. His success stimulated him to new exertions; and, to acquire knowledge,
and to do honour to the naval profession, he often acA.. companied his squadrons in their expeditions. On one
883. of these occasions he mnet four sail of Northmen. Two
were captured by boarding, and their crews put to the
sword" the commanders of the other two, terrified by the
fate of their companions and their own loss, threw down
their arms, and on their knees solicited mercy. On
'. D. another occasion the Saxon fleet surprised and captured
885 thirteen sail in the river Stour. Every man on board
was massacred: but the same evening the victors in their
return were intercepted by a Danish squadron, and completely defeated *. As soon as the king became acquainted with the arts of attack and the modes of defence practised by the northern nations, several improvements
suggested themselves to his superior sagacity. He ordered ships to be built of larger dimensions than those
of the Danes. Their decks were higher, and their length
double. The increased elevation gave,his mariners an
advantage over their enemies, who were compelled to
direct their strokes upwards: and the -greater bulk of
the vessels added to their stability in the water, while
the Danish ships were agitated by the slightest motion.
That their celerity might not be retarded by the additional weight, he augmented the number of the rowers;
and gave to all his vessels thirty, to several more than
thirty, oars on a side. This fleet was so judiciously disposed in the different harbours, that the marauding
squadrons of the barbarians found it difficult to approach,
or to abandon, the shore with impunity -.
From measures of defence against a foreign enemy,
the king turned his attention to the domestic economy
of the country. During the long period of Danish devastation, the fabric of civil government had been nearly

* Asser, 36, 37. Chron. Sax. 86, 87.

f Chron. Sax. 98.




ï~~A D. 885.] RESTORES THE CIVIL INSTITUTIONS.

177

dissolved. The courts of judicature had been closed
injuries were inflicted without provocation, and retaliated
without mercy; and the Saxon, like the Dane, had imbibed a spirit of insubordination, and a contempt for
peace, and justice, and religion. To remedy these evils,
Alfred restored, enlarged, and improved the salutary institutions of nis forefathers; and from the statutes of
Ethelbert, Ina, Offa, and other Saxon princes, composed
a code of law, adapted to the circumstances of the time,
and the habits of his subjects*. But legislative enactments would have been of little avail, had not the king
insured their execution, by an undertaking of no small
difficulty, but which by his vigilance and perseverance
he ultimately accomplished. The Saxon jurisprudence
had established an ample gradation of j udicatures, which
diverged in different ramifications from the king's court
into every hamlet in the kingdom: but of the persons
invested with judicial authority very few were qualified
for so important an office. Almost all were ignorant:
many were despotic. The powerful refused to acquiesce
in their decisions; and the defenceless complained of
their oppression. Both had frequent recourse to the
equity of Alfred, who listened as cheerfully to the complaints of the lowest as of the highest among his subjects
Every appeal was heard by him with the most patient
attention: in cases of importance he revised the proceedings at his leisure; and the inferior magistrates
trembled at the impartiality and severity of their sovereign. If their fault proceeded from ignorance or inadvertence, they were reprimanded or removed according to the magnitude of the offence; but neither birth,
nor friends, nor power, could save the corrupt or malicious judge t. He was made to suffer the punishment
which he had unjustly inflicted; and, if we may believe
an ancient authority, forty-four magistrates were by the
king;'s order executed in one year for their informal and
" Leg. Sax. 2S-46.  t Asser, 6.- 71.




ï~~178

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV.

iniquitous proceedings *. This severity was productive
of the most beneficial consequences. The judges were
careful to acquire a competent degree of knowledge;
their decisions became accordant to the law; the commission of crime was generally followed by the infliction
of punishment; and theft and murder were rendered as
rare, as they had formerly been prevalent. To prove
the reformation of his subjects, Alfred is said to have
suspended valuable bracelets on the highway, which no
one ventured to remove: and as a confirmation we are
told, that if a traveller lost his purse on the road, he
would at the distance of a month find it lying untouched
in the same spot 1'. These are probably the fictions of a
posterior age: but they serve to shew the high estimation in which Alfred's administration of justice was held
by our forefathers.
The decline of learning in the Saxon states had
been rapidly accelerated by the Danish invasions. The
churches and monasteries, the only academies of the
age, had been destroyed; and at the accession of Alfred,
Wessex could hardly boast of a single scholar, able to
translate a Latin book into the English tongue *. The
king, who from his early years had been animated with
the most ardent passion for knowledge, endeavoured to
infuse a similar spirit into all who aspired to his favour.
For this purpose he invited to his court the most distinguished scholars of his own and of foreign countries.
* Miroir des Justices, p. 296. ed. 1642. It was written by Andrew
Horne, under Edward I. or Edward II., and, though of questionable authority, must have been composed from more ancient documents. Some of
the cases are curious. Thus Athulf was executed because he had condemned Copping, who was not twenty-one years of age: Billing, because
he had condemned Leston, who did not sit down, when proclamation had
been made for all but tihe murderer to sit down: Hale, because he had acquitted the sheriff Tristram, though Tristram had unjustly seized goods
for the king's use: Therborn, because he had condemned Osgot for a
crime, of which he had obtained pardon from the king: Oskitell, because
he had condemned Cutling on the sole report of the coroner. Thus also
he imprisoned Sithing, because that officer had imprisoned Herbole for a
crime committed by Herbole's wilfe: he ordered Haulf to lose a hand,
because he had not inflicted that punishment on Armoc, &c. p. 296-301.
t Malms. de Reg. ii. 4. f. 23.
t Alired, prmef.ad Past. p. 82. Wise's Asser.




ï~~A.D. 885.] ALFRED ESTABLISHES PUBLIC SCHOOLS.        179
Plegmund and Werfrith, Ethelstan and Werwulf visited
him from Mercia.    John of old Saxony left the monastery of Corbie for an establishment at Ethelingey: Asser
of St. David's was induced by valuable presents to reside
with the king during six months in the year; and an
honourable embassy to Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims,
returned with Grimbald the celebrated provost of St.
Omer *. With their assistance Alfred began in his
thirty-ninth year to apply to the study of Roman literature; and opened schools in different places for the
instruction of his subjects. It was his will that the
children of every free-man, whose circumstances would
allow it, should acquire the elementary arts of reading
and writing; and that those, who were designed for
civil or ecclesiastical employments, should moreover be
instructed in the Latin language t.
It was a misfortune which the king frequently lamented, that Saxon literature contained no books of
science.  "I have often wondered," says he, "that the
"illustrious scholars, who once flourished among the
"English, and who had read so many foreign works,
"never thought of transferring the most useful into
" their own language $." To supply the deficiency Alfred himself undertook the task. Of his translations
two were historical, and two didactic. The first were
the ecclesiastical history of the English by Bede, and the
epitome of Orosius, the best abridgment of ancient history then extant, both works calculated to excite and
gratify the curiosity of his subjects. Of the others one
* Asser, 46-49. Epist. Fulconis in Wise's Asser, p. 123. John, abbot
of Ethelingey, has been often confounded with Joannes Scotus Erigena.
They were different persons. Scotus, ashis name imports, was a native
of Ireland; John the abbot was a native of old Saxony (Asser, 61.) Scotus
was neither priest nor monk (Mabillon, sec. iv. tom. ii. p. 510). John the
abbot was both priest and monk. (Asser, 47-61.. Elfredi pref. ad Past.
p. 85.)
t AElfred. prmf. ad Past. p. 85. Asser, 43-55. Did he not at this time
establish the university of Oxford? I know not. The contested passage
in Asser ( p. 52) appears to me undoubtedly spurious. What writer of the
ninth or tenth centuries ever used the expressions, Divus Petrus, or Divi
Gildas, Melkinus, &c.
3 AElfred. pref ad Past. p. 84.




ï~~180

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV

was meant for general reading, " the Consolation of
Philosophy," by Boetius, a treatise deservedly held in
high estimation at that period; and the second was destined for the instruction of the clergy, the Pastoral of
Gregory the Great, a work recommended both by its
own excellence, and the reputation of its author. Of
this he sent a copy to every bishop in his dominions,
with a request that it might be preserved in the cathedral for the use of the diocesan clergy *.
In the arrangement of his time, his finances, and his
domestic concerns, Alfred was exact and methodical.
The officers of his household were divided into three
bodies, which succeeded each other in rotation, and
departed at the end of the month, the allotted period of
their service +. Of each day he gave one third to sleep
and necessary refreshments: the remainder was divided
between the duties of his station, and works of piety and
charity $. His treasurer was ordered to separate his
revenue into two moieties. The first he subdivided into
three parts, of which one was destined to reward his
servants and ministers, another to supply presents for
the strangers who visited his court, and the third to pay
the numerous bodies of workmen whom he employed.
For he erected palaces in different parts of his dominions; repaired and embellished those which had been
left by his predecessors, and rebuilt London and several
other towns, which the Danes had reduced to heaps of
* AElfred. prmf. ad Past. p. 86. On each copy was an cestell of fifty mancuses,
and the king requested.hat no one would "take the wstell from the book,
nor the book from the minster." The meaning of the word estell has hitherto proved a stumbling-block to the commentators. My notion is, that it
was theocase containing the book.       t Asser, 65.
t Malm. 24, 25. Asser, 67. Without the knowledge of chronometers,
Alfred was perplexed to discover the true hour of the day. To 'remedy
the inconvenience he had recourse to the following simple expedient. By
repeated experiments he foundthat a quantity of wax, weighing seventytwo pennies, might be made into six candles, each twelve inches long and
of equal thickness, and that these burning in succession, would last
exactly twenty-fourI hours. To prevent the flame from being affected by
currents of air, the candles were inclosed in a large lantern of transparent
horn: and as the combustion of each inch of wax corresponded with the
lapse of one seventy-second part of the day, or twenty of our minutes, he
was hence enabled to measure his time with some securacy Asser, 68.69.




ï~~A.D. 885.]  DISFOSITION OF HIS REVENUES.

181

ruins. In all these undertakings we are told that he
displayed an improved taste and considerable magnificence. Among his artists were numbers of foreigners
attracted by his offers, and the fame of his liberality;
and by frequent conversation with them he is said to
have acquired a theoretical acquaintance with their
respective professions, which astonished the most experienced workmen *.
The other moiety of his revenue was parcelled out into
four portions. One was devoted to the support of his
school, his favourite project. Another was given to the
two monasteries which he had founded, one at Shaftesbury for nuns, at the head of whom he placed his
daughter Ethelgiva: another at Ethelingey for monks,
which he peopled with foreigners, because the Danish
devastations had abolished the monastic institute among
his own subjects. The third portion he employed in
relieving the necessities of the indigent, to whom he was
on all occasions a most bountiful benefactor. From the
fourth he drew the alms, which he annually distributed
to different churches. They were not confined to his
own dominions, but scattered through Wales, Northumbria, Armorica, and Gaul. Often he sent considerable
presents to Rome; sometimes to the nations in the Mediterranean and to Jerusalem: on one occasion to the
Indian Christians at Meliapour. Swithelm, the bearer
of the royal alms, brought back to the king several oriental pearls, and aromatic liquors '.
The long interval of peace, which Alfred enjoyed after
the baptism of Gothrun, had raised him to a high preeminence among the British princes. The East-Anglian
and Northumbrian Danes, though their subjection was
rather nominal than real, acknowledged his authority.
* Asser, 52. 58. 66.
t See Asser, 58. 60. 64. 66.67. Chron. Sax. p. 86.90. Malm. de gest.
reg 24. Hunt. 201. Flor. Wigor. 591. It is curious that as Asser (p. 58)
makes the mare Tyrrhenum extend "ad ultimum HIybernie finem," so Alfred in his translation of Orosius says of the same, or the Wendelsae, that
on hre west ende is Scotland."




ï~~182

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV

The kingdom of Mercia no longer existed. He had
given the government of that country with his daughter./Ehelflmed to the ealdorman Ethered. Even the kings
of the Welsh, Anaward of Gwynez, Hemeid of Demetia,
Helised of Brecon, Howel of Gleguising, and Brocmail
of Gwent, harassed by intestine dissensions, voluntarily
placed themselves under his protection, and did him
A. D. homage on the same terms as Ethered of Mercia *. It
893. was in this season of prosperity that Alfred saw the
storm, which had so long desolated the fairest provinces
of Gaul, cross the channel, and burst on his own territory. Hastings, the most renowned and successful of
the sea-kings, after more than forty years of carnage and
plunder, undertook, in imitation of Gothrun, to win for
himself a kingdom in Britain. The forces of the Northmen assembled in the port of Boulogne in two divisions,
of which one, comprising two hundred and fifty sail,
steered its course to the mouth of the Limene, and took
possession of Apuldre on the Rother t'; the other of
eighty ships, under Hastings himself, directing its course
more to the north, entered the Swale, and fortified a
position at Milton. Never did Alfred display more
ability, nor the barbarians more pertinacity, than in the
conduct of this war. Every attempt of the invaders was
foiled by the foresight and expedition of their adversary:
yet they maintained the contest for more than three
years: and did not abandon their object, till they had
exhausted every resource, which courage or perfidy, activity or patience could supply.
As soon as Alfred collected his forces, he marched
into Kent, and occupied a strong position between Milton and Apuldre.    From   a lofty eminence he could
watch the motions of his enemies, while his flanks were
secured from surprise by an extensive wood on the one
* Asser, 49, 50. Now that Mercia was subject to the king of Wessex, we
meet with the compound term of Anglo-Saxon-.1Elfredus Angulsaxonum
rex. Asser, 25.
t There was formerly a river and spacious harbor of this name. Neither is
at present in existence, owing to inundations. The spot is now called Romney Marsh. See Gibson, at the end of the Saxon Chronicle, p. 34.




ï~~A. D. 893.] ALFRED I)EFIATS THE BARBARIANS.

183

side, and a deep morass on the other. Thus the communication between the Northmen was intercepted;
and each army was compelled to remain' inactive in its
camp, or, if it ventured a forward movement, to expose
itself to probable destruction. The perfidy of Hastings
disengaged him from this embarrassing situation. He
offered to depart in consideration of a sum of money;
gave hostages for the performance of his engagement;
and, as a spontaneous proof of his sincerity, permitted
his two sons to receive the sacrament of baptism. To
one Alfred, to the other Ethered, stood sponsors *. But
in the meantime a part of the army at Apuldre eluded
the vigilance of the king, stole through the forest of
Andredswald, and began to ravage the counties of Wessex. At Farnham they were overtaken by Alfred and
his son Edward.    The Saxons were victorious: the
booty and horses of the barbarians fell into their hands;
and many of the fugitives perished, as they attempted
to cross the Thames without a knowledge of the fords.
In the action their king, whose name is unknown, had
received a severe wound; and his inability to bear the
rapidity of their flight, compelled  them  to halt in
Thorney, a narrow islet formed by the waters of the
Coln. There they were carefully watched by successive
parties of Saxons, till they obtained permission to depart on terms similar to those, which had been stipulated with Hastings t.
The open hostility of these adventurers was not more
formidable than the suspicious fidelity of their countrymen, who under Gothrun and Cuthred had formerly
settled in East-Anglia and Northumbria. Both these
princes were now dead, and neither hosts nor hostages
could secure the obedience of their former retainers.
Some time before the evacuation of Thorney, Alfred had
* Chron. Sax. 94. Hunt. 201. West. 178.
t Ibid. 93. Ethelwerd, 482. This island is generally supposed to be
the Mersey, at the mouth of the Coln in Essex. But Ethelwerd calls it
Thorney: and from the situation I shculd conceive it to have been formed
by the river Coln, which enters the Thames near Staines.




ï~~184

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV,

received intelligence that these faithless vassals had
equipped two powerful fleets, with one of which they
were besieging Exeter, while the other ravaged the
A.D. northern shore of Devou. To add to his perplexity the
894. perfidy of Hastings was now become manifest. He had
indeed abandoned Milton, but it was only to cross the
river, and take possession of Beamftleet on the coast
of Essex, where he had been joined by the fleet from
Apuldre In this emergency the king divided his forces.
With the cavalry he hastened to Exeter, and drove the
besiegers to their ships: Ethered with the remainder
surprised Beamfleet in the absence of Hastings, and
obtained possession of his treasures, his wife, and his
children. This loss humbled the pride of the barbarian:
he solicited a pacification: Alfred, in opposition to the
advice of his council, ordered the prisoners to be restored; and Hastings promised to leave the island for
ever *. Whether he performed his engagement we are
not told: but from this moment he disappears from the
pages of the Saxon annalists; and before the close of
the century we find him in France, pursuing his usual
career of devastation. At last he accepted from Charles
the Simple the city and territory of Chartres, and condescended to become the vassal of a throne, which he
had so often shaken to its foundation t.
However this may be, the adventurers from Apuldre
and the fugitives from Thorney took possession of Shobury on the coast of Essex; and their numbers were
increased by the arrival of auxiliaries from East-Anglia
and Northumbria. On a sudden, leaving a sufficient
garrison for the defence of the place, they burst from
their cantonments, swept with rapidity the left bank of
the Thames, crossed the country to the Severn, and plundered without opposition both sides of that river. At the
first alarm the men of Mercia and Wessex, and the Britons of Wales, hastened to oppose the depredators, who at
* ('ih on. Sax  93, 94. Flor. 596.
+ Wil. G nemet. 221, 228.  Bouquet, vii. 221. 2P8.




ï~~.. 1). 895.1

ALFRED.

I8O

Buttington fouRd themselves surrounded by three armies under Ethered, Athelm, and Ethelnoth  For several weeks they supported with patience the hardships of
a siege: but, as soon as their horses were devoured,
famine compelled them to make a desperate attempt,
and with immense loss they forced a way through their
enemies, traversed Mercia, and regained theii fortress
at Shobury. Here they reposed themselves till their
losses were repaired by the arrival of new adventurers;
and then, bursting like a torrent through Mercia, they
took possession of Chester and the Wirall. Alfred
was at the time cruising with his fleet in the channel.
He hastened to the Wirall; but when he had examined
the position of the enemy, he despaired of being able to
force their lines, and contented himself with driving
away the cattle, and destroying the corn in the neighbourhood. Famine compelled the barbarians to seek
new adventures. They ravaged North Wales: but finding the royal army in their way, suddenly returned,
directed their march through Northumbria into EastAnglia, and by that circuitous route, regained their
former station in Essex. It might have been expected
that, after so many failures, tL y would have abandoned
the island. Alfred heard with pleasure that they had
put to sea with their families and plunder: but in a few
days they were discovered in the Thames near London,
and steering their course up the Lea, selected a strong
position about twenty miles from that capital, and made
it their head quarters during the winter *.
In the ensuing spring, the citizens, harassed by the
neighbourhood of the Danes, attempted to storm their
intrenchments, but were repulsed with considerable
slaughter. To protect the harvest, Alfred encamped on
the banks of the Lea, and, as he was riding one day,
discovered a spot, in which, by diverting the course of
the water, and raising obstructions in the bed of the
* Chuo Sax. 94--96.
voL. L     16




ï~~186

ANGLO SAXONS.

LCHAP. IV

river, it was easy to prevent the egress of the enemy's
fleet. The work was soon completed, and for its protection a castle was erected on each bank. The Northmen, foiled by the king's ingenuity, abandoned their
position; and, though they were pursued by the Saxon
cavalry, reached Quatbridge* on the Severn. Here they
passed the winter without molestation. But their spirit
was broken* dissension prevailed among their leaders;
A. D. and in the spring they disbanded themselves, separating
897. into small bodies, and taking different directions. Many
obtained settlements among the East-Anglians and
Northumbrians: the remainder sailed to their countrymen on the banks of the Seine t.
But though the great body of the barbarians had retired from the contest, several small marauding parties
continued to hover round the coast, and often inflicted
the most serious injuries on the inhabitants. On one
occasion six Danish vessels were seen to enter the strait
between the Isle of Wight and the coast of Hampshire;
and were quickly pursued by a Saxon squadron of nine
sail. The Northmen had divided their force. Three
of their ships lay dry on the beach, while the crews were
employed in the pursuit of plunder: the other three rode
at anchor to receive the attack of the Saxons. In the
unequal contest which followed, two of these were captured: the third with only five men on board contrived
to escape to a port in East-Anglia. The engagement
was hardly terminated when the Danes returned from
their expedition on shore; and the ebbing of the tide
left all the English vessels aground, three near to the
enemy, the other six at a considerable distance. This
accident awakened the hdpes of the barbarians, who
fearlessly crossed the sands on foot, and made an attack
on the nearest vessels. In this bold though unsuccessful attempt they lost one hundred and twenty men: and
yet by their superior skill were the first to get off their
* Qnatbridge is probably Qtatford, near Bridgenorth,
t Chron. Sax. 96. 97.




ï~~CHAP. IV.J

DEATH OF ALFRED.

1s7

ships and put to sea.   One of the three escaped: the
others were driven on the coast of Sussex, where their
crews were seized, and executed as pirates. During
the summer no fewer than twenty Danish vessels were
captuied *.
The death of Alfred happened on the 26th of October, A. D.
in the year 901.... He left two sons, Edward, who 901
succeeded him, and Ethelwerd, who received from his
father a learned education, and whose sons perished at
the celebrated battle of Brunanburgh.t His daughters
were Etheltlmd, married to Ethered of Mercia, Ethelgiva abbess of Shaftesbury, and Alfritha, wedded to
Baldwin count of Flanders, the son of the celebrated
Judith.
The will of Alfred is deserving of notice from the interesting information which it affords respecting the
transmission of property among the Saxons.       Egbert
had entailed his estates on his male descendants to the
exclusion of females: " to the spear-side and not to the
' spindle-side."   With Ethelwulf's disposition of his
lands the reader is already acquainted: but when Ethelbert came to the throne, he prevailed on his brothers,
Ethelred and Alfred, to surrender to him their interest
in the joint estate created by Ethelwulf in their favor, on
condition that he should reconvey it to them at his death,
together with all such lands as he might acquire for himself.t On the accession of Ethelred, it was agreed at
first, that the king should possess the joint inheritance
during his life, and make Alfred his sole heir; but, by a
second agreement, each party was permitted to make provision for his children out of his personal property, and
the lands which he had obtained by particular grants from
* Chron. Sax. 98, 99.
t This Ethelwerd, who died in 922 (Flor. 602), has generally been confounded with Ethelwerd the historian, who wrote in the reign of Edward the
martyr, and who says expressly that he was descended not from Alfred, but
from Alfred's brother and predecessor Ethered.- Ethelw. praef. 473.
1 It appears to me that zemana company refers to their joint tenancy,
not joint concurrence.




ï~~188

ANGLO-SAXOS.

[CHAP. IMO,

his father, or by sale or gift from other persons, reserving the residue, together with their joint inheritance, to
the survivor. Alfred, having stated these particulars,
informs us, that in order to dispose by will of what belonged to him by the death of Ethered, he assembled
the thanes of Wessex at Langdon. "I prayed them,"
he adds, "for my love (and gave them security that I
" would never bear them ill-will for speakingjustly) not
" to be prevented by fear or love from deciding right"
" lest any man should say that I had defrauded my
" kinsfolks." The thanes approved his title to the property. "It is all," said they, "delivered there into thy
" hand. Therefore thou mayest bequeath and give it
" either to a relation or a stranger, as thou thinkest
" best." The next day the king in their presence revoked all his former wills, divided his lands among his
two sons, his three daughters, his two nephews, his
cousin Osferth, and his wife Alswitha *. He then left
sums of money to all the above, to his ealdormen, to
his servants, and his bishops: fifty mancuses of gold to
fifty priests, fifty to poor clerks or monks, ministers of
God, fifty to poor people in distress, and fifty to the church
in which he should be buried. At the end he strictly forbade his heirs to invade the liberty of those men, whom
he had made free. "For God's love, and for the benefit
" of my soul, I will that they be masters of their own free" dom, and of their own will; and in the name of the liv"ing God I entreat that no man disturb them by exaction
" of money or in any other manner: but that they be left
"at liberty to serve any lord whom they may choose."
EDWARD.
The succession of Edward was opposed by his cousin
Ethelwald, who claimed the crown as the representative
* If any of the lands which he left to females had descended to him from
Egbert, he desired his heirs male to take the lands, and give to the females
an equivalent in money.




ï~~A. D. 904.]

EDWARD.

189

of Ethelred, the elder brother of the late monarch. His
pretensions were overruled by the decision of the Witenagemot: and the discontented prince, apparently under pretence of recovering the hereditary patrimony of his father,
assembled his retainers, and occupied the castles of Christchurch and Winburn. In the latter place he forcibly married a nun out of the convent, and announced his resolution never to surrender the fortress but with his life.
The approach of Edward to Badberry suggested a less
hazardous policy. He retired in secrecy, and reached
the northern Danes, who pitying his misfortunes, or
admiring his spirit, gave him the title of king, and
hastened to fight under his banner. In a short time
the exile saw himself at the head of an army of adventurers from Northumbria, East-Anglia and France.*
With these he landed in Essex, and obtained possession A. D,
of that county. The next year he marched through 904.
Mercia, crossed the Thames at Cricklade, and pillaged
the greater part of Wiltshire. But at the approach of
Edward he retired: and the West-Saxons in their turn
retaliated on the Danes the injuries, which they had inflicted on Mercia and Wessex. From St. Edmund's
dyke in Cambridgeshire they spread the flames of war
to the mouth of the Ouse: and crossing that river, continued in the fenny country the work of devastation.
At last Edward thought proper to withdraw his army.
In defiance of repeated orders the men of Kent remained
behind: they were surrounded by the Danes; and a most
murderous conflict ensued. Two ealdormen, several
thanes, two abbots, and the greater number of the common men perished, but the East-Anglians purchased
their advantage at a high price. They lost their king
Eohric; and to Edward the death of Ethelwald was of
greater consequence than the most brilliant victory *.
* That he had with him adventurers from France, is plain from Wendover
i. 368: Transfetavitad Gallias, ut fortiore rediens milite regem inquietaret.
t Chron. Sax. 100.  Hunt. f. 202. West. 180.




ï~~190

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV

From this period the king's attention was principally
directed to two great objects, the union of Mercia with
his own dominions, and the subjugation of the Northumbrian and East-Anglian Danes. I. For a few years the
government of Mercia, during the frequent infirmities
of Ethered, was intrusted to the hands of Ethelfled, a
princess whose masculine virtues and martial exploits
are celebrated in the highest strains of panegyric by our
ancient historians. At the death of her husband, Edward seized and united to Wessex the two important
cities of London and Oxford; nor does Ethelfled appear
te have resented this partition of her territory. She
continued to govern the remainder with the title of the
lady of Mercia, and cordially supported her brother in
all his operations against the common enemy. But that
respect, which Edward had paid to the merit of his sister,
he refused to the weakness of his niece Elfwina. When
Ethelfled died in 920, he pretended that the young
princess had promised marriage to Reynold the Dane,
and entering Mercia at the head of his army, sent her
an honourable captive into Wessex, abolished every trace
of a separate government, and moulded the whole of the
Saxon territories into one undivided kingdom*.
A. D.  II. Had the Danes in England been united under the
910. same monarch, they would probably have been more
than a match for the whole power of Edward: but they
still preserved the manners and spirit of their ancestors,
and diminished their national strength by dividing it
among a number of equal and independent chieftains.
After the death of Ethelwald five years elapsed without any important act of hostility; in 910, Edward
conducted his forces into Northumbria, and spent five
weeks in ravaging the country, and collecting slaves
and plunder.  The next year the Northmen returned
the visit.  They penetrated to the Avon, and thence
into Gloucestershire; but in their retreat were overtaken by the Saxons, and suffered a defeat, which was
* Chron. Sax. 103, 107. Ingulf. 28. Caradoc. 47.




ï~~A. D. 919.]

EDWARD.

1"),l

long a favourite subject among the national poets. E.ward now adopted the plan, which had been so succe:.
fully pursued by his father, of building fortresses for
the defence of his dominions, and the annoyance of th;
enemy. A line drawn from the mouth of the Thames,
through Bedfordshire, to Chester, will pretty accurately
describe the boundary which separated the hostile nations. To curb the East-Anglians the king built Witham
and Hertford: while Ethelfied, at his suggestion erected
similar fortresses at Bridgenorth, Tamworth, Stafford,
Warwick, and other places in the vicinity. Their utility
was soon demonstrated in the failure of a Danish expedition from the coast of Armorica. After ravaging the
shores of Wales, the barbarians attempted to penetrate
into Herefordshire. They were opposed by the inhabitants of the neighbouring burghs, driven into a wood,
and compelled to give hostages, as a security for their
peaceable departure. Edward was, however, suspicious
of their honour, and lined the northern coast of Somersetshire with troops. As he expected, they made two
attempts to land in the night at Wachet and at Portlock, and were defeated at both places with considerable
slaughter. The survivors fled to one of the uninhabited
isles in the mouth of the Severn, but want compelled
them to abandon their asylum, and seek new adventures
in Wales and Ireland *.
The royal brother and sister, having thus provided for
the security of their own territories, proceeded to attack
those of their enemies. Ethelfled took Derby by storm,
though the Danes obstinately defended themselves in
the streets; and then laid siege to Leicester, which, with
the adjacent territory, was subdued by the terror of her
arms. Edward, on his side, built two forts at Bucking- A. L.
ham to overawe the Northmen of the adjoining counties, 919.
took Bedford by capitulation, and, advancing into Northamptonshire, fortified Towcester. The Danes, alarmed
* Chron. Sax. 102. 105.




ï~~192

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV.

A. D. at the progressive encroachments of the Saxons, made,
921 in the same year, four attempts to obtain possession of
the nearest fortresses. One party occupied Tempsford,
and besieged Bedford; another stormed the walls of
Towcester; a third attacked Wigingamere, and a fourth
surrounded Malden. In each instance the garrisons
defended themselves till the royal army came to their
assistance; and Edward, eager to improve his success,
took possession of Huntingdon and Colchester. The
Danes were dispirited by so many losses; and all their
chieftains from the Willand in Northamptonshire to the
mouth of the Thames, submitted to the conqueror, took
the oaths of allegiance, and acknowledged him for their
" lord and protector*."
During the three next years the king with unceasing
industry pursued the same line of policy. He succesA. D. sively carried his arms to every part of the ancient
924. boundary of Mercia, and erected fortresses at Manchester, at Thelwell on the left bank of the Mersey, at
Nottingham, and at Stamford; and by the severity with
which he punished every outbreak, tamed into submission the several bands of barbarians who had settled
in the island.  By these conquests Edward acquired
more real power than had ever been possessed by his
predecessors. All the tribes from Northumbria to the
channel formed but one kingdom, subject to his immediate control: while the other nations in the island,
warned by the fate of their neighbours, anxiously solicited his friendship. The Danes and Angles of the
north made him offers of submission: the kings of the
Scots and Strath-clyde Britons chose him for their "lord
" and father;" and the princes of Wales paid him a
yearly tribute. Yet he was not long permitted to enjoy
this pre eminence. He died in 825 at Farrington, and
his death was immediately followed by that of his eldest
son Ethelward, at Oxford T.
* To hlaforde and to mund-boran. Chron. Sax. 169. Also, 106-109.
SChron. Sax, 111i, The chronicle tells us that Edward built a town and
f tiided it at Bladecanwvllian in Peaclanl, which Gibson conceives to be




ï~~A. D 924.] EDWARD FORTIFIED THE BURGHS.

193

Edward had been thrice married, and left a numeroas
family. Of the sons who survived him, three successively ascended the throne,; Athelstan, Edmund, and
Edred. Six of his daughters were married to foreign
princes, some of them the most powerful sovereigns in
Europe: and three, Elfleda, Ethelhilda, and Eadburga,
embraced a religious life. Of Eadburga the early history is curious. She was the youngest of Edward's
children, and had been led by her father, when she was
about three years old, into a room, in which he had
previously placed a collection of female trinkets, and a
chalice with the book of the gospels. The child ran to
the latter, and Edward, interpreting her choice as the
destination of heaven, embraced her and exclaimed
" Thou shalt be gratified in thy wishes; nor will thy
" parents regret, if they yield to thee in virtue." She
was delivered to the care of her grandmother Alswitha,
and of the nuns at Winchester; with whom      she spent
a long course of years, eminent among the sisters for tier
humility and devotion *.
In legislative and literary merit Edward was much
inferior to his father: he surpassed him in the magnimtude and the durability of his conquests. The subjection
of the Danes to Alfred was only nominal; and at his
death the kingdom, which he left to his son, was bounded
by the Mercian counties on the banks of the Thames and
the Severn. Edward, by steadily pursuing the same object, and insuring the submission of each district before
he proceeded to further conquests, extended his rule over
all the Danes of Mercia and East-Anglia. Wherever he
penetrated, he selected a strong position, and while a
multitude of workmen surrounded it with a wall of
Bakewell in Derbyshire. I think that Peacland means Lothian, which according to Camden was anciently called Pictland (Brit. p. 1181), and would therefore seek Badecanwyllan, the bathing wells, in the neighbourhood of Bathgate
the road to the bath. For it was on occasion of his building this fortress that
the "king of the Scots and all the people of the Scots, and the king of the
"Strathclyde Gaels, and all the Strathclyde Gaels (the men of Galloway:
" Westmin. 184) chose him for their father and lord." Chron. Sax. 110. In
other words, they did him homage; hominum  Mailros, 146.
* Malms. de Reg. ii. 13. De Pont, Ii. f. 140.
von,. L      17




ï~~194,

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV

stone, encamped in the neighbourhood for their protection *. That these fortifications were equal to their
object is evident from the fact, that not one of them was
ever captured by the enemy; and they were productive,
in after ages, of consequences which this monarch could
not possibly have foreseen. They were long the principal
towns in England, and served to multiply a class of men
of a higher order, and distinguished by greater privileges than the ceorles or husbandmen. To the burghers
was intrusted the defence of their walls and of the adjacent country. By living in society, and having arms in
their hands, they grew into consideration, and insensibly
acquired such a degree of power and wealth as ultimately to open to their representatives the national
council, and thus lay the foundation of that influence,
which the people enjoy in our present constitution.
During his reign an important alteration was effected
in the ecclesiastical economy of the kingdom of Wessex.
The frequent wars which had preceded the restoration
of Alfred, had caused a relaxation of discipline, and, in
many places, had revived the superstitions of paganism.
Pope Formosus sought by threats and exhortations to
awaken the zeal of the West-Saxon prelates, and suggested the propriety of increasing the number of their
bishoprics. About the year 910 the two churches of
Winchester and Sherborne became vacant, and Plegmund, archbishop of Canterbury, improved the opportunity to make a new division of the kingdom, and to
establish three more dioceses for the counties of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall t.
The most important of the religious foundations at
this period was the new minster at Winchester. At the
death of Alfred, the aged Grimbald had requested permission to retire to the friends of his youth, the clergy
of St. Omer: but Edward, unwilling to be deprived of
his services, prevailed on him to remain in England,
* Chron. Sax. 106. 108. t Wilk. Con. 1. 199, 200. Eadam. Nov. v. 12&




ï~~CHAP. IV.]

ATHELSTAN.

195

by promising to provide for him, according to the intention of the late king, a monastery in the neighbourhood
of the royal city. From the bishop Denulf and the
canons he purchased three acres of land, on which he
erected a spacious church and buildings for the accommodation of Grimbald and a society of clergymen, and
bestowed on them the lands which his father had destined
for that purpose in his will. To this new minster he
transferred the remains of Alfred: and in the same
place his own body, and that of his son Ethelward, were
deposited *.
ATHELSTAN,
THE FIRST MONARCH OF ENGLAND.
By the will of the late monarch the crown was left to A. D,
Athelstan his eldest son, about thirty years of age. The 925.
claim of the new king was immediately admitted by the
thanes of Mercia, and after a short time by those of
Wessex. The ceremony of his coronation was performed
at Kingston by Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury, and
the successor of Plegmund''.
Of the mother of Athelstan, Malmsbury has told a
romantic tale, on the faith of an ancient ballad. She
was the daughter of a neatherd, ana called Egwina.
Her superior beauty, even in her childhood, had attracted
admiration: and a fortunate dream was said to portend
that she would prove the mother of a powerful monarch.
* Monast. Aug. p. 208, 209. Annal. de Hyde apud Alf. iii. p. 201. 205
Chron. Sax. i 111. During Edward's reign the English made frequent
pilgrimages to Rome. In 921 many were massacred in passing the Alps
by the Saracens from Fraxinetum. A few years later many others met
with the same fate. Chron. Flodoordi apud Bouquet, vii. 177. 180.
+ Chron. Sax. Ill. Malm. 26. In Malmsbury we have three different
accounts of Athelstan, which should be carefully distinguished. The first
he compiled himself from documents within his reach. The second he
abridged from the longer work of a contemporary poet, whose extravagant
praises of his patron he reduced to the standard of probability and commnon sense. The last is a collection of facts for which no written authority
could be found: but which were mentioned in Anglo-Saxon songs transmitted from one generation to another. Malm. 26-29.




ï~~196

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV.

This report excited the curiosity of the lady who had
nursed the children of Alfred. She took Egwina to her
house, and educated her as one of her own family.
When the etheling Edward casually visited his former
nurse, he saw the daughter of the neatherd, and was
captivated with her beauty. Athelstan was the fruit of
their mutual affection *. From this very doubtful story
it has been inferred that the king was an illegitimate
son: but the force of the inference is weakened by the
testimony of a contemporary poetess, who in mentioning
the birth of Athelstan, alludes to the inferior descent of
his mother, but at the same time calls her the partner
of Edward's throne t. The child was the delight of his
grandfather Alfred, who created him a knight by investing him with a mantle of purple, and a short sword in a
golden scabbard. After the death of his mother he was intrusted to the care of his aunt Ethelfled, a fortunate circumstance, as it probably caused his interests to be, at this
period, so eagerly espoused by the natives of Mercia.t
In Wessex Athelstan had to guard against the secret
designs of his enemies, of whom the most dangerous was
the etheling Alfred. The associates of this prince had
conspired to seize the person of the king at Winchester,
and to deprive him of his sight. On the discovery of the
plot Alfred demanded, according to the forms of the
Saxon jurisprudence, to clear himself by oath; and
Athelstan, who dared not refuse the privilege, sent him
to Rome in the custody of his messengers, to perform
the ceremony in the presence of the pontiff. The unfortunate etheling swore to his innocence on the altar of
St. Peter. But as he survived his oath only three days,
his death was considered a sufficient proof of his guilt
by the witan, who adjudged his estates to the king. By
him they were given to the monastery of Malmsbury S.
Sightric, the Danish king of Northumbria, had braved
* Malm. 29.  f Quemn peperit regi censors non inclyta regni. Rosvitha, de
gestis Odon. p. 165. The words consors regni show that Egwina was a crowned
queen, and consequently the king's wife. Non inclyta is applied to her because she was not of the royal race, but Malmsbury and Florence state that
she was ofa very noble family,  Malm. i 197, $ Malm. 21. Ibid., 220




ï~~CHAP. IV.]

SIGHTRIC BAPTIZED.

197

the power of Edward: he solicited the friendship of
Athelstan, and with it his sister Editha in marriage. The
two princes met at Tamworth. Sightric was baptized, received the hand of Editha, and accepted from Athelstan
a grant of what he already possessed, the country between the Tees and the Frith of Forth*. It is said, that
the barbarian soon repented of his choice, and abandoned
both his wife and religion t: it is certain that he died at
the end of twelve months, and that Athelstan seized the
opportunity to annex Northumbria to his own dominions.
The two sons of Sightric fled before the superior power
of the Anglo-Saxon; Godfrid into Scotland, and Anlaff
into Ireland. Anlaff had the good fortune to meet with
friends and associates: but Constantine, the king of the
Scots, dared not afford an asylum to the enemy of Athelstan; and Godfrid, after a fruitless attempt to surprise
the city of York, voluntarily surrendered himself to the
mercy of the conqueror. He was received with humanity and treated with honour: but the mind of the Dane
could not brook the idea of dependence, and on the fourth
day he fled to the coast, and commenced the profession
of a sea-king $.
The ambition of Athelstan now grasped at the sovereignty of the whole island. In the north he levelled
with the ground the castle of York, the principal bulwark
of the Danish power: Ealdred the son of Ealdulf, a A.D.
Saxon chieftain, was compelled to yield to him the strong 927.
castle of Bamborough; and the king of Scots, and the
prince of Cumberland, obeyed his summons, and acknowledged his superiority. On the west he intimidated the
Britons of Wales and Cornwall. The chieftains of the
former waited on him at Hereford, where they stipulated
to confine their countrymen to the right bank of the
Wye, and to pay a yearly tribute of twenty pounds of
gold, three hundred pounds of silver, and five thousand
head of cattle. The Cornish Britons had hitherto reached
* Malm. 27. Wallingford, 540, t Westmin. 185. $ Maim. 27




ï~~198

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CITAP. "

from the Land's-end to the river Ex, and possessed one
half of Exeter., He commanded them to retire beyond
the Tamar; surrounded the city with a strong wall of
stone; and frequently honoured it with his presence.
To confirm his claim of sovereignty, he convened at a
place called Eadmote all the princes of the Scots, Cambriaifs and Britons, who,' placing their hands between
his, swore to him that fealty, which the Saxon vassal
was accustomed to swear to his lord*.
During this tide of success, and when Athelstan had
just reached the zenith of his power, Edwin, the eldest
of his brothers, perished at sea. The traditionary ballads,
consulted by Malmsbury, attribute his death to the jealousy of the king, who, convinced of his own illegitimacy,
suspected Edwin of aspiring to that crown which belonged
to him by the right of inheritance. It was in vain that
the young prince asserted his innocence upon oath; and
when his oath was disregarded, threw himself on the
affection of his brother. The tyrant thought his own
safety incompatible with the life of Edwin: and, while
he affected the praise of lenity by commuting the sentence of death into that of banishment, committed his
victim to the mercy of the waves in an open and shattered boat, with only one companion. The prince, in a
paroxysm of despair, leaped into the sea: his attendant
coolly waited for the flow of the tide, and was wafted
back to the shore in the neighbourhood of Dover. A thelstan, it is added, when it was too late, repented of his
cruelty, submitted to a course of canonical penance, and
built the church of Middleton, that prayers might be
daily offered for the soul of his murdered brother. Such
is the tale which Malmsbury has preserved, but of which
he does not presume to affirm or deny the truth 1'. It
* Malm. 27, 28. Flor. 602. Mail. 147. The contemporary writer in
Malmsbury makes the tribute of the Welsh amount to 25,000 cattle. I
have preferred the nore moderate account of Caradoe, p. 48.
t Non constanter sed titubanter. Malm. 25. Non ut defendam, sed ne
lectorum scientiam defraudem. Id. 29. The story is repeated by Sim.
134. 154. Hoved.242. West. 186. Bromp. 836. It may however be ob



ï~~CHAP. IV.]  SCOTS REBEL AND SUBMIT.

199

seems not to deserve credit. No trace of it is to be discovered in the contemporary biographer of Athelstan;
and in the poem from which it was extratted, it was
coupled with another tale evidently fabulous*.         That
Edwin perished at sea, cannot be doubted: but the king
appears rather to have deplored his death as a calamity
than to have regretted it as a crime. The account of
Huntingdon contains all that can now be known of the
transaction: "Soon afterwards he had the misfortune to
" lose in the waves of the ocean his brother Edwin, a
" youth of great vigour and good disposition 1'9.
The king of Scots eagerly sought to free himself from A D
his dependence on the English monarch: and with this 934.
view entered into alliance with Howel, king of Wales.
But the power of Athelstan was irresistible. At the
head of his army he extended his ravages as far as Dunfaedor and Westmore, while his fleet pillaged the coast
to the extremity of Caithness. Constantine was compelled to implore the clemency of the conqueror, and to
surrender his son as an hostage for his fidelity *.
Three years afterwards the superiority of the English
king was threatened by a more formidable confederacy.
In 937 a fleet of six hundred and fifteen sail cast anchor
in the Humber. It obeyed the commands of Anlaff,
served, that Simeon, Hoveden, and Westminster, have all copied the same
words from one common document. Florence (603), who usually copies
the same, has in this instance deserted it, and omitted entirely the death
of Ewin.
* The ballad proceeds to say that it was the butler of Athelstan who
urged his master to the death of Edwin: that one day as he waited on the
king,his foot slipped, and recovering himself with the other, he exclaimed:
thus brother helps brother. The words reminding Athelstan of the fate
of Edwin, he ordered the butler to be put to death. Malm. 29. This
kind of story seems to have been a favourite with the Anglo-Saxons. The
reader will meet with another edition of it in the history of Edward the
Confessor.
j That Edwin perished at sea is asserted by the Saxon chronicle (111),
and Mailros (147). The words of Huntingdon are: nec multo post adversa
perculsus fortuna fratrem sum Edwinum magni vigoris juvenem et bonm
indolis maris fluctibus flebiliter amisit. Hunt. 204. 158, 159.
t Chrou. Sax. 111. Sim. Dun. 134. Floren. 603. On this account Ethelwerd, a contemporary, says, Colla subdunt Scoti pariterque Picti, uno solidantur Britannidis arva. Ethelw. 482. bcotiam sibi subjugando perdomuit.
Sim. Dun. 25.




ï~~200

A N:iLO-SAXONS..

[CF-%P. iv

who was come with an army of Irish and northern adventurers to reconquer the dominions of his father. His
arrival was the signal of war to his confederates, the
Sccts and Britons, who under their respective princes
directed their march to the same spot. The lieutenants
of Athelstan, unable to repel the torrent, endeavoured
to retard its progress. Negotiations were opened to gain
time for the arrival of Athelstan, who, not content with
his own forces, had purchased the aid of several seakings. As he passed through Beverley, he visited the
church, offered his dagger on the altar, and vowed to
redeem it, if he returned victorious, at a price worthy of
a king. The armies were soon in the neighbourhood of
each other, when Anlaff planned a midnight attack, in
the hope of surprising and killing his adversary.  To
discover the quarters of Athelstan, he is said to have
adopted an artifice familiar to the Northmen. The minstrel was in that age a sacred character; and Anlaff with
his harp in his hands fearlessly entered the English
camp, mixed without suspicion among the troops, and
was at last conducted to the royal pavilion. The king,
who was at dinner, bade the stranger strike his harp,
and rewarded him for his song. But the disguise of the
pretended minstrel could not conceal him from the eye
of a soldier, who had once served under his standard, but
who disdained to betray his former leader. As soon as
Anlaff was out of danger, this man related the circumstance to Athelstan, and to the charge of perfidy, indignantly replied: " No; I have shown that my honour is
" above temptation; and remember that if I had been
" perfidious to him, I might also have proved perfidious
" to you." The king accepted the apology, and by his
advice, removed to a distant part of the field. The
ground which he had left, was afterwards occupied by
the bishop of Sherborne. In the dead of the night the
alarm was given: Anlaff with a body of chosen followers
was in the midst of the camp, and a bloody and doubtful
conflict ensued. In the morninlg, when he retired, it




ï~~A. D. 938.]  VICTORY OF BRUNANBIURGH.?01

was discovered that the prelate had perished with all his
attendants *.
Two days after this occurrence was fought the battle A..
of Brunanburgh, in Northumbria: a battle celebrated 938.
in the relics of Saxon and Scandinavian poetry. The
multitude of the confederates consisted of five nations,
Norwegians, Danes, Irish, Scots, and Britons: in the
English army waved a hundred banners, and round each
banner, if we may believe the exaggeration of a contemporary, were ranged a thousand warriors. The contest
lasted till sunset. A northern sea-king, in the pay of
Athelstan, was opposed to the Irish, and after an obstinate struggle drove them into a wood at no great distance. Turketul with the citizens of London, and Singin
with the men of Worcestershire, penetrated into the
midst of the Scots, killed the son of their king, and compelled Constantine to save himself by a precipitate flight.
Anlaff still maintained his position against all the efforts
of Athelstan and his West-Saxons: but the victors returning from the pursuit, fell on his rear, and decided
the fortune of the battle. The Northman escaped the
sword of his enemies; but he left five confederate seakings, seven jarls, and many thousands of his followers,
on the field of battle. "Never," says the native poet,
" since the arrival of the Saxons and Angles, those
" artists of war, was such a carna;e known in England."
The conqueror, in his return from the battle, redeemed
his dagger from the church of Beverley with a grant of
ample and valuable privileges f'.
This splendid victory crushed the enemies, and confirmed the ascendency of Athelstan. By the Northmen
he was distinguished with the appellation of " the con" queror $." The British princes no longer disputed his
authority: the chieftains of the East-Anglian and North* Malm. 26. His authqrity foi this story was probably nothing more
than some ancient ballad.
+ Chron Sax. 112-114. Egilli Saga apud Johnstone, 31. Ingulf. 37.
Mailros, 147. Maim. 27, 28.
t Snorre, p. 119. He also calls him Athelstan the faithful. Ibid.




ï~~2 U2

\ NONS..!.'. L v

Umbrian Danes, who under a nominal vassalage had so
often maintained a real independence, entirely disappeared; and all the countries originally conquered and
colonized by the different Saxon tribes became united
under the same crown. To Athelstan belongs the glory
of having established, what has ever since been called
the kingdom of England. His predecessors, till the
reign of Alfred, had been styled kings of Wessex. That
monarch and his son Edward assumed the title of kings
of the Anglo-Saxons. Athelstan sometimes called himself king of the English: at other times claimed the
more pompous designation of king of all Britain.* Both
these titles were indiscriminately employed by his immediate successors: but in the course of a century the latter
fell into disuse: the former has been retained to the
present age. f
As the power of the king became predominant in
Britain, his influence began to be felt upon the continent.   He maintained a friendly correspondence with
several foreign courts; and three princes, destined to
act important parts in the concerns of Europe, were educated under his protection. I. The first was Haco, the
younger son of Harold Harfagre, the powerful king of
Norway. When the father sent the child to the English
court, he presented the king with a magnificent ship, of
which the sails were of purple, while the beak was covered with plates of gold, and the inside hung round
with gilded shields. At the death of Harold, Eric the
elder brother ascended the throne; but he soon lost by
his cruelty the affection of his subjects: and Athelstan
* For Alfred, see Heming. Chart. i. 42. Asser, 1, 3; for Edward, Gale, iii. p.
362; for Athelstan, id. p. 364. The coins in Camden, Tab. 4, 5, in Hick's Diss.
tab. ii., and the MS. in the Cotton library, Tiberius, A. 2. Athelstan ab omnibus imperator totius Britannia est pronuntiatus. Flor. 693. Subactis ubique
hostibus totius Britannia dominium obtinuit. Sim. Dun. 18. lie calls himself Itex totius Britannim: Totius Britannia regni solio sublimatus. Basileus
industrius Anglorum, cunctarumque gentium in circuitu persistentiumn. Cod.
Dip. ii. 183, 194, 208.
t In the reign of Ethelred, the appellation of Anglo or English seems to
have almost superseded that of Saxon. For Ethelwerd, of the royal race of
Wessex, calls his own countrymen West Angles, and the South and East
Saxon s, South and East Angles. See Ethelwerd I. ii. and iii. passim.




ï~~;<.923.])

I aCO OF NORWAY.

203

sent his " foster son," with a powerful fleet, to obtain
possession of the sceptre.   The enterprise succeeded:
English missionaries under the protection of the new
king disseminated the doctrines of the gospel; and the
reign of Haco the good is still celebrated in the annals
of Norway *. II. A second ward of the English king
was Alan of Bretagne. The charitable donations of
Ethelwulf, Alfred, and Edward, to the churches of
Armorica, had given rise to an intercourse between the
English and the transmarine Britons, who still, at the
distance of four centuries, lamented their banishment
from the land of their fathers '. When the Normans
under Rollo depopulated Bretagne, numbers of the natives sought and obtained an asylum under the protection of Athelstan. Among the fugitives was Matheudoi,
who had married the daughter of Alan the great: and
who committed his infant son to the care of his friend.
Athelstan stood sponsor to the young prince at his baptism; watched over -his education; and at a proper age
sent him back to his native country with the surviving
exiles, and a band of English adventurers. The young
Alan proved himself worthy of his protector: he recovered by degrees the territories of his grandfather: and
by a long series of splendid actions made himself the
sovereign of Bretagne $ III. Atlhelstan's own nephew
was the third of his royal pupils. His sister 1 dgiva had
been married to Charles the simple, king of France, to
whom she bore a son Louis, who fromin his long exile in
England, was surnamed D'ouiremer. Three years afterwards, her husband was imprisoned by the treachery of
Herbert, count of Vermandois: but the queen escaped
with her child, and was received with an affectionate
welcome by her father Edward. When Athelstan sue- A. D.
ceeded to the throne, he was not indifferent to the 923.
* Malms. 28. Snorre, 121,138, 160. Hiavnise, 1777. Mr. Turner has the merit
of calling the attention of writers to the connection between Athelstan and
the king of Norway. Vol. ii. 83-91. It is disputed by Leppenburg (ii. 105.)
t In exulatu atque in captivitate in Francia commoramur. Epist. Radbodi
Dol. epis. Gale, iii. 364.
I Chron. Nannet. apud Bouquet, vii. 276, Gul. Gemet. ill. 1.




ï~~'04

X)AN; L-SAXONS.

CHAP. IV.

interests of his sister and nephew. In 926 the friends
of Charles made an attempt to obtain his freedom, and
Louis was sent at their request to France: but the efforts of the royalists were speedily repressed, and the
young prince sought again the protection of his uncle.
After an exile of thirteen years he recovered the throne
of his fathers. Athelstan had contracted a friendship
with the duke of Normandy, who was induced, at the
death of Rodulf the successor of Charles, to espouse the
interests of Louis *. An embassy from France, at the
head of which was the archbishop of Sens, demanded the
rightful descendant of Charlemagne: they swore in the
hands of Athelstan and Edgiva, that he should be immediately put in possession of the royal authority; and
Louis sailed to Boulogne with a splendid retinue of
Anglo-Saxon thanes and prelates. He was received by
a deputation of the French nobility, conducted in state
to Laon, and crowned with the usual solemnity 1. But
he soon found himself opposed by the factions which had
dethroned his father, and were now supported by Otho
of Germany; and therefore solicited the assistance of
his uncle, whose fleet ravaged with impunity the lands
of his enemies along the coast of Flanders *. As for
Edgiva, she continued to hold a distinguished place in
the councils and court of her son; till in an unlucky
hour she fixed her affections on the count of Meaux, the
son of the man who had wrested the sceptre from her
husband. At her instigation he carried her off, as it
were, by force, and married her as soon as they arrived
A.D. in a place of apparent safety. Louis was indignant at
951. the conduct of his mother. He immediately pursued the
fugitives, made Edgiva his prisoner, and committed her
to the custody of his queen Herberge S.
Besides Edgiva and the wife of Sightric the Northumbrian, Athelstan had seven other sisters, of whom three
* Hugo Floriac. apud Bouquet, vii. 319. Item. 304. Chron. Turon. ix.
" Flodoardi Hist. iv. 26. Chrou. Viridun. apud Bouquet, vii.'290. Chron.
Osoran. viii. 237.          Chron. Flduard. vii. 193.
Daniel, Hist. de France, ann 951 Chron. Flodoardi, viii. 207. Ed
giva's epitaph may be seen in Mabillon, Analhe. i. 4si7.




ï~~A. D. 941.]  DEATH OF ATHELSTAN.

205

put on the veil, four were married to some of the most
powerful princes in Europe. 1. In 926, Hugo the great,
father to the founder of the Capetian dynasty, solicited
the hand of Ethilda. He had been among the most
active enemies of Charles the simple: but had recently
declared in favour of 'the captive monarch; and had
selected for his ambassador Adulf of Flanders, the cousin
of Athelstan. In the assembly of the witan at Abingdon
were displayed the numerous and costly presents which
he had sent, perfumes, jewels, relics, horses, the sword
of Constantine the great, and the spear of Charlemagne.
Before this splendid exhibition his former demerits disappeared; and Ethilda became the wife of a noble Frank,
who without the title, possessed the wealth and power of
a king.
2. Soon after the battle of Brunanburgh, the emperor,
Henry the Fowler, sought a consort for his son Otho
among the sisters of Athelstan. The king appears to
have been flattered by the request: and to return the
compliment, he sent both Editha and Ediva to Germany,
that the imperial suitor might make his choice. Before
their departure each princess received presents from the
king, the thanes, and the prelates, the only dower she
could offer to her future husband. They were conducted
as far as Cologne by the chancellor Turketul. Otho preferred Editha: her sister was married to a prince whose
name has not been preserved, but whose dominions lay
among the Alps. 3. There only remained Elgiva, the
youngest and most beautiful of the daughters of Edward.
She accepted the hand of Louis, prince of Aquitain *.
In the year 941 Athelstan died, regretted by his subjects, and admired by the surrounding nations. He was
of a slender habit, and middling stature. His hair,
which was yellow, he wore in ringlets entwined with
thread of gold. Among the higher orders of the nobi* For these marriages see Ethelwerd (473), Ingulf. (37, 38), Malmsbury
(25, 28), Westminster (185, 186), and Hrosvitha, de gestis Odonis, 161-165.
There is much confusion with respect to the names of the princesses, and
their foreign husbands. Bouquet (ix. 21, not. e.) makes the prince near the




ï~~206

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV.

lity he maintained that reserve which became, his superior station: to the lower classes of his subjects he was
affable and condescending. From his father he had inherited a considerable treasure: but his liberality was
not inferior to his opulence, and the principal use which
he made of money was to enrich others. To his vassals
he was accustomed to make valuable presents: the spoil
collected in his military expeditions was always divided
among his followers: and his munificence to the clergy
was proved by the churches which he erected or repaired*. Neither ought his charities to be left unnoticed. He annually redeemed at his private expense a
certain number of convicts, who had forfeited their liberty for their crimes: and his bailiffs were ordered,
under severe penalties, to support a pauper of English
extraction on every two of his farms t. As a legislator
he was anxious to suppress offences, to secure an impartial administration ofjustice, and to preserve the standard
coin of the realm in a state of purity. With this view
he held assemblies of the witan at Greatly, Faversham,
Exeter, and Thundersfield: associations were formed
under his auspices for the protection of property: and
regulations were enacted respecting the apprehension,
the trial, and the punishment of malefactors. Negligence in the execution of the laws was severely chastised.
A thane paid to the crown a fine of sixty shillings: a
superior magistrate was amerced in double that sum, with
the forfeiture of his office *. In his will he had chosen
the abbey of Malmsbury for the place of his sepulture.
There he had deposited the remains of his cousins.Elfwin and Ethelwin, who fell at Brunanburgh; and to the
same place his body was conveyed in solemn pomp, followed by a long train of prelates and nobles, and surAlps, but without quoting his authority, Eblus, the son of Rainulf, Count of
Poitou. Some have thought that Louis of Arles died too early to have been
married to Elgiva, but L'Art de verefier les Dates states that he could
not have died betore 928, probably later.
* All these particulars are mentioned by his contemporary biographer,
apud Malms. 27.   t Each pauper received annually a complete suit of
clothes, and monthly a measure of meal, a gammon of bacon, or a ram worth
four pennies. Leg. Sax. 56.          + Leg. 54-69.




ï~~A.D. 940.]

EDMUND.

207

rounded by the presents which he had bequeathed to
the monastery *.
EDMUND.
The civil wars, which formerly desolated Northurnmbria, have been mentioned already: after the extinction
of its native kings it continued to present similar scenes
of anarchy and bloodshed. Its chieftains Were partly of
Saxon, partly of Danish origin, alike in disposition and
habits; but enemies to each other, and equally regardless
of treachery or of violence, when it could contribute to
their aggrandizement. Every sea-king was certain of
finding an asylum among them; and, if he had the ambition to aspire to a throne, there were never wanting
men willing to draw the sword in his cause. Sometimes
a fortunate adventurer extended his authority over the
whole nation; sometimes two or more shared the sovereign power among them. But they were no better than
thltting shadows of royalty, following each other in rapid
succession. After a year or two many of them perished
by the treachery of their friends or the swords of their
enemies; many were compelled to abandon the country,
and revert to the pursuits of piracy; hardly one transmitted the inheritance of his authority to his children.
Occasionally necessity extorted from them an acknowledgment of the superiority claimed by the kings of
Wessex: but the moment the danger was removed,
they uniformly forgot their oaths, and resumed the
exercise of their independence. It seems to have
mattered little, whether these princes were natives or
foreigners: the pride of the inhabitants was satisfied,
provided they did not crouch to the pretensions of the
southern Saxons, whose superior civilization was viewed
with contempt by the barbarism of the Northumbrians.
After the battle of Brunanburgh the terror of Athelstan had kept this turbulent people under some re
* Malm. 29.




ï~~208

ANGLO- SAXONS.

[CHAP IV.

straint: but at his death their ancient spirit revived;
Anlaff was invited to hazard a third time the fortune of
war; and within a few weeks the Humber was covered
by a numerous fleet of foreign adventurers. The seaking rested his hope of success on the rapidity of his
motions, and, marching into Mercia, obtained possession
of Tamworth. Edmund, the brother of Athelstan, and
A. D. about eighteen years of age, had been crowned at King941. ston, and hastened to oppose the invaders. The operations of the campaign are involved in much obscurity.
The success which attended the first efforts of Edmund,
seems to have been balanced by a subsequent defeat:
and the respective losses of the two princes induced them
to listen to the suggestions of the archbishops Odo and
Wolstan, who laboured to effect a pacification. The
vanity of our chroniclers has exhibited the transaction
in partial colours: but the conditions of the treaty prove
the superiority of Anlaff. Edmund ceded in full sovereignty to the Dane all the provinces on the north of
the Watling-street *.
The sea-king did not long enjoy his good fortune. He
died the next year, and Edmund improved the opportunity to recover the dominions which he had lost. His
measures were planned with foresight, and executed
with vigour. The five-burghs, as they were called, of
Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Stamford, and Lincoln,
had long been inhabited by the descendants of Danes, who,
though they made a profession of obedience to the English monarchs, considered it a duty to favour the enterprises of their kinsmen. These towns formed as it were
a chain of fortresses running through Mercia, and gar,
risoned by enemies. The king began his operations by
reducing them in succession. Their inhabitants were
expelled, and replaced by English colonies-. Edmund
* Basides the printed chroniclers, see another in MS. quoted by Mr.
Turner, T'ib. B. 4. Westminster(187) adds to the condition of the treaty,
that the survivor was to succeed to the dominions of the other. This is
not mentioned by any other writer.
t Chron. Sax. 114. Hunt. 203. Flor. 603.




ï~~CHAP. IV.]  EDMUJND CONQUJERS CUMBRIA.    20

209

next proceeded into Northumbria. That country was
already divided between two princes, one of whom, like
his predecessor, was called Anlaff, the other styled himself Reginald, king of York. They submitted without
resistance to the superior power of Edmund, acknowledged themselves his vassals, and embraced Christian- A. 1.
943.
ity. The king stood sponsor to Anlaff, at his baptism;
and adopted Reginald for his son, when he received
confirmation. Yet he had hardly left the country, when
they again asseited their independence. Their perfidy
soon met with its punishment. The archbishop of York
and the ealdorman of Mercia united their forces, and
drove the two rebels out of the country*.
A sense of their own danger had hitherto taught the
Britons of Cumbria to assist their neighbours in these
struggles to maintain    their independence.    It was
against them  that Edmund next directed his arms. A.D.
Every effort which they could make, was hopeless: the 945
two sons of Dunmail their king fell into the hands of the
conqueror, and were deprived of sight, and the country
was bestowed on Malcolm, king of Scots, on the condition that he should become the vassal of the English
crown, and should unite with Edmund in opposing the
attempts of the sea kings %
The reign of Edmund lasted only six years.    ie was
celebrating at Pucklekirk in Gloucestershire the feast
of St. Augustine, the apostle of the Saxons, when he
perceived Leof a noted outlaw enter the hall. This
man had been banished on account of his crimes some
years before; and now had the audacity to seat himself
at the royal table, and to offer resistan ce, when the cup* Ethe..482. Flor. 604. Hunt. 203
- Ut sibi terra et mail fidelis esset. Lel. Col, ii, 399.  Sim. 150. IIunt.
203. Flor. 604. His midw.rhta, or associate ii ear, Chron. ix 115.
Ut Aquilonares Anglia parnes terra marique ab hliostium adiventantinm
incursione tueretur.  West. 188.  Fordin (iv. 04) asserts that a(coning
to the agreement between  the two  io   the  heir to ti e. cri,f, ei tland was always to hold Cumbirlanud ofl ihe cr n c i t Iniil id. 1i  t
where Dunmail was defi ted is still maiked with a hea( of stones a lbouit
noi: e mles from  Keswick, on thie road ti,  n ml l ih. d West.S..
vEL. I    18




ï~~210

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. INV

bearer ordered    him to depart.    Passion hurried Edmund to the spot, where he received a wound in the
breast, from a dagger which Leof had concealed under
his clothes. The king immediately expired: the assassin was cut in pieces by the royal attendants *.
Edmund had been married to Elfgive, a princess of
exemplary virtue, whose solicitude for the relief of the
indigent, and charity in purchasing the liberty of slaves,
have been highly extolled by our ancient writers. She
bore him two sons, Edwy and Edgar, of 'whom the eldest
could not be more than nine years of age. Their childhood rendered them incapable of directing the government; and in an assembly of the prelates, thanes, and
vassal princes of Wales, their uncle Edred, the only
surviving son of Edward, was chosen king; and, to use
the inflated language of a charter given on the ocoasion, was " consecrated at Kingston to the quadripar" tite government of the Anglo-Saxons, Northumbrians,
" Pagans and Britons" T.
EDRED.
A.D.  The reign of Edred was principally distinguished by
946. the final subjugation of Northumbria. Immediately
after his coronation, he proceeded to that country: and
received first from the natives, afterwards from the
Scots, and lastly from the Cumbrians, the usual oaths
of fidelity Â~. But the obedience of the Northumbrians
lasted only as long as they were overawed by his presence: he was no sooner departed, than they expelled
his officers, and set his authority at defiance. Eric, who
had been driven from Norway by his brother Haco, and
had wandered for years a pirate on the ocean, landed
* It has been disputed whether he was assassinated in 946 or 948. But there
Is.a charter of Edred, given at the coronation of that prince in 946, and several
others by the same, dated in 947. See Cod. Dipl. ii. 2i;8, 270, 27 2.
t./Elgive has been-said to have been only the king's mistress, because
in a charter she calls herself concubina regis. But concubina in the Latin of
that age had the same meaning as canlaterana and consors. Most certainly
the king's mistress would not be called upon to sign his charters. By the
chroniclers she is styled "the holy queen,' and Ethelwerd, who could not be
ignorant, terms her Edmund's wife and queen. In Eodem anno obiit regina
Elfgyun Eadmundi regis conjux  (lib. iv. c. vi.) She d(lied before the king.. Smith's Bed. App. 772.
Flor. 604. West. 189. "The Scots gave him their oaths that they would
"will whatever he should will."' Chron. Sax. 115. Cui Northymbri sul.bjicluntur cuncti, necnon Scoti Jusjuranda confllrnmant, imnntabilenqune idem.
Ethelw. 492.




ï~~A. ). 946.]

EDRED.

211

his officers, and set his authority at defiance. Eric, who
had been driven from Norway by his brother Haco, and
had wandered for years a pirate on the ocean, landed on
their coast, and was immediately saluted king. The news
excited the indignation of Edred. His first object was to
secure the important city of York; and with that view he
despatched his chancellor Turketul to Archbishop Wolstan, to confirm the wavering fidelity of that prelate, and
the citizens. The king soon afterwards entered Northumbria at the head of the men of Wessex and Mercia;
and by ravaging the lands severely punished the perfidy of the rebels. But as he led back his followers,
loaden with pillage and unsuspicious of danger, the
gates of York were thrown open in the night; a chosen
band of adventurers silently followed his march; and a
division of his army was surprised and destroyed. To
revenge this insult he resumed the work of devastation:
but his anger was appeased by presents, entreaties, and
submission; and he returned in triumph with a long
train of captives to London. Eric might still perhaps
nave maintained himself in the country, had he not
been opposed by a new competitor, Anlaff, one of the
princes who had fled from the sword of Edmund in the
last reign. The two rivals assembled their forces: Anlaff
was victorious; and the Norwegian with his son and brother perished in the wilds of Stanemoor by the treachery
of Osulf, and the sword of Macco, the son of Anlaff4*.
This was the last struggle of Northumbrian independence. Edred returned with a numerous army, and tra- A. D.
versed the country without opposition. Large and fer- 952.
tile districts were laid desolate: the archbishop, whose
conduct had greatly irritated the king, was immured for
a year within the castle of Whithambury; J the principal
* Ing. 30, 41. West. 189.  Mail. 148.
t What was Wulfstan's offence? According to Ingulf, he was suspected of
having favored the rebellion of the Northumbrians in the second year of Edred's reign, though he had been recalled to his duty by the advice of Turk



ï~~212

wAx(LO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV.

noblemen were torn from their dependents, and carried
by the king into captivity; the whole province, like the
rest of England, was divided into shires, ridings, and
wapentakes; and the government was intrusted to a
number of officers appointed by Edred, under the superintendence of Osulf, who took the title of earl of Northumberland *.
Edred was afflicted with a lingering and painful diseasel: and much of the merit of his reign must be attributed to the counsels of his favourite ministers, his
chancellor Turketul, and Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury. Turketul was a clergyman of royal descent, the
eldest son of Ethelwerd, and the grandson of Alfred.
He had refused preferment in the church, but accepted
and retained the office of chancellor or secretary to the
king, under his cousins Athelstan, Edmund, and Edred.
His virtues and abilities were honoured with the approbation of the prince, and the applause of the people. He
held the first place in the royal councils: the most important offices, both civil and ecclesiastical, were conferred by his advice; and his attendance on the sovereign
was required in every military expedition. The important part which he acted in the battle of Brunanburgh,
has been already noticed *. When he was sent by Edred
to archbishop Wolstan, it chanced that his road led him
etul. (Ing. f. 496.) It is difficult to understand the narrative of Malmsbury,
who in one place (De Pont, iii. f. 153, b.) evidently confounds Edmund with
Edred; and in another (De Reg. i. 232), says that he was charged with favoring his countrymen in transfugio. Wendover states that several charges
were brought against him, principally that he had punished with death several burghers of Thetford, for the murder of the Abbot Aldhelm. Wend. Ann.
951. He was restored to liberty, and to the exercise of his otice, in a council
held at Dorchester.  Wulstano a custodia soluto episcopalis honor apud
Doracester restitutur. 11ov. Ann. 953. I-tence it has been said that he was
made bishop of Dorchester; but this cannot be, for he afterwards signed charters as before, with the title and precedence of Archbishop of York, in the
Codex Diplomaticus, ii., 304, 5, 6, 317.
SIng. 41. Sim. 156. Walling. 541.
+ Malm. 30. He was for a long time unable to take any solid food (Vit
S. Dun. in Act. SS. p. 353): a most unlucky circumstance for an AngloSaxon king, of whom it was expected that he should be the foremost in
the pleasures of the table as well as the dangers of the field.
t Ingulf remarks,(p. 37) that though hlie led the troops to battle, hlie refused to make use of arms, because the canons prohibited to clergymen
lthif effusion of blood. It was, however, the doctrine of the age, that an
exception was allowed in war undertaken for the protection of the countr,
against a pagan invasion. liid.




ï~~A. D. 952.]

EDRED.

213

by the ruins of Croyland, which still afforded a miserable shelter to three monks, the survivors of the Danish
devastations.  Turketul was affected by the piety and
resignation of these aged anchorites; and felt a secret
desire to enter into their society, and to restore their
monastery to its ancient splendor.   At his return he
solicited, and after several refusals, obtained, the permission of his sovereign. The public crier announced to
the citizens of London that the chancellor, before he
quitted his office, was anxious to discharge all his debts,
and to make threefold reparation to any person, whom
he might have injured. When he had satisfied every
demand, he gave fifty-four of his manors, the inheritance
which he had received from his father, to the king, and
reserved six for the use of his monastery. At Croyland
he made his monastic profession, received the investiture
from Edred, was blessed by the bishop of Dorchester,
and the next day by the advice of the lawyers resigned
the abbey with its appurtenances into the hands of the
sovereign. All the lands which formerly belonged to it,
had, during the Danish wars, been seized by Burhred,
king of Mercia, who annexed a part to the crown, and
divided the remainder among his thanes. The former
were cheerfully restored by the piety of Edred: of the
latter several manors were purchased from the present
possessors by Turketul. At the next meeting of the
witan he received a new grant of the whole from the king
in the most ample form, but with the exception of the
privilege of sanctuary, which he refused, as a violation o.
justice and an incentive to crime. From this period he
spent 'seven-and-twenty years in the discharge of his
duties as abbot. The zeal of the preceptor was rewarded
by the proficiency of his disciples; and at his death in
975 the monks of Croyland formed a numerous and
edifying community *.
* See Ingulf, 25. 30-41.52. That the original work of Ingulf has been
interpolated by his transcribers, must be admitted. This of course detracts from its authority. But much of what it narrates respecting the
royal descent, the riches, and the donations of Turketul, is confirmed by
Orderic, p. 340.




ï~~214

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. IV.

The abbot of Glastonbury, the other favorite of Edred,
occupies a disproportionate space in most of our modern
histories. Nearly related to Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury, and to Elphege, bishop of Winchester, he had
been introduced by them a candidate for royal favor to
the court of king Athelstan. But the jealousy of rivals,
and the reflections suggested by a dangerous illness,
diverted the thoughts of the young thane from worldly
pursuits to the monastic state; and having received the
order of priesthood, he served during several years the
church of Glastonbury. In this situation his zeal, disinterestedness, and charities attracted the notice of the
public,. by Turketul he was recommended to the favour
of Edmund; and that prince bestowed on him Glastonbury with its possessions. By Edred, Dunstan was not
less respected than he had been by his predecessor. The
new king made him the director of his conscience; deposited with him his treasures and the titles to his lands;
and earnestly solicited him to accept the vacant bishopric
of Winchester. This preferment he declined; and, while
he was more obscurely employed in the government of
his monastery, unexpectedly lost his friend and benefactor. The king, whose constitution had been enfeebled
4. n. by frequent returns of his disease, expired in the tenth
955. year of his reign, and was buried at Winchester * November 23.
* Ang. Sac. ii. 90-104. Malm. 30. MS. Cleop. 13, B. xiii. f. 60.




ï~~CHAPTER V.
ANGLO-SAXONS.
Reigns of Edwy-Edgar-Edward the Martyr-Ethelredand Edmund, surnamed Ironside.
EDWY.
AT the accession of Edred, his nephews Edwy and Edgar A. D
had been passed by on account of their childhood: at 855
his death    the elder of the two brothers was chosen
king by the unanimous voice of the witan, and entered
immediately on the full exercise of the royal authority.
We are assured, by the most ancient writers, that the
character of the young monarch- he could not be more
than sixteen or seventeen years of age - was already
marked by the violence of his passions. Until he received the royal unction, he appeared indeed to listen
with some deference to the admonitions of archbishop
* It is observable that the ancient writers almost always speak of our
kings as elected. Edwy's grandmother in her charter (Lye, App. iv.) says:
"he was chosen gecoren."  The contemporary biographer of Dunstan
(apud Boll. tom. iv. Maii, 344) says: ab universis Anglorum principibus
communi electione. He also intimates that Wessex and Mercia had not
yet coalesced into one kingdom: ut in utraque plebe regum numeros
nominaque suppleret electus, p. 353.




ï~~216

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

Odo; but from the moment of his coronation, he conceived himself above control; and on the very day of
that ceremony, when he was seated at table after dinner
with the nobility and clergy, abruptly left the company
to keep an appointment with a favorite female, of the
name of Ethelgive, who, with her daughter, avwaited his
coming in a neighboring apartment.5 If we may listen
to the scandal of the age, chastity was not her distinguishing virtue, nor did her visit to the royal youth originate in the most delicate motives.t A general murmur
spoke the indignation of the company. At their request
the abbot of Glastonbury, with the prelate Kynsey, entered the chamber, and the unwilling prince was persuaded or compelled to resume his seat.         By the language of modern prejudice, the share which Dunstan
bore in this transaction has been described as an attempt
to subdue the spirit of the king, and a daring insult to
the royal authority; but let the reader advert to the
manners of the age, and he will not be surprised, if the
writer resented the abrupt departure of the king, or their
messengers treated with little ceremony the women who
had drawn him away.
The affront, however, sunk deep into the mind of Edwy;
and Dunstan, aware how grievously he had offended, with
drew after a while from the court, to bury himself in the
* Aug. Sac. ii. 83. The name of the mother was Ethelgiva (sic erat nomen
ignominiose mulieris. MS. Cleop. p. 76.)
t Huic quedam natione precelsa, inepta tamen mulier per nefandum
familiaritatis lenocinium sectando inherebat, eotenus videlicet quo sese vel
etiam natam suam sub conjugali titulo illi innectendo sociaret. Repente
prosiluit lascivus ad predictum scelus lenocinii - invenerent illum intra
utrasque volutantem. MS. Cleop. p. 76. This writer was a contemporary;
and it is evident from the words in italics that Edwy was not then married.
Nor does the contrary appear from the Abingdon Charters. Supposing the
subscriptions to them genuine, it will only follow that the king was married
when. he signed the charters, not that he was married on the day of his
coronation.




ï~~A. D. 955.]

EDWY.

217

obscurity of his cloister.* But Ethelgive was still at
hand to keep alive the displeasure of her lover: a remonstrance addressed to the king by archbishop Odo, was
attributed to the suggestion of Dunstan, and a resolution
was taken at once to close the mouth of this importunate
monitor. At first his monks were urged to rebel against
him. The attempt failed. A party of thanes next entered
his domain in hostile array, drove off the cattle and plundered the abbey.    Dunstan escaped; but it was in vain
that he sought an asylum among his friends; his footsteps
were traced from place to place, and so keen was the
pursuit, that the ship which bore him from England was
still in sight, when his enemies appeared on the beach,
with orders, it was said, to deprive him of his eyes.f
He reached in safety the coast of Flanders, was received
with hospitality by the earl Arnulf, and retired to the
monastery of St. Peter's in Ghent. His two abbeys of
Glastonbury and Abingdon were dissolved by Edwy, and
the few monks, whom he had collected and formed with
the view of resuscitating the order, were dispersed among
their friends and relatives.
It is unfortunate that we know not the chronological
order of the events which happened during the reign of
Edwy. If we may believe a very ancient writer, the king
in his second, perhaps his third year, was prevailed upon
to marry; but at the same time he kept a mistress whom
he had carried off by force, and whom he had placed for
security in one of the royal villas. The scandal became
public, and the archbishop, being informed of the fact,
* This was probably some months after the coronation, for in 956 he signs
an undoubted charter of Edwy, with the title of dogmatista (Cod. Dipl. ii.
826); but this is the last time. His name is not to be found to any of the
following charters of Edwy, though they are numerous.
f Ut ferunt, ooulos illius, si in his maris littoribus inveniretur, eruende
dempsissent. MS. Cleop. 77. Si comprehendi valeret, sine ullo respectu
mnisericordie oculos ei erui prmecepit. Eadmer, apud Sur. 237. Parentela
mulieris prosequens Sancti oculos eruere disponebat. Wallingford, 643.
voLX i      19




ï~~218

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

proceeded suddenly to the villa, took possession of the
female, and sent her under an escort out of the kingdom.
To Edwy he undertook to justify this bold proceeding,
and   with   mild  and    parental language      exhorted    the
young king to reform his conduct.* But adversity proved
a more efficacious monitor than the archbishop. Edwy
had abandoned himself to the counsels of men, who, to
secure his favor, pandered to his passions.        All persons
of his kindred were removed from court; of many thanes
the lands were plundered by his direction; of others, the
inheritances were seized; every order of men suffered
from illegal exactions, and his grandmother, Eadgive, a
princess revered for her age, rank and character, by the
whole nation, was deprived by him of all her property.f
At length the Mercians rose in arms against him, and
Edwy fled for his life. T     According to some Anglo-Norman writers, Ethelgive - whether they mean the female
mentioned in the history of his coronation, or some other
of the same name -accompanied him in his flight, but
* Rex sub uxore propria alteram adamavit quam et rapuit.... Antistes
autem Phineatico zelo stimulatus et ira Dei irritatus, repente cum sociis
equum adscendit, et ad villam qua mulier mansitabat pervenit, eamque
rapuit, et de regno perduxit, regemque dulcibus admonuit verbis pariterque
factis, ut ab impiis actibus custodiret se, &c. MS. Nero, E. 1, 8.
t Unde quid mali succreverit, quam infamis fama populorum aures et nra
repleverit, facile est et me tacente videre. Ipse namque possessiones
plurimorum diripere, hos et illos exhaereditare, majores natu proscribere,
totumque regnum innumeris oppressionibus conturbare festinavit. Apud
Eadmer in vit. S. Dunstani 236.  Col. Agrip. 1618.  Accessit his malls
ejus nimis detestabile malum. Matrem quippe totius Anglim nobilitatricem,
ecclesiarum consolatricem, et sustentatricem oppressorum -   in immensum afflixit, ac vastatis rebus ad ipsam pertinentibus, ab eo statu, in quo
esse solebat, savus et crudelis dejecit. Fad. ibid. Atavam suam predari
priecepit. MS. Cleop. 78. Eadgive states the same in her charter, published by Lye. Lye, app. Iv.
t Factum est ut in prmtereuntibus annis penitus a brumali populo relinqueretur contemptus, quum in commisso regimine insipienter egisset, sagates et sapientes odio vanitatis disperdens, et ignaros quosque sibi similes
studo dilectionis adsciscens. MS. Cleop. 78.




ï~~A. D. 959, 960.]

EDWY.

219

was surprised by his pursuers, and cruelly put to death.*
The king had the good fortune to cross the Thames, and
to save himself in Wessex.     The Mercians chose his
brother Edgar for their king; and the men of Kent and
Wessex, unwilling to prolong a civil and disastrous war
for his sake, assented to a general meeting of thanes from
both nations, in which it was determined that the Thames
should form the boundary between the separate domin-A. D.
ions of the two brothers. Edwy governed his portion in 959
peace, and to the satisfaction of his subjects, but died 960.
prematurely in 959 or 960.t
To account for the revolution which transferred the
sceptre of Mercia from the hands of Edwy to those of
Edgar, modern writers have set aside the authority of
the 6riginal historians, and supplied its place with conjectures of their own. By one we are told that Dunstan,
panting for revenge, hastened from   Flanders, and intrigued with the northern thanes; by another, that the
monks of Mercia, fearing the same fate which had befallen. their brethren in Wessex, preached up the duty of
revolt; by a third, that the insurrection was owing to
the political influence of archbishop Odo. But not one
of their fictions can bear the test of inquiry. It is certain that Dunstan did not leave the place of his banishment till after the partition of the kingdom between the
two brothers; that there existed no Benedictine monastery in Mercia, on which Edward could wreak his vengeance; and that Odo, with the men of Kent, among
whom his influence chiefly lay, continued the faithful
subject of that prince, constantly attending his court,
and subscribing to his charters, till 959. If Edwy forfeited the crown of Mercia, it was owing to his own lawless and oppressive conduct, which was not confined to a
* Ang. Sac. ii. 106.
t Sicque universo populo testante publica res regum ex definitione sagacium segregata est, ut famosum flumen Tamense regnum disterminaret
amborum. MS. Cleop. 78.




ï~~220

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

few monks, but extended to his grandmother, his kindred,
the friends of his late uncle, and the principal thanes of
his kingdom.*
EDGAR.
Edgar was still in the cradle, when he lost his mother
Elfgiva. By his father the infant was intrusted to the
care of Alfwena, the wife of Athelstan, an East-Anglian
ealdorman, who from his royal descent and extensive
authority had obtained the surname of the "half-king."
The young prince was educated with their children; and
was, it is probable, indebted to the family for his elevation to the throne of Mercia, in opposition to his brother
Edwy. Athelstan, a little before his death, entered the
monastery of Glastonbury; his four sons, Ethelwold,
Alfwold, Athelsin, and Ailwin, long continued to be the
favourite counsellors of Edgar.
One of the first measures of the new king, or rather of
his ministers (for he was only in his fourteenth year)
was to recall from exile the abbot of Glastonbury. His
possessions, which lay in the dominions of Edwy, he
could not recover: but he was retained in an honourable situation at court near the person of Edgar. When
the witan assembled, he opened the session with a discourse, which excited the admiration of his hearers;
received at their unanimous request the episcopal consecration; and on the death of the bishop of Worcester,
was appointed successor to that prelate. The next year
the church of London became vacant; and he accepted,
though with reluctance, the administration o' that diocese.
* The life of Edwy, as it appears here, has been wholly rewritten by Dr.
Lingard for the last edition of his work. The former editions dwelt on
cruelties of Edwy, which here are in general terms referred to the courtiers who surrounded them. The author also dwelt in detail on the cruelties inflicted on Dunstan. Nor were the speculations in the closing paragraph printed in the previous editions. There are no new authorities
which have been brought to light on the subject, and it is only in connection with certain theological controversies relative to Dunstan, and the
influence of the ecclesiastical power in the state, that there has been any
discussion regarding the reign.- AM. ED.




ï~~A. D. 959.]

EDGAR.

221

The thanes of Wessex, after the death of Edwy, offered
the throne to Edgar; and the two kingdoms were again
united under the same monarch. The oppressive acts
of the late government were now solemnly annulled.
Edgive, the relict of Edward, recovered her patrimony:
Dunstan was re-established in the possession of Glastonbury and Abingdon; and ample reparation was made to
the thanes, who had suffered from the passion or resentment of Edwy *. One of the last acts of that prince had
been to nominate Byrhtelm, bishop of Sherborne, to the
metropolitical see of Canterbury. Perhaps the ministers
of Edgar were unwilling to see a favourite of his brother
at the head of the English church: certain it is that in
the assembly of the witan his want of vigour was alleged
as a proof of incapacity; and that Byrhtelm returned
with disgrace to the- church, from which he had been
promoted. Dunstan, who was selected in his place, repaired to Rome, and obtained the pallium from John
XII. He resigned the bishopric of London min favour of
AElfstan, that of Worcester in favour of Oswald, the
nephew of Odo l'.
Edgar has received from posterity the surname of
" the peaceful." During the sixteen years of his reign
he was never compelled to unsheath the sword against
either a foreign or a domestic enemy. The circumstance
is the more remarkable, if we consider the lot of the
kings who preceded, or followed him. His predecessors,
during the long lapse of one hundred and fifty years,
scarcely enjoyed an interval of repose from the repeated,
and often formidable, invasions of the Northmen. Of
his successors his son was driven by them into Normandy: his grandson was compelled to share the throne
with a foreign chieftain; and his descendants in the
third degree lived in exile, while the English sceptre
* MS. Cleop. 79.
f MS. Cleop. 79. Osb. 109. Wharton ( g. Sac. ii. 197. not.) infers
from the words of Osbern (p. 110), that Dunstan possessed Rochester
with Canterbury. This is a mistake. Osbern bays the contrary. So also
does Eadmer, 214.




ï~~222

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

was wielded by a race of Danish sovereigns. This long
interval of tranquillity, the peculiar felicity of Edgar,
arose partly from the policy of his uncle Edred, partly
from his own good fortune and the vigour of his councils.
The population of Northumbria was composed in a
great proportion of Danes, or the posterity of Danes.
Animosity against their southern neighbours, and affection for their own kinsmen, induced them frequently to
invite, always to assist, the invaders. By Edred, indeed,
they had been completely subdued: but it is probable
that their submission would only have been temporary,
had not circumstances connected their interests with the
prosperity of the new king. Edgar had been educated
among the Danes of East-Anglia: the Northumbrians
had united with that people and the Mercians to raise
him to the throne; and they respected him as a king
whom they had not only chosen for themselves, but had
imposed on the hostile kingdom of Wessex. He, whether
it wvere through gratitude or policy, paid to them on all
occasions the most marked attention; and the only blot
which the southern annalists could discover in his character, was his partiality for the manners, and his zeal
for the welfare, of his Danish subjects *. Still he appears
to have kept a watchful eye over their conduct; and on
the death of Osulf, their first earl, his jealousy taught
him to diminish the power of the Northumbrians by dividing the country into two earldoms; of which he gave
one, extending from the Humber as far as the Tees, to
Oslac, and the other, comprising the lands on the north
of that river, to Eadulfl'. Soon after this division the
witan assembled at York, and Edgar addressed them in
language, which, while it suited his own dignity, was
soothing to the vanity of a high-spirited people: "It is
" my will," said the king, "that with respect to worldly
* Chron. Sax. 115. In hoc tamen peccabat, quod paganos cos, qui in
hac patria sub eo degebant, nimis firmavit, et extraneos huc adductos plus
equo diligens valde corroboravit. Hunt. 204.
t Walling. 544. Hoved. 243. This writer makes the Tyne the division
between the counties.




ï~~A. D. 959.]

EDGAR.

223

" rights, the Danes choose for themselves such laws, as
" are best; and that the English observe the statutes
" which I and my counsellors have added to the ancient
" dooms. But one thing I would have to be common to
" all my people, English, Danes, and Britons, in every
" part of my empire: that both rich and poor possess in
" peace what they have rightfully acquired; and that no
" thief find a place where he may secure the property
" which he has stolen." After a few regulations for this
purpose he proceeds: " Again it is my will that the
" Danes select for themselves the best laws in their
" power. This permission I have granted you, and will
" grant you, as long as I live, for the fidelity which you
" have always borne to me. Among the English I and
"my witan have fixed proportionate fines for different
"transgressions; and my wish is that you do the same
" with discretion and for my interest. And let the Earl
" Oslac and all the military men, who dwell in this earl" dom, observe it: and let copies be made, and sent to
" the ealdormen iElfere, and iEgilwin, that it may come
" to the knowledge of all, both rich and poor. As long
" as I live, I will be to you a faithful lord, and most kind
" to all who shall be careful to keep my peace *."
But Edgar, to preserve the tranquillity of his dominions, did not depend solely on the fidelity of the
Northumbrians. Every year, about the commencement
of summer, when the sea-kings issued forth in quest of
adventures, directions were given for the ship-fyrd, or
naval expedition. A fleet of three hundred and sixty
sail was divided into three squadrons, stationed on the
three coasts of the island; and the king, successively
embarking in each, made by sea the circuit of his dominions. This annual parade of his power intimidated
the northern chieftains, who conducted their piratical
hosts to other shores, where they were equally tempted
* Leg. Sax. 80, 82. Thorpe i. 272. IElfere was ealdorman of the Danes
in the north of Mercia, Egilwin or Aylwin of those in East-Anglia.




ï~~224

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V

by the hope of plunder, and less dismayed by the probability of resistance *.
Proud of his ascendency, Edgar assumed the most
lofty titles. He styled himself king of the English, and
of all the nations dwelling around, monarch of all Albion and of the kings of the isles ". We are assured
that the princes of the Scots and Britons did him service
as vassals $; and, if we may believe one of his charters,
all the islands between Britain and Norway, the city of
Dublin, and the greater part of Ireland, had submitted
to his authority Â~. In lieu of the tribute which his
predecessors had imposed on the Welsh, he exacted an
annual present of the heads of three hundred wolves:
and so effectual was the expedient that in four years
that race of ferocious animals was entirely extirpated II.
At the invitation of Alfsi, bishop of Durham, and the
A. D. two earls of Northumbria, Kenneth, king of Scotland,
971. visited Edgar in London. From the English monarch
he received valuable presents, silks, rings, and gems,
and one hundred ounces of pure gold; but the principal object of his journey was to solicit as a favour, or to
demand as a right, the cession of the province of Lothian.
It formerly belonged to the Northumbrian kings, who
had pushed their conquests and colonies to the frith of
Forth: but its proximity to the Scots exposed it to
frequent inroads, and its remoteness from the present
seat of government rendered it unproductive to the royal
treasury. By Edgar the matter was referred to his ministers, who were induced by the poverty and distance
of the province to decide in favour of Kenneth. Lothian
was transferred to the crown of Scotland on the condition that its inhabitants should be permitted to retain
* Malm. 33. Sim. 160. Mailros, 150. These writers make the ships
amount to 3600 The number appears to me enormous. I have therefore
Ye renched a cipher.
fl1g. 42. 46, 47. Bed. A pp. 776. $~ Hunt. 204. Sim. 159. West. 192.
Â~I).gdale, i. 140.            11 Malm. 32. Carad. 56,.,ede, s peaking of Abercorn, says: in monasterio Ebbercurnig, po.
she quidem in regone Anglorum, sed in vicinia freti, quod Angloruan
terras P'icto~ nmoue disterminat. Bed. iv. 26.




ï~~A. D. 971.]  ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

225

their language, laws, and customs*: and the Scottish
prince obtained an additional grant of twelve manors
in different parts of England for his accommodation, as
often as he came to do homage to the Saxon Bretwalda.
In the internal administration of the government,
Edgar exhibited an example worthy the imitation of
future kings. Hie usually spent the winter months in
making progresses through the different counties, everywhere reforming abuses, inquiring into the conduct of
the magistrates, and listening to the complaints of the
people. He was most anxious that the poor should
obtain justice equally with the rich. By his authority
family feuds were suppressed, and men were compelled
to submit the decision of their quarrels to the legal
tribunals.  He restored the coinage to its legitimate
weight and purity; enforced the punishment of exile
against malefactors convicted of atrocious offences, and
almost extinguished the crime of robbery, by the vigilance with which he caused the guilty to be pursued,
and by the impediments which his laws opposed to the
transfer of stolen property t. The inhabitants of Thanet
had long been addicted to acts of piracy. In 969 they
plundered several merchant-ships on their voyage from
York: but the ealdorman of Kent, by order of the king,
immediately entered the isle, pillaged the country, and
hanged the most guilty; one of the many instances of
military execution, which in that age the state of society and the imperfection of judicial proceedings might
perhaps render expedient *.
The tranquillity of Edgar's reign, his undisputed superiority over the neighbouring princes, and his attention to the welfare of his people, have contributed to
# Walling. 545. West. 193. Does not this sufficiently account for the
prevalence of the English language in the low-lands of Scotland? The
presence of Kenneth in London is attested by his subscription to a charter
in the Menasticon, i. 27.
t Leg. Sax. 77. 80. MS. Cleop. 79. Obs. 110. Chron. Sax. 116. Mailros, 150. Malm. 32, 33.
# Chron. Sax. 121. West. 192. Non ut hostis insaniens, sed ut rex malo
mnala puniens, Hunt. 204




ï~~226

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

throw a lustre around his memory: the reformation of
the church, undertaken by the prelates, and effected
with the aid of his authority, though it was received with
gratitude by his contemporaries, has been marked with
unmerited censure by modern writers. The Danish
invasion had both relaxed the sinews of ecclesiastical
discipline, and dissolved the greater number of the monastic and clerical establishments. The most opulent
monasteries had been laid in ruins by the rapacity of
the barbarians; and their lands, without an owner, had
been seized by the crown, or had been divided among
the nearest and most powerful thanes. Under former
kings, efforts had been made to restore the monastic
order, but they had proved ineffectual. The prejudices
against it were nourished by the great proprietors now
in possession of its ancient revenues; even the monastery of Ethelingey, which Alfred had peopled with foreign monks, had been gradually deserted; and the
two abbeys of Glastonbury and Abingdon, the fruits of
the zeal of Dunstan, had been dissolved by the resentment of Edwy. The clerical order was more fortunate.
Though shattered and disfigured, it had survived the
tempest. But the friends of religious severity, when
they compared the clergy of their day with the clergy
of ancient times, saw much in their conduct to lament
and correct. Formerly they lived in communities under particular regulations; aid their seclusion from
temporal pursuits insured the faithful discharge of their
spiritual functions. But during the Danish wars they
had been dispersed amidst their relatives, had divided
among themselves the revenues of their respective
churches, and, substituting others for the performance
of the service, indulged in the pleasures and dissipation
of the laity. But that which gave particular offence to
the more devout was their marriages. It is most certain, that during the first two centuries of the Saxon
church the profession of celibacy was required from
every clergyman advanced to the orders of priest, or




ï~~A.D. 971.]  REFORM OF THE CLERGY.

227

deacon, or sub-deacon *: but amid the horrors of successive invasions the injunctions of the canons had been
overlooked or contemned; and, on many occasions, necessity compelled the prelates to ordain, for the clerical
functions, persons who had already engaged in the state
of matrimony. Similar causes had produced similar
effects in the maritime provinces of Gaul: and Dunstan
had witnessed, during his exile, the successful efforts of
the abbot Gerard to restore the ancient discipline in the
churches of Flanders t. Animated by his example, the
metropolitan made a first essay to raise the monastic
establishments from their ruins; and his labours were
zealously seconded by two active co-operators, the
bishops Oswald and Ethelwold. The former governed
the church of Worcester: the latter, his favourite disciple, had been placed at his request in the see of Winchester. To them Edgar was induced to sell, or grant,
the lands of the monasteries, which had fallen to the
crown; and of those which remained in the hands of
individuals, a portion was recovered by purchase, and
still more by the voluntary resignation of the possessors.
Persons were soon found ready to embrace an institute
recommended by the prelates, and sanctioned by the
king: as fast as buildings could be erected, they were
filled with colonies of monks and their novices; and
within a few years the great abbeys of Ely, Peterborough, Thorney, and Malmsbury, rose from their ashes,
and recovered the opulence and the splendour which
they had formerly enjoyed.
The next object of the metropolitan was the reforma -
tion of the more dissolute among the clergy, principally
in the two dioceses of Winchester and Worcester. For
this purpose a commission was obtained from Rome;
and a law was enacted, that every priest, deacon, and
subdeacon should live chastely, or be ejected from his

* Bed. i. 27; v. 21. Wilk. con. p. 112. 133, 134. 136.
t Vit S. Gerar. sac. v. Bened. p. 272.




ï~~228

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

A. D. benefice.# Oswald, whose zeal was tempered with lenity,
964. soon converted the canons of his cathedral and of Winchelcomb into communities of monks. Ethelwold met with
a more stubborn resistance; and after a considerable delay
was compelled to recur to the civil magistrate.       Armed
with the royal authority, he successively transferred the
prebendaries to other situations which he had prepared
for them in his diocese,t and supplied their places with
monks whom he had selected from his favourite convent
at Abingdon. There was nothing now to arrest the
progress of monachism. The laity had caught the spirit
of the prelates: several opulent noblemen erected monasteries on their respective demesnes; and the king
publicly gloried in the assertion, that though the order
was nearly extinct at his accession, almost fifty abbeys
had been established during his reign$.
It was the pride of Edgar to display his opulence and
authority; to be surrounded by prelates, nobles, and the
princes his vassals; and to distribute among them presents of greater or less value in proportion to their respective ranks. Hence it will excite surprise that a
prince of this character, living in an age which attached
so much importance to the regal unction, should have
permitted thirteen years of his reign to elapse before he
was crowned: nor is it less extraordinary that of the
many historians who relate the circumstance, not one
has thought proper to assign the reason. The ceremony
was at length performed at Bath with the usual solemnity, and in the presence of an immense concourse of
spectators (11 May, 973.)       Thence he proceeded on
* Eadmer, 200. Wilk. con. 239, 247. I have omitted the celebrated speech
attributed to Edgar on this occasion, because it is probably a declamation
composed by some rhetorician.
t We are told that some of the ejected prebendaries reclaimed the lands of
which they had been deprived; that in a council at Winchester Dunstan was
inclined, at the prayer of the king and nobility, to allow them another trial;
but that he was deterred by a supernatural voice from a crucifix, saying,
"Make no change; your former decision was right." I mention this ifable,
as it occupies a prominent place in most modern histories, but is not to be
found in any Anglo-Saxon writer, not even in Bridferth's contemporary life
of St. Dunstan, or Wulfstan's life of St. Ethelwold. We are indebted for it
to writers after the conquest.
I Chron. Sax. 117. Ingulf,. 45, 47. Osbern, 111. Wolstan, vit. Ethelwoldl.
614. Ead. 200. list. Rames. 400. The rule observed in all these monasteries




ï~~A. D. 975.]

EDGAR CROWNED.

229

board the fleet, and after a long cruise repaired to Chester
to receive the homage of eight princes, Kenneth, king
of Scotland, his son Malcolm of Cumberland, Mac Orric
of Anglesey and the isles, Jukil of Westmoreland, Jago
of Galloway, and Howel, Dyfnwal, and Griffith of Wales.
The ceremony was opened with a splendid procession by
water on the Dee. Edgar stepping into his barge seated
himself at the helm: and the vassal kings taking the oars
rowed him to the church of St. John the Baptist; the
prelates and thanes followed in their barges, while the
banks were lined with spectators and the air resounded
with acclamations. At his return he is said to have observed to those around him: "My successors may think
"themselves kings, when they can command the service
"of the like number of princes *.
Edgar had happily no opportunity of acquiring military glory: but on one occasion he is said to have proved
that he was not deficient in personal courage. Kenneth,
alluding to his spare form and low stature, had said that
it was a disgrace to so many brave men to obey the authority of a dwarf. The words were reported to the king,
who dissembling his anger, conducted Kenneth into a
neighbouring wood, and bade him draw his sword, and
learn who was the fitter to command the other. The
king of Scots apologized for the jest, and disarmed his
resentment '.
Edgar lived only two years after his coronation, and
died in 975 *. Like the other princes of his family he
was that of St. Benedict, with the addition of a few national customs (Apost.
Bened. app. par. 3, p. 80). The Benedictine monks Were first introduced
among the Northumbrians in 661 (Edd. vit. Wilf. xlv.), among the WestSaxons in 675 (Maim. de Pont. v. 344, 353, 356), and among the Mercians in
759 (Wilk. con. p. 71).
* (Chron. Sax. 121. Mailros, 150. Flor. 607. West. 192.  - Malm. 32.: Chron. Sax. 122. The chronicle has preserved parts of the poems
made on the occasion. I shall offer a literal version of some passages to
the curiosity of the reader. " Here ended his earthly joys Edgar England's
" king: and chose the light of another world, beauteous and happy. Here
" Edgar departed, the ruler of the Angels, the joy of the West-Saxons, the
" defender of the Mercians. That was known afar among many nations.
Kings beyond the bathsof the sea-fowl worshipped him tar and wide: they
" bowed to the king as one of their own kin. There was no fleet so proud,
" there was no host so strong, as to seek food in England, While this noble




ï~~ANGI.O-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

married at a very early age. His first wife Elfieda the
fair, survived their union but two years, and left him a
son, Edward, who succeeded him. By his second wife
Elfrida, the daughter of Ordgar, earl of Devonshire, he
had two sons, Edmund, who died in his infancy, and
Ethelred, who ascended the throne after the murder of
Edward. Most writers have contented themselves with
telling us that the king married Elfrida after the death
of Ethelwold her first husband: but Malmsbury, on the
faith of an ancient ballad, has transmitted to us a story
probably invented by his enemies. According to this
account Elfrida was possessed, as the heroine of every
romance should be, of unparalleled beauty and accomplishments. Edgar commissioned Ethelwold, the son of
his foster-father Athelstan, and his favourite minister,
to visit Ordgar, and report his opinion of the daughter.
The heart of the ealdorman was captivated. He forgot
his duty, wooed and married Elfrida, and on his return
intformed his master, that, though she might grace the
house of a subject, she did not become the splendour of
a throne.   But the secret was quickly betrayed: it
reached the ears of the king; and he announced to his
astonished favourite that he intended to visit the bride.
Ethelwold had now recourse to tears and entreaties. He
disclosed to his wife the whole transaction, and conj'ured
her to conceal her beauty from the eyes of the king.
But Elfrida had....ceased to love. and he appeared
to her in the light of an enemy, since he had deprived
her of a crown. She received the king in her gayest
attire, and employed all her arts to engage his notice
and win his uffections. Edgar retired, convinced of the
perfidy of his friend, and of the superior beauty of the
lady. For a while he disguised his intentions: but took
the opportunity, while they were hunting together in the
forest of Wherwell, to run his spear through the body of
"king ruled the kingdom. He reared up God's honor, he loved God's law, he
"preserved the people's peace, the best of all the kings that were before in
"the memory of man. And God was his helper: and kings and earls bowed
"to him: and they obeyed his will: and without battle he ruled all as he
" willed."--P. 116, 122.




ï~~CHAP. V.]   EDWARD, THE MARTYR.

231

Ethelwold. It is needless to add, that he married the
widow *.
I should not have noticed this tale, so improbable in
itself, and supported by such questionable evidence, had
it not found a place in most of our modern histories
There is another, which is better authenticated, and attributes to Edgar the violation of Wulfrith, a young lady
educated in the convent of Wilton, who to elude his pursuit, had covered herself with the veil of one of the
sisters. She bore him a daughter, Editha, afterwards
abbess of Wilton. For this offence the king was severely
reproved by the archbishop, and submitted to a course
of penance during the term of seven years.
EDWARD, THE MARTYR.
It was unfortunate that the two sons of Edgar were A. V.
children at the time of their father's death. Edward 975.
had reached his thirteenth, Ethelred only his seventh
year. There could be no doubt of Edward's claim to the
crown: the right of primogeniture, the will of his father,
and the extreme youth of his brother, all pleaded in his
favour. Yet his succession was opposed by a party, who
objected to his character, that he was of a harsh and
cruel disposition; and to his birth, that he was born
before either his father or mother had been crowned $.
At the head of the faction was Elfrida, whose ambition
hoped to obtain the sceptre for her own son, and who,
to strengthen his interests, openly proclaimed herself
the patroness of the ejected clergy. The pretensions of
Ethelred were espoused by them, by their numerous partisans, and in particular by Alfere, the powerful earl of
Mercia; while, on the other hand, all the prelates, and
the earls of Essex and East-Anglia, maintained with
equal obstinacy the superior claim of Edward. The controversy threatened to involve the nation in the horrors
of civil war. Alfere wrested from the monks their new
* Chron. Sax. 124. Malm. 1. 258. Flor. 608. Hunt 204. Mailros 151.




ï~~232

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

of civil war. Alfere wrested from the monks their new
establishments in Mercia: Oslac of Northumbria was
driven by his enemies into exile: arid Alfwin and Alfwold armed the East-Anglians in their own defence.
At length a general meeting of the witan was held: and
Dunstan so victoriously proved the right of Edward, that
he was chosen king without further opposition, and was
crowned with the usual solemnity *.
The young prince did not sway the sceptre four years.
His constitution and his virtues promised a long and
prosperous reign: the ambition of Elfrida cut short his
days, and blasted the hopes of his subjects. One morning as he was hunting, he stopped at Corfe castle in
DOrsetshire, the residence of his step-mother. While
the unsuspicious prince was in the act of drinking a cup
of mead on horseback, he was stabbed in the belly by an
assassin.  He immediately put spurs to his horse, but
his bowels protruding from the wound, he sank from his
seat, and was dragged by the stirrup. His servants following the track of his blood, found him breathless, and
buried him privately at Wareham     (18 March, 978).    A
few years later Dunstan and Alfere took up his remains,
and interred them with royal magnificence at Shaftsbury ".
During his reign happened the tragic catastrophe at
Caine, which has furnished modern writers with a pretext for accusing the primate of impiety and murder. According to some Anglo-Norman historians, on the death
of certain of the ejected prebendaries of Winchester, their
heirs advanced a claim to the lands of which the prebendaries had been deprived, and retained, at a great expense,
a celebrated orator, Beornhelm, to plead their cause.t It
* Chron. Sax. 123. Mailros, 151. Ingulf, 54. Hist. Rames. 412, 413. Malm. 39.
SChron. Sax. 124, 125. Ing. 54. Malm. 34. Langtoft. p. 628, edit. Hearne.
SThese Anglo-Norman historians are Osbern and Eadmer, who wrote from
documents which, on their own showing, were far from authentic. Ang.
Sax. ii. 88, 211. Both agree that the controversy at Calne concerned only
the children of the deceased prebendaries of Winchester, per successionem
1liorum (Osb. 112). Illis huic vita subtractis filiorum cupientes recuperare
qu perdiderant in parentibus suis (Eadmer 220). I mention this because it
is customary to represent the cause heard at Calne as the cause of the whole
body of ejected clergy. The expelled clergy, says D)r. Lappenberg, had fled
to Scotland, and now brought back with them from that country the excel



ï~~CHAP. V.]

ETHELRED

233

was heard before the king and witan at Caine, when Dunstan, if we may believe modern writers, had the impudence to fabricate a miracle in defence of the monks. By
his orders, as they tell us, the floor of the room, destined
to contain the members of the council, was loosened from
the wall: during the deliberation the temporary supports
were removed; and while the primate was secure in his
seat above, the rest of the assembly were precipitated to
the ground. Yet if we divest the fact of its modern em
bellishments, it will be reduced to this: that the floor
sank under the accumulated weight of the crowd: that
the archbishop had the good fortune to support himself
by a beam, whilst that of the others some were killed,
and many were hurt by the fall.* More than this was
unknown to any ancient historian; the contrivance and
object ascribed to Dunstan are the fictions of recent
historians.
ETHELRED.
Elfrida now reaped the harvest of her crimes and am- A. D.
bition. By the death of Edward there remained but one 978.
prince of the blood royal: and the absence of other
claimants compelled the prelates and thanes, though
with no small reluctance, to bestow the crown on the
son of the murderess t.    The ceremony was performed
at Kingston, on the Sunday after Easter (14 April, 978):
and the following is the oath which was administered to
the king by archbishop Dunstan, previously to the coronation. "In the name of the most holy Trinity I promise,
" first, that the church of God and all christian people
lent Scottish bishsp Biornheim, for the purpose of aiding them with its talents against Dunstan. Thorpe's Lappenberg ii. 146. Biornhelmn is an AngloSaxon name. How he came to be a Scottish or. Irish bishop, is unknown.
Eadmer says, Scotiam miserunt et inde quendam pragrandis ut tfihma ferebat,
eloquentim virum, Biornelmum nomine, magno conductum pretio adduxerunt. Ang. Sax. ii. 220. The claimants were the sons of the prebendaries
ejected from Winchester, and pretended an hereditary right to the lands
formerly held by their fathers. Chron. Sax. 124. Malm. 84. Flor. 6(8.
Hunt. 24. Mail. 151.
t A weak attempt was made to raise an opposition in favor of Editha, the
natural daughter of Edgar of Wulfrith. She herself rejected the offer.
Vit. S. Eadgithm, in act SS. Bened. p. 638.
ivoL.     20




ï~~2 34

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V,

"shall enjoy true peace under my government; secondly,
" that I will prohibit all manner of rapine and injustice
"to men of every condition; thirdly, that in all judg"ments I will cause equity to be united with mercy,
"that the most clement God may, through his eternal
" mercy, forgive us all. Amen *."
Ethelred was only ten years of age, handsome in person, and amiable in disposition. But his spirit had been
broken by the. violence and barbarity of his mother.
When he wept at the untimely death of Edward, she
considered his tears a reproach to herself, and punished
him so severely, that his life was thought to be in danger.
But as he advanced in age, her influence gradually declined; and she at last bade farewell to the court, and
built the two monasteries of Ambresbury, and Whorwel.
In one of these she spent the remainder of her days,
bewailing her past misconduct, and endeavouring to
atone for the scandal which she had given, by the publicity of her repentance f.
The reign of her son was long and unfortunate.
Though guiltless himself, he enjoyed the benefit of
Edward's murder, and, on that account, appeared on the
throne stained with the blood of an elder and unoffending brother. Even in his youth he did not possess the
affection of his subjects: during his manhood, he incurred their hatred by his apathy for their sufferings,
his disinclination for business, and his immoderate love
of pleasure. The northern pirates, who had long respected the coasts of England, soon discovered the distracted state of the kingdom: the depredations of the
last century were renewed with still' greater success;
and, as if heaven had conspired with men to avenge the
blood of Edward, the horrors of invasion were aggravated
by several years of scarcity, by a contagious distemper
among the cattle, and a dysentery most fatal to the hu-.* Hick. gram. prf. -. MS. Claud. A. 3. It is in substance the same
oath which had long been taken by christian kings among the northern
nations. See Martene, ii. 188. 197. 199. 211.
t Malm. 34 Welt ad ann. 918.




ï~~CHAP. V.]  INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN.

235

man species. It would be difficult to select a period in
English history, in which the nation was visited with
such a multiplicity of calamities, as during the protracted
reign of Ethelred*.
The profession of piracy among the Northmen had,
in the last century, received many considerable checks.
The vigilance, with which the coasts of Gaul and Britain
were guarded, had diminished the chances of success:
the more opulent adventurers, willing to enjoy the fruits
of their plunder, sought to excite a spirit of industry
among their countrymen; and powerful princes had
arisen who, for their own security, laboured to put down
the faithless and ferocious sea-kings. A few chieftains,
however, still followed the example of their fathers; and
one of these rovers in 980, ventured to make a descent
near Southampton. His temerity was rewarded with an
ample booty. With similar success he repeated the attempt on the isle of Thanet; and in succeeding years
the coasts of Cornwall and Devonshire, then the isle of
Portland, afterwards Watchet in Somersetshire, were
successively visited and plundered by the barbarians.
These, indeed, were but momentary inroads.    They
might harass, they could not alarm. But in 99 1 a more991
formidable armament under Justin and Guthmund reduced Ipswich. Thence the Northmen proceeded as far
as Malden, to meet the ealdorman Brithnoth, who had
formerly gained a splendid victory on the same spot,
and whom they now challenged a second time to the
combat. Accompanied by his retainers, Brithnoth hastened to oppose the enemy. As he passed by Ramsey,
the abbot Wulfsig invited him to dinner, with seven of
his thanes. " Go, tell thy master," replied the chief to
the messenger, " that as I cannot fight, so I will not dine,
"without my followers." From Ramsey he proceeded to
Ely, where his little army was hospitably received by the
monks. In the morning he entered the chapter-house,
* Chron. Sax. 125. Ing. 55, 56. Malm. 34.




ï~~236                      ANGLO-SAXONS.                 [CRAP. V.
and made to them the gift of several manors, on condition
that if it were his lot to fall in the battle he should be
buried by them     in their church.      For fourteen days he
foiled all the attempts of the Danes: but in the last
engagement his followers rushed with blind impetuosity
on the multitude of their enemies. It was the combat
of despair against numbers.          Brithnoth fell: his head
was conveyed to Denmark by the invaders as the trophy
of victory, the trunk was found by the monks of Ely and
interred in their church. To preserve the memory of her
husband, his widow, Ethelfled, embroidered on silk the
history of his exploits, which she suspended over his
tomb: a more lasting memorial was raised by the genius
of an Anglo-Saxon sceop, whose poem on the valor and
patriotism of Brithnoth has been lately published.*
* See Thorpe's Analecta, p. 121.. The references here made to Mr. Benjamin Thorpe's works are added by Dr. Lingard in his last edition, in
which he has enlarged the text from these new authorities.
In his allusion to the poem on Brithnoth's death, he seems not to have
observed that Mr. Conybeare had printed a translation of it in 1826. The
following passage will serve as an illustration of this valuable relic of Saxon
literature.
"Then the [Danish] chieftain raised up his weapon, his buckler for his
defence, and stepped forth against that lord. The earl [Brithnothl with
equal eagerness advanced against the carl; either meditated evil against
the other. The sea chief then sped a southern dart, so that the lord of the
army was wounded; he manoeuvred with his shield so that the shaft burst,
and the spear sprang back and recoiled; the chief was incensed, and pierced
with his dart the exulting viking who had given him that wound. Skilful
was the hero: he caused his frarca to traverse the neck of the youth; he
directed his hand so that with sudden destruction he might reach his life;
then speedily he shot off another, so that his mail was pierced, and he was
wounded in the breast through its ringed chains; and the. javelin's point
stood in his heart. Then was the earl blithe: the stern warrior laughed,
and uttered thanks to his Creator for the work of that day which the Lord
had given him.
"But then some one of the enemies let fly a dart from his hand, which
transfixed the noble thane of Ethelred: there stood by his side a youth not
fully grown, a boy in the field, the son of Wulfstan, Wulfmaer the young;
he eagerly plucked from the chief the bloody weapon, and sent it to speed
again on its destructive journey: the dart passed on till it laid on the earth
him who had too surely reached his lord.
"Then a treacherous soldier approached the earl to plunder from the
chieftain his gems, his vestments, and his rings, and his ornamented sword;
but Brithnoth drew from its sheath his battle-axe, broad and brave of edge,
and smote him on his corslet; very eagerly the pirate left him, when he felt
the force of the chieftain's arm. But at that moment his large hilted sword
drooped to the earth, -he could no longer hold his hard glaive or wield his
weapon; yet the hoary warrior still endeavoured to utter his commands:




ï~~A. D. 992.]  INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN.

237

The ravages committed by the Danes on the defenceless inhabitants of the sea-coast suggested the idea of
purchasing their forbearance by the offer of a sum of
money; and Siric, archbishop of Canterbury, with the
ealdermen Ethelweard and IElfric, having obtained the
royal permission, paid to them a contribution of ten
thousand pounds, to secure from hostility the several
districts, which they governed "under the king's hand."
This led to a more comprehensive treaty, made by Ethelred and " all his witan," with the army under Anlaf
(Olave), and Tustin and Guthmund, son, of Stetiga.
According to the original document, it was mutually
agreed that worldly frith or peace should thenceforth
exist between the two parties; the strangers should aid
the king and his subjects against every naval armament
which might commit hostilities on the English coast, and
the natives should supply the strangers with provisions
as long as they were in the king's service. That neither
party should give harbour to refugees from the other,
whether the latter were slaves, or malefactors, or foemen; that if an individual of one nation was slain by
one of the other nation, the slayer should either be delivered up, or should pay a compensation of thirty pounds,
if the slain were a freeman, of one pound, if he were a
slave; and that if, in an affray, either within or without
a borough, more than one person were slain, the compensation should be made as above, - but if the number
amounted to eight, it should be considered a breach of
the grith, and the public force should be employed to
seize the perpetrators alive or dead, or " their nearest
"kindred, head for head." For this treaty the Danes
he bade the warlike youths, his brave companions, march forward. Then
might he no longer stand boldly on his feet.
" Hie looked to heaven. ' I thank thee, Lord of the nations, for all the
prosperity which I have experienced on earth; now have I, 0 mild Creator,
the utmost need that thou shouldst grant grace to my spirit, that my soul
may proceed to thee, into thy keeping, 0 Lord of angels, that it may take
its departure in peace. I am a suppliant to thee that the destruction of
hell may not overwhelm it."' - Am. EDIT.




ï~~238

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V

are said to have received twenty-two thousand pounds,
which sum may, perhaps, include the ten thousand
already mentioned.*
From this time we hear no more of Justin and Guthrnund, who probably returned home with their followers:
but it was plainly intended by the conditions of the treaty
that the adventurers should remain some time in the English havens as Ethelred's allies, and that they should be
permitted to mix on shore with friends under the king's
peace. Whether their conduct during the winter called
for revenge, or provoked suspicion, we are ignorant; but
the next year a powerful fleet was prepared at London,
and despatched under the ealdormen IElfric and Thored,
and the bishops fElfstan and Escwy, with secret orders
to surprise and capture the Danish armament, as it lay
at anchor in peace and security. But AElfric, who was a
traitor and already leagued with the Northmen, joined
them in the evening, informed them of the impending
danger, and urged them      to immediate flight.   In. the
pursuit, Elfric's vessel was captured.    The traitor himself had the fortune to escape: but the eyes of his son
Algar were put out by the orders of Ethelred; either
because the young man had been an accomplice in the
treason, or because revenge impelled the king to punish
the guilt of the father on his guiltless offspring.t
In the following year the Danes transferred their
arms from   the south to the north of England.       Bamborough was carried by storm: the three chieftains
appointed to command the natives deserted to the invaders; and the coast on both sides of the Humber was
successively ravaged by the barbarians.       But in 994
two new and more powerful leaders appeared; Sweyn,
* See the treaty in Thorpe's Institutes, &c. i. 2841-288; vii. That it
should be referred to this year is plain, because Justin and Guthmund, the
son of Stetiga, were the leaders of the Danes who fought against Brithnoth
(Hov. f. 245, b.); and it was with these also that Siric, Ethelwerd and Eelfile, made the agreement for 10,0001. - Chron. Sax.; Hoved; and Hunt,
ad ann. 991.
SChron. Sax. 127. Malm. 35. Flor.




ï~~CHAP. V.]

SWEYN AND OLAVE.

239

king of Denmark, and Olave, king of Norway. The A.D
former had mounted the throne by the murder of his 994*
father; had been twice expelled by the arms of Eric of
Sweden; and had twice recovered his dominions. Olave
was the son of Tryggva, a pirate by profession, who had
repeatedly visited and pillaged the coasts of Ireland,
Britain, and Normandy. From the Scilly isles, where a
hermit induced him to embrace Christianity, he had
sailed to the Orkneys; had subdued and converted the
natives with the logic of his sword; and at his arrival
on the coast of Norway had been unexpectedly hailed
king by the chieftains who had deposed Hacon the Bad.
A confederacy was formed between the Dane and the
Norwegian, who with ninety-four ships sailed up the
Thames, to attack the city of London. They were repulsed with considerable loss; but, to revenge their
disappointment, they ravaged the neighbouring counties of Essex, Kent, Sussex and Hampshire. Terror
and distrust prevailet again in the councils of Ethelred.
The invaders had mounted a body of horsemen to carry
their devastations to a greater distance: the king, who
dared not collect an army to oppose their excursions,
offered them the sum of sixteen thousand pounds, and
winter-quarters at Southampton, as the price of their
forbearance. The conditions were accepted. Olave accompanied the prelates Elphege and Ethelward to Andover; received from the bishop of Winchester the
sacrament of confirmation; and promised the king that
he would never more draw the sword against his christian brethren. Sweyn, on the departure of his confederate, was compelled to follow him; but he never forgave
what he deemed a breach of faith in the Norwegian.
Olave employed his time in endeavouring to convert his
subjects; and some years afterwards was surprised by
Sweyn at sea near the islet of Wollin.   Unable to
contend with success against the multitude, and disdainin: to surrender to his enemy, he terminated the




ï~~240

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

unequal contest by leaping from his ship into the
waves *.
During the four following years different parts of the
coast were repeatedly laid waste by the pirates. At last
in 998 Ethelred succeeded in collecting a powerf  It
and army: but the commanders, we are told, x      ecret friends of the Danes; who by their advice qu. ted
the kingdom, and sailed to the mouth of the Seine. The
king, unable to meet with the Northmen, led his troops
the following year into Cumberland, which he almost
desolated by his ravages, while his fleet, prevented by
the weather from gaining the station assigned to it,
sailed to the Isle of Man, and depopulated that nursery
of pirates.
In 1001 the Danes returned from Normandy. They
landed in Hampshire; carried their devastations as far
as the Bristol channel; and retracing their steps passed
to the Isle of Wight. In this expedition they had fought
and gained two battles; and had reduced to ashes Waltham, Taunton, Pen, Clifton, and several smaller towns.
The king could discover no better expedient than that
of ransom; and the barbarians retired on the payment
of twenty-four thousand pounds 4.
A. D. Ethelred, in the seventeenth year of his age, had
1002.married Elfleda, the daughter of the ealdorman Thored,
who bore him six sons, and four daughters. After her
death he obtained the hand of Emma, a Norman princess, who on her marriage, assumed the name of Elgiva. The king and her father Richard had formerly
been enemies. The origin of their quarrel is unknown:
but Ethelred had prepared a fleet for the invasion of
Normandy, and Richard had arrested all the English
mnerchants and pilgrims in his dominions, thrown many
* Chron. Sax. 127-129. Mail. 152. Sim. Dune. 163. Sax. Gram.
184, 189.  Snorre, 222. 345.
t Chron. Sax. 1 0, 130.  Mail. 153.  Fordun asserts that the Cuttmbrans had rehfused to pay their share of the  )ane-gelt, iv. 35.
Â~  Chron  Sax. 131, 132.  Flor. 6.1.




ï~~A. ). 1002.]  MASSACRE OF THE DANES.

241

into prison, and condemned several to death. Pope
John XV. undertook to reconcile the two princes; and
his legate Leo, the vice-bishop of Treves, visited first
Ethelred, and then Richard. At his request they sent
commissioners to Rouen; by whom it was agreed that
all ancient causes of dissension should be forgotten;
that a perpetual peace should subsist between the king
of England and the marquess of Normandy, their children born and to be born, and all their true liegemen;
that every infraction of this peace should be repaired by
satisfactory compensation; and that neither prince
should harbour the subjects nor the enemies of the
other without a written permission. This, the oldest
treaty now extant between any of our kings and a
foreign power, is drawn up in the name of the pope, and
confirmed by the oaths and marks of one bishop and
two thanes on the part of Ethelred, and of one bishop
and two barons on the part of Richard*. The king's
union with a Norman princess was calculated to improve
this friendship between the two nations, and to secure a
powerful support against the Danes. But Ethelred's
conduct marred his hopes. By his neglect of his young
queen, and his repeated infidelities, he alienated her
affections, and provoked the resentment of her brother,
Richard II., who had succeeded his father in the dukedom.
Emma had reached England in the spring: but the
rejoicings occasioned by the marriage were scarcely
concluded when Ethelred planned and executed a measure, which will cover his name with everlasting infamy.
He ordered a general massacre of the Danes on the
same day in every county. In the beginning of November, his officers in the towns and counties received from
him secret orders to organize, against a certain day, a
general massacre of the Danes within their respective
jurisdictions.  On the 13th of that month, the festival
* Malm. 35, 36. West. 196. The treaty was signed at Rouen, March lst,
991. Richard was called indifferently, marquess, or earl, or duke.
v.OL.    21




ï~~242

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[(,HAP. V.

of St. Brice, the unsuspecting victims with their wives
and families were seized by the populace; and the horror
of the murder was in many places aggravated by every
insult and barbarity which national hatred could suggest.
At London they fled for security to the churches, and
were massacred in crowds round the altars. The most
illustrious of the sufferers was Gunhilda, the sister of
Sweyn, who had embraced Christianity, and had married
Palig, a naturalized.Northman.    By the orders of the
royal favourite, the infamous Edric, her children and husband were slaughtered before her eyes. In the agonies
of death she is said to have foretold the severe revenge,
which her brother would one day inflict both on him who
commanded, and on those who perpetrated the murder.*
Of the motives which prompted this bloody tragedy,
and of the extent to which it was carried, we are ignorant. In all probability it was confined to the Danes who
had settled in England since the king's accession, among
whom were chieftains whom he had allured by grants of
lands to his service, and inferior adventurers, who, in
consequence of his frequent treaties with the invaders,
had mixed with the natives, and remained among them
under protection of his grith or peace. Of the first class
we know that Palig, though he had received a princely
inheritance, and sworn allegiance to the English monarch, had joined his kinsman Sweyn in his last invasion,
and it is probable that many others, both chieftains and
private individuals, frequently acted in the same manner.
Hence there can be no doubt that Ethelred had recourse
to this dreadful expedient of a general massacre, as a
punishment due to their past disloyalty, and a measure
of precaution to prevent its recurrence on some subsequent occasion.* Malm. 35. Hunt. 206, West. 200, 201.
t Huntingdon's account is the most deserving of credit. Omnes Dacos,
qui cum pace erant in Anglia fecit mactari; de quo scelere in pueritia nostra quosdam vetustissimos loqui aludivimus, quod in unamquamque urbem
rex occultas misit epistolas, secundum quas Angli Dacos omnes eodem die
et eadem hora vel gladiis truncaverunt impremeditatos, vel igne cremaverunt simul comprehensis. THunt, ibid.




ï~~rl.|O

- -  - -  -

CHAP. V.]       INVASION BY WEY N.                O
In the following spring Sweyn was again at sea with a
powerful armament, and burning to avenge the blood of
his sister and his countrymen. By the negligence or perfidy of Hugo, the Norman governor appointed by Emma, he
obtained possession of Exeter, and thence poured his barbarians into the heart of Wiltshire. A numerous army A..
had been collected to oppose him under the command 1003
of Elfric, who had again made his peace with the king:
but the hoary traitor, by a counterfeit sickness, paralyzed
the efforts of his followers; and Sweyn indulged
without molestation in the pursuit of plunder and vengeance.  During four years England presented the
mournful spectacle of a nobility divided by faction, treasoii and murder; of a king unequal to the duties of his
station; and of a people the sport of an exasperated and
vindictive enemy. If the winter afforded a pause from
the horrors of war, the barbarians were always prepared
to recommence their devastations in the spring: if a
season of scarcity compelled them to retire for a while,
they constantly re-appeared with the following harvest.
Each county was successively the scene of their ravages:
and the natives who fell into their hands experienced every
species of insult, of torment, and of death. Every village,
town and city, was invariably given to the flames. There
were indeed instances in which the despair of the inhabitants inflicted severe punishment on the invaders
but as often as the English armies ventured to oppose
them in the open field, they were routed with the most
dreadful slaughter.  At length in 1007 Sweyn had
quenched his thirst of revenge, and consented to a peace
on the payment of thirty-six thousand pounds of silver *.
The enormous sums repeatedly given to the Danes
had never purchased more than a temporary cessation of
hostilities: and it was at last discovered that the riches
of the nation might be more usefully employed in pro
* Chron. Sax. 133-136.




ï~~244

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V

viding for its own defence, than in stimulating the rapacity of its enemies. In the witena-gemniot it was determined to provide a formidable fleet, and armour for the
mariners, by an assessment on all the landholders in the
kingdom, and in the proportion of one ship for three
hundred and ten hides, and of a helmet and breast-plate
for every eight hides. The next year the most numerous armament that ever rode in the English channel,
was collected at Sandwich. Ethelred himself, accompanied by his principal thanes, went on board; and every
heart thrilled with the hope of victory. But this pleasing anticipation soon vanished in mistrust and disunion.
B ihtric, the brother of Edric, lately appointed earl of
Mercia, accused of treason Wulfnoth, the "child" of the
South-Saxons. That chieftain, either conscious of guilt,
or indignant at the charge, separated from the fleet with
twenty ships, and commenced the profession of a seaking. Bi ihtric with eighty sail undertook to bring him
back " alive or dead;" but his squadron was stranded
by the fury of a tempest, and every vessel was burnt by
the followers of Wulfnoth. This disaster increased the
confusion of the royal councils: the most groundless
suspicions were entertained; Ethelred hastily returned
to land; and the mariners, abandoned by their captains,
steered their course up the Thames*. The departure
of the English was the signal for the re-appearance of
A. D. the Danish fleet  It was no longer under the command
1009. of Sweyn, who pretended to observe his recent stipulations; but had secretly granted permission to Thurchil
to revenge the death of his brother, who had perished
in a former expedition '.  For three years Thurchil
carried fire and devastation into different parts of the
kingdom. In the first he ravaged the southern counties;
in the second he penetrated through East-Anglia into
the fens, which had hitherto afforded a secure asylum
aChron. Sax. 137.
+ Encom. Emma, Maseres, p. 7. Licentid accepta, ut fratrem suum
inibi interfectum ulciseretur. Ditmar apud Bouquet, x. 134.




ï~~CHAP. V.]

CANTERBURY SACKED.

X45

to the natives; in the third he besieged and destroyed
the important city of Canterbury. Thurchil had lain A. I).
before it twenty days, when the traitor iElmer set fire 1011.
to a number of houses; and while the inhabitants were
employed in extinguishing the flames, the Northmen
forced open one of the gates, and rushed into the city.
Elphege, the archbishop, venerable for his age and virtues, threw himself into the midst of the carnage, and
besought the barbarians to spare the inhabitants. He
was seized, bound and dragged to behold the fate of his
cathedral, in which were collected the monks and the
clergy, the women and the children. A pile of wood had
been reared against the wall: with shouts of triumph
the fire was kindled; the flames quickly ascended the
roof; and as the melted lead and falling timbers compelled the fugitives to quit their retreat, they were successively massacred before the eyes of the primate. In
the evening the Danes numbered eight hundred captives: seven thousand men besides women and children
had perished in the sack of the city. The life of Elphege
was spared during several weeks, in the hope that he
might be induced to pay a ransom of three thousand
pounds: but the old man refused to solicit the aid either
of his friends or the clergy; and was put to death on the
Saturday after Easter, while he was labouring to impress
his captors with a reverence for the doctrines of Christianity. At last Thurchil, after ravaging the greater A. D.
part of thirteen counties, sold his friendship and services 1012.
to Ethelred for the sum of forty-eight thousand pounds.
Many of his followers accepted settlements in the island;
and the mariners of five-and-forty ships swore allegiance
to the monarch *.
Here the reader may pause to take a view of this
fallen and devoted country. The natives had not submitted to their fate without a struggle; but numerous
Ireasons and accumulated defeats had unnerved their
Chron. Sax. 141, 142. Aug. Sac. ii. 135.




ï~~246

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

courage; while repeated victories had inspired the Danes
with the idea that they were invincible. We are assured
on good authority that one Northman was considered an
equal match for ten Englishmen*. Hence we meet
with few instances of successful defence, except inl the
fortified cities, which were seldom reduced. London,
though repeatedly besieged, still bade defiance to all the
power of the invaders 1'. But the open country was universally abandoned to their mercy, while they systematically destroyed whatever they could not carry away, and
reduced to ashes every monastery, village, and town.
In consequence of these ravages the labours of agriculture were interrupted or abandoned; and in some years
the scarcity was so great, that the Danes themselves
were compelled to quit the island in search of provisions *.
These calamities sprung from the ferocity of the invaders: others must be attributed to the turbulence and
insubordination of the natives. Since the death of Edgar
the administration ofjustice had been but feebly enforced;
of late it had been entirely suspended. The absence
of legal punishment, and the licence of a state of warfare,
had left the passions of individuals without restraint; the
most atrocious crimes were committed with impunity;
and men sought to indemnify themselves for their own
losses by the spoliation of their neighbours. On the one
side relations were sold for slaves by their relations,
children in the cradle by their parents; on the other the
slaves often rose on their masters, pillaged their property,
and then deserted to the enemy S. The thanes of each
district adopted at last the general policy of the nation.
Instead of uniting with their neighbours against the
common enemy, they negotiated for their own security,
and by the payment of a sum of money dismissed the
* Serm. Lup. apud Hicks, 103.      f Chron. Sax. 138..  Chron. Sax. 134.
Â~ Serm. Lupi apud Hicks, Diss. epis. 99. 106. Langbeck, ii.464. 469.




ï~~A.D. 1012.]

TAXATION.

247

barbarians to another county, to repeat the same ravages
and extort similar contributions *.
To this period must also be referred the origin of direct
and annual taxation. The sums which Ethelred so frequently paid to the Northmen were raised by an impost
on landed property, which did not cease with the occasion,
but was retained for centuries under the pretext of providing for the defence of the kingdom'. The assessments
were at first apportioned with apparent equity: but they
soon gave birth to much extortion, and consequently to
much misery. Wherever money was known to exist, it
was required by the king's officers; and the payment of
one demand was considered sufficient evidence of ability
to pay a second. By these repeated exactions, joined to
the depredations of the enemy, the most opulent proprietors were often reduced to a state of penury. From
one instance the reader may form an idea of the others.
In 1005 Godric was chosen abbot of Croyland; and in
that and the seven following years the moneys levied
on the monastery by the king, the ealdorman, and the
inferior officers amounted on an average to the annual
sum of four hundred marks. In 1013 Sweyn plundered
all the manors belonging to the abbey; and crowds of
the natives, fleeing from the swords of the barbarians,
sought an asylum at Croyland. The benevolent old man
received them with open arms; consoled them in their
misfortunes; and offered them support as long as his
means sufficed. The choir and the cloisters he reserved
for the accommodation of his own monks and those of
the neighbourhood; the body of the church was allotted
to "the clergy for their residence: the laymen were lodged
in the other apartments of the abbey; and the women
and children in temporary buildings erected in the cemetery. The charity of Godric awakened the rapacity
* Chron. Sax. 134. 140, 141.
1 Hlunting. v. f. 205. It was called Danegeld, and became an annual
land tax of twelvepence per hide. The clergy ivere exempted from it.
Leg. Sax Ed. Con. xi. p. 193.




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

CHAP. V

of Sweyn. Under pain of the demolition of the monastery he ordered the abbot to pay one thousand marks at
Lincoln, on an appointed day; and not satisfied with this
sum, extorted another thousand within the three following
months. Scarcely were these demands satisfied, when
the officers of Ethelred appeared. They accused Godric
of being the confederate of Sweyn: the payment of the
money extorted from him by violence was construed into
an act of treason; and he was compelled to offer two
thousand marks to the king to recover the royal favour.
Harassed by these iniquitous proceedings, and reduced
to a state of poverty, Godric, as a last resource, implored
the protection of Norman, a powerful retainer of the
ealdorman Edric; and that chieftain, in consideration of
the grant of a valuable manor for the term of one hundred years, proclaimed himself the patron of the abbey,
and engaged to defend it with his sword from every
unjust demand *.
Report had carried to Denmark the knowledge of
Thurchil's success and of his subsequent engagement
with Ethelred: and Sweyn, jealous of the reputation as
well as the fidelity of that chieftain, summoned all his
vassals to his standard, and openly declared his intention
A. D. of attempting the conquest of England. The riches of
1013.the fleet, and the superior magnificence of the royal
galley are described in terms of admiration by a contemporary historian; nor shall we refuse credit to his narrative, if we recollect that Denmark had been for centuries
the depot of successful depredation t. Sweyn sailed to
Sandwich; was foiled in an attempt to corrupt the Danish
mercenaries; and directed his course to the mouth of the
Humber. At Gainsborough he received successively
the submission of the Northumbrians, of the men of
Lindesey, of the Five-burghers, and of the other inhabitants on the north of the Watling-street. They were
* Inguul. 55. 57.
Suecom.  Emme, Maseves,p. 9. Vanes in the shape of birds or dragons were fixed on the masts to point out the direction of the wind. Ibid.




ï~~A.D. 1013.)

LONDON SURRENDERS..249

partly incorporated with his troops, and were commanded
to supply him with provisions and horses. As conquest
was his object, he resolved to extort by terror the submission of the southern English; and the orders, which
he issued preparatory to his march, were congenial to
the barbarism of the chief and his followers: to ravage
the open country, pillage the churches, burn the towns,
and put every male to the sword*. From the Watlingstreet to the Thames these instructions were faithfully
observed: the inhabitants of Oxford appeased his anger
by prayers and hostages; their example was followed by
the citizens of Winchester; and the invader, borne forward by the tide of success, hurried his troops to the
walls of London. The city was defended by Ethelred
and Thurchil, whose negociations, policy, and courage
baffled the stratagems and assaults of the enemy.
Sweyn consoled his disappointment with the repetition
of his former cruelties; and marching slowly to Bath,
proclaimed himself king of England, summoned to his
court the thanes of Wessex, Mercia, and Northumberland, and compelled them to swear allegiance to the
king of the Danes. This general defection created alarm
within the walls of the metropolis. The wavering fidelity
of the citizens induced the king and Thurchil to retire
with the fleet to Greenwich; and the authority of the
invader was quickly established in London itself. In
this emergency Ethelred yielded to despair. His wife
and children with a retinue of one hundred and forty
horsemen he recommended to the care of her brother
Richard, and sailed clandestinely with the few thanes
and prelates, who still adhered to his fortunes, to the
isle of Wight. There he remained in concealment till
a messenger from Emma brought him the offer of a
secure asylum in Normandy +.
The successes of the northern chieftains were often
* Flor. 614. West. 201.
f Chrn. Sax. 143, 144. Maim. 39. West. 902,.




ï~~250

ANGLO-SAXONS,

[CHAP. V.

attended with surprising revolutions; and their thrones,
which had no firmer basis than that of terror, were overturned at the first shock. It was in the second week of
January that Ethelred fled from England, and abanA.D. doned the crown to his victorious competitor: in the
1014.first week of February the unexpected death of that
competitor recalled the fugitive king, and re-established
his authority. Sweyn, before he died, had appointed
his son Canute to succeed him; and the will of the
monarch had been confirmed by the acclamations of the
army *. But the English, no longer overawed by the
genius of the conqueror, and considering the moment
favourable for the recovery of their independence, invited Ethelred to re-ascend the throne. His son Edward met the thanes at London: it was agreed that the
king should forgive all past offences, should govern
according to law, and should on important occasions
follow the advice of the great council; and that the
thanes, on their part, should swear to support his authority, and never submit to a Danish sovereign. Ethelred,
who returned about the middle of Lent, was received
with enthusiasm, and instantly led an army against the
enemy in Lindesey. Canute could not withstand the
Ssuperior force of the English, and fled with sixty ships,
leaving his associates to the mercy of the victors. The
country was ravaged, and every inhabitant of Danish
extraction was put to the sword. To revenge the fate
of his friends Canute ordered the hostages, who had
been delivered to his father, to be deprived of their
ears, noses, and hands. In this mutilated state, the
sons of the noblest families among the English, were
landed at Sandwich, as pledges of that unsparing retribution which awaited those, who had revolted from the
authority, or opposed the interests, of the Dane. He
proceeded to his own country t.
It might have been expected that the English, re* Encorm. Emm. p. 9.  " Chron. Sax. 145. Flor. 615. Hunt. 207.




ï~~CHAP. V.]

REVENGE OF ETHELRED.

251

lieved from the pressure of the enemy, would have
employed this interval in providing against future dangers. But distrust and treachery still distracted their
attention, and divided their councils. Ethelred convoked an assembly of the witan at Oxford; and his first
measure was a repetition, on a smaller scale, of that
system of massacre, for which he had already suffered
so severely. Many thanes of Danish descent were immolated to his jealousy or revenge: but Sigeferth and 1015.
Morcar, the chieftains of the Seven-burghers, were too
powerful to be openly assailed with impunity. On such
occasions the policy of the king did not disdain the
dagger of the assassin. The unsuspecting earls were
invited to a banquet by his favourite Edric; and in
the midst of the feast were murdered by a body of
armed men. Their retainers, alarmed at the fate of
their lords, fled to the church of St. Frideswitha; driven
from the gates they sought refuge in the tower; but
Ethelred, irritated by their resistance, ordered fire to be
put to the sacred edifice; and had the satisfaction to see
his enemies, real or supposed, perish in the conflagration. Such conduct was not of a nature to conciliate
esteem, or to insure fidelity. The sequel proved that
he could not command the obedience even of his own
family. Edmund, his eldest son, petitioned for the possessions of the two earls. The father refused; and the
young prince hastened to Malmsbury, married Algiva,
the relict of Sigeferth, whom the king had confined in
the monastery, rode with her into Northumberland, and
by her influence prevailed on the Seven-burghers to
receive him as their chieftain. Ethelred was compelled
to acquiesce in this insult to his authority *.
At the commencement of winter Thurchil had received twenty-one thousand pounds as the reward of his
* Chron. Sax. 146. Malm. 39. Flor. 616. West. 202. The Fiveburghers, or inhabitants of the five burghs, Leicester, Stamford, Derby,
Nottingham, and Lincoln, are well known in our history. But who were
the Seven-burghers? Probably the same with the addition of Chester
and York.




ï~~252

ANGLO-SAXONS.

(CHAP. V.

past services: but either suspecting the capricious temper
of Ethelred, or dreading the resentment of his native
sovereign, he returned with nine sail to Denmark, and
obtained, after much solicitation, the forgiveness of Canute. The thousand ships which, according to the northern writers, that prince had collected for the invasion of
England, are reduced to two hundred by a contemporary
historian: but he describes in pompous colours, the splendour of their equipment, and assures us that among the
warriors whom they bore, there was not one of ignoble
birth, or past the age of manhood, or unpractised in feats
of arms, or unable to contend in speed with the fleetest
horse*. Sandwich was at this period " the most cele" brated haven in Britain '." Here Thurchil solicited
and obtained permission to obliterate the disgrace of his
past disloyalty.  He was the first to land; but was
resolutely opposed; and if he ultimately proved successful, it was not without the loss of the bravest among his
Danes. From Sandwich Canute proceeded along the
southern coast, ravaged the maritime counties, and extorted the submission of the West-Saxons. An army
had been collected in the north by Edmund; another in
Mercia by Edric. They joined, quarrelled, and separated. The resentment of Edric led him to the standard
of Canute; and his example was followed by a body of
Danes, who had sworn fealty to Ethelred$.
The next year, after an ineffectual attempt to raise an
army in the southern counties, Edmund put himself at
the head of the Northumbrians, who had been called
into the field by their earl Uhtred. England soon became the prey of two hostile armies, which, instead of,seeking each other, contented themselves with plundering the defenceless inhabitants. The royalists wreaked
* Encom. Emm. 12. Langbeck, i. 67. 118.
} Sandwich omnium Anglorum portuum famosissimus. Encom. Emm.
13, 14.
t Forty ships. Chron. Sax. 146. Flor. 616. The amount of the Danish armies is always calculated by our old writers in ships. From different hints I conjecture the complement of a ship to have been about eighty
men.




ï~~A. D. 1016.]  PERFIDY OF CANUTE.

253

their vengeance on the counties of Stafford, Salop, and
Leicester, the inhabitants of which had refused to join
their standard; and Canute, adopting a similar policy,
indulged his followers with the pillage of the eastern
part of Mercia, and the neighbourhood of York. Uhtred was called away to protect his own property: but
finding resistance hopeless, made an offer of submission.
It was accepted; and his oath of fealty was followed by
an order for his execution. The Dane summoned him
to attend his court at Wiheal- a curtain suspended
across the hall concealed Thureband and a body of
assassins; and the defenceless earl fell a victim to the
perfidy of his.new sovereign. Forty of his retainers
shared his fate *.
Harassed with care, and worn out with disease, Ethelred had resigned the defence of the throne to the cou* Chron. Sax. 147, 148. Malm. 40. Encom. Emm. 15. The history of
Uhtred and his family will afford striking proolfs of the barbarism of the
times. When Malcolm, king of Scotland, laid siege to Durham, Uhtred
assumed the office of his aged father, the earl Waltheof, and defeated the
enemy. After the victory he selected the most handsome of the slain,
whose heads by his orders were cut off, washed in the river, and with their
long braided hair lixed on stakes round the walls of the city. To reward
this service Ethelred,ppointcd him earl, and gave him his daughter
Elfgiva in marriage. His fo. mr wife Siga was the daughter of the opu.
lent thane Styr. With her he had espoused the quarrels of the family,
and engaged to satisfy the revenge of his father-in-law by the death of that
nobleman's enemy Thurebrand. But Thurebrand frustrated all his ma.
chinations, and at last, as appears above, obtained the consent of Canute
to inflict on his fioe the punishment which had been designed for himself.
The murderer, however, fell soon after by the sword of Aldred, the son of
the man whom he had murdered. The duty of revenge now devolved on
Ceorl, the son of Thurebrand. The two chieftains spent some years in
plotting their mutual destruction: by the persuasion of their friends they
were reconciled; and the reconciliation was confirmed by oaths of brotherhood, and a promise of making together a pilgrimage to Rome. Aldred
visited Ceorl at his house, was treated with apparent kindness, and then
treacherously assassinated in the forest of Ridesdale. Ceorl escaped the
fate which he merited: but at the distrnce of many years his sons, while
they were feasting at the house of the eldest brother near York, were
surprised by Waltheof the grandson of Aldred. The whole family was
massacred with the exception of Sumerlede, who chanced to be absent
and of Canute, who owed his life to the pity inspired by his amiable character.-Sim. Dun. 81, 82. This hereditary feud, which had now continued for five generations, was at last extinguished by the Norman conquest. From it the reader may judge of the disunion, mistrust, and treachery, which prevailed in armies composed of the retainers of chieftains,
bound, by what they considered a most sacred duty, to seek the destruction of each other. It was to this that in a great measure was owing the
success of the Danes.




ï~~254

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V

rage and activity of Edmund. At the arrival of Canute
from Denmark, the king lay confined to his bed at
Cosham   in Wiltshire.  For greater security he was
then removed to London, where he lingered through
the winter. But his constitution was broken; and on
the twenty-third of April he terminated a long and calamitous reign at the very moment when the barbarians
A.D. were preparing to besiege him in his capital. Of the
1016 sons by his first wife, Edmund, Edwy, and Athelstan
survived him: by Emma he left two others, Edward
and Alfred *.
EDMUND.
A. D. If the personal exertions of an individual could have
1016. prevented the subjugation of England, that glorious
achievement would have been accomplished by the courage and perseverance of Edmund. He was in London
at the time of his father's death, and was immediately
proclaimed king by the citizens. Canute was posted at
Southampton, where the thanes of Wessex reluctantly
acknowledged him for their sovereign. The preparations
for the siege of the capital, the last bulwark of English
independence, were now ready; and a fleet of three
hundred and forty sail, carrying an army of twenty-seven
thousand men, had been collected in the mouth of the
Thames'r. Within the city were Edmund and his brother, the queen dowager Emma, two bishops, and several
distinguished thanes. It was easy for Canute to cut off
the communication by land: to prevent the ingress and
egress by water proved an undertaking of greater difficulty. As the fortifications of the bridge impeded the
navigation of the river, by dint of labour a channel was
dug on the right bank: through it was dragged a considerable number of ships; and the Northmen became
masters of the Thames above as well as below the city.
Still the valour of the inhabitants repelled every assault;
* Chron. Sax. 146. 148.
t Weowe thisinformation to Ditmar, bishop of Mershburgh, who received
it the same year from an acquaintance. iHe tells us that Caunte s ships
carried on an average eighty men. Bouquet, x. 13a.




ï~~A. D.1016.]

EDMUND.

255

and reduced the Dane to try the influence of promises.and threats. He demanded that Edmund with his brother should be delivered into his hands; that fifteen
thousand pounds should be paid for the ransom of the
queen, twelve thousand for that of the bishops; and that
three hundred hostages should be given as pledges for
the fidelity of the citizen~, If these terms were accepted,
he would take them under his protection: if they were
refused, the city should be abandoned to pillage and the
flames *.
Sensible that it required the exertions of an army to
save the capital, Edmund endeavoured to escape during
the darkness of the night. A boat conveyed the royal
brothers through the Danish fleet t', and the men of
Wessex hastened in crowds to their standard. They
surprised a party of plunderers in the forest of Gillingham; but had soon to contend with Canute himself, who
leaving a detachment to observe the city, had advanced
with the rest of his forces to crush the growing power of
his competitor. The battle of Scearstan is celebrated
in the writings of our annalists. Edmund placed his
most approved warriors in the front: the remainder
were formed into a reserve. The Danes were assisted
by Edric and,Elmer with the men of Wilts and Somerset. So obstinate was the valour of the combatants, that
night alone put an end to the contest.   It was renewed
the next morning: when Edmund, espying his adversary, with a stroke of his battle-axe divided the shield of
the Dane, and wounded his horse in the shoulder. A
crowd of Northmen sprung forward to protect their
monarch; and Edmund retired slowly before the multi* Ditmar, ibid. Chron. Sax. 148.
t Ditmar, ibid. It is singular that Ditmar's friend should call the bro.
ther of Edmund Athelstan, and say that he fell in the next engagement.
Though this prince is unknown to our national historians, yet his will is
published by Lye (Die. App. No. 5), in which he repeatedly calls Ethelred
his father, Elfrida his grandmother, and Edmund and Edwy his brothers.
It has been supposed that the author of the will was slain by the Danes in
1010: but the Athelstan, who fell on that occasion, was not the king's son,
iHe was his "athum" or daughter's husband. Chron. Sax. 139.




ï~~255

A NGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V.

tude. At this moment Edric cut off the head of Osmear,
who had been slain, and holding it in his hand exclaimed, '
"The head of Edmund! "        At the sight, some of the
English turned    their backs.   The indignant prince
hurled his spear at the traitor; and, hastening to an
eminence, uncovered his face, that he might be known
to his troops: The battle was thus restored, and was a
second time interrupted by the darkness of the night*.
In this murderous conflict each army had suffered severely; but the morning showed that the result was in
favour of the English. Canute was already on his march
to LOndon. Edmund, as soon as he had repaired his
kisses, followed the footsteps of the Dane, forced him to
raise the siege, and fought a second battle at Brentford.
The advantage seems to have been with the enemy, who
again returned to the capital, but failing in the assault,
pillaged the neighbouring country. The indefatigable
Edmund overtook the plunderers at Oxford, where they
experienced a most signal overthrow. It is pretended
that the English monarch might have annihilated the
Danes, had it not been for the perfidious counsels of
Edric, who was again restored to favour "I'. Canute sailed
to the isle of Sheppey. To a personal challenge from the
English hero, he coolly replied: "Let the man who
" talks of fighting in winter, take care to be prepared in
"summer $."
Within a few days the Northmen had quitted the isle
of Sheppey, and landed on the opposite coast of Essex.
Edmund met them at Assington. The Danes brought
into the field the mysterious standard of their fathers;
and Thurchil, from the apparent flight of the raven, promised them   certain victory S. Edmund had drawn up
SChron. Sax. 148, 149. Flor. 618. Kuytlinga Saga, p. 130.
SChron. Sax. 149. Flor. 618.
$ Qui ayes duellum in hliieme, cave ne deficias aptiore tempore. Encorm.
Ernt. 16.
Itild. Encom. Emm.16. Camden has fixed on Ashdown, Gibson prefers Assiigton, for the scene of this battle. I tbllow the latter. Not only
doe, the hame bear a greater resenmblance to ' Assandun,' bInit the barrows
war Ashdown, which have been opened lately, show by their contents




ï~~A.D. 1016.]

PACIFICATION.

257

his forces in three divisions: but at the very onset,
Edric, either actuated by treachery or cowardice, fled
with his division. From three in the afternoon till sunset, despair supported the natives: some of them even
maintained the contest by the light of the moon; but at
last they fled in every direction, and attempted by their
knowledge of the country to elude the pursuit of the
enemy. This defeat was most fatal to the prospects of
Edmund. Almost the whole of the West-Saxon nobility
perished. The Danes buried their own dead; they
stripped the bodies of the English, and left them naked
on the field *.
Canute followed his competitor into Gloucestershire,
and another battle would have ensued, had not the
chieftains in each army been tired of this sanguinary
warfare. Compelled by the expostulations of their troops,
the two kings met in the isle of Olney, exchanged oaths
and presents, and agreed to a compromise. Mercia and
Northumbria were the portion of Canute: the remainder
with the royal supremacy was retained by Edmund. but
the tax called Danegeld was extended to both kingdoms,
and assigned to defray the expenses of the Danish fleet.
Edmund died within a month after the pacification, and
was buried near the remains of his grandfather at Glastonbury. He left two infant sons, Edward and Edmund t.
The reign of this king, if reign it can be called, which
was a mere struggle for existence, lasted but seven
months. Yet within that short space, besides having
vigorously assisted in the defence of London, he fought
that they are not, as was supposed, of Saxon or Danish, but of Roman con
struction. See two very interesting letters by J. Gage, esq., in Archamol.
vol. xxv. xxvi.
* Ibid. 17, 18. Chron. Sax. 150. Malm. 40. Flor. 618. In this battle
fell the ealdormenEifric, Godwin, Ulfketel, and Ethelward. Eadnoth,
bishop of Dorchester, with Wulsige the abbot of Ramsey, was slain as he
was saying mass for the success of the army. Hist. Ellen. 502. Juxta
morem Anglorum veterem non armis sed orauicnum suppetiis pugnantem
exercitum juvaturi. Hist. Ram. 434.
SChron. Sax. 150. Encom. Emmae, 18, 19, 90. Walling. 549. Florence
(618). and Westminster (205), give to Edmund, London, Essex, and EastAnglia.
vo,. i.     22




ï~~258

ANGLO- SAXtuS.

1". HAP. V.

five oattles; and, till the fatal field of Assington, seemed
destined to re-establish the independence of his country.
From his armour or his strength he acquired the surname of "'ronsie: " and his memory was long cherished by the gratitude and admiration of his subjects.
Their vanity has thrown the embellishments of fiction
over the character of the hero. To account for the final
success of Canute it was said that the two kings fought
in single combat in the isle of Olney'; that the Dane,
finding himself inferior, assailed his rival with flattery;
and that by his eloquence, not his prowess, he induced
the English prince to acquiesce in the partition of the
kingdom*. Nor was Edmund permitted to die in the
ordinary course of nature. By some writers his death
was attributed to Canute, on whom it conferred the crown
of Wessex: by others to Edric, as if the murder of a king
had been wanting to fill up the measure of his treasons.
The assassins wore said to have been the two chamberlains of Edmund, or Edric, or the son of Edric. Some
professed themselves ignorant of the circumstances; some
asserted that he was stabbed in the back in a secret and
unguarded moment '. But the real fact is uncertain.
The Saxon Chronicle is content with saying, that he
departed on the feast of St. Andrew-; the encomiast of
Emma, that he died by the visitation of God $.
* Riev.364. West. 205. Hunt. 208.
t Insult: 57. Hunt. 208. West. 205. Hist. Ram. 434. Main. 40. Saxo
193. Hist. Elien. 502.
t Chron. Sax. 150. Dens Edmundum ed.uxit e corpcre. Encom. Emm.
20. Hominem exuit. Walling. 549  Ambiguum quo casu extinci us.
Malm. 40.




ï~~CHAPTER VI.

DANE S.
Dnish Sovereigns-Canute-Harold-Hardecanute-Saxon line restored,
-Edward the Confessor-Harold-Victory of William the Conqueror.
CANUTE.
AFTER. the death of Edmund, Canute was elected king A.D.
by the unanimous voice of the nation. To justify their 1016
choice it was pretended by some, that according to the
pacification of Olney, the crown belonged to him as the
survivor; by others that Edmund had appointed him the
guardian and protector of his children *. The best reason was the power of the Dane. No man had the wish
or the hardihood to renew the bloody and unavailing
contest.
The first object of Canute's policy was to secure
himself on the throne. From the infancy of Edmund's
children he had little to apprehend; but, as they advanced in years, they might prove dangerous competitors.
Though a sea-king was seldom diverted from his purpose
by considerations of humanity, Canute did not imbrue
his hands in their blood, but sent them to his half-brother Olave, king of Sweden. If we may believe those,
who could hardly possess the means of knowing it, the
messenger who conducted the children, was instructed
to request in secret of Olave, that he would order them
* He was chosen sponte (Encom. Emm. p. 20), omnium consensu (Ing.
58), ex predicta concordie condictione (Walling. 549), quia Edmundus
voluerat Canutum adjutorem et protectorem esse riliorum ejus, donce regtaindli satTem  lhal)uissent.  Flor. 618.




ï~~OPn

I........VT;ol                     DANES.                CHAP. VI.
to be murdered. But whatever credit may be given to
that report, it is certain that they were conveyed from
Sweden to the court of Stephen, king of Hungary*
That prince, who was afterwards sainted for his virtues,
received the orphans with tenderness, and educated them
as his own children   Edmund died in his youth: Edward married Agatha, daughter to the emperor of Germany, and iill hereafter claim the reader's attention.
Besides the children, Canute had to guard against the
brothers of Edmund. Edwy was in England, and, for
reasons with which we are unacquainted, was named the
"king of the peasants." He was banished, recalled, and
assassinated in the bosom of his family. We are told
that the king had endeavoured to induce Ethelwold, a
powerful thane, to undertake the murder; and that,
failing in the attempt, he bribed some of Edwy's own
servants..
Edward and Alfred, the half-brothers of Edmund, were
in Normandy, and Wallingford assures us that their
uncle Richard had fitted out a fleet in support of their
claims *. But Canute had the wisdom to disarm his
enmity, by asking in marriage his sister, the relict of
Ethelred. To accept the hand of the man, whose hostility had almost deprived her late husband of his kingdom, who was suspected of the murder of her sons-in-law,
and who had despoiled her own children of the crown,
does not indicate much delicacy in Emma: but her youth
and vanity were flattered with the prospect of royalty;
her brother reluctantly assented to the proposal; and
the marriage was solemnly celebrated in the month of
July, 1017. It had been previously agreed, that her
issue by Canute should succeed to the crown of England;
* Mailros, 155. Flor. 619. Higden, 275. Our chroniclers say that they
were sent to Solomon king of Hungary. But Papebroche shows it must
have been to Stephen, not to Solomon, who was not born till after the year
1051. Act. SS. Jan. ii. 325.
t Chron. Sax. 151. Flor. 619. Mailros, 155. The Saxon chronicle mentions two Edwys banished at the same time: but they appear to be oneperson, from Simeon (175). Higden (274). Brompton (907). Knyghton
(2317).                 + Walling. 550.




ï~~A.D.1017.1

CANUTE.

261

a condition, which, while it satisfied the Norman, extinguished the hopes of his Anglo-Saxon nephews *.
Canute had divided the kingdom into four governments. Wessex he retained for himself; East-Anglia
he gave to Thurchil; and continued Eric and Edric in
Northumberland, and Mercia t. But Edric soon received the reward of his former perfidy. The king was
celebrating the festival of Christmas in London, and
Edric had the imprudence to boast of his services.
Canute, turning to Eric, exclaimed: "Then let him re" ceive his deserts, that he may not betray us, as he betray" ed Ethelred and Edmund." The Norwegian cut him
down with his battle-axe; and the body was thrown from
a window into the Thames. It has been said that Canute, though willing to derive advantage from the treason, was anxious to punish the traitor: but, as he ordered the Norman and the principal retainers of Edric to
be put to death at the same time, there is reason to believe
that they were suspected of some plot against the Danish
interest. Their punishment is a matter of triumph to
the ancient annalists, who attribute to the perfidy of
Edric the subjugation of their country: but the same
writers lament the fate of Ethelwerd and Brihtric, who
perished with them, and were numbered among the
most noble and blameless of the English nobility $. The
lands of the slain were distributed among the Danish
chieftains; but several of these, aware of the hatred of
the natives, and apprehensive for their lives, with the
king's permission sold their estates, and returned with
the money to their native country Â~.
These emigrations to Denmark were much encouraged
* Chron. Sax. 151. Encom. Emm. 21. Malm. 40, 41.
+ Thutchil was expelled in 1021. Chron. Sax. 159. See a long account of this celebrated Dane in Langbeck, ii.458. Eric met with the same
fate as Thurchil. West. 207. Malm. 41.
$ Encom. Emma, 20. Malm. 41.. Edric is said to have been killed digno
fine (Ing. 58) swythe rihtlice (Chron. Sax. 152), but the others sine culpa
(Ma.il. 955. Flor. 619).
Â~ Hist. Ram. 438. 443. 445.




ï~~262

DANES.

I CHAP VI,

by Canute, who, now that he thought himself secure on
the throne, made it his endeavour to win the affections
of his English subjects. The presence of the Danish
army was to them a constant source of uneasiness and
animosity: but gratitude as well as policy forbade him to
dismiss it without a liberal donative.   For this purpose
the sum of fifteen thousand pounds was raised on the
citizens of London, of seventy-two thousand on the remainder of the nation: an oppressive burthen, but which
x. n. was borne with the greater cheerfulness, when its real
1018. object was understood. Of all the associates of his labours
and conquests he retained only the crews of forty ships,
about three thousand men, probably the Thingmanna or
royal guard, which, we are told, amounted to that number *. These were a body of soldiers selected by Canute
from the whole of his forces. He was their commander:
the chiefs swore fealty to him; and the privates to their
chiefs. The laws are still extant, which he compiled for
their use; and his chief object appears to have been to
prevent the quarrels, and consequently the bloodshed,
which so frequently happened among these turbulent
warriors. Unfortunately the king himself was the first
to transgress his own laws, by the murder of a soldier in
a paroxysm of passion. He assembled the Thingmans,
descended from his throne, acknowledged his crime, and
demanded punishment. They were silent. He promised
impunity to every individual, who should speak his sentiments. They left the decision to his own wisdom. He
* Chron. Sax. 151. Flor. 649. Sim. Dunel. 177. These all differ in the
sum paid by the citizens of London, making it 10,500, 11,000, or 15,000
pounds. We are told in the laws of Edward the confessor, that to provide
for the safety of the Danes who remained, it was agreed that they should
all enjoy the king's peace; that if a Dane were murdered, the reputed
murderer, unless he could clear himself by the ordeal, should be given up
to justice: that if he could not be immediately found, the inhabitants of
the vill or hundred, where the murder was perpetrated, shouldki have a
month and a day to search for him:-that if they did not discover him, they
should then pay a fine of 46 marks: that if they surrendered him to the
king within a year and a day, the money should be returned: but if they
did not, forty marks of the fine should be kept by the king, and the other
s.x be given to the parents or the lord of the slain. Leg. Sax. 199, 200.




ï~~A.D 1018.]

CANUTE.

263

then adjudged himself to pay three hundred and sixty
talents of gold, nine times the amount of the usual pecuniary mulct: and added nine other talents by way of
farther compensation *.
Though Canute had been baptized in his infancy, he
knew hlittle of the doctrines of Christianity. But after
he was seated on the English throne, the ferocity of his
disposition vas softened by the precepts of religion, and
the sanguinary sea-king was insensibly moulded into a
just and beneficent monarch. He often lamented the
bloodshed and misery which his own rapacity and that
of his father had inflicted on the natives; and acknowledged it his duty to compensate their sufferings by a
peaceful and equitable reign. He always treated them
with marked attention; protected them from the insolence of his Danish favourites; placed the two nations
on a footing of equality; and admitted them    alike to
offices of trust and emolument. He erected a magnificent church at Assington, the scene of his last victory;
and repaired the ruins of the religious edifices, which
had suffered during the invasion. By his donations the
abbey of St. Edmund's, the memorial of the cruelty of
his fathers, was rendered for centuries the most opulent
of the monastic establishments in the kingdom. In a
witena-gemot at Oxford he confirmed the laws of Edgar,
and persuaded the English and Danish thanes to forgive
each other every former cause of offence, and to promise
mutual friendship for the future $. In another at Winchester a code of laws was compiled from the enactments
of former kings, with such additions as were required by
the existing state of society. From it some interesting
particulars may be selected. I. The king exhorted all
those who were intrusted with the administration of
* Langbeck, 111. 144. et seq. Saxo. 199. The Thingmnsanna were also
called Thingliths, and Huscarles, that is, thane-men, sea-thanes, and domestics.
t See his charter in Ingulf. 58.
$ Ing. ibid. Hist. Rames. 437. Encom. Emm. 23, Chron. Sax. 151.
Mail. 155.




ï~~264

DANES.

LCHAP.,VL

justice, to be vigilant in the punishment of crimes, but
sparing of human life; to treat the penitent with less,
the impenitent culprit with greate: severity; and to consider the weak and indigent as worthy of pity, the wealthy
and powerful as deserving the full rigour of the law; because the former were often driven to the commission of
guilt by two causes, which seldom affected the latter,
oppression and want. II. He severely reprobated and
prohibited the custom of sending Christians for sale into
foreign countries. But the reason which he assigned,
was not that there is any thing immoral in the institution of slavery; but that such Christians were in danger
of falling into the hands of infidel masters, and of being
seduced from their religion. HIII. By the incorporation
of the Danes with the natives, the rites of paganism had
again made their appearance in the island. Canute forbade the worship of the heathen gods, ofthe sun or moon,
of fire or water, of stones or fountains, and of forests or
trees. At the same time he denounced punishment
against those who pretended to deal in witchcraft, and
the "workers of death," whether it were by lots, or by
flame, or by any other charms. IV. The existing system
of jurisprudence which he confirmed, was divided into
three branches, the law of the West-Saxons, the law of
the Mercians, and the law of the Danes. The two former
had been preserved from the time of the Heptarchy, and
prevailed in their respective districts: the latter had
been introduced into East-Anglia and Northumbria by
the Danes, who had settled in those countries since the
beginning of the ninth century. Of all three the substance was the same; they differed only in the amount
of the pecuniary mulets which were imposed on various
transgressions. V. The king undertook to ease his people
of part of the burthens arising from the feudal services,
which in England, as well as the other European nations,
had long been on the increase. He totally abolished the
custom of purveyance, forbidding his officers to extort
Ijrovisions for his use, and commanding his bailiffs to




ï~~A. D. 10"5.]

c(2_%N:'r.

265

supply his table from the produce of his own farms. He
fixed at a moderate value the heriots which were paid at
the demise of tenants, and apportioned them to the rank
of the deceased, whether they died intestate or not.
With respect to heiresses, whose helpless condition frequently exposed them to the tyranny of their lords, he
enacted, that neither maid nor widow should be compelled to marry against her will. In conclusion, he commanded these laws to be observed both by the Danes
and the English, under the penalty of a single were for
the first offence, of a double were for the second, an, of
the forfeiture of all property for the third*.
Though Canute generally resided in England, he frequently visited Denmark. He was accompanied by an
English fleet: and carried with him pious and learned
missionaries to civilize and instruct his countrymen.
Of these, Bernard, Gerbrand, and Rainer were promoted
to the episcopal dignity, and placed by him in Sconen,
Zealand, and Fionia. In one of his visits, in 1025, he
was suddenly attacked by Olave and Ulfr with a numerous army of Swedes, and was defeated with the loss of
many English and Danish thanes. But our annalists
add, that Godwin, who commanded the English troops,
surprised the camp of the enemy during the night, and
totally dispersed the  Swedes.  This service procured
him the esteem and favour of his sovereign '.
In 1026 Canute made a pilgrimage to Rome. On his
road he visited the most celebrated churches, leaving
everywhere proofs of his devotion and liberality.t In
his return he proceeded immediately to Denmark, but
despatched the abbot of Tavistock to England with a
letter, describing the object and the issue of his journey.
This letter I shall transcribe, not only because it fur* Leg. 133-135. 143-146. lBrompton, 914- 931.
t Adam Brem ii. 38. Chron. Sax. 153. West. 207.
( So profuse was he in his donations that, according to a foreign chronicler, all who lived on the road by which he passed, had reason to exclaim:
Benedictio Domini super regem Anglorum Cnutonem. Chron. Wil. Godel.
apud Bouquet, x. 262.
VOL. i.   23




ï~~266

DANES.

[CRAP. VI.

nishes an interesting specimen of the manners and opinions of the age, but also because it exhibits the surprising
change which religion had produced in the mind of a
ferocious and sanguinary warrior.
A. D.  "Canute, king of all Denmark, England and Norway,
1027. and of part of Sweden, to Egelnoth the metropolitan, to
archbishop Alfric, to all the bishops and chiefs; and to
all the nation of the English, both nobles and commoners
greeting. I write to inform you that I have lately been
at Rome, to pray for the remission of my sins, and for
the safety of my kingdoms, and of the nations that are
subject to my sceptre. It is long since I bound myself
by vow to make this pilgrimage; but I had been hitherto prevented by affairs of state, and other impediments.
Now, however, I return humble thanks to the Almighty
God, that he has allowed me to visit the tombs of the
blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and every holy place
within and without the city of Rome, and to honour and
venerate them in person. And this I have done, because
I had learned from my teachers, that the apostle St.
Peter received from the Lord the great power of binding
and loosing, with the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
On this account I thought it highly useful to solicit his
patronage with God.
"Be it moreover known to you, that there was at the
festival of Easter a great assemblage of neble personages
with the lord, and the pope John, and the emperor Conrad, namely, all the chiefs of the nations from mount
Gargano, to the nearest sea, who all received me honourably, and made me valuable presents; but particularly the
emperor, who gave me many gold and silver vases, with
rich mantles and garments. I therefore took the opportunity to treat with the pope, the. emperor, and the
princes, on the grievances of my people, both English
and Danes; that they might enjoy more equal law, and
more secure safeguard in their way to Rome, nor be
detained at so many barriers, nor harassed by unjust
exactions.  My demands were granted both by the em



ï~~A. D. 1027.]

CANUTE.

267

peror, and by king Rodulf, to whom the greater part
of the barriers belong; and it was enacted by all the
princes, that my men, whether pilgrims or merchants,
should for the future go to Rome and return in full security, without detention at the barriers, or the payment
of unlawful tolls.
"I next complained to the pope, and expressed my
displeasure that such immense sums were extorted from
my archbishops, when according to custom they visited
the apostolic see to obtain the pallium. A decree was
made that this grievance should cease. Whatever I demanded, for the benefit of my people, either of the pope,
or the emperor, or the princes, through whose dominions
lies the road to Rome, was granted willingly, and confirmed by their oaths, in the presence of four archbishops,
twenty bishops, and a multitude of dukes and nobles.
Wherefore I return sincere thanks to God that I have
successfully performed whatever I had intended, and have
fully satisfied all my wishes.
"Now, therefore, be it known to you all, that I have
dedicated my life to the service of God, to govern my
kingdoms with equity, and to observe justice in all things.
If by the violence or negligence of youth I have violated
justice heretofore, it is my intention, by the help of God,
to make full compensation.  Therefore I beg and command those to whom I have confided the government, as
they wish to preserve my friendship, or save their own
souls, to do no injustice either to rich or poor. Let all
persons, whether noble or ignoble, obtain their rights according to law, from which no deviation shall be allowed,
either from fear of me, or through favour to the powerful,
or for the purpose of supplying my treasury. I have no
need of money raised by injustice.
"I am now on my road to Denmark, for the purpose
of concluding peace with those nations, who, had it been
in their power, would have deprived us both of our crown
and our life. But God has destroyed their means, and
will, I trust, of his goodness, preserve us, and humble




ï~~268

DANES.

[CHA'. IV

all our enemies. When I shall have concluded peace
with the neighbouring nations, and settled the concerns
of my eastern dominions, it is my intention to return to
England, as soon as the fine weather will permit me to
sail. But I have sent you this letter beforehand; that
all the people of my kingdom may rejoice at my prosperity. For you all know that I never spared nor will spare
myself, or my labour, when my object is the advantage
of my subjects.
" Lastly, I entreat all my bishops, and all the sheriffs,
by the fidelity which they owe to me and to God, that
the church-dues according to the ancient laws may be
paid before my return; namely, the plough alms, the
tithes of cattle of the present year, the Peter-pence, the
tithes of fruit in the middle of August, and the kirk-shot
at the feast of St. Martin, to the parish church. Should
this be omitted, at my return I will punish the offender
by exacting the whole fine appointed by law. Fare ye
well."**
The power of Canute released the kingdom from the
horrors of domestic war: but his ambition thirsted for
a crown which had formerly been worn by his father.
Sweyn had divided Norway between two brothers, Eric
and Haco. When Eric accepted Northumberland from
Canute, Haco succeeded to the whole, but was driven
from it by the superior power of Olave, a Norwegian seaking. Canute seduced the natives from their allegiance
to Olave by presents, sailed to Norway with an English
fleet of fifty vessels; and was everywhere received with
A. D. acclamations of joy, and professions of attachment. He
1028. expelled Olave and restored Haco.  But the latter was
soon afterwards drowned at sea: and Olave recovered his
dominions.  That prince was a zealous Christian; but
his religious innovations irritated the jealousy of the
pagan priests; and he was murdered in an insurrection
of his subjects.* Spelm. Conc. 537. Ing. 59. Flor. 620. Maim. 41.
t Chron. Sax. 153. Flor. 620. Snorre, 278.




ï~~A. D. 1035.]     DEATH OF CANUTE.

269

Canute's last military effort was directed against Scotland. Fordun tells us, that Duncan, who, as nephew
and heir to Malcolm, was in possession of Cumberland,
refused to hold it of Canute, because that prince had not
obtained the crown by hereditary descent; but that,
before the armies could engage, the two kings were
reconciled, and the ancieit conditions respecting the
possession of Cumberland, were solemnly renewed. Of A. D.
these particulars our annalists are ignorant; and merely1033.
inform us, that Malcolm, unable to oppose the superior
power of the English monarch, submitted to his pleasure
with two inferior princes, Melbeth and Jermac.*
The courtiers of Canute, to please his vanity, were
accustomed to extol him as the greatest of kings, whose
will was obeyed by six powerful nations, the English,
Scots, and Welsh, the Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians.
Canute either had the good sense to despise, or affected
to despise, their flattery. On one of these occasions, as
he was sitting on the shore near Southampton, he commandedthe sea to respect its sovereign. But the influx
of the tide soon compelled him to retire, and he improved the opportunity to read his flatterers a lecture
on the weakness of earthly kings, when compared with
the power of that Supreme Being who rules the elements. Impressed with this idea, he is said, on his
return to Winchester, to have taken the crown from his
head, to have placed it on the great crucifix in the cathedral, and never more to have worn it even at public
ceremonies.Canute lived several years after his pilgrimage to
Rome. He died at Shaftesbury in 1035, and was buried 1035.
at Winchester. By his queen Emma he had two children, a son, whom from his own name he called Hardecanute, or Canute the Hardy, and a daughter Gunihlda,
who was married to Henry, the son of Conrad, and emperor of Germany. Besides these children, Alfgive, the
* Fordun, iv. 41. Chron. Sax. 153. Hunt. 208. West. 209.
t Hunt. 209. West. 209.




ï~~270

DANES.

CHAP. VI.

daughter of Alfhelm, earl of Northampton, had borne
him, previously to his marriage, two sons, Sweyn and
Harold. Their illegitimacy in the opinion of the age,
was no great disgrace; and the violence of party endeavoured to obstruct their advancement, by describing
them as supposititious. But that they were acknow
ledged by their father, is evident. To the elder, Sweyn,
was given the crown of Norway, after the assassination
of Olave; Harold, by his promptitude and the favour of
the soldiery, ascended the throne of England on the demise of Canute *.
HAROLD, SURNAMED HAREFOOT.
By the marriage settlement between Canute and
Emma, and by a more recent declaration of the king,
the crown ought to have devolved on Hardecanute. But
that prince had been previously sent to take possession of
Denmark, and his absence encouraged the ambition of his
illegitimate brother, Harold, whose interests were warmly
espoused by the Thingmanna at London, the Danes in
general, and the northern English. The wishes of the
southern counties were divided between Hardecanute
and one of the two sons of Ethelred, who still resided in
A. D. Normandy. The country appeared on the eve of a
1036. civil war; and many, to escape the impending tempest,
had sought an asylum in the morasses and forests; when
a compromise was effected in a witena-gemot at Oxford.
To Harold were allotted London and the northern division of the kingdom: the counties on the right bank of
the Thames were appropriated to Hardecanute, and
during his absence were committed to the government
of his mother Emma, and the ealdorman Godwin $.
As soon as the news of the death of Canute had
* Chron. Sax. 155. Ing. 61. Flor. 622. West. 206. The last writer
describes Alfgiva as married to Canute.
- The Saxon Chronicle calls them the lithsmen at London, and as the
Thingmanna were also called Thingliths, I have no doubt they were the
same persons.
# Chron. Sax. 154, 155. Ingul. 61. Encom. Emm. 25, 26.




ï~~eHAP. vI.]              ARcLD.                  27t
reached Normandy, Edward, the eldest of the surviving
sons of Ethelred, and afterwards king of England, collected a fleet of forty ships, crossed the channel, and
landed at Southampton. If he relied on the co-operation of his mother, he was deceived. Emma was more
attached to her children by Canute than to those by
Ethelred; and was actually making every exertion to
preserve the crown for Hardecanute. Though Edward
landed within a few miles of her residence, and in the
midst of her retainers, he found himself in a hostile
country: a formidable force, which was hourly increasing, menaced him with destruction; and the prince and
his followers having plundered a few villages, retired to
their ships, and returned to Normandy. The result of
this expedition seems not to have been forgotten: and
Emma, at a later period, was punished for her disaffection by the neglect of her son, and the forfeiture of her
treasures*.
We are not told what were the reasons which determined Hardecanute to trifle away his time in Denmark.
Harold profited by the delay; and by threats, and promises, and presents, continued to extend his authority.
But what chiefly contributed to fix him on the throne
was a bloody and mysterious occurrence, of which at the
present day it is difficult to discover either the origin or
the motive. A letter was conveyed to Edward and his
brother Alfred in Normandy. It purported to be written
by their mother, upbraiding them with their apathy, describing the growing ascendancy of Harold, and urging A.D.
one of them to cross the sea, and to assert his right to 1037
the crown. By the historian, who has preserved this
letter, it is pronounced a forgery, contrived by Harold to
decoy one of the two princes into his hands ". But it
will require no small share of credulity to believe this
story. Why should he invite only one, and not both of
the brothers? By removing both out of his way he would
* Gut. Piet. 37, 38. edit. Maseres. Will. Gemet. 271. Leg. Sax. 210.
t Encom. Emm. 28




ï~~272                   DANES.            C[ cuP. vi.
secure himself against the claimants, to whom the eyer
of the natives were principally directed: but the benefit
which might be derived from the murder of one would
be more than balanced by the infamy which would result
from so detestable a crime. However this may be, it is
certain that Alfred, the younger, accepted the invitation,
raised a small body of troops in Normandy, repaired to
the court of Baldwin, earl of Flanders, and by the addition of a few adventurers from Boulogne, swelled the
number of his followers to six hundred men. At Sandwich he found a strong force prepaxed to oppose him;
and changing his course, steered round the north Foreland, till he came opposite to the city of Canterbury,
where he landed without discovering an enemy. Within
a few hours he was met by Godwin, who plighted to him
his faith, and undertook to conduct him to Emma.
Leaving London on the right, because it belonged to
Harold, they proceeded to Guildford, where the earl
quartered Alfred and his men in small bodies among the
inhabitants, supplied them plentifully with provisions,
and having promised to wait on the prince in the morning, retired to his own residence. In the midst of the
night, the satellites of Harold arrived, surprised the
strangers in their beds, and reserved them for the
butchery of the following day. With their hands bound
behind them they were ranged in a line; every tenth
man out of the six hundred received his liberty; and of
the rest a few were selected for slavery. The scene
which followed can hardly be paralleled in the annals
of American ferocity.  The remaining victims were
maimed, or blinded, or hamstrung, or scalped, or embowelled, according to the caprice or barbarity of their
tormentors. "Never," says one of the chroniclers, "was
" a more bloody deed done in this land since the arrival
" of the Danes." The prince himself was hurried away to
Harold in London, aud thence to the isle of Ely, under
the charge of a thane, whose threats and insults aggravated the horrors of his situation. Seated on a sorry




ï~~A. C. 037.

HAROLD

273

horse, strippea of his clothes, and with his feet tied beneath the saddle, the son of Ethelred was exposed in
each town and village to the derision, perhaps to the
commiseration, of the beholders. At Ely he was ar-aigned before a court of miscreants, and adjudged to
lose his eyes. The sentence was executed by main force;
and the unfortunate prince, after lingering a few days,
expired, either through the violence of his sufferings, or
by the dagger of an assassin *.
Of the truth of this melancholy tale there is no reason
to doubt. It has been transmitted to us by a contemporary writer, who received his information from the survivors of the massacre; and his narrative is fully confirmed by the testimony of succeeding historians. Yet
it is difficult to believe, that such unnecessary cruelty, so
wanton a waste of human blood, could have been, as is
pretended, a mere act of precaution on the part of Harold. It wears more the appearance of a deed, stimulated
by the thirst of revenge, or prompted by the hope of inspiring terror. Perhaps Alfred, by his previous cruelty,
had sharpened the resentment of his enemies; undoubtedly he had come for the purpose of driving Harold from
the throne ', and probably at the invitation of Emma;
for that princess immediately prepared to quit the country, and accepted the offer of an asylum at Bruges from
Baldwin of Flanders, who had patronized the attempt of
the unfortunate Alfred $.
Her flight left Harold without an opponent: the
thanes of Wessex withdrew their allegiance from his
half brother; and he was unanimously chosen king of
* Gul. Pict. 39. Encom. Emm. 29-31. This historian wrote within
three years after the massacre. His testimony will overbalance the doubts
of Malmsbury (43). Malmsbury (ibid.) supposes the murder of Alfred to
have taken place after the death of Harold: Iluntingdon after that of
Hardecanute. But the monk of St. Omer affixes it to the reign of Harold,
and the chronicles of Mailros (156), of Florence (623), of Westminster
(210). to the year 1036.-Higden thus describes the punishment of embowelling. Primordia viscerum fecit ad palos erectos figi, et tune corpora
circumduci, donec novissima Intestinorum extraherentur. Hig. 227.
t Sceptrum et ipse paternum requirelsat. Gul. Pict 38. Ut paternum
regnum obtineret. West. 210.         '.nem Emm. 32.




ï~~274

I)  'v..

[CHAP. VI.

England. But when he called on Egelnoth, the archbishop of Canterbury, to perform the ceremony of his
coronation, that prelate placing the insignia of royalty
on the altar, boldly replied; "There are the crown and
" sceptre, which Canute intrusted to my charge. To
" you I neither give nor refuse them. You may take
"them if you please; but I strictly forbid any of my
"brother bishops to usurp an office, which is the prero" gative of my see." Of Harold's behaviour on this
extraordinary occurrence, we are ignorant: but he appears to have subsequently removed the primate's objections, and to have been crowned with the usual solemnities *.
A. D.  No details of his government have been transmitted
1040 to posterity. One writer insinuates, that he was a benefactor to the church; another, hostile to his memory,
asserts, that through hatred of Christianity, he absented
himself from all the public offices of religion t. His
principal amusement was the chase, in which he frequently hunted on foot, and from his fleetness acquired
the surname of" harefoot." After a short reign of four
years, he died in 1040, and was buried at Westminster.
HARDECANUTE.
Emma, after her arrival at Bruges, had endeavoured,
by frequent messages, to inflame the ambition, and accelerate the preparations of her son Hardecanute. Two
years, however, elapsed before she was able to direct his
attention to his interests in England; and then, leaving
a powerful armament in port, he sailed with nine ships
to consult his mother. During his residence with her
at Bruges, a messenger arrived with the welcome intelligence of the death of Harold; and he was followed by
a deputation of English and Danish thanes, requesting
Hardecanute to ascend the throne of his father. As soon
* Encom. E1mm. 28, 29. He gave to the monastery of Croyland the
mantle, which he wore at his coronation. Ingnl. 61.
f Ing. ibid. Encom. Emm. 29.




ï~~A.D. 1040.]

HARDECANTTE.

275

as his fleet had joined him from Denmark, he proceeded
with sixty-two sail to England *. His authority was
immediately acknowledged; but one of the first measures of his government excited universal discontent
By Canute the Thingmanna had been reduced to the
complement of sixteen ships; and the pay of these
Danish guards had been long defrayed by the nation at
the annual rate of eight marks for each private, and of
twelve marks for each officer. The addition of the new
fleet had multiplied their number in a five-fold degree;
and the tax which was imposed in consequence, experienced considerable opposition. At Worcester the collectors, Thurstan and Feader, were put to death in an
insurrection of the populace. But a severe punishment
followed the offence. During four days the county was
given up to pillage, and on the fifth the city was reduced
to ashes. The inhabitants had fled to an island in the
Severn, where they defended themselves till they appeased the vengeance, and obtained the pardon, of the
king t.
Hardecanute could not forget the injuries of Harold
to himself and to his relatives, the usurpation of the
crown, the exile of Emma, and the murder of Alfred;
and his feelings urged him to an act of impotent revenge,
the folly of which was equal to its barbarity. As if he
could make the dead to feel, he ordered the tomb of his
predecessor to be opened, the body to be decapitated, and
the head and trunk to be thrown into the Thames. Both
were recovered by some fishermen, who deposited them
in the cemetery of St. Clement's, the usual burying-place
of the Danes $.
The care of this posthumous execution had been delegated to Alfric, archbishop of York, and Godwin, earl
of Wessex. But the commissioners disagreed, and the
prelate accused the earl of the murder of Alfred. Godwin denied the charge, and cleared himself, in the legal
* E om. Emm. 34. " Chron. Sax. 155, 156. Flor. 623, 635. Malm. 43.
$ Flor. 623. West. 211. Mailros, 156.




ï~~276

DANES.

[CHAP. VI

manner, by his own oath, and the oaths of a jury of his
peers, the principal noblemen in England*. It cannot
be ascertained whether this acquittal removed the suspicions of Hardecanute: but the earl was restored to
favour, and participated with Emma in the administration of the kingdom. He had made to the king a most
magnificent present, a ship of the usual dimensions, of
which the stern was covered with plates of gold. It
carried eighty warriors, the retainers of Godwin. Their
lances, helmets, and coats of mail were gilt; their battleaxes glistened with decorations of gold and silver; the
hilts of their swords, the nails and bosses of their shields,
were of gold; and they wore round each arm two golden
bracelets of the weight of sixteen ounces '.        This ac
count will not excite surprise in the reader, who recollects that the Northmen were accustomed to expead
the plunder of nations in embellishing their arms and
ships, objects of inestimable value in the eyes of the
northern pirates.
Hardecanute is described as mild in his manners, and
generous in his disposition. His table was copiously
* The guilt of Godwin will always remain a problem. It may be urged
against him that Alfred at the time of the murder was under his protection, and in his town of Guilford; that within four years he was publiciy
accused of it by the archbishop of York; and that he is condemned without hesitation by almost every historian who wrote after the conquest.
On the other hand it may be observed, 1st, that the monk of St. Omer,
who was so well acquainted with the transaction, far from charging the
earl, seems to represent him as perfectly ignorant of Alfred's danger: ad
sua recessit hospitia, mane rediturus, ut domino suo serviret cum debita
honorificentia.-Enc. Emm. 30. 2d, that the accusation of the archbishop
is balanced by the acquittal of Godwin on his trial: 3d, that little reliance
is to be placed on the assertion of writers posterior to the conquest; when
every tale which could vilify the family of Godwin, was gratefully aecepted, and eagerly countenanced by the reigning dynasty.-Edward the
Confessor, in two of his charters, attributes tihe death of his brother to Harold, and (which is more singular) to Hardecanute. Now the latter prince
was in Denmark, and the accusation, if it mean any thing, must allude to
those who governed in the name of Hardecanute,'and in that hypothesis
may reach Emma, or Godwin, or both. The king's words are, "Haroldo
et Hardecanuto, a quibus et alter meus frater Alfredus crudeliter est
occisus. "-Spel. Con, 618. 632. Yet, would Harold, who was then all-powerful, have subscribed to these charters, if they had cast so foul a stain on
the memory of his father.
t Maim. 43. Mailros, 156. Flor. 623. West. 211,
I Sep Encom Emm. 8 13  Snorre, 338.




ï~~CHAP. VI.]  DEATH OF HARDECANUTE.!T

supplied at four different hours in the day. This was
no mean recommendation in the opinion of the chieftains, who set a high value on the pleasures of the table,
and expected to eat and drink at the expense of the
sovereign*. He sent for his half-brother Edward from
Normandy, received him with the sincerest friendship,
and gave him a princely establishment. His sister
Gunihlda, the fairest woman of her time, he married to
the emperor Henry. All the thanes, both English and
Danish, attended her to the sea-shore, desirous of attracting the notice of the king, by the attention which
they paid to the princess; and never before, say the
chronicles, was seen in England so magnificent a display of gold, and silver, and gems, and of silken vests,
and beautiful horses. The songs which were composed,
on the occasion, continued to be sung by the people in
their convivial meetings, and preserved the memory of
Gunihlda through many succeeding generations t.
The character of the king 'was such as to afford the
presage of a tranquil and prosperous reign. But his
constitution was feeble, and his life had been frequently
endangered by disease. In his second year he honoured
with his presence the nuptials of a noble Dane at Lambeth. As he was standing in the midst of the company,
and lifting the cup to his mouth, he suddenly fell to the 4th
ground, was carried speechless to his chamber, and in a June,
short time expired. His body was laid near that of his 1042.
father in the church of Winchester $.
Hardecanute left no issue. His death severed the
connexion between the crowns of England and Denmark.   Magnus, the son of Olave, who had driven
Sweyn from Norway, now obtained possession of Denmark.
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR.
Before the body of the departed king could be laid in
the grave, his half-brother Edward had been called to the

SIIuut. SO9.

t   al m. 43.: Ibid. Flor..-4.




ï~~278

DANES.

[cHAP. VI.

throne by the voice of the citizens of London. The rightful heir of the Saxon line was the son of Edmund Ironside, the exile in Hungary.        But, in determining the
succession, the English had frequently substituted the
uncle for the nephew.      Edward was present; his character and his misfortunes pleaded in his favour; the
wishes of the natives loudly demanded a king of the race
of Cerdic; and the murmurs of the Danes, if the Danes
were inclined to murmur, were speedily silenced by the
3d overwhelming influence of Godwin. It was not, however,
Apr. before the following Easter, that the son of Ethelred,
1043. having promised to preserve the laws of Canute, was
crowned by archbishop Edsy, who embraced the opportunity of reading the new sovereign a long lecture on the
regal duties, and the paternal government of his Saxon
predecessors.*
Edward was now about forty years of age, twentyseven of which he had spent an exile in Normandy.
Precluded by circumstances from every rational hope of
ob:aining the crown, he had solaced the hours of banishment with the pleasures of the chase, and the exercises
of religion; and he brought with him to the throne those
habits of moderation and tranquillity which he had
acquired in a private station. He was a good, rather
* Knyghton, 2338. Chron. Sax. 157. Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1043, pub.
lished at the end of Lye's Dictionary. I shall refer to it by that name,
because it was copied by Lambard. By the Norman writers, Edward's
accession is attributed to the exertions of William, duke of Normandy,
then in his fifteenth year. We are told that he demanded the crown for
Edward by his messengers, that he sent Edward from Normandy with
a guard, and that he threatened to follow with a powerful army. The fear
of an invasion made the choice of the English fall on Edward.-Guil. Pict.
p. 44. edit. Maseres. I consider this as one of the fictions invented in
Normandy to account for the appointment, real or pretended, of William
by Edward to be his successor. That the English prince was at the
very period in England, and not in Normandy, is evident not only from
our English chroniclers, but from the monk of St. Omer, who, in the last
lines addressed by him to Emma, praises the union in which she lives in
England with her two sons Edward and Hardecanute (Encom. Emm. p.
36), and from William of J umieges, who says that Hardecanute called Edward f omn Normandy, and that they lived afterwards together (Gull.
Gem. vii.). It is remarkable that the first of these writers says Edward
wa scat for, that hlie might partake of the kingdom (utveniens secum
obtineret regnum, p. 36). the second, that HIardecanute left him heir to
the kingdom (totius regni reliquit heredem ibid.).




ï~~A.D. 1043.j  CHARACTER OF EDWAR1).

279

than a great, king. To preserve peace, and promote
religion, to enforce the ancient laws, and to diminish
the burthens of his people, were the chief objects of his
government: but he possessed not that energy of mind,
nor that ferocity of disposition, which, perhaps, were
necessary to command the respect, and to repress the
violence, of the lawless nobles by whom he was surrounded.
At his accession he found three powerful chieftains
near the throne, Godwin, Leofric, and Siward. They
bore the title of earls: for the ascendency of the Danes
had introduced Danish customs and Danish appellations.
The ealdormen of the Saxons had been transformed into
the earl of the Northmen: and the different earldoms were
parcelled out as circumstances suggested, some being confineod within narrow limits, while others were extended to
several counties. As the delegates of the sovereign, the
earls possessed considerable power. They levied forces,
received fines, tried causes, and exercised the ordinary
functions of royalty within their respective jurisdictions:
but they were removable at the will of the king and
the witan, and did not transmit their offices as inheritances to their children.  The earldom   of Siward extended from the Humber to the confines of Scotland;
Leofric was called the earl of Leicester, but his government comprehended most of the northern counties of
Mercia. Godwin ruled in Wessex, Sussex, and Kent:
and his two sons, Sweyn and Harold, already possessed,
or soon obtained, the former the earldom of Gloucester,
Hereford, Somerset, Oxford, and Berks, the latter that
of Essex, Middlesex, Huntingdon, East-Anglia, and
Cambridgeshire. When united, these noblemen were
more than a match for the king, whose chief security
lay in their mutual jealousies and discordant interests.
It was fortunate for Edward, that in the commencement of his reign, these powerful chieftains overlooked
every subject of private dissension in their common zeal
for the royal service. By their aid the restoration of the




ï~~280

DANES.

[CHAP. VI.

crown to the Saxon line was peaceably effected; and
the Danish families, whose fidelity was ambiguous, or
whose former tyranny deserved punishment, were driven
out of the kingdom. To the list of the sufferers must
be added the queen-mother. Edward held a council at
Gloucester: thence, accompanied by Godwin, Leofric,
and Siward, he hastened to Winchester, seized her
treasures, and swept away the cattle and corn from the
lands which she possessed as her dower *. The reader
will ahleady have noticed several instances of this species of military execution: but why it was inflicted upon
Emma we have no particular information. By her partiality to the Danes she had acquired the hatred of the
natives. The riches, which she collected with assiduity, had always been at the command of her younger
children, while her sons by Ethelred were suffered to
feel the privations of poverty. To her opposition was
owing, in all probability, the failure of Edward's descent
after the death of Canute; and it was even whispered
that she was not guiltless of the blood of Alfred t. Her
antipathy to the king had discovered itself since his
accession; and she had obstinately refused to grant him
any pecuniary aid$. But whatever were the motives
which prompted this act of severity towards her, the
character of Edward, and the sanction of his council,
will justify the belief that it had not been wantonly
adopted. She was still permitted to retain her dower,
and to reside at Winchester, where she died in 1052.
While Edward was employed in consolidating his
power at home, a formidable competitor was rising in
the north. Hardecanute, when he ruled in Denmark,
had been frequently engaged in war with Magnus, the
conqueror of Norway; till both princes, fatigued with
the useless struggle, had consented to a peace, on the
* Chron. Sax. 157. Chiron. Lamb. ad ann. 1043.
S'rThis is assirted by the monk of Winchester, who relates every fable.
Ang. Suae. i. 292. But it appears to derive some support from the asser
tion, f Edward. mentio ed at the end of note, p. 2"4.
1    ium t. l iam ib. ad in  1 43.




ï~~CHAP. VI.]  EDWARD) MARRIE]S EDITHA.

281

precarious, but not uniusual condition, that the survivor
should succeed to the dominions of his deceased adversary. At the death of Hardecanute, Magnus occupied
Denmark. But this did not satisfy his ambition; he
also demanded the English crown, on the plea that, since
it had been worn by Hardecanute, it was included in the
provisions of the treaty. To his messengers Edward
returned a sensible and resolute answer:. that he sat
on the English throne as the descendant of the English
monarchs; that he had been called to it by the free
choice of the people; and that he would never abandon
it but with his life. The Northman had threatened to
support his pretensions with all the power of Denmark
and Norway; and Edward, to oppose the danger, had
collected a numerous fleet at Sandwich. But Magnus A. D.
was detained at home to defend his own territories against 1046.
the rival efforts of Sweyn, the son of Ulfr and Althritha,
the sister of Canute. Sweyn was defeated, and his cause
appeared desperate, when the unexpected death of Magnus raised him to the throne. Norway was immediately
seized by Harold, the nephew of Olave: he engaged in
hostilities with Sweyn; and both princes ineffectually
solicited the aid of the king of England. Sweyn had formerly requested fifty ships to support him against Magnus: he now demanded the same number against Harold.
Though his requests were supported by all the influence
of Godwin, who had married his aunt Githa, the witenagemot on both occasions returned a peremptory refusal *.
From the failure of Godwin in these attempts, it would
appear as if the other noblemen, alarmed at his increasing influence, had combined to oppose his designs, and
undermine his power. For besides their former honours,
his sons had acquired a distinguished place in Edward's
affectionst, and his daughter had been crowned queen of
# Chron. Lamb. ad aun. 1046. 1048, 1049. Malm.60. Mailros, 157
Snorre, 38.
f They were "thms cynges dyrlingas." Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1052.
voL. 1.     24




ï~~282

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

England. By the chroniclers favourable to the Godwins,
Editha has been panegyrized for her learning, piety and
liberality. She was, in their language, the rose blooming
in the midst of thorns. By others she has been painted
in less amiable colours, and there- are certain facts which
seem to depose that she was as vindictive of spirit, and as
reckless of blood, as any of her kindred. We are told that
it was with the utmost reluctance that Edward consented
to the marriage, declaring that she might enjoy the hlionours of a queen, but not the right of a wife, a declaration interpreted by some to mean that he had bound
himself by a vow to a life of continency, but attributed
A. D. by others to his rooted antipathy to Godwin and his
1044. family.*
The power of the Godwins received its first shock from
the ungovernable passions of Sweyn, the eldest of the five
brothers. He had violated the person of Edgive, the
abbess of Leominster, and the indignant piety of Edward
drove him into banishment. The outlaw assumed the
profession of a sea-king, and sought wealth and power by
piratical depredations. Weary at last with wandering on
the ocean, he returned to England, sent his submission
to the king, and obtained a promise of pardon. But the
execution of the promise was opposed by two unexpected
adversaries, his brother Harold, and Beorn his cousin,
who probably had been the principal gainers by his outlawry. Disappointment urged him to revenge, which he
sought under the mask of fiendship. At the request of
the emperor Henry, Edward had collected a numerous
fleet for the purpose of opposing Baldwin, earl of Finnders. This armament was divided into two squadrons,
of which one lay at Sandwich under the immediate command of the king, the other at Pevensey under that of
earl Godwin. Sweyn, concealing his real design, visited
his father at Pevensey, where he was apparently recon* Chron. Sax. 157. Malm. i. p. 334. In one of his charters, Edward
prays for peace for himself and his posterity, et posteris meis. Wilkins
Con. i. 319. A prayer not very reconcilable with a vow of continency.




ï~~'Q

- -.

A.D. 1049.]        THE GODWINS.,
ciled to Beorn, and prevailed on that thane to withdraw
his opposition. Thence the two cousins proceeded together towards Sandwich, for the avowed purpose of solicit
ing the royal clemency in favour of the outlaw; but on
the road Beorn was suddenly seized by a body of armed
men, hurried on board a ship at Bosenham, and conveyed to Dartmouth, on the coast of Devon. The mariners
of Sweyn, by the command of their master, murdered
and buried their prisoner. His bones were afterwards
discovered at a great depth in the ground, and re-interred near those of his uncle Canute at Winchester. The
assassins sailed to Bruges, and found an asylum under
the protection of Baldwin, earl of Flanders, who had
made his peace with the emperor *.
After this aggravation of his guilt, it is strange that
Sweyn should cherish the hope of forgiveness; and still
more strange that he should ultimately obtain it. But
time wore down the edge of Edwa d's resentment; and
pity, or the recollection of former friendship, or the fear
of alienating a powerful family, induced him, at the solicitation of the bishop of Worcester, to restore the outlaw to his honours and estates. In the same year that
active and zealous pontiff, Leo IX., consecrated the great
church at Rheims, and held a council the next day, in
which were promulgated certain canons against simoniacal preferments in the church. Dudoc, bishop of Wells,
Walfric, abbot of St. Augustine's, and Elfwine, abbot of
Ramsey, were present with instructions to bring back
accurate information of the "decrees which should be
"passed for the welfare of Christendom."  But Leo had
summoned another and more general council, to meet in
Rome on the following festival of Easter; and to this,
Heriman, bishop of Sherborne, and Eldred, bishop of
Worcester, were sent, both as representatives of the
Anglo-Saxon prelacy, and as messengers from the king.
As English bishops, they took part in the promulgation

* Chron. Sax. 160. Flor. 620.




ï~~284

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI

of canons against simony, and in the excommunication of
Berengarius, on account of his new doctrines respecting
the Eucharist;* as messengers they consulted the pope
and council respecting a case which perplexed the royal
conscience. Edward had vowed to visit the tombs of the
apostles at Rome, like his predecessors, Ethelwulf and
Canute; but the witan objected to his departure from
England, as long as he had no heir to the crown. Leo,
having consulted the council, absolved the king from his
vow, but on the condition that the money which he had
collected to defray the expense of his journey should be
distributed among the poor, and that out of his yearly
income he should found, or re-found, an abbey in honour
of St. Peter.    This commutation was accepted; the
money was given in doles to the poor, and from that
moment the tenth part of the receipts from the king's
manors was faithfully set apart for the foundation of the
abbey.t
In the beginning of the same year died Eadsy, the
archbishop of Canterbury, who was succeeded by Robert
of Jumieges, the king's favourite.     Edward had been
acquainted with him when he was a simple monk in
Normandy, had brought him to England, made him one
of his chaplains, and then preferred him to the see of
London. Robert, immediately on his translation to Canterbury, set out on a journey to Rome, in compliance with
the ancient practice. For, ever since the origin of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons, it had been required of
every metropolitan that in token of his submission to the
church of Rome, he should repair soon after his election
* It is sometimes pretended that the doctrine of the Anglo-Saxon church
respecting the Eucharist was the same as that of Berengarius. But how is
it possible to reconcile this with the fact, that the representatives of the
Anglo-Saxon church anathematized Berengarius and his doctrine in the
council? That the bishops Heriman and Aldred formed part of the council,
is plain from Wilkins Conc. i. 316, the Saxon Chronicle, 161, and the catalogue of the bishops present, in Mansi p. 129. That Berengarius and his
doctrine were condemned, is certain from Lanfranc, Bib. xi. 338.
t Wilk. i. 316-320




ï~~A. D. 1050.]

THE GODWINS.

285

to the holy city, and should solicit from the pope the
grant of the pallium in confirmation of his archiepiscopal
authority.  It was customary for the pontiff on these
occasions to inquire into the state of religion in England,
and to give to the new metropolitan particular instructions for his conduct. From the known character of Leo,
there can be no doubt that he would insist on the strict
observance of the canons lately passed against simony;
and Robert immediately on his return found occasion on
which he deemed it his duty to enforce them. During
his absence, Sparhavoc (Sparrow-hawk), abbot of Abingdon, had been appointed his successor in the see of London.   Robert refused to consecrate him.  Sparhavoo
repaired again to Canterbury, with the royal mandate in
his hand, and met with another refusal. To every petition and remonstrance the archbishop replied that he
could not disobey the orders which he had received from
the pope. The controversy lasted during several months,
but Sparhavoc yielded at last, and was superseded by
William, a foreigner also, and one of the royal chaplains.*
The two marriages of Emma, a Norman princess, with
two kings of England, had given occasion to the settlement of some Norman families in England; and the subsequent accession of Edward to the throne had added to
their number. He had been accompanied or followed by
several foreign churchmen, whom he raised to high ecclesiastical dignities, and by several laymen, who appear to
have held inferiour offices in the royal household. One
of them he honoured with the title and office of earl,
Radulf, the son of Drogo, count of Mantes; but then, if
Radulf were a Frenchman on the father's side, he was an
Anglo-Saxon by his mother Goda, the sister of Edward.
On the death of Drogo, this lady had married Eustace,
count of Boulogne, who, in 1050, came to England to

* Chron. Sax. p. 162.




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

visit his brother-in-law. It chanced, however, that either
in his way to the court or in his return from it, his followers quarrelled with the burghers of Dover, a town
belonging to earl Godwin; both had recourse to arms,
and several persons, natives as well as foreigners, were
slain.    This sanguinary affray has been        attributed by
different writers to accident, or the insolence of the
strangers, or the inhospitality of the natives.        Eustace,
however, hastened to the king, to complain of the insult,
whilst many of his followers obtained possession of, or
admission into, the " Castle on the Cliff." #         Edward,
irritated by the representations of Eustace, ordered
Godwin to chastise the insolence of his men.           The earl
disdained to obey: his two sons applauded the spirit
of  their   father; and    improved     the   present   opportunity   to direct the    national    animosity   against   the
foreign favourites. Three armies from the three earldoms of Godwin, Sweyn, and Harold, directed their
march towards Longtree in Gloucestershire, to punish,
as it was pretended, the depredations committed on the
lands of Harold, by the French garrison of a castle in
* Normannos et Bononienses qui castellum in Dorbernie clivo tenuerunt.
Hov. ad ann. 1051. Flor. ad ann. 1051. The chronicle for Normans and
Bolognese has Fr en cs rc an. [The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle thus describes
the transaction, under the year 1048. "When Eustace was some mile or
more on this side of Dover, then he put on his breast-plate, and so did all
his companions, and went to Dover. When they came thither, then would
they lodge themselves where they chose. Then came one of his men, and
would abide in the house of a householder against his will, and wounded
the householder, and slew him within his own dwelling; and they went up
towards the town, and slew, as well within as without, more than twenty
men. And the townsmen slew nineteen men on the other side, and wounded
they knew not how many. And Eustace escaped with a few men, and went
again to the king, and made known to him, in part, how they had fared.
And the king became very wroth with the townsmen. And the king sent
off Godwin the earl, - and bade him go into Kent in a hostile manner to
Dover; for Eustace had made it appear to the king that it had been more
the fault of the townsmen than his: but it was not so. And the earl would
not consent to the inroad, because he was loath to injure his own people."
- AM Ra. EDIT.]




ï~~A. D. 1051.]  OUTLAWRY OF SWRYN.

287

Herefordshire *. But Edward, who lay at Gloucester,
was not to be deceived by this flimsy pretext; he summoned to his aid Radulf, and Leofric, and Siward, and
was soon in a condition to intimidate his opponents.
The troops demanded to be led against the insurgent
earls, and the best blood in England, says the chronicler,
would have been shed, had not more temperate measures
been suggested by the wisdom of Leofric, and adopted
by the moderation of Edward. It was proposed to summon the witena-gemot, and to refer every subject of dispute to the decision of that assembly. To so equitable
an offer Godwin dared not object; and hostages, as if
the two parties were on a footing of equality, were mutually exchanged. At the appointed day, the autumnal
equinox, Edward entered London at the head of the
most powerful army that had been seen for many years:
Godwin at the same time took possession of Southwark
with a considerable number of followers. But the influence of the earl shrunk before the awe that was created by
the majesty of the king, and the terror that was inspired
by the superiority of his force. The insurgent army gradually melted away; and Sweyn, on the night before the
day appointed for an inquiry into the death of Beorn,
thought it prudent to flee. He was solemnly pronounced
an outlaw: the thanes, who held of Godwin and Harold,
were compelled to swear fealty to the king; and the two
earls were ordered to clear themselves of the accusations
against them by the oaths of twelve compurgators in the
presence of the witan. As a previous condition they
demanded hostages for their safety: but this demand
was sternly refused; and they were allowed five days
either to establish their innocence, or to quit the king* The Normans, who had followed Edward, built castles on their lands
after the manner of their own country. Thus besides the castle at Here.
ford, we meet with Robert's castle, Pentecoste's castle, &c. Chron. Sax.
163. 167. Chron. Lamb. 1052. The foreigners who formed the garrisons
are called indifferently Frencisc men, or Weliso (foreign, perhaps, Gaulish)
men. The latter term has caused some confusion on account of its similarity to the word "Welshmen."




ï~~288

ANGLO-SAXONS,

CHAP. \I.

dom. Godwin, with his wife and three sons, Sweyn,
Tostig, and Gurth, fled for protection to the earl of Flanders: Harold, and his brother Leofwin, hastened to
Bristol, embarked on board a vessel belonging to Sweyn,
and with difficulty reached Ireland*. The queen was
involved in the common disgrace of her family. Her
lands were seized by the king, and her person was intrusted to the custody of Edward's sister, the abbess of
Wherwell. Some writers affirm that she was treated
with great severity: but a contemporary historian assures
us, that she was conducted with royal pomp to the monastery allotted for her residence, and informed that her
confinement was only a measure of temporary precaution 1'.
At the very commencement of the insurrection, the
foreign favourites had trembled for their safety; and by
their advice Edward had solicited the assistance of William, duke of Normandy. Tranquillity was hardly restored, when that prince, with a powerful fleet, reached
the coast of England. As his services were no longer
wanted, he landed with a gallant train of knights, was
kindly received by the king, visited several of the royal
villas, and was dismissed with magnificent presents.
Many have pretended, that the real object of this interview was the future succession of William to the crown
of England: but Ingulf, who accompanied that prince on
his return to Normandy, and was for several years his confidential secretary, assures us, that the idea of succeeding to the English throne had not yet presented itself to
his mindt.
While Godwin remained at Bruges, he did not abandon
himself to despair, but spent the winter in arranging the
means of revenge. A few days before Midsummer he
" Chron. Sax. 163, 164. Chron. Lamb, ad ann. 1052.
t The author of the life of Edward, quoted by Stow, p.96. His authority is the greater, as he dedicated his work toEditha herself.. Ibid.
t Ingulf, 65. Flor. 627. Hemmingford, 456. Chron. Lamb. adann.
1052.




ï~~A.I 'I.]   s 1311 S1ON OF GOOWNIN.28

289

put to sea with a small squadron; xhile a powerful armament at Sandwich, under the earls Radulf and Odda,
watched his motions. The outlaw was unconscious of
his danger: but he escaped in a storm, and precipitately
returned to his former asylum. The royal commanders
were dismissed for their negligence; and, while the
council was debating on the appointment of their successors, the mariners (so loosely combined were the
armaments of these times) returned to their respective
homes. This dispersion of the fleet encouraged Godwin
to renew his attempt: in the channel he was met by
Harold from Ireland; with their united squadrons they
pillaged the coast, swept away the ships from the different harbours, advanced up the Thames, and sailed
through the southern arch of the bridge at London. The
royal fleet of fifty sail was ranged on the opposite side of
the river; and a powerful army lined the left bank.
Godwin sent his submission to Edward, by whom it was
sternly refused. But the king's reluctance was gradually
subdued by the policy of Stigand, who insinuated that his
troops were unwilling to shed the blood of their countrymen; and that it was folly to sacrifice the affections of
his subjects to the interests of a few Normans. At length
hlie extorted from the reluctant king a commission to
negotiate with Godwin, and that instant the foreigners
fled in despair. Robert, archbishop of Canterbury, and
Ulf, bishop of Dorchester, mounting their horses, fought
their way through their opponents, rode to Ness in Essex,
and seizing a small and shattered bark, committed themselves to the mercy of the waves. The others dispersed
in different directions; and by the connivance of Edward's friends escaped with their lives, though they were
compelled to quit the kingdom. By their flight the
principal obstacle to an accommodation was removed.
Godwin received permission to visit the king. He laid
the blame of the late dissensions on the Normans, attested in the most solemn manner the innocence of himself and his children, and surrendered as pledges for his
VOL. I.    25




ï~~290

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

loyalty his son Wulfnoth, and his nephew Haco. Edward
received him kindly, but for greater security sent the
hostages to be kept by William of Normandy. The
foreign favourites were outlawed by decree of the great
council: Godwin and Harold recovered their earldoms;
and Editha was recalled from her prison to the throne *.
But to Sweyn Edward was inexorable. He had been
guilty of a most inhuman and perfidious murder; and
seeing himself abandoned by his family, he submitted to
the discipline of the ecclesiastical canons. He walked,
a barefoot pilgrim, from Flanders to Palestine; visited
with tears of compunction the holy places; and finished
his penance and his life in the province of Lycia 1.
The services of the negotiator on this occasion were
not forgotten by the Godwins. He had expelled archbishop Robert: he succeeded to the honours of that
prelate. Without learning, without any of the virtues
becoming his profession, Stigand, even under a religious
monarch, arrived at the highest dignity in the English
church. His only merit was an aptitude for intrigue,
and the art of profiting by every occurrence. He had
been originally noticed by Canute, and appointed one of
the royal chaplains. By the intervention of friends and
the aid of presents, he became bishop of Helmstan: froni
Helmstan he was successively removed to Selsey and
Winchester; and now obtained the great object of his
ambition, the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. To his
unspeakable mortification Pope Leo IX. could not be
persuaded that a church was vacant, of which the bishop
was still alive, and refused to surrender his rights $. But
the vigilance of Stigand never slept: John of Velitrae,
under the name of Benedict, usurped the papacy for a
few months; and it was no difficult matter for one intruder to obtain the pallium from another. However,
Benedict was soon expelled, and Alexander II. suspended
# Chron. Sax. 165--168. Flor. 627, 628.  t Malm. 46.
t Robert had gone to Rome, and in his return with a papal letter, died at.umieges, an abbey:a Normandy. Maim. 46.




ï~~CHAP. VI.]

DEATH OF GODWIN.

291

Stigand from the exercise of the episcopal functions.
Still, under the patronage of Harold, he contrived to
deceive the simplicity of Edward; and his avarice absorbed at the same time the revenues not only of the
churches of Canterbury and Winchester, but also of the
monasteries of St. Augustine's, St. Alban's, Ely, and
Glastonbury*.
Godwin did not long survive the disgrace of his ene- A. D.
mies. He died the following Easter (15 April, 1053);1053
and the story, which was invented by the malice of party,
would persuade us that his death was a visible judgment
of Heaven on the murderer of Alfred. He was sitting,
we are told, at table with the king. Observing a servant,
who had chanced to make a false step, support himself
with his other foot, he exclaimed: " See, how one bro"ther assists another!"--:"' Yes," replied Edward, looking sternly at the earl, " and if Alfred were now alive,
" he might also assist me."   Godwin felt the reproach,
loudly protested his innocence, and with the most solemn
execrations wished that, if he were guilty, he might not
live to eat the morsel which he held in his hand. He
put it to his mouth, and immediately expired 1'. Such
is the tale in its most improved state. At its first publication the preparatory incident, and the remark of Edward, appear to have been forgotten $. The real fact is,
that Godwin on Easter Monday fell speechless from the
royal table; that he was carried by his three sons into
the king's chamber; and that, after lingering for some
time in great torment, he died on the following Thursday Â~. His earldom was given to Harold: that of Harold
to Alfgar the son of Leofric.
The character of this powerful earl has been painted
* Chron. Sax. 157, 158. 169. 170. Hist. Ellen. 515. Mail. 158. Spe).
con. 68. Vit. S. Wulst. 251. Guil. Pict. 105. Ing. 69. Malm. 116.
+ Higden,280. Rudborn, 239. West. 215. Brompton, 943, according
to whom the person who made the false step was Harold, Godwin's son,
and cup-bearer to the king.  $ Ingulf 66. Malm. 45.
SChron. Sax. 168. Mailros, 158. Flor. 628.




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V1,

by most of our historians in colours of blood. They
describe him as a monster of inhumanity, duplicity, and
ambition. But their credit is lessened by the consideration that they wrote after the conquest, when every artifice was adopted to persuade the English, that the man
whom the Norman had precipitated from the throne,
was, on account of his own crimes and those of his father,
unworthy to remain on it. To their defamation may be
opposed the panegyric of Edward's biographer, who dedicated his work to Editha. If we may believe him, the
earl was the father of the people, the support of the
nation. To the peaceful and virtuous he was kind,
generous, and placable; but the turbulent and lawless
trembled at his lion-like countenance, and dreaded the
severity of his justice. The English lamented his death
as a national calamity, and placed their only consolation
in his son Harold, the inheritor of his father's virtues no
less than of his honours *. Probably the truth will be
found between the exaggerated encomiums of one party
and the undistinguishing invectives of the other.
Though the late disturbances had interrupted the
general tranquillity, they had been terminated without
bloodshed, and had inflicted no considerable injury on
the people. The principal calamities of Edward's reign
were pestilence and famine, evils which, at this period,
occasionally visited every part of Europe. As long as
agriculture was in its infancy, each unfavourable season
was followed by a year of scarcity; and, while the intercourse between nations was rare and insecure, the wants
of one people could not be relieved from the plenty of
another. The chroniclers of the age frequently complain
of the inclemency of the seasons, of earthquakes, which,
on one occasion, created considerable alarm at Derby and
at Worcester, of the distress caused by the failure of the
* Vit. Ed. apud Stow, 97. These opposite accounts so perplexed
Malmsbury, that he knew not what to believe, or what to reject. Maims.
46




ï~~CHAP. VI.]

MACBETH.

o93

crops, and of contagious distempers which afflicted not
only the cattle, but also the human race *. The benevolent heart of Edward mourned over the calamities of
his people, and he eagerly adopted every expedient which
seemed likely to remove or to mitigate their sufferings.
The Dane-gelt had now been paid for eight-and-thirty
years; it formed a considerable part of the royal revenue.
In 1051 the king resolved to sacrifice this advantage to
the relief of the people; and the abolition of so odious
an impost was received by them with every demonstration of gratitude. On another occasion, when his nobles
had raised a large sum on their vassals, and begged him
to accept the free gift of his faithful subjects, he refused
the present as extorted from the labour of the poor,
and commanded it to be restored to the original contributors %
The only foreign war in which the king engaged, was
against an usurper, whose infamy has been immortalized
by the genius of Shakspeare. In 1039 Duncan, king of A.D.
Scotland, was murdered by Macbeth. A prince driven 1054
by force from the throne of his fathers might justly
claim the sympathy of Edward; and Malcolm, the son
of Duncan, received from him the permission to vindicate his rights with the aid of an English army. For
fifteen years the power of the murderer discouraged
every attempt; and the fugitive resided with his uncle,
Siward, earl of Northumberland. But when Macduff,
the thane of Fife, unfurled the royal standard, Malcolm
hastened to the insurgents; Siward accompanied him
with a powerful force; and the victory of Lanfanan in
Aberdeenshire, by the fall of Macbeth, placed the crown
on the head of the rightful heir. Among those who
perished in the action was the son of Siward. The hero
anxiously inquired in what manner the young man had
* Chron. Sax. 157. 169. Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1049. 1059. Mailros, 157.
In the year 1049we are told that much corn and many farms in Derbyshire
weie destroyed by the wild-fire (Chron. Lamb. ad ann.), or as it is termed
in the chronicle of Mailros, by the wood.jire (ignis aereus vlu4go dictus
silvaticns, Mail. 157).  Ing. 63.  Maihlros, 12 7.  lov. 256.




ï~~294

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

fallen; and being assured that his wounds were received
in front, exclaimed that hlie was satisfied, and wished for
himself no better fate.     Soon after his return Siward
was attacked by a disorder which proved mortal: but
he declared that he would die as he had lived, like a
warrior; and ordering his arms to be brought, breathed
his last, sitting upright on his bed, and leaning upon his
spear *. His son Waltheof was too young to exercise
the authority of his father: and the earldom was given
to Tostig, the brother of Harold.
While the earl of Northumberland was yet in ScotA. n. land, the flames of civil war had burst out in England.
1055. They seem to have been kindled by the jealousy of
Harold, who was indignant that the earldom which he
had resigned for that of Godwin, should be given to the
rival family of Leofric. At the witena-gemot Alfgar was
accused of treason " against the king and the country."
Most of our chroniclers assert his innocence ": a writer,
who seems devoted to the interests of Harold, declaics
that his guilt was established on the most satisfactory
evidence.  Outlawed by the judgment of the council,
Alfgar fled to Ireland, purchased the assistance of a
northern sea-king, was joined by Griffith, prince of
Wales, and poured his Welsh and Norwegian auxiliaries
* I may be allowed to observe that with respect to this event, lord Hailes
(Annals of Scotland, p. 2), appears to have overlooked the statements of
our most ancient historians. He tells us that '" Siward, with the approba" tion of his sovereign, led the Northumbrians to the aid of Malcolm. but
u did not live to see the event of his enterprise: " theq say, that he delfeated
Macbeth, and placed Malcolm on the throne as Edward had ordered. Siwardus jussu Regis Edwardi et equestri exercitu et classe valida Scottiam
adiit, et cumr rege Scottorum Machetha praelium commisit, ac multis millibus Scottorumn et Normannis omnibus,quorum supra mentionem fecimus,
occisis, illum fugavit, et Malcolmum, ut rex jusserat, regem constituit.
Sim. Dun. 187. Florence, p. 629, repeats the same words. Mailros, p. 158,
has the same in substance. See also Malmsbury, Macbetha vita regnoque
spoliavit, Malcolmum re"em instituit, f. 44. iHuntingdon, -regem bello
vicit, regnum totum desthuxit, destructum sibi subjugavit, f. 209. Lambard's Saxon Chronicle; '" Siward went with a great army into Scotland,
" both with ship-t arce, and land-force, and fought wilh the Scots, and
" routed the king Macbeth, and slew all the best in the land, and brought
" thencemuch spoil, such as no man ever got before." Chiron. Lamb. ad
ann. 1054.
t lng. 66. Mail. 158. Flor. 629.       $ Chtron. Sax 169.




ï~~A. D. 1055.]

DEATH OF ALFGAR.

25

nto the county of Hereford. The earl Radulf with his
retainers fled at the first onset: the city was taken and
pillaged; four hundred of the inhabitants were slain;
and the cathedral with the principal buildings was burnt.
To revenge this insult the king assembled an army at
Gloucester, at the head of which Harold chased the
invaders into the fastnesses of Snowdon. A negotiation
followed, which restored to Alfgar his former honours.
His allies marched immediately to Leicester; and Leofric, who appears to have remained an idle spectator
during the contest, was impelled by apprehension or by
gratitude to reward their services at its termination.
But Leofric died soon afterwards, (30 September, 1057):
and Alfgar succeeded to the honours of his father. The
former jealousy, and former accusations were immediately revived. Alfgar again lost his earldom; and was
again restored, by the arms of Griffith and the Norwegians. But he hardly enjoyed his triumph during a
year; and at his death left two sons, Morcar and Edwin,
whose unmerited fate will claim the sympathy of the
reader *.
The death of Alfgar exposed Griffith to the just resentment of Harold. The Welsh prince and his subjects
had long deserved the name and punishment of robbers
and assassins. From the recesses of their mountains
they had made annual incursions on the inhabitants of
the borders; had indulged in plunder, bloodshed, and
conflagration; and had eluded the pursuit of vengeance
by the celerity of their retreat. When Rhese, the brother of Griffith, fell into the hands of the English, even
the meekness of Edward, "whom no injuries could irri"tate,-," ordered him to be put to death; and the king
now commissioned Harold to inflict a severe punishment
on those persevering robbers. Aware of the difficulties
arising from the nature of the country and the fleetness
of the enemy, Harold selected a numerous body of young

* Innulf, 66. Mailros, 158. Flor. 629, 630.

f Malm. 44




ï~~296

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP V1,

men, vigorous and active, bade them exchange their
usual arms for others of less weight and dimensions;
and gave them for defence helmets and targets of hardened leather. In the depth of winter he attempted by a
sudden irruption to surprise Griffith: but the Welshman
escaped, though his ships and mansion were consigned
A. D. to the flames. At the beginning of summer, Tostig,
1053. with a body of cavalry, entered Wales from the North:
Harold conveyed his troops by sea, and landed them on
the coast. The indefatigable earl, who proceeded on
foot, and fared like the meanest of his followers, traversed
the country in every direction. Neither mountains nor
morasses could screen the natives from the pursuit of
their enemy. Wherever the Welsh offered any resistance, he was victorious; and to perpetuate the memory
of each victory, he erected a pyramid of stone with this
inscription: HERE HAROLD CONQUERED. Overpowered
and dismayed they solicited for mercy; and sent as a
peace-offering the head of Griffith to the conqueror
(Aug. 5). Harold returned in triumph to Edward: the
head of the Welshman with the beak and the ornaments
of his ship were presented to the English monarch; and
his two uterine brothers Blethyn and Rywallon swore
fealty, and engaged to pay the ancient tribute. A law
was Iassed condemning every Welshman, found in arms
on the east of Offa's dyke, to lose his right hand; and
the natives of the mountains, taught by fatal experience,
respected during the four next reigns the territory of
their neighbours*.
It is probable that the objection of the witan to the
king's intended pilgrimage had directed his attention to
his nephew and namesake, Edward, the exiled son of his
brother, Edmund Ironside.    That prince still lived in
* Gir. Camb. in Ang. Sac. ii. 541. Ingulf. 68. Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1063.
The chronicle says the Welsh princes swore fealty and gave hostages to the
king and the earl. Why to the earl? Had he been appointed Edward's su.cessor? or did they merely become his vassals? At the same time, and by the
same authority, Meredith was appointed prince of South Wales, Powel, 103.




ï~~A. D. 1058.]  ARRIVAL or PRINCE EDWARD.

297

Hungary, and had married a lady of the imperial family,*
who bore to him three children, Edgar, Margaret, and
Christina. There could be no doubt that he was rightful
heir to the crown on the death of the king without children; and Aldred, bishop of Worcester, was sent in 1054
with valuable presents, on an embassy to the emperor
Henry III., to procure, through the influence of that
prince, the return of the etheling from Hungary. Aldred
spent an entire year, partly with Henry, partly with Heriman, archbishop of Cologne; but his efforts were unsuccessful, perhaps on account of the hostile feeling which
existed between the emperor and Andrew, king of Hungary.   But, in 1056 the first of those princes died; and
Edward in the following year arrived with his family in
London. There is something mysterious in the fate of
this prince.   In a short time he sickened and died; and
although he had been invited to England by the king to
perpetuate on the throne the royal race of Cerdic and
Alfred, yet it was so contrived that the uncle and
nephew never had an opportunity of seeing each other.
Will not this suggest, if it do not justify, the suspicion
that there was some one who deemed it his interest to
keep the etheling separate from the king? However that
may be, the invitation sent to him in Hungary is a proof
that up to this time Edward could not have made any
engagement with William of Normandy, to appoint that
prince his successor.
About the close of the following year Aldred undertook A. D.
and accomplished what had never yet been done by any 1058.
Anglo-Saxon prelate. Travelling through Germany and
* The Saxon chronicle (ann. 1017) tells us that Agatha was C a e r a s e r
m a g a, but does not specify how nearly she was related to the emperor.
If we believe Malmsbury (i. 303) and Wendover (i. 463), she was sister to
Gisela, the wife of Stephen of Hungary, and sister to the Emperor Henry
II. But the writers who, as Florence, HIovenden and Ailred, call her the
daughter of the brother of the Emperor Henry, must have taken her for a
daughter of Bruno, Henry's brother, who had quarrelled with that prince
because he would not grant him the duchy of Bavaria, and had sought an
asylum in Hungary. They were afterwards reconciled through the good
otffices of Gisela, an Bruno obtained he bishopric of Augsburg.




ï~~298                           DANES.                     [CHAP. VI.
Hungary, he reached Jerusalem, offered his prayers at
the holy places, and left on the altar at the sepulchre a
chalice of gold, of the weight of five marks.*          Soon after
* Chron. Sax. ann. 1058. Wigorn, ann. 1058. Hoved, 255.
[This was an interesting period in the history of the Holy City, and it is
to be regretted that we have no fuller memorials of bishop Aldred's visit.
Of Ingulf's, however, shortly after, the narrative is preserved, and there
are curious accounts of visits by Saxon prelates many centuries before
Aldred's.
In the gradual decline of the Greek empire the Fatimite Khalifs of Egypt
had seized upon Palestine, and, at the time of Aldred's visit to Jerusalem,
had held it for near a century.  Their policy, at first, was to open coinmerce to those regions as largely as they could, - and they freely encouraged pilgrimages from whatever sect or nation. But the despotism of liakeem, the third Khalif of this dynasty, put an end to thi lenity towards pilgrims, and his cruelty fell upon the Christians as severely as upon the rest
of his empire. Before him, the revolution which in 969 had transferred the
rule to the Fatimites had been rather an advantage than otherwise to the
Holy Land. His reign, however, was a misery to all. In Egypt he insulted
the oldest customs and prejudices. The revolt of his people there became
an excuse for greater severities. In a new frenzy, he proclaimed himself the
visible image of the most high God, who, after nine appearances on earth,
was at length manifest in his royal person. With this blasphemous pretence, he assailed all religions, sparing Mussulmans, apparently, only from
some lingering considerations of prudence. In Palestine the Christians and
Christian pilgrims suffered everything: and the devotions of strangers and
natives alike were prohibited. The church of the Resurrection was wholly
destroyed: and an effort was made to destroy, also, the cave in the rock,
which bore then, as it does now,'the name of the Holy Sepulchre.
It was not till the year of his assassination, in 1021, that such obstacles to
pilgrimage were removed.  His successors restored the policy of the first
Fatimites. With the new opportunity the passion for such sacred journeys
reached its height. The indignation with which Europe had heard of his
atrocities now sent thousands to visit the scenes of them. The church at
Jerusalem, which had been destroyed in 1008, was rebuilt by the grandson
of Hakeem in 1048, in accordance with a treaty which he made with the
Greek emperor.
Meanwhile, the conversion of Stephen, who is called the apostle of Hungary, opened a way for pilgrimage through his dominions by land, from the
west of Europe. Aldred's visit to his dominions perhaps suggested to him
the after adventure, as it appears he took the new route to Jerusalem. Ingulf, afterwards William the Conqueror's secretary, whose works are frequently alluded to in these pages, made this journey, in the year 1064, with
several other prelates, and a retinue amounting to seven thousand persons.
His narrative, and those of some of his companions, may be found, nearly
complete, in the ecclesiastical annals of Baronius, - at the year of their pilgrimage.
The passage in the Saxon Chronicle referred to in the text is as follows:
In the same year bishop Aldred consecrated the minster at Gloucester,
which himself had raised to the glory of God and of St. Peter; and so he
went to Jerusalem with such splendour as none other had displayed before
him, and there devoted himself to God: and a worthy gift he also offered
at our Lord's tomb  that was a golden chalice of five marks of very wonderful work."
See Wright's Pref. to the Travels in Palestine of Arculf, Willibald, &c.
Gibbon ch. Ivii., and Baron. ad ann. 1064. - AMER. EDIT.]




ï~~A. D. 1058.]

ALDRED.

299

his return, Kinsey, archbishop of York, died; and Aldred
in the course of three days was appointed to succeed him,
with permission to keep at the same time the bishopric
of Worcester, as had been done by some of his predecessors. In a short time he proceeded to Rome, having in
his company Tortig, earl of Northumbria, with his wife
Judith, the daughter of Baldiere, earl of Flanders, and
two bishops elect, Giso of Wells, and Walter of Hereford.
The earl and countess sought probably to gratify their
curiosity or devotion; the bishops elect to obtain consecration abroad because they could not obtain it at home,
on account of the suspension of Stigand: Aldred had two
objects in view, to procure for himself the pallium, and
for Edward the papal confirmation of certain new privileges which he had lately conferred on his new abbey of
Westminster.    Nicholas received them    with honour
granted the confirmation solicited by the king, examined
and consecrated the two bishops elect, and, though at
first he refused the pallium to Aldred, because his election had been tainted with simony, granted it to him at
last, on condition that he should resign the bishopric of
Worcester.    Ermanfroi, bishop of Sion, with another
cardinal, followed the pilgrims as papal legates to England, waited on the king at Westminster, and presided
at the election of a new bishop at Worcester, which election, with Edward's permission, was conducted according
to the strict letter of the canons. What proposal they
made to Edward, and what answer they received from
him at Easter by advice of the witan, we are ignorant.
The new bishop of Worcester was Wulstan, prior of the
cathedral, who received consecration from the hands of
Aldred.*
* Compare Malmsbury (De Pont. 154, 159) and Ang. Sac. ii. 250, with the
Chronicle and Hoveden, ann. 1069. Aldred publicly acknowledged at the
consecration that he claimed no jurisdiction within the southern province,
and Wulstan made his promise of canonical obedience to the church of
Canterbury. Hoved. ibid.




ï~~300

ANGLO SAXONS.

CIIAP. VI.

By the course of events Harold was become the most
powerful subject in England. After the death of Edward
(surnamed the Outlaw) but one individual stood between
him and the crown, the object of his ambition, Edgar the
son of thatEdward, a young prince, feeble min body and
still more feeble in mind, whose hereditary right was
sunk in his inaptitude to govern. But the other side of
the channel exhibited a more formidable competitor, in
the person of William, Duke of Normandy. It was evident that by descent neither could boast the remotest
claim. William was the illegitimate son of Robert, the
nephew of Emma: Harold's only connexion with the
royal family arose from the marriage of his sister with
Edward. Their real title lay in their power and ambition: and in the latter William was equal, in the
former he was superior to Harold. Unfortunately for
the English earl, a vessel, in which he had sailed from
A o. Bosenham, was accidentally stranded in the mouth of
065. the river Maye, on the opposite coast of Ponthieu. A
* For the satisfaction of the reader, I shall subjoin a short genealogy of
William's descent from RIollo, the first Duke of Normandy.
Rollo, died in 917.
1
William + 943.
Richar I. + 996.
I.
Richard II. -f 1026.            Emma= Ethelred- + 1016.
I                                    I!                I               I 
Richard III.+10t6. Robert+1035.  Edmund--1016. Edward+1066.
Swithout issue.
William, by Her-  Edward + 1057.
leva, a concubine. E
Edgar Atheling.
The descent of Harold can he traced no farther back than his grandfather Wulfnoth, "child of Sussex." His father Godwin had married
Gyda, the sister of Ulfr, brother-in-law to Canute. Of the connexion between Godwin and Ulfr, Mr. Turner has given from the Knytlinge Saga
an account,which savours more of romance than of history




ï~~A. D. 1065.] HAROLD SWEARS FEALTY TO WILLIAM. 301
barbarous custom had invested the lord of the district
with a pretended right not only to the remains of the
wreck, but also to the persons of the survivors: nor were
imprisonment, threats, and torments spared to extort
from the captives an exorbitant ransom. Harold and
his companions were seized on the beach, conducted to
the earl Guy, by whom they were immured within his
castle of Beaurain. No circumstance could have been
more propitious to the views of William. He demanded
the prisoners: they were surrendered to him at Eu in
Normandy; and the compliance of Guy was rewarded
with a valuable donation of land. In the Norman court
Harold was treated with respect and munificence: but
he enjoyed only the semblance of liberty, and soon had
reason to regret the dungeons of Beaurain. Compelled
by the necessity of his situation, he consented to do
homage for his lands and honours to William, as the apparent successor of Edward. But the jealousy of the
Norman required more than the mere ceremony of
homage. Before an assembly of his barons, Harold was
constrained to swear that he would promote the succession of the duke to the English crown, that he would
guard his interests in the court of Edward, and that he
would admit a Norman garrison into his castle of Dover.
At length, loaded with presents but distressed in mind,
he was permitted to leave the territory of his rival. He
had obtained from the gratitude of William the liberation of his nephew, Haco, one of the hostages, whom
Edward had formerly required from Godwin; Wulfnoth,
the other, was detained by the policy of the Norman, as
a security for the faith of his brother *.
That Harold was thus delivered up by the earl of Ponthieu, and was compelled to swear fealty to William, are
indisputable facts: but the object which originally induced him to put to sea, is a subject of doubt and investigation." By the Norman writers, and those who follow
# See the account in William of Poitou, who received the particulars of
the oath from persons whowere present. Guil. Pict. 79, 80. 85.




ï~~302

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

them, we are told, that Edward, moved by gratitude and
relationship, had appointed William his successor, and
that Harold was sent to notify this appointment to the
duke *. Nor, indeed, is it improbable that such a report
should be circulated in Normandy, as a justification for
the violence which was offered to Harold. Many of the
English historians have preserved, or invented, a different account. If we may believe them, the earl intended
to visit William, but his object was to solicit the liberty
of the hostages, Haco and Wulfnoth''. It is, however,
difficult to conceive that a man ambitious of a crown,
would, for the freedom of two captives, trust himself and
the success of his projects, to the mercy of a rival. Perhaps it were more safe to rely on the authority of those
writers, who appear ignorant of both these reports; and
who describe the voyage of Harold as an occasional excursion along the coast, from which he was driven by a
storm on the barbarous territory of Ponthieu $.
It was about the end of summer, when the earl returned to England; his services were immediately required
by an insurrection of the Northumbrians. Tostig had
governed that people with the rapacity of a despot, and
the cruelty of a barbarian. In the preceding year he
had perfidiously murdered two of the noblest thanes in
his palace at York: at his request Editha had ordered
the assassination of Gospatric in Edward's court; and
the recent imposition of an extraordinary tax, as it was
universally felt, had armed the whole population against
his government. In the beginning of October the insurgents surprised York. Tostig fled; his treasures and
armoury were pillaged; his guards, to the number of two
hundred, both Danes and English, with their comman* Guil. Pict. 77. Order. Vit. 492. Wil. Gemet. 285
J Eadm. 4. Sim. Dunel. 195. Hemingford, 456.
 Mat. Paris, 2. West. 213. Malm. 53.
11 No writer that I know has tixed the date of H-arold's de~tention iNormandy; but we learns from Picta riensis, that the corn in BItretagne was
almost ripe. (Pict., 8 1. 85.)




ï~~A. D. 1065.] INSURRECTION OF THE NORTHUMBRIANS. 303
ders, Amund and Ravenswarth, were made prisoners,
conducted out of the city, and massacred in cold blood
on the north bank of the Ouse. Elated with their success the insurgents chose for their future earl Morcar,
the son of Alfgar; and that nobleman, with the men of
Lincoln, Nottingham, and Derbyshire, and his brother
Edwin with those of Leicester, and a body of Welsh auxiliaries, advanced as far south as Northampton. Pere
they were met by Harold. When he inquired into the
nature of their demands, they replied, that they were
freemen, and would not tamely submit to oppression;
that they required the confirmation of the laws of Canute,
and the appointment of Morcar to the earldom of Northumberland. Harold returned, and obtained the royal
assent to their requests: but during his absence and at
their departure, they plundered the country, burnt the
villages, and carried away several hundreds of the inhabitants, who were destined to a life of slavery, unless
their ransom should be afterwards paid by their friends.
Tostig, dissatisfied with the pacification, repaired to
Bruges, the usual asylum of his family *.
If, on this occasion, Harold appeared to desert the
cause of his brother, we may attribute his moderation,
not only to the formidable appearance of the insurgents,
but also to a prudent regard for his own interest. The
king was hastening to the grave; and the success of the
earl's projects required his presence in London, a period
of tranquillity, and the good will of the people. He returned to the metropolis on the 30th November, five
weeks before Edward breathed his last. The monarch
previously to his decease had the satisfaction of witnessing the dedication of the church of Westminster, which
had been the great object of his solicitude during his
latter years. When the witan opposed his journey to
Rome, Leo IX. authorized him to commute his intended
pilgrimage for some other work of piety. With this
0 Chron. Sax. 171. Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1063. Flor. 633.




ï~~304

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. V1.

view he set apart the tenth of his yearly revenue, and
rebuilt from its foundation the church of St. Peter, at
the western extremity of the capital. On the vigil of
Christmas he was attacked by the fever which ultimately
proved fatal. For three days he struggled against the
violence of the disease, held his court as usual, and presided with affected cheerfulness at the royal banquets.
On the festival of the Innocents, the day appointed for
the dedication of the new church, he was unable to leave
his chamber. The ceremony was, however, performed.
Editha took the charge of the decorations, and represented
the royal founder. But his absence and the idea of his
danger, diffused a deep gloom among the thousands
who had assembled to witness the spectacle. After lingering a week longer, Edward died on the 5th of JanuA, D. ary, and was buried the following day with royal pomp
1066. in the church which he had erected *.
If 're estimate the character of a sovereign by the test
of popular affection, we must rank Edward among the
best princes of his time. The goodness of his heart was
adored by his subjects, who lamented his death with
- Chron. Sax. 171. Spelm. con. 628-637. Cum insigni reglo. Hist.
Ram. 460. Ailred Riev. 398,399. Here it may be asked whether Edward,
bebfore his death, did or did not appoint a successor? It is evident that lihe
had looked on his nephew, Edward the Outlaw, as the rightful heir, and
on that account sent for him from Hungary to England. At the death of
that prince in 1057, we are told that fears concerning the succession began
to be entertained (spes regii sanguinis deinceps deficere cmepit, Ing. 66.
Maim. ii. 2): but that it was not till 1065, the last yearof his reign. that
Edward abandoned the hope of placing on the throne Edgar, the son of
his nephew. (Ing. 68.) Whether during that year he appointed either
William or Harold, must for ever remain uncertain They both assertedt
it: but it was so much for the interest of each to have it believed, thuat
neither can deserve credit. It is observable that Ingulf, who was at the
time absent on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, tells us, nt that Harold, but
that Robert of Canterbury, was sent to announce to William his appointment (p.68): and yet Ingulf couldI not have been ignorant that  obert
had been driven from England thirteen years before. \\ illiarn of Poitou
(p. 44), another contemporary writer, assigns the same mission to Robert,
when, by the advice of the witan he conducted Wulfnoth and Haco as hostages to William. But we know that Robert, instead of condiuct iu. hostages, fled for his life; and that the hostages were given by Gsodwin after
his departure. Can it be that Robert on his return to Normandy thst suggested to William the idea of claiming the succession, and hence was supposed to have offered it by the comnmission of Edward?




ï~~A. D. 1066.]   DEATH OF EDWARD.

305

tears of undissembled grief, and bequeathed his memory
as an object of veneration to their posterity. The blessings of his reign are the constant theme of our ancient
writers: not, indeed, that he displayed any of those
brilliant qualities, which  attract admiration, while
they inflict misery. He could not boast of the victories
which he had won, or of the conquests which he had
achieved: but he exhibited the interesting spectacle of
a king, negligent of his private interests, and totally devoted to the welfare of his people; and by his labours
to restore the dominion of the laws; his vigilance to
ward off foreign aggression; his constant, and ultimately
successful, solicitude to appease the feuds of his nobles,
if he did not prevent the interruption, he secured at
least a longer duration of public tranquillity than had
been enjoyed in England for half a century. He was
pious, kind, and compassionate; the father of the poor,
and the protector of the weak; more willing to give than
to receive; and better pleased to pardon than to punish *.
Under the preceding kings, force generally supplied the
place of justice, and the people were impoverished by
the rapacity of the sovereign. But Edward enforced the
laws of his Saxon predecessors, and disdained the riches
which were wrung from the labours of his subjects.
Temperate in his diet, unostentatious in his person,
pursuing no pleasures but those which his hawks and
hounds afforded, he was content with the patrimonial
demesnes of the crown; and was able to assert, even
after the abolition of that fruitful source of revenue, the
Dane-gelt, that he po sessed a greater portion of wealth
than any of his predecessors had enjoyed. To him the
principle that the king can do no wrong, was literally
* An uninteresting story told by Malmsbury has been brought forward
to prove that the simplicity of Edward bordered on childishness, and that
he was so ignorant as not to know that kings possessed the power of pu.
r.ie-hing offenders. The inference is not warranted by the original story,
which merely asserts, that to a peasant who had broken the king's nets,
Edward angrily said:" I will doas much to you, if I have an opportunity."
Tantundem tibi nocebo, si potero. Malm. 44.
vorL.,    26




ï~~306

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

applied by the gratitude of the people, who, if they occasionally complained of the measures of the government,
(and much reason they had to complain on account of
the appointment to bishoprics of aspiring and rapacious
adventurers,) attributed the blame not to the monarch
himself, of whose benevolence and piety they entertained
no doubt, but to the ministers, who had abused his confidence, or deceived his credulity *.
It was, however, a fortunate circumstance for the
memory of Edward, that he occupied the interval between the Danish and Norman conquests. Writers were
induced to view his character with more partiality from
the hatred with which they looked on his successors and
predecessors. They were foreigners, he was a native:
they held the crown by conquest, he by descent: they
ground to the dust the slaves whom they had made, he
became known to his countrymen only by his benefits.
Hence he appeared to shine with a purer light amid the
gloom with which he was surrounded; and whenever
the people under the despotism of the Norman kings
had an opportunity of expressing their real wishes, they
constantly called for "the laws and customs of the good
"' king Edward."
He was the first of our princes who touched for the
kin''s evil. The surname of " the Confessor" was given
to him from the bull of his canonization, issued by Alexander III., about a century after his decease
HAROLD.
By the death of Edward, Edgar the etheling became
the last surviving male of the race of Cerdic: but, if his
claim were ever mentioned, it was instantly abandoned t.
A report had been circulated that Edward, on his death
bed, had appointed Harold to be his successor*. He
* ITist. Ram. 450. Ellen. 515. Malm. 44. Ingul. 69.
+ Quia piner tanto honori minus idoneus videbatur. Alur. Riev. 366.
I an much inclined to believe this report, not only on the testimon'
of he En:lih writer' (Chron. $ax, 172. lnved. 449. Eadmer, 5. Sim.




ï~~A. D. 1066.] WILLIAM CLAIMS THE CROWN.

30 7

was proclaimed king in an assembly of the thanes and Jan
of the citizens of London; and the next day witnessed 6th.
both the funeral of the late, and the coronation of the
new sovereign. On account of the suspension of Sti
gand, tile ceremony was performed by Aldred, the archbishop of York*. To Edgar, in lieu of the crown, was
given the earldom of Oxford.
The southern counties cheerfully acquiesced in the
succession of Harold: he was alarmed and perplexed
by the hesitation of the Northumbrians. TheIr pride
refused to be bound by the act of those whose military
qualities they deemed inferior to their own; and they
looked around for a chieftain, who would solicit their
aid, and accept the crown from their hands. Harold
hastened into the north: instead of an army he was
accompanied by Wulstan, the venerable bishop of Worcester; by whose influence, combined with his own
conciliatory conduct, he soon won the affections, and
secured the obedience of the Northumbrians. His marriage with Editha, the daughter of Alfgar, bound to his
interest her two brothers, the powerful earls Morcar
and Edwin -.
The intelligence both of the death of Edward, and of
the immediate coronation of Harold, had been conveyed
to Normandy by the same messenger. William assembled his council, informed them of the event, and expressed his determination to pursue by arms his pretensions to the crown of England. An envoy was despatched
Dun. 193. Al. Bey. 126. Flor. 633. Hist. Ellen. 515): but because its
truth is acknowvledged by the enemies of Harold. Edvardi dono in
ipsius fine. Guil. Pict. 135. Egrotus princeps concessit. Order. Vit.
492.
* Ingulf, 68, Flor. 633. Hist. Elien. 515. In a fact, which publicly
took place in England, the native writers are more entitled to credit than
bforeigners. The Normans say Harold ",as crowned by Stigand (non
sancta consecratione Stigandi, Guil. Pict. 105): and the statement is supported by the figures on the t:p;estr% of Bayeux (Lancelot. 421). But
they give us only the reports prevalent in Normandy: and William,
auxious to interest the lelilion of his subjects in his own lavour, woo I
readily counteauce the notion that his livai had been crowned by a suspened prelate.
OA ug. Sac. ii. 253.




ï~~308

AN GLO SAXONS.

CHAP. Vi.

to remind Harold of his former oath of fealty, and promise of assistance. The king replied. that the oath had
been extorted from him by force; that a promise to give
a crown which did not belong to him, could not be binding; that he had been elected king by the free suffrage
of the people; and that, when it should come to the trial,
he would prove himself worthy of their choice.. The
message was such as Harold, the answer such as William,
expected. Each had already determined to appeal to
the sword; and the English no less than the Normans
were astonished at the mighty preparations made to
decide the important quarrel *.
It was unfortunate for Harold that he had to contend
at the same time not only with William, but with his
brother Tostig, the exiled earl of Northumberland, in
whom he experienced a most bitter and enterprising
adversary. The outlaw visited Normandy, and arranged
a plan of co-operation with the duke: he sent messengers to the northern princes, and engaged the assistance
of Harald Hardrada, the king of Norway; he collected
a fleet of sixty sail at Bruges, and entering the channel
began the war by levying contributions in the Isle of
Wight. But he retired upon the approach of his brother, and sailing round the south foreland, directed his
course to the north. In Lindesey he was defeated by
Edwin: his mariners abandoned him in his distress;
and Malcolm, king of Scotland, afforded him an asylum
till the arrival of his Norwegian allyt'. The armament
under Hardrada was not ready for sea till the month of
August; when the Norwegian monarch, leaving the regency of the kingdom to his son Magnus, embarked
with his family and a gallant army in a fleet of three
hundred sail. His queen Elizabeth and her two daughters, fearing the dangers of the campaign, were set on
shore at the Orkneys; and Hardrada, according to
* Ing. 68. Eadm. 5. Matt. Paris. Malm. 56.
f Chron. Sax. 172. Malm. 52. Hunt. 210. Snorre, iii 146. Order. Vit.
apud Duchesne 469 492. Gemetic. 285




ï~~A.D. 166.]  DEFEAT OF EWIN AND MORCAR.       09
agreement, was joined by Tostig with a few ships at the
mouth of the Tyne. Their first object was to obtain
possession of York; and with this view they entered the
Humber and ascended the Ouse. A desperate attempt
to save that capital was made by the earls Edwin and
Morcar. The Norwegian had drawn up his men with Sept.
their right flank to the river, and their left to a morass.20th.
The impetuosity of the English burst through the line:
but they in their turn were overwhelmed by a fresh
body of forces from the ships; and more of the fugitives
perished in the 'water than. had fallen by the sword.
Edwin and Morcar escaped to York: negotiations were
opened; and the mutual exchange of one hundred and
fifty hostages shews, that the province was conditionally
surrendered to the invaders*.
Harold had completed his preparations, and having
selected a position between Pevensey and Hastings,
awaited with confidence the threatened descent of the
Norman. The v:Aexpected invasion of Hardrada disconcerted his projects. Trusting, however, to his fortune,
and encouraged by the tempestuous state of the weather, he lost not a moment in marching against the
aggressor, and arrived in the neighbourhood of'York
within four days after the late battle. Unconscious of
danger Hardrada had left one part of his forces on
board the fleet, while he marched with the other for the
purpose of dividing and regulating the province which
he had conquered. In this employment he was overtaken by the indefatigable Harold. Surprised, but not Sept.
dismayed, the Norwegian sent three messengers to the 27th.
fleet to hasten the march of his men, while he retired
slowly to Stamford-bridge on the Derwent. There he
drew up his warriors in a compact but hollow circle.
The royal standard occupied the centre: the circumference was composed of spearmen. The whole was
* Chron. Sax. 172. Snorre, 153-155. Flor. 631. Higden, 284.




ï~~310

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. vi

surrounded by a line of spears firmly fixed in the earth,
and pointed outwards in an oblique direction.
The Icelandic historian has preserved some curious
anecdotes respecting this celebrated battle. Hardrada
wore a blue mantle and a glittering helmet. As he
rode round the circle, his horse fell. " Who," exclaimed Harold, " is that chieftain on the ground?"
Being told it was Hardrada. " He is," returned the
king, " a gallant warrior: but his fall shews that his
" fate is approaching." Soon afterwards a messenger
came from the English monarch with an offer of the
earldom of Northumberland to Tostig. "The proposal,"
said the outlaw, "should have been made some months
" ago. But if I accept it, what will my brother give to
" the king of Norway?"   " Seven feet of land for a
"grave," was the contemptuous reply. Tostig scorned
to abandon his friend.
The English cavalry were accustomed to charge in
irregular masses; and, if they met with resistance, to
disperse in every direction, and re-assemble upon a
given point. The firm array of the Norwegians bade
defiance to all their efforts; and Harold with his great
superiority of force might yet have been foiled, had not
the ardour of the enemy seduced them to break their
ranks, and pursue the fugitive cavalry. That instant
the English rushed into the opening; and in the confusion Hardrada was shot through the neck with an
arrow. He fell instantly: and Tostig assumed the command. A second offer from Harol was indignantly
refused; the arrival of the expected aid revived the
fainting spirits of the Norwegians; and a desperate but
unavailing effort was made to wrest the victory out of
the hands of the English. The battle was continued by
the obstinacy of the enemy long after every reasonab'_le
hope of success had been extinguished; and it was only
terminated by the death of Tostig, and of every celebrated chieftain in the Norwegian army. This action




ï~~A.D. 1066.]  WILLIAM INVADES ENGLAND.

311

is considered as one of the most bloody that is recorded
in our annals; and at the distance of fifty years the spot
was still whitened with the bones of the slain *.
The courage of Harold was tempered with humanity.
He sent for Olave, the younger son of H ardrada, who,
accompanied by his bishop, and the earl of the Orkneys,
obeyed the summons of the conqueror. He experienced
a courteous reception; swore to live in amity with England; and was dismissed with twelve ships to revisit his
native country. A few days were necessarily employed
by Harold in taking possession of the Norwegian fleet,
securing the spoil, and refreshing his exhausted troops.
He repaired to York" but the public rejoicing of the
citizens could not tranquillize his impatience to learn
the motions of his remaining and most formidable competitor. The king was seated at the royal banquet, and
surrounded by his thanes, when a messenger entered
the hall, and announced the arrival and descent of the
Normans on the coast of Sussex. The battle of Stamford-bridge had been fought on the twenty-seventh,
William effected his landing on the twenty-ninth, of
September 4+.
That prince had employed eight months in the most
active preparations for the invasion. By the gravest of
his counsellors it was deemed a most hazardous enterprise: but his confidence was not to be shaken by their
suggestions; and the people, catching the spirit, seconded
with all their zeal the exertions of their duke. Nor was
* Snorre, 156-165. Ing. 69. Chron. Sax. 172. Chron. Lamb. ad ann.
1066. Hunt. 210. Order. Vit. apud Maseres, 174. Tostig had married.udith, the daughter of Baldwin, earl of Flanders. She afterwards
espoused the son of Azo and Cunegunda, Guelph I. or V., from whom in a
direct line the present royal family of England is descended. But I do
not find that her first husband Tostig ever took the title of king of England, as is supposed by Gibbon, Miscel. Works, iii. 192.
+ Hunt. 210. IHist. BRamrnes. 162. The printed chronicle (172) says,
William landed on Michaelmnas-davy: and this I conceive to be the meaning of Orderic, who says he crossed the sea on the night preceding (175).
I cannot, however, agree with Orderic (184), or with Gemmeticensis
(vii. 34), that the battle of St.smford-bridge was fought on the 7th of October. The English w riters place it on the 25th or 27th of September.




ï~~312

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VI.

this enthusiasm confined to his own subjects. Bretons,
Poitevins, Burgundians, and warriors from every province of France, crowded to his standard; and by the
beginning of August he found himself at the head of
fifty thousand cavalry, besides a smaller body of infantry *. All had been taught to believe, that they were
called to fight in the cause of justice against an usurper,
of religion against a perjured traitor. Whatever claim
other individuals might prefer to the crown of England,
Harold, the man, the liege subject of William, could not
lawfully withhold it from his lord. To strengthen these
impressions the duke had sent an embassy to pope Alexander III., from whom he had received a consecrated
banner. This might be no more than a return of politeness on the part of the pontiff: but to the troops it
was represented as the sanction of their intended expedition, by the head of their church.
To furnish transports for this numerous body of men,
for their arms, horses, and provisions, every vessel in
Normandy had been put in requisition. But the supply
was still inadequate: and many individuals sought the
favour of their prince, by building others at their own
expense in the different harbours and creeks. The general rendezvous was appointed at the mouth of the
Dive, a small river which flows into the sea between the
broader streams of the Orne and the Touques; and in
the month of August its shallow estuary was covered
with one thousand, of-, according to some historians,
with three thousand vessels of every size and description *. Still the success of the enterprise depended
much on the caprice of the weather. As soon as the
* Millia militum quinquaginta. Pict. 106. Virorum sexaginta millia.
Id. 112. Quinquaginta milia militum, culr copie peditum. Orderic, 174.
These passages plainly prove that the milites fought on horseback.
- Pict. 106, 10j. Malm. 56.
$ Pic. 109. Gemet. p. 665. Malm. iii. 56. The duke's ship was a present from his wife Matilda. On the prow was an image of gold, representing a boy, who with his right hand pointed to England, and with his
left held a trumpet of ivory to his mouth. Lyt. Hist. vol. i. app. out of an
ancient MS. p. 463, also at the end of Taylor's Gavel-kind.




ï~~A.D. 1066.]  LANDING OF THE NORMANS.

313

army was prepared to embark, the wind veered to the
north-east: and for more than a month it continued
stationary at the same point. It was not till the approach
of the equinox that a breeze from the west released the
fleet from its tedious confinement. The Normanseagerly
seized the opportunity of putting to sea: but the wind
gradually became more violent: the skill of the mariners
was baffled by the turbulence of the elements and by the
fears of the soldiers: and though a great part of the fleet
reached St. Valery near Dieppe, the whole coast was
covered with fragments of wreck and the bodies of the
drowned*. This was a severe check to the impatience
of William. He laboured to interest Heaven in his
behalf: the shrine of St. Valery was carried in procession; and the whole army joined in public supplications
for a favourable wind. At last their wishes were gratified; and the Duke led the way with a lantern suspended
from the head of the mast, as a guide to his followers
during the darkness of the night: but so unequal was
their speed, that when he had reached the English
shore, the others were scattered in different directions
over a line of twenty leagues from one coast to the other.
In this situation they would have offered an easy victory
to the fleet of Harold: but unfortunatety it had previously dispersed to procure provisions; and the different
squadrons had been detained in port by the violence of
the weather 1'. The Normans landed without opposition
at Pevensey (Sept. 29), marched immediately to Hastings, and threw up fortifications, at both places, to protect
their transports, and secure a retreat in case of disaster*.
Nor was the precaution useless. Within a few days the
* Pict. 108. Order, 175.
f Flor. 634. The fleet separated ou the 8th of August: but assembled
again within a fortnight after the arrival of the Normans.
$ Quae sibi forent receptaculo, et navibus propugnaculo. Order. Vit.
apud Maseres, 175. The custodia navium is also mentioned by Pictaviensis, p. 112. Hence the assertion of later writers, that he burnt all his
ships, must be unfounded. I suspect the fear of losing them was the reason
that he never ventured from the coast, till after the decisive battle of
Hastings.
VOL. I.   27




ï~~314

ANGLO-SAx orS.

[CHAP. VI

two ports were blockaded by the whole navy of England *.
In this emergency the conduct of Harold has been
severely censured. It is alleged that intoxicated with
his late success he deemed himself invincible: that by
his avarice in appropriating to himself the spoils of the
Norwegians, he deprived the country of the services of
his veterans; and that by his imprudence he wantonly
staked the independence of England on the exertions of
a handful of men, hastily collected, and unpractised in
warfare. Perhaps these charges have no other foundation than the prejudices of writers, who sought to
console their own pride and that of their readers, by
ascribing the subjugation of the country to the incapacity of its ruler. On the receipt of the intelligence the
king flew to the capital. It is probable that before his
march to the north he had left directions for troops to
assemble at London in the case of invasion: it is certain
that thousands hastened to his standard, and that in six
days he thought himself a match for his rival ". In the
beginning of October he was feasting at York: on the
fourteenth of the same month he had reached the camp
of the Normans. But no celerity could surprise the
vigilance of William.     His scouts brought him       advice
* The Norman writers, anxious to exaggerate theforces of the conquered,
make the English fleet amount to 700 sail. Pict. 127. Vit. 177.
+ Within these six days we are told that messages were exchanged between the two rivals. An English monk, on the part of Hlaroldt, acknowledged the prior right of William; but maintained that Edward had,on his
death-bed, left the crown to HIarold, and that the last disposition had
revoked the former. A monk of Fecamp replied, on the part of William,
that Edward lihad riven him the crown by the advice of his witan; that
Godwin, Stigand, Leofric, and Siward had sworn to allow no other prince
to succeed: that hostages had been given for the execution of their oaths:
that Hiarold had afterwards, at the command of Edward, taken upon him.
self a simrilar obligation; that William had no objection to submit his
claim- to the decision of the laws, either English or Norman; or that, if
his rival preferred it, he was ready to meet him in single combat. Harold
merely replied, that God should judge between them.  ict. 112-126. I
distrust the who e of this story. Reasons have already ien adduced to
make it doutbtful, whether Elwardl the Confessor ever psonsised the sucessiont o William: and the arrival of Edward the Outlaw as the prey.:umniptive heirto the crown in 1057, shews that the assertions said to have
b, en ly the. a-,1nk of F ecaip, are inu is plsrobability false




ï~~A.D. 1066.]

BATTLE OF HASTINGS

315

of the approach of the English. He made immediate
preparations for the impending combat; recalled the
detachments which had been sent out to plunder, and
retiring to his tent, attended at mass, and received the
communion *.
In the casuistry of that age no crime was reckoned
more shameful or more atrocious than the treason of a
vassal against his lord; and William seems to have been
powerfully impressed with the notion, which had been
so industriously propagated among his troops, that Heaven would not fail to avenge upon Harold the violation
of his oath. When he was told that the king of England
accompanied the army, he expressed his astonishment
that a man, conscious of the guilt of perjury, should
venture his person in battle ". The same sentiment was
prevalent among the English. The brothers of Harold
earnestly intreated him to absent himself from the field.
" You have sworn," they said, "fealty to William: you
"cannot lawfully fight against a prince, to whom, in the
"name of God, you have promised submission. Leave
"to us the direction of the battle. We are bound by no
" oaths. We know nothing of the Norman except as
" the enemy of our country." The king laughed at
their apprehensions $.
The spot which he had selected for this important
contest was called Senlac, nine miles from Hastings, an
eminence opening to the south, and covered on the back
by an extensive wood (Oct. 14) 11. As his troops arrived
he posted them on the declivity in one compact and immense mass. In the centre waved the royal standard,
* This circumstance probably gave occasion to the statement of Maimsbury (56, 57), that the English spent the night before the battle in drinking, the Normans in prayer. The tfact is,that Harold hastened to take the
enemy unawares; and partly succeeded, as several detachments had gone
out to plunder in the morning before his approach was known. Pict. 127.
t Taylor's Ann. 1:2.   $ Order. Vit. 176. Maalm. 56.
SSome writers have supposed the name was derived from Sangue-lac, or
the lake of blood, in allusion to the carnage made in this battle. But
Orderic assures us that Senlae wa's the ancient name. Locus, qui Senlaa
autiquitus vocabatu-. '...*,5




ï~~316

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VIP.

the figure of a warrior in the act of fighting, worked in
thread of gold, and ornamented with precious stones.
By its side stood Harold and his two brothers Gurth and
Leofwin; and around them the rest of the army, every
man on foot. In this arrangement the king seems to
have adopted, as far as circumstances would permit, the
plan which had lately proved so fatal to the Norwegians,
and which now, from the same causes, was productive
of a similar result. Probably he feared the shock of the
numerous cavalry of the Normans. Both men and
horses were completely cased in armour, which gave to
their charge an irresistible weight, and rendered them
almost invulnerable by ordinary weapons.   For the
purpose of opposing them with more chance of success
Harold had brought with him engines to discharge
stones into their ranks, and had recommended to his
soldiers to confine themselves in close fight to the use of
the battle-axe, a heavy and murderous weapon.
On the opposite hill, William was employed in marshalling his host. In the front he placed the archers
and bowmen: the second line was composed of heavy
infantry clothed in coats of mail; and behind these the
duke arranged in five divisions, the hope and the pride
of the Norman force, the knights and men-at-arms.
That he would strive both by words and actions to infuse
into this multitude of warriors from different nations an
ardour similar to his own, is not improbable: but the
two harangues which William of Poitou, and Henry of
Huntingdon, have put into his mouth, may with equal
probability be attributed to the ingenuity of the writers.
This only we know from himself, that in the hearing of his
barons, he made a solemn vow to God, that if he gained
the victory, he would found a church for the common
benefit of all his followers. About nine in the morning
the army began to move, crossed the interval between
the two hills, and slowly ascended the eminence on
which the English were posted. The papal banner, as
an omen of victory, was carried in the front by Toustain




ï~~A.D. 106.]

BATTLE OF HASTINGS.

317

the fair, a dangerous honour which two of the Norman
barons had successively declined *.
At the moment when the armies were ready to engage,
the Normans raised the notional shout of "God is our
" help," which was as loudly answered by the adverse
cry of " Christ's rood, the holy rood." The archers,
after the discharge of their arrows, retired to the infantry, whose weak and extended line was unable to make
any impression on their more numerous opponents.
William ordered the cavalry to charge. The shock was
dreadful: but the English in every point opposed a solid
and impenetrable mass. Neither buckler nor corslet
could withstand the stroke of the battle-axe, wielded by
a powerful arm and with unerring aim; and the confidence of the Normans melted away at the view of theii
own loss, and the bold countenance of their enemies
After a short pause the horse and foot of the left wing
betook themselves to flight; their opponents eagerlypursued; and a report was spread that William himself
had fallen. The whole army began to waver; when the
duke with his helmet in his hand, rode along the line,
exclaiming: " I am still alive, and, with the help of
' God, I still shall conquer."  The presence and confidenc6 of their commander revived the hopes of the
Normans; and the speedy destruction of the English,
who had pursued the fugitives, was fondly magnified
into an assurance of victory. These brave but incautious
men had, on their return, been intercepted by a numerous body of cavalry; and on foot and in confusion
they quickly disappeared beneath the swords or rather
the horses of the enemy. Not a man survived the carnage.
William led his troops again to the attack: but the
English column, dense and immoveable     as a rock
amidst the waves, resisted every assault. Disappointed
and perplexed, the Norman had recourse to a stratagem,
* Pict. 127. Hunt. 210, 211. Orderic, 178. He mate the vow ad eorum
corda roboranda. New. Rym.in. 4.




ï~~318

ANGLO-SAXONS

[CHAP. VI.

suggested by his success in the earlier part of the day.
He ordered a division of horse to flee: they were pursued; and the temerity of the pursuers was punished
with instant destruction. The same feint was tried with
equal success in another part of the field. These losses
might diminish the numbers of the English: but the
main body obstinately maintained its position; and bade
defiance to every effort of the Normans*.
During the engagement William had given the most
signal proofs of personal bravery. Three horses had
been killed under him; and he had been compelled to
grapple on foot with his adversaries. Harold also had
animated his followers, both by word and example, and,
had displayed a courage worthy of the crown for which
he was fighting. His brothers Gurth and Leofwin had
perished already: but as long as he survived, no man
entertained the apprehension of defeat or admitted the
idea of flight. A little before sunset an arrow shot at
random, entered his eye. He instantly fell; and the
knowledge of his fall relaxed the efforts of the English.
Twenty Normans undertook to seize the royal banner;
and effected their purpose, but with the loss of half theiLr
number. One of them, who maimed with his sword the
dead body of the king, was afterwards disgraced by William for his brutality. At dusk the English broke up,
and dispersed through the wood. The Normans followed
their track by the light of the moon, when ignorance of
the country led them to a spot intersected with ditches,
into which they were precipitated in the ardour of pursuit. The fugitives, recalled by the accident, inflicted a
severe vengeance on their adversaries. As William,
attracted by the cries of the combatants, was hastening
to the place, he met Eustace of Boulogne and fifty
knights fleeing with all their speed. He called on them
to stop: but the earl, while he was in the act of whispering into the ear of the duke, received a stroke on

SPict. 128-131. O deric, 179.




ï~~A.. 10l66.1 DEFEATcOF THE ENGLISH.

319

the back, which forced the blood out of his mouth and
nostrils. He was carried in a state of insensibility to
his tent: William's intrepidity hurried him forward to
the scene of danger. His presence encouraged his
men; succours arrived; and the English, after an obstinate resistance, were repulsed *.
Thus ended this memorable and fatal battle. On the
side of the victors almost sixty thousand men had been
engaged, and more than one-fourth were left on the
field. The number of the vanquished, and the amount
of their loss, are unknown. By tlhe vanity of the Norman historians the English army has been exaggerated
beyond the limits of credibility: by that of the native
writers it has been reduced to a handful of resolute
warriors t: but both agree that with Harold and his
brothers perished all the nobility of the south of England; a loss which could not be repaired.       The king's
mother begged as a boon the dead body of her son; and
offered as a ransom its weight in gold $: but the resentment of William had rendered him callous to pity, and
insensible to all interested considerations. He ordered
the corpse of the fallen monarch to be buried on the
beach; adding with a sneer; "he guarded the coast
"while he was alive; let him continue to guard it after
"death."    By stealth, however, or by purchase, the
royal remains were removed from this unhallowed site,
and deposited in the church of Waltham, which Harold
had founded before he ascended the throne S.
* Pict. 132-134. Orderic, 182-183. tHunt. 211. Malmi. 57
t See Piet. 128. Orderic, 178, and in(,pposition, Inguif, 69. Chron. Sax.
172. Flor. 634. Maims. 53.
$ Baron Maseres has calculated the average weight of the human body
at somewhat less than 11,000 guineas. Pict. 138. niot.
SPictaviensis(135), and Orderic (185), say that he was buried on the
beach; most of our historians (Maim. 57. West. 224. Paris, 3), that the
body was given to his mother without ransom, and interred by her orders
at Waltham. A more romantic story is told by the author of the Waltham
M S. in the Cotton library, Jul. D. 6, who wrote about a century afterwards.
If we may believe him, two of the canions, Osgod Cnoppe, and Aiiec, the
childe maister, were sent to be spectators of the battle. They obtained
from William, to whom they presented ten marks o!' gold, permission to
~eareh for the bod- of their benefactor. Unable to dicstinguish it among




ï~~CHAPTER VII.

ANGLO-SAXONS.
Polity of the Anglo-Saxons-Feudal customs-Ranks in Society- Cour.s
of Law-Crimes-Slaves.
EVERY account of the civil polity of the Anglo-Saxons
must necessarily be imperfect. We can only view the
subject through the intervening gloom of eight centuries;
and the faint light which is furnished by imperfect notices, scattered hints, and partial descriptions, may serve
to irritate, but not to satisfy curiosity. It would be in
vain to seek for information in the works of foreign
writers; and the native historians never imagined that
it could be requisite to delineate institutions with which
they had been familiarized from their childhood, and
which they naturally judged would be perpetuated along
with their posterity.
Of the military character and predatory spirit of the
Saxons an accurate notion may be formed from the
Danish adventurers of the ninth and tenth centuries.
Both were scions from the same Gothic stock: but the
latter retained for a longer period the native properties
of the original plant. Hengist and Cerdic, and their
fellow-chieftains, were the sea-kings of their age, animated with the same spirit, and pursuing the same
objects as the barbarians, whose ferocity yielded to the
the heaps of the slain, they sent for Harold's mistress, Editha, surnamed
" the fair," and the " swan's neck." By her his features were recognised.
The corpse was interred at Waltham with regal honours, in the presence
of several Norman earls and gentlemen.-Mr. Turner first called the attontion f his readers to this MS. Hist. of Eng. i. 60.




ï~~A.D. 1066.1  POLITY OF THE AN(,o-SAXONS.

321

perseverance of Alfred, but subdued the pusillanimity
of Ethelred. The reader has only to transfer to the
Saxons the Danish system of warfare, its multiplied
aggressions, its unquenchable thirst of plunder, and its
unprovoked and wanton cruelties, and he will form a
correct picture of the state of Britain, from the. first
defection of Hengist to the final establishment of the
octarchy. The adventurers did not think of colonizing
the countries which they conquered, till they had become weary of devastation; and then they introduced
the institutions to which they had been habituated in
their original settlements.
Of these the most important, and that Wvhich formed
the groundwork of all the rest, may be discovered among
the Germans in the age of Tacitus. From him we learn
that every chieftain was surrounded by a number of
retainers, who did him honour in time of peace, and
accompanied him to the field in time of war. To fight
by his side they deemed an indispensable duty; to survive his fall, an indelible disgrace *. It was this artificial connexion, this principle which reciprocally bound
the lord to his vassal, and the vassal to his lord, that
held together tlfe northern hordes, when they issued
forth in quest of adventures. They retained it in their
new homes; and its consequences were gradually deve
loped, as each tribe made successive advances in power
and civilization. Hence, in process of time, and by
gradual improvements, grew up the feudal system, with
its long train of obligations, of homage, suit, service,
purveyance, reliefs, wardships, and scutage. That it
was introduced into England by the Norman conqueror,
is the opinion of respectable writers; and the assertion
may be true, if they speak of it only in its mature and
most oppressive form.  But all the primary germs of
the feudal services may be descried among the Saxons,
even in the earlier periods of their government; and
many of them flourished in full luxuriance long before
* Tac. Germ. 13, 14.




ï~~322

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VII

the extinction of the dynasty. As the subject is interesting, I may be allowed to treat it more in detail.
That the artificial relation between the lord and his
man or vassal, was acurately understood, and that its
duties were faithfully performed by the Anglo-Saxons,
is sufficiently evident from numerous instances in their
history. We have seen* that when Cynewulf was surprised in the dead of the night at Merton, his men
refused to abandon, or even to survive their lord; and
when on the next morning the eighty-four followers of
Cyneheard were surrounded by a superior force, they
also spurned the offer of life and liberty, and chose rather to yield up their breath in a hopeless contest, than
to violate the fealty which they had sworn to a murderer
and an outlaw 1'. An attachment of this romantic and
generous kind cannot but excite our sympathy. It grew
out of the doctrine, that of all the ties which nature has
formed or society invented, the most sacred was that
which bound the lord and the vassal; whence it was inferred that the breach of so solemn an engagement was
a crime of the most disgraceful and unpardonable atrocity. By Alfred it was declared inexpiable: the laws
pronounced against the offender the sentence of forfeiture and death.
It was not, however, an institution which provided
solely for the advantage of one party. The obligations
were reciprocal. The vassal shared with his fellows in
the favours of his lord, and lived in security under his
protection. It was a contract, cemented by oath, for the
benefit of each. "By the lord," said the inferior, placing
his hands between those of his chief, "I promise to be
" faithful and true; to love all that thou lovest, and
" shun all that thou shunnest, conformably to the laws
* See history, p. 140.
4 Chron. Sax, anno 750, p. 57
$ Chron. Sax. 58. Leg. Sax. p. 33, 34,35. 142,143. Even the word vassal
seems to have been known in England as early as the reign of Alfred.
Asser, his instructor, calls the thanes of Somerset, nobl'iles vass lli Sumertunensis plaga. Asser, 33.




ï~~A. D. 10 b.1

LORD AND VASSAL.

323

" of God and man; and never in will or weald (power),
" in word or work, to do that which thou loathest, pro"vided thou hold me as I mean to serve, and fulfil the
"conditions to which we agreed when I subjected myself
" to thee, and chose thy will *.
This last proviso furnished the usual pretext for the
dissolution of these engagements. To it every powerful
chieftain appealed as often as he dared to disobey the
orders of his sovereign, the "khing-lord," as he was
called, in contradistinction to inferior lords. The subvassal, indeed, could not be compelled by the tenour of
his oath to bear arms against the head of the state; but
he never presumed to doubt the rectitude of his immediate chief, and always accompanied him to the field,
whether it were against the enemies, or the sovereign of
his country. We are told that Godwin and his sons were
" loath to march against their king-lord: ' yet their
"men" followed them in sufficient numbers to render
doubtful the issue of the contest; and on the submission
of their leaders were only required to transfer their
homage to "the hands " of the king.
It should, however, be observed that the Anglo-Saxon
vassals were divided into two classes. Some were vassals by tenure, holding lands under the obligation of
following their lord: and these appear to have been
numerous: for many of the sons of the noble Saxon had
no other inheritance but their swords, and no other profession but that of arms. These were therefore always
ready to accept the offer of lands in return for military
service; and were aqcustomed, if they met with no such
offer in their native province, to seek employment among
the retainers of some powerful chieftain in the other
Saxon kingdoms '. Besides these there were also vasSLeg. 401.50. 63. Bromp. 859.
Â~ See Bede's remarks on the filii nobilium vel emeritorum militum. Ep.
ad Egb. Ant. 309. These I take to be the sithcundmen, or men of the sith o
military profession, so often mentioned in the early laws of the southern
kingdoms. Leg. 10. 22.23. 25.




ï~~324

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VII.

sals from choice, men who possessing lands of their own,
enjoyed the enviable privilege of choosing their own lords:
for it was a maxim of Anglo-Saxon legislation that every
man should have a superior answerable for his conduct.*
Of both descriptions several notices may be discovered
among the relics of Anglo-Saxon antiquity.
Of the manner in which the original adventurers
divided among themselves the lands of the natives we
can speak from conjecture only; we must wait for the
introduction of Christianity before we meet with more
certain and written documents.       Then it appears that
every district in possession of the Saxons had been parcelled out, by measurement or estimation, into fole-lands
or family lands,t each allotment being supposed capable
of supporting the settler, his family,, laborers, herds and
flocks. Thus we learn from Eddius and Beda that the
Isle of Wight comprised twelve hundred folc-lands, the
kingdom of Sussex seven thousand, the kingdom of Mercia, north and! south of the Trent, twelve thousand.4
These folc-lands were divided into estates of inheritance,
ard loens or benefices.    The first were estates in perpetuity, transmissible by descent or will, or sale or gift;
and were now called hoce-lands, because they were conveyed by bocs or writings, and subject to the conditions
expressed in such writings; the others formed a general
or national fund, and were allotted as benefices in return
for courtly or military services; of course the tenure of
such lands was only temporary; they reverted to the
SIn Latin they were called commendati. They were common in France
(Baluz. capit. 413; 536), and seem to have been very numerous in England.
Thus when Alfred bequeaths several of his lands to his son Edward, "he
"prays the families at Chedder in Somersetshire to choose Edward on the
"same terms, as had formerly been agreed between Alfred and them."
(Test. Elf.) We often find them described in Domesday, as free men, who
could go with their lands to whomsoever they pleased. Thus in Kent
"doterant ire quolibet cum terris suis Lefstan et Lewin et Eluret et Siret
"et duo alii tempore regis Edwardi." Domes. 10. 6. 2. In the Exon surVey for the expression " ire quo volebant," is substituted "eligere dominum
" secundum voluntatem suamn." Fol. 383.
t Terrae familiarum. Bede. passim.
SEdd. c. 40, Bed. iii. 24; iv. 13, 16, 19; v. 19.




ï~~A. D. 1065.]      Dviso~ of LANDS.                325
original stock on the death, removal, or resignation of
the holder. The king, however, could, with the consent
of the witan, lawfully convey by charter to a favoured
individual any number of folc-lands as an estate of inheritance. In that case the land was said to be booked to
him.
At first a broad distinction was drawn between lands
booked to the clergy or mass thanes, and lands booked to
the laity or woneld thanes. As the former were appointed
to the service of God, it was their duty to be employed
in offices of charity and devotion; they were consequently forbidden to mingle in the fray of arms, or to
shed the blood of their fellow-men. Hence, their lands
were exonerated from all secular services; an exemption
so valuable that many noblemen purchased it of the
king, under pretence of establishing monasteries on their
estates. This abuse became so prevalent in Northuinmbria, that Beda in 750 openly proclaimed his fear that
in a short time the country would be left without defence
against a foreign enemy; for the sons of the thanes and
gesiths were obliged to offer their services to foreign
princes, because there remained few lands for their maintenance at home.*
What effect this remonstrance produced we know not;
but we find very shortly afterwards the kings of Mercia
and Wessex declaring that there are three things from
which no boc-land can be exempted, the faesten-geweore
or reparation of fortresses, the bryg-geweore or construction of bridges, and the fyrd-faerelde, or military and
naval service.f  But about a century later Ethelwulf
granted a partial indulgence by enfranchising entirely a
tenth part of the boc-lands, belonging not only to the
church, but also to the laity. (
But these three were not the only burthens to which
* Bed. op. Min. ii. 217, 218.
t Cod. Dipl. i. 120, 204, 243.
1 Ministris nortris. Cod. Dip. ii. 51, 52. LIaicis mniseris (an error for
ministris).  Ibid ii. 56.  Malms. i. 170.




ï~~326

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VII.

boc-lands were subject. Unless exemptions were granted.
by the charters, these lands were still bound to render
many of the same services which they rendered as folclands. From the tenor of several enfranchisements, it
appears that such services were payments in kind to the
king out of the produce of the land and waters; contributions of provisions for the royal household when the
king chanced to be in the neighbourhood, or at certain
specified times in the course of the year; the obligation
of supplying board, lodgings, and carriages for his officers, and for messengers either to him or from him; of
maintaining his horses, hounds,* hawks, and also their
keepers; of furnishing timber and workmen toward the
repair or rebuilding of his villa, and of granting a livelihood to persons demanding it under his warrant, besides
the payment of yearly gufolo and rents, and of bots or
compensations arising out of the fines levied on offenders.
These appear to have been exacted according to the custom of the district; and not by the king only, but also
in a limited degree by the ealdorman of the district, who
in case of enfranchisement often received a pecuniary
compensation for his consent.t
In what manner military service for lands was originally regulated, it is impossible to discover: at a later
period it was fixed on the basis of immemorial usage,
which appears from Domesday to have varied in almost
every county and borough.     Perhaps we shall not recede far from the truth, if we judge of the rest of
the kingdom from Berkshire, in which we learn that
one miles was furnished for every five hides of land;
that he served during two months; and that, if his own
possessions did not amount to the legal quantity, he
received pay at the rate of four shillings to the hide
from the other proprietors. It may be observed that
the same number of hides was required by the law
* See Cod. Dipl. i. 120, 204, 254, 270, 272 313; ii. 30, 60.
i Ibid i. 315; ii. 31, 411.




ï~~A. D. 1066.]

IIERIOTS.

327

for the dignity of thane, who by the Norman compilers
of Domesday is called, in their feudal language, miles
regis dominicus.
The performance of these services was enforced by
numerous enactments in the laws of the Saxon kings
from the time of Ina (700) to the reign of Canute (1030)
On some occasions the defaulter was punished with the
forfeiture of his lands, on others with the payment of a
stated fine. In Worcestershire if he were a vassal by
choice, his real property was placed at the mercy of the
king; if the tenant of another, his lord was bound to
find a substitute, or pay a fine of forty shillings, with
power to levy the expense on the defaulter. The burghers
of Oxford were at liberty to send twenty soldiers, or to
pay twenty pounds; at Warwick whoever disobeyed the
summons, was mulcted one hundred shillings; in Colchester every house paid sixpence in lieu of all military
service. In these and numerous other instances of a similar description, we may easily recognise the rudiments of
the prestation, called scutage by the Norman feudalists.*
The king appears to have claimed the power, not only
of disposing of the benefice or fee after the death of the
tenant, but also of controlling the distribution of his
other possessions.  Hence the vassal in his will was
always anxious to obtain the confirmation of his superior, and to make provision for the payment of what was
termed by the Saxons the heriot, by the Normans the
relief.t Of both these practices we meet with numerous instances.  Thus Elfhelm, after leaving his heriot
to the king, concludes his will in these words   "And
" now I beseech thee, my beloved lord, that my last
" testament may stand, and that thou do not permit it to
* Leg. 23, 135. Domesday, passim.
t Though Bracton makes a distinction between them, the laws more ancient than Bracton make none. Compare Leg. Sax. 144 with 223. By the
Connqueror it was decreed that the relief should be paid out of the chattels
of the deceased. The relief of the vavasor is the best horse which the tenant
had on the day of his death: a jour de sa mort. Ibid.




ï~~328

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CRAP. V.

" be annulled. God is my witness that I was always obe" dient to thy father, faithful to him, both in mind and
" might, and ever true and loving to thee.* " So also
archbishop!:Elfric first " bequeaths to his lord his best
" ship, and the sail-yards thereto, and sixty helmets, and
" sixty coats of mail," and then wills, if it were his lord's
will, &c. t    By the laws it was provided that the heriot
should be paid within twelve months from the death of
the last possessor; and was apportioned to the rank
which he bore in the state.        That of an earl was four
horses saddled, four unsaddled, four helmets, four coats
of mail, eight spears, eight shields, four swords, and one
hundred mancuses of gold: of a king's thane one half
of the last: of an inferior thane his horse, and his arms,
with an offer of his hounds or hawks. If he died intes
tate, the payment of the heriot preserved the estate in
his family: if he fell in battle for his lord, the heriot
was remitted $.
There is reason to believe that the Saxon like the
Norman kings (and their example was probably imitated
by the inferior lords) claimed occasionally the wardship of heiresses, and disposed of them in marriage SS.
The laws, though their language is not sufficiently explicit, seem to allude to such a custom. They provide
* Lye, App. ii.
' Mores's  lf'ic, 62. Yet, as passages of this kind are not general in
wills, I am inclined to think that they were nothing more than petitions for
the king's protection, if any attempt were made to set the will aside. 2Ethelstan, indeed, asked and obtained the consent of king Ethelred that he
might dispose by will of his property: but he was the king's son, and that
very circumstance may take his case out of the general rule. Yet even he,
after this consent, prefers a petition to the witan "for their aid that his will
may stand."-Lye, App. No. 6.
+ Leg. 144, 223, 245. It has been said that heriots were introduced by
Canute, because they are not mentioned in the laws of his predecessors.
But he seems merely to record an ancient custom. They are noticed as
such under Edgar (Iist. Ellen. 480), and Elfhelm, whose heriot has been
already mentioned, lived many years before Ethelred.  Longo retroacto
tempore. Ibid. 498. Edgar himself describes them as an ancient institution in the charter, in which he frees the monasteries from the obligation.
"Solitus census, quem indigena lHeritua usualiter vocitant, qui pro hufus
"patrine potentibus post obitmn regibus dari solet.'" Seldeni, Spirileg. ad
Eadm. p. 153.
S Leg. 144, 145. Dist. Rames. 403, 441.




ï~~[CHAP. VII.     DISTINCTION OF. RANKS.

329

that no maid or widow shall be compelled to marry
against her will, and very inconsistently forbid the
female to be sold in marriage, while they allow a present to be accepted from her husband*. This custom
prevailed also in the royal burghs. In Shrewsbury no
woman could marry without a licence from the king.
With her first husband she paid a fine of ten shillings:
if she took a second, the sum was doubled i'.
From the tenures of land we may pass to the distinction of ranks, and the administration of justice. With
a few shades of accidental difference both these were
substantially the same in all the nations of Gothic
origin. Among the Anglo-Saxons the free population
was divided into the eorl and ceorl, the men of noble
and ignoble descent.     The former were said to be
ethel-born: and with a people acknowledging no other
merit than martial prowess, it is probable that this distinction attached to those only whose fathers had never
exercised the ccupations of husbandry or of the mechanical arts.   It was merely personal: it conferred
neither property nor power      but it served to gratify
pride; and numerous complaints attest the arrogance
with which the noble Saxon looked down on his inferior,
and the reluctance with which " the full-born" bore the
superiority of the " less-born," whom merit or favour
had raised above them SS. The termination ing added to
the name of the progenitor designated his posterity.
The Uffingas were the descendants of Uffa, the Oiscingas the descendants of Oise i. But the more lofty title
of etheling, the son of the noble, was reserved for the
members of the reigning family; and these in each of
the Saxon dynasties pretended to derive their pedigree
S Lg. 109. 122. 144, 145.
SDomesday, Sciropeseire, and a forfeiture is mentioned in Norfolk, hecause the woman who held the property married within a year after the
deatheof her husband.-General Introduction, sol. iii, by Mr. Ellis.
+ By not atteunding to this meaning of the word eoarl, and renderin, it e;arl.
the translators of the Saxon laws have made several passages unintelli-, ble. See Leg. 3.35. 65.
l eg. 83  11.  B  d. 296.       ii Bed. ii. 5. 15,
V(aL. 1.    28




ï~~330

ANGLO-SAXONS.

A. ). 1066.]

from  Woden, a real or fabulous cnqueror, who was
adored by his votaries as the god of battles. The supposed divinity of their parent secured to them the 'eneration of their pagan followers; and when Chriactanity
had, dissipated the illusion, the superiority of their
earthly descent was still acknowledged by all their contemporaries *.
Among the ethel-born the first place was occupied by
the cyning or king '. In the succession to the crown
the reader must have observed occasional deviations
from the direct line of hereditary descent. The causes
have been already explained: but whether the new
monarch were the immediate or the collateral heir of his
predecessor, the consent of the witan always preceded
his coronation. Hence the original writers, whose language is the best evidence of the sentiments prevailing
among their contemporaries, usually speak of their
kings as elected to the throne. The cyning was the lord
of the principal chieftains, and through them of their
respective vassals. As his estates were nearly equal to
theirs all together, so was his annual revenue and the
number of his thanes: forming in the aggregate a power
sufficient to humble the proudest, or to reduce the most
factious of his subjects. Thrice in the year the great
tenants of the crown were reminded of their dependence. At the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide they were summoned to pay him their homage.
They appeared before him in the guise of dependants
while he was seated on his throne with the crown on
his head, and a sceptre in each hand. During eight
days they were feasted at his expense, and on their dismissal received presents from   his bounty *. He exer* Chron. Sax. 13. 15. Gale, iii. 134. "Voden, de cujus stirpe multarum
provinciarum regium genus originem duxit. Bed. i. 15.
-1'he etymology of this word has been much disputed. As from thruda
people, the Teutones formed thiudans, the chief of the people, I see no reason why from cynn, or hun, a race, might not be formed cyning, the chief
of the race.
SChron. Sax. 163. Hist. Ram. 395. Sceptris simul et corona. Ailred,
Riev. 398. Regalia instrumenta sustinuit. Id.399.




ï~~A. 7. 1066.]    PRIVILEGES OF KING

831

cised an undisputed authority over the national forces by
sea and land. He was the supreme judge; and was
accustomed to receive appeals from every court of judicature. Of the fines which were levied on offenders the
principal portion was paid into his treasury: he could
commute the punishment of death, and was accustomed
to liberate a prisoner in every burgh and jurisdiction into
which he entered.     His " peace" or protection secured
the man to whom it was granted from the pursuit of his
enemies. At his coronation, and for eight days afterwards, it was extended to the whole kingdom: each year
it was equally observed during the octaves of the three
great festivals, in which he was accustomed to hold his
court; and at all times it was enjoyed by every person
within the circuit of four miles from his actual residence,
by travellers on the four highways, and by merchants or
their servants, as long as they were employed on the
navigable rivers.    Some infractions of this peace subjected the offender to a heavy amercement: others of a
more heinous description placed his life and property at
the mercy of the king."
Though there is no direct proof that any lands were
appropriated to the crown, yet it can hardly be doubted;
for the king always appears as the greatest landholder in
the kingdom. Thus, taking the county of Kent as a sam* leg. 63.199. The real distance to which the king's peace extended
from his actual residence was whimsically tred at three miles, three furlongs, three roods, nine feet, nine hands (inchies?), and nine barley corns.
leg. 63. - The object of this institution, as also of another called " the
" peace of God," was to diminish the number of outrages perpetrated
under the pretext of retaliation. The latter is said to rave been first
establislwd it Aquitain, about the year 1032: though its rudiments appear
in the decrees of several councils before the close of the tenth century
(Bouquet x. 49. 1417); and it is enforced in the laws of king Eth(lired at
the beginning of the eleventh (Leg. 108, 109). In England it included
ite Emtber days, Advent, Lent the virils, and festivals of Christ, the
Virgin Mary, the Apostles, and of All Saints, and every Sunday, reckoning from the hour of nine on Saturday to the dawn of light on tie Motiday morning (Leg 108. 109. 121. 197). In France it bean every week
on lie evening of the Wednesday, and lasted till the Monday (Glber
apud Dult Cange in vcce Treva). During these days it was forbidden,
undier severe penalties, for any man to slay, maimns, or assault his enemy,
or to distrain or plunder his lands. Ut nullus homno alianti asstaliat, a.t




ï~~332

ANLO-SAXONS.

Icrur.?Ix.

ple, we find from Domesday that out of four hundred and
thirty places described as lying within its precincts, not
fewer than one hundred and ninety-four, nearly one-half,
belonged to Edward the Confessor; and the remainder
was unequally divided among the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Rochester, the two abbots of St. Austin's and St. Martin's, the queen Editha, the earls Godwin, Harold and Lewin, Alnod child, Brixi child, and
Sbern Biga. These eleven were the great tenants in chief,
the king's principal thanes, the real peers of the county.
But, besides the property and privileges which they
claimed in that capacity, most of them were in possession of parcels of land which they held in common with
many inferior thanes, as sub-tenants; some under the
crown, some under its immediate vassals, thus pointing
out, by the diflference of their tenures, Whiat originally
was the king's demrnesne, and what was the demesne of
the great lords in whose places they now stood.*
The consort of the cyning was originally known by the
appellation of " queen," and shared in common with her
husband the splendour of royalty. But of this distinetion she was deprived by the crime of Eadburga, the
daughter of Offa, who had administered poison to her
husband Brihtric, king of Wessex. In the paroxysm of
their indignation the witan punished the unoffending
wives of their future monarchs by abolishing with the
title of queen all the appendages of female royalty.
Ethelwulf, in his old age, ventured to despise the prejudices of his subjects. His young consort, Judith, was
crowned in France, and was permitted to seat herself by
his side on the throne.t There is no satisfactory proof
vulneret, ant occidat, nullus namium ant preedam capiat. Order. Vit.
anno 1096.
* See Iursham's Summary Table of Lands in Kent, compiled from the
autograph of Domesday. It is observable that the conqueror, when he
distributed the county among his followers, still kept up the same number
of eleven tenants in chief. Ibid. p. 20.
t Asser, 10.




ï~~A. D. 1068.]     RIGrTS OF    Ia  QEraX.

333

of any such coronation after Judith; and though the
title of Regina is occasionally given to the king's wife
by Latin writers, she is generally termed "the lady,"*
in Anglo-Saxon instruments.t But whatever were the
legitimate honours of the queen she could not be deprived of the influence which was naturally attached
to her situation; and no one presumed to solicit a
favour from the monarch without offering a present to
his wife. I From several passages it appears that separate estates were allotted for the support not only of the
queen but also of her children, and the princes of the
blood.
After the royal family the highest order in the state
was that of the ealdormen or earls. From the nature of
their office they were sometimes styled viceroys:S by Bede
they are dignified with the title of princes and satraps. j1
The districts which they governed in the name of the
king, were denominated their shires, confined originally
to a small tract of country, but gradually enlarged to the
extent of our present counties. The policy of the WestSaxon kings, after the subjugation of the neighbouring
states, still added to their authority by comprising several
shires within the same earldom. Thus the whole kingdom of Mercia was intrusted by Alfred to the administration of the ealdorman Ethered:  that of Northumbria by
Edgar to the fidelity of the earl Osulf.** It was the duty
* Chron. Sax. 132, 164, 165, 168. A letter in Mores's.Elfric begins thus:
" Wolstan archbishop greets Canute king his lord, and Elfgiva the lady,"
p. 104. She gives herself the same title. " I Elfgiva the lady, king Ed"ward's mother." Ibid. 98. In one charter Edgar's queen designates herself by the singular expression; ego Alfthryth praefati regis conlaterana.
Bed. App. 777.
tI am aware of the passage in the Laud MS. of the Chronicle (anno 1048)
respecting the wife of Edward the Confessor, but do not think it conelu
sive.
I Gale, iii. 457. Hicks. Dissert. 51.
Â~ Subregali. Bed. App. 765-767.
i Principes, Satrapem, Primates, Optimates, Duces. All these titles are
rendered by Alfred ealdormen.
IT Asser, 50, 52.
** Mailrtb. 14&




ï~~334

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[cHAP. VII.

of the ealdorman, as the representative of the monarch,
to lead the men of his shire to battle; to preside with
the bishop in the courts of the county; and to enforce
the execution of justice.* Of the fines and rents paid
to the king within his jurisdiction he appears to have
received one-third. f This office was originally in the
gift of the crown, and might be forfeited by misconduct:
but it was so frequently continued in the same family,
that at last, instead of being solicited as a favour, it
began to be claimed as a right.1       At the accession of
Canute the word jtrl (or earl) was substituted for ealdorman; perhaps, because among the Danes the latter
appellation was common to all those who were called
the king's thanes, or greater thanes, by the AngloSaxons.
In the more ancient writers we meet also with a class
of men, denominated the king's gesiths in their own
language, and his comites or socii in the Latin documents. By Bede the comites are always distinguished
from the milites, and by King Alfred, the translator of
Bede, the first are termed gesiths, the others thanes.
Many of these gesiths were of the first families in
the nation:11 and it would appear from their appellation, that they were bound to wait on the king in his
court, or to accompany him in his journeys.   We
meet with no mention of them after the reign of
Alfred.
* Chron. Sax. 78. Leg. 78, 136.
t Domesday, Hiuntedunscire, Snotinghamscire.
I Chron. Sax. 169, 170.
Â~ Canute tells us (see constitut. de Faerta, Thorpe i. 426) that the
greater thanes were called ealdormen, the lesser young men i -juniores in
the charters.
1 Beda (iii. 22) mentions two gesiths as kinsmen of the prince. Kent
was governed by Eghaich the gesith. Text. Roff. 76. Ethelric calls
himself subregulus et comes gloriossissimi regis Ethebaldi (Bed. App.
784). and is called by /Ethebald reverentissimus comes meus mihique
satis carus, filius quondam.  Iuicciorum regis osheres. - Cod. Dipl. i.
100.,Sith, a journey, or expedition.




ï~~A.. 1i 06.    IL U_ 'L 1EN AND GEES r.             v35
We also meet with the titles of "heretaochli and hold,"
denoting military commands of imprtance: and          of
" child," which has been conceived to mean the principal
thane of a particular district. But the real rank and
powers of these officers have not been satisfactorily
ascertained *.
The thanes, so called from thegnian to serve, were a
numerous and distinguished order of men, divided into
several classes of different rank, and with different privileges.  We read of greater and lesser thanes" of the
thanes of the king, and the thanes of ealdormen and
prelates. The heriot of the higher was fourfold that of
the lower thane: and while the former acknowledged
no other superior than the king, the latter owed suit to
the court of his immediate lord t. It is certain that they
held their lands by the honourable tenure of service
about the person of their lord or in the field. Milites is
the term by which they are usually designated in the
Norman writers: and every expression in Bede denoting
a military character is invariably rendered thane by his
royal translator *. The law required, one combatant
from every five hides of land; and the acquisition of
property to the same extent was sufficient to raise a
ceorl to the rank of a thane Â~. But without it, though
he might accompany the king to the field, though he
should possess a helmet, a coat of mail, and a goldenhilted sword, he was still condemned to remain in the
subordinate and humble condition of a ceorl. A politic
exception was admitted in favour of the merchants, who
* we rea4 of Wulfnoth, who was father of earl Godwin, and child of
Sussex (Chron. Sax. 137), of Edric child in llerefordshire (Chron. Lamb.
ad ann. 1067), Alfric child in East-Anglia (Hist. Ellen. 470), Aluod child
in Kent, Brixi child in Kent (Domesday, Chenth). I suspect the appellation merely denotes a person, wNho from his childhood was heir apparent
to some high office. It was given to Edwy before his accession to the eros n
(Lye, App. iv.), and to Edgar Etheling. who, as he never became king,
retained it during the whole reign of William the Conqueror. Chron. Sax.
173. 182. Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1068. 1075. It was something like the
present Spanish title of " Infant."
f Leg. 47. 1i8.'} 144. Domes. Worcester, 172.
B ed. iii. 14  iv. 13. v. 13.  4  Leg. 70.




ï~~336

ANGLO-SAXONS.

C-AP. VII.

were accustomed to form companies or gilds, and possessed their lands in common. To sail thrice to a foreign
land with a cargo of his own wares, entitled the merchant
to the rank and privileges of the thaneship *'. Of these
privileges the most valuable was the amount of the were,
an advantage, which will be more fully explained hereafter.
The gerefas'or reeves were officers of high importance
appointed by the king and the great proprietors in their
respective demesnes. They were to be found in every
separate jurisdiction: but the principal were the reeves
of the shires, ports, and boroughs. It was their duty to
collect the tolls, to apprehend malefactors, to require
sureties, to receive the rents, and on several occasions to
act in the place of their lords ". They were assessors,
sometimes the chief judges in different courts; and were
commanded under a severe penalty to regulate their
decisions by the directions of the doom-book;.
The foregoing were ethel-born: the unethel, the tradesmen, mechanics, husbandmen and labourers, were comprehended under the generic denomination of ceorles.
Of these there were two classes. The superior class
consisted of socmnen, or free ceorles, who held lands by
conventional services, or chose their own lords, or possessed the right of disposing of their real estates by sale,
or will, or donation. The others were attached to the
soil, as part and parcel of the manor, transferable with
it from one lord to another, bound to give their personal
labour in return for the land which they cultivated for
their own use, and liable to be punished as runaways if
they withdrew out of the manorial jurisdiction under
which they were born S. They had indeed certain rights
# Leg. 71. These regulations have been attributed to Athelstan, but
the text describes them as the ancient customs of the nation. It is to them
thatwe are to attribute the title of barons given to the merchants of London
and the cinque ports.
+ Leg. 9.. 40  69.        Leg. 48.
Â~ In hle Boldten Book may be seen innumerable instances of the differencc between the rent and services of these two classes. Both paid
partly in kind, partly in money, and part'y in labour: but the free tenant




ï~~4.D. 1066.]   ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.              337
ecognised by the law; and could not in many places
be dispossessed, as long as they performed their customary services: but then these services were often
uncertain in amount, depending on the will of the lord;
he could tallage, o1" tax them at discretion; he exacted
from them the mercheta or gersume, a fine for the marriage of their daughters and sisters, and did not permit
them to sell their cattle out of the manor, till they had
purchased the permission in his court. Traces of all
these customs may be found in the remains of AngloSaxon antiquity, and their previous existence is proved
by the decisions in the courts of law during the Norman
period, when exemption from these servile burthens was
admitted as incontrovertible evidence of free tenantcy *,
Among a people but lately emerged from barbarism
the administration of justice is always rude and simple:
and though the absence of legal forms and pleading may
casually insure a prompt and equitable decision, it is
difficult without their aid to oppose the arts of intrigue
and falsehood, or the influence of passion and prejudice.
The proceedings before the Anglo-Saxon tribunals would
not have suited a more advanced state of civilization:
they were ill calculated to elicit truth, or to produce
conviction: and in many instances which have been
recorded by contemporary writers, our more correct or
more artificial notions will be shocked at the credulity
or the precipitancy of the judges. The subject, however,
worked only a fixed number of days for the lord in seed-time and during
the harvest: the other worked in addition three days in the week during
the whole year, with the exception of a fortnight at Christmas, and a week
at the festivals of Easter and WVhitsuntide. The services of mechanics
were regulated in the same manner.
* See Abbrev. Placit. 57. Norf. rot. 1. 2-95. North. rot. 1-147. Suth.
rot. 9-161. Leyces. rot. 6. et passim. We meet also with cotsets, coterells, cotmen, or cottagers (qui cotagia et curtilegia tenent. Stat. 1. 243),
who, as their holdings were small, rendered a smaller portion of labour,
that is, in the Bolden book, two days in the week from Lammas to Martiumnas, and one only during the rest of the year. There were also bordars,
whose services were few, but multumns servilia. Abb. Plac. 211. Kent.
'ot. 19. Bonds appear to have been the masters of families among the
second class ofeorles. If a sufficient number of free tenants could not
he procured to form a jury, the deficiency was supplied from among the
it. discreet and lawfuil br ds. Stat. i. 207.
vOL. I.      2.9




ï~~AN!GiLO-S.XONS.

[CHAt. 9mi.

is curious and interesting. These anclent courts still
exist under different names: and the intelligent observer may discover in their proceedings the origin of
several institutions, which now mark the administration
of justice in the English tribunals.
The lowest species of jurisdiction known among the
Anglo-Saxons was that of "Sac and Soc," words, the
derivation of which has puzzled the ingenuity of antiquaries, though the meaning is sufficiently understood.
It was the privilege of holding pleas and imposing fines
within a certain district, and with a few variations was
perpetuated in the manorial courts of the Norman
dynasty. It seems to have been claimed and exercised
by all the greater and by several of the lesser thanes:
out was differently modified by the terms of the original
grant, or by immemorial usage. Some took cognizance
of all crimes committed within their soke: the jurisdiction of others was confined to offences of a particular
description; some might summon every delinquent,
whether native or stranger, before their tribunal: while
others could inflict punishment on none but their own
tenants. From the custom of holding these courts min
the hall of the lord, they were usually termed the hallmotes *.
Superior to the hall-mote was the mote of the hundred,
a large division of the county. It was assembled every
month under the presidency of the ealdorman or chief
officer of the hundred, accompanied by the principal clergymen, freeholders, and the reeve and four men as representatives from each township. Once in the year was convened an extraordinary meeting, when every male above
the age of twelve was compelled to attend; the state of
the gilds and tythings (or associations of ten families) was
# Leg. 241, 242. 256. Hist. Ellen. 490. 501. Domesday, passim. These
courts absorbed much of the business, which would otherwise have been
carried before the courts of the hundred and county, and from them are
derived our present courts baron with civil, and courts leet with cimial,;urisdiction.




ï~~A. D. 1066.]   COURTS OF JUSTICR

339

ascertained; and no man was permitted to remain at
large, who could not provide a surety for his peaceable
demeanour. In these courts offenders were tried, and
civil causes decided. But their utility was not confined
to their judicial proceedings. In a period when few
possessed the humble acquirements of reading and
writing, the stability of pecuniary transactions was principally dependent on the honesty and character of the
witnesses; and the testimony of the hundred was deemed
on that account conclusive in questions of litigated right
or disputed obligation. Hence men frequented these
meetings in the course of private business; and con
tracts were made, exchanges ratified, purchases completed, and moneys paid, in the presence of the court
But sometimes, when interests of greater importance
were at stake, or the parties belonged to different districts, the authority of a single hundred was thought
insufficient. On such occasions, that the controversy
might be brought before a more numerous and less partial tribunal, the ealdorman convoked an assembly of
the contiguous hundreds, or of the third part of the
county. The former was termed the court of the lathe,
and the latter of the trything *.
Of still higher dignity and more extensive jurisdiction
was the shire-mote, or court of the county. It was held
twice in the year, in the beginning of May and October.
Every great proprietor was compelled to attend, either
in person or by his steward, or to send in his place his
chaplain, bailiff, and four principal tenants. The bishop
and ealdorman, or earl, presided with equal authority,
and their assessors were the sheriff and the most noble
of the royal thanes. In their proceedings they began
with those causes which related to the dues and immu* Leg..50. 60. '78. 117. 203. 204, 205. 240. Hist. Elien. 473. 475. 484. The
lathes still exist in some of the southern counties,where the hundreds were
small. From the trythings is supposed to be derived the local denominaL:on of riding, the third part of a county. In burghs were held bu'ghmotes,;orresoonding with the motes of the hundred. Leg. Sax. 78.




ï~~340

ANGLO-SAXON S.

[CHAP. vt't

nities of the church; passed to the fines and forfeitures
belonging to the crown; and ended with the controversies of individuals. In the last case it was the duty of
the court to attempt a reconciliation by proposing a cornpromise; or, if the proposal were rejected, to pronounce
a definitive judgment *. It was also on these occasions
that the laws were recited, which had been enacted in
the great council of the nation. We have still extant a
letter to king Athelstan from the members of a county
court, the bishops, the thanes, miand the men of Kent, who
recapitulate the laws which he had notified to them, promise obedience, and conclude with the most forcible expressions of attachment to his person '.
That the shires and hundreds, with their respective
courts, were originally established by the policy of Alfred,
is asserted by a well-informed writer, who lived at the
time of the Norman conquest T. There is, however,
reason to doubt much, if not the whole, of his statement.
Alfred might improve, but he certainly could not invent,
a system which existed some centuries before his reign.
1. The division of shires was common to all the northern
nations Â~: some are known to have existed in England
under their present names since the first settlement of
the Saxons JJ: and others are mentioned in the laws and
by the writers prior to the supposed division by Alfred.
The great inequality in their measurement, and the
great irregularity in their distribution, prove that they
were not the uniform work of one monarch. but that
they owe their origin to different princes, who divided
the country as necessity might require, or policy might
suggest. 2. The hundreds also appear to have been a
* Leg. 78. 204, 205. 2 0.
- Bromp. 850. The decisions of the witan in cihil causes were also sent
to the shire-mote.  lit. Ellen. 469.
t Ingulf. h8. He has been followed by Malmsbury and others.
Â~  Bialuze, capita i. 19. 39. 103.  i Kent, Sussex, Essex.
Leg. 16. 20, 21. Chron. Sax. 56. 74, 75. 78 Assetr, 3. 8. 14. Asser
was the contemporary and instructor of the king. It is evident from his
silence that he was ignorant of any new institution of shies or hundreds.




ï~~A. P. P i3.     SH1RES ANt) HUNDREDS.

341

contiental institution. From Tacitus we learn that the
Germans of his age divided their territories into pagi;
that each pagus furnished a band of one hundred combatants for battle: and that each band was termed " the
" hundred of the pagus" by which it was furnished *.
Whether in the establishment of hundreds the Saxons
followed this or any other particular rule, is uncertain
It has been supposed that the name was given to the district occupied by a hundred families of freemen. This
hypothesis has been generally admitted, because it satisfies the mind, and spares the trouble of ulterior investigation: but it will appear very questionable to those
who have examined the notices in Domesday, and compared the disproportionate limits of even neighbouring
hundreds  '.
Ingulf has also attributed to Alfred the institution of
tythings, which by the very name import either a subdivision of the hundred, or an association of ten neighbouring families. By law every freeman was to be enrolled in one of these associations, all the members of
which were made perpetual bail for each other. If one
of the number fled from justice, the remaining nine were
allowed the respite of a month to discover the fugitive:
when, if he were not forthcoming, the pecuniary penalty
of his crime was levied on his goods, and, in case of deficiency, on the goods of the tything, unless it could
* Tac. Germ. vi.
t Hundredus continet centumrn villas. Bromp. 956. It is plain from
lHede that villa, which his translator always renders tune, comprehended
not only the mansion of the proprietor,but also the cottages of his tenants
and slaves. Whitaker maintains that ten of these townships formed a
tything or manor, and ton manors a hundred.,Whit. Manchester, ii. 114
-120. But it will be difficult to reconcile this opinion with the statements in Domesday. I will take for example the hundreds in the lathe of
Sutton in Kent. All the others are similar.
HIundreds.    Sowlings.     Acres of Meadow.  Manors.
Greenwich.........  131.....  9
Lesnes....  19......  52....  4
itronmlty....  8.....  14...... 2
liokesley.... 274.....  8..... 14
Axtane...  f5..  476..... 36
t.estelham... 4i1-.....   16..... 2




ï~~342

ANGLO-SAXONS.

ICHAP. VII.

be proved that its members had not conmnived at his
escape *.
From these local courts, the hall-mote, the hundredmote, and the shire-mote, appeals were allowed to the
superior authority of the monarch. Alfred was accustomed to inspect the minutes of their proceedings, to
confirm or annul their decisions, and occasionally to
punish the judges for their partiality or ignorance. By
his office the king was the supreme magistrate in the
state: but he had other duties to perform; and it was
forbidden to bring any cause before him, till it had been
previously submitted to the decision of the inferior judges.
This prohibition was, however, frequently disregarded;
and few princes refused to exercise their judicial functions, as often as they were solicited by a favourite, or
tempted by a present. Wherever the king was present,
a court might be speedily assembled. To the thanes and
clergymen who attended on his person, he added the
prelates and nobility of the neighbourhood, and with
their assistance either pacified the parties, or pronounced
a definitive judgment. But these occasional courts,
respectable as they might be, were eclipsed by the superior splendour and dignity of the "mickle synoths or
" witena-gemots," the great meetings, or assemblies
of the counsellors, which were regularly convened at the
festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and
occasionally, at other times, as difficult circumstances
or sudden exigencies might require. Who were the
constituent members of this supreme tribunal, has long
been a subject of debate; and the dissertations, to which
it has given rise, have only contributed to involve it in
greater obscurity. It has been pretended that not only
the military tenants had a right to be present, but that
the ceorls also attended by their representatives, the
borsholders of the tythings. The latter part of the assertion has been made without a shadow of evidence, and
* Leg. Sax. 136. 201, 202.241.




ï~~3) n. 03.]

WITEINA-GEMOT.

the f.:rmer is built on very fallacious grounds. It is inded plrobable that, in the infancy of the Anglo-Saxon
stales, most of the military retainers may have attended
the poblic councils: yet even then the deliberations were
c.n.ined to the chieftains; and nothing remained for the
s assals but to applaud the determination of their lords.
But ii later times, when the several principalities were
uniled itto one monarchy, the recurrence of these assemblies, thrice in every year within the short space of
six mnonths, would have been an insupportable burthen
to the lesser proprietors; and there is reason to suspect
that the greater attended only when it was required by
the importance of events, or by the vicinity of the 'ourt.
The principal members seem to have been the spiritual
and temporal thanes, who held immediately of the crown,
and who could command the services of military vassals.
It was necessary that the king should obtain the assent
of these to all legislative enactments: because without
their acquiescence and support it was impossible to carry
them into execution. To many charters we have the
signatures of the witan. They seldom exceed thirty in
number; they never amount to sixty. They include the
names of the king and his sons, of a few bishops and
abbots, of nearly an equal number of ealdormen and
thanes, and occasionally of the queen, and of one or
two abbesses *. Others, the fideles or vassals, who had
accompanied their lords, are mentioned as lookming on
and applauding: but there exists no proof whatever,
that they enjoyed any share in the deliberations i'.
The legal powers of this assembly have never been
accurately ascertained: probably they were never fully
defined. To them, on the vacancy of the crown, belonged
* See Ingulf, 32. 44, 45. Gale, iii. 517. Hemingford passim. From a
passage in the history of Ely (p. 513). it has been inferred that an estate
of forty hides entitled its possessor to a seat in the witan.
+ Presentibus archiepiscopis et episcopis, Angliae universis, nee non
Beorredo rege Mercire, et Edmundo Estanglorum rege, abbatum et abbatissarum, dacum, comitum, procerumque totius terree, aliorumquefidelium
infiuita multitudine, qui omnes regium ehirographum laudaverunt, dignitstes vero s ua nomina subscripserunt, Ing. 17.




ï~~344

A NGO-SA XO\S.

[cx-.,r. vu

the choice of the next sovereign: and we find them
exercising this claim not only at the decease of each
king, but even during the absence of Ethelred in Normandy. They compelled him     to enter into a solemn
compact with the nation, before they would acknowledge
him a second time for king of England*. In ordinary
cases their deliberations were held in the presence of
the sovereign; and, as individually they were his vassals,
as they had sworn " to love what he loved, and shun
" what he shunned," there can be little doubt that they
generally acquiesced in his wishes. In the preambles to
the Saxon laws the king sometimes assumes a lofty
strain. He decrees: the witan give their advice. He
denominates himself the sovereign: they are his bishops,
his ealdormen, his thanes. But on other occasions this
style of royalty disappears, and the legislative enactments are attributed to the witan in conjunction with
the king ". The same diversity appears in treaties concluded with foreign powers. Some bear only the name
of the king: in others the witan are introduced as sanctioning the instrument by their concurrence;. In their
judicial capacity they compromised or decided civil controversies among themselves; summoned before them
state criminals of great power and connexions; and
usually pronounced the sentence of forfeiture and outlawry against those whom they found guilty.. As legislators they undertook to provide for the defence of the
realm, the prevention and punishment of crimes, and
the due administration of justice 1.
In all these tribunals the judges were the free tenants,
owing suit to the court, and afterwards called its peers.
But the real authority seems to have resided in the president, and the principal of his assessors, whose opinion
was generally echoed and applauded by the rest of the
members. [ Their proceedings were simplified and faci* Chron. Sax. 145.            t Leg. 14, 34, 48, 73, 102, 113.
Leg. 47, 51, 104. Chron. Sax. 132. $ Chron. Sax. 164, 194.
Ingulf. 10), 16. Chron. Sax. 126, 130, 165.
Qui liberas in eis terras habent, per quos debent cans.x singulorum
alterna prosecutione tractari.  Leg. Sax. 248.  1t the judges (titir in opit



ï~~A. D. 106. ] CRIMINAL JUDICATURE.

845

litated by a custom, which has already been mentioned.
In all cases in which property, whether real or personal,
was concerned: if a man claimed by gift or purchase;
if stolen goods were found in his possession, or he had
forcibly entered on the lands of others; he was bound to
produce the testimony of the court and witnesses, before
whom the transaction, on which he grounded his own
right, must, if it had been lawful, have taken place. On
this testimony in civil actions the judges frequently decided; but if either party advanced assertions of such a
nature that they could not be proved by evidence, he was
put on his oath, and was ordered to bring forward certain freeholders, his neighbours, acquainted with his
character and concerns, who should swear that, in their
consciences, they believed his assertion to be true. The
number of these was in many cases fixed by the law, in
others left to the discretion of the court. Sometimes
four or five sufficed: sometimes forty or fifty were required: occasionally men came forward spontaneously,
and offered themselves by hundreds to swear in behalf
of a favoured   or much injured individual i'.      But it
should be observed that the value of each oath was estimated by the rank and opulence of the individual. The
oath of a king's thane was equal to the oaths of six
ceorls, the oath of an ealdorman to those of six thanes.
The king and the archbishop, as their word was deemed
nion, the decision is in one law leftwith the majority, in another with those
of highest rank. Si in judicio inter pares oriatur dissensio, vincat sententia pluimorum. Ibid. 237.-Vincat sententia meliorum. Ibid. 248. On
this subject I do not hesitate to appeal to the treatise called '" Leges Hen" rici primi." Though compiled under the Normans, it gives in reality an
account of the Saxon jurisprudence. This is asserted by the author. De
his omnibus plenioremn suggerunt ventura (the sequel) notitiam, sicut
Edvardi bcatissin.i p:iucipis extitisse temporibus certis indiciis et fida relatione cognovimus, p. 241. The same appears also from the numerous
passages which are evidently translations from Saxon laws still extant;
whence it is hfair to conclude that much of the rest has been drawn from
othler documents which have perished in the long lapse of seven hundred
yea rs.
t Thus a thousand persons offered to swear in behalf of the thane Wolfnoth. Hlist. Elien. 479. It was called by the Saxons the lada, by later
writers wager t law. How tar it is allowed in modern times may be seen
in Blackstone. ii. c. 22. sec. vi.




ï~~346

ANGLO-SAXONS..C[HAP. VII.

sacred, were exempted from the obligation of swearing;
and the same indulgence was sometimes extended to the
higher orders of the nobility.* If the matter still remained
doubtful, it became usual to select a jury of free tenants,
who left the court, deliberated among themselves, and
returned a verdict, which decided the question.- On some
occasions a time was fixed within which the party was
bound to bring forward his jurors.   Thus, in a disputed
claim between the bishop of Worcester and the clergy of
Berkeley, it was decreed by the witan that the bishop,
being in actual possession of the land and of the land-books,
should be allowed to establish his right by oath; and we
find that thirty days later he produced to swear in his
favour at Westminster fifty priests, ten deacons and sixty
clerks.T  I will mention an instance in which recourse
was had to each mode of proceeding, and judgment was
given on grounds, that to us must appear irregular and
unsatisfactory. In a court held at Wendlebury, in which
the ealdorman Ailwin, and the sheriff Edric presided, an
action was brought against the monks of Ramsey, by
Alfnoth, for the purpose of recovering the possession of
two hides at Stapleford. After much litigation the decision was left to a jury of thirty-six thanes, who were
chosen equally by the plaintiff and the defendants.
While they were out of court deliberating on their ver
dict, Alfnoth publicly challenged the monks to prove
their claim by oath. The challenge was accepted; but
when they were prepared to swear, the ealdorman arose,
observed that he was the patron of the abbey, and offered
himself to take the oath in its favour. This decided the
cause. The court, through respect for its president, was
satisfied with his word, adjudged the two hides to the
monks, and condemned Alfnoth in the forfeiture of his
* Leg. Sax. 72, 262. Much ridicule has been thrown on this custom: but
where inquiry was excluded, it was perhaps wise to attach a greater value to
the oaths of persons, who by their rank and opulence were the furthest removed from the ordinary temptations to perjury, and who had more to forfeit, if they should be proved guilty of that crime.
t Iist. tRamn. 415, 416. Regist. Roff. 32. May not these juries be considered
ts the origin of our present juries in civil causes?
I Cod. Dipl. i. 276. See another instance in p. 279.




ï~~A. D. 1066.]

CRIMINAL JUDICATURE.

347

lands and chattels.    By the interest of his friends the
latter part of the judgment was revoked, on condition
that he would never more disturb the abbey in the possession of Stapleford *.
In criminal prosecutions the proceedings, though
grounded on the same principles, were in many respects
different. It was ordered by law, that as soon as the
hundred-mote was assembled (the same probably held
with respect to other similar tribunals), the reeve with
the twelve oldest thanes should go out to inquire into all
offences committed within the jurisdiction of the court,
and should be sworn " not to foresay (present) any one
" who was innocent, nor to conceal any one who was
guilty t'."  On their presentment, or the accusation of
the prosecutor and his witnesses, the prisoner was frequently condemned: if any doubt existed, his plea of not
guilty was admitted, and after his lord had been called
upon to speak to his character upon oath, he was at liberty to prove his innocence by the purgation of lada or
swearing, or the ordeal or judgment of God. In the
purgation by oath, he began by calling on God to witness
that he was innocent both in word and work of the crime
laid to his charge. He then produced his compurgators,
who swore that "they believed his oath to be upright and
clean S." It was required that these compuiators or
jurors should be his neighbours, or resident within the
jurisdiction of the court, freeholders who had never been
arraigned for theft, ior ever convicted of perjury, and
who were now acknowled ed for " true men" by all present. Their number differed according to the custom of
* list. Ram. 415, 416.
t Leg. Sax. 117. This is evidently the origin of our grand juries. Mr. Reeves,
in his valuable history of the English law, says, that the earliest mention of
a trial by jury, that bears a near resemblance to that which this proceeding
became in after-times, is in the constitution of Clarendon under Henry II.,
which orders that if nobody appears to accuse an offender before -the arch
deacon, the sheriff; at the request of the bishop, faciet jurare duodecim
legales homines de vicineto, seu de villa, quod inde veritatem secundum
conscientiam suam manifestabunt, p. 87. This appears to me to be no more
than an inquest resembling that of the Saxon times mentioned in the preceding law of Ethelred. They are accusers or witnesses, not judges.
I The oaths are in Wilkins, Leg. Sax. 63, 64.




ï~~34.

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VII

the district; a:d was always increased, if the testimony
of the lord were wanting, or had proved unfavourable.
They were sometimes appointed by the judges, sometimes drawn by lot, often brought into the court by the
party himself, an indulgence which enabled him to rest
his fate on the decision of his friends and dependants,
whom he might already have prejudiced in his favour.
In Wessex he was permitted to choose thirty jurors, of
whom   fifteen were rejected by the judges: in EastAnglia and Northumbria he produced forty-eight, out of
wlWm   twenty-four were appointed by ballot*. If they
corroborated his oath by their own in the form established by law, his innocence was acknowledged.
If, on the contrary, recourse was had to the ordeal,
pledges were given for the trial, and the time was fixed
by the court. As the decision was now left to the Almighty, three days were spent by the accused in fasting
and prayer. On the third he was adjured by the priest
not to go to the ordeal, if he were conscious of guilt; he
was then communicated with these words: "May this
" body and blood of Christ be to thee a proof of inno" cence this day:" after which, he again swore that he
was guiltless of the crime of which he had been accused. The ordeals, which were most in use, were those
by hot water and fire. For the former a fire was kindled
under a caldron in a remote part of the church. At a
certain depth below the surface, which was augmented
in the absence of a favourable character from the lord,
was placed a stone or piece of iron of a certain weight.
Strangers were excluded: the accuser and the accused,
each attended by twelve friends, proceeded to the spot;
and the two parties were arranged in two lines opposite
each other. After the litanies had been recited, a per* Leg. Sax. 8. 12. 27. 47.125. 269. 264. At Winchelsea the institution
continued in the hundred court aslate as the reign of Henry VI. In the
leiger-book of the borough, the compurgators are called, like our presoent
juries, the country by whom the prisoner is tried. See w extract in Sir
F. Palgrave's Eng. Commonwealh, ii. cxvii.




ï~~A. D. 1066.]   OBSTACLES TO JUSTICE.

340

son was deputed from each line to examine the caldron,
and if they agreed that the water boiled, and the stone
was placed at the proper depth, the accused advanced,
plunged in his arm, and took out the weight. The priest
immediately wrapped a clean linen cloth round the part
which was scalded, fixed on it the seal of the church,
and opened it again on the third day. If the arm were
perfectly healed, the accused was pronounced innocent:
if not, he suffered the punishment of his offence. In
the ordeal by fire, the same precautions were employed
in respect of the number and position of the attendants.
Near the fire a space was measured equal to nine of the
prisoner's feet, and divided by lines into three equal
parts. By the first stood a small stone pillar.   At the
beginning of the mass a bar of iron of the weight of one
ur three pounds, was laid on the fire; at the last collect
it was taken off, and placed on the pillar. The prisoner
immediately grasped it in his hand, made three steps on
the lines previously traced on the floor, and threw it
down. The treatment of the burn, and the indications
of guilt or innocence, were the same as those in the ordeal
by hot water*.
Before I dismiss this subject, I may observe that the
national manners opposed many obstacles to the impartial administration of justice. The institution of lord
and vassal secured to the litigants both abettors and protectors; and the custom of making presents on all occasions, polluted the purity of every tribunal.  In criminal
prosecutions conviction was generally followed by pecuniary punishments: of which a part, if not the whole,
SLeg. Sax. 26, 27. 53. 61. 131. It is evident from our ancient writers,
that many persons established their innocence by these trials, whence it
has been inferred that the clergy were in possession of a secret, by which
they either prevented, or rapidly cured, the burn. Yet it is difficult to con
ceive that such a secret, so widely diffused, and so frequently applied,
could have escaped the knowledge of judges and legislators, anxious to
prevent the commission of crime; or, if it did not, to account for the con.
duct of such persons in continuing for several centuries to enforce the tr'al
by ordeal for the discovery of guilt, while they knew that the whole process
Was an imposture.




ï~~350

ANGLO-SAXONS.

CHAP. VII.

was the perquisite of the principal judge, or of the lord
of the court. In civil causes the influence of money was
employed to retard or accelerate the proceedings, to
defeat the upright, or support the iniquitous, claimant.
Bribery, under the disguise of presents, found its way
to the prince on the throne, as well as to the reeve inhis
court. When Athelstan the priest was prosecuted for
theft and sacrilege by his bishop, he sold an estate at a
nominal price to the ealdorman Wulstan, on condition
that he would prevent the trial; and when Alfwin, abbot
of Ramsey, despaired of protecting the interests of his
monastery against the superior influence of Alfric, he
gave twenty marks of gold to king Edward, five to queen
Editha, for the interposition of the royal authority min his
favour *. We repeatedly meet with complaints of the
expense and upcertainty of judicial proceedings; and
many individuals deemed it more prudent to sit down in
silence under their present losses, than to injure themselves still more deeply by purchasing the protection of
their friends and judges t.
The crimes to which the Anglo-Saxons were principally addicted, were homicide and theft. Among men
of violent passions, often intoxicated, always armed,
quarrels, riots, and murders were inevitable; and as
long as the laws refused to exact blood for blood, the
right of inflicting punishment naturally devolved upon
the family of the slain. Hence arose those deadly, and
hereditary feuds, which for so many centuries disgraced
the legislation, and disturbed the tranquillity, of the
European nations. One murder provoked another: the
duty of revenge was transmitted as a sacred legacy to
posterity; and the chieftains of the same people often
regarded each other as more deadly enemies than the
very invaders against whom they were arrayed. Of this
the reader has already seen a memorable instance in the
alternate murders, which for several generations harassed

* Hist, Ram. 457. Hist. Elien. 4S2.

f-Ibid. 414, 457 455,




ï~~A. D. 1066.]  JUDICIAL PUNISHMENTS.

351

two of the most powerful families in Northumbria. To
an evil so deeply felt, and so loudly lamented, the legislature wanted courage to apply any other remedy than
that of pecuniary compensation; the usual expedient of
the savage, who has committed homicide, and is reduced
to the necessity either of constantly trembling for his
own life, or of purchasing with presents the forbearance
of his adversary. This inadequate species of atonement
had been discovered by Tacitus among the ancient Germans*: it was matured into a complete but singular
system by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. Every freeman
was numbered in one of the three classes termed twyhind, syxhind, and twelfhind. The first comprised the
ceorls, the third the royal thanes; under the second
were numbered the intermediate orders of society. The
were of these classes, the legal value of their lives, and
legal compensation for their murder, advanced in proportion from two to six, and from six to twelve, hundred
shillings. But that of an ealdorman was twice, of an
etheling three times, of a king six times the were of a
royal thane '. To explain the manner in which the were
was demanded and paid, let us suppose that a thane of
the twelfhind class had been murdered. The homicide
might, if he pleased, openly brave the resentment of
those whose duty it was to revenge the murder: or he
might seek to fortify himself against their attempts
within the walls of his own house; or he might flee for
protection to one of the asylums appointed by the laws.
In none of these cases were his enemies permitted to
proceed immediately to the work of vengeance. The
object of the legislature was to gain time, that the pas* Suscipere tam inimicitias seu patris, seu propinqui, quam amicitias
necesse est.-Luitur etiam homicidium certo armentorum pc pecorum numero, recipitque satisfactionem universa domus. Tac. Germ. xxi.
t Leg. 53. 64. 71. On account of the progressive rise of the were, all
above the rank of ceorls were called dear-born. Leg. 20. The were was
the great privilege of the higher classes. For every offence against them
was punished in proportion to their were, and in consequence their persons and properties were better secured than those of their inferiors. I eg.
25, 37. 39.40




ï~~-P2 9

r _ _. - - -

00G                ANGLO-SAXONS.         [CHAP VII.
sions might cool, and the parties be reconciled. If he
were found in the open air, it was unlawful to put him
to death, unless he obstinately refused to surrender. If
he shut himself up in his house, it might indeed be
surrounded to prevent his escape, but a week must be
suffered to elapse before any hostile attempt could be
made. If he sought an asylum, the palace of a king,
etheling, or archbishop, afforded him a respite of nine
days, a consecrated church, and the house of an ealdorman, or bishop, a respite of seven days. Sometimes he
preferred to fight, and much innocent blood was shed:
for it was the duty of the vassal on such occasions to
succour his lord, and of the lord to hasten with his retainers to the aid of his vassal. Sometimes he surrendered himself a captive into the hands of his enemies,
who were compelled to keep him unhurt for the space
of thirty days. If, during that interval, he could procure sureties for the payment of the were, he was set at
liberty; otherwise his person and his life were abandoned to the mercy of his captors*. When the were
was offered, the following was the proceeding according
to law. Twelve sureties, of whom eight were paternal
and four maternal relatives of the murderer, gave bond
for the faithful payment of the mulct; and immediately
both parties swore on their arms "to keep the king's
" peace" towards each other. After the lapse of three
weeks, one hundred and twenty shillings, the healsfang,
or price of liberation from captivity, were divided among
the father, the sons, and the brothers of the slain. Three
weeks later an equal sum, under the name of manbote,
was paid to the lord, as a compensation for the loss of
his vassal t. After another interval of three weeks the
fight-wite, or penalty for fighting, which differed in its
amount according to circumstances, was received by the
king, or the lord within whose jurisdiction the murder
* Leg. 43, 44. 110.
+ The maubote for one of the twyhind class was thirty, of the syiblhied,
eighty shillings. Leg. 25.




ï~~A. D. 1066.]

THEFT AND ROBBERY.

353

had been committed. Another delay of twenty-one days
was allowed before the first general payment of the were
to all the relations of the deceased: and then terms were
amicably adjusted for the liquidation of the remainder
by instalments in money or cattle. When the atonement was completed, the families were reconciled, and
all remembrance of the offence was supposed to be obliterated *
Robbery was another species of crime, the constant
repetition of which disturbed the peace of society, and
bade defiance to the wisdom and severity of the legislature. It prevailed among every order of men. We
meet with it in the clergy as well as the laity; among
thanes no less than ceoris, These depredators frequently
associated in bands. Within the number of seven they
were termed in law theofas: above that number but
below thirty-six they formed a hlothe: if they were still
more numerous, they were denominated an army; and
to each of these different designations a different punishment was assigned 'i'. In an open and thinly inhabited
country it was easy for plunderers of this description to
drive away by stealth, or carry off by force, the cattle from
distant farms. To impede the disposal of property which
had been stolen in this manner, the legislature encumbered every legal sale with a multiplicity of oaths and
forms; and to promote its discovery, offered to the owner
every facility, which might enable him to pursue the
offenders through the neighbouring counties*. But the
frequency proves the inutility of these enactments; and
from the increasing severity of the punishment we may
infer that the evil was stubborn and unconquerable. At
first the thief was condemned to make threefold reparation; afterwards to pay the amount of his were, or suffer
banishment or death: then his property was confiscated
to the crown, and his life was placed at the mercy of the
king; lastly he was ordered to be put to death without
the possibility of pardon, and one-third of his property
was given to the king, a second to the gild or tything
* Leg. 53, 54, 75, 269, 270.  Leg. 17.  I Leg. 18, 41, 48, 58, 66, 69, 80, 81.
VOL. 1.    30




ï~~354

ANTGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VIL.

from which he had stolen, and the remainder to his
widow    and   children *.  This   severity  was however
mitigated by Athelstan; and the life of the thief was
spared, if he were under the age of fifteen, or had stolen
to a less amount than the value of a shilling. Canute
abolished the punishment of death altogether.       His object was to chastise the offender, but at the same time
to allow him time to repent. On the first conviction the
thief was condemned to make double reparation to the
man whom he had injured, to pay his were to the king.
and to find sureties for his future behaviour. A repetition of the crime subjected him to the loss of a hand, or
a foot, or of both. If he reverted again to his former
practices, the incorrigible offender was either scalped, or
suffered the loss of his eyes, nose, ears, and upper lip.
So strangely blended were lenity and cruelty in the
judicial punishments of our ancestors t.
Of the several classes hitherto described as constituting the Anglo-Saxon commonwealth, the most numerous
was that of the cecorles attached to the glebe. It has
been disputed whether they were freemen or slaves: but,
give them what denomination you please, the fact is
certain, that they could not separate themselves from
the spot on which they were b.rn, nor emancipate themselves from the service of the lord, by whom they were
owned.Â~ If ever they acquired the full rights of freemen,
they derived the benefit from his wants or his gratitude,
prevailing on him to commute for certain the uncertain
conditions of their servitude, or to accept a fixed and
annual payment in lieu of all other services. There
* Leg. 2, 7, 12, 17, 65.          t Leg. 70, 138.
$ According to the enumeration in Domesday these ceorles under the names
of villeins, cottars and bordars, amounted in England to 183,024, whilst the
freemen were only 30,005, the slaves 26,552. The burghers, many of whom
were ceorles of the same desciiption, were numbered at 17,105. See table at
end of first vol. of Sir James Mackintosh's history.
They could be transferred at the will of their lord from his manor to the
manor of another lord. Thus when Ethelred, dux et patricuis gentis merciorum, gave Readoner to the church of Worcester, to increase the value of
the gift, he took, with permission of King Alfred, six men from the royal
villa of Bensinglon, and "booked them with their teans and tudder" (their
families and posterity) into Readoran, "for the church of Worcester, as a
"perpetual inheritance tr ever." Ced. Dipl. ii. s. I19.




ï~~A. D. 10 65j  ANGLO(-SAXON ST AVES.

355

remains, however, another class of men of still inferior
caste, slaves in the foll sense of the word, and condemned to suffer the evils of bondage in its most degrading form*. That all the first adventurers were
freemen, there can be little doubt: but in the course of
their conquests it is probable that they found, it is certain that they made, a great number of slaves. The
posterity of these men inherited the lot of their fathers*
and their number was continually increased by the freeborn Saxons, who had been reduced to the same condition by debt, or had been made captives in war, or had
been deprived of liberty in punishment of their crimes,
or had spontaneously surrendered it to escape the hrrors of want "   The degradation and enslavement of a
freeman were performed before a competent number
of witnesses. The unhappy man laid on the ground his
sword and his lance, the symbols of the free, took up
the bill and the goad, the implements of slavery, and
falling on his knees, placed his head in token of submission under the hands of his master J.
It should, however, be observed, that the hardships of
their condition were considerably mitigated by the influence of religion. The bishop was appointed the protector of the slaves within his diocese: and his authority
was employed in shielding them from oppression. Their
lords were frequently admonished that slave and freeman were of equal value in the eyes of the Almighty;
* Leg. 15.53. 103. It appears that slaves, no less than freemen, were
sureties for the behaviour of each other. In the reign of Athelstan, when
the punishment of theft was the most severe, a law was made respecting
the offences committed by slaves against others than their masters. A
man thief was ordered to be stoned to death by twenty of his fellows, each
of whom was punished with three whippings, if he failed thrice to his the
culprt. A woman thief was burnt by eighty women slaves, each of whom
brought three billets of wood to the execution. If she ihiled, she was likewise subjected to the punishment of three whippings. After the death of
the offender, each slave paid three liennies as a fine, to the proprietor.
Leg. Athel. apud Brompt. 849.
f Leg. 15,16. 22. That Saxons of one nation made slaves of the Saxons
of another nation, if taken in war, appears from Bede, iv. 22. This custom
must have furnished a great number of slaves.
$ Leg. 271.




ï~~356

A.NG iO-s.kXONs.

[ tAmP, VII

that both had been redeemed at the same price; and
that the master would be judged with the same rigour
as he had exercised towards his dependants*. Nor
were these unfortunate beings left without the hope of
recovering their liberty; and this pleasing prospect
acted as a powerful stimulus on their industry; for we
read of some who acquired property sufficient to purchase their freedom. Others owed that benefit to the
gratitude of their masters, many to the pity of the humane and charitable t. When the celebrated Wilfrid
had received from Edelwalch, king of Sussex, the donation of the isle of Selsey, with two hundred and fifty
male and female slaves, the bishop instructed them in
the Christian faith, baptized them, and immediately made
them free $. Their manumission was an act of charity
frequently inculcated by the preachers; and in most of
the wills, which are still extant, we meet with directions
for granting liberty to a certain number of slaves. But
the commiseration of the charitable  vas more excited
ny the condition of the wile theow (those who had been
reduced to slavery by a judicial sentence) than of such
as had been born in that state, and had never tasted the
blessing of liberty. By the bishops in the council of
Calcuith it was agreed to free at their decease every
slave of that description; and similar provisions are
inserted in the wills of the lady Wenfleda, of Athelstan,
son of king Ethelred, and of Elfric, archbishop of CanterburyS. Their manumission, to be legal, was to be
performed in public, in the market, in the court of the
hundred, or in the church at the foot of the principal
altar. The lord taking the hand of the slave, offerect it
* Speln. Con. 405.
f Thus " Elfy the Red bought himself out for one pound." Lye, app. v.
Brightmar purchased the freedom of himself, his wife iEliva, their children, and.randelhildren, for two pounds. Hicks, Diss Epis. 9. Siwin
b ought Sydefleda into perpetual freedom for five shillings nlut some peace.
tilmnar bought Sethryth fur three maucuses to be free after the (dlathl of
himselt and his wife. Lye, app.,.
$ Bed. iv. 13.
Wil. Con. 171. Mores, p. 63. Lye, app. v. Hicks, praf xxii. See
'lso I -list. Ram. 407.




ï~~A. L). 1066.]  ANGLO SAXON SLA V ES.

357

to the bailiff, sheriff, or clergyman, gave him  a sword
and a lance, and told him that the ways were open, and
that he was at liberty to go wheresoever he pleased*.
Before I conclude this subject, it is proper to add
that the sale and purchase of slaves publicly prevailed
(luring the whole of the Anglo-Saxon period. These
unhappy men were sold like cattle in the market; and
there is reason to believe that a slave was usually estimated at four times the price of an ox t. To the importation of foreign slaves no impediment had ever been
opposed: the export of native slaves was forbidden
under severe penalties $. But habit and the pursuit of
gain had taught the Northumbrians to bid defiance to
all the efforts of the legislature. Like the savages of
Africa, they are said to have carried off, not only their
own countrymen, but even their friends and relatives;
and to have sold them  as slaves in the ports of the con
tinent Â~. The men of Bristol were the last to abandon
this nefarious traffic. Their agents travelled into every
part of the country: they were instructed to give the
highest price for females in a state of pregnancy; and
the slave-ships regularly sailed from that port to Ireland, where they were sure of a ready and profitable
market. Their obstinacy yielded, however, not to the
severity of the magistrates, but the zeal of Wulstan,
bishop of Worcester. That prelate visited Bristol several years successively; resided for months together in
the neighbourhood; and preached on every Sunday
against the barbarity and irreligion of the dealers in
slaves. At last the merchants were convinced by his
reasons, and in their gild solemnly bound themselves to
renounce the trade. One of the members was soon
# Leg. ii. 229. 270. If a slave lived for a year and a day in any borough or castle, without being reclaimed by his master, he became free.
New Rymer, i. 2.
t John bought Gunilda from Gada for half a pound of silver, and gave
her to the church of St. Peter. Lye, app. v. Wulfric bought Elfgitha for
half a pound. Egilsig bought W nric for an yre of gold, Ibid. The toll
in the market of Lewes was one penny for the sale of an ox, four pennies
for that of a slave. Domesday.
Slbeg. 17. 93. 107. 134.               Malms.8




ï~~ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VIL

afterwards tempted to violate his engagement.  His
perfidy was punished with the loss of his eyes *.
From the population of the country we may pass to
the inhabitants of the cities and boroughs; of which a
few perhaps might be of recent origin, having sprung up
under the protection of some powerful chieftain, or celebrated monastery, but the greater part had existed from
the time of the Romans, and successively passed into
the hands of the Britons, Saxons, and Northmen. Of
these the more early history is lost in the gloom of
ages: it is only towards the close of the Anglo-Saxon
dynasty that we are able to discover some, and those
but imperfect, traces of their municipal polity, which
seems to have been founded on the same principles as that
which prevailed in the surrounding country. In both we
discover the lord and the tenant; the lord with his reeve,
his court, his right of tallage, and his receipt of rents,
and fines, and forfeitures; and, on the other hand, the
tenant, holding of the lord by every variety of service,
from that which was deemed honourable to the lowest
and most debasing. In the towns, however, this principle was variously modified to meet the wants and
conveniences of large masses of men congregated on
one spot: and hence it happened that their inhabitants
gradually acquired advantages denied to their equals in
the country. They possessed the benefit of a market
for the sale of their wares and merchandise; they were
protected by their union and numbers from the depredations of robbers and banditti; and, which subsequently proved to them a source of incalculable benefit,
they formed one body politic with common rights and
common interests. They had their hall or hanse-house
in which they met and deliberated. they exercised the
power of enacting by (or borough) laws for the government and improvement of the borough 't; and they pos* Ang. Sac. ii. 258.
$ In tte charter of Thurstan, the first Norman archbishop of York,
which secured to the burgesses of Beverley all the privileges enjoyed by




ï~~A. D. 1066.3       CITIES AND BOROUGHS.                     9
sessed, by lease or purchase, houses, pasture, and forestlands for the common use and benefit of the whole
body*. This gradually led to the emancipation of the
inhabitants: for the lords chiefly valued their own rights
on account of the income derived from them; and,
therefore, they felt no objection to transfer the exercise
of such rights to the burgesses themselves, in return
for a large sum of money, or for a yearly rent during a
certain term. Of such bargains there are many instances in Domesday "'.
The larger towns were divided into districts, called
in some places " wards," in some " shires," and in
others "ferlings, or quarters" $. Among the inhabitants we meet with men of considerable wealth and influeiace, holding over their own property in the borough,
and transmitting with it to their heirs, the enviable
jurisdiction of sac and soe Â~. They had also their guilds
the citizens of York, we find mention of suam nanshus, ut ibi pertractent
statuta sue ad.... totius villktus emendationem. New Rym. i. 10. Now it
should be observed that this charter, as appears on the very face of it, is
not a grant of new, but a confirmation of former rights; and consequently
refers to the Anglo-Saxon period. It supposes that the burgesses are
already a body corporate with the right of self-government.
* Domesd. i. 1, 2. 100. 189. 154. 366; ii. 107.
f Thus the men of Dover had bargained with the king to futrnish to him
yearly twenty ships manned with twenty-one mariners each, during fifteen
days, in return for the privilege of exercising over themselves the jurisdiction of sac and soc (Domesd. i. 1). The men of Oxford paid to him Â~20
a year, and a certain quantity of honey, in lieu of all customs (Ibid. 154).
The citizens of Worcester had bought up every burthen but the land rent.
Ibid. 172.
$ Thus Cambridge and Stamford were divided into wards (Ibid.189. 36);
York into shires (298); Huntingdon into ferlings (203).
Â~ In Lincoln there were twelve individuals possessing this jurisdiction
during the reign of Edward the Confessor: at the time of the compilation
of Domesday two of them were still alive and in possession; of five the
sons were in possession; and the rights of the remaining five were held
by five persons, probably heirs or purchasers of the property. Some writers have considered these twelve as local judges: but the record describes them in exactly the same words as it describes the holders of the
same jurisdiction in several manors in the country " lagemen, i. e., ha" hentes sacam et socam." Domesd. i. 336. One of them, Ulf the son of
Swartebrande, had also the right of toll and team. Ibid. Thus also m
London several churches and citizens had the same right of sac and soc
on their own property. Habeant socas suas cum omnibus cousuetudinibus; ita quod hospites qui in sokis hospitabuntur, nulli dent consuetu



ï~~360

ANGLO-SAXONS.

[CHAP. VII.

or companies, consisting in some, and probably in all,
instances, of men of the same trade or profession, and
possessing common property, and a common hall for
the purposes both of consultation and entertainment *.
The principal magistrate was the provost, called the
wic-reeve, to distinguish him from the shire-reeve, or
reeve of the county. Whether he owed his situation to
the nomination of the lord, or to the choice of the burgesses, is perhaps a doubtful question. The wic-reeve
of the more populous towns is always mentioned as an
officer of great importance, and sometimes numbered
among the noblest in the land*. It was his duty to collect the revenue of the king or lord, to watch over his
interests, and to exercise within the limits of the borough
the same authority which the sheriff exercised within
the shire. From the manner in which London, Winchester, York, Exeter, and some other places, are casually mentioned by the most ancient chroniclers, it is
plain that the inhabitants formed distinct bodies of men,
not only possessing forms of municipal government, but
also exercising considerable influence in matters of
state.
In the different boroughs, sometimes in different divisions of the same borough, there prevailed a variety of
local customs and services, the establishment of which originated in the wants, the caprice, or the favour of the several proprietors. For these the reader must consult the
pages of Domesday, the only source of authentic informadines nisi illi cujus soka fuerit, vel ministro suno quem ibi posuerit. New
Rym. i. 11. I consider this charter as a confirmation of privileges, "quae
' hahuerunt aetecessores eorum." Ibid.
" There was in London a guild of English knights possessing a soke
and land both within and without the city (New Rym. i. 11; Stevens, ii.
89); and another in Winchester, near the East gate. They had a common hall, ubi potabant gildam suam. The land belonging to them let for
forty-two shillings. Domes. iv. 531.
4 Chron. Sax. 97. 102. The most ancient wic-reeve mentioned in history
is 3lrecca (Black or Blake), reeve of the city of Lincoln in 628. Bede ii. 16.
t Chron. Sax. 135. 143. 148. 150. 174. Encom. Emme, 15. Gul. Pict.
141. &c




ï~~A. D. 1066.)   CITIES AND BORtOUGHSI.
tion on the subject: yet even there he willv -
only imperfect and unsatisfactory notice.,i.h t
dentally escaped from the pens of the conmp e  xvrs
they sought to record, not the immunities awl ci  K
of the people, but the claims and the reeiptscif
Soereig.

VOL. 1.31




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