us. The king wore an ornament, probably fastened to a necklace, made of
gold and enamel, which being lost by him at Athelney, was found there
entire and undefaced in the seventeenth century. It is now preserved
at Oxford in the Ashmolean Museum. The inscription which surrounds the
ornament: "ALFRED HET MEH GEWIRCAN" (Alfred caused me to be worked)
affords the most authentic testimony of its origin.
But meanwhile the men of Wessex had gained a signal victory.
Bjorn-Ironside and Hubba, who attempted to land in Devonshire, were
killed with many of their followers; and the news reaching Alfred
in his seclusion at Athelney, he forthwith determined upon bolder
operations. Disguising himself as a glee-man or minstrel, he stole
into the camp of the Danes, and was gladly received by the rude viking
chiefs as one who increased their mirth and jollity. And so skillfully
did Alfred maintain his disguise, that none suspected that he was
merely playing a part. He was enabled to learn what he desired, the
strength and position of the Norsemen; and having ascertained this, he
returned to Athelney, unscathed and unharmed.
He now began to gather an army around him, and it was not long before
he felt himself strong enough to confront the foe. Sallying forth,
he met the Danes at a spot called Ethandune (probably Eddindon,
near Westbury), and, after a murderous conflict, the English were
left masters of the field. Though victorious, however, Alfred could
not altogether expel the Danes. He was obliged to cede an extensive
territory to the invaders and to Guthrun, their leader; viz., from
the mouth of the Lea to its source, thence to Bedford, and along the
Ouse to Watling Street, or the ancient Roman road; and this territory,
together with Northumbria, became henceforth known by the name of the
Danelagh, or Danelaw.
In East Anglia, and in the portions of Essex and Mercia thus ceded,
the Danes settled and established themselves, not as enemies, but as
vassals to Alfred. They appear to have become tired of their life of
barbarism. Guthrun also embraced Christianity, and the treaty which he
made with the English he maintained with integrity. In Northumbria,
whilst the English had been induced to accept the Danish Guthred as
their sovereign, Guthred, in turn, acknowledged the suzerainty of
Alfred as his superior lord. He also continued true and faithful.
Thus Alfred, although he did not succeed in totally subjugating the
Danes, by following up the signal advantage he gained at the battle
of Ethandune, accomplished great things. In the course of seven years
after his restoration, he was acknowledged as paramount monarch of
Britain south of the Humber; Mercia was virtually under his dominion,
and Wessex, the wealthiest and best favoured portion of the island,
entirely, as well as in name, was under his royal sway.
Yet, whilst he had made peace with the Norse who had settled in
England, Alfred had by no means come to the end of his troubles. The
Saxon Chronicle records a series of constantly recurring attacks from
the sea-roving Danes, who continued to harass the coasts. Into the
details of these it is unnecessary to enter. But having once become the
master of England, Alfred never relaxed his vigilance; he had London
strongly fortified, and constructed a navy. One of the greatest feats
of his later life was his victory over the famous Hasting, ablest of
all the sea-kings; whose rout was so complete that he was pleased to
escape from England with his life. The campaign against Hasting was the
last great military achievement of our Saxon hero.
(2). The poet and scholar.
Not only was Alfred the first warrior, but he was also the foremost
scholar in his dominions. This may be easily gathered from Asser's
interesting memoirs. The King was an elegant poet, and wrote numbers
of Saxon ballads, which were sung or recited in all parts of the
country. In his original poems, the extent of his knowledge is not
more surprising than the purity of his taste, and the simple yet
classical beauty of his style. It is highly probable that Alfred
diligently studied the Latin tongue between his twelfth and eighteenth
years, and that he had a few Latin books with him during his Athelney
seclusion. He was accustomed to say that he regretted the imperfect
education of his youth, and the want of proper teachers, which barred
his intellectual progress. But whatever the difficulties he may have
had to surmount (and it is almost impossible to exaggerate them), the
fact remains that his literary works shew a proficiency in the classic
tongue, which appears almost miraculous in a prince in that dark age.
It was probably shortly after making peace with Guthrun, that he
invited Asser, the learned monk of St. David's, to his court, to assist
him in his studies. Asser was a scholar after Alfred's own heart. The
monk tells us that the King's first attempt at translation was made
upon the Bible, a book which no man ever held in greater reverence than
did the princely student. Asser and the King were engaged in pleasant
conversation, and it so chanced that the monk quoted a passage from the
Bible with which Alfred was much struck. At Asser's request the King
called for a clean skin of parchment, and this being folded into fours,
in the shape of a little book, the passage from the Scriptures was
written upon it in Latin, together with other good texts. The monarch,
setting to work upon these passages, translated them into the Saxon
speech. This was the beginning of his translation of the Bible.
Nothing is more astonishing in the story of the the great Englishman
than that he could find time for literary occupations; but he was
steady and persevering, and rigidly systematic. When not in the field
against the Norsemen, his rule was, eight hours for sleep, eight for
the affairs of state, eight for study and devotion. His mind was ever
open to receive fresh information. He took a continued delight in
obtaining the details and particulars of strange and foreign lands.
Before Alfred, nothing was practically known of the greater outside
world by the Anglo-Saxons. But the King drew around him a number of
bold and adventurous spirits, men, who had travelled far, and he
revelled in the stories which they recited of their own experiences,
and the information which they had gleaned of still more remote lands,
which they themselves had not seen. One of these was Othere, who had
been far north into the Arctic circle, another was Wulfstan, who took
a voyage round the Baltic, and gathered many strange and interesting
facts concerning those climes. All the information which he collected,
the King committed to writing in the plain mother tongue, and in
enlarging the text of the Spanish chronicler, Orosius, whose work he
translated, he introduced the voyages of Othere and Wulfstan.
Having heard stories of the east, possibly from Johannes Scotus, who
came to his court, and who had been in the far and distant Orient; and
learning that there were colonies of Christians settled on the coasts
of Malabar and Coromandel, Alfred decided to send out his trusted
friend, Swithelm, Bishop of Sherburn, to India. Probably his motives
were mixed feelings of devotion for Christianity, and a desire for
increased geographical knowledge. Anyhow the stout-hearted churchman
set out on this, what in those days must have been a tremendous
journey; one which then had probably never been made by any other
Englishman before. What is more, he succeeded in reaching India and
returning safely back again, bringing with him presents of spices and
gems. Thus was Alfred's fame increased, and the existence of England
made known, probably for the first time, in that empire where to-day
the Saxon holds sovereign sway.
No Englishman of the Saxon period, except the venerable Bede, can be
compared with Alfred for the extent and excellence of his writings.
His works may be classified into two divisions; translations from
the Latin, and original works in the mother tongue. Of the first the
chief were, (1) Orosius' History; (2) St. Gregory's Pastorals; (3) St.
Gregory's Dialogues; (4) Bede's History; (5) Boethiv's Consolations
of Philosophy; (6) Laws of the Mercians; (7) Asser's Sentences; (8)
The Psalms of David. Of the second, (1) An Abridgement of Laws of the
Trojans, the Greek, the Britons, the Saxons, and the Danes; (2) Laws of
the West Saxons; (3) Institutes; (4) A book against unjust Judges; (5)
Sayings of the Wise; (6) A book on the fortunes of Kings; (7) Parables
and Jokes; (8) Acts of Magistrates; (9) Collection of Chronicles; (10)
Manual of Meditations.
(3). The Law-giver.
Great as he truly was as a warrior, it was in the arts of peace that
Alfred pre-eminently excelled. In every interval of repose allowed
by his Norsemen foes, he occupied his mind in devising means for the
improvement of the moral and physical condition of the people. He
introduced the use of stone for building purposes and taught them
how to erect houses such as he had seen in Rome and Milan. He never
rebuilt a town without giving it a good capacious school, and he was
also a great founder and restorer of churches and monasteries. It is
not surprising, therefore, to find that he occupied himself largely
with matters pertaining to legislation. Whenever he re-edified a town,
he gave the people rules for re-modelling their municipal institutions,
thus training them for self-government. As will be perceived from
the list given above, his original writings were largely made up of
abridgements of laws and the like. Of course there had been legal codes
in existence in England before the days of Alfred. Ethelbert, King
of Kent; Ina, King of Wessex; Offa, King of Mercia; besides other,
had promulgated codes of law, or dooms; but all law and order had
been destroyed during the dark times of the Danish inroads. Alfred
collected the codes of his predecessors, and without apparently adding
much of his own, compiled a very intelligible and consistent system
of laws, which he submitted to the Witenagemot for sanction. Alfred
was not a great advocate of innovation; as he states, he thought it
better to allow an old law to stand in force, even if it were somewhat
defective, rather than endanger the respect for constituted authority.
His ideal was simplicity of construction, combined with impartiality of
administration. According to Asser, he exercised vigilant supervision
over the judges; the courts were improved, and a general legal reform
took place all round. With that religiousness characteristic of the
man, and recognising that if all the divine laws were duly observed,
there would be but little necessity for those of human origin, he
opened his code with the ten commandments, a selection from the Mosaic
precepts, and clauses of the first apostolic councils. "Do these," he
said, "and no other doom-book will be needed."
In summing up Alfred's character it would not be fair to seek to
hide his faults. His was not that ideal perfection which some of his
panegyrists would have us believe. He had his faults and failings, some
of which adhered to him during the whole of his life. He continued,
for instance, more fond of warfare than was consistent with the duty
of a Christian monarch. Still, he possessed within him the only germs
of real improvement, a consciousness of his own imperfections and
insufficiency. And when we compare him with his contemporaries, after
making all allowance for his shortcomings, still the true greatness of
his character remains untouched. His achievements stand out all the
more markedly, when it is considered that all his bodily and mental
activities were carried on under the depressing influences of constant
ill-health and physical pain. About the age of twenty, he was affected
with an inward malady, the nature of which was beyond the knowledge of
the physicians of the times. This disease never quitted him, it haunted
him life long.
Whatever his minor faults may have been, no monarch who has had the
title of "Great" attached to his name, has ever been more worthy of
it. All historians combine in representing him as one of the noblest
sovereigns that ever wore a crown. The shepherd of his people, "the
darling of the English;" whose praises the Laureate has lately sung,
the industrious prince, expired in the month of November, 901, on the
festival of S.S. Simon and Jude, in the fifty-third year of his age,
and was buried at Winchester, in a monastery he himself had founded.
His memory is still preserved at his native place, Wantage. The site
of the royal palace of the Wessex kings is pointed out in the High
Garden, and a magnificent statue of "England's darling," executed by
Count Gleichen in Sicilian marble has been presented to the town by
Lord Wantage, and erected in the Market Place. Alfred's laurels will
not fail while England lasts.
The Guilds of Berkshire.
BY THE REV. P.H. DITCHFIELD. M.A., F.S.A.
In studying the history of our progress and civilization, we find
no subject more interesting than the nature and constitution of
certain associations which have played no small part in the making
of England--the ancient guilds. At one time they exercised almost
universal sway, and in small country villages, as well as in the towns
and cities, there were few who did not belong to some guild. We find in
them the origin of many of the privileges and institutions which we now
enjoy; from them arose the municipal corporations of our towns; and by
them were our trade and commerce protected in times of lawlessness and
oppression.
The whole subject of the early history of guilds is shrouded in
obscurity. What was the origin of the early religious guilds; how the
frith guilds came into existence; the relation of the merchant guilds
to the craft guilds; how far the government of the town was placed in
the hands of the former; and when the merchant guild became the sole
governing body, the forerunner of the municipal corporation--all these
are questions, the answers to which can only be conjectured.
The word guild is probably derived from the Saxon word _geldan_ or
_gildan_, which means "to pay," and signifies that the members of the
association were required to contribute something towards the support
of the brotherhood to which they belonged. The early guilds were of
the nature of clubs, and consisted of bodies of men united together
under oath for their mutual benefit, and for a common purpose. The
character and nature of these clubs differed widely, and I will state
as briefly as possible the various kinds of guilds which have existed
in our country. In Roman times there were the _collegia opificum_
which were firmly established in this country during the period of
the Roman occupation. These colleges were corporations which could
hold property, had regular constitutions, presidents and senators,
treasurers and sub-treasurers, priests and temples. Each had its
_curia_, or senate house, its common _arca_, or chest, its archives
and banners. It constituted a kind of "Sick and Burial Club" for its
members, and on two special days--_dies violarum_ and _dies rosæ_--the
sodales met at the sepulchre of departed brethren to commemorate their
loss, and to deck their tombs with violets and roses, an offering
pleasing to the spirit of the _manes_, at Silchester, when it was a
large and flourishing city, there would certainly be such a college or
corporation.
During the Anglo Saxon period guilds certainly flourished in this
country, and since Reading was, as Asser states, a royal city, and an
important centre of the West Saxon kingdom, there was, doubtless, an
Anglo Saxon guild here;[3] but few traces of Saxon Reading remain,
as the place was completely destroyed by the Danes. When we examine
the rules and regulations of the Saxon guilds, we are astonished at
the high state of civilisation which they disclose. They resembled in
some respects our modern friendly societies, and provided a scheme of
mutual assurance for the members. I will take the Exeter guild for
an example, which, as in the case of all these early guilds, was of a
religious type. At a meeting held in the city of Exeter "for the sake
of God and our souls, that we may make such ordinances as tend to our
welfare and security, as well in this life as in that future state
which we wish to enjoy in the presence of God, our Judge, therefore,
here assembled, we have decreed:--
"That three stated meetings shall be held every year. 1st, on Festival
of St. Michael the Archangel; 2nd, on Feast of St. Mary, next following
winter solstice; and 3rd, on Feast of All Saints', which is celebrated
after Easter.
"That at every meeting every member shall contribute two sextaria of
barley meal, and every knight, one, together with his quota of honey.
"That at each meeting a priest shall sing two masses; one for living,
the other for the dead. Every lay brother shall sing two psalms: one
for living, and other for departed members. Everyone shall moreover
in his turn procure six masses and six psalms, to be sung at his own
proper expense.
"That when any member is about to go abroad, each of his fellow members
shall contribute 5d.: and if any member's house shall have been
burned, one penny."
Fines were inflicted for non-attendance, for abusive conduct, and
"finally we beseech every member, for God's sake, to observe these
things which are ordained in this society, in everything, as we have
ordained them, and may God help us to observe them."
Mr. Toulmin Smith writes thus concerning these old Saxon guilds:--"The
early English guild was an institution of local self-help, which,
before Poor-laws were invented, took the place, in old times, of the
modern friendly societies, but with a higher aim; while it joined all
classes together in a care for the needy, and for objects of common
welfare, it did not neglect the form and practice of religion, justice,
and morality."
One of the objects of the London guild (tenth century) was the recovery
of stolen stock and slaves, and if these could not be recovered the
brethren subscribed to make up the loss to the owner. A horse was
valued at 1/2 pound, a cow at 20d., a hog at 10d., a sheep at 1s.,
a slave at 1/2 pound. If the slave _has stolen himself_ he shall be
stoned, and every brother shall subscribe 1d. or 1/2d. to make good
the loss. Whether there was ever a Danish guild in Reading it is
impossible to determine. There was a noted one at Abbotsbury (Dorset),
founded by Orcy, a friend of King Canute, 1030 A.D. The guild ordinance
is quoted in Kemble's "Saxons in England," p. 511.
The brethren were required to contribute wax, bread, wheat, and wood.
The wax was for the maintainance of lights in the Minster. Members were
required to contribute to the comforts of the dying, and to attend the
burial and pray for the souls of departed members.
We have a picture of later Saxon Reading recorded in the pages of
Doomsday Book. It contained only thirty homesteads, with two better
class of houses, two mills, and two fisheries. The Danes had attacked
it a second time in 1006, and it had not recovered from that disaster;
so in such a small community, although a guild at this period existed,
it must have been a very small company indeed.
But after the Conquest guilds began to multiply, and were established
for the purpose of promoting religion, charity, and trade. There
were the frith guilds, formed for the promotion of peace, and the
establishment of law and order: the religious guilds, which used to
hold a festival on the day of the patron saint of the guild, attend
church, and perform a miracle play. In the _Liber Niger_, or _Black
Book_, of the Corporation of London, there is a description of the
anniversary feast of the guild of the Holy Cross at Abingdon. "The
fraternity hold their feast on May 3rd, the invention of the Holy
Cross; and then they used to have 12 priests to sing a _Dirge_, for
which they paid 4d. apiece; thay had also 12 minstrels, who had 2s.
3d. besides their dyet and horse meat. In 1445 they had 6 calves at
2s. 2d. each, 16 lambs at 12d., 80 capons at 3d., 80 geese at 2d., 800
eggs which cost 5d. the hundred, and many marrow bones, cream, and
flour; and pageants, plays, and May games to captivate the senses of
the beholders." This was a strong and powerful guild, formed in 1389,
and incorporated in 1442, being endowed with lands for the purpose
of keeping in order the roads between Abingdon and Dorchester, and
building an almshouse. In 1539 they erected an aisle in St. Helen's
Church, Abingdon, and also a market cross of freestone, pronounced by
Leland "to be not inferior in workmanship to many in England." The
hospital of the brotherhood of the Holy Cross still remains. It was
founded in the middle of the fourteenth century, a very interesting low
brick and timber house, containing several good paintings.
Then there were the guilds of the Kalendars, which were principally
composed of the clergy, and one of their duties was to keep a public
record of events, to superintend and regulate a library open to all
citizens, and to explain to those who required such assistance, any
difficulties that may arise in these matters. They, too, did not forget
the periodical feasts. Then there were social guilds, composed chiefly
of laymen, for objects of good fellowship, benevolence, and thrift.
And now we come to a very important class, the Merchant guilds. These
existed in Saxon times, and were formed for promoting the interests
of particular trades, for the regulation of industry, for buying
and selling; and very strict were the laws which they enforced, and
merciless the restrictions which they placed upon all strangers who
presumed to sell goods, and who did not belong to the guild. We shall
notice some particular instances of these harsh rules which were in
force in the town of Reading.
I find in the Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission that
there were five companies of the guild Mercatory at Reading. Originally
these companies were separate institutions, which managed their own
concerns, and were not concerned with the Municipal Government of the
town. There were five wards, each ward having a trade guild attached to
it. In course of time the guilds united for common purposes and formed
the guild Mercatory, which asked and received charters from various
kings, gradually acquired powers, privileges, lands, and property, and
ultimately managed the whole municipal business, as well as their own
trade concerns.
In regard to these guilds the first was the mercers' and drapers'
company, which included the mercers, drapers, haberdashers, potuaries
(or dealers in earthenware), chapmen, tailors, and cloth-drawers.
Of course no one was allowed to engage in any of these trades until he
became a member of the guild; and to become a member he had to pay. The
fines for admission varied from £4 for a mercer or draper, to £2 for a
tailor. Very minute were the regulations of each guild. For example
in this case, no "foreigner," not a member of the guild, was allowed
to retail cloth in the town; for each offence he was required to pay
10s. One tradesman might not trespass on the privileges of another
tradesman, for no mercer or tailor might retail cloth or woven hose,
under penalty of 3s. 4d. each time, for that would interfere with the
cloth-makers and haberdashers. No tailor might employ a journeyman
to work except he gave him meat, drink, wages, and lodgings in his
own house. Here is a curious regulation--no haberdasher, not being
a freeman, was allowed to sell caps or hats (except straw hats) on
forfeiture of 12d.