FROM THE DEATH OF ALFRED TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
[Illustration: CANUTE AND HIS COURTIERS.]
1. Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward, who was a very good king,
though not so clever as his father. He built walls round a great
many of the towns, to defend them in case the Danes should come
again; for, although so many of them were living quietly in the
country, those who did not live here were still enemies, and the
resident Danes were always ready to join their countrymen.
2. But they could not do much mischief while Edward was king, or
in the reign of his brave son Athelstan, who was almost as great a
prince as Alfred himself.
3. He knew that commerce was one of the best things in the world for
any country, so he had more ships built, and sent them to trade with
foreign countries; and he said that, when any man had made three
voyages in a vessel of his own, he should be made a Thane; which was
the same as knighting a gentleman in these days.
4. There were no stores in England at this time, but the people
bought every thing they wanted at markets and fairs; and they used to
salt a great deal of their meat and fish, that it might keep a long
time.
5. In buying and selling, they sometimes used slaves and cattle,
instead of money, a man slave being worth a pound of silver, and an
ox worth a quarter of a pound, which was called five shillings, as a
shilling was the twentieth part of a pound in weight.
6. If a nobleman, therefore, wanted to buy any thing of two pounds
value, he could pay for it with two of his thralls, or eight oxen,
and the seller was obliged to take them; but he could sell them again
directly; for I am sorry to say there were slave markets in England
till some time after the Norman Conquest.
7. Athelstan had a good deal of fighting to do, for the people of
the Daneland revolted, and he was obliged to lead his soldiers into
their territory, to bring them to order; and then he had to march
against Howel, the Prince of Wales, who was defeated in battle, when
Athelstan nobly gave him back his dominions, saying, “There was more
glory in making a king than in dethroning one.”
8. I shall not mention all the kings that reigned after Athelstan,
because there were many of them who did nothing that is worth telling
about; but I must speak of a great churchman, named Dunstan, who was
Archbishop of Canterbury, and, for several reigns, ruled the whole
country, for the kings and nobles were obliged to do just as he
pleased.
9. He was a very clever man, and so good a worker in metals that he
made jewellery and bells, and gave them to some of the churches,
which was considered an act of piety; for it was about this time
that bells began to be used in England, and they were highly valued.
10. Dunstan persuaded the kings and rich noblemen, to rebuild the
monasteries that had been plundered and destroyed by the Danes, and
endow them with lands; so that, at last, nearly one-third of all the
landed property in the kingdom belonged to the clergy.
11. There was a king named Edgar, the fourth after Athelstan, who did
many useful things for the country; and, among others, he thought
of a plan to destroy the wolves, which were so numerous in all the
forests, that the people were in constant alarm for the safety of
their sheep, and even of their little children.
12. Edgar, therefore, ordered that each of the princes of Wales, who
had to pay tribute to the kings of England, should send, instead of
money, three hundred wolves’ heads every year; so they were obliged
to employ huntsmen to go into the woods to kill those dangerous
animals, which were so generally destroyed in a few years that they
have seldom been found in England ever since.
13. Then Edgar kept the Danes away by having as many as three hundred
and sixty vessels always ready for service; but, when he and Dunstan
were dead the navy was neglected; and the country was again overrun
with those terrible enemies, who fought with the English every where,
robbed them of their property, took their houses for themselves, and
acted just as if they were the conquerors and lords of the land.
14. At last, the Danish king, Sweyn, landed with a great army, and
began a dreadful war with Ethelred, who was then king of England,
that lasted about four years, in the course of which he and Ethelred
both died; but the war was continued by Canute, the son of Sweyn, and
with such success, that, in the end, he was crowned king of England.
15. It was lucky for the English that Canute happened to be a wise
and good prince; for he said to himself, “As I am now king of these
people, I will behave kindly to them, that they may love me, and
then we shall go on comfortably together.” So he began to repair the
mischief that had been done in the late wars, by setting people to
work to rebuild the towns that had been destroyed; which was soon
done in those days, when the houses were so roughly built, and only
of wood.
16. He also made a law that the Danes should not rob and insult the
English, as they had been in the habit of doing; and ordered that
they should obey the other laws of the country; which he did not
alter in the least; neither did he interfere with the estates of the
nobles, nor with their rights over their vassals; and he consulted
with the Witanagemote, or Parliament, in all affairs of importance.
17. This Parliament was composed of the great nobles and the bishops,
so that it was like our House of Lords; and, when the king made a
new law, the people were not obliged to obey it, until it had been
approved by the Witanagemote.
18. As long as Canute reigned, which was nineteen years, there were
peace and plenty, and the poor people were much happier than they
had been for a long time, for they could stay at home and mind their
farms, or work at their trades, without being called away continually
to fight the Danes.
19. The king, it is true, kept a large army of Danish soldiers, and
the people had to pay heavy taxes to support them; but this was
better than seeing them come as enemies into the towns and villages
to destroy or take every thing.
20. After the death of Canute, his two sons reigned in succession,
but they were neither very good nor very clever, and both died
within six years.
21. All this while there was a Saxon prince, named Edward, son of
king Ethelred, living at the court of the Duke of Normandy, who was
his uncle, and had afforded him shelter and protection whilst his
enemies were ruling in England.
22. He was now restored to the throne, and the English people thought
themselves happy in having again a king of their own nation; but they
little foresaw the terrible consequences of placing over them one who
had formed so close a connection with the Normans.
23. Edward was attached to the Normans, for they had been kind to
him in his misfortunes; but it was neither wise nor just to bring
a great number of them to his court, and set them up above his
own countrymen, by giving them the highest appointments in the
government, which, of course, gave offence to the English noblemen.
24. Edward was called the Confessor, because he spent much of his
time in devotion. He rebuilt Westminster Abbey, which was founded
during the Heptarchy; but this building was pulled down about 160
years afterwards, by Henry the Third, who erected the present edifice
in its place.
25. But I was going to tell you what happened in consequence of the
king’s attachment to the Normans. His uncle was dead, and his cousin
William, a bold spirited prince, who was now Duke of Normandy, came
over to England to visit the king, and see what sort of a place it
was.
26. He brought a great many noblemen with him, and it seems they all
liked the country so much that the Duke thought he should like to
be its king, and his friends thought they should like to get good
estates here; so king Edward was persuaded to make a will, or give
his promise, that, when he died, his cousin William, who was more
than twenty years younger than himself, should be his successor.
The English lords knew nothing about this at the time, but they had
reason enough to know it afterwards, as you will presently find.
27. Edward the Confessor died at the beginning of the year 1066,
when Harold, his wife’s brother, a brave and popular nobleman, took
possession of the throne, with the consent of the chief nobles and
clergy.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who succeeded Alfred?
2. Who was the next king?
3. How was trade encouraged by him?
5. Tell me the way of making purchases at this period.
7. Were there any wars in the reign of Athelstan?
8. Who was Dunstan?
14. Who was Canute, and how did he obtain the throne?
16. What were the chief acts of Canute?
18. How long did Canute reign?
19. What was the general state of the country under his government?
20. Who succeeded Canute?
21. How was the Saxon government restored?
23. How did the king displease his subjects?
24. Why was Edward called the Confessor?
27. When did Edward die, and who succeeded him?