ALFRED THE GREAT IN WAR AND IN PEACE
30. The Danes in England
The earliest recorded visit of the Danes, or Northmen, to England
somewhat antedates the appearance of these peoples on the Frankish
coast in the year 800. In 787 three Danish vessels came to shore at
Warham in Dorset and their sailors slew the unfortunate reeve who
mistook them for ordinary foreign merchants and tried to collect port
dues from them. Thereafter the British coasts were never free for many
years at a time from the depredations of the marauders. In 793 the
famous church at Lindisfarne, in Northumberland, was plundered; in 795
the Irish coasts began to suffer; in 833 a fleet of twenty-five
vessels appeared at the mouth of the Thames; in 834 twelve hundred
pillagers landed in Dorset; in 842 London and Rochester were sacked
and their population scattered; in 850 a fleet of 350 ships carrying
perhaps ten or twelve thousand men, wintered at the mouth of the
Thames and in the spring caused London again to suffer; and from then
on until the accession of King Alfred, in 871, destructive raids
followed one another with distressing frequency.
The account of the Danish invasions given below is taken from a
biography of King Alfred commonly attributed to Asser, a monk of Welsh
origin connected with the monastery of St. David (later bishop of
Sherborne) and a close friend and adviser of the great king. It gives
us some idea of the way in which Alfred led his people through the
darkest days in their history, and of the settlement known as the
"Peace of Alfred and Guthrum" by which the Danish leader became a
Christian and the way was prepared for the later division of the
English country between the two contending peoples.
Source--Johannes Menevensis Asserius, _De rebus gestis Aelfredi
Magni_ [Asser, "The Deeds of Alfred the Great"], Chaps. 42-55
_passim_. Adapted from translation by J. A. Giles in _Six Old
English Chronicles_ (London, 1866), pp. 56-63.
[Sidenote: Alfred becomes king (871)]
[Sidenote: The struggle with the Danes]
In the year 871 Alfred, who up to that time had been of only
secondary rank, while his brothers were alive, by God's permission,
undertook the government of the whole kingdom, welcomed by all the
people. Indeed, if he had cared to, he might have done so earlier,
even while his brother was still alive;[257] for in wisdom and
other qualities he excelled all of his brothers, and, moreover, he
was courageous and victorious in all his wars. He became king
almost against his will, for he did not think that he could alone
withstand the numbers and the fierceness of the pagans, though even
during the lifetime of his brothers he had carried burdens enough
for many men. And when he had ruled one month, with a small band of
followers and on very unequal terms, he fought a battle with the
entire army of the pagans. This was at a hill called Wilton, on the
south bank of the River Wily, from which river the whole of that
district is named.[258] And after a long and fierce engagement the
pagans, seeing the danger they were in, and no longer able to meet
the attacks of their enemies, turned their backs and fled. But, oh,
shame to say, they deceived the English, who pursued them too
boldly, and, turning swiftly about, gained the victory. Let no one
be surprised to learn that the Christians had only a small number
of men, for the Saxons had been worn out by eight battles with the
pagans in one year. In these they had slain one king, nine dukes,
and innumerable troops of soldiers. There had also been numberless
skirmishes, both by day and by night, in which Alfred, with his
ministers and chieftains and their men, were engaged without rest
or relief against the pagans. How many thousands of pagans fell in
these skirmishes God only knows, over and above the numbers slain
in the eight battles before mentioned. In the same year the Saxons
made peace with the invaders, on condition that they should take
their departure, and they did so.
[Sidenote: Alfred's plan to meet the pagans on the sea]
In the year 877 the pagans, on the approach of autumn, partly
settled in Exeter[259] and partly marched for plunder into
Mercia.[260] The number of that disorderly horde 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.[261] On board these he placed sailors,
whom he commanded to keep watch on 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 the enemy from obtaining any
supplies by sea. In a short time the sailors were encountered by a
fleet of a hundred and twenty ships full of armed soldiers, who
were on their way to the relief of their countrymen. As soon as the
king's men knew that the ships were manned by pagan soldiers they
leaped to their arms and bravely attacked those barbaric tribes.
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 thrown into confusion in a very short time, and
all were sunk and drowned in the sea, at a place called
Swanwich.[262]
In 878, which was the thirtieth year of King Alfred's life, the
pagan army left Exeter and went to Chippenham. This latter place
was a royal residence situated in the west of Wiltshire, on the
eastern bank of the river which the Britons called the Avon. They
spent the winter there and drove many of the inhabitants of the
surrounding country beyond the sea by the force of their arms, and
by the want of the necessities of life. They reduced almost
entirely to subjection all the people of that country.
[Sidenote: Alfred in refuge at Athelney]
[Sidenote: The battle of Ethandune and the establishment of peace
(878)]
The same year, after Easter, King Alfred, with a few followers,
made for himself a stronghold in a place called Athelney,[263] and
from thence sallied, with his companions and the nobles of
Somersetshire, to make frequent assaults upon the pagans. Also, in
the seventh week after Easter, he rode to Egbert's stone, which is
in the eastern part of the wood that is called Selwood.[264] Here
he was met by all the folk of Somersetshire and Wiltshire and
Hampshire, who had not fled beyond the sea for fear of the pagans;
and when they saw the king alive after such great tribulation they
received him, as he deserved, with shouts of joy, and encamped
there for one night. At dawn on the following day the king broke
camp and went to Okely, where he encamped for one night. The next
morning he moved to Ethandune[265] and there fought bravely and
persistently against the whole army of the pagans. By the help of
God he defeated them with great slaughter and pursued them flying
to their fortification. He at once slew all the men and carried off
all the booty that he could find outside the fortress, which he
immediately laid siege to with his entire army. And when he had
been there fourteen days the pagans, driven by famine, cold, fear,
and finally by despair, asked for peace on the condition that they
should give the king as many hostages as he should ask, but should
receive none from him in return. Never before had they made a
treaty with any one on such terms. The king, hearing this, took
pity upon them and received such hostages as he chose. Then the
pagans swore that they would immediately leave the kingdom, and
their king, Guthrum, promised to embrace Christianity and receive
baptism at Alfred's hands. All of these pledges he and his men
fulfilled as they had promised.[266]
31. Alfred's Interest in Education
As an epoch of literary and educational advancement the reign of
Alfred in England (871-901) was in many respects like that of
Charlemagne among the Franks (768-814). Like Charlemagne, Alfred grew
up with very slight education, at least of a literary sort; but both
sovereigns were strongly dissatisfied with their ignorance, and both
made earnest efforts to overcome their own defects and at the same
time to raise the standard of intelligence among their people at
large. When one considers how crowded were the reigns of both with
wars and the pressing business of administration, such devotion to the
interests of learning appears the more deserving of praise.
In the first passage below, taken from Asser's life of Alfred, the
anxiety of the king for the promotion of his own education and that of
his children is clearly and strongly stated. We find him following
Charlemagne's plan of bringing scholars from foreign countries. He
brought them, too, from parts of Britain not under his direct control,
and used them at the court, or in bishoprics, to perform the work of
instruction. Curiously enough, whereas Charlemagne had found the chief
of his Palace School, Alcuin, in England, Alfred was glad to secure
the services of two men (Grimbald and John) who had made their
reputations in monasteries situated within the bounds of the old
Frankish empire.
Aside from some native songs and epic poems, all the literature known
to the Saxon people was in Latin, and but few persons in the kingdom
knew Latin well enough to read it. The king himself did not, until
about 887. It was supposed, of course, that the clergy were able to
use the Latin Bible and the Latin ritual of the Church, but when
Alfred came to investigate he found that even these men were often
pretty nearly as ignorant as the people they were charged to instruct.
What the king did, then, was to urge more study on the part of the
clergy, under the direction of such men as Plegmund, Asser, Grimbald,
John, and Werfrith. The people in general could not be expected to
master a foreign language; hence, in order that they might not be shut
off entirely from the first-hand use of books, Alfred undertook the
translation of certain standard works from the Latin into the Saxon.
Those thus translated were Boethius's _Consolations of Philosophy_,
Orosius's _Universal History of the World_, Bede's _Ecclesiastical
History of England_, and Pope Gregory the Great's _Pastoral Rule_. The
second passage given below is Alfred's preface to his Saxon edition of
the last-named book, taking the form of a letter to the scholarly
Bishop Werfrith of Worcester. The _Pastoral Rule_ [see p. 90] was
written by Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) as a body of instructions
in doctrine and conduct for the clergy. Alfred's preface, as a picture
of the ruin wrought by the long series of Danish wars, is of the
utmost importance in the study of ninth and tenth century England, as
well as a most interesting revelation of the character of the great
king.
Sources--(a) Asser, _De rebus gestis Aelfredi Magni_, Chaps.
75-78. Adapted from translation by J. A. Giles in _Six Old
English Chronicles_ (London, 1866), pp. 68-70.
(b) King Alfred's West-Saxon Version of Pope Gregory's
_Pastoral Rule_. Edited by Henry Sweet in the Publications of
the Early English Text Society (London, 1871), p. 2.
[Sidenote: The education of Alfred's children]
(a)
Ethelwerd, the youngest [of Alfred's children],[267] 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 read in the school.[268]
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[269] and Aelfthryth[270] were reared 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 friendliness, and even gentleness, towards all, both
natives and foreigners, and in complete subjection to their father.
Nor, among their other studies which pertain 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.
[Sidenote: The varied activities of the king]
[Sidenote: His devout character]
In the meantime the king, during the frequent wars and other
hindrances of this present life, the invasions of the pagans, and
his own infirmities of body, continued to carry on the government,
and to practice 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 splendid, 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.[271] 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
diligent in psalm-singing and prayer, at the hours both of the day
and of 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 gifts on both natives and
foreigners of all countries. He was affable and pleasant to all,
and curiously eager to investigate things unknown. Many Franks,
Frisians, Gauls, pagans, Britons, Scots, and Armoricans,[272] noble
and low-born, came voluntarily to his domain; and all of them,
according to their nation and deserving, were ruled, loved, honored
and enriched with money and power.[273] 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 care and solicitude. His
bishops, too, and all ecclesiastics, his earls and nobles,
ministers[274] and friends, were loved by him with wonderful
affection, and their sons, who were reared 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.
[Sidenote: Regret at his lack of education]
But, as if he had no consolation in all these things, and though
he suffered no other annoyance, either from within or without, he
was harassed by daily and nightly affliction, so that he complained
to God and to all who were admitted to his intimate fondness, 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 observer of the thoughts of
the mind within and the author of all good intentions, and a most
plentiful helper that good desires may be formed (for He would not
prompt a man to good intentions, unless He also amply supplied that
which the man justly and properly wishes to have) stimulated 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 co-workers 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 bee, which, going forth in summer with the
early morning from its cell, steers its rapid flight through the
uncertain tracks of ether and descends on the manifold and varied
flowers of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, discovering that which
pleases most, that it may bear it home, so did he direct his eyes
afar and seek without that which he had not within, that is, in his
own kingdom.[275]
[Sidenote: Learned men from Mercia brought to the English court]
But God at that time, as some relief to the king's anxiety,
yielding to his complaint, sent certain lights to illuminate him,
namely, Werfrith, 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,[276] a Mercian by birth, archbishop of the church of
Canterbury, a venerable man, and endowed with wisdom; Ethelstan
also,[277] and Werwulf,[278] his priests and chaplains,[279]
Mercians by birth and learned. These four had been invited from
Mercia by King Alfred, who exalted them with many honors and powers
in the kingdom of the West Saxons, besides the privileges which
Archbishop Plegmund and Bishop Werfrith 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
anything.[280]
[Sidenote: Grimbald and John brought from the continent]
But the king's commendable desire 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,[281] priest
and monk, a venerable man and good singer, adorned with every kind
of ecclesiastical training and good morals, and most learned in
holy Scripture. He also obtained from thence John,[282] 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 honored them with much influence.
[Sidenote: Alfred writes to Bishop Werfrith on the state of
learning in England]
(b)
King Alfred greets Bishop Werfrith with loving words and with
friendship.
I let it be known to thee that it has very often come into my mind
what wise men there formerly were throughout England, both within
the Church and without it; also what happy times there were then
and how the kings who had power over the nation in those days
obeyed God and His ministers; how they cherished peace, morality,
and order at home, and at the same time enlarged their territory
abroad; and how they prospered both in war and in wisdom. Often
have I thought, also, of the sacred orders, how zealous they were
both in teaching and learning, and in all the services they owed to
God; and how foreigners came to this land in search of wisdom and
instruction, which things we should now have to get from abroad if
we were to have them at all.
So general became the decay of learning in England that there were
very few on this side of the Humber[283] who could understand the
rituals[284] in English, or translate a letter from Latin into
English; and I believe that there were not many beyond the Humber
who could do these things. There were so few, in fact, that I
cannot remember a single person south of the Thames when I came to
the throne. Thanks be to Almighty God that we now have some
teachers among us. And therefore I enjoin thee to free thyself, as
I believe thou art ready to do, from worldly matters, that thou
mayst apply the wisdom which God has given thee wherever thou
canst. Consider what punishments would come upon us if we neither
loved wisdom ourselves nor allowed other men to obtain it. We
should then care for the name only of Christian, and have regard
for very few of the Christian virtues.
[Sidenote: Learning in the days before the Danish invasions]
When I thought of all this I remembered also how I saw the country
before it had been all ravaged and burned; how the churches
throughout the whole of England stood filled with treasures and
books. There was also a great multitude of God's servants, but they
had very little knowledge of books, for they could not understand
anything in them because they were not written in their own
language.[285] When I remembered all this I wondered extremely that
the good and wise men who were formerly all over England and had
learned perfectly all the books, did not wish to translate them
into their own language. But again I soon answered myself and said:
"Their own desire for learning was so great that they did not
suppose that men would ever become so indifferent and that learning
would ever so decay; and they wished, moreover, that wisdom in this
land might increase with our knowledge of languages." Then I
remembered how the law was first known in Hebrew and when the
Greeks had learned it how they translated the whole of it into
their own tongue,[286] and all other books besides. And again the
Romans, when they had learned it, translated the whole of it into
their own language.[287] And also all other Christian nations
translated a part of it into their languages.
[Sidenote: Plan to translate Latin books into English]
Therefore it seems better to me, if you agree, for us also to
translate some of the books which are most needful for all men to
know into the language which we can all understand. It shall be
your duty to see to it, as can easily be done if we have
tranquility enough,[288] that all the free-born youth now in
England, who are rich enough to be able to devote themselves to it,
be set to learn as long as they are not fit for any other
occupation, until they are well able to read English writing. And
let those afterwards be taught more in the Latin language who are
to continue learning and be promoted to a higher rank.
[Sidenote: The translation of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care]
When I remembered how the knowledge of Latin had decayed through
England, and yet that many could read English writing, I began,
among other various and manifold troubles of this kingdom, to
translate into English the book which is called in Latin
_Pastoralis_, and in English _The Shepherd's Book_, sometimes word
for word, and sometimes according to the sense, as I had learned it
from Plegmund, my archbishop, and Asser, my bishop, and Grimbald,
my mass-priest, and John, my mass-priest. And when I had learned
it, as I could best understand it and most clearly interpret it, I
translated it into English.
I will send a copy of this book to every bishopric in my kingdom,
and on each copy there shall be a clasp worth fifty mancuses.[289]
And I command in God's name that no man take the clasp from the
book, or the book from the minster.[290] It is uncertain how long
there may be such learned bishops as, thanks be to God, there now
are almost everywhere; therefore, I wish these copies always to
remain in their places, unless the bishop desires to take them with
him, or they be loaned out anywhere, or any one wishes to make a
copy of them.
32. Alfred's Laws
Here are a few characteristic laws included by Alfred in the code
which he drew up on the basis of old customs and the laws of some of
the earlier Saxon kings. On the nature of the law of the early
Germanic peoples, see p. 59.
Source--Text in Benjamin Thorpe, _The Ancient Laws and
Institutes of England_ (London, 1840), pp. 20-44 _passim_.
If any one smite his neighbor with a stone, or with his fist, and
he nevertheless can go out with a staff, let him get him a
physician and do his work as long as he himself cannot.
If an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, let it be stoned,
and let not its flesh be eaten. The owner shall not be liable if
the ox were wont to push with its horns for two or three days
before, and he knew it not; but if he knew it, and would not shut
it in, and it then shall have slain a man or a woman, let it be
stoned; and let the master be slain, or the person killed be paid
for, as the "witan"[291] shall decree to be right.
Injure ye not the widows and the stepchildren, nor hurt them
anywhere; for if ye do otherwise they will cry unto me and I will
hear them, and I will slay you with my sword; and I will cause that
your own wives shall be widows, and your children shall be
stepchildren.
If a man strike out another's eye, let him pay sixty shillings,
and six shillings, and six pennies, and a third part of a penny, as
'bot.'[292] If it remain in the head, and he cannot see anything
with it, let one-third of the 'bot' be remitted.
[Sidenote: Penalties for various crimes of violence]
If a man strike out another's tooth in the front of his head, let
him make 'bot' for it with eight shillings; if it be the canine
tooth, let four shillings be paid as 'bot.' A man's grinder is
worth fifteen shillings.
If the shooting finger be struck off, the 'bot' is fifteen
shillings; for its nail it is four shillings.
If a man maim another's hand outwardly, let twenty shillings be
paid him as 'bot,' if he can be healed; if it half fly off, then
shall forty shillings be paid as 'bot.'
FOOTNOTES:
[257] That is, Ethelred I., whom Alfred succeeded.
[258] Wiltshire, on the southern coast, west of the Isle of Wight.
[259] The same as the modern city of the name.
[260] Mercia was one of the seven old Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It lay
east of Wales.
[261] This marked a radical departure in methods of fighting the
invaders. On the continent, and hitherto in England, there had been no
effort to prevent the enemy from getting into the country they
proposed to plunder. Alfred's creation of a navy was one of his wisest
acts. Although the English had by this time grown comparatively
unaccustomed to seafaring life they contrived to win their first naval
encounter with the enemy.
[262] In Dorsetshire.
[263] Athelney was in Somersetshire, northeast of Exeter, in the
marshes at the junction of the Tone and the Parret.
[264] The modern Brixton Deverill, in Wiltshire, near Warminster.
[265] In Wiltshire, a little east of Westbury. In January the Danes
had removed from Exeter to Chippenham. Edington (or Ethandune) was
eight miles from the camp at the latter place. The Danes were first
defeated in an open battle at Edington, and then forced to surrender
after a fourteen days' siege at Chippenham.
[266] This so-called "Peace of Alfred and Guthrum" in 878 provided
only for the acceptance of Christianity by the Danish leader. It is
sometimes known as the treaty of Chippenham and is not to be confused
with the treaty of Wedmore, of a few weeks later, by which Alfred and
Guthrum divided the English country between them. The text of this
second treaty will be found in Lee's _Source-Book of English History_
(pp. 98-99), though the introductory statement there given is somewhat
misleading. This assignment of the Danelaw to Guthrum's people may
well be compared with the yielding of Normandy to Rollo by Charles the
Simple in 911 [see p. 172].
[267] Ethelwerd was Alfred's fifth living child.
[268] This was, of course, not a school in the modern sense of the
word. All that is meant is simply that young Ethelwerd, along with
sons of nobles and non-nobles, received instruction from the learned
men at the court. It had been customary before Alfred's day for the
young princes and sons of nobles to receive training at the court, but
not in letters.
[269] This was Edward the Elder who succeeded Alfred as king and
reigned from 901 to 925. He was Alfred's eldest son.
[270] Aelfthryth was Alfred's fourth child. She became the wife of
Baldwin II. of Flanders.
[271] Among other labors in behalf of learning, Alfred made a
collection of the ancient epics and lyrics of the Saxon people.
Unfortunately, except in the case of the epic Beowulf, only fragments
of these have survived. Beowulf was, so far as we know, the earliest
of the Saxon poems, having originated before the migration to Britain,
though it was probably put in its present form by a Christian monk of
the eighth century.
[272] Armorica was the name applied in Alfred's time to the region
southward from the mouth of the Seine to Brittany.
[273] There is a good deal of independent evidence that Alfred was
peculiarly hospitable to foreigners. He delighted in learning from
them about their peoples and experiences.
[274] The word in the original is _ministeriales_. It is not Saxon but
Franco-Latin and is an instance of the Frankish element in Asser's
vocabulary. Here, as among the Franks, the _ministeriales_ were the
officials of second-rate importance surrounding the king, the highest
being known as the _ministri_.
[275] This comparison of the gathering of learning to the operations
of a bee in collecting honey is very common among classical writers
and also among those of the Carolingian renaissance. It occurs in
Lucretius, Seneca, Macrobius, Alcuin, and the poet Candidus.
[276] Plegmund became archbishop of Canterbury in 890, but it is
probable that he was with Alfred some time before his election to the
primacy.
[277] This Ethelstan was probably the person of that name who was
consecrated bishop of Ramsbury in 909.
[278] From another document it appears that Werwulf was a friend of
Bishop Werfrith in Mercia before either took up residence at Alfred's
court.
[279] In Chap. 104 of Asser's biography the _capellani_ are described
as supplying the king with candles, by whose burning he measured time.
The word _capellanus_ is of pure Frankish origin and was originally
applied to the clerks (_clerici capellani_) who were charged with the
custody of the cope (_cappa_) of St. Martin, which was kept in the
_capella_. From this the term _capella_ came to mean a room especially
devoted to religious uses, that is, a chapel. It was used in this
sense as early as 829 in Frankland. Whether by _capellanus_ Asser
meant mere clerks, or veritable "chaplains" in the later sense, cannot
be known, though his usage was probably the latter.
[280] Chapter 87 of Asser informs us that Alfred mastered the art of
reading in the year 887.
[281] Grimbald came from the Flemish monastery of St. Bertin at St.
Omer. He was recommended to Alfred by Fulco, archbishop of Rheims, who
had once been abbot of St. Bertin. We do not know in what year
Grimbald went to England, though there is some evidence that it was
not far from 887.
[282] John the Old Saxon is mentioned by Alfred as his mass-priest. It
is probable that he came from the abbey of Corbei on the upper Weser.
Not much is known about the man, but if he was as learned as Asser
says he was, he must have been a welcome addition to Alfred's group of
scholars particularly as the language which he used was very similar
to that of the West Saxons in England.
[283] That is, south of the Humber.
[284] The service of the Church.
[285] They were written, of course, in Latin.
[286] By the middle of the third century A.D. as many as three
different translations of the Old Testament into Greek had been
made--those of Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmochus. These eventually
took fixed shape in the so-called Septuagint version of the Old
Testament.
[287] About the year 385 St. Jerome revised the older Latin
translation of the New Testament and translated the Old Testament
directly from the Hebrew. This complete version gradually superseded
all others for the whole Latin-reading Church, being known as the
"Vulgate," that is, the version commonly accepted. It was in the form
of the Vulgate that the Scriptures were known to the Saxons and all
other peoples of western Europe.
[288] In other words, sufficient relief from the Danish incursions.
[289] The _mancus_ was a Saxon money value equivalent to a mark.
[290] A minster was a church attached to a monastery.
[291] The witan was the gathering of "wisemen"--members of the royal
family, high officials in the Church, and leading nobles--about the
Anglo-Saxon king to assist in making ordinances and supervising the
affairs of state.
[292] Compensation rendered to an injured person.