EDWARD THE ELDER.
"Awake remembrance of these valiant dead,
And with your puissant arm renew their feats;
You are their heir, you sit upon their throne;
The blood and courage that renowned them
Runs in your veins.----
All do expect that you should rouse yourself,
As did the former lions of your blood."--SHAKSPERE.
Edward the Elder, in the year 901, was, by the unanimous consent of
the Saxon nobles, elected king of Wessex. He had already distinguished
himself for his valour, as he fought by the side of his father Alfred
against Hastings. Although he was the son of Alfred, and elected by
the consent of the whole witena-gemot, his cousin Ethelwold laid claim
to the crown, and took possession of Wimburn, which he vowed death
alone should compel him to give up. No sooner, however, did Edward
appear before the gates of the town with his army, than Ethelwold
fled; and escaping by night, reached Northumbria, where he was gladly
received by the Danes, who, doubtless, thinking that they should have
a better claim to the land of England, if a Saxon prince reigned over
them, chose him for their sovereign, and at York he was appointed
head monarch over all the sea-kings and their chiefs. With the Saxon
king at their head, the Danes were not long before they aspired to
the sovereignty of the whole island. But Ethelwold could not remain
long amongst his subjects without partaking of their piratical habits,
so he set up sea-king; and finding that the ocean yielded but a poor
harvest, he visited the coast of France, and, either by promises or
presents, mustered such a force as enabled him to man a considerable
fleet, with which he returned to England and ravaged Mercia. As he
landed in Essex, the East Anglian Danes readily joined him. Edward led
his army into Lincolnshire in pursuit of Ethelwold, and overtook him a
little below Gainsborough. The battle appears to have been fought on
a small island, still called Axeholme, which is situated beside the
river Trent, and the inhabitants of which are still called "The men of
the Isle." Edward, having ravaged the neighbourhood around the isle of
Axeholme, ordered his forces to retreat slowly, but on no account to
separate. This order the Kentish troops neglected to obey, and either
took a different route from the rest of the army, or remained behind to
plunder, when Ethelwold, at the head of a superior force, rushed upon
them, and they were defeated. Although it appears to have been more of
a skirmish than a pitched battle, victory was purchased, on the part of
the Danes, by the death of Ethelwold, and England then enjoyed a two
years' peace.
After this brief interval, war again broke out. Edward, at the head of
his Saxons and Mercians, over-ran and plundered Northumbria. In the
following spring, the Danes retaliated, and attacked Mercia on each
side of the river Trent. While Edward was busy on the south-eastern
coast, repairing and collecting together his ships, a rumour circulated
amongst the Danes that he had gone over to the opposite shore with his
fleet. Misguided by these tidings, the Danish army passed across the
country in the direction of the Severn, plundering every place they
approached, and moving about in that irregular manner which showed that
they were not apprehensive of any attack. Great was their surprise when
they saw a powerful army approaching them; they discovered not the
danger until it was too late to fly from it, for Edward was upon them,
and there was no alternative but to fight. The battle took place at
Wodensfield, and thousands of the Danes were slain, for, beside many
earls and chiefs, they left two of their kings dead upon the field. The
result of this battle established the power of Edward, and insured the
safety of the Saxon kingdom. Like his father Alfred, he trusted not to
the chances of war alone for security, but protected his frontiers by a
line of strong fortresses, and placed a powerful guard over such weak
points as had been most open to the invasion of the enemy. He filled
these garrisons with chosen soldiers, who, united with the provincials
or militia which Alfred had established, rushed out upon the Danes the
moment they approached, without either awaiting the command of the
king or of his earls, and by such watchful energy they ever kept the
enemy in subjection. Inheriting her father's bravery, Ethelfleda, who
was now a widow, acted in concert with her brother Edward, and made
her name a terror to the Danes on the frontiers of Mercia, so that the
governorship which had been intrusted to her husband Ethelred lost none
of its power in her hands.
The fortresses which Edward thus reared, in time, became inhabited
towns; around them sprung up human habitations and cultivated fields,
for the soldiers had their allotted hours of duty and recreation, and
when not employed in keeping a watch over the enemy, they followed the
more peaceful occupations of agriculture. Many of these fortifications
were placed in commanding situations; of such were Wigmore in
Herefordshire; Bridgnorth and Cherbury in Shropshire; in Cheshire,
Edesbury; in Staffordshire, Stafford and Wedesborough; all admirably
adapted to coerce the Welsh upon the western boundaries; while Runcorne
and Thelwall in Cheshire, and Bakewell in Derby, served to protect the
northern frontier of the Saxon kingdom from the invaders. Manchester,
Tamworth, Leicester, Nottingham, and Warwick, also formed strong
barriers of defence to that portion of Mercia, while other places
guarded the entrance of important rivers, which the Danes had never
failed to avail themselves of, when they poured their forces over the
land. Never in Alfred's time had the Saxon states presented such an
impenetrable frontage as they did during the reign of Edward, and the
governorship of his sister Ethelfleda; for the Saxon princess hesitated
not to head the forces intrusted to her command, whenever the enemy
appeared: since she had shared in all the hardships of those stormy
times, and proved herself a worthy daughter of Alfred. Edward was
not long before he was again compelled to take up arms against the
northmen, who, after having entered the Severn and ravaged North Wales,
carried their devastation into Herefordshire. But the military force
established in the fortresses of Hereford and Gloucester, joined by the
neighbouring inhabitants, rushed upon the Danes, and compelled them
to seek shelter in an adjacent wood. They soon made head again; but
Edward, who had by this time drawn his army together, kept so narrow
a watch over them, that they despaired of escaping, and were fearful
of again measuring their strength with the Saxons. In the night they
separated into two divisions and began to retreat. Edward divided
his army, pursued and defeated them. Such as escaped the slaughter,
fled into Wales, where they for a short time found shelter, and at
last sailed over into Ireland. But it is wearisome to run over such
a catalogue of combats--of fortresses attacked and defended--of the
victors of to-day who were vanquished on the morrow--of battles fought
under commanders whose names have many ages ago perished--of castles
besieged, the very sites of which are now unknown, and over whose ruins
a thousand harvests have probably been reaped. Suffice it, that Edward
so far secured his dominions, that the East Anglian Danes chose him
for their "lord and patron"--that the Welsh princes acknowledged and
submitted to his power, while the king of the Scots addressed him by
the title of "father and lord," and the Danes of Northumbria looked
up to him as their supreme sovereign. Such acknowledgments as these
are proofs that he left the Saxon monarchy established on a solid
foundation, and that he had not neglected the wise plans which his
father had drawn out for the better security of his kingdom.
Edward died in Berkshire, about 924, after having reigned for nearly
a quarter of a century, and though he had several sons and daughters
both by his first and second wife, he appointed by his will his
illegitimate son, Athelstan, as his successor to the throne. The Saxon
nobles confirmed his choice. Edward had never to contend with such
difficulties as beset his father, yet, had he not possessed a great
share of the same military talent, the fabric which Alfred had erected
might, if less skilfully defended, have again been overthrown. His
character would have stood out more boldly on the page of history, had
it not been placed by the side of Alfred the Great.