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BOHN'S ANTIQUARIAN LIBRARY.
Old English Chronicles.
ETHELWERD--ASSER'S LIFE OF ALFRED--GEOFFREY
OF MONMOUTH--GILDAS--NENNIUS--AND
RICHARD OF CIRENCESTER.
GEORGE BELL AND SONS
LONDON: PORTUGAL ST., LINCOLN'S INN.
CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO.
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
BOMBAY: A.H. WHEELER AND CO.
Old English Chronicles,
INCLUDING
ETHELWERD'S CHRONICLE.
ASSER'S LIFE OF ALFRED.
GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH'S BRITISH HISTORY.
GILDAS. NENNIUS.
TOGETHER WITH THE
SPURIOUS CHRONICLE OF RICHARD OF CIRENCESTER.
EDITED, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES,
BY J.A. GILES, D.C.L.,
LATE FELLOW OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD.
[Illustration]
LONDON
GEORGE BELL & SONS
1906
[_Reprinted from Stereotype plates._]
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
Of the present volume it will be sufficient to inform the reader that it
contains Six Chronicles, all relating to the history of this country
before the Norman Conquest, and all of essential importance to those who
like to study history in the very words of contemporary writers.
We will at once proceed to enumerate them severally.
CHAP. I.--ETHELWERD'S CHRONICLE.
The short chronicle, which passes under the name of Ethelwerd, contains
few facts which are not found in the Saxon Chronicle its precursor. Of
the author we know no more than he has told us in his work. "Malmesbury
calls him 'noble and magnificent' with reference to his rank; for he was
descended from king Alfred: but he forgets his peculiar praise--that of
being the only Latin historian for two centuries; though, like Xenophon,
Caesar, and Alfred, he wielded the sword as much as the pen."[1]
Ethelwerd dedicated his work to, and indeed wrote it for the use of his
relation Matilda, daughter of Otho the Great, emperor of Germany, by his
first empress Edgitha or Editha; who is mentioned in the Saxon
Chronicle, A.D. 925, though not by name, as given to Otho by her
brother, king Athelstan. Ethelwerd adds, in his epistle to Matilda, that
Athelstan sent _two_ sisters, in order that the emperor might take his
choice; and that he preferred the mother of Matilda.
The chronology of Ethelwerd is occasionally a year or two at variance
with other authorities. The reader will be guided in reckoning the
dates, not by the heading of each paragraph, A.D. 891, 975, &c., but by
the actual words of the author inserted in the body of the text.
I have translated this short chronicle from the original text as well as
I was able, and as closely as could be to the author's text; but I am by
no means certain of having always succeeded in hitting on his true
meaning, for such is the extraordinary barbarism of the style, that I
believe many an ancient Latin classic, if he could rise from his grave,
would attempt in vain to interpret it.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Ingram, p. viii. note]
CHAP. II.--ASSER'S LIFE OF ALFRED.
This work is ascribed, on its own internal authority, to Asser, who is
said to have been bishop of St. David's, of Sherborne or of Exeter, in
the time of king Alfred. Though most of the public events recorded in
this book are to be found in the Saxon Chronicle, yet for many
interesting circumstances in the life of our great Saxon king we are
indebted to this biography alone. But, as if no part of history is ever
to be free from suspicion, or from difficulty, a doubt has been raised
concerning the authenticity of this work.[2] There is also another short
treatise called the Annals of Asser, or the Chronicle of St. Neot,
different from the present: it is published in vol. iii. of Gale and
Fell's Collection of Historians. And it has been suspected by a living
writer that both of these works are to be looked upon as compilations of
a later date. The arguments upon which this opinion is founded are drawn
principally from the abrupt and incoherent character of the work before
us. But we have neither time nor space to enter further into this
question. As the work has been edited by Petrie, so has it been here
translated, and the reader, taking it upon its own merits, will find
therein much of interest about our glorious king, concerning whom he
will lament with me that all we know is so little, so unsatisfying.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2: See Wright's Biographia Literaria Anglo-Saxonica, p. 405.
Dr. Lingard, however, in his recent work on the History and Antiquities
of the Anglo-Saxon Church, vol. ii. pp. 424-428, has replied to Mr.
Wright's objections, and vindicated the authenticity of Asser's Life.]
CHAP. III.--GILDAS.
Of Gildas, the supposed author of the third work contained in this
volume, little or nothing is known. Mr. Stevenson, in the preface to his
edition of the original Latin, lately published by the English
Historical Society, says: "We are unable to speak with certainty as to
his parentage, his country, or even his name, the period when he lived,
or the works of which he was the author." Such a statement is surely
sufficient to excuse us at present from saying more on the subject, than
that he is supposed to have lived, and to have written what remains
under his name, during some part of the sixth century. There are two
legends[3] of the life of St. Gildas, as he is termed, but both of them
abound with such absurdities that they scarcely deserve to be noticed in
a serious history. Of the present translation, the first or historic
half is entirely new; in the rest, consisting almost entirely of texts
from Scripture, the translator has thought it quite sufficient to follow
the old translation of Habington, correcting whatever errors he could
detect, and in some degree relieving the quaint and obsolete character
of the language. It has been remarked by Polydore Virgil, that Gildas
quotes no other book but the Bible; and it may be added, that his
quotations are in other words than those of the Vulgate or common
authorized translation. The title of the old translation is as follows:
"The Epistle of Gildas the most ancient British Author: who flourished
in the yeere of our Lord, 546. And who by his great erudition,
sanctitie, and wisdome, acquired the name of _Sapiens_. Faithfully
translated out of the originall Latine." London, 12mo. 1638.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: Both these works are given in the appendix to the editor's
"History of the Ancient Britons."]
CHAP. IV.--NENNIUS.
The History of the Britons, which occupies the fourth place in this
volume is generally ascribed to Nennius, but so little is known about
the author, that we have hardly any information handed down to us
respecting him except this mention of his name. It is also far from
certain at what period the history was written, and the difference is no
less than a period of two hundred years, some assigning the work to
seven hundred and ninety-six, and others to nine hundred and
ninety-four. The recent inquiries of Mr. Stevenson, to be found in the
Preface to his new edition of the original Latin, render it unnecessary
at present to delay the reader's attention from the work itself. The
present translation is substantially that of the Rev. W. Gunn, published
with the Latin original in 1819, under the following title: "The
'Historia Britonum,' commonly attributed to Nennius; from a manuscript
lately discovered in the library of the Vatican Palace at Rome: edited
in the tenth century, by Mark the Hermit; with an English version,
facsimile of the original, notes and illustrations." The kindness of
that gentleman has enabled the present editor to reprint the whole, with
only a few corrections of slight errata, which inadvertency alone had
occasioned, together with the two prologues and several pages of
genealogies, which did not occur in the MS. used by that gentleman.
CHAP. V.--GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH.
Geoffrey, surnamed of Monmouth, is celebrated in English literature as
the author, or at least the translator, of _Historia Britonum_, a work
from which nearly all our great vernacular poets have drawn the
materials for some of their noblest works of fiction and characters of
romance. He lived in the early part of the twelfth century, and in the
year 1152 was raised to the bishopric of St. Asaph.
The first of his writings, in point of time, was a Latin translation of
the Prophecies of Merlin, which he undertook at the request of Alexander
bishop of Lincoln. His next work was that on which his fame principally
rests, the _Historia Britonum_, dedicated to Robert, duke of Gloucester,
who died in 1147. Into this second work he inserted the Latin
translation above-mentioned, which now appears as the seventh book of
_Historia Britonum_. A third composition has also been ascribed to
Geoffrey, entitled _Vita Merlini_, in Latin hexameter verse: but the
internal evidence which it affords, plainly proves that it is the work
of a different author.
Although the list of our Chroniclers may be considered as complete,
without the addition of this work, yet we have thought it worthy of a
place in our series for many reasons. It is not for historical accuracy
that the book before us is valuable; for the great mass of scholars
have come to the decided conviction that it is full of fables. But it is
the romantic character which pervades the narrative, together with its
acknowledged antiquity, which make it desirable that the book should not
sink into oblivion. Those who desire to possess it as a venerable relic
of an early age, will now have an opportunity of gratifying their wish;
whilst others, who despise it as valueless, in their researches after
historic truth, may, nevertheless, find some little pleasure in the
tales of imagination which it contains.
The value of this work is best evinced by the attention which was paid
to it for many centuries; Henry of Huntingdon made an abstract of it,
which he subjoined as an appendix to his history: and Alfred of
Beverley, a later writer, in his abridgment of this work which still
exists, has omitted Geoffrey's name, though he calls the author of the
original, Britannicus.
An English translation of the work was first published by Aaron
Thompson, of Queen's College, Oxford, [8vo. Lond. 1718.] and lately
revised and reprinted by the editor of this volume, [8vo. Lond. 1842.] A
long preface is prefixed to that translation, wherein the author
endeavoured to prove Geoffrey of Monmouth to be a more faithful
historian than he is generally considered to be. His words are as
follow:--"I am not unsensible that I expose myself to the censures of
some persons, by publishing this translation of a book, which they think
had better been suppressed and buried in oblivion, as being at present
generally exploded for a groundless and fabulous story, such as our
modern historians think not worthy relating, or at least mention with
contempt. And though it is true, several men, and those of learning too,
censure this book who have but little considered it, and whose studies
no ways qualify them to judge of it; yet, I own this consideration has
for a long time deterred me from publishing it: and I should not at last
have been able to surmount this difficulty, without the importunity and
encouragement of others, to whom I owe a singular regard. I had indeed
before I entered upon the work perused the principal writers both for
and against this history, the effect of which upon my own judgment, as
to the swaying it to the one side more than the other, was but very
small; and I must confess, that I find the most learned antiquaries the
most modest in their opinions concerning it, and that it seems to me to
be a piece of great rashness, to judge peremptorily upon a matter,
whereof at this great distance of time there are no competent witnesses
on either side. At least I cannot but think it a sufficient apology for
my publishing this book, to consider only, that though it seems to
suffer under a general prejudice at present, yet it has not long done
so; but that upon its first appearing in the world, it met with a
universal approbation, and that too, from those who had better
opportunities of examining the truth of it, as there were then more
monuments extant, and the traditions more fresh and uncorrupted
concerning the ancient British affairs, than any critics of the present
age can pretend to; that it had no adversary before William of Newburgh
about the end of the reign of Richard the First, whose virulent
invective against it, we are told, proceeded from a revenge he thought
he owed the Welsh for an affront they had given him; that his opposition
was far from shaking the credit of it with our succeeding historians,
who have, most of them, till the beginning of the last century,
confirmed it with their testimonies, and copied after it, as often as
they had occasion to treat of the same affairs: that its authority was
alleged by king Edward the First and all the nobility of the kingdom, in
a controversy of the greatest importance, before Boniface the Eighth;
that even in this learned age, that is so industrious to detect any
impostures, which through the credulity of former times had passed upon
the world, the arguments against this history are not thought so
convincing, but that several men of equal reputation for learning and
judgment with its adversaries, have written in favour of it; that very
few have at last spoken decisively against it, or absolutely condemned
it; and that it is still most frequently quoted by our most learned
historians and antiquaries. All these considerations, I say, if they do
not amount to an apology for the history itself, show at least that it
deserves to be better known than at present it is; which is sufficient
to justify my undertaking the publishing of it."
It is unnecessary in the present day to prove that king Brute is a
shadowy personage, who never existed but in the regions of romance: but
as the reader may justly expect to find in this place some account of
the controversy which has existed respecting this work, the following
remarks will not be deemed inappropriate. There seems no good reason for
supposing that Geoffrey of Monmouth intended to deceive the world
respecting the history of which he professed to be the translator; and
it may be readily conceived that he did no more than fulfil the task
which he had undertaken, of rendering the book into Latin out of the
original language. But those who, even as late as the beginning of the
last century, supported the authenticity of the history, have grounded
their opinions on such arguments as the following:--
1. That, upon its first appearance in the world, the book met with
universal approbation, and that too from those who had better
opportunities of examining the truth of it, as there were then more
monuments extant, and the traditions were more fresh and uncorrupted,
concerning the ancient British affairs, than any critics of the present
age can pretend to.
2. That except William of Newburgh, about the end of the reign of
Richard I, it met with no opponents even down to the seventeenth
century, but was, on the contrary, quoted by all, in particular by
Edward I, in a controversy before Boniface the Eighth.
3. That we see in this history the traces of venerable antiquity.
4. That the story of Brute, and the descent of the Britons from the
Trojans, was universally allowed by Giraldus Cambrensis and others, and
was opposed for the first time by John of Wethamstede, [Nicolson's Eng.
Hist. Lit. 2nd ed. p. 1, c. v.] who lived in the 15th century: that
Polydore Virgil's contempt for it proceeded from his wish to preserve
unimpaired the glory of the Romans, and Buchanan's observations betray
his ignorance of the story.
5. That Leland, who lived under Henry the Eighth, Humphrey Lhwyd, Sir
John Price, Dr. Caius, Dr. Powel, and others, have supported the story
of Brute, etc.
Such arguments may have satisfied the credulous students of the
seventeenth century, but the more enlightened criticism of the present
day will no longer listen to them. It may not, however, be uninteresting
to hear the account which Thompson, the English translator gives of this
work, which in his own words, and with his additional remarks upon it,
is as follows:--"The story, as collected from himself, Leland, Bale, and
Pitts, is that Walter Mapes, _alias_ Calenius, archdeacon of Oxford, who
flourished in the reign of Henry I, and of whom Henry of Huntingdon, and
other historians as well as Geoffrey himself, make honourable mention,
being a man very curious in the study of antiquity, and a diligent
searcher into ancient libraries, and especially after the works of
ancient authors, happened while he was in Armorica to light upon a
History of Britain, written in the British tongue, and carrying marks of
great antiquity. And being overjoyed at it, as if he had found a vast
treasure, he in a short time after came over to England; where inquiring
for a proper person to translate this curious but hitherto unknown book,
he very opportunely met with Geoffrey of Monmouth, a man profoundly
versed in the history and antiquities of Britain, excellently skilled in
the British tongue, and withal (considering the time,) an elegant writer
both in verse and prose; and so recommended this task to him.
Accordingly, Geoffrey, being incredibly delighted with this ancient
book, undertook the translating of it into Latin, which he performed,
with great diligence, approving himself, according to Matthew Paris, a
faithful translator. At first he divided it into four books, written in
a plain simple style, and dedicated it to Robert, earl of Gloucester, a
copy whereof is said[4] to be at Bennet College, in Cambridge, which was
never yet published; but afterwards he made some alterations and divided
it into eight books, to which he added the book of Merlin's Prophecies,
which he had also translated from British verse into Latin prose,
prefixing to it a preface, and a letter to Alexander, bishop of Lincoln.
A great many fabulous and trifling stories are inserted in the history:
but that was not his fault; his business as a translator was to deliver
them faithfully such as they were, and leave them to the judgment of the
learned to be discussed.
"To prove the truth of this relation, and to answer at once all
objections against Geoffrey's integrity, one needs no other argument
than an assurance that the original manuscript which Geoffrey
translated, of whose antiquity the curious are able to judge in a great
measure by the character, or any ancient and authentic copy of it, is
yet extant. And indeed, archbishop Usher[5] mentions an old Welsh
Chronicle in the Cottonian Library, that formerly was in the possession
of that learned antiquary, Humphrey Lhwyd, which he says is thought to
be that which Geoffrey translated. But if that be the original
manuscript, it must be acknowledged that Geoffrey was not merely a
translator, but made some additions of his own: since, as that most
learned prelate informs us, the account that we have in this History of
the British Flamens, and Archflamens, is nowhere to be found in it. But
besides this, there are several copies of it in the Welsh tongue,
mentioned by the late ingenious and learned Mr. Lhwyd in his
'Archaeologia Britannica.' And I myself have met with a manuscript
history of our British affairs, written above a hundred years ago by Mr.
John Lewis, and shortly to be published, wherein the author says, that
he had the original of the British History in parchment written in the
British tongue before Geoffrey's time, as he concludes from this
circumstance, that in his book Geoffrey's preface was wanting, and the
preface to his book was the second chapter of that published by
Geoffrey. My ignorance of the Welsh tongue renders me unqualified for
making any search into these matters; and though the search should be
attended with never so much satisfaction, to those who are able to judge
of the antiquity of manuscripts, yet to the generality of readers, other
arguments would perhaps be more convincing."
The passages which we have here quoted at length, will give the reader
the most ample information concerning the nature of the question, and it
only remains to inform the reader what is my own opinion on this
long-agitated literary controversy.
To those who have read the plain and simple statements of Julius Caesar
and the other classic historians who have described the early state of
Britain, it will be morally certain that all such accounts as we have in
Geoffrey of Monmouth are purely fabulous. The uncertainty of every
thing, save the bare fact, connected with the siege of Troy, is so
great, that to connect its fortunes with those of a distant and at that
time unheard-of island like Britain, can be admissible only in the pages
of romance. But in the latter part of the work which contains the
history of Britain, during its conquest by the Saxons, we may possibly
find the germs of facts unnoticed elsewhere.
This view does not militate against the veracity of Geoffrey, who
professes to have translated from an original in the British language,
but whether any manuscript copy of this original now exists, is a point
which has not been satisfactorily ascertained. In 1811, the Rev. Peter
Roberts published the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, translated from
Welsh manuscripts, and being in substance almost identically the same as
Geoffrey's History of the Britons,--but it is most likely that these
Welsh MSS., which are all comparatively modern, are themselves
re-translations from the Latin of Geoffrey.
If no other arguments could be adduced to prove the utter incredibility
of the earlier parts of this history, the following Chronological Table
would furnish quite sufficient arguments to establish it, by the
extraordinary anachronisms which it contains. For instance, between the
reigns of Brutus and Leil, is an interval of 156 years; and yet Geoffrey
makes the capture of the ark contemporaneous with the reign of Brutus,
and the building of Solomon's temple with that of Leil. Now the interval
between these two events cannot by any possibility be extended beyond
eighty years. It is, moreover, impossible to bring the chronology of the
British kings themselves into harmony with the dates before Christ, as
there is no mention made of the exact interval between the taking of
Troy and Brutus's landing in Britain.
Geoffrey inscribes his work to Robert, earl of Gloucester, son of Henry
the Second.
GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY.
LATINUS
__________
| |
= AEneas = Lavinia (----)
| |
Ascanius |
| |
Sylvius = (Niece of Lavinia). I. 3.
Pandrasus |
| |
Ignoge = 1. Brutus at the age of 15 kills his father (I. 3.) Reigns
| twenty-four years. (II. 1.)
| At this time Eli governed Israel, and the ark was taken
| by the Philistines, and the sons of Hector reigned in
| Troy and Sylvius AEneas, uncle of Brutus, in Italy.
| (I. 17.)
--------------------------------
| | |
| Corinaeus Albanact Kamber II. 1.
| |
2. Locrin = 3. Guendoloena { Locrin by Estrildis has Sabre, who
r. 10 yrs. | 15 years. { being drowned in the Severn, gives
| { name to that river.
|
4. Maddan. II. 6. { At this time Samuel governed Israel,
40 yrs. { and Homer flourished.
|
-------------
| |
5. Mempricius Malim { Saul reigns in Judaea, Eurystheus in
20 yrs. { Lacedaemon.
|
6. Ebraucus { King David--Sylvius
40 yrs. { Latinus--Gad--Nathanand Asaph.
(or 60, _quaere_, II. 7, 8)
|
7. Brutus II., 12 yrs. and 19 other sons and 30 daughters, II. 8.
|
8. Leil { Solomon--Queen of Sheba--Sylvius
25 yrs. { Epitus.
|
9. Hudibras Capys--Haggai--Amos--Joel--Azariah.
39 yrs.
|
10. Bladud Elijah.
20 yrs. II. 10.
|
11. Leir
60 yrs. II. 11.
|
----------------------------------------------
| | |
12. Gonorilla = Maglaunus, Regan = Henuinus, Cordeilla = Aganippus,
5 yrs. | D. of | D. of K. of
| Albania. | Cornwall. Gaul.
| |
Margan 13. Cunedagius { Isaiah--Hosea--Rome built
33 yrs. { by Romulus and Remus.
|
14. Rivallo
|
----------------
| |
15. Gurgustius (----)
| |
16. Sisilius 17. Jago
|
|
18. Kinmarcus
|
19. Gorbogudo = Widen
|
-----------------
| |
Ferrex Porrex
Long civil wars.
At length arose Dunwallo Molmutius, son of Cloten, king of
Cornwall. II. 17.
20. Dunwallo Molmutius = Conwenna
40 yrs. |
------------------------------
| |
21. Belinus Brennius
5 yrs. in concert with Brennius.
|
22. Gurgiunt Brabtruc. III. 11.
|
23. Guithelin = Martia
|
24. Sisillius
|
-------------------
| |
25. Kimarus 26. Danius = Tangustela
|
27. Morvidus
|
-----------------------------------------------------
| | | | |
28. Gorbonian 29. Arthgallo 30. Elidure 31. Vigenius 32. Peredure
| | | | |
| Arthgallo was deposed in favour of Elidure, who, after a
| reign of five years, restored his brother, who reigned
| 10 years afterwards. Elidure then reigned a second time
| but was deposed by Vigenius and Peredure: after whose
| deaths he reigned a third time.
33. Gorbonian's | | | |
son, III. 19. | | | |
---------------- | | |
| | | | |
34. Margan 35. Enniaunus | 36. Idwallo 37. Runno
|
38. Geruntius
|
39. Catellus
40. Coillus 41. Porrex 42. Cherin
|
----------------------------------------
| | |
43. Fulgenius 44. Eldadus 45. Andragius
|
46. Urianus
47. Eliud 48. Cledaucus 49. Cletonus 50. Gurgintius 51. Merianus
52. Bleduno 53. Cap 54. Oenus 55. Sisillius
----------------------
| |
56. Blegabred 57. Arthmail
58. Eldol 59. Redion 60. Rederchius 61. Samuilpenissel 62. Pir
63. Capoir III. 19.
|
64. Cligueillus
|
65. Heli
|
-------------------------------------------
| | |
66. Lud. III. 20 67. Cassibellaun Nennius
Caesar's invasion took place during Cassibellaun's reign.
68. Tenuantius
| { Jesus Christ is born in
69. Kymbelinus { the reign of Kymbelinus
| { or Cymbeline.
| Claudius
-------------------------------- |
| | |
70. Guiderius 71. Arviragus = Genuissa
|
72. Marius
|
73. Coillus
|
74. Lucius IV. 19.
Lucius embraces Christianity: he dies, A.D. 156.
75. Severus
|
76. Bassianus or Caracalla
77. Carausius, V. 3. 78. Allectus
79. Asclepiodotus 80. Coel
|
Helena = 81. Constantius
| r. 11 yrs.
|
82. Constantine, emperor of Rome
83. Octavius assumes the crown of Britain.
|
(Daughter) = 84. Maximian, V. 11.
85. Gratian Municeps
At this time the Picts and Scots harass the Britons, who apply to
the Romans.
86. Constantine, prince of Armorica, comes to assist the Britons.
|
------------------------------------------
| | |
87. Constans 89. Aurelius Ambrosius 90. Utherpendragon = Igerna
VIII. 2. VIII. 17. | VIII. 19.
|
88. Vortigern usurps the throne (VI. 9) and calls in |
the Saxons. |
-----------------
| |
91. Arthur IX. 1. Anne
King Arthur dies, A.D. 542 (XI. 3.)
92. Constantine 93. Aurelius Conan 94. Wortiporius 95. Malgo
96. Careticus 97. Cadwan
---------- |
| | |
Peanda (sister) = 98. Cadwallo
|
99. Cadwallader
Cadwallader goes to Rome, where he is confirmed in the faith of Christ
by pope Sergius, and dies A.D. 689.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: See Pitts and Voss.]
[Footnote 5: Brit. Eccl. Prim. cap. 5]
CHAP. VI.--RICHARD OF CIRENCESTER.
The supposed chronicle of Richard of Cirencester was first brought
before the public by Charles Julius Bertram, Professor of the English
Language in the Royal Marine Academy, at Copenhagen, in the year 1757.
Since the publication of the volume, it has been conclusively proved to
be a modern forgery. The editor's remarks on that portion of the volume
are therefore omitted, though the document is retained on the
supposition that it may be convenient to some readers to have the text
of a composition which was extensively used before its spurious
character was ascertained.
THE CHRONICLE
OF
FABIUS ETHELWERD,
FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD TO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 975.
IN FOUR BOOKS.
To Matilda, the most eloquent and true handmaid of Christ, Ethelwerd the
patrician, health in the Lord! I have received, dearest sister, your
letter which I longed for, and I not only read it with kisses, but laid
it up in the treasury of my heart. Often and often do I pray the grace
of the Most High, to preserve you in safety during this life present,
and after death to lead you to his everlasting mansions. But as I once
before briefly hinted to you by letter, I now, with God's help, intend
to begin in the way of annals from the beginning of the world, and
explain to you more fully about our common lineage and descent, to the
end that the reader's task may be lightened, and the pleasure of the
hearer may be augmented, whilst he listens to it. Concerning the coming
of our first parents out of Germany into Britain, their numberless wars
and slaughters, and the dangers which they encountered on ship-board
among the waves of the ocean, in the following pages you will find a
full description. In the present letter therefore I have written,
without perplexity of style, of our modern lineage and relationship, who
were our relations, and how, and where they came from: as far as our
memory can go, and according as our parents taught us. For instance king
Alfred was son of king Ethelwulf, from whom we derive our origin, and
who had five sons, one of whom was king Ethelred[6] my ancestor, and
another king Alfred who was yours. This king Alfred sent his daughter
Ethelswitha into Germany to be the wife of Baldwin,[7] who had by her
two sons Ethelwulf and Arnulf, also two daughters Elswid and Armentruth.
Now from Ethelswitha is descended count Arnulf,[8] your neighbour. The
daughter of king Edward son of the above-named king Alfred was named
Edgiva, and was sent by your aunt into Gaul to marry Charles the Simple.
Ethilda also was sent to be the wife of Hugh, son of Robert: and two
others were sent by king Athelstan to Otho that he might choose which of
them he liked best to be his wife. He[9] chose Edgitha, from whom you
derive your lineage; and united the other in marriage to a certain
king[10] near the Jupiterean Mountains, of whose family no memorial has
reached us, partly from the distance and partly from the confusion of
the times. It is your province to inform us of these particulars, not
only from your relationship, but also because no lack of ability or
interval of space prevents you.[11]
HERE ENDS THE PROLOGUE.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 6: Ethelred died and Alfred succeeded him A.D. 871.]
[Footnote 7: Baldwin, count of Flanders died A.D. 918. See Malmesbury,
p. 121.]
[Footnote 8: Arnulf, count of Flanders, A.D. 965.]
[Footnote 9: The emperor Otho married Edgitha A.D. 930.]
[Footnote 10: Lewis the blind.]
[Footnote 11: The writer adds the barbarous verse, "Esto mihi valens
cunctis perhenniter horis," which is as easy to construe as to scan.]
BOOK THE FIRST BEGINS.
The beginning of the world comes first. For on the first day God, in the
apparition of the light, created the angels: on the second day, under
the name of the firmament he created the heavens; &c. &c.[12]
Rome was destroyed by the Goths in the eleven hundred and forty-sixth
year after it was built. From that time the Roman authority ceased in
the island of Britain, and in many other countries which they had held
under the yoke of slavery. For it was now four hundred and eighty-five
years, beginning with Caius Julius Caesar, that they had held the island
above-mentioned, wherein they had built cities and castles, bridges and
streets of admirable construction, which are seen among us even to the
present day. But whilst the people of Britain were living carelessly
within the wall, which had been built by Severus to protect them, there
arose two nations, the Picts in the north and the Scots in the west, and
leading an army against them, devastated their country, and inflicted
many sufferings upon them for many years. The Britons being unable to
bear their misery, by a wise device send to Rome a mournful letter[13]
... the army returned victorious to Rome. But the Scots and Picts,
hearing that the hostile army was gone, rejoiced with no little joy.
Again they take up arms, and like wolves attack the sheepfold which is
left without a protector: they devastate the northern districts as far
as the ditch of Severus: the Britons man the wall and fortify it with
their arms; but fortune denied them success in the war. The cunning
Scots, knowing what to do against the high wall and the deep trench,
contrive iron goads with mechanical art, and dragging down those who
were standing on the wall, slay them without mercy: they remain victors
both within and without; they at once plunder and take possession; and a
slaughter is made worse than all that had been before. Thus ended the
four hundred and forty-fourth year since the incarnation of our Lord.
The Britons, seeing themselves on every side vanquished, and that they
could have no more hopes from Rome, devise, in their agony and
lamentations, a plan to adopt. For in those days they heard, that the
race of the Saxons were active, in piratical enterprises, throughout the
whole coast, from the river Rhine to the Danish city,[14] which is now
commonly called Denmark, and strong in all matters connected with war.
They therefore send to them messengers, bearing gifts, and ask
assistance, promising them their alliance when they should be at peace.
But the mind of that degraded race was debased by ignorance, and they
saw not that they were preparing for themselves perpetual slavery,
which is the stepmother of all misfortune.
The person who especially gave this counsel was Vurthern,[15] who at
that time was king over all, and to him all the nobility assented. They
preferred to procure assistance to them from Germany. Already two young
men, Hengist and Horsa, were pre-eminent. They were the grandsons of
Woden, king of the barbarians, whom the pagans have since raised to an
abominable dignity, and honouring him as a god, offer sacrifice to him
for the sake of victory or valour, and the people, deceived, believe
what they see, as is their wont. The aforesaid youths therefore arrive,
according to the petition of the king and his senate, with three
vessels, loaded with arms, and prepared with every kind of warlike
stores: the anchor is cast into the sea, and the ships come to land. Not
long afterwards they are sent against the Scots to try their mettle, and
without delay they sheathe their breasts in arms, and engage in a novel
mode of battle. Man clashes with man, now falls a German and now a Scot:
on both sides is a most wretched scene of slaughter: at length the
Saxons remain masters of the field. For this the king aforesaid honours
them with a triumph; and they privately send home messengers, to tell
their countrymen of the fertility of the country and the indolence of
its cowardly people. Their countrymen, without delay, listen to their
representations, and send to them a large fleet and army. Forthwith they
were magnificently received by the king of the Britons, and contracted a
league of hospitality with the natives. The Britons promise peace,
worthy gifts of alliance and honours, provided that they might remain in
ease under their protection from the attacks of their enemies, and pay
them immense stipends.
Thus much of the alliance and promises of the Britons: now let us speak
of their discord and ill fortune. For seeing the cunningness of the new
people, they partly feared and partly despised them. They break their
compact, and no longer render them the honours of alliance, but instead
thereof, they try to drive them from their shores. These being their
designs, the thing is made public, the treaty is openly set aside, all
parties fly to arms: the Britons give way, and the Saxons keep
possession of the country. Again they send to Germany, not secretly as
before, but by a public embassy, as victors are wont to do, and demand
reinforcements. A large multitude joined them from every province of
Germany; and they carried on war against the Britons, driving them from
their territories with great slaughter, and ever remaining masters of
the field. At last the Britons bend their necks to the yoke, and pay
tribute. This migration is said to have been made from the three
provinces of Germany, which are said to have been the most
distinguished, namely, from Saxony, Anglia, and Giota. The Cantuarians
derived their origin from the Giotae [Jutes], and also the Uuhtii, who
took their name from the island Wihta [Isle of Wight], which lies on the
coast of Britain.
For out of Saxony, which is now called Ald-Sexe, or Old Saxony, came the
tribes which are still called so among the English, the East Saxons,
South Saxons, and West Saxons; that is, those who are called in Latin,
the Oriental, Austral, and Occidental Saxons.
Out of the province of Anglia came the East Anglians, Middle Anglians,
Mercians, and all the race of the Northumbrians. Moreover Old Anglia is
situated between the Saxons and Jutes, having a capital town, which in
Saxon is called Sleswig, but in Danish Haithaby. Britain, therefore, is
now called Anglia [England], because it took the name of its conquerors:
for their leaders aforesaid were the first who came thence to Britain;
namely, Hengist and Horsa, sons of Wyhrtels:[16] their grandfather was
Wecta, and their great-grandfather Withar, whose father was Woden, who
also was king of a multitude of barbarians. For the unbelievers of the
North are oppressed by such delusion that they worship him as a god even
to this day, namely the Danes, the North-men, and the Suevi; of whom
Lucan says,
"Pours forth the yellow Suevi from the North."
So greatly did the invasion of those nations spread and increase, that
they by degrees obliterated all memory of the inhabitants who had
formerly invited them with gifts. They demand their stipends: the
Britons refuse: they take up arms, discord arises, and as we have before
said, they drive the Britons into certain narrow isthmuses of the
island, and themselves hold possession of the island from sea to sea
even unto the present time.
A. 418. In the ninth year also after the sacking of Rome by the Goths,
those of Roman race who were left in Britain, not bearing the manifold
insults of the people, bury their treasures in pits thinking that
hereafter they might have better fortune, which never was the case; and
taking a portion, assemble on the coast, spread their canvas to the
winds, and seek an exile on the shores of Gaul.
A. 430. Twelve years after, bishop Palladius is sent by the holy pope
Celestinus to preach the gospel of Christ to the Scots.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: Here follow several pages, in which the writer, like other
annalists, deduces his history from the creation. It is now universally
the custom with modern writers and translators to omit such preliminary
matter.]
[Footnote 13: There is evidently a hiatus in this passage, but see Bede
i. 13, p. 22.]
[Footnote 14: Urbs, "city," seems here rather to designate _country_ or
_territory_.]
[Footnote 15: Otherwise called Vortigern.]
[Footnote 16: More commonly called Wihtgila.]
CHAPTER[17]
A. 449. When, therefore, nineteen years had elapsed, Maurice and
Valentine[18] became emperors of Rome; in whose reign Hengist and Horsa
at the invitation of Vortigern king of the Britons arrive at the place
called Wipped's-fleet, at first on the plea of assisting the Britons:
but afterwards they rebelled and became their enemies, as we have
already said. Now the number of years, completed since the marvellous
incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, was four hundred and forty-nine.
A. 455. In the sixth year after, Hengist and Horsa fought a battle
against Vortigern in the plain of AEgelsthrep. There Horsa was killed,
and Hengist obtained the kingdom.
A. 457. But after two years, Hengist and AEsc his son renewed the war
against the Britons; and there fell in that day on the side of the
Britons four thousand men. Then the Britons, leaving Cantia, which is
commonly called Kent, fled to the city of London.
A. 465. About eight years after, the same men took up arms against the
Britons, and there was a great slaughter made on that day: twelve chiefs
of the Britons fell near a place called Wipped's-fleet; there fell a
soldier of the Saxons called Wipped, from which circumstance that place
took its name; in the same way as the Thesean sea was so called from
Theseus, and the AEgaean sea from AEgeus who was drowned in it.
A. 473. After eight years were completed, Hengist with his son AEsc, a
second time make war against the Britons, and having slaughtered their
army, remain victors on the field of battle, and carry off immense
spoils.
A. 477. In the fourth year AElla landed in Britain from Germany with his
three sons, at a place called Cymenes-Ora, and defeated the Britons at
Aldredes-leage.[19]
A. 485. After eight years, the same people fight against the Britons,
near a place called Mearcraedsburn.
A. 488. After this, at an interval of three years, AEsc, son of Hengist,
began to reign in Kent.
A. 492. After three years, AElla and Assa besieged a town called
Andreds-cester, and slew all its inhabitants, both small and great,
leaving not a single soul alive.
A. 495. After the lapse of three more years, Cerdic and his son Cynric
sailed to Britain with five ships, to a port called Cerdic's-ore, and on
the same day fought a battle against the Britons, in which they were
finally victorious.
A. 500. Six years after their arrival, they sailed round the western
part of Britain, which is now called Wessex.
A. 501. Also after a year Port landed in Britain with his son Bieda.
A. 508. Seven years after his arrival, Cerdic with his son Cynric slay
Natan-Leod, king of the Britons, and five thousand men with him.
A. 514. Six years after, Stuf and Wihtgar landed in Britain at
Cerdic's-ore, and suddenly make war on the Britons, whom they put to
flight, and themselves remain masters of the field. Thus was completed
the fifty-sixth[20] year since Hengist and Horsa first landed in
Britain.
A. 519. Five years after, Cerdic and Cynric fought a battle against the
Britons at Cerdic's-ford,[21] on the river Avene, and that same year
nominally began to reign.
A. 527. Eight years after, they renew the war against the Britons.
A. 530. After three years, they took the Isle of Wight, the situation
of which we have mentioned above: but they did not kill many of the
Britons.
A. 534. Four years after, Cerdic with his son Cenric gives up the Isle
of Wight into the hands of their two cousins Stuf and Wihtgar. In the
course of the same year Cerdic died, and Cenric his son began to reign
after him, and he reigned twenty-seven years.
A. 538. When he had reigned four years, the sun was eclipsed from the
first hour of the day to the third.[22]
A. 540. Again, two years after, the sun was eclipsed for half-an-hour
after the third hour, so that the stars were everywhere visible in the
sky.
A. 547. In the seventh year after this, Ida began to reign over the
province of Northumberland, whose family derive their kingly title and
nobility from Woden.
A. 552. Five years after, Cenric fought against the Britons near the
town of Scarburh [Old Sarum], and, having routed them, slew a large
number.
A. 556. The same, four years afterwards, fought with Ceawlin against the
Britons, near a place called Berin-byrig [Banbury?]
A. 560. At the end of about four years, Ceawlin began to reign over the
western part of Britain, which is now commonly called Wessex. Moreover,
Ella the Iffing is sent to the race of Northumbria, whose ancestry
extends up to the highest, namely to Woden.
A. 565. Five years afterwards, Christ's servant Columba came from Scotia
[Ireland] to Britain, to preach the word of God to the Picts.
A. 568. Three years after his coming, Ceawlin and Cutha stirred up a
civil war against Ethelbert, and having defeated him, pursued him into
Kent, and slew his two chiefs, Oslaf and Cnebba, in Wubbandune.[23]
A. 571. After three years, Cuthulf fought against the Britons at
Bedanford [Bedford], and took four royal cities, namely Liganburh
[Lenbury], Eglesburh [Aylesbury], Bensingtun [Benson], and Ignesham
[Eynsham].
A. 577. After the lapse of six years, Cuthwin and Ceawlin fight against
the Britons, and slay three of their kings, Comail, Condidan, and
Farinmail, at a place called Deorhamme [Derham?]; and they took three
of their most distinguished cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath.
A. 584. After seven years, Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Britons,
at a place called Fethanleage [Frethern?]: there Cutha fell; but Ceawlin
reduced a multitude of cities, and took immense spoils.
A. 592. In the eighth year there was a great slaughter on both sides, at
a place called Wodnesbyrg [Wemborow?], so that Ceawlin was put to
flight, and died at the end of one more year.
A. 593. After him, Cwichelm, Crida, and Ethelfrid, succeeded to the
kingdom.
HERE ENDS BOOK THE FIRST.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 17: Capitulum in the original: but no number is annexed.]
[Footnote 18: This should be Marcian and Valentinian.]
[Footnote 19: Perhaps an error for Andredes-leage, formerly Anderida, in
Sussex.]
[Footnote 20: This number should be sixty-six.]
[Footnote 21: Charford, near Fordingbridge, Hants.]
[Footnote 22: That is, from seven till nine o'clock in the morning.]
[Footnote 23: Wimbledon, or Worplesdon, Surrey.]
HERE BEGINS THE PROLOGUE TO BOOK THE SECOND.
In the beginning of this book it will not be necessary to make a long
preface, my dearest sister; for I have guided my pen down through many
perplexed subjects from the highest point, and, omitting those things
extracted from sacred and profane history, on which most persons have
fixed their attention, have left higher matters to the skilful reader.
And now I must turn my pen to the description of those things which
properly concern our ancestors; and though a pupil is not properly
called a member, yet it yields no little service to the other members.
We therefore entreat in God's name that our words may not be despised by
the malevolent, but rather that they may give abundant thanks to the
King of heaven, if they seem to speak things of high import.
HERE ENDS THE PROLOGUE;
AND
THE SECOND BOOK BEGINS.
CHAP. I.--_Of the coming of Augustine, who was sent by the blessed Pope
Gregory._ [A.D. 596.]
As Divine Providence, mercifully looking down upon all things from all
eternity, is accustomed to rule them, not by necessity, but by its
powerful superintendence, and remaining always immoveable in itself,
and disposing the different elements by its word, and the human race to
come to the knowledge of the truth by the death of his only begotten
Son, by whose blood the four quarters of the world are redeemed, so now
by his servant doth it dispel the darkness in the regions of the west.
Whilst therefore the blessed pope Gregory sat on the episcopal seat, and
sowed the seeds of the gospel of Christ, there stood by him some men of
unknown tongue and very comely to look on. The holy man admiring the
beauty of their countenances, asked of them with earnestness from what
country they came. The young men with downcast looks replied, that they
were Angles. "Are you Christians," said the holy man, "or heathens?"
"Certainly not Christians," said they, "for no one has yet opened our
ears." Then the holy man, lifting up his eyes, replied, "What man, when
there are stones at hand, lays a foundation with reeds?" They answer,
"No man of prudence." "You have well said," answered he; and he
straightway took them into a room, where he instructed them in the
divine oracles, and afterwards washed them with the baptism of Christ:
and further he arranged with them, that he would go with them into their
country. When the Romans heard of this they opposed his words, and were
unwilling to allow their pastor to go so far from home. The blessed pope
Gregory, therefore, seeing that the people were opposed to him, sent
with the men aforesaid one of his disciples, who was well instructed in
the divine oracles, by name Augustine, and with him a multitude of
brethren. When these men arrived, the English received the faith and
erected temples, and our Saviour Jesus Christ exhibited innumerable
miracles to his faithful followers through the prayers of the bishop,
St. Augustine; at whose tomb, even to the present day, no small number
of miracles are wrought, with the assistance of our Lord.
CHAP. II.--_Of king Ethelbert, and of his baptism._ [A.D. 597.]
When the man aforesaid arrived, Ethelbert bore rule over Kent, and
receiving the faith, submitted to be baptized with all his house. He was
the first king among the English who received the word of Christ. Lastly
Ethelbert was the son of Ermenric, whose grandfather was Ochta, who
bore the praenomen of Eisc,[24] from which the kings of Kent were
afterwards named Esings, as the Romans from Romulus, the Cecropidae from
Cecrops, and the Tuscans from Tuscus. For Eisc was the father of
Hengist, who was the first consul and leader of the Angles out of
Germany; whose father was Wihtgils, his grandfather Witta, his
great-grandfather Wecta, his great-grandfather's father Woden, who also
was king of many nations, whom some of the pagans now still worship as a
god. And the number of years that was completed from the incarnation of
our Lord was four years less, than six hundred.[25]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 24: See William of Malmesbury, b. i. c. 1, p. 12, note.]
[Footnote 25: A.D. 596.]
CHAP. III.--_Of Ceolwulf, king of the West-Saxons, and of his continued
wars._
A. 597. At the end of one year, Ceolwulf began to reign over the Western
English.[26] His family was derived from Woden; and so great was his
ferocity that he is said to have been always at war, either with his own
nation or with the Britons, or the Picts or Scots.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 26: West-Saxons is the more correct term; but Ethelwerd often
uses the more general name Angles or English, for all the tribes settled
in England.]
CHAP. IV.--_Concerning Augustine's pall of apostleship sent him by pope
Gregory._
A. 601. When he had reigned four years, pope Gregory sent to Augustine
the pall of apostleship.
CHAP. V.--_Of the faith of the East-Saxons, and of the decease of the
blessed pope Gregory._
A. 604. After three years, the eastern English[27] also received baptism
in the reign of Sigebert [Sabert] their king.
A. 606. Two years afterwards, the blessed pope Gregory departed this
world, in the eleventh year after he had bestowed baptism on the English
by sending among them Christ's servant Augustine. And the number of
years that was completed from the beginning of the world was more than
five thousand and eight hundred.[28]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 27: _Orientales Angli_ is the expression of Ethelwerd, but it
should be _Orientales Saxones_, whose king's name is generally written
Sabert. See preceding note.]
[Footnote 28: Ethelwerd adopts that system of chronology which makes
5300 to have elapsed before Christ.]
CHAP. VI.--_Of the reign of king Cynegils, his wars; and of the coming
of bishop Birinus, of the baptism of the king, and the faith of the
East-Saxons,[29] and of the baptism of Cuthred._ [A.D. 615-639.]
Afterwards Cynegils received the kingdom of the West-Angles, and, in
conjunction with Cuichelm, he fought against the Britons at a place
called Beandune,[30] and having defeated their army, slew more than two
thousand and forty of them.
A. 629. Fourteen years after, Cynegils and Cuichelm fought against Penda
at Cirencester.
A. 635. After six years bishop Birinus came among the Western Angles,
preaching to them the gospel of Christ. And the number of years that
elapsed since their arrival in Britain out of Germany, was about one
hundred and twenty. At that time Cynegils received baptism from the holy
bishop Birinus, in a town called Dorchester.
A. 639. He baptized Cuthred also four years after in the same city, and
adopted him as his son in baptism.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 29: Should be West-Saxons.]
[Footnote 30: Most probably Bampton in Oxfordshire. This battle took
place in 614. See the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for that year.]
CHAP. VII.--_Of the reign of Kenwalk, and of his actions._
A. 648. When nine years were fulfilled, Kenwalk gave to his relation,
Cuthred, out of his farms, three thousand measures, adjacent to a hill
named Esc's dune, [Aston?]
A. 652. Four years after, he fought a battle against his own people, at
a place called Bradford, on the river Afene.[31]
A. 655. Three years afterwards king Penda died, and the Mercians were
baptized.
A. 658. After three years more, the kings Kenwalk and Pionna[32] renewed
the war against the Britons, and pursued them to a place called
Pederydan.[33]
A. 661. After three years, Kenwalk again fought a battle near the town
of Pontesbury, and took prisoner Wulfhere, son of Penda, at Esc's-dune
[Ashdown], when he had defeated his army.
A. 664. Three years afterwards there was an eclipse of the sun.
A. 670. When six years were fulfilled, Oswy, king of Northumberland,
died, and Egfrid succeeded him.
A. 671. After one year more, there was a great pestilence among the
birds, so that there was an intolerable stench by sea and land, arising
from the carcasses of birds, both small and great.
A. 672. Twelve months after Kenwalk, king of the West-Angles, died; and
his wife, Sexburga, succeeded him in the kingdom, and reigned twelve
months.
A. 673. After her Escwin succeeded to the throne, and two years were
fulfilled. His family traces to Cerdic.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 31: Avon.]
[Footnote 32: This should be "at Pionna," [Pen]. See Saxon Chronicle.]
[Footnote 33: Petherton.]
CHAP. VIII.--_Of Wulfhere and Cenwulf,[A] and of the council held by the
holy father Theodore._
A. 674. After one year, Wulfhere son of Penda, and Cenwalh[34] fought a
battle among themselves in a place called Beadanhead [Bedwin].
A. 677. After three years a comet was seen.
A. 680. At the end of two years a council was held at Hethlege,[35] by
the holy archbishop Theodore, to instruct the people in the true faith.
In the course of the same year died Christ's servant, Hilda, abbess of
the monastery called Streaneshalch [Whitby].
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 34: These names are both wrong; we must read Escwin.]
[Footnote 35: Heathfield or Hatfield.]
CHAP. IX.--_Of king Kentwin and his wars._
A. 682. After two years king Kentwin drove the Britons out of their
country to the sea.
A. 684. After he had reigned two years[36] Ina became king of the
western English. A hundred and eighty-eight years were then fulfilled
from the time that Cerdic, his sixth ancestor, received the western
part of the island from the Britons.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 36: There is an error here: Caedwalla is omitted, and three
years are lost in the chronology.]
CHAP. X.--_Of Caedwalla's conversion to the faith of Christ._
A. 684. In the course of the same year Caedwalla went to Rome, and
received baptism and the faith of Christ; after his baptism the pope of
that year gave him the surname of Peter.
A. 694. About six years afterwards, the Kentish men remembered the cause
which they had against king Ina when they burnt his relation[37] with
fire; and they gave him thirty thousand shillings at a fixed rate of
sixteen pence each.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 37: His name was Mull: the passage is obscure. See the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.]
CHAP. XI.--_Of the acts of Ethelred king of the Mercians._
A. 704. After ten years, Ethelred son of Penda and king of the Mercians
assumed the monastic habit, when he had completed twenty-nine years of
his reign.
A. 705. After twelve months died Alfrid king of Northumberland. And the
number of years that was then fulfilled from the beginning of the world
was five thousand nine hundred.
A. 709. Four years afterwards died the holy bishop Aldhelm, by whose
wonderful art were composed the words which are now read, and his
bishopric was the province which is now called Selwoodshire [Sherborne].
CHAP. XII.--_Of the reign of Ina, and of his acts._
A. 710. After a year, the kings and Ina made war against king
Wuthgirete;[38] also duke Bertfrid against the Picts.
A. 714. After four years died Christ's servant Guthlac.
A. 715. After a year Ina and Ceolred fought against those who opposed
them in arms at Wothnesbeorghge [Wanborough.]
A. 721. After seven years Ina slew Cynewulf, and after six months made
war against the Southern English.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 38: Called Gerent in the Saxon Chronicle, and Gerentius in
Aldhelm's works.]
CHAP. XIII.--_Of king Ethelard._
A. 728. When six years were fulfilled he went to Rome, and Ethelard
received the kingdom of the West Saxons. In the first year of his reign
he made war against Oswy.[39]
A. 729. At the end of one year a comet appeared, and the holy bishop
Egbert died.
A. 731. After two years, Osric king of Northumberland died and Ceolwulf
succeeded to the kingdom.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 39: Should be Oswald king of Northumberland.]
CHAP. XIV.--_Of the acts of king Ethelbald._
A. 733. Two years after these things, king Ethelbald received under his
dominion the royal vill which is called Somerton. The same year the sun
was eclipsed.
A. 734. After the lapse of one year, the moon appeared as if stained
with spots of blood, and by the same omen Tatwine and Bede[40] departed
this life.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 40: It is doubtful whether Bede died in 734 or 735.]
CHAP. XV.--_Of the reign of Eadbert and of his deeds._
A. 738. After four years, Eadbert succeeded to the kingdom of the
Northumbrians, and his brother Egbert discharged the archiepiscopal
office; and now they both lie buried in the city of York, under the
shade of the same porch.
CHAP. XVI.--_Of the rule of king Cuthred._
A. 750. After twelve years king Cuthred began to make war against duke
Ethelhun, for some state-jealousy.
A. 752. Again after two years he drew his sword against king Ethelbald
at a place called Beorgforda.[41]
A. 753. After another year he gratified the fierce propensities of his
nature by making war against the Britons: and after another year he
died, A.D. 754.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 41: Without doubt this is Burford in Oxfordshire.]
CHAP. XVII.--_Of the acts of king Sigebert and of his reign._
Furthermore Sigebert received the kingdom of the western English.
A. 756. At the end of one year after Sigebert began to reign, Cynewulf,
invading his kingdom, took it from him, and drew away all the wise men
of the west country, in consequence of the perverse deeds of the
aforesaid king; nor was any part of his kingdom left to him except one
province only, named Hamptonshire [Hampshire]. And he remained there no
long time; for, instigated by an old affront, he slew a certain duke,
and Cynewulf drove him into the wilds of Andred: and so he fled from
thicket to thicket, until he was at last slain by a herdsman at a place
named Pryffetesflodan,[42] and so the blood of duke Cumbra was avenged.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 42: Privett, Hampshire.]
CHAP. XVIII.--_Of the reign of Cynewulf, his war and deeds._
A. 755. These things having been premised, Cynewulf frequently fought no
slight battles against the Britons. For when thirty-one years had
passed, he tried to expel from his territories a certain chief named
Cyneard, brother to Sigebert, whose deeds have been related above. He
was afterwards besieged by this prince, for it was told him that he was
in company of a certain courtezan at a place called Meranton [Merton],
and though he had with him only a few men, who knew nothing of the
matter, he surrounded the house with arms. The king, seeing how he was
situated, leaped to the door, and bravely repelled their weapons; but
making up his mind he rushed upon the prince, and inflicted no slight
wounds upon him; his companions, not forgetting his threats, raised
their weapons and slew the king. The report being spread, the king's
soldiers, who had been in his company, each for himself, as was their
custom, made an attack, uttering shouts. But the prince, soothing them,
promised them gifts and ample honours. They desire death, now that their
lord is dead; nor do they attend to his promises, but rush with one
accord upon death. None of them escaped with life except one British
hostage, and he had received severe wounds. When, therefore, the day
dawned, it became known to the soldiers, who had remained behind the
king's back, they assembled together and set forth, and with them Osric
the duke and Wigferth the knight. They found the prince in the house,
where their master was lying dead. The doors are beleaguered on both
sides. Within are the one party, and the other party are without. The
prince asks a truce, and makes ample promises; his object is future
sovereignty. The king's friends spurn these offers, and rather seek to
separate from the prince their relations who were in his company. These
reject their proposals; on the contrary they answer their friends
thus:[43] "No tie is so powerful as that which binds us to our lord; and
whereas you ask us to depart, we tell you that we made the same proposal
to those who were slain with your king, and they would not accede to
it." To this the other party rejoined, "But you will remain unhurt, if
you only depart, nor share in the vengeance which we shall inflict for
those who were slain with the king." They returned no answer to this,
but silently begin the battle; shield punishes shield, and arms are
laced in bucklers, relation falls by his kinsman; they smash the doors,
one pursues after another, and a lamentable fight ensues. Alas! they
slay the prince; all his companions are laid low before his face, except
one, and he was the baptismal son of duke Osric, but half alive, and
covered with wounds.
Now Cynewulf reigned thirty-one years, and his body lies entombed in the
city of Winchester. The above-named prince also reposes in the church
commonly called Axanminster.[44] Both their families trace to Cerdic.
A. 755. In the same year Ethelbald, king of Mercia, was slain at a place
called Seccandune,[45] and his body rests in a monastery called
Reopandune.[46] Bernred succeeded to the kingdom, and not long after he
also died.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 43: This is a sort of paraphrase rather than a translation:
the original is not only bad in style and ungrammatical, but exceedingly
corrupt and very obscure.]
[Footnote 44: Now Axminster. The syllable _an_ or _en_ occurs similarly
in many ancient Saxon towns; thus Bedanford, Oxenford, &c., and
Seccandune, Reopandune below.]
[Footnote 45: Now Seckington.]
[Footnote 46: Now Repton.]
CHAP. XIX.--_Of the reign of king Offa and of his deeds._
A. 756. In the revolution of the same year, Offa succeeded to the
kingdom, a remarkable man, son of Thingferth; his grandfather was
Enwulf, his great-grandfather Osmod, his great-grandfather's father
Pybba, his great-grandfather's grandfather was Icel, his sixth ancestor
Eomaer, the seventh Angeltheow, the eighth Offa, the ninth Waermund, the
tenth Wihtlaeg, the eleventh Woden.
A. 773. Also after seventeen years, from the time that Cynewulf took the
kingdom from Sigebert, the sign of our Lord's cross appeared in the
heavens after sun-set, and in the same year a civil contest[47] took
place between the people of Kent and Mercia, at a place called
Cittanford:[48] and in those days some monstrous serpents were seen in
the country of the Southern Angles, which is called Sussex.
A. 777. About four years after, Cynewulf and Offa fought a battle near
the town of Bensington, which was gained by Offa.
A. 779. Two years afterwards, the Gauls and Saxons stirred up no slight
contests with one another.
A. 783. In short, after four years, Cyneard slays king Cynewulf, and is
himself also slain there.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 47: The term 'civile bellum'--_civil war_ is used by
Ethelwerd, to denote a battle between the kindred Anglo-Saxon kingdoms;
the classical reader will also note the use of the word 'bellum' for
'proelium.']
[Footnote 48: This should be Ottanford, or Otford, in Kent, a place of
great antiquity.]
CHAP. XX.--_Of the acts of Bertric, king of the West-Saxons._
A. 783. In the same year Bertric received the kingdom of the
West-Angles, whose lineage traces up to Cerdic.
A. 786. After three years, he took in marriage Offa's daughter Eadburga.
HERE ENDS BOOK THE SECOND,
AND
THE PROLOGUE OF BOOK THE THIRD BEGINS.
After what has been written in the foregoing pages, it remains that we
declare the contents of our third book. We exhort you, therefore, most
beloved object of my desire, that the present work may not be thought
tedious by you for its length of reading, since to thee especially I
dedicate this. Wherefore, the farther my mind digresses, the more does
my affectionate love generate and expand itself.
HERE ENDS THE PROLOGUE,
AND THE BOOK BEGINS.
Whilst the pious king Bertric was reigning over the western parts of the
English, and the innocent people spread through their plains were
enjoying themselves in tranquillity and yoking their oxen to the plough,
suddenly there arrived on the coast a fleet of Danes, not large, but of
three ships only: this was their first arrival. When this became known,
the king's officer, who was already stopping in the town of Dorchester,
leaped on his horse and gallopped forwards with a few men to the port,
thinking that they were merchants rather than enemies, and, commanding
them in an authoritative tone, ordered them to be made to go to the
royal city; but he was slain on the spot by them, and all who were with
him. The name of the officer was Beaduherd.
A. 787. And the number of years that was fulfilled was above three
hundred and thirty-four, from the time that Hengist and Horsa arrived in
Britain, in which also Bertric married the daughter of king Offa.
A. 792. Moreover, it was after five years that Offa king of the Mercians
commanded the head of king Ethelbert to be struck off.
A. 794. After two years Offa also died, and Egfert his son succeeded to
the kingdom, and died in the same year. Pope Adrian also departed this
life. Ethelred, king of the Northumbrians, was slain by his own people.
CHAP. I.--_Of Kenulf, king of the Mercians, and of his wars._
A. 796. After two years, Kenulf, king of the Mercians, ravaged Kent and
the province which is called Merscwari,[49] and their king Pren was
taken, whom they loaded with chains, and led as far as Mercia.
A. 797. Then after a year, the enraged populace of Rome cut out the
tongue of the blessed pope Leo, and tore out his eyes, and drove him
from his apostolical seat. But suddenly, by the aid of Christ, who is
always wonderful in his works, his sight was restored, and his tongue
regifted with speech, and he resumed his seat of apostleship as before.
A. 800. After three years, king Bertric died.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 49: The Merscwari are thought to have been the inhabitants of
Romney, in Kent, and its vicinity.]
CHAP. II.--_Of the reign of Egbert, and his deeds._
Therefore Egbert is raised to the kingdom of the West Saxons. On the
very same day, as king Ethelmund was passing through a farm, Wiccum,
intending to go to a ford called Cynemaeresford [Kempsford], duke Woxstan
met him there with the centuries of the inhabitants of the province of
Wilsaetum [Wiltshire]. Both of them fell in the battle, but the Wilsaetae
remained the victors.
Also, down to the time that Egbert received the kingdom, there were
completed from the beginning of the world 5995 years, from the
incarnation of our Lord 800 years, from the coming of Hengist and Horsa
into Britain 350 years, from the reign of Cerdic, the tenth ancestor of
king Egbert, when he subdued the western part of Britain, 300 years, and
from the coming of Augustine, who was sent by the blessed pope Gregory
to baptize the English nation, 204 years: and in the tenth year
afterwards the holy father Gregory died.
A. 805. After king Egbert had reigned five years, was the death of
Cuthred king of Kent.
A. 812. In the seventh year Charles, king of the Franks, departed this
life.
A. 814. After two years, the blessed pope Leo passed from one virtue to
another.
A. 819. After five years, Kenulf king of the Mercians died.
A. 821. His successor was Ceolwulf, who was deprived of the kingdom two
years afterwards.
A. 822. A year afterwards a great synod was held at a place called
Cloveshoo,[50] and two dukes were there slain Burhelm and Mucca.
A. 823. After one year a battle was fought against the Britons in the
province of Defna [Devonshire], at a place called Camelford. In the same
year king Egbert fought a battle against Bernulf king of the Mercians at
Ellandune,[51] and Egbert gained the victory: but there was a great loss
on both sides; and Hun duke of the province of Somerset was there slain:
he lies buried in the city of Winchester. Lastly, king Egbert sent his
son Ethelwulf with an army into Kent, and with him bishop Ealstan and
duke Wulfherd. They defeated the Kentish army, and pursued their king
Baldred into the northern parts beyond the Thames. To whom the men of
Kent are afterwards subjected, and also the provinces of Surrey and
Sussex, that is, the midland and southern Angles.
A. 824. For in the course of the same year the king of the East-Angles
with the wise men of his realm, visits king Egbert, for the sake of
peace and protection, on account of his fear of the Mercians.
A. 825. In the course of that year the aforesaid East-Angles made war
against Bernulf king of the Mercians, and having defeated his army they
slew him and five dukes with him. His successor was Withlaf.
A. 827. Two years afterwards, the moon was eclipsed on the very night of
Christ's nativity. And in the same year king Egbert reduced under his
power all that part of the kingdom which lies to the south of the river
Humber: he was the eighth king in Britain who was famous for his great
power. For the first was AElla king of the South-Angles, who possessed
the same dominions as Egbert; the second was Ceawlin king of the
West-Angles; the third Ethelbert king of Kent; the fourth Redwald king
of the East-Angles; the fifth Edwin king of Northumbria; the sixth
Oswald; the seventh Oswy brother of Oswald; after whom the eighth
Egbert, of whom we have made mention above. He led his army against the
Northumbrians, who also bent their necks and submitted to him.
A. 828. At the end of a year therefore, Withlaf again received the
kingdom. At that time also, king Egbert led his army against the
northern Britons, and when he had subdued all of them, he returned in
peace.
A. 832. After four years therefore the pagans devastated the territories
of a place called Sceapige.[52]
A. 833. After one year Egbert fought against the pagan fleet, in number
thirty-five vessels, at a place called Carrum [Charmouth]: and the Danes
obtained the victory.
A. 836. Lastly after three years, a large army of Britons approached the
frontiers of the West-Saxons: without delay they form themselves into a
compact body, and carry their arms against Egbert king of the Angles.
Egbert therefore having ascertained the state of things beforehand,
assembled his army and twice imbued their weapons in the blood of the
Britons at Hengeston,[53] and put them to flight.
A. 837. At the end of a year the powerful king Egbert died.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 50: Near Rochester, Kent.]
[Footnote 51: Wilton.]
[Footnote 52: The Isle of Sheppey.]
[Footnote 53: Hengston-hill, Cornwall.]
CHAP. III.--_Of the reign of Ethelwulf and of his deeds._
After his death, Athulf[54] succeeded to the throne of his father
Egbert, and he delivered up the kingdom of Kent to his son Athelstan,
together with East-Saxony, South-Saxony, and Surrey, i.e. the eastern,
southern and midland parts.
A. 838. After one year, duke Wulfherd fought with the pagan fleet near
the town of Hamptun [Southampton], and having slain many of them gained
the victory: the number of ships in the fleet was thirty-three. After
this exploit the duke himself died in peace. The same year duke
Ethelhelm, with the people of the province of Dorset, fought another
battle against the pagan army at Port, and pursued them some distance:
but afterwards the Danes were victorious, and slew the duke and his
companions with him.
A. 839. After one year duke Herebert was slain by the Danes at
Merswarum;[55] and the same year a great slaughter was made by that army
in the city of Lindsey, and in the province of Kent, and in East Anglia.
A. 840. Also after one year, the same thing took place in the city of
London, in Quintanwic [Canterbury], and in the town of Rochester.
A. 841. Meanwhile, after one year king Ethelwulf fought against the
Danes at a place called Charmouth, by whom also he was vanquished, and
the victors kept possession of the ground.
A. 844. Three years afterwards duke Eanwulf, who governed the province
of Somerset, and bishop Ealstan also, and Osric duke of Dorset, fought a
battle against the pagans at the mouth of the Parret before-mentioned;
where they gained the victory, having defeated the Danish army. Also in
the same year king Athelstan and duke Elchere fought against the army of
the above-mentioned nation in the province of Kent, near the town of
Sandwich, where they slew many of them, put their troops to flight, and
took nine ships.
A. 851. After seven years Ceorl duke of Devon fought a battle against
the pagans at Wembury,[56] where they slew many of the Danes and gained
the victory. In the course of the same year, the barbarians wintered
first in the isle of Thanet, which lies not far from Britain, and has
fruitful but not large corn fields. That year was not yet finished, when
a large fleet of pagans arrived, 350 ships, at the mouth of the river
Thames, commonly called Thames-mouth, and destroyed the city of
Canterbury and the city of London, and put to flight Berthwulf king of
Mercia, having defeated his army. After the battle they returned beyond
the river Thames towards the south through the province of Surrey, and
there king Ethelwulf with the Western Angles met them: an immense number
was slain on both sides, nor have we ever heard of a more severe battle
before that day: these things happened near Ockley Wood.
A. 854. After three years king Burhred asked assistance from king
Ethelwulf to subdue the Northern Britons: he granted it, and having
collected his army, passed through the Mercian kingdom to go against the
Britons: whom he subdued and made tributary. In the same year king
Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred to Rome, in the days of our lord pope
Leo,[57] who consecrated him king and named him his son in baptism, when
we are accustomed to name little children, when we receive them from the
bishop's hand. In the same year were fought battles in the isle of
Thanet against the pagans; and there was a great slaughter made on both
sides, and many were drowned in the sea. The same year also after Easter
king Ethelwulf gave his daughter in marriage to king Burhred.
A. 855. After a year the pagans wintered in Sheppey. In the same year
king Ethelwulf gave the tenth of all his possessions to be the Lord's
portion, and so appointed it to be in all the government of his
kingdom. In the same year he set out to Rome with great dignity, and
stayed there twelve months. As he returned home, therefore, to his
country, Charles, king of the Franks, gave him his daughter in marriage,
and he took her home with him to his own country.
A. 857. Lastly, after a year king Ethelwulf died, and his body reposes
in the city of Winchester. Now the aforesaid king was son of king
Egbert, and his grandfather was Elmund, his great-grandfather Eafa, his
great-grandfather's father was Eoppa, and his great-grandfather's
grandfather was Ingild, brother of Ina, king of the Western-Angles, who
ended his life at Rome; and the above-named kings derived their origin
from king Kenred. Kenred was the son of Ceolwald, son of Cuthwin, son of
Ceawlin, son of Cynric, son of Cerdic, who also was the first possessor
of the western parts of Britain, after he had defeated the armies of the
Britons: his father was Elesa, son of Esla, son of Gewis, son of Wig,
son of Freawin, son of Frithogar, son of Brond, son of Beldeg, son of
Woden, son of Frithowald, son of Frealaf, son of Frithuwulf, son of
Finn, son of Godwulf, son of Geat, son of Taetwa, son of Beaw, son of
Sceldi, son of Sceaf. This Sceaf came with one ship to an island of the
ocean named Scani, sheathed in arms, and he was a young boy, and unknown
to the people of that land; but he was received by them, and they
guarded him as their own with much care, and afterwards chose him for
their king. It is from him that king Ethelwulf derives his descent. And
then was completed the fiftieth year from the beginning of king Egbert's
reign.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 54: Generally called Ethelwulf by modern writers.]
[Footnote 55: Romney Marsh.]
[Footnote 56: Near Plymouth.]
[Footnote 57: Leo the Fourth.]
HERE ENDS THE THIRD BOOK,
AND THE PROLOGUE OF THE FOURTH BOOK HERE BEGINS.
Three books are now finished, and it remains to guide my pen to the
fourth, in which also will be found greater gain, and the origin of our
race is more clearly intimated. And, although I may seem to send you a
load of reading, dearest sister of my desire, do not judge me harshly,
but as my writings were in love to you, so may you read them.
And may God Almighty, who is praised both in Trinity and in Unipotence
ever preserve you under the shadow of his wings, and your companions
with you. Amen!
HERE ENDS THE PROLOGUE.
CHAP. I.--_Of the reign of the sons of king Ethelwulf, namely Ethelbald
and Ethelbert._
Meanwhile, after the death of king Ethelwulf, his sons were raised to
the kingdom, namely Ethelbald over the Western Angles, and Ethelbert
over the men of Kent, and the Eastern, Southern, and Midland Angles.
A. 861. When five years were completed, king Ethelbald died, and his
brother Ethelbert succeeded to the possessions of both. In those days a
large fleet of pagans came to land, and destroyed the royal city which
is called Winton. They were encountered by Osric duke of Hampshire, and
Ethelwulf duke of Berkshire: a battle ensued; the pagans were routed,
and the English gained the victory.
A. 865. After four years, from the death of king Ethelbald, the pagans
strengthened their position in the isle of Thanet, and promise to be at
peace with the men of Kent, who on their part prepare money, ignorant of
the future. But the Danes break their compact, and sallying out
privately by night, lay waste all the eastern coast of Kent.
A. 866. After one year king Ethelbert died, and his body rests peaceably
in the monastery named Sherborne.
CHAP. II.--_Of the reign of king Ethelred._
Ethelred succeeded to the throne after the death of his brother
Ethelbert. In the same year the fleets of the tyrant Hingwar arrived in
England from the north, and wintered among the East Angles, and having
established their arms there, they get on their horses, and make peace
with all the inhabitants in their own neighbourhood.
A. 867. After one year that army, leaving the eastern parts, crossed the
river Humber into Northumberland to the city of Evoric, which is now
commonly called the city of Eoferwic [York]. For there was then a great
civil dissension between the inhabitants of that land, and they were so
enraged that they also expelled their king Osbert from his seat; and
having confirmed their resolves, they chose an obscure person for their
king; and after some delay they turned their thoughts to raise an army
and repulse those who were advancing. They collected together no small
bodies of troops, and reconnoitred the enemy: their rage was excited:
they joined battle, a miserable slaughter took place on both sides, and
the kings were slain. Those of them who were left made peace with the
hostile army.
In the same year died Eanwulf, duke of Somerset; also bishop Ealstan,
fifty years after his succession to the bishopric, in the diocese called
Sherborne. There also his body now reposes; and that of the above-named
duke in the monastery called Glastonbury.
A. 868. After one year therefore, the army of the pagans, of whose
arrival we have spoken above, measured out their camp in a place called
Snotingaham [Nottingham], and there they passed the winter, and Burhred
king of the Mercians, with his nobles, consented to their remaining
there without reproach.
A. 869. At the end of a year therefore, the army was transported to
York, and there also they measured out their camp in the winter season.
A. 870. Again after a year they departed, and passed through Mercia into
East-Anglia, and there measured out their camp for the winter at
Thetford. King Edmund carried on war against them for a short time, but
he was slain there by them, and his body lies entombed at a place called
Beodoricsworthe,[58] and the barbarians obtained the victory, but with
the loss of their king soon afterwards: for king Hingwar died the same
year; archbishop Ceolnoth also died that same year, and is buried in the
city of Canterbury.
A. 871. After one year therefore the army of the barbarians
above-mentioned set out for Reading, and the principal object of the
impious crew was to attack the West-Saxons; and three days after they
came, their two consuls, forgetting that they were not on board their
fleet, rode proudly through fields and meadows on horseback, which
nature had denied to them.[59]
But duke Ethelwulf met them, and though his troops were few, their
hearts resided in brave dwellings: they point their darts, they rout the
enemy, and triumph in abundant spoils. At length four days after their
meeting, Ethelred arrives with his army; an indescribable battle is
fought, now these, now those urge on the fight with spears immoveable;
duke Ethelwulf falls, who a short time before had obtained the victory:
the barbarians at last triumph. The body of the above-named duke is
privately withdrawn, and carried into the province of the Mercians, to a
place called Northworthig, but Derby in the language of the Danes. Four
days after king Ethelred with his brother Alfred fought again with all
the army of the Danes at AEscendune;[60] and there was great slaughter on
both sides: but at last king Ethelred obtained the victory. But it is
proper that I should declare the names of those chiefs who fell there:
Bagsac king, the veteran Sidrac their consul, the younger Sidrac also,
the consul Osbern, the consul Frene, the consul Harold; and, so to
speak, all the flower of the barbarian youth was there slain, so that
neither before nor since was ever such destruction known since the
Saxons first gained Britain by their arms.
Fourteen days after, they again took courage and a second battle was
fought at a place called Basing: the barbarians came and took part over
against them; the fight began, and hope passed from the one side to the
other; the royal army was deceived, the enemy had the victory, but
gained no spoils.
Furthermore after two months the aforesaid king Ethelred renewed the
battle, and with him was his brother Alfred, at Merton, against all the
army of the barbarians, and a large number was slain on both sides. The
barbarians obtained the victory; bishop Heahmund there fell by the
sword, and his body lies buried at Caegineshamme.[61] Many others also
fell or fled in that battle, concerning whom it seems to be a loss of
time to speak more minutely at present. Lastly, after the
above-mentioned battle, and after the Easter of the same year, died king
Ethelred, from whose family I derive my origin.
And now I have followed up my plan, dear cousin Matilda, and will begin
to consolidate my subject; and like a ship which, having sailed a long
way over the waves, already occupies the port, to which in her patient
voyage she had been tending: so we, like sailors, are already entering,
and as I briefly intimated to you in my former epistle, so also in the
prefaces to this present book, and without any impropriety I again
remind you, and though I cut short the course of that which is
visionary, not impelled by necessity, but through love of your
affection, I now send it you again more fully to be meditated upon
concerning the origin of our family, and sufficiently embrace the study
of your sincerity.[62]
Thus far then: I will now leave obscurity and begin to speak concerning
the sons of Ethelwulf. They were five in number: the first was
Ethelstan, who also shared the kingdom with his father: the second was
Ethelbald, who also was king of the Western English: the third was
Ethelbert, king of Kent: the fourth was Ethelred, who after the death of
Ethelbert succeeded to the kingdom, and was also my grandfather's
grandfather: the fifth was Alfred, who succeeded after all the others to
the whole sovereignty, and was your grandfather's grandfather. Wherefore
I make known to you, my beloved cousin Matilda, that I receive these
things from ancient tradition, and have taken care in most brief style
to write the history of our race down to these two kings, from whom we
have taken our origin. To you therefore, most beloved, I devote this
work, compelled by the love of our relationship: if others receive them
with haughtiness, they will be judged unworthy of the feast; if
otherwise, we advise all in charity to gather what is set before them.
Let us return then to the story that we broke off, and to the death of
the above-named Ethelred. His reign lasted five years, and he is buried
in the monastery which goes by the name of Wimborne.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 58: Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.]
[Footnote 59: I shall be glad if my readers will find a better
translation for this obscure and inflated passage.]
[Footnote 60: See William of Malmesbury, b. ii. c. 3, p. 111, note.]
[Footnote 61: Keynsham.]
[Footnote 62: I must again request the reader to pardon the obscurity
which so frequently occurs in our author's style, and my inability to
deal with such passages; the above is a tolerably close translation of
the original.]
CHAP. III.--_Of the reign of king Alfred._
A. 871. After these things, Alfred obtained the kingdom when his
brothers were dead,--he also was the youngest son of king
Ethelwulf--over all the provinces of Britain.
There came a summer-army innumerable to Reading, and were eager to fight
against the army of the West-Angles: to their aid also came those who
had already long time been ravaging. But the army of the Angles at that
time was small on account of the king's absence, who at the same time
had performed his brother's obsequies, and although their ranks were not
full, yet their hearts were firm in their breasts, they rejoice in the
fight, and repel the enemy: but at length oppressed with fatigue, they
cease from the fight. The barbarians hold possession of a sterile field
of battle: afterwards also they spread themselves and ravage the
country. During their foul domination, there were three battles fought
by the Angles, besides the battles before-mentioned, and eleven of their
consuls, whom they call "earls," were slain, and one of their kings.
Lastly, in the same year the Eastern Angles made peace with them. And
the number of years to the encamping of the barbarian army in Reading
and to the death of king Ethelred and the succession of his brother
Alfred was the seventy-first from the time that Egbert had first
consolidated the kingdom, and forty-seven from the time that the
Mercians and Western Angles carried on civil wars at the place called
Ellandune,[63] and king Egbert received the name of victor twenty-six
years from the time that the battle was fought in Pedredan [Petherton];
and twenty years after the contest which was waged near the wood called
Ockley, and lastly five years from the arrival of the pagans in the
country of the East Angles: and without long delay, they then went to
Reading.
A. 872. After a year had elapsed from the time of their coming to
Reading, they measured out their camp in the neighbourhood of the city
of London. But the Mercians ratify a treaty with them, and pay a
stipend.
A. 873. After one year the barbarians change their position to the
neighbourhood of the city of Lindsey in a place called Torksey. The
Mercian people renew their treaty with them.
A. 874. After the lapse of a year, the barbarians at length remove to a
place called Repton, and drive king Burhred from the kingdom beyond the
sea. Twenty and two years are enumerated from the time that he first
occupied his father's kingdom. They now break the peace, and devastate
the lands of the Mercians. The above-named king did not abandon his hope
in Christ, but made a journey to Rome and died there, and his body, laid
in a worthy mausoleum, reposes in the temple of Christ's blessed mother,
which is now called the school of the English. At the same time Ceolwulf
possessed the kingdom of the Mercians.
A. 875. Lastly after a year, the barbarians divide the kingdom into two
parts: and Halfdene the leader of the barbarians took one part, namely
the kingdom of the Northumbrians, and there he chose his winter-quarters
near the river called the Tyne, and they ravaged the country there on
every side. But they also made frequent wars on the Picts and the men of
Cumberland. Oskytel also, and Gothrun, and Anwiund, their three kings,
with an immense army, came from Repton to a place called Grantabridge
[Cambridge], and there remained twelve months. Furthermore in the summer
of the same year, king Alfred came out with his army on board a fleet by
sea, and the barbarians met them with seven tall vessels. A battle
ensues, and the Danes are routed: the king takes one of their ships.
A. 876. After one year, the tyrant Halfdene obtained the kingdom of the
Northumbrians, all of whom he reduced to subjection. And in the course
of the same year, the army which had been at Cambridge made a junction
with the western army, a thing which they had not done before, near the
town which is called Wareham, and ravaged the greater part of that
province. Also the king ratified a treaty of peace with them and gave
them money. But they gave him hostages chosen out of their army, and
made oath to him on their sacred bracelet which they had never done to
the kings of the other districts, that they would quickly leave their
territories.
A. 877. But they broke the peace and contravened their engagements, and
the following year extended their troops into the province of Devon,
where they passed the winter at Exeter. Lastly their fleets put to sea
and spread their sails to the wind: but a lamentable storm came on, and
the greatest part of them, namely a hundred of their chief ships, were
sunk near the rock which is called Swanwich. The barbarians renew their
fraud and offer peace: hostages were given, more than were demanded, to
the effect that they would withdraw out of the territories of king
Alfred; and they did so. They devastate the kingdom of the Mercians and
drive out all the free men. They erect their huts in the town of
Gloucester.
A. 878. At the end of that year therefore this foul mob broke the
compact which they had before solemnly made with the Western Angles, and
they take up their winter-quarters at Chippenham. The people were
everywhere unable to resist: some of them were driven by the impious
wretches over the sea into Gaul. King Alfred was at this time straitened
more than was becoming. Ethelnoth also duke of Somerset lived with a
narrow retinue in a certain wood, and they built a stronghold in the
island of Athelingay,[64] which seems to have been situated in a marsh.
But the aforesaid king fought daily battles against the barbarians,
having with him the province of Somerset only; no others assisted him,
except the servants who made use of the king's pastures. In the same
year arrived Halfdene brother of the tyrant Hingwar with thirty galleys,
in the western parts of the Angles, and besieged Odda duke of Devon in a
certain castle, and war was stirred up on all sides. The king of the
barbarians fell, and eighty decads with him. At last the Danes obtain
the victory.
Meanwhile, after the Easter[65] of that year, king Alfred fought against
the army that was in Chippenham, at a place called Ethandune,[66] and
they obtain the victory. But after the decision of the battle, the
barbarians promise peace, ask a truce, give hostages, and bind
themselves by oath: their king submits to be baptized, and Alfred the
king receives him from the laver in the marshy isle of Alney.[67] Duke
Ethelnoth also purified the same at a place called Wedmore, and king
Alfred there bestowed upon him magnificent honors.
A. 879. After a year from the time of the pagan army leaving
Gloucester, they marched to Cirencester, and there wintered. In the
course of the same year the sun was eclipsed.
A. 880. A year after the eclipse, the aforesaid army struck their tents,
and leaving Cirencester went into the country of the East Angles, and
pitching their camp, reduced all the inhabitants of those parts to
subjection. And it was now fourteen years since the barbarians first
wintered in the country aforesaid, and ravaged it. In the same year,
when they had reduced the district aforesaid, they went in a vessel to
Gaul and took up a position at a place called Ghent: the same men who
had formerly measured out their camp at a place called Fulham.
A. 881. After a year, they attempt to proceed further; but the armies of
the Franks assail them and gain the victory; the barbarians were put to
flight.
A. 882. After a year the aforesaid army passed into the upper districts
of the Maese and measured out their camp at a place called Escelum.[68]
In the same year king Alfred put to sea and fell in with four ships;
which he defeated, and destroyed two, the others surrendered.
A. 883. The next year the aforesaid army entered the parishes of the
Scald,[69] to a place called Cundath;[70] and there measured out their
camp for the winter.
A. 884. After one year had expired, that pestilential army aforesaid
removed to the higher districts of the Somme, to a place called
Embenum,[71] and there wintered.
A. 885. After a year they divide themselves into two parts: one to
Sofenum,[72] the other to Rochester; and they laid siege to those towns.
They also construct other smaller camps. Defeat prevails among the
inhabitants until the arrival of king Alfred with an army. The foul
plague was vanquished, and sought reinforcement....[73] Some of them
made for the sea-coasts. The same year they renewed their league, and
gave hostages to the English, and twice in the year they counted the
spoil which they had obtained by fraud, in the land which borders on the
southern bank of the Thames. The filthy crew which were then in
possession of the East Angles, suddenly removed to a place called
Bamfleet; and there the allied band divided; some of them remained, and
some of them went beyond the sea. In the same year, therefore, the
aforesaid king Alfred sent his fleet into the country of the East
Angles, and immediately on their arrival, there met them at a place
called Stourmouth sixteen ships, which they forthwith ravaged, and slew
the captains with the sword. The rest of the pirate-crew met them; they
ply their oars, their armour shines over the constrained waters, the
barbarians obtain the victory. In the same year died Charles the
Magnificent king of the Franks, cut off by death before the revolution
of one year; after him came his uterine brother who ruled over the
western coasts of Gaul. Both were sons of Louis, who had formerly
possessed the sole sovereignty: his life had reached its termination
during the eclipse of the sun aforesaid. He was son of the great king
Charles, whose daughter Ethelwulf king of the English had taken to wife.
In the course of that year, a great number of barbarians landed and
filled the coasts of the Old Saxons; two battles were fought soon after:
the Saxons were the victors, and the Frisons also were present in the
contest. In the same year Charles the Younger succeeded to the
sovereignty of all the western parts of Gaul as far as the Tyrrhenian
sea, and, if I may so speak, of the dominions of his grandfather, except
the province of the Lidwiccas.[74] His father was Lodwicus, brother of
the middle Charles whose daughter was married to Ethelwulf king of the
English. And both of these were sons of Lodwicus, namely, Lodwicus was
son of Charlemagne who was the son of Pepin.
In the same year died the blessed pope Martin,[75] who also gave freedom
to the school of the English, by the appointment of king Alfred, and
sent as a present part of the thrice blessed cross of Christ, who is the
salvation of the world. In the course of that year, the above-named
pestilential crew broke their engagements, and marched in arms against
king Alfred. Lastly, after a year, they went to the lower parts of
Gaul, and fixed on a place to winter near the river Seine. Meanwhile,
the city of London was fortified by king Alfred, whom no civil discord
could subdue, either by cunning or by force: all men received him as a
saviour, and particularly the Saxons--except the barbarians--and those
who were then held prisoners in their hands. Also, after his army was
strengthened, Ethered was appointed leader there by the aforesaid king,
to guard the citadel.
A. 887. Now the army which were at that time ravaging the country of
Gaul cut their way through the bridge of the citadel of Paris, and
devastated the whole country along the Seine, as far as the Marne, and
above its vertex, as far as Catsig [Chezy], where they thrice fixed
their winter quarters. In the same year also died Charles, king of the
Franks, and his cousin Arnulf succeeded to the kingdom, seven years
before his uncle's death. The kingdom was then divided into five, and so
many kings in the same: but all things are done by the permission of
king Arnulf, and they promised to be all under his subjection, because
they were not like him, descended from the paternal stock; and he lived
after this on the eastern side of the river Rhine. But Rodulf occupied
the middle parts of the kingdom, Oda the western parts, and Beorngar
with Witha held the kingdom of the Lombards from the division of the
Jovian mountain.[76] There they began a civil war; people assailed
people; the lands of both were continually disturbed, nor was there any
hope of quiet.
The same year, in which the barbarians had settled on the bridge of
Paris, duke Ethelhelm received no small part of the money paid from the
diocese of the English by the king for the people, and went to Rome. In
the same year died queen Ethelswitha.
A. 888. In the lapse of the same year also, archbishop Athelred
deceased, and Ethelwold, commander in Kent.
A. 889. After one year, abbat Bernhelm carried to Rome the alms for the
people, and principally those of the western English and of king Alfred.
Then also Gothrun, king of the northern English, yielded his breath to
Orcus; he had taken the name of Athelstan, as he came out of the
baptismal laver, from his godfather, king Alfred, and had his seat
among the East-Angles, since he there also had held the first station.
In the same year, the aforesaid army of barbarians removed from the
river Seine to a place called Santlaudah,[77] situated between the
Bretons and the Franks; but the Bretons met them in arms, and obtained
the victory, and followed them to the windings of a certain river, and
there not a few of them were drowned in the waters.
A. 891. One year afterwards, the bands of the aforesaid army visited the
eastern parts of France; king Arnulf met them; a fight of cavalry took
place before the fleets arrived. An army of eastern Franks came up,
Saxons and Bavarians; the pagans spread their sails to flee. In the same
year, three chosen men of Hibernian race, burning with piety, leave
their country: they privately form a boat by sewing ox-hides; they put
into it provisions for a week; they sail seven days and seven nights,
and arrive on the shores of Cornwall: here they left their fleet, which
had been guided, not by the strength of their arms, but by the power of
Him who rules all things, and set out for the court of king Alfred, who
with his senate rejoice in their coming. From thence they proceed to
Rome, and, as is customary with teachers of Christ, they essay to go
thence to Jerusalem:[78] ... Their names were, Dubslane, the first;
Macbeth, the second; Maelinmun, the third, flourishing in the arts,
skilled in letters, and a distinguished master of the Scots. Also in the
same year, after Easter a comet appeared, which some think to be an omen
of foul times, which have already past; but it is the most approved
theory of philosophers, that they foretel future things, as has been
tried in many ways.
A. 893. One year after the barbarians fought against king Arnulf, they
go to Boulogne, and there build a fleet, and pass over into England.
There they station their fleet in the Limnean port, at a place called
Apoldre [Appledore, in the eastern part of Kent,] and destroy an ancient
castle, because there was but a small band of rustics within, and there
they make their winter camp. In the course of this year, a large fleet
belonging to Hasten arrives on the banks of the river Thames, and found
a citadel on the coasts of Kent, at a place called Middleton [Milton]:
they encamp there the whole winter; and the number of years that had
elapsed from the glorious nativity of our Saviour was nine hundred, all
but seven.
After the Easter of that year, the army which had come from Gaul leave
their camp, and trace the intricacies of a certain immense wood, which
is called Andred, and they extend as far as the Western Angles. Slowly
as they go, they ravage the adjoining provinces, Hampshire and
Berkshire: these things were told to the heir of Edward, son of king
Alfred, who had been exercising himself in the southern parts of
England. After this they reach the Western Angles, who meet them with
threatening arms and dense array at Farnham: they exult, freed by the
arrival of the prince, like sheep under the protection of the shepherd;
the tyrant is wounded, and his troops are driven across the river Thames
into the northern countries.
Meanwhile, the Danes are held besieged in Thorney isle. Earl Ethered,
setting out from the city of London, lent his aid to the prince. The
barbarians asked peace and a treaty: hostages are given, they promise by
oath to leave the kingdom of the aforesaid king; their words and deeds
agree together without delay. Lastly, they set out for the country of
the East-Angles, formerly governed by the king Saint Edmund, and their
ships fly round to them from the Limnean port to Meresige [Mersey], a
place in Kent.
In the course of the same year, Hasten breaks away with his band from
Bamfleet, and devastates all Mercia, until they arrive at the end of
Britain. The army, which was then in the eastern part of the country,
supplied them with reinforcements, and the Northumbrian, in the same
way. The illustrious duke Ethelm, with a squadron of cavalry, and duke
Ethelnoth, with an army of Western-Angles, followed behind them, and
Ethered, earl of the Mercians, pressed after them with great
impetuosity. The youth of both people join battle, and the Angles obtain
the victory. These things are said by ancient writers to have been done
at Buttington, and the exertions of the Danes appeared futile; they
again ratify peace, give hostages, and promise to leave that part of the
country. In the same year Danaasuda,[79] in Bamfleet, was destroyed by
the people, and they divide the treasure among them.
After this, Sigeferth, the pirate, lands from his fleet in Northumbria,
and twice devastates the coast, after which he returns home.
A. 895. When two years were completed, from the time that an immense
fleet came from Boulogne to Limnae, a town of the Angles, duke Ethelnoth
set out from the western parts of the Angles, and goes from the city of
York against the enemy, who devastate no small tracts of land in the
kingdom of the Mercians, on the west of Stanford; _i.e._ between the
courses of the river Weolod[80] and a thick wood, called Ceoftefne.
A. 896. In the course of one year also, died Guthfrid, king of the
Northumbrians, on the birthday of Christ's apostle, St. Bartholomew,
whose body is buried at York, in the high church.
A. 900. Meanwhile, after four years, from the time that the above-named
king died, there was a great discord among the English, because the foul
bands of the Danes still remained throughout Northumberland. Lastly, in
the same year, king Alfred departed out of this world, that immoveable
pillar of the Western Saxons, that man full of justice, bold in arms,
learned in speech, and, above all other things, imbued with the divine
instructions. For he had translated into his own language, out of Latin,
unnumbered volumes, of so varied a nature, and so excellently, that the
sorrowful book of Boethius seemed, not only to the learned, but even to
those who heard it read, as it were, brought to life again. The monarch
died on the seventh day before the solemnity of All Saints, and his body
rests in peace in the city of Winton. Pray, O reader, to Christ our
Redeemer, that he will save his soul!
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 63: Allington, Wiltshire.]
[Footnote 64: Athelney, no longer an island, is situated near
Borough-bridge in Somersetshire.]
[Footnote 65: Easter Day was the 23rd of March in the year 878.]
[Footnote 66: Heddington.]
[Footnote 67: Some suppose that this is Aller near Athelingay, or
Athelney; but Athelney itself is called Alney by the common people; it
is therefore more likely that Athelingay and Alney were the same place,
as they are at present.]
[Footnote 68: Aschloha, or Ascloha, is on the Maese, about fourteen
miles from the Rhine.]
[Footnote 69: The Scheldt.]
[Footnote 70: Conde.]
[Footnote 71: More commonly Ambiani, now Amiens.]
[Footnote 72: Louvain.]
[Footnote 73: I acknowledge my inability to translate this and many
other passages of this obscure author. The events which here follow for
the next half page are referred by the Saxon Chronicle to the year 894.]
[Footnote 74: Armorica, or Bretagne.]
[Footnote 75: This should be Marinus, not Martinus.]
[Footnote 76: Mount St. Barnard.]
[Footnote 77: Saint Lo.]
[Footnote 78: I omit this obscure passage rather than run the risk of
misleading the reader by an inaccurate translation of it.]
[Footnote 79: This must be the fortress which Hasten's men built in
Bamfleet.]
[Footnote 80: Welland, Northamptonshire.]
CHAP. IV.--_Of the reign of king Edward, and of his wars._
A. 901. The successor to the throne was Edward, son of the above-named
king. He was elected by the nobles, and crowned with the royal crown on
Whitsunday, one hundred years having elapsed since his great
grandfather, Egbert, had gained his present territories. In the same
year Ethelbald received, in the city of London, the bishopric of the
city of York; and, it appears, that the number of years completed, since
Christ came in the flesh, was nine hundred full.
A. 902. After two years was the battle of Holme.[81] ... Five days after
the festival of the blessed mother, they lock together their shields,
brandish their swords, and vibrate their lances in both hands. There
fell duke Siwulf and Sigelm, and almost all the Kentish nobility: and
Eohric, king of the barbarians, there descended to Orcus: two princes of
the English, in the flower of their youth, there yield up the breath of
life, and explore the foreign regions, under the waves of Acheron, and
numbers of full-grown men fall on both sides. The barbarians remain
victors, and triumph on the field of battle.
A. 905. At length, after three years, the number of years completed
since the beginning of the world, was six thousand and one hundred.
A. 908. After three years archbishop Plegmund inaugurized, in the city
of Winchester, a lofty tower, which had been recently founded in honour
of Mary, the mother of God. The pontiff aforesaid, in the course of the
same year carried to Rome the alms for the people, and for king Edward.
A. 909. After one year the barbarians break their compact with king
Edward, and with earl Ethered, who then ruled the provinces of
Northumberland and Mercia. The lands of the Mercians are laid waste on
all sides by the hosts aforesaid, as far as the streams of the Avon,
where begins the frontier of the West-Saxons and the Mercians. Thence
they pass over the river Severn into the western regions, and gained by
their devastations no little booty. But when they had withdrawn
homewards, rejoicing in their rich spoils, they passed over a bridge on
the eastern side of the river Severn, at a place commonly called
Cantabridge,[82] the troops of the Mercians and West-Saxons met them: a
battle ensued, and in the plain of Wodnesfield the English obtained the
victory: the Danish army fled, overwhelmed by the darts of their
enemies: these things are said to have been done on the fifth day of
August; and their three kings fell there in that turmoil or battle,
namely, Halfdene, Ecwils, and Hingwar: they lost their sovereignty, and
descended to the court of the infernal king, and their elders and nobles
with them.
A. 910. After one year, Ethered, who survived of the Mercians, departed
this life, and was buried peacefully in the city of Gloucester.
A. 912. After two years, died Athulf in Northumbria; he was at that time
commander of the town called Bebbanburgh.[83]
A. 913. After a year, a fleet entered the mouth of the river Severn, but
no severe battle was fought there that year. Lastly, the greater part of
that army go to Ireland, formerly called Bretannis by the great Julius
Caesar.
A. 914. After one year, the day of Christ's nativity fell on a Sunday;
and so great was the tranquillity of that winter, that no one can
remember anything like it either before or since.
A. 917. After three years, Ethelfled the king's sister departed this
life, and her body lies buried at Gloucester.
A. 926. Also in the ninth year died Edward, king of the English. This
was the end; his name and his pertinacity here ceased.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 81: The particulars recorded in this passage, concerning the
battle of Holme, are ascribed, by Florence of Worcester and the Saxon
Chronicle, to another battle, fought three years later. This caused
Petrie to suppose, that the paragraph in question had slipped out of its
real place.]
[Footnote 82: Cambridge, in Gloucestershire.]
[Footnote 83: Bambrough.]
CHAP. V.--_Of the reign of king Athelstan, his wars and deeds._
A. 926. The year in which the stout king Athelstan gained the crown of
the kingdom, was the nine hundred and twenty-sixth from the glorious
incarnation of our Saviour.
A. 939. Therefore, after thirteen years, a fierce battle was fought
against the barbarians at Brunandune,[84] wherefore that fight is called
great even to the present day: then the barbarian tribes are defeated
and domineer no longer; they are driven beyond the ocean: the Scots and
Picts also bow the neck; the lands of Britain are consolidated together,
on all sides is peace, and plenty of all things, nor ever did a fleet
again come to land except in friendship with the English.
A. 941. Two years afterwards the venerated king Athelstan died.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 84: Brumby, Lincolnshire.]
CHAP. VI.--_Of the reign of king Edmund._
After him Edmund succeeded to the neglected kingdom.
A. 948. After seven years, therefore, bishop Wulfstan and the duke of
the Mercians expelled certain deserters, namely, Reginald and Anlaf from
the city of York, and gave them into the king's hand. In the same year
died also queen Elfgiva, wife of king Edmund, and afterwards was
canonized. In her tomb, with God's assistance, even to the present day,
miracles are performed in the monastery called Shaftesbury. In the same
period also died king Edmund on the solemnity of Augustine the Less, who
also was the apostle of the English: and he held the kingdom six years
and a half.
CHAP. VII.--_Of the reign of king Edred._
Edmund's successor was Edred his brother, to whom all the Northumbrians
became subject; and the Scots also give oaths of allegiance and
immutable fidelity. Not long after these things he also departed in
peace, on the birthday of the blessed pope and martyr Clement. He had
held the kingdom nine years and half.
CHAP. VIII.--_Of king Edwy._
His successor to the throne was Edwy, who, on account of his great
personal beauty, was called Pankalus by the people. He held the
sovereignty four years, and was much beloved.
CHAP. IX.--_Of the reign of king Edgar._
A. 959. After this, Edgar was crowned, and he was an admirable
king.[85]
Moreover from the nativity of our Lord and Saviour was then completed
the number of 973 years.[85]
HERE HAPPILY ENDS THE FOURTH BOOK OF
FABIUS ETHELWERD,
QUESTOR AND PATRICIAN.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 85: Here follow two sets of Latin verses, of a most obscure
and angrammatical character, and altogether untranslatable.]
ANNALS OF THE REIGN
OF
ALFRED THE GREAT.
ANNALS OF THE REIGN
OF
ALFRED THE GREAT,
FROM A.D. 849 TO A.D. 887.
BY ASSER OF SAINT DAVID'S.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 849, was born Alfred, king of the
Anglo-Saxons, at the royal village of Wanating,[86] in Berkshire, which
country has its name from the wood of Berroc, where the box-tree grows
most abundantly. His genealogy is traced in the following order. King
Alfred was the son of king Ethelwulf, who was the son of Egbert, who was
the son of Elmund, was the son of Eafa, who was the son of Eoppa, who
the son of Ingild. Ingild, and Ina, the famous king of the West-Saxons,
were two brothers. Ina went to Rome, and there ending this life
honourably, entered the heavenly kingdom, to reign there for ever with
Christ. Ingild and Ina were the sons of Coenred, who was the son of
Ceolwald, who was the son of Cudam, who was the son of Cuthwin, who was
the son of Ceawlin, who was the son of Cynric, who was the son of
Creoda, who was the son of Cerdic, who was the son of Elesa, who was the
son of Gewis, from whom the Britons name all that nation Gegwis,[87] who
was the son of Brond, who was the son of Beldeg, who was the son of
Woden, who was the son of Frithowald, who was the son of Frealaf, who
was the son of Frithuwulf, who was the son of Finn of Godwulf, who was
the son of Geat, which Geat the pagans long worshipped as a god.
Sedulius makes mention of him in his metrical Paschal poem, as
follows:--
When gentile poets with their fictions vain,
In tragic language and bombastic strain,
To their god Geat, comic deity,
Loud praises sing, &c.
Geat was the son of Taetwa, who was the son of Beaw, who was the son of
Sceldi, who was the son of Heremod, who was the son of Iterinon, who was
the son of Hathra, who was the son of Guala, who was the son of Bedwig,
who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of
Lamech, who was the son of Methusalem, who was the son of Enoch, who was
the son of Malaleel, who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Enos,
who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam.
The mother of Alfred was named Osburga, a religious woman, noble both by
birth and by nature; she was daughter of Oslac, the famous butler of
king Ethelwulf, which Oslac was a Goth by nation, descended from the
Goths and Jutes, of the seed, namely, of Stuf and Wihtgar, two brothers
and counts: who, having received possession of the Isle of Wight from
their uncle, king Cerdic, and his son Cynric their cousin, slew the few
British inhabitants whom they could find in that island, at a place
called Gwihtgaraburgh;[88] for the other inhabitants of the island had
either been slain or escaped into exile.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 851, which was the third after the
birth of king Alfred, Ceorl, earl of Devon, fought with the men of Devon
against the pagans at a place called Wicgambeorg;[89] and the Christians
gained the victory; and that same year the pagans first wintered in the
island called Sheppey, which means the Sheep-isle, and is situated in
the river Thames between Essex and Kent, but is nearer to Kent than to
Essex; it has in it a fine monastery.[90]
The same year also a great army of the pagans came with three hundred
and fifty ships to the mouth of the river Thames, and sacked
Dorobernia,[91] which is the city of the Cantuarians, and also the city
of London, which lies on the north bank of the river Thames, on the
confines of Essex and Middlesex; but yet that city belongs in truth to
Essex; and they put to flight Berthwulf, king of Mercia, with all the
army, which he had led out to oppose them.
After these things, the aforesaid pagan host went into Surrey, which is
a district situated on the south bank of the river Thames, and to the
west of Kent. And Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, and his son
Ethelbald, with all their army, fought a long time against them at a
place called Ac-lea,[92] i.e. the Oak-plain, and there, after a
lengthened battle, which was fought with much bravery on both sides, the
greater part of the pagan multitude was destroyed and cut to pieces, so
that we never heard of their being so defeated, either before or since,
in any country, in one day; and the Christians gained an honourable
victory, and were triumphant over their graves.
In the same year king Athelstan, son of king Ethelwulf, and earl Ealhere
slew a large army of pagans in Kent, at a place called Sandwich, and
took nine ships of their fleet; the others escaped by flight.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 853, which was the fifth of king
Alfred, Burhred, king of the Mercians, sent messengers, and prayed
Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, to come and help him in reducing the
midland Britons, who dwell between Mercia and the western sea, and who
struggled against him most immoderately. So without delay, king
Ethelwulf, having received the embassy, moved his army, and advanced
with king Burhred against Britain,[93] and immediately, on entering that
country, he began to ravage it; and having reduced it under subjection
to king Burhred, he returned home.
In the same year, king Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred, above-named, to
Rome, with an honourable escort both of nobles and commoners. Pope Leo
[the fourth] at that time presided over the apostolic see, and he
anointed for king the aforesaid Alfred, and adopted him as his spiritual
son. The same year also, earl Ealhere, with the men of Kent, and Huda
with the men of Surrey, fought bravely and resolutely against an army of
the pagans, in the island, which is called in the Saxon tongue,
Tenet,[94] but Ruim in the British language. The battle lasted a long
time, and many fell on both sides, and also were drowned in the water;
and both the earls were there slain. In the same year also, after
Easter, Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, gave his daughter to
Burhred, king of the Mercians, and the marriage was celebrated royally
at the royal vill of Chippenham.[95]
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 855, which was the seventh after
the birth of the aforesaid king, Edmund the most glorious king of the
East-Angles began to reign, on the eighth day before the kalends of
January, i.e. on the birthday of our Lord, in the fourteenth year of his
age. In this year also died Lothaire, the Roman emperor, son of the
pious Lewis Augustus. In the same year the aforesaid venerable king
Ethelwulf released the tenth part of all his kingdom from all royal
service and tribute, and with a pen never to be forgotten, offered it up
to God the One and the Three in One, in the cross of Christ, for the
redemption of his own soul and of his predecessors. In the same year he
went to Rome with much honour; and taking with him his son, the
aforesaid king Alfred, for a second journey thither, because he loved
him more than his other sons, he remained there a whole year; after
which he returned to his own country, bringing with him Judith, daughter
of Charles, the king of the Franks.
In the meantime, however, whilst king Ethelwulf was residing beyond the
sea, a base deed was done, repugnant to the morals of all Christians, in
the western part of Selwood. For king Ethelbald [son of king Ethelwulf]
and Ealstan, bishop of the church of Sherborne, with Eanwulf, earl of
the district of Somerton, are said to have made a conspiracy together,
that king Ethelwulf, on his return from Rome, should never again be
received into his kingdom. This crime, unheard-of in all previous ages,
is ascribed by many to the bishop and earl alone, as resulting from
their counsels. Many also ascribe it solely to the insolence of the
king, because that king was pertinacious in this matter, and in many
other perversities, as we have heard related by certain persons; as also
was proved by the result of that which follows.
For as he was returning from Rome, his son aforesaid, with all his
counsellors, or, as I ought to say, his conspirators, attempted to
perpetrate the crime of repulsing the king from his own kingdom; but
neither did God permit the deed, nor would the nobles of all Saxony
consent to it. For to prevent this irremediable evil to Saxony, of a son
warring against his father, or rather of the whole nation carrying on
civil war either on the side of the one or the other, the extraordinary
mildness of the father, seconded by the consent of all the nobles,
divided between the two the kingdom which had hitherto been undivided;
the eastern parts were given to the father, and the western to the son;
for where the father ought by just right to reign, there his unjust and
obstinate son did reign; for the western part of Saxony is always
preferable to the eastern.
When Ethelwulf, therefore, was coming from Rome, all that nation, as was
fitting, so delighted in the arrival of the old man, that, if he
permitted them, they would have expelled his rebellious son Ethelbald,
with all his counsellors, out of the kingdom. But he, as we have said,
acting with great clemency and prudent counsel, so wished things to be
done, that the kingdom might not come into danger; and he placed Judith,
daughter of king Charles, whom he had received from his father, by his
own side on the regal throne, without any controversy or enmity from his
nobles, even to the end of his life, contrary to the perverse custom of
that nation. For the nation of the West-Saxons do not allow a queen to
sit beside the king, nor to be called a queen, but only the king's wife;
which stigma the elders of that land say arose from a certain obstinate
and malevolent queen of the same nation, who did all things so contrary
to her lord, and to all the people, that she not only earned for herself
exclusion from the royal seat, but also entailed the same stigma upon
those who came after her; for in consequence of the wickedness of that
queen, all the nobles of that land swore together, that they would never
let any king reign over them, who should attempt to place a queen on the
throne by his side.
And because, as I think, it is not known to many whence this perverse
and detestable custom arose in Saxony, contrary to the custom of all the
Theotiscan nations, it seems to me right to explain a little more fully
what I have heard from my lord Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, as he
also had heard it from many men of truth, who in great part recorded
that fact.
There was in Mercia, in recent times, a certain valiant king, who was
feared by all the kings and neighbouring states around. His name was
Offa, and it was he who had the great rampart made from sea to sea
between Britain[96] and Mercia. His daughter, named Eadburga, was
married to Bertric, king of the West-Saxons; who immediately, having
the king's affections, and the control of almost all the kingdom, began
to live tyrannically like her father, and to execrate every man whom
Bertric loved, and to do all things hateful to God and man, and to
accuse all she could before the king, and so to deprive them insidiously
of their life or power; and if she could not obtain the king's consent,
she used to take them off by poison: as is ascertained to have been the
case with a certain young man beloved by the king, whom she poisoned,
finding that the king would not listen to any accusation against him. It
is said, moreover, that king Bertric unwittingly tasted of the poison,
though the queen intended to give it to the young man only, and so both
of them perished.
Bertric therefore being dead, the queen could remain no longer among the
West-Saxons, but sailed beyond the sea with immense treasures, and went
to the court of the great and famous Charles, king of the Franks. As she
stood before the throne, and offered him money, Charles said to her,
"Choose, Eadburga, between me and my son, who stands here with me." She
replied, foolishly, and without deliberation, "If I am to have my
choice, I choose your son, because he is younger than you." At which
Charles smiled and answered, "If you had chosen me, you would have had
my son; but as you have chosen him, you shall not have either of us."
However, he gave her a large convent of nuns, in which, having laid
aside the secular habit and taken the religious dress, she discharged
the office of abbess during a few years; for, as she is said to have
lived irrationally in her own country, so she appears to have acted
still more so in that foreign country; for being convicted of having had
unlawful intercourse with a man of her own nation, she was expelled from
the monastery by king Charles's order, and lived a vicious life of
reproach in poverty and misery until her death; so that at last,
accompanied by one slave only, as we have heard from many who saw her,
she begged her bread daily at Pavia, and so miserably died.
Now king Ethelwulf lived two years after his return from Rome; during
which, among many other good deeds of this present life, reflecting on
his departure according to the way of all flesh, that his sons might not
quarrel unreasonably after their father's death, he ordered a will or
letter of instructions to be written, in which he ordered that his
kingdom should be divided between his two eldest sons, his private
inheritance between his sons, his daughters, and his relations, and the
money which he left behind him between his sons and nobles, and for the
good of his soul. Of this prudent policy we have thought fit to record a
few instances out of many for posterity to imitate; namely, such as are
understood to belong principally to the needs of the soul; for the
others, which relate only to human dispensation, it is not necessary to
insert in this work, lest prolixity should create disgust in those who
read or wish to hear my work. For the benefit of his soul, then, which
he studied to promote in all things from the first flower of his youth,
he directed through all his hereditary dominions, that one poor man in
ten, either native or foreigner, should be supplied with meat, drink,
and clothing, by his successors, until the day of judgment; supposing,
however, that the country should still be inhabited both by men and
cattle, and should not become deserted. He commanded also a large sum of
money, namely, three hundred mancuses, to be carried to Rome for the
good of his soul, to be distributed in the following manner: namely, a
hundred mancuses in honour of St. Peter, specially to buy oil for the
lights of the church of that apostle on Easter eve, and also at the
cock-crow: a hundred mancuses in honour of St. Paul, for the same
purpose of buying oil for the church of St. Paul the apostle, to light
the lamps on Easter eve and at the cock-crow; and a hundred mancuses for
the universal apostolic pontiff.
But when king Ethelwulf was dead, and buried at Stemrugam,[97] his son
Ethelbald, contrary to God's prohibition and the dignity of a Christian,
contrary also to the custom of all the pagans, ascended his father's
bed, and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, and
drew down much infamy upon himself from all who heard of it. During two
years and a half of licentiousness after his father he held the
government of the West-Saxons.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 856, which was the eighth after
Alfred's birth, the second year of king Charles III, and the eighteenth
year of the reign of Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, Humbert,
bishop of the East-Angles, anointed with oil and consecrated as king the
glorious Edmund, with much rejoicing and great honour in the royal town
called Burva, in which at that time was the royal seat, in the fifteenth
year of his age, on a Friday, the twenty-fourth moon, being
Christmas-day.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 860, which was the twelfth of king
Alfred's age, died Ethelbald, king of the West-Saxons, and was buried at
Sherborne. His brother Ethelbert, as was fitting, joined Kent, Surrey,
and Sussex also to his dominion.
In his days a large army of pagans came from the sea, and attacked and
destroyed the city of Winchester. As they were returning laden with
booty to their ships, Osric, earl of Hampshire, with his men, and earl
Ethelwulf, with the men of Berkshire, confronted them bravely; a severe
battle took place, and the pagans were slain on every side; and, finding
themselves unable to resist, took to flight like women, and the
Christians obtained a triumph.
Ethelbert governed his kingdom five years in peace, with the love and
respect of his subjects, who felt deep sorrow when he went the way of
all flesh. His body was honourably interred at Sherborne by the side of
his brothers.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 864, the pagans wintered in the
isle of Thanet, and made a firm treaty with the men of Kent, who
promised them money for adhering to their covenant; but the pagans, like
cunning foxes, burst from their camp by night, and setting at naught
their engagements, and spurning at the promised money, which they knew
was less than they could get by plunder, they ravaged all the eastern
coast of Kent.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 866, which was the eighteenth of
king Alfred, Ethelred, brother of Ethelbert, king of the West Saxons,
undertook the government of the kingdom for five years; and the same
year a large fleet of pagans came to Britain from the Danube, and
wintered in the kingdom of the Eastern-Saxons, which is called in Saxon
East-Anglia; and there they became principally an army of cavalry. But,
to speak in nautical phrase, I will no longer commit my vessel to the
power of the waves and of its sails, or keeping off from land steer my
round-about course through so many calamities of wars and series of
years, but will return to that which first prompted me to this task;
that is to say, I think it right in this place briefly to relate as much
as has come to my knowledge about the character of my revered lord
Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, during the years that he was an infant
and a boy.
He was loved by his father and mother, and even by all the people, above
all his brothers, and was educated altogether at the court of the king.
As he advanced through the years of infancy and youth, his form appeared
more comely than that of his brothers; in look, in speech, and in
manners he was more graceful than they. His noble nature implanted in
him from his cradle a love of wisdom above all things; but, with shame
be it spoken, by the unworthy neglect of his parents and nurses, he
remained illiterate even till he was twelve years old or more; but he
listened with serious attention to the Saxon poems which he often heard
recited, and easily retained them in his docile memory. He was a zealous
practiser of hunting in all its branches, and hunted with great
assiduity and success; for skill and good fortune in this art, as in all
others, are among the gifts of God, as we also have often witnessed.
On a certain day, therefore, his mother[98] was showing him and his
brother a Saxon book of poetry, which she held in her hand, and said,
"Whichever of you shall the soonest learn this volume shall have it for
his own." Stimulated by these words, or rather by the Divine
inspiration, and allured by the beautifully illuminated letter at the
beginning of the volume, he spoke before all his brothers, who, though
his seniors in age, were not so in grace, and answered, "Will you really
give that book to one of us, that is to say, to him who can first
understand and repeat it to you?" At this his mother smiled with
satisfaction, and confirmed what she had before said. Upon which the boy
took the book out of her hand, and went to his master to read it, and in
due time brought it to his mother and recited it.
After this he learned the daily course, that is, the celebration of the
hours, and afterwards certain psalms, and several prayers, contained in
a certain book which he kept day and night in his bosom, as we
ourselves have seen, and carried about with him to assist his prayers,
amid all the bustle and business of this present life. But, sad to say,
he could not gratify his most ardent wish to learn the liberal arts,
because, as he said, there were no good readers at that time in all the
kingdom of the West-Saxons.
This he confessed, with many lamentations and sighs, to have been one of
his greatest difficulties and impediments in this life, namely, that
when he was young and had the capacity for learning, he could not find
teachers; but, when he was more advanced in life, he was harassed by so
many diseases unknown to all the physicians of this island, as well as
by internal and external anxieties of sovereignty, and by continual
invasions of the pagans, and had his teachers and writers also so much
disturbed, that there was no time for reading. But yet among the
impediments of this present life, from infancy up to the present time,
and, as I believe, even until his death, he continued to feel the same
insatiable desire of knowledge, and still aspires after it.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 867, which was the nineteenth of
the life of the aforesaid king Alfred, the army of pagans before
mentioned removed from the East-Angles to the city of York, which is
situated on the north bank of the river Humber.
At that time a violent discord arose, by the instigation of the devil,
among the inhabitants of Northumberland; as always is used to happen
among a people who have incurred the wrath of God. For the Northumbrians
at that time, as we have said, had expelled their lawful king Osbert,
and appointed a certain tyrant named AElla, not of royal birth, over the
affairs of the kingdom; but when the pagans approached, by divine
Providence, and the union of the nobles for the common good, that
discord was a little appeased, and Osbert and AElla uniting their
resources, and assembling an army, marched to York. The pagans fled at
their approach, and attempted to defend themselves within the walls of
the city. The Christians, perceiving their flight and the terror they
were in, determined to destroy the walls of the town, which they
succeeded in doing; for that city was not surrounded at that time with
firm or strong walls, and when the Christians had made a breach as they
had purposed, and many of them had entered into the town, the pagans,
urged by despair and necessity, made a fierce sally upon them, slew
them, routed them, and cut them down on all sides, both within and
without the walls. In that battle fell almost all the Northumbrian
warriors, with both the kings and a multitude of nobles; the remainder,
who escaped, made peace with the pagans.
In the same year, Ealstan, bishop of the church of Sherborne, went the
way of all flesh, after he had honourably ruled his see four years, and
he was buried at Sherborne.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 868, which was the twentieth of
king Alfred's life, there was a severe famine. Then the aforesaid
revered king Alfred, but at that time occupying a subordinate station,
asked and obtained in marriage a noble Mercian lady, daughter of
Athelred, surnamed Mucil,[99] earl of the Gaini.[100] The mother of this
lady was named Edburga, of the royal line of Mercia, whom we have often
seen with our own eyes a few years before her death. She was a venerable
lady, and after the decease of her husband, she remained many years a
widow, even till her own death.
In the same year, the above-named army of pagans, leaving
Northumberland, invaded Mercia and advanced to Nottingham, which is
called in the British tongue, "Tiggocobauc," but in Latin, the "House of
Caves," and they wintered there that same year. Immediately on their
approach, Burhred, king of Mercia, and all the nobles of that nation,
sent messengers to Ethelred, king of the West-Saxons, and his brother
Alfred, suppliantly entreating them to come and aid them in fighting
against the aforesaid army. Their request was easily obtained; for the
brothers, as soon as promised, assembled an immense army from all parts
of their dominions, and entering Mercia, came to Nottingham, all eager
for battle, and when the pagans, defended by the castle, refused to
fight, and the Christians were unable to destroy the wall, peace was
made between the Mercians and pagans, and the two brothers, Ethelred and
Alfred, returned home with their troops.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 869, which was the twenty-first of
king Alfred's life, there was a great famine and mortality of men, and a
pestilence among the cattle. And the aforesaid army of the pagans,
galloping back to Northumberland, went to York, and there passed the
winter.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 870, which was the twenty-second
of king Alfred's life, the above-named army of pagans, passed through
Mercia into East-Anglia, and wintered at Thetford.
In the same year Edmund, king of the East-Angles, fought most fiercely
against them; but, lamentable to say, the pagans triumphed, Edmund was
slain in the battle, and the enemy reduced all that country to
subjection.
In the same year Ceolnoth, archbishop of Canterbury, went the way of all
flesh, and was buried peaceably in his own city.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 871, which was the twenty-third of
king Alfred's life, the pagan army, of hateful memory, left the
East-Angles, and entering the kingdom of the West-Saxons, came to the
royal city, called Reading, situated on the south bank of the Thames, in
the district called Berkshire; and there, on the third day after their
arrival, their earls, with great part of the army, scoured the country
for plunder, while the others made a rampart between the rivers Thames
and Kennet on the right side of the same royal city. They were
encountered by Ethelwulf, earl of Berkshire, with his men, at a place
called Englefield;[101] both sides fought bravely, and made long
resistance. At length one of the pagan earls was slain, and the greater
part of the army destroyed; upon which the rest saved themselves by
flight, and the Christians gained the victory.
Four days afterwards, Ethelred, king of the West-Saxons, and his brother
Alfred, united their forces and marched to Reading, where, on their
arrival, they cut to pieces the pagans whom they found outside the
fortifications. But the pagans, nevertheless, sallied out from the
gates, and a long and fierce engagement ensued. At last, grief to say,
the Christians fled, the pagans obtained the victory, and the aforesaid
earl Ethelwulf was among the slain.
Roused by this calamity, the Christians, in shame and indignation,
within four days, assembled all their forces, and again encountered the
pagan army at a place called Ashdune,[102] which means the "Hill of the
Ash." The pagans had divided themselves into two bodies, and began to
prepare defences, for they had two kings and many earls, so they gave
the middle part of the army to the two kings, and the other part to all
their earls. Which the Christians perceiving, divided their army also
into two troops, and also began to construct defences. But Alfred, as we
have been told by those who were present, and would not tell an untruth,
marched up promptly with his men to give them battle; for king Ethelred
remained a long time in his tent in prayer, hearing the mass, and said
that he would not leave it, till the priest had done, or abandon the
divine protection for that of men. And he did so too, which afterwards
availed him much with the Almighty, as we shall declare more fully in
the sequel.
Now the Christians had determined that king Ethelred, with his men,
should attack the two pagan kings, but that his brother Alfred, with his
troops, should take the chance of war against the two earls. Things
being so arranged, the king remained a long time in prayer, and the
pagans came up rapidly to fight. Then Alfred, though possessing a
subordinate authority, could no longer support the troops of the enemy,
unless he retreated or charged upon them without waiting for his
brother. At length he bravely led his troops against the hostile army,
as they had before arranged, but without awaiting his brother's arrival;
for he relied in the divine counsels, and forming his men into a dense
phalanx, marched on at once to meet the foe.
But here I must inform those who are ignorant of the fact, that the
field of battle was not equally advantageous to both parties. The pagans
occupied the higher ground, and the Christians came up from below. There
was also a single thorn-tree, of stunted growth, and we have with our
own eyes seen it. Around this tree the opposing armies came together
with loud shouts from all sides, the one party to pursue their wicked
course, the other to fight for their lives, their dearest ties, and
their country. And when both armies had fought long and bravely, at last
the pagans, by the divine judgment, were no longer able to bear the
attacks of the Christians, and having lost great part of their army,
took to a disgraceful flight. One of their two kings, and five earls
were there slain, together with many thousand pagans, who fell on all
sides, covering with their bodies the whole plain of Ashdune.
There fell in that battle king Bagsac, earl Sidrac the elder, and earl
Sidrac the younger, earl Osbern, earl Frene, and earl Harold; and the
whole pagan army pursued its flight, not only until night but until the
next day, even until they reached the stronghold from which they had
sallied. The Christians followed, slaying all they could reach, until it
became dark.
After fourteen days had elapsed, king Ethelred, with his brother Alfred,
again joined their forces and marched to Basing to fight with the
pagans. The enemy came together from all quarters, and after a long
contest gained the victory. After this battle, another army came from
beyond the sea, and joined them.
The same year, after Easter, the aforesaid king Ethelred, having
bravely, honourably, and with good repute, governed his kingdom five
years, through much tribulation, went the way of all flesh, and was
buried in Wimborne Minster, where he awaits the coming of the Lord, and
the first resurrection with the just.
The same year, the aforesaid Alfred, who had been up to that time only
of secondary rank, whilst his brothers were alive, now, by God's
permission, undertook the government of the whole kingdom, amid the
acclamations of all the people; and if he had chosen, he might have done
so before, whilst his brother above-named was still alive; for in wisdom
and other qualities he surpassed all his brothers, and moreover, was
warlike and victorious in all his wars. And when he had reigned one
month, almost against his will, for he did not think he could alone
sustain the multitude and ferocity of the pagans, though even during his
brothers' lives, he had borne the woes of many,--he fought a battle with
a few men, and on very unequal terms, against all the army of the
pagans, at a hill called Wilton, on the south bank of the river Wily,
from which river the whole of that district is named, and after a long
and fierce engagement, the pagans, seeing the danger they were in, and
no longer able to bear the attack of their enemies, turned their backs
and fled. But, oh, shame to say, they deceived their too audacious
pursuers, and again rallying, gained the victory. Let no one be
surprised that the Christians had but a small number of men, for the
Saxons had been worn out by eight battles in one year, against the
pagans, of whom they had slain one king, nine dukes, and innumerable
troops of soldiers, besides endless skirmishes, both by night and by
day, in which the oft-named Alfred, and all his chieftains, with their
men, and several of his ministers, were engaged without rest or
cessation against the pagans. How many thousand pagans fell in these
numberless skirmishes God alone knows, over and above those who were
slain in the eight battles above-mentioned. In the same year the Saxons
made peace with the pagans, on condition that they should take their
departure, and they did so.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 872, the twenty-fourth of king
Alfred's life, the above-named army of pagans went to London, and there
wintered. The Mercians made peace with them.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 873, the twenty-fifth of king
Alfred, the above-named army, leaving London, went into the country of
the Northumbrians, and there wintered in the district of Lindsey; and
the Mercians again made treaty with them.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 874, the twenty-sixth since the
birth of king Alfred, the army before so often mentioned left Lindsey
and marched to Mercia, where they wintered at Repton. Also they
compelled Burhred, king of Mercia, against his will, to leave his
kingdom and go beyond the sea to Rome, in the twenty-second year of his
reign. He did not long live after his arrival, but died there, and was
honourably buried in the school of the Saxons, in St. Mary's church,
where he awaits the Lord's coming and the first resurrection with the
just. The pagans also, after his expulsion, subjected the whole kingdom
of the Mercians to their dominion; but by a most miserable arrangement,
gave it into the custody of a certain foolish man, named Ceolwulf, one
of the king's ministers, on condition that he should restore it to them,
whenever they should wish to have it again; and to guarantee this
agreement, he gave them hostages, and swore that he would not oppose
their will, but be obedient to them in every respect.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 875, which was the 27th of king
Alfred, the above-named army leaving Repton, divided into two bodies,
one of which went with Halfdene into Northumbria, and having wintered
there near the Tyne, reduced all Northumberland to subjection; they also
ravaged the Picts and the Strath-Clydensians.[103] The other division,
with Gothrun, Oskytel, and Anwiund, three kings of the pagans, went to a
place called Grantabridge,[104] and there wintered.
In the same year, king Alfred fought a battle by sea against six ships
of the pagans, and took one of them; the rest escaped by flight.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 876, being the twenty-eighth year
of king Alfred's life, the aforesaid army of the pagans, leaving
Grantabridge by night, entered a castle called Wareham, where there is a
monasterium of holy virgins between the two rivers Fraun[105] and Trent,
in the district which is called in British _Durngueis_, but in Saxon
_Thornsaeta_, placed in a most secure situation, except that it was
exposed to danger on the western side from the nature of the ground.
With this army Alfred made a solemn treaty, to the effect that they
should depart out of the kingdom, and for this they made no hesitation
to give as many hostages as he named; also they swore an oath over the
Christian relics,[106] which with king Alfred were next in veneration
after the Deity himself, that they would depart speedily from the
kingdom. But they again practised their usual treachery, and caring
nothing for the hostages or their oaths, they broke the treaty, and
sallying forth by night, slew all the horsemen that the king had round
him, and turning off into Devon, to another place called in Saxon
_Exanceaster_,[107] but in British _Caer-wisc_, which means in Latin,
the city of Ex, situated on the eastern bank of the river Wisc, they
directed their course suddenly towards the south sea, which divides
Britain and Gaul, and there passed the winter.
In the same year, Halfdene, king of those parts, divided out the whole
country of Northumberland between himself and his men, and settled there
with his army. In the same year, Rollo with his followers penetrated
into Normandy.
This same Rollo, duke of the Normans, whilst wintering in Old Britain,
or England, at the head of his troops, enjoyed one night a vision
revealing to him the future. See more of this Rollo in the Annals.[108]
In the year 877, the pagans, on the approach of autumn, partly settled
in Exeter, and partly marched for plunder into Mercia. The number of
that disorderly crew increased every day, so that, if thirty thousand of
them were slain in one battle, others took their places to double the
number. Then king Alfred commanded boats and galleys, i.e. long ships,
to be built throughout the kingdom, in order to offer battle by sea to
the enemy as they were coming. On board of these he placed seamen, and
appointed them to watch the seas. Meanwhile he went himself to Exeter,
where the pagans were wintering, and having shut them up within the
walls, laid siege to the town. He also gave orders to his sailors to
prevent them from obtaining any supplies by sea; and his sailors were
encountered by a fleet of a hundred and twenty ships full of armed
soldiers, who were come to help their countrymen. As soon as the king's
men knew that they were fitted with pagan soldiers, they leaped to their
arms, and bravely attacked those barbaric tribes: but the pagans, who
had now for almost a month been tossed and almost wrecked among the
waves of the sea, fought vainly against them; their bands were
discomfited in a moment, and all were sunk and drowned in the sea, at a
place called Suanewic.[109]
In the same year the army of pagans, leaving Wareham, partly on
horseback and partly by water, arrived at Suanewic, where one hundred
and twenty of their ships were lost;[110] and king Alfred pursued their
land-army as far as Exeter; there he made a covenant with them, and took
hostages that they would depart.
The same year, in the month of August, that army went into Mercia, and
gave part of that country to one Ceolwulf, a weak-minded man, and one of
the king's ministers; the other part they divided among themselves.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 878, which was the thirtieth of
king Alfred's life, the army above-mentioned left Exeter, and went to
Chippenham, a royal villa, situated in the west of Wiltshire, and on the
eastern bank of the river, which is called in British, the Avon. There
they wintered, and drove many of the inhabitants of that country beyond
the sea by the force of their arms, and by want of the necessaries of
life. They reduced almost entirely to subjection all the people of that
country.
At the same time the above-named Alfred, king of the West-Saxons, with a
few of his nobles, and certain soldiers and vassals, used to lead an
unquiet life among the woodlands[111] of the county of Somerset, in
great tribulation; for he had none of the necessaries of life, except
what he could forage openly or stealthily, by frequent sallies, from the
pagans, or even from the Christians who had submitted to the rule of the
pagans, and as we read in the Life of St. Neot, at the house of one of
his cowherds.
But it happened on a certain day, that the countrywoman, wife of the
cowherd, was preparing some loaves to bake, and the king, sitting at the
hearth, made ready his bow and arrows and other warlike instruments. The
unlucky woman espying the cakes burning at the fire, ran up to remove
them, and rebuking the brave king, exclaimed:--
Ca'sn thee mind the ke-aks, man, an' doossen zee 'em burn?
I'm boun thee's eat 'em vast enough, az zoon az 'tiz the turn.[112]
The blundering woman little thought that it was king Alfred, who had
fought so many battles against the pagans, and gained so many victories
over them.
But the Almighty not only granted to the same glorious king victories
over his enemies, but also permitted him to be harassed by them, to be
sunk down by adversities, and depressed by the low estate of his
followers, to the end that he might learn that there is one Lord of all
things, to whom every knee doth bow, and in whose hand are the hearts of
kings; who puts down the mighty from their seat and exalteth the humble;
who suffers his servants when they are elevated at the summit of
prosperity to be touched by the rod of adversity, that in their
humility they may not despair of God's mercy, and in their prosperity
they may not boast of their honours, but may also know, to whom they owe
all the things which they possess.
We may believe that the calamity was brought upon the king aforesaid,
because, in the beginning of his reign, when he was a youth, and
influenced by youthful feelings, he would not listen to the petitions
which his subjects made to him for help in their necessities, or for
relief from those who oppressed them; but he repulsed them from him, and
paid no heed to their requests. This particular gave much annoyance to
the holy man St. Neot, who was his relation, and often foretold to him,
in the spirit of prophecy, that he would suffer great adversity on this
account; but Alfred neither attended to the reproof of the man of God,
nor listened to his true prediction. Wherefore, seeing that a man's sins
must be corrected either in this world or the next, the true and
righteous Judge was willing that his sin should not go unpunished in
this world, to the end that he might spare him in the world to come.
From this cause, therefore, the aforesaid Alfred often fell into such
great misery, that sometimes none of his subjects knew where he was or
what had become of him.
In the same year the brother[113] of Hingwar and Halfdene, with
twenty-three ships, after much slaughter of the Christians, came from
the country of Demetia,[114] where he had wintered, and sailed to Devon,
where, with twelve hundred others, he met with a miserable death, being
slain while committing his misdeeds, by the king's servants, before the
castle of Cynuit (Kynwith[115]), into which many of the king's servants,
with their followers, had fled for safety. The pagans, seeing that the
castle was altogether unprepared and unfortified, except that it had
walls in our own fashion, determined not to assault it, because it was
impregnable and secure on all sides, except on the eastern, as we
ourselves have seen, but they began to blockade it, thinking that those
who were inside would soon surrender either from famine or want of
water, for the castle had no spring near it. But the result did not fall
out as they expected; for the Christians, before they began to suffer
from want, inspired by Heaven, judging it much better to gain victory
or death, attacked the pagans suddenly in the morning, and from the
first cut them down in great numbers, slaying also their king, so that
few escaped to their ships; and there they gained a very large booty,
and amongst other things the standard called Raven; for they say that
the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of Lodobroch, wove
that flag and got it ready in one day. They say, moreover, that in every
battle, wherever that flag went before them, if they were to gain the
victory a live crow would appear flying on the middle of the flag; but
if they were doomed to be defeated it would hang down motionless, and
this was often proved to be so.
The same year, after Easter, king Alfred, with a few followers, made for
himself a stronghold in a place called Athelney, and from thence sallied
with his vassals and the nobles of Somersetshire, to make frequent
assaults upon the pagans. Also, in the seventh week after Easter, he
rode to the stone of Egbert,[116] which is in the eastern part of the
wood which is called Selwood,[117] which means in Latin Silva Magna, the
Great Wood, but in British Coit-mawr. Here he was met by all the
neighbouring folk of Somersetshire, and Wiltshire, and Hampshire, who
had not, for fear of the pagans, fled beyond the sea; and when they saw
the king alive after such great tribulation, they received him, as he
deserved, with joy and acclamations, and encamped there for one night.
When the following day dawned, the king struck his camp, and went to
Okely,[118] where he encamped for one night. The next morning he removed
to Edington, and there fought bravely and perseveringly against all the
army of the pagans, whom, with the divine help, he defeated with great
slaughter, and pursued them flying to their fortification. Immediately
he slew all the men, and carried off all the booty that he could find
without the fortress, which he immediately laid siege to with all his
army; and when he had been there fourteen days, the pagans, driven by
famine, cold, fear, and last of all by despair, asked for peace, on the
condition that they should give the king as many hostages as he pleased,
but should receive none of him in return, in which form they had never
before made a treaty with any one. The king, hearing that, took pity
upon them, and received such hostages as he chose; after which the
pagans swore, moreover, that they would immediately leave the kingdom;
and their king, Gothrun, promised to embrace Christianity, and receive
baptism at king Alfred's hands. All of which articles he and his men
fulfilled as they had promised. For after seven weeks Gothrun, king of
the pagans, with thirty men chosen from the army, came to Alfred at a
place called Aller, near Athelney, and there king Alfred, receiving him
as his son by adoption, raised him up from the holy laver of baptism on
the eighth day, at a royal villa named Wedmore,[119] where the holy
chrism was poured upon him.[120] After his baptism he remained twelve
nights with the king, who, with all his nobles, gave him many fine
houses.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 879, which was the thirty-first of
king Alfred, the aforesaid army of pagans leaving Chippenham, as they
had promised, went to Cirencester, which is called in British _Cair
Cori_, and is situate in the southern part of the Wiccii,[121] and there
they remained one year.
In the same year, a large army of pagans sailed from foreign parts into
the river Thames, and joined the army which was already in the country.
They wintered at Fulham near the river Thames.
In the same year an eclipse of the sun took place, between three o'clock
and the evening, but nearer to three o'clock.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 880, which was the thirty-second
of king Alfred, the above-named army of pagans left Cirencester, and
went among the East Angles, where they divided out the country and began
to settle.
The same year the army of pagans, which had wintered at Fulham, left the
island of Britain, and sailed over the sea to the eastern part of
France, where they remained a year at a place called Ghent.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 881, which was the thirty-third
of king Alfred's life, the aforesaid army went higher up into France;
and the French fought against them; and after the battle the pagans
obtained horses and became an army of cavalry.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 882, the thirty-fourth of king
Alfred's life, the above-named army steered their ships up into France
by a river called the Mese [Meuse] and there wintered one year.
In the same year Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, fought a battle by
sea against the pagan fleet, of which he captured two ships, having
slain all who were on board; and the two commanders of two other ships,
with all their crews, distressed by the battle and the wounds which they
had received, laid down their arms and submitted to the king.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 883, which was the thirty-fifth of
king Alfred's life, the aforesaid army went up the river called Scald
[Scheldt] to a convent of nuns called Cundoht [Conde] and there remained
a year.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 884, which was the thirty-sixth of
king Alfred's life, the aforesaid army divided into two parts; one body
of them went into East France, and the other coming to Britain entered
Kent, where they besieged a city called in Saxon Rochester, and situated
on the eastern bank of the river Medway. Before the gate of the town the
pagans suddenly erected a strong fortress, but yet they were unable to
take the city, because the citizens defended themselves bravely, until
king Alfred came up to help them with a large army. Then the pagans
abandoned their fortress, and all their horses which they had brought
with them out of France, and leaving behind them in the fortress the
greater part of their prisoners, on the arrival of the king, fled
immediately to their ships, and the Saxons immediately seized on the
prisoners and horses left by the pagans; and so the pagans, compelled by
stern necessity, returned the same summer to France.
In the same year Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, led his fleet, full
of fighting men, out of Kent to the country of the East Angles, for the
sake of plunder;[122] and, when they had arrived at the mouth of the
river Stour,[123] immediately thirteen ships of the pagans met them,
prepared for battle; a fierce fight ensued, and all the pagans, after a
brave resistance, were slain; all the ships, with all their money, were
taken. After this, while the royal fleet were reposing, the pagans, who
lived in the eastern part of England, assembled their ships, met the
same royal fleet at sea in the mouth of the same river, and, after a
naval battle, the pagans gained the victory.
In the same year, also, Carloman, king of the Western Franks, whilst
hunting a wild boar, was miserably killed by a large animal of that
species, which inflicted a dreadful wound on him with its tusk. His
brother Louis [III], who had also been king of the Franks, died the year
before. These two brothers were sons of Louis, king of the Franks, who
had died in the year above-mentioned, in which the eclipse of the sun
took place; and it was he whose daughter Judith was given by her
father's wish in marriage to Ethelwulf, king of the West Saxons.
In the same year also a great army of the pagans came from Germany into
the country of the ancient Saxons, which is called in Saxon
Ealdseaxum.[124] To oppose them the said Saxons and Frisons joined their
forces, and fought bravely twice in that same year. In both those
battles the Christians, with the merciful aid of the Lord, obtained the
victory.
In the same year also, Charles, king of the Almains, received, with
universal consent, all the territories which lie between the Tyrrhenian
sea and that gulf which runs between the old Saxons and the Gauls,
except the kingdom of Armorica, i.e. Lesser Britain. This Charles was
the son of king Louis, who was brother of Charles, king of the Franks,
father of the aforesaid queen Judith; these two brothers were sons of
Louis, but Louis was the son of the great, the ancient, and wise
Charlemagne, who was the son of Pepin.
In the same year pope Martin, of blessed memory, went the way of all
flesh; it was he who, in regard for Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons,
and at his request, freed the school of the Anglo-Saxons resident at
Rome from all tribute and tax. He also sent many gifts on that occasion,
among which was no small portion of the holy and venerable cross on
which our Lord Jesus Christ was suspended, for the general salvation of
mankind.
In the same year also the army of pagans, which dwelt among the East
Angles, disgracefully broke the peace which they had concluded with king
Alfred.
Wherefore, to return to that from which I digressed, that I may not be
compelled by my long navigation to abandon the port of rest which I was
making for, I propose, as far as my knowledge will enable me, to speak
of the life and character and just conduct of my lord Alfred, king of
the Anglo-Saxons, after he married the above-named respected lady of
Mercian race, his wife; and, with God's blessing, I will despatch it
succinctly and briefly, as I promised, that I may not offend the
delicate minds of my readers by prolixity in relating each new event.
His nuptials were honourably celebrated in Mercia, among innumerable
multitudes of people of both sexes; and after continual feasts, both by
night and by day, he was immediately seized, in presence of all the
people, by sudden and overwhelming pain, as yet unknown to all the
physicians; for it was unknown to all who were then present, and even to
those who daily see him up to the present time,--which, sad to say! is
the worst of all, that he should have protracted it so long from the
twentieth to the fortieth year of his life, and even more than that
through the space of so many years,--from what cause so great a malady
arose. For many thought that this was occasioned by the favour and
fascination of the people who surrounded him; others, by some spite of
the devil, who is ever jealous of the good; others, from an unusual kind
of fever. He had this sort of severe disease from his childhood; but
once, divine Providence so ordered it, that when he was on a visit to
Cornwall for the sake of hunting, and had turned out of the road to pray
in a certain chapel, in which rests the body of Saint Guerir,[125] and
now also St. Neot[126] rests there,--for king Alfred was always from his
infancy a frequent visitor of holy places for the sake of prayer and
almsgiving,--he prostrated himself for private devotion, and, after some
time spent therein, he entreated of God's mercy, that in his boundless
clemency he would exchange the torments of the malady which then
afflicted him for some other lighter disease; but with this condition,
that such disease should not show itself outwardly in his body, lest he
should be an object of contempt, and less able to benefit mankind; for
he had great dread of leprosy or blindness, or any such complaint, as
makes men useless or contemptible when it afflicts them. When he had
finished his prayers, he proceeded on his journey, and not long after he
felt within him that by the hand of the Almighty he was healed,
according to his request, of his disorder, and that it was entirely
eradicated, although he had first had even this complaint in the flower
of his youth, by his devout and pious prayers and supplications to
Almighty God. For if I may be allowed to speak briefly, but in a
somewhat preposterous order, of his zealous piety to God, in the flower
of his youth, before he entered the marriage state, he wished to
strengthen his mind in the observance of God's commandments, for he
perceived that he could with difficulty abstain from gratifying his
carnal desires; and, because he feared the anger of God, if he should do
anything contrary to his will, he used often to rise in the morning at
the cock-crow, and go to pray in the churches and at the relics of the
saints. There he prostrated himself on the ground, and prayed that God
in his mercy would strengthen his mind still more in his service by some
infirmity such as he might bear, but not such as would render him
imbecile and contemptible in his worldly duties; and when he had often
prayed with much devotion to this effect, after an interval of some
time, Providence vouchsafed to afflict him with the above-named disease,
which he bore long and painfully for many years, and even despaired of
life, until he entirely got rid of it by his prayers; but, sad to say!
it was replaced, as we have said, at his marriage by another which
incessantly tormented him, night and day, from the twentieth to the
forty-fourth year of his life. But if ever, by God's mercy, he was
relieved from this infirmity for a single day or night, yet the fear and
dread of that dreadful malady never left him, but rendered him almost
useless, as he thought, for every duty, whether human or divine.
The sons and daughters, which he had by his wife above mentioned were
Ethelfled the eldest, after whom came Edward, then Ethelgiva, then
Ethelswitha, and Ethelwerd, besides those who died in their infancy, one
of whom was Edmund. Ethelfled, when she arrived at a marriageable age,
was united to Ethered, earl of Mercia; Ethelgiva also was dedicated to
God, and submitted to the rules of a monastic life. Ethelwerd the
youngest, by the divine counsels and the admirable prudence of the king,
was consigned to the schools of learning, where, with the children of
almost all the nobility of the country, and many also who were not
noble, he prospered under the diligent care of his teachers. Books in
both languages, namely, Latin and Saxon, were both read in the school.
They also learned to write; so that before they were of an age to
practice manly arts, namely, hunting and such pursuits as befit
noblemen, they became studious and clever in the liberal arts. Edward
and Ethelswitha were bred up in the king's court and received great
attention from their attendants and nurses; nay, they continue to this
day, with the love of all about them, and showing affability, and even
gentleness towards all, both natives and foreigners, and in complete
subjection to their father; nor, among their other studies which
appertain to this life and are fit for noble youths, are they suffered
to pass their time idly and unprofitably without learning the liberal
arts; for they have carefully learned the Psalms and Saxon books,
especially the Saxon poems, and are continually in the habit of making
use of books.
In the meantime, the king, during the frequent wars and other trammels
of this present life, the invasions of the pagans, and his own daily
infirmities of body, continued to carry on the government, and to
exercise hunting in all its branches; to teach his workers in gold and
artificers of all kinds, his falconers, hawkers and dog-keepers; to
build houses, majestic and good, beyond all the precedents of his
ancestors, by his new mechanical inventions; to recite the Saxon books,
and especially to learn by heart the Saxon poems, and to make others
learn them; and he alone never desisted from studying, most diligently,
to the best of his ability; he attended the mass and other daily
services of religion; he was frequent in psalm-singing and prayer, at
the hours both of the day and the night. He also went to the churches,
as we have already said, in the night-time to pray, secretly, and
unknown to his courtiers; he bestowed alms and largesses on both
natives and foreigners of all countries; he was affable and pleasant to
all, and curiously eager to investigate things unknown. Many Franks,
Frisons, Gauls, pagans, Britons, Scots, and Armoricans, noble and
ignoble, submitted voluntarily to his dominion; and all of them,
according to their nation and deserving, were ruled, loved, honoured,
and enriched with money and power. Moreover, the king was in the habit
of hearing the divine scriptures read by his own countrymen, or, if by
any chance it so happened, in company with foreigners, and he attended
to it with sedulity and solicitude. His bishops, too, and all
ecclesiastics, his earls and nobles, ministers and friends, were loved
by him with wonderful affection, and their sons, who were bred up in the
royal household, were no less dear to him than his own; he had them
instructed in all kinds of good morals, and among other things, never
ceased to teach them letters night and day; but as if he had no
consolation in all these things, and suffered no other annoyance either
from within or without, yet he was harassed by daily and nightly
affliction, that he complained to God, and to all who were admitted to
his familiar love, that Almighty God had made him ignorant of divine
wisdom, and of the liberal arts; in this emulating the pious, the wise,
and wealthy Solomon, king of the Hebrews, who at first, despising all
present glory and riches, asked wisdom of God, and found both, namely,
wisdom and worldly glory; as it is written, "Seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you." But God, who is always the inspector of the thoughts of the mind
within, and the instigator of all good intentions, and a most plentiful
aider, that good desires may be formed,--for he would not instigate a
man to good intentions, unless he also amply supplied that which the man
justly and properly wishes to have,--instigated the king's mind within;
as it is written, "I will hearken what the Lord God will say concerning
me." He would avail himself of every opportunity to procure coadjutors
in his good designs, to aid him in his strivings after wisdom, that he
might attain to what he aimed at; and, like a prudent bird, which rising
in summer with the early morning from her beloved nest, steers her rapid
flight through the uncertain tracks of ether, and descends on the
manifold and varied flowers of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, essaying that
which pleases most, that she may bear it to her home, so did he direct
his eyes afar, and seek without, that which he had not within, namely,
in his own kingdom.
But God at that time, as some consolation to the king's benevolence,
yielding to his complaint, sent certain lights to illuminate him,
namely, Werefrith, bishop of the church of Worcester, a man well versed
in divine scripture, who, by the king's command, first turned the books
of the Dialogues of pope Gregory and Peter, his disciple, from Latin
into Saxon, and sometimes putting sense for sense, interpreted them with
clearness and elegance. After him was Plegmund, a Mercian by birth,
archbishop of the church of Canterbury, a venerable man, and endowed
with wisdom; Ethelstan also, and Werewulf, his priests and chaplains,
Mercians by birth, and erudite. These four had been invited out of
Mercia by king Alfred, who exalted them with many honours and powers in
the kingdom of the West-Saxons, besides the privileges which archbishop
Plegmund and bishop Werefrith enjoyed in Mercia. By their teaching and
wisdom the king's desires increased unceasingly, and were gratified.
Night and day, whenever he had leisure, he commanded such men as these
to read books to him; for he never suffered himself to be without one of
them, wherefore he possessed a knowledge of every book, though of
himself he could not yet understand anything of books, for he had not
yet learned to read any thing.
But the king's commendable avarice could not be gratified even in this;
wherefore he sent messengers beyond the sea to Gaul, to procure
teachers, and he invited from thence Grimbald,[127] priest and monk, a
venerable man, and good singer, adorned with every kind of
ecclesiastical discipline and good morals, and most learned in holy
scripture. He also obtained from thence John,[128] also priest and monk,
a man of most energetic talents, and learned in all kinds of literary
science, and skilled in many other arts. By the teaching of these men
the king's mind was much enlarged, and he enriched and honoured them
with much influence.
In these times, I also came into Saxony out of the furthest coasts of
Western Britain; and when I had proposed to go to him through many
intervening provinces, I arrived in the country of the Saxons, who live
on the right hand, which in Saxon is called Sussex, under the guidance
of some of that nation; and there I first saw him in the royal vill,
which is called Dene.[129] He received me with kindness, and among other
familiar conversation, he asked me eagerly to devote myself to his
service and become his friend, to leave every thing which I possessed on
the left, or western bank of the Severn, and he promised he would give
more than an equivalent for it in his own dominions. I replied that I
could not incautiously and rashly promise such things; for it seemed to
me unjust, that I should leave those sacred places in which I had been
bred, educated, and crowned,[130] and at last ordained, for the sake of
any earthly honour and power, unless by compulsion. Upon this, he said,
"If you cannot accede to this, at least, let me have your service in
part: spend six months of the year with me here, and the other six in
Britain." To this, I replied, "I could not even promise that easily or
hastily without the advice of my friends." At length, however, when I
perceived that he was anxious for my services, though I knew not why, I
promised him that, if my life was spared, I would return to him after
six months, with such a reply as should be agreeable to him as well as
advantageous to me and mine. With this answer he was satisfied, and when
I had given him a pledge to return at the appointed time, on the fourth
day we left him and returned on horseback towards our own country.
After our departure, a violent fever seized me in the city of
Winchester, where I lay for twelve months and one week, night and day,
without hope of recovery. At the appointed time, therefore, I could not
fulfil my promise of visiting him, and he sent messengers to hasten my
journey, and to inquire the cause of my delay. As I was unable to ride
to him, I sent a second messenger to tell him the cause of my delay, and
assure him that, if I recovered from my infirmity, I would fulfil what I
had promised. My complaint left me, and by the advice and consent of all
my friends, for the benefit of that holy place, and of all who dwelt
therein, I did as I had promised to the king, and devoted myself to his
service, on the condition that I should remain with him six months in
every year, either continuously, if I could spend six months with him at
once, or alternately, three months in Britain and three in Saxony.[131]
For my friends hoped that they should sustain less tribulation and harm
from king Hemeid.[132] who often plundered that monastery and the parish
of St. Deguus,[133] and sometimes expelled the prelates, as they
expelled archbishop Novis,[134] my relation, and myself; if in any
manner I could secure the notice and friendship of the king.
At that time, and long before, all the countries on the right hand side
of Britain belonged to king Alfred and still belong to him. For
instance, king Hemeid, with all the inhabitants of the region of
Demetia, compelled by the violence of the six sons of Rotri, had
submitted to the dominion of the king. Howel also, son of Ris, king of
Gleguising, and Brocmail and Fernmail, sons of Mouric, kings of Gwent,
compelled by the violence and tyranny of earl Ethered and of the
Mercians, of their own accord sought king Alfred, that they might enjoy
his government and protection from him against their enemies. Helised,
also, son of Tendyr, king of Brecon, compelled by the force of the same
sons of Rotri, of his own accord sought the government of the aforesaid
king; and Anarawd, son of Rotri, with his brother, at length abandoning
the friendship of the Northumbrians, from which he received no good but
harm, came into king Alfred's presence and eagerly sought his
friendship. The king received him honourably, received him as his son by
confirmation from the bishop's hand, and presented him with many gifts.
Thus he became subject to the king with all his people, on the same
condition, that he should be obedient to the king's will in all
respects, in the same way as Ethered with the Mercians.
Nor was it in vain that all these princes gained the friendship of the
king. For those who desired to augment their worldly power, obtained
power; those who desired money, gained money; and in like way, those who
desired his friendship, or both money and friendship, succeeded in
getting what they wanted. But all of them gained his love and
guardianship and defence from every quarter, even as the king with his
men could protect himself.
When therefore I had come into his presence at the royal vill, called
Leonaford, I was honourably received by him, and remained that time with
him at his court eight months; during which I read to him whatever books
he liked, and such as he had at hand; for this is his most usual custom,
both night and day, amid his many other occupations of mind and body,
either himself to read books, or to listen whilst others read them. And
when I frequently asked his leave to depart, and could in no way obtain
it, at length when I had made up my mind by all means to demand it, he
called me to him at twilight, on Christmas eve, and gave me two letters,
in which was a long list of all the things which were in two
monasteries, called in Saxon, Ambresbury[135] and Banwell;[136] and on
that same day he delivered to me those two monasteries with all the
things that were in them, and a silken pall of great value, and a load
for a strong man, of incense, adding these words, that he did not give
me these trifling presents, because he was unwilling hereafter to give
me greater; for in the course of time he unexpectedly gave me Exeter,
with all the diocese which belonged to him in Saxony[137] and in
Cornwall, besides gifts every day, without number, in every kind of
worldly wealth, which it would be too long to enumerate here, lest they
should make my reader tired. But let no one suppose that I have
mentioned these presents in this place for the sake of glory or
flattery, or to obtain greater honour. I call God to witness, that I
have not done so; but that I might certify to those who are ignorant,
how profuse he is in giving. He then at once gave me permission to ride
to those two rich monasteries and afterwards to return to my own
country.
In the year of our Lord's incarnation, 886, which was the thirty-eighth
since the birth of Alfred, the army so often before-mentioned again fled
the country, and went into the country of the Western Franks, directing
their ships to the river called the Seine, and sailed up it as far as
the city of Paris, and there they wintered and measured out their camp.
They besieged that city a whole year, as far as the bridge, that they
might prevent the inhabitants from making use of it; for the city is
situated on a small island in the middle of the river; but by the
merciful favour of God, and the brave defence of citizens, the army
could not force their way inside the walls.
In the same year, Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, after the burning of
cities and the slaying of the people, honourably rebuilt the city of
London, and made it again habitable. He gave it into the custody of his
son-in-law, Ethered, earl of Mercia, to which king all the Angles and
Saxons, who before had been dispersed everywhere, or were in captivity
with the pagans, voluntarily turned and submitted themselves to his
dominion. [138] [In the same year there arose a foul and deadly discord
at Oxford, between Grimbald, with those learned men whom he had brought
with him, and the old scholars whom he had found there, who, on his
arrival, refused altogether to embrace the laws, modes, and forms of
praelection instituted by the same Grimbald. During three years there had
been no great dissension between them, but there was a secret enmity,
which afterwards broke out with great atrocity, clearer than the light
itself. To appease this quarrel, that invincible king Alfred, having
been informed of the strife by a messenger from Grimbald, went to Oxford
to put an end to the controversy, and endured much trouble in hearing
the arguments and complaints which were brought forwards on both sides.
The substance of the dispute was this: the old scholars contended, that
literature had flourished at Oxford before the coming of Grimbald,
although the number of scholars was smaller than in ancient time,
because several had been driven away by the cruelty and tyranny of the
pagans. They also proved and showed, by the undoubted testimony of
ancient annals, that the orders and institutions of that place had been
sanctioned by certain pious and learned men, as for instance by Saint
Gildas, Melkinus, Nennius, Kentigern, and others, who had all grown old
there in literature, and happily administered everything there in peace
and concord; and also, that Saint Germanus had come to Oxford, and
stopped there half a year, at the time when he went through Britain to
preach against the Pelagian heresy; he wonderfully approved of the
customs and institutions above-mentioned. The king, with unheard-of
humility, listened to both sides carefully, and exhorted them again and
again with pious and wholesome admonitions to cherish mutual love and
concord. He therefore left them with this decision, that each party
should follow their own counsel, and preserve their own institutions.
Grimbald, displeased at this, immediately departed to the monastery at
Winchester,[139] which had been recently founded by king Alfred, and
ordered a tomb to be carried to Winchester, in which he proposed, after
this life, that his bones should be laid in the vault which had been
made under the chancel of St. Peter's church in Oxford; which church the
same Grimbald had built from its foundations, of stone polished with
great care.]
In the year of our Lord's incarnation 887, which was the thirty-ninth of
king Alfred's life, the above-mentioned army of the pagans, leaving the
city of Paris uninjured, because they could not succeed against it,
sailed up the river Seine under the bridge, until they reached the mouth
of the river Materne [Marne]; where they left the Seine, and, following
for a long time the course of the Marne, at length, but not without much
labour, they arrived at a place called Chezy, a royal vill, where they
wintered one year. In the following year they entered the mouth of the
river Ionna [Yonne], not without doing much damage to the country, and
there remained one year.
In the same year Charles, king of the Franks, went the way of all flesh;
but Arnulf, his brother's son, six weeks before he died, had expelled
him from his kingdom. After his death five kings were appointed, and the
kingdom was split into five parts; but the principal rank in the kingdom
justly and deservedly devolved on Arnulf, save only that he committed an
unworthy offence against his uncle. The other four kings promised
fidelity and obedience to Arnulf, as was proper; for none of these four
kings was hereditary on his father's side in his share of the kingdom,
as was Arnulf; therefore, though the five kings were appointed
immediately on the death of Charles, yet the empire remained in the
hands of Arnulf.
Such, then, was the division of the kingdom; Arnulf received the
countries on the east of the river Rhine; Rodulf the inner parts of the
kingdom; Oda the western part; Beorngar and Guido, Lombardy, and those
countries which are in that part of the mountains; but they did not keep
these large dominions in peace, for they twice fought a pitched battle,
and often mutually ravaged their kingdoms, and drove each other out of
their dominions.
In the same year in which that [pagan] army left Paris and went to
Chezy, Ethelhelm, earl of Wiltshire, carried to Rome the alms of king
Alfred and of the Saxons.
In the same year also Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, so often before
mentioned, by divine inspiration, began, on one and the same day, to
read and to interpret; but that I may explain this more fully to those
who are ignorant, I will relate the cause of this long delay in
beginning.
On a certain day we were both of us sitting in the king's chamber,
talking on all kinds of subjects, as usual, and it happened that I read
to him a quotation out of a certain book. He heard it attentively with
both his ears, and addressed me with a thoughtful mind, showing me at
the same moment a book which he carried in his bosom, wherein the daily
courses and psalms, and prayers which he had read in his youth, were
written, and he commanded me to write the same quotation in that book.
Hearing this, and perceiving his ingenuous benevolence, and devout
desire of studying the words of divine wisdom, I gave, though in secret,
boundless thanks to Almighty God, who had implanted such a love of
wisdom in the king's heart. But I could not find any empty space in that
book wherein to write the quotation, for it was already full of various
matters; wherefore I made a little delay, principally that I might stir
up the bright intellect of the king to a higher acquaintance with the
divine testimonies. Upon his urging me to make haste and write it
quickly, I said to him, "Are you willing that I should write that
quotation on some leaf apart? For it is not certain whether we shall not
find one or more other such extracts which will please you; and if that
should so happen, we shall be glad that we have kept them apart." "Your
plan is good," said he, and I gladly made haste to get ready a sheet,
in the beginning of which I wrote what he bade me; and on that same day,
I wrote therein, as I had anticipated, no less than three other
quotations which pleased him; and from that time we daily talked
together, and found out other quotations which pleased him, so that the
sheet became full, and deservedly so; according as it is written, "The
just man builds upon a moderate foundation, and by degrees passes to
greater things." Thus, like a most productive bee, he flew here and
there, asking questions, as he went, until he had eagerly and
unceasingly collected many various flowers of divine Scriptures, with
which he thickly stored the cells of his mind.
Now when that first quotation was copied, he was eager at once to read,
and to interpret in Saxon, and then to teach others; even as we read of
that happy robber, who recognized his Lord, aye, the Lord of all men, as
he was hanging on the blessed cross, and, saluting him with his bodily
eyes only, because elsewhere he was all pierced with nails, cried,
"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!" for it was only
at the end of his life that he began to learn the rudiments of the
Christian faith. But the king, inspired by God, began to study the
rudiments of divine Scripture on the sacred solemnity of St. Martin
[Nov. 11], and he continued to learn the flowers collected by certain
masters, and to reduce them into the form of one book, as he was then
able, although mixed one with another, until it became almost as large
as a psalter. This book he called his ENCHIRIDION or MANUAL, because he
carefully kept it at hand day and night, and found, as he told me, no
small consolation therein.
But as has already been written by a certain wise man,
"Of watchful minds are they whose pious care
It is to govern well,"
so must I be watchful, in that I just now drew a kind of comparison or
similarity, though in dissimilar manner, between that happy robber and
the king; for the cross is hateful to every one, wherever there is
suffering. But what can he do, if he cannot save himself or escape
thence? or by what art can he remain there and improve his cause? He
must, therefore, whether he will or no, endure with pain and sorrow that
which he is suffering.
Now the king was pierced with many nails of tribulation, though placed
in the royal seat; for from the twentieth year of his age to the present
year, which is his fortieth,[140] he has been constantly afflicted with
most severe attacks of an unknown complaint, so that he has not a
moment's ease either from suffering the pain which it causes, or from
the gloom which is thrown over him by the apprehension of its coming.
Moreover, the constant invasions of foreign nations, by which he was
continually harassed by land and sea, without any interval of quiet,
were a just cause of disquiet. What shall I say of his repeated
expeditions against the pagans, his wars, and incessant occupations of
government? Of the daily embassies sent to him by foreign nations, from
the Tyrrhenian sea to the farthest end of Ireland?[141] For we have seen
and read letters, accompanied with presents, which were sent to him by
Abel the patriarch of Jerusalem. What shall I say of the cities and
towns which he restored, and of others which he built, where none had
been before? of the royal halls and chambers, wonderfully erected by his
command, with stone and wood? of the royal vills constructed of stone,
removed from their old site, and handsomely rebuilt by the king's
command in more fitting places? Besides the disease above-mentioned, he
was disturbed by the quarrels of his friends, who would voluntarily
endure little or no toil, though it was for the common necessity of the
kingdom; but he alone, sustained by the divine aid, like a skilful
pilot, strove to steer his ship, laden with much wealth, into the safe
and much desired harbour of his country, though almost all his crew were
tired, and suffered them not to faint or hesitate, though sailing amid
the manifold waves and eddies of this present life.
For all his bishops, earls, nobles, favourite ministers, and prefects,
who, next to God and the king, had the whole government of the kingdom,
as is fitting, continually received from him instruction, respect,
exhortation, and command; nay, at last, when they were disobedient, and
his long patience was exhausted, he would reprove them severely, and
censure at pleasure their vulgar folly and obstinacy; and in this way he
directed their attention to the common interests of the kingdom. But,
owing to the sluggishness of the people, these admonitions of the king
were either not fulfilled, or were begun late at the moment of
necessity, and so ended less to the advantage of those who put them in
execution; for I will say nothing of the castles which he ordered to be
built, but which, being begun late, were never finished, because the
hostile troops broke in upon them by land and sea, and, as often
happened, the thwarters of the royal ordinances repented when it was too
late, and blushed at their non-performance of his commands. I speak of
repentance when it is too late, on the testimony of Scripture, whereby
numberless persons have had cause for too much sorrow when many
insidious evils have been wrought. But though by these means, sad to
say, they may be bitterly afflicted and roused to sorrow by the loss of
fathers, wives, children, ministers, servant-men, servant-maids, and
furniture and household stuff, what is the use of hateful repentance
when their kinsmen are dead, and they cannot aid them, or redeem those
who are captive from captivity? for they are not able even to assist
those who have escaped, as they have not wherewith to sustain even their
own lives. They repented, therefore, when it was too late, and grieved
at their incautious neglect of the king's commands, and they praised the
royal wisdom with one voice, and tried with all their power to fulfil
what they had before refused, namely, concerning the erection of
castles, and other things generally useful to the whole kingdom.
Of his fixed purpose of holy meditation, which, in the midst of
prosperity and adversity he never neglected, I cannot with advantage now
omit to speak. For, whereas he often thought of the necessities of his
soul, among the other good deeds to which his thoughts were night and
day turned, he ordered that two monasteries should be built, one for
monks at Athelney, which is a place surrounded by impassable marshes and
rivers, where no one can enter but by boats, or by a bridge laboriously
constructed between two other heights; at the western end of which
bridge was erected a strong tower, of beautiful work, by command of the
aforesaid king; and in this monastery he collected monks of all kinds,
from every quarter, and placed them therein.
For at first, because he had no one of his own nation, noble and free by
birth, who was willing to enter the monastic life, except children, who
could neither choose good nor avoid evil in consequence of their tender
years, because for many previous years the love of a monastic life had
utterly decayed from that nation as well as from many other nations,
though many monasteries still remain in that country; yet, as no one
directed the rule of that kind of life in a regular way, for what reason
I cannot say, either from the invasions of foreigners which took place
so frequently both by sea and land, or because that people abounded in
riches of every kind, and so looked with contempt on the monastic life.
It was for this reason that king Alfred sought to gather monks of
different kinds to place in the same monastery.
First he placed there as abbat, John[142] the priest and monk, an old
Saxon by birth, then certain priests and deacons from beyond the sea; of
whom, finding that he had not as large a number as he wished, he
procured as many as possible of the same Gallic race, some of whom,
being children, he ordered to be taught in the same monastery, and at a
later period to be admitted to the monastic habit. I have myself seen a
young lad of pagan birth who was educated in that monastery, and by no
means the hindmost of them all.
There was also a deed done once in that monastery, which I would utterly
consign to oblivion, although it is an unworthy deed; for throughout the
whole of Scripture the base deeds of the wicked are interspersed among
the blessed deeds of the just, as tares and darnel are sown among the
wheat: good deeds are recorded that they may be praised and imitated,
and that their imitators may be held in all honour; wicked deeds are
there related, that they may be censured and avoided, and their
imitators be reproved with all odium, contempt, and vengeance.
For once upon a time, a certain priest and a deacon, Gauls by birth, and
two of the aforesaid monks, by the instigation of the devil, and excited
by some secret jealousy, became so embittered in secret against their
abbat, the above mentioned John, that, like Jews, they circumvented and
betrayed their master. For whereas he had two servants, whom he had
hired out of Gaul, they taught these such wicked practices, that in the
night, when all men were enjoying the sweet tranquillity of sleep, they
should make their way into the church armed, and shutting it behind them
as usual, hide themselves therein, and wait for the moment when the
abbat should enter the church alone. At length, when he should come
alone to pray, and, bending his knees, bow before the holy altar, the
men should rush on him with hostility, and try to slay him on the spot.
They then should drag his lifeless body out of the church, and throw it
down before the house of a certain harlot, as if he had been slain
whilst on a visit to her. This was their machination, adding crime to
crime, as it is said, "The last error shall be worse than the first."
But the divine mercy, which always delights to aid the innocent,
frustrated in great part the wicked design of the wicked men, so that it
should not turn out in every respect as they had proposed.
When, therefore, the whole of the evil counsel had been explained by
those wicked teachers to their wicked agents, and the night which had
been fixed on as most fit was come, the two armed ruffians were placed,
with a promise of impunity, to await in the church for the arrival of
the abbat. In the middle of the night John, as usual, entered the church
to pray, without any one's knowing of it, and knelt before the altar.
The two ruffians rushed upon him with drawn swords, and dealt him some
severe wounds. But he, being a man of a brave mind, and, as we have
heard say, not unacquainted with the art of self-defence, if he had not
been a follower of a better calling, no sooner heard the sound of the
robbers, before he saw them, than he rose up against them before he was
wounded, and, shouting as loud as he could, struggled against them,
crying out that they were devils and not men; for he himself knew no
better, as he thought that no men would dare to attempt such a deed. He
was, however, wounded before any of his people could come to his help.
His attendants, roused by the noise, were frightened when they heard the
word devils, and both those two who, like Jews, sought to betray their
master, and the others who knew nothing of the matter, rushed together
to the doors of the church; but before they got there those ruffians
escaped, leaving the abbat half dead. The monks raised the old man, in a
fainting condition, and carried him home with tears and lamentations;
nor did those two deceitful monks shed tears less than the innocent. But
God's mercy did not allow so bold a deed to pass unpunished; the
ruffians who perpetrated it, and all who urged them to it, were taken
and put in prison, where, by various tortures, they came to a
disgraceful end. Let us now return to our narrative.
Another monastery, also, was built by the same king as a residence for
nuns, near the eastern gate of Shaftesbury; and his own daughter,
Ethelgiva, was placed in it as abbess. With her many other noble ladies
bound by the rules of the monastic life, dwell in that monastery. These
two edifices were enriched by the king with much land, as well as
personal property.
These things being thus disposed of, the king began, as was his
practice, to consider within himself, what more he could do to augment
and show forth his piety; what he had begun wisely, and thoughtfully
conceived for the public benefit, was adhered to with equally beneficial
result; for he had heard it out of the book of the law, that the Lord
had promised to restore to him tenfold; and he knew that the Lord had
kept his promise, and had actually restored to him tenfold. Encouraged
by this example, and wishing to exceed the practices of his
predecessors, he vowed humbly and faithfully to devote to God half his
services, both day and night, and also half of all his wealth, such as
lawfully and justly came annually into his possession; and this vow, as
far as human discretion can perceive and keep, he skilfully and wisely
endeavoured to fulfil. But, that he might, with his usual caution, avoid
that which scripture warns us against: "If you offer aright, but do not
divide aright, you sin," he considered how he might divide aright that
which he had vowed to God; and as Solomon had said, "The heart of the
king is in the hand of God," that is, his counsel he ordered with wise
policy, which could come only from above, that his officers should first
divide into two parts the revenues of every year.
When this division was made, he assigned the first part to worldly uses,
and ordered that one-third of it should be paid to his soldiers, and
also to his ministers, the nobles who dwelt at court where they
discharged divers duties; for so the king's family was arranged at all
times into three classes. The king's attendants were most wisely
distributed into three companies, so that the first company should be on
duty at court for one month, night and day, at the end of which they
returned to their homes, and were relieved by the second company. At
the end of the second month, in the same way, the third company relieved
the second, who returned to their homes, where they spent two months,
until their services were again wanted. The third company also gave
place to the first in the same way, and also spent two months at home.
Thus was the threefold division of the companies arranged at all times
in the royal household.
To these therefore was paid the first of the three portions aforesaid,
to each according to their respective dignities and peculiar services;
the second to the operatives, whom he had collected from every nation,
and had about him in large numbers, men skilled in every kind of
construction; the third portion was assigned to foreigners who came to
him out of every nation far and near, whether they asked money of him or
not, he cheerfully gave to each with wonderful munificence according to
their respective merits, according to what is written: "God loveth a
cheerful giver."
But the second part of all his revenues, which came yearly into his
possession, and was included in the receipts of the exchequer, as we
mentioned a little before, he, with ready devotion, gave to God,
ordering his ministers to divide it carefully into four parts, on the
condition that the first part should be discreetly bestowed on the poor
of every nation who came to him; and on this subject he said that, as
far as human discretion could guarantee, the remark of pope St. Gregory
should be followed: "Give not much to whom you should give little, nor
little to whom much, nor something to whom nothing, nor nothing to whom
something." The second of the four portions was given to the two
monasteries which he had built, and to those who therein had dedicated
themselves to God's service, as we have mentioned above. The third
portion was assigned to the school, which he had studiously collected
together, consisting of many of the nobility of his own nation. The
fourth portion was for the use of all the neighbouring monasteries in
all Saxony and Mercia, and also during some years, in turn, to the
churches and servants of God dwelling in Britain [Wales], Cornwall,
Gaul, Armorica, Northumbria, and sometimes also in Ireland; according to
his means, he either distributed to them beforehand, or afterwards, if
life and success should not fail him.
When the king had arranged these matters, he remembered that sentence of
divine scripture, "Whosoever will give alms, ought to begin from
himself," and prudently began to reflect what he could offer to God from
the service of his body and mind; for he proposed to consecrate to God
no less out of this than he had done of things external to himself.
Moreover, he promised, as far as his infirmity and his means would
allow, to give up to God the half of his services, bodily and mental, by
night and by day, voluntarily, and with all his might; but, inasmuch as
he could not equally distinguish the lengths of the hours by night, on
account of the darkness, and ofttimes of the day, on account of the
storms and clouds, he began to consider, by what means and without any
difficulty, relying on the mercy of God, he might discharge the promised
tenor of his vow until his death.
After long reflection on these things, he at length, by a useful and
shrewd invention, commanded his chaplains to supply wax in a sufficient
quantity, and he caused it to be weighed in such a manner that when
there was so much of it in the scales, as would equal the weight of
seventy-two pence,[143] he caused the chaplains to make six candles
thereof, each of equal length, so that each candle might have twelve
divisions[144] marked longitudinally upon it. By this plan, therefore,
those six candles burned for twenty-four hours, a night and day, without
fail, before the sacred relics of many of God's elect, which always
accompanied him wherever he went; but sometimes when they would not
continue burning a whole day and night, till the same hour that they
were lighted the preceding evening, from the violence of the wind, which
blew day and night without intermission through the doors and windows of
the churches, the fissures of the divisions, the plankings, or the wall,
or the thin canvass of the tents, they then unavoidably burned out and
finished their course before the appointed time; the king therefore
considered by what means he might shut out the wind, and so by a useful
and cunning invention, he ordered a lantern to be beautifully
constructed of wood and white ox-horn, which, when skilfully planed till
it is thin, is no less transparent than a vessel of glass. This lantern,
therefore, was wonderfully made of wood and horn, as we before said, and
by night a candle was put into it, which shone as brightly without as
within, and was not extinguished by the wind; for the opening of the
lantern was also closed up, according to the king's command, by a door
made of horn.
By this contrivance, then, six candles, lighted in succession, lasted
four and twenty hours, neither more nor less, and, when these were
extinguished, others were lighted.
When all these things were properly arranged, the king, eager to give up
to God the half of his daily service, as he had vowed, and more also, if
his ability on the one hand, and his malady on the other, would allow
him, showed himself a minute investigator of the truth in all his
judgments, and this especially for the sake of the poor, to whose
interest, day and night, among other duties of this life, he ever was
wonderfully attentive. For in the whole kingdom the poor, besides him,
had few or no protectors; for all the powerful and noble of that country
had turned their thoughts rather to secular than to heavenly things:
each was more bent on secular matters, to his own profit, than on the
public good.
He strove also, in his own judgments, for the benefit of both the noble
and the ignoble, who often perversely quarrelled at the meetings of his
earls and officers, so that hardly one of them admitted the justice of
what had been decided by the earls and prefects, and in consequence of
this pertinacious and obstinate dissension, all desired to have the
judgment of the king, and both sides sought at once to gratify their
desire. But if any one was conscious of injustice on his side in the
suit, though by law and agreement he was compelled, however reluctant,
to go before the king, yet with his own good will he never would consent
to go. For he knew, that in the king's presence no part of his wrong
would be hidden; and no wonder, for the king was a most acute
investigator in passing sentence, as he was in all other things. He
inquired into almost all the judgments which were given in his own
absence, throughout all his dominion, whether they were just or unjust.
If he perceived there was iniquity in those judgments, he summoned the
judges, either through his own agency, or through others of his faithful
servants, and asked them mildly, why they had judged so unjustly;
whether through ignorance or malevolence; i.e., whether for the love or
fear of any one, or hatred of others; or also for the desire of money.
At length, if the judges acknowledged they had given judgment because
they knew no better, he discreetly and moderately reproved their
inexperience and folly in such terms as these: "I wonder truly at your
insolence, that, whereas by God's favour and mine, you have occupied the
rank and office of the wise, you have neglected the studies and labours
of the wise. Either, therefore, at once give up the discharge of the
temporal duties which you hold, or endeavour more zealously to study the
lessons of wisdom. Such are my commands." At these words the earls and
prefects would tremble and endeavour to turn all their thoughts to the
study of justice, so that, wonderful to say, almost all his earls,
prefects, and officers, though unlearned from their cradles, were
sedulously bent upon acquiring learning, choosing rather laboriously to
acquire the knowledge of a new discipline than to resign their
functions; but if any one of them from old age or slowness of talent was
unable to make progress in liberal studies, he commanded his son, if he
had one, or one of his kinsmen, or, if there was no other person to be
had, his own freedman or servant, whom he had some time before advanced
to the office of reading, to recite Saxon books before him night and
day, whenever he had any leisure, and they lamented with deep sighs, in
their inmost hearts, that in their youth they had never attended to such
studies; and they blessed the young men of our days, who happily could
be instructed in the liberal arts, whilst they execrated their own lot,
that they had not learned these things in their youth, and now, when
they are old, though wishing to learn them, they are unable. But this
skill of young and old in acquiring letters, we have explained to the
knowledge of the aforesaid king.[145]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 86: Wantage.]
[Footnote 87: The Gewissae, generally understood to be the West-Saxons.]
[Footnote 88: Carisbrooke, as may be conjectured from the name, which is
a combination of Wight and Caraburgh.]
[Footnote 89: Wembury.]
[Footnote 90: Minster.]
[Footnote 91: Canterbury.]
[Footnote 92: Ockley, in Surrey.]
[Footnote 93: This is one the few instances to be met with of the name
Britannia applied to Wales.]
[Footnote 94: Thanet.]
[Footnote 95: Wilts.]
[Footnote 96: Offa's dyke, between Wales and England.]
[Footnote 97: Ingram supposes this to be Stonehenge. Staeningham,
however, is the common reading, which Camden thinks is Steyning, in
Sussex. The Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 855, states, that Ethelwulf was buried
at Winchester.]
[Footnote 98: We must understand this epithet as denoting his
mother-in-law, Judith, rather than his own mother, who was dead in A.D.
856, when Alfred was not yet seven years old. When his father brought
Judith from France Alfred was thirteen years old.]
[Footnote 99: This nobleman occurs as a witness [Mucil, dux] to many
Mercian charters, dated from A.D. 814 to 866.]
[Footnote 100: Inhabitants of Gainsborough.]
[Footnote 101: Englefield Green is about four miles from Windsor]
[Footnote 102: Aston, in Berkshire.]
[Footnote 103: Stratclyde Britons.]
[Footnote 104: Cambridge.]
[Footnote 105: The Frome.]
[Footnote 106: They swore oaths to Alfred on the holy ring, says the
Saxon Chronicle, p. 355. The most solemn manner of swearing among the
Danes and other northern nations was by their arms. Olaus Magnus, lib.
viii. c. 2.]
[Footnote 107: Exeter.]
[Footnote 108: It is necessary to inform the reader that many passages
of this work are modern interpolations, made in the old MS. by a later
hand. The "Annals" referred to in the text are supposed not to be a
genuine work of Asser.]
[Footnote 109: Swanwich, in Dorsetshire.]
[Footnote 110: This clause is a mere repetition of the preceding. See a
former note in this page.]
[Footnote 111: Athelney, a morass formed by the conflux of the Thone and
the Parret. See Saxon Chron. p. 356, and Chronicle of Ethelwerd, p 31.]
[Footnote 112: The original here is in Latin verse, and may therefore be
rendered into English verse, but such as every housewife in
Somersetshire would understand.]
[Footnote 113: Probably the sanguinary Hubba.]
[Footnote 114: Or South Wales.]
[Footnote 115: Kynwith castle stood on the river Taw. Camden, p. 35.]
[Footnote 116: Now called Brixton Deverill, in Wilts.]
[Footnote 117: Selwood Forest extended from Frome to Burham, and was
probably much larger at one time.]
[Footnote 118: Or Iglea. Supposed to be Leigh, now Westbury, Wilts.]
[Footnote 119: Wedmore is four miles and three quarters from Axbridge,
in Somersetshire.]
[Footnote 120: In the Saxon Chronicle (A.D. 878) it is said, that
Gothrun was baptized at Aller, and his _chrism-loosing_ was at Wedmore.
The _chrismal_ was a white linen cloth put on the head at the
administration of baptism, which was taken off at the expiration of
eight days.]
[Footnote 121: Inhabitants of Gloucester, Worcester, and part of
Warwickshire.]
[Footnote 122: This expression paints in strong colours the unfortunate
and divided state of England at this period, for it shows that the Danes
had settled possession of parts of it. In fact, all traces of the
heptarchy, or ancient division of the island into provinces, did not
entirely disappear until some years after the Norman conquest.]
[Footnote 123: Not the river Stour, in Kent; but the Stour which divides
Essex from Suffolk. Lambard fixes the battle at Harwich haven.]
[Footnote 124: Or, Old Saxons.]
[Footnote 125: St. Guerir's church was at Ham Stoke, in Cornwall.]
[Footnote 126: An interesting account of St. Neot will be found in
Gorham's History And Antiquities of Eynesbury and St. Neot's.]
[Footnote 127: Grimbald was provost of St. Omer's.]
[Footnote 128: John had been connected with the monastery of Corbie.]
[Footnote 129: East Dene [or Dean] and West Dene are two villages near
Chichester. There are also other villages of the same name near East
Bourne.]
[Footnote 130: This expression alludes to the tonsure, which was
undergone by those who became clerks. For a description of the
ecclesiastical tonsure see Bede's Eccles. Hist. p. 160]
[Footnote 131: The original Latin continues, "Et illa adjuvaretur per
rudimenta Sancti Degui in omni causa, tamen pro viribus," which I do not
understand, and therefore cannot translate.]
[Footnote 132: A petty prince of South Wales.]
[Footnote 133: Or St. Dewi. Probably by the _parish_ of St. Deguus is
meant the _diocese_ of St. David's. Hence it is said, that Alfred gave
to Asser the whole parish (omnis parochia) of Exeter.]
[Footnote 134: Archbishop of St. David's.]
[Footnote 135: Amesbury, in Wilts.]
[Footnote 136: In Somersetshire.]
[Footnote 137: Wessex.]
[Footnote 138: The whole of this paragraph concerning Oxford is thought
to be an interpolation, because it is not known to have existed in more
than one MS. copy.]
[Footnote 139: Hyde Abbey.]
[Footnote 140: This must consequently have been written in A.D. 888.]
[Footnote 141: Wise conjectures that we ought to read Hiberiae, _Spain_,
and not Hiberniae, _Ireland_, in this passage.]
[Footnote 142: Not the celebrated John Scotus Eregina.]
[Footnote 143: Denarii.]
[Footnote 144: Unciae pollicis.]
[Footnote 145: Some of the MSS. record, in a note or appendix written by
a later hand, that king Alfred died on the 26th of October, A.D. 900, in
the thirtieth of his reign. "The different dates assigned to the death
of Alfred," says Sir Francis Palgrave, "afford a singular proof of the
uncertainty arising from various modes of computation. The Saxon
Chronicle and Florence of Worcester agree in placing the event in 901.
The first 'six nights before All Saints;' the last, with more precision,
'Indictione quarta, et Feria quarta, 5 Cal. Nov.' Simon of Durham, in
889, and the Saxon Chronicle, in another passage, in 900. The
concurrents of Florence of Worcester seem to afford the greatest
certainty, and the date of 901 has therefore been preferred."]
GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH'S
BRITISH HISTORY.
GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH'S BRITISH HISTORY.
BOOK I.
CHAP. I.--_The epistle dedicatory to Robert earl of Gloucester._[146]
Whilst occupied on many and various studies, I happened to light upon
the History of the Kings of Britain, and wondered that in the account
which Gildas and Bede, in their elegant treatises, had given of them, I
found nothing said of those kings who lived here before the Incarnation
of Christ, nor of Arthur, and many others who succeeded after the
Incarnation; though their actions both deserved immortal fame, and were
also celebrated by many people in a pleasant manner and by heart, as if
they had been written. Whilst I was intent upon these and such like
thoughts, Walter, archdeacon of Oxford,[147] a man of great eloquence,
and learned in foreign histories, offered me a very ancient book in the
British tongue, which, in a continued regular story and elegant style,
related the actions of them all, from Brutus the first king of the
Britons, down to Cadwallader the son of Cadwallo. At his request,
therefore, though I had not made fine language my study, by collecting
florid expressions from other authors, yet contented with my own homely
style, I undertook the translation of that book into Latin. For if I had
swelled the pages with rhetorical flourishes, I must have tired my
readers, by employing their attention more upon my words than upon the
history. To you, therefore, Robert earl of Gloucester, this work humbly
sues for the favour of being so corrected by your advice, that it may
not be thought to be the poor offspring of Geoffrey of Monmouth, but
when polished by your refined wit and judgment, the production of him
who had Henry the glorious king of England for his father, and whom we
see an accomplished scholar and philosopher, as well as a brave soldier
and expert commander; so that Britain with joy acknowledges, that in you
she possesses another Henry.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 146: Robert, earl of Gloucester was the natural son of king
Henry I, by whose command he swore fealty to the empress Matilda,
daughter of that monarch. To prove his fidelity, he rebelled against
king Stephen, and mainly contributed to the success of Henry son of the
empress, afterwards Henry II.]
[Footnote 147: Thought to be Walter Mapes the poet, author of several
ludicrous and satirical compositions.]
CHAP. II.--_The first inhabitants of Britain._
Britain, the best of islands, is situated in the Western Ocean, between
France and Ireland, being eight hundred miles long, and two hundred
broad. It produces every thing that is useful to man, with a plenty that
never fails. It abounds with all kinds of metal, and has plains of large
extent, and hills fit for the finest tillage, the richness of whose soil
affords variety of fruits in their proper seasons. It has also forests
well stored with all kinds of wild beasts; in its lawns cattle find good
change of pasture, and bees variety of flowers for honey. Under its
lofty mountains lie green meadows pleasantly situated, in which the
gentle murmurs of crystal springs gliding along clear channels, give
those that pass an agreeable invitation to lie down on their banks and
slumber. It is likewise well watered with lakes and rivers abounding
with fish; and besides the narrow sea which is on the Southern coast
towards France, there are three noble rivers, stretching out like three
arms, namely, the Thames, the Severn, and the Humber; by which foreign
commodities from all countries are brought into it. It was formerly
adorned with eight and twenty cities,[148] of which some are in ruins
and desolate, others are still standing, beautified with lofty
church-towers, wherein religious worship is performed according to the
Christian institution. It is lastly inhabited by five different nations,
the Britons, Romans, Saxons, Picts, and Scots; whereof the Britons
before the rest did formerly possess the whole island from sea to sea,
till divine vengeance, punishing them for their pride, made them give
way to the Picts and Saxons. But in what manner, and from whence, they
first arrived here, remains now to be related in what follows.[149]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 148: The names of thirty-three cities will be found in
Nennius's History of the Britons, Sec. 7.]
[Footnote 149: This brief description of Britain is taken almost word
for word from the more authentic historians, Bede, Orosius, &c.]
CHAP. III.--_Brutus, being banished after the killing of his parents,
goes into Greece._
After the Trojan war, AEneas, flying with Ascanius from the destruction
of their city, sailed to Italy. There he was honourably received by king
Latinus, which raised against him the envy of Turnus, king of the
Rutuli, who thereupon made war against him. Upon their engaging in
battle, AEneas got the victory, and having killed Turnus, obtained the
kingdom of Italy, and with it Lavinia the daughter of Latinus. After his
death, Ascanius, succeeding in the kingdom, built Alba upon the Tiber,
and begat a son named Sylvius, who, in pursuit of a private amour, took
to wife a niece of Lavinia. The damsel soon after conceived, and the
father Ascanius, coming to the knowledge of it, commanded his magicians
to consult of what sex the child should be. When they had satisfied
themselves in the matter, they told him she would give birth to a boy,
who would kill his father and mother, and after travelling over many
countries in banishment, would at last arrive at the highest pitch of
glory. Nor were they mistaken in their prediction; for at the proper
time the woman brought forth a son, and died of his birth; but the child
was delivered to a nurse and called Brutus.
At length, after fifteen years were expired, the youth accompanied his
father in hunting, and killed him undesignedly by the shot of an arrow.
For, as the servants were driving up the deer towards them, Brutus, in
shooting at them, smote his father under the breast. Upon his death, he
was expelled from Italy, his kinsmen being enraged at him for so heinous
a deed. Thus banished he went into Greece, where he found the posterity
of Helenus, son of Priamus, kept in slavery by Pandrasus, king of the
Greeks. For, after the destruction of Troy, Pyrrhus, the son of
Achilles, had brought hither in chains Helenus and many others; and to
revenge on them the death of his father, had given command that they
should be held in captivity. Brutus, finding they were by descent his
old countrymen, took up his abode among them, and began to distinguish
himself by his conduct and bravery in war, so as to gain the affection
of kings and commanders, and above all the young men of the country. For
he was esteemed a person of great capacity both in council and war, and
signalized his generosity to his soldiers, by bestowing among them all
the money and spoil he got. His fame, therefore, spreading over all
countries, the Trojans from all parts began to flock to him, desiring
under his command to be freed from subjection to the Greeks; which they
assured him might easily be done, considering how much their number was
now increased in the country, being seven thousand strong, besides women
and children. There was likewise then in Greece a noble youth named
Assaracus, a favourer of their cause. For he was descended on his
mother's side from the Trojans, and placed great confidence in them,
that he might be able by their assistance to oppose the designs of the
Greeks. For his brother had a quarrel with him for attempting to deprive
him of three castles which his father had given him at his death, on
account of his being only the son of a concubine; but as the brother was
a Greek, both by his father's and mother's side, he had prevailed with
the king and the rest of the Greeks to espouse his cause. Brutus, having
taken a view of the number of his men, and seen how Assaracus's castles
lay open to him, complied with their request.[150]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 150: It is unnecessary to remind the classical reader that the
historians of Greece and Italy make no mention of Brutus and his
adventures. The minuteness of detail, so remarkable in the whole story,
as related by Geoffrey, is an obvious objection to its authenticity.]
CHAP. IV.--_Brutus's letter to Pandrasus._
Being, therefore, chosen their commander, he assembled the Trojans from
all parts, and fortified the towns belonging to Assaracus. But he
himself, with Assaracus and the whole body of men and women that
adhered to him, retired to the woods and hills, and then sent a letter
to the king in these words:--
"Brutus, general of the remainder of the Trojans, to Pandrasus, king of
the Greeks, sends greeting. As it was beneath the dignity of a nation
descended from the illustrious race of Dardanus, to be treated in your
kingdom otherwise than the nobility of their birth required, they have
betaken themselves to the protection of the woods. For they have
preferred living after the manner of wild beasts, upon flesh and herbs,
with the enjoyment of liberty, to continuing longer in the greatest
luxury under the yoke of slavery. If this gives your majesty any
offence, impute it not to them, but pardon it; since it is the common
sentiment of every captive, to be desirous of regaining his former
dignity. Let pity therefore move you to bestow on them freely their lost
liberty, and permit them to inhabit the thickest of the woods, to which
they have retired to avoid slavery. But if you deny them this favour,
then by your permission and assistance let them depart into some foreign
country."
CHAP. V.--_Brutus falling upon the forces of Pandrasus by surprise,
routs them, and takes Antigonus, the brother of Pandrasus, with
Anacletus, prisoner._
Pandrasus, perceiving the purport of the letter, was beyond measure
surprised at the boldness of such a message from those whom he had kept
in slavery; and having called a council of his nobles, he determined to
raise an army in order to pursue them. But while he was upon his march
to the deserts, where he thought they were, and to the town of
Sparatinum, Brutus made a sally with three thousand men, and fell upon
him unawares. For having intelligence of his coming, he had got into the
town the night before, with a design to break forth upon them
unexpectedly, while unarmed and marching without order. The sally being
made, the Trojans briskly attack them, and endeavour to make a great
slaughter. The Greeks, astonished, immediately give way on all sides,
and with the king at their head, hasten to pass the river Akalon,[151]
which runs near the place; but in passing are in great danger from the
rapidity of the stream. Brutus galls them in their flight, and kills
some of them in the stream, and some upon the banks; and running to and
fro, rejoices to see them in both places exposed to ruin. But Antigonus,
the brother of Pandrasus, grieved at this sight, rallied his scattered
troops, and made a quick return upon the furious Trojans; for he rather
chose to die making a brave resistance, than to be drowned in a muddy
pool in a shameful flight. Thus attended with a close body of men, he
encouraged them to stand their ground, and employed his whole force
against the enemy with great vigour, but to little or no purpose; for
the Trojans had arms, but the others none; and from this advantage they
were more eager in the pursuit, and made a miserable slaughter; nor did
they give over the assault till they had made nearly a total
destruction, and taken Antigonus, and Anacletus his companion prisoners.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 151: The Achelous, or perhaps the Acheron.]
CHAP. VI.--_The town of Sparatinum besieged by Pandrasus._
Brutus, after the victory, reinforced the town with six hundred men, and
then retired to the woods, where the Trojan people were expecting his
protection. In the meantime Pandrasus, grieving at his own flight and
his brother's captivity, endeavoured that night to re-assemble his
broken forces, and the next morning went with a body of his people which
he had got together, to besiege the town, into which he supposed Brutus
had put himself with Antigonus and the rest of the prisoners that he had
taken. As soon as he was arrived at the walls, and had viewed the
situation of the castle, he divided his army into several bodies, and
placed them round it in different stations. One party was charged not to
suffer any of the besieged to go out; another to turn the courses of the
rivers; and a third to beat down the walls with battering rams and other
engines. In obedience to those commands, they laboured with their utmost
force to distress the besieged; and night coming on, made choice of
their bravest men to defend their camp and tents from the incursions of
the enemy, while the rest, who were fatigued with labour, refreshed
themselves with sleep.
CHAP. VII.--_The besieged ask assistance of Brutus._
But the besieged, standing on the top of the walls, were no less
vigorous to repel the force of the enemies' engines, and assault them
with their own, and cast forth darts and firebrands with a unanimous
resolution to make a valiant defence. And when a breach was made through
the wall, they compelled the enemy to retire, by throwing upon them fire
and scalding water. But being distressed through scarcity of provision
and daily labour, they sent an urgent message to Brutus, to hasten to
their assistance, for they were afraid they might be so weakened as to
be obliged to quit the town. Brutus, though desirous of relieving them,
was under great perplexity, as he had not men enough to stand a pitched
battle, and therefore made use of a stratagem, by which he proposed to
enter the enemies' camp by night, and having deceived their watch to
kill them in their sleep. But because he knew this was impracticable
without the concurrence and assistance of some Greeks, he called to him
Anacletus, the companion of Antigonus, and with a drawn sword in his
hand, spake to him after this manner:--
"Noble youth! your own and Antigonus's life is now at an end, unless you
will faithfully perform what I command you. This night I design to
invade the camp of the Greeks, and fall upon them unawares, but am
afraid of being hindered in the attempt if the watch should discover the
stratagem. Since it will be necessary, therefore, to have them killed
first, I desire to make use of you to deceive them, that I may have the
easier access to the rest. Do you therefore manage this affair
cunningly. At the second hour of the night go to the watch, and with
fair speeches tell them that you have brought away Antigonus from
prison, and that he is come to the bottom of the woods, where he lies
hid among the shrubs, and cannot get any farther, by reason of the
fetters with which you shall pretend that he is bound. Then you shall
conduct them, as if it were to deliver him, to the end of the wood,
where I will attend with a band of men ready to kill them."
CHAP. VIII.--_Anacletus, in fear of death, betrays the army of the
Greeks._
Anacletus, seeing the sword threatening him with immediate death while
these words were being pronounced, was so terrified as to promise upon
oath, that on condition he and Antigonus should have longer life granted
them, he would execute his command. Accordingly, the agreement being
confirmed, at the second hour of the night he directs his way towards
the Grecian camp, and when he was come near to it, the watch, who were
then narrowly examining all the places where any one could hide, ran out
from all parts to meet him, and demanded the occasion of his coming, and
whether it was not to betray the army. He, with a show of great joy,
made the following answer:--"I come not to betray my country, but having
made my escape from the prison of the Trojans, I fly thither to desire
you would go with me to Antigonus, whom I have delivered from Brutus's
chains. For being not able to come with me for the weight of his
fetters, I have a little while ago caused him to lie hid among the
shrubs at the end of the wood, till I could meet with some one whom I
might conduct to his assistance." While they were in suspense about the
truth of this story, there came one who knew him, and after he had
saluted him, told them who he was; so that now, without any hesitation,
they quickly called their absent companions, and followed him to the
wood where he had told them Antigonus lay hid. But at length, as they
were going among the shrubs, Brutus with his armed bands springs forth,
and falls upon them, while under the greatest astonishment, with a most
cruel slaughter. From thence he marches directly to the siege, and
divides his men into three bands, assigning to each of them a different
part of the camp, and telling them to advance discreetly, and without
noise; and when entered, not to kill any body till he with his company
should be possessed of the king's tent, and should cause the trumpet to
sound for a signal.
CHAP. IX.--_The taking of Pandrasus._
When he had given them these instructions, they forthwith softly entered
the camp in silence, and taking their appointed stations, awaited the
promised signal, which Brutus delayed not to give as soon as he had got
before the tent of Pandrasus, to assault which was the thing he most
desired. At hearing the signal, they forthwith draw their swords, enter
in among the men in their sleep, make quick destruction of them, and
allowing no quarter, in this manner traverse the whole camp. The rest,
awaked at the groans of the dying, and seeing their assailants, were
like sheep seized with a sudden fear; for they despaired of life, since
they had neither time to take arms, nor to escape by flight. They run up
and down without arms among the armed, whithersoever the fury of the
assault hurries them, but are on all sides cut down by the enemy rushing
in. Some that might have escaped, were in the eagerness of flight dashed
against rocks, trees, or shrubs, and increased the misery of their
death. Others, that had only a shield, or some such covering for their
defence, in venturing upon the same rocks to avoid death, fell down in
the hurry and darkness of the night, and broke either legs or arms.
Others, that escaped both these disasters, but did not know whither to
fly, were drowned in the adjacent rivers; and scarcely one got away
without some unhappy accident befalling him. Besides, the garrison in
the town, upon notice of the coming of their fellow soldiers, sallied
forth, and redoubled the slaughter.
CHAP. X.--_A consultation about what is to be asked of the captive
king._
But Brutus, as I said before, having possessed himself of the king's
tent, made it his business to keep him a safe prisoner; for he knew he
could more easily attain his ends by preserving his life than by killing
him; but the party that was with him, allowing no quarter, made an utter
destruction in that part which they had gained. The night being spent in
this manner, when the next morning discovered to their view so great an
overthrow of the enemy, Brutus, in transports of joy, gave full liberty
to his men to do what they pleased with the plunder, and then entered
the town with the king, to stay there till they had shared it among
them; which done, he again fortified the castle, gave orders for burying
the slain, and retired with his forces to the woods in great joy for the
victory. After the rejoicings of his people on this occasion, their
renowned general summoned the oldest of them and asked their advice,
what he had best desire of Pandrasus, who, being now in their power,
would readily grant whatever they would request of him, in order to
regain his liberty. They, according to their different fancies, desired
different things; some urged him to request that a certain part of the
kingdom might be assigned them for their habitation; others that he
would demand leave to depart, and to be supplied with necessaries for
their voyage. After they had been a long time in suspense what to do,
one of them, named Mempricius, rose up, and having made silence, spoke
to them thus:--
"What can be the occasion of your suspense, fathers, in a matter which I
think so much concerns your safety? The only thing you can request, with
any prospect of a firm peace and security to yourselves and your
posterity, is liberty to depart. For if you make no better terms with
Pandrasus for his life than only to have some part of the country
assigned you to live among the Greeks, you will never enjoy a lasting
peace while the brothers, sons, or grandsons of those whom you killed
yesterday shall continue to be your neighbours. So long as the memory of
their fathers' deaths shall remain, they will be your mortal enemies,
and upon the least trifling provocation will endeavour to revenge
themselves. Nor will you be sufficiently numerous to withstand so great
a multitude of people. And if you shall happen to fall out among
yourselves, their number will daily increase, yours diminish. I propose,
therefore, that you request of him his eldest daughter, Ignoge, for a
wife for our general, and with her, gold, silver, corn, and whatever
else shall be necessary for our voyage. If we obtain this, we may with
his leave remove to some other country."
CHAP. XI.--_Pandrasus gives his daughter Ignoge in marriage to Brutus,
who, after his departure from Greece, falls upon a desert island, where
he is told by the oracle of Diana what place he is to inhabit._
When he had ended his speech, in words to this effect, the whole
assembly acquiesced in his advice, and moved that Pandrasus might be
brought in among them, and condemned to a most cruel death unless he
would grant this request. He was immediately brought in, and being
placed in a chair above the rest, and informed of the tortures prepared
for him unless he would do what was commanded him, he made them this
answer:--
"Since my ill fate has delivered me and my brother Antigonus into your
hands, I can do no other than grant your request, lest a refusal may
cost us our lives, which are now entirely in your power. In my opinion
life is preferable to all other considerations; therefore, wonder not
that I am willing to redeem it at so great a price. But though it is
against my inclination that I obey your commands, yet it seems matter of
comfort to me that I am to give my daughter to so noble a youth, whose
descent from the illustrious race of Priamus and Anchises is clear, both
from that greatness of mind which appears in him, and the certain
accounts we have had of it. For who less than he could have released
from their chains the banished Trojans, when reduced under slavery to so
many great princes? Who else could have encouraged them to make head
against the Greeks? or with so small a body of men vanquished so
numerous and powerful an army, and taken their king prisoner in the
engagement? And, therefore, since this noble youth has gained so much
glory by the opposition which he has made to me, I give him my daughter
Ignoge, and also gold, silver, ships, corn, wine, and oil, and whatever
you shall find necessary for your voyage. If you shall alter your
resolution, and think fit to continue among the Greeks, I will grant you
the third part of my kingdom for your habitation; if not, I will
faithfully perform my promise, and for your greater security will stay
as a hostage among you till I have made it good."
Accordingly he held a council, and directed messengers to all the shores
of Greece, to get ships together; which done, he delivered them to the
Trojans, to the number of three hundred and twenty-four, laden with all
kinds of provision, and married his daughter to Brutus. He made also a
present of gold and silver to each man according to his quality. When
everything was performed the king was set at liberty; and the Trojans,
now released from his power, set sail with a fair wind. But Ignoge,
standing upon the stern of the ship, swooned away several times in
Brutus's arms, and with many sighs and tears lamented the leaving her
parents and country, nor ever turned her eyes from the shore while it
was in sight. Brutus, meanwhile, endeavoured to assuage her grief by
kind words and embraces intermixed with kisses, and ceased not from
these blandishments till she grew weary of crying and fell asleep.
During these and other accidents, the winds continued fair for two days
and a night together, when at length they arrived at a certain island
called Leogecia, which had been formerly wasted by the incursions of
pirates, and was then uninhabited. Brutus, not knowing this, sent three
hundred armed men ashore to see who inhabited it; but they finding
nobody, killed several kinds of wild beasts which they met with in the
groves and woods, and came to a desolate city, in which they found a
temple of Diana, and in it a statue of that goddess which gave answers
to those that came to consult her. At last, loading themselves with the
prey which they had taken in hunting, they return to their ships, and
give their companions an account of this country and city. Then they
advised their leader to go to the city, and after offering sacrifices,
to inquire of the deity of the place, what country was allotted them for
their place of settlement. To this proposal all assented; so that
Brutus, attended with Gerion, the augur, and twelve of the oldest men,
set forward to the temple, with all things necessary for the sacrifice.
Being arrived at the place, and presenting themselves before the shrine
with garlands about their temples, as the ancient rites required, they
made three fires to the three deities, Jupiter, Mercury, and Diana, and
offered sacrifices to each of them. Brutus himself, holding before the
altar of the goddess a consecrated vessel filled with wine, and the
blood of a white hart, with his face looking up to the image, broke
silence in these words:--
"Diva potens nemorum, terror sylvestribus apris;
Cui licet amfractus ire per aethereos,
Infernasque domos; terrestria jura resolve,
Et dic quas terras nos habitare velis?
Dic certam sedem qua te venerabor in aevum,
Qua tibi virgineis templa dicabo choris?"
Goddess of woods, tremendous in the chase
To mountain boars, and all the savage race!
Wide o'er the ethereal walks extends thy sway,
And o'er the infernal mansions void of day!
Look upon us on earth! unfold our fate,
And say what region is our destined seat?
Where shall we next thy lasting temples raise?
And choirs of virgins celebrate thy praise?
These words he repeated nine times, after which he took four turns round
the altar, poured the wine into the fire, and then laid himself down
upon the hart's skin, which he had spread before the altar, where he
fell asleep. About the third hour of the night, the usual time for deep
sleep, the goddess seemed to present herself before him, and foretell
his future success as follows:--
"Brute! sub occasum solis trans Gallica regna
Insula in oceano est undique clausa mari:
Insula in oceano est habitata gigantibus olim,
Nunc deserta quidem, gentibus apta tuis.
Hanc pete, namque tibi sedes erit illa perennis:
Sic fiet natis altera Troja tuis.
Sic de prole tua reges nascentur: et ipsis
Totius terrae subditus orbis erit."
Brutus! there lies beyond the Gallic bounds
An island which the western sea surrounds,
By giants once possessed; now few remain
To bar thy entrance, or obstruct thy reign.
To reach that happy shore thy sails employ;
There fate decrees to raise a second Troy,
And found an empire in thy royal line,
Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine.
Awakened by the vision, he was for some time in doubt with himself,
whether what he had seen was a dream or a real appearance of the goddess
herself, foretelling to what land he should go. At last he called to his
companions, and related to them in order the vision he had in his sleep,
at which they very much rejoiced, and were urgent to return to their
ships, and while the wind favoured them, to hasten their voyage towards
the west, in pursuit of what the goddess had promised. Without delay,
therefore, they returned to their company, and set sail again, and after
a course of thirty days came to Africa, being ignorant as yet whither to
steer. From thence they came to the Philenian altars, and to a place
called Salinae, and sailed between Ruscicada and the mountains of
Azara,[152] where they underwent great danger from pirates, whom,
notwithstanding, they vanquished, and enriched themselves with their
spoils.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 152: It is probably impossible to discover whether these names
describe existing places, or are purely the invention of the author.]
CHAP. XII.--_Brutus enters Aquitaine with Corineus._
From thence, passing the river Malua, they arrived at Mauritania, where
at last, for want of provisions, they were obliged to go ashore; and,
dividing themselves into several bands, they laid waste the whole
country. When they had well stored their ships, they steered to the
Pillars of Hercules, where they saw some of those sea monsters, called
Syrens, which surrounded their ships, and very nearly overturned them.
However, they made a shift to escape, and came to the Tyrrhenian Sea,
upon the shores of which they found four several nations descended from
the banished Trojans, that had accompanied Antenor[153] in his flight.
The name of their commander was Corineus, a modest man in matters of
council, and of great courage and boldness, who, in an encounter with
any person, even of gigantic stature, would immediately overthrow him,
as if he were a child. When they understood from whom he was descended,
they joined company with him and those under his government, who from
the name of their leader were afterwards called the Cornish people, and
indeed were more serviceable to Brutus than the rest in all his
engagements. From thence they came to Aquitaine, and entering the mouth
of the Loire, cast anchor. There they stayed seven days and viewed the
country. Goffarius Pictus, who was king of Aquitaine at that time,
having an account brought him of the arrival of a foreign people with a
great fleet upon his coasts, sent ambassadors to them to demand whether
they brought with them peace or war. The ambassadors, on their way
towards the fleet, met Corineus, who was come out with two hundred men,
to hunt in the woods. They demanded of him, who gave him leave to enter
the king's forests, and kill his game; (which by an ancient law nobody
was allowed to do without leave from the prince.) Corineus answered,
that as for that matter there was no occasion for asking leave; upon
which one of them, named Imbertus, rushing forward, with a full drawn
bow levelled a shot at him. Corineus avoids the arrow and immediately
runs up to him, and with his bow in his hand breaks his head. The rest
narrowly escaped, and carried the news of this disaster to Goffarius.
The Pictavian general was struck with sorrow for it, and immediately
raised a vast army, to revenge the death of his ambassador. Brutus, on
the other hand, upon hearing the rumour of his coming, sends away the
women and children to the ships, which he took care to be well guarded,
and commands them to stay there, while he, with the rest that were able
to bear arms, should go to meet the army. At last an assault being made,
a bloody fight ensued: in which after a great part of the day had been
spent, Corineus was ashamed to see the Aquitanians so bravely stand
their ground, and the Trojans maintaining the fight without victory. He
therefore takes fresh courage, and drawing off his men to the right
wing, breaks in upon the very thickest of the enemies, where he made
such slaughter on every side, that at last he broke the line and put
them all to flight. In this encounter he lost his sword, but by good
fortune, met with a battle-axe, with which he clave down to the waist
every one that stood in his way. Brutus and every body else, both
friends and enemies, were amazed at his courage and strength, for he
brandished about his battle-axe among the flying troops, and terrified
them not a little with these insulting words, "Whither fly ye, cowards?
whither fly ye, base wretches? stand your ground, that ye may encounter
Corineus. What! for shame! do so many thousands of you fly one man?
However, take this comfort for your flight, that you are pursued by one,
before whom the Tyrrhenian giants could not stand their ground, but fell
down slain in heaps together."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 153: See Virgil's AEneid i, 241.]
CHAP. XIII.--_Goffarius routed by Brutus._
At these words one of them, named Subardus, who was a consul, returns
with three hundred men to assault him; but Corineus with his shield
wards off the blow, and lifting up his battle-axe gave him such a stroke
upon the top of his helmet, that at once he clave him down to the waist;
and then rushing upon the rest he made terrible slaughter by wheeling
about his battle-axe among them, and, running to and fro, seemed more
anxious to inflict blows on the enemy than careful to avoid those which
they aimed at him. Some had their hands and arms, some their very
shoulders, some again their heads, and others their legs cut off by him.
All fought with him only, and he alone seemed to fight with all. Brutus
seeing him thus beset, out of regard to him, runs with a band of men to
his assistance: at which the battle is again renewed with vigour and
with loud shouts, and great numbers slain on both sides. But now the
Trojans presently gain the victory, and put Goffarius with his
Pictavians to flight. The king after a narrow escape went to several
parts of Gaul, to procure succours among such princes as were related or
known to him. At that time Gaul was subject to twelve princes, who with
equal authority possessed the whole country. These receive him
courteously, and promise with one consent to expel the foreigners from
Aquitaine.
CHAP. XIV.--_Brutus, after his victory with Goffarius, ravages Aquitaine
with fire and sword._
Brutus, in joy for the victory, enriches his men with the spoils of the
slain, and then, dividing them into several bodies, marches into the
country with a design to lay it waste, and load his fleet with the
spoil. With this view he sets the cities on fire, seizes the riches that
were in them, destroys the fields, and makes dreadful slaughter among
the citizens and common people, being unwilling to leave so much as one
alive of that wretched nation. While he was making this destruction over
all Aquitaine, he came to a place where the city of Tours now stands,
which he afterwards built, as Homer testifies. As soon as he had looked
out a place convenient for the purpose, he pitched his camp there, for a
place of safe retreat, when occasion should require. For he was afraid
on account of Goffarius's approach with the kings and princes of Gaul,
and a very great army, which was now come near the place, ready to give
him battle. Having therefore finished his camp, he expected to engage
with Goffarius in two days' time, placing the utmost confidence in the
conduct and courage of the young men under his command.
CHAP. XV.--_Goffarius's fight with Brutus._
Goffarius, being informed that the Trojans were in those parts, marched
day and night, till he came within a close view of Brutus's camp; and
then with a stern look and disdainful smile, broke out into these
expressions, "Oh wretched fate! Have these base exiles made a camp also
in my kingdom? Arm, arm, soldiers, and march through their thickest
ranks: we shall soon take these pitiful fellows like sheep, and disperse
them throughout our kingdom for slaves." At these words they prepared
their arms, and advanced in twelve bodies towards the enemy. Brutus, on
the other hand, with his forces drawn up in order, went forth boldly to
meet them, and gave his men directions for their conduct, where they
should assault and where they should be upon the defensive. At the
beginning of the attack, the Trojans had the advantage, and made a rapid
slaughter of the enemy, of whom there fell near two thousand, which so
terrified the rest, that they were on the point of running away. But, as
the victory generally falls to that side which has very much the
superiority in numbers, so the Gauls, being three to one in number,
though overpowered at first, yet at last joining in a great body
together, broke in upon the Trojans, and forced them to retire to their
camp with much slaughter. The victory thus gained, they besieged them in
their camp, with a design not to suffer them to stir out until they
should either surrender themselves prisoners, or be cruelly starved to
death with a long famine.
In the meantime, Corineus the night following entered into consultation
with Brutus, and proposed to go out that night by by-ways, and conceal
himself in an adjacent wood till break of day; and while Brutus should
sally forth upon the enemy in the morning twilight, he with his company
would surprise them from behind and put them to slaughter. Brutus was
pleased with this stratagem of Corineus, who according to his engagement
got out cunningly with three thousand men, and put himself under the
covert of the woods. As soon as it was day Brutus marshalled his men and
opened the camp to go out to fight. The Gauls meet him and begin the
engagement: many thousands fall on both sides, neither party giving
quarter. There was present a Trojan, named Turonus, the nephew of
Brutus, inferior to none but Corineus in courage and strength of body.
He alone with his sword killed six hundred men, but at last was
unfortunately slain himself by the number of Gauls that rushed upon him.
From him the city of Tours derived its name, because he was buried
there. While both armies were thus warmly engaged, Corineus came upon
them unawares, and fell fiercely upon the rear of the enemy, which put
new courage into his friends on the other side, and made them exert
themselves with increased vigour. The Gauls were astonished at the very
shout of Corineus's men, and thinking their number to be much greater
than it really was, they hastily quitted the field; but the Trojans
pursued them, and killed them in the pursuit, nor did they desist till
they had gained a complete victory. Brutus, though in joy for this great
success, was yet afflicted to observe the number of his forces daily
lessened, while that of the enemy increased more and more. He was in
suspense for some time, whether he had better continue the war or not,
but at last he determined to return to his ships while the greater part
of his followers was yet safe, and hitherto victorious, and to go in
quest of the island which the goddess had told him of. So without
further delay, with the consent of his company, he repaired to the
fleet, and loading it with the riches and spoils he had taken, set sail
with a fair wind towards the promised island, and arrived on the coast
of Totness.
CHAP. XVI.--_Albion divided between Brutus and Corineus._
The island was then called Albion,[154] and was inhabited by none but a
few giants. Notwithstanding this, the pleasant situation of the places,
the plenty of rivers abounding with fish, and the engaging prospect of
its woods, made Brutus and his company very desirous to fix their
habitation in it. They therefore passed through all the provinces,
forced the giants to fly into the caves of the mountains, and divided
the country among them according to the directions of their commander.
After this they began to till the ground and build houses, so that in a
little time the country looked like a place that had been long
inhabited. At last Brutus called the island after his own name Britain,
and his companions Britons; for by these means he desired to perpetuate
the memory of his name. From whence afterwards the language of the
nation, which at first bore the name of Trojan, or rough Greek, was
called British. But Corineus, in imitation of his leader, called that
part of the island which fell to his share, Corinea, and his people
Corineans, after his name; and though he had his choice of the provinces
before all the rest, yet he preferred this country, which is now called
in Latin Cornubia, either from its being in the shape of a horn (in
Latin Cornu), or from the corruption of the said name.[155] For it was a
diversion to him to encounter the said giants, which were in greater
numbers there than in all the other provinces that fell to the share of
his companions. Among the rest was one detestable monster, named
Goemagot, in stature twelve cubits, and of such prodigious strength that
at one shake he pulled up an oak as if it had been a hazel wand. On a
certain day, when Brutus was holding a solemn festival to the gods, in
the port where they at first landed, this giant with twenty more of his
companions came in upon the Britons, among whom he made a dreadful
slaughter. But the Britons at last assembling together in a body, put
them to the rout, and killed them every one but Goemagot. Brutus had
given orders to have him preserved alive, out of a desire to see a
combat between him and Corineus, who took a great pleasure in such
encounters. Corineus, overjoyed at this, prepared himself, and throwing
aside his arms, challenged him to wrestle with him. At the beginning of
the encounter, Corineus and the giant, standing, front to front, held
each other strongly in their arms, and panted aloud for breath; but
Goemagot presently grasping Corineus with all his might, broke three of
his ribs, two on his right side and one on his left. At which Corineus,
highly enraged, roused up his whole strength, and snatching him upon his
shoulders, ran with him, as fast as the weight would allow him, to the
next shore, and there getting upon the top of a high rock, hurled down
the savage monster into the sea; where falling on the sides of craggy
rocks, he was torn to pieces, and coloured the waves with his blood. The
place where he fell, taking its name from the giant's fall, is called
Lam Goemagot, that is, Goemagot's Leap, to this day.[156]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 154: The earliest real notice of Albion occurs in a work
attributed to Aristotle [De Mundo, sec. 3], who wrote, before Christ
340, "Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean which flows round the
earth. In it are two very large islands, called Britannic; these are
Albion and Ierne," &c.]
[Footnote 155: The etymology of the word Cornwall, as if Cornu-Galliae or
Walliae, is equally imaginary.]
[Footnote 156: It is now called the Haw, and is near Plymouth.]
CHAP. XVII.--_The building of new Troy by Brutus, upon the river
Thames._
Brutus, having thus at last set eyes upon his kingdom, formed a design
of building a city, and with this view, travelled through the land to
find out a convenient situation, and coming to the river Thames, he
walked along the shore, and at last pitched upon a place very fit for
his purpose. Here, therefore, he built a city, which he called New Troy;
under which name it continued a long time after, till at last, by the
corruption of the original word, it come to be called Trinovantum. But
afterwards when Lud, the brother of Cassibellaun, who made war against
Julius Caesar, obtained the government of the kingdom, he surrounded it
with stately walls, and towers of admirable workmanship, and ordered it
to be called after his name, Kaer-Lud, that is, the City of Lud.[157]
But this very thing became afterwards the occasion of a great quarrel
between him and his brother Nennius, who took offence at his abolishing
the name of Troy in this country. Of this quarrel Gildas the historian
has given a full account; for which reason I pass it over, for fear of
debasing by my account of it, what so great a writer has so eloquently
related.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 157: This is the city now called London, and it is evident
that the writer wishes it to be supposed that the modern name is derived
from the ancient, as if it were Lud-ton or Lud-don. The first notice of
London found in authentic history occurs in Tacitus, Annal. lib. xiv. c.
33, the second notice in Ptolemy, A.D. 120, lib. i. 15.]
CHAP. XVIII.--_New Troy being built, and laws made for the government of
it, it is given to the citizens that were to inhabit it._
After Brutus had finished the building of the city, he made choice of
the citizens that were to inhabit it, and prescribed them laws for their
peaceable government. At this time Eli the priest governed in Judea,
and the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines. At the same
time, also, the sons of Hector, after the expulsion of the posterity of
Antenor, reigned in Troy; as in Italy did Sylvius AEneas, the son of
AEneas, the uncle of Brutus, and the third king of the Latins.[158]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 158: From this statement it would follow that the arrival of
Brutus in Britain is to be placed about the year 1100 before Christ.]