Chapter II: Part 2

=55. Alfred at Athelney.=[123]--The same year, after Easter, King Alfred, with a few men, made a stronghold in a place called Athelney,[124] and from thence sallied with his vassals of Somerset to make frequent and unwearied assaults upon the heathen. And again, the seventh week after Easter, he rode to Egbert’s Stone,[125] which is in the eastern part of Selwood Forest (in Latin ‘Great Forest,’ and in Welsh Coit Maur). Here he was met by all the neighboring folk of Somersetshire and Wiltshire, and such of Hampshire as had not sailed beyond sea for fear of the heathen; and when they saw the king restored alive, as it were, after such great tribulation, they were filled, as was meet, with immeasurable joy, and encamped there for one night. At daybreak of the following morning, the king struck his camp, and came to Æglea,[126] where he encamped for one night.

=56. Battle of Edington, and Treaty with Guthrum.=[127]--The next morning at dawn he moved his standards to Edington,[128] and there fought bravely and perseveringly by means of a close shield-wall against the whole army of the heathen, whom at length, with the divine help, he defeated with great slaughter, and pursued them flying to their stronghold. Immediately he slew all the men and carried off all the horses and cattle that he could find without the fortress, and thereupon pitched his camp, with all his army, before the gates of the heathen stronghold. And when he had remained there fourteen days, the heathen, terrified by hunger, cold, fear, and last of all by despair, begged for peace, engaging to give the king as many designated hostages as he pleased, and to receive none from him in return--in which manner they had never before made peace with any one. The king, hearing this embassage, of his own motion took pity upon them, and received from them the designated hostages, as many as he would. Thereupon the heathen swore, besides, that they would straightway leave his kingdom; and their king, Guthrum, 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 <three>[129] weeks Guthrum, king of the heathen, with thirty[130] men chosen from his army, came to Alfred at a place called Aller, near Athelney, and there King Alfred, receiving him as a son by adoption, raised him up from the holy font of baptism. On the eighth day, at a royal vill named Wedmore, his chrism-loosing[131] took place. After his baptism he remained twelve days with the king, who, together with all his companions, gave him many rich gifts.[132]

=57. The Danes go to Cirencester.=[133]--In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 879, which was the thirty-first of King Alfred’s life, the aforesaid army of heathen, leaving Chippenham, as they had promised, went to Cirencester, which is called in Welsh Cairceri, and is situated in the southern part of the kingdom of the Hwicce,[134] and there they remained one year.

=58. Danes at Fulham.=[135]--In that same year a large army of heathen sailed from beyond sea into the river Thames, and joined the greater army. However, they wintered at Fulham, near the river Thames.

=59. An Eclipse.=[136]--In that same year an eclipse[137] of the sun took place between nones and vespers, but nearer to nones.

=60. The Danes in East Anglia.=[138]--In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 880, which was the thirty-second of King Alfred’s life, the oft-mentioned army of heathen left Cirencester, and went to East Anglia, where they divided up the country and began to settle.

=61. The Smaller Army leaves England.=[139]--That same year the army of heathen, which had wintered at Fulham, left the island of Britain, and sailed over sea to East Frankland, where they remained for a year at a place called Ghent.

=62. The Danes fight with the Franks.=--In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 881, which was the thirty-third of King Alfred’s life, the army went further on into Frankland, and the Franks fought against them; and after the battle the heathen, obtaining horses, became an army of cavalry.

=63. The Danes on the Meuse.=[140]--In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 882, which was the thirty-fourth of King Alfred’s life, the aforesaid army sailed their ships up into Frankland by a river called the Meuse, and there wintered one year.

=64. Alfred’s Naval Battle with the Danes.=[141]--In that same year Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, fought a battle at sea against the heathen fleet, of which he captured two ships, and slew all who were on board. Two commanders of the other ships, with all their crews, worn out by the fight and their wounds, laid down their arms, and submitted to the king on bended knees with many entreaties.

=65. The Danes at Condé.=[142]--In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 883, which was the thirty-fifth of King Alfred’s life, the aforesaid army sailed their ships up the river called Scheldt to a convent of nuns called Condé, and there remained one year.

=66. Deliverance of Rochester.=[143]--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 Frankland, and the other, coming to Britain, entered Kent, where they besieged a city called in Saxon Rochester, situated on the east bank of the river Medway. Before the gate of the town the heathen suddenly erected a strong fortress; but 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 heathen abandoned their fortress and all the horses which they had brought with them out of Frankland, and, leaving behind them in the fortress the greater part of their prisoners on the sudden arrival of the king, fled in haste to their ships; the Saxons immediately seized upon the prisoners and horses left by the heathen; and so the latter, compelled by dire necessity, returned the same summer to Frankland.

=67. Alfred’s Naval Battle at the Mouth of the Stour.=[144]--In that same year Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, shifted his fleet, full of fighting men, from Kent to East Anglia,[145] for the sake of spoil. No sooner had they arrived at the mouth of the river Stour than thirteen ships of the heathen met them, prepared for battle; a fierce naval combat ensued, and the heathen were all slain; all the ships, with all their money, were taken. After this, while the victorious royal fleet was reposing,[146] the heathen who occupied East Anglia assembled their ships from every quarter, met the same royal fleet at sea in the mouth of the same river, and, after a naval engagement, gained the victory.

=68. Death of Carloman, of Louis II, and of Louis III.=[147]--In that same year also, Carloman, King of the West Franks, while engaged in a boar-hunt, was miserably slain by a boar, which inflicted a dreadful wound on him with its tusk. His brother Louis, who had also been King of the Franks, had died the year before. Both these were sons of Louis,[148] King of the Franks, who also had died in the year above mentioned, in which the eclipse of the sun took place.[149] This Louis was the son of Charles,[150] King of the Franks, whose daughter Judith[151] Æthelwulf, King of the West Saxons, took to queen with her father’s consent.

=69. The Danes in Old Saxony.=[152]--In that same year a great army of the heathen came from Germany[153] into the country of the Old Saxons, which is called in Saxon Eald-Seaxum. To oppose them the same Saxons and Frisians joined their forces, and fought bravely twice in that same year.[154] In both these battles the Christians, by God’s merciful aid, gained the victory.

=70. Charles, King of the Alemanni.=[155]--In that same year also, Charles, King of the Alemanni, received with universal consent the kingdom of the West Franks, and all the kingdoms which lie between the Tyrrhene Sea and that gulf[156] situated between the Old Saxons and the Gauls, with the exception of the kingdom of Armorica.[157] This Charles was the son of King Louis,[158] who was brother of Charles, King of the Franks, father of Judith, the aforesaid queen; these two brothers were sons of Louis,[159] Louis being the son of Charlemagne, son of Pepin.

=71. Death of Pope Marinus.=[160]--In that same year Pope Marinus, of blessed memory, went the way of all flesh; it was he who, for the love of Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, and at his request, generously freed the Saxon Colony in Rome from all tribute and tax. He also sent to the aforesaid king many gifts on that occasion, among which was no small portion of the most holy and venerable cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ hung for the salvation of all mankind.

=72. The Danes break their Treaty.=[161]--In that same year also the army of heathen which dwelt in East Anglia disgracefully broke the peace which they had concluded with King Alfred.

=73. Asser makes a New Beginning.=[162]--And now, to return to that from which I digressed, lest I be compelled by my long navigation to abandon the haven of desired rest,[163] I propose, as far as my knowledge will enable me, to speak somewhat concerning the life, character, and just conduct, and in no small degree concerning the deeds, of my lord Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, after he married the said respected wife of noble Mercian race; and, with God’s blessing, I will despatch it concisely and briefly, as I promised, that I may not, by prolixity in relating each new event, offend the minds of those who may be somewhat hard to please.

=74. Alfred’s Maladies.=[164]--While his nuptials were being honorably celebrated in Mercia, among innumerable multitudes of both sexes, and after long feasts by night and by day, he was suddenly seized, in the presence of all the people, by instant and overwhelming pain, unknown to any physician. No one there knew, nor even those who daily see him up to the present time--and this, sad to say, is the worst of all, that it should have continued uninterruptedly through the revolutions of so many years, from the twentieth to the fortieth year of his life and more--whence such a malady arose. Many thought that it was occasioned by the favor and fascination of the people who surrounded him; others, by some spite of the devil, who is ever jealous of good men; others, from an unusual kind of fever; while still others thought it was the _ficus_,[165] which species of severe disease he had had from his childhood. On a certain occasion it had come to pass by the divine will that when he had gone to Cornwall on a hunting expedition, and had turned out of the road to pray in a certain church in which rests Saint Gueriir [and now also St. Neot reposes there],[166] he had of his own accord prostrated himself for a long time in silent prayer--since from childhood he had been a frequent visitor of holy places for prayer and the giving of alms--and there he besought the mercy of the Lord that, in his boundless clemency, Almighty God would exchange the torments of the malady which then afflicted him for some other lighter disease, provided that such disease should not show itself outwardly in his body, lest he should be useless and despised--for he had great dread of leprosy or blindness, or any such complaint as instantly makes men useless and despised at its coming. When he had finished his praying, he proceeded on his journey, and not long after felt within himself that he had been divinely healed, according to his request, of that disorder, and that it was entirely eradicated, although he had obtained even this complaint in the first flower of his youth by his devout and frequent prayers and supplications to God. For if I may be allowed to speak concisely, though in a somewhat inverted order, of his zealous piety to God--in his earliest youth, before he married his wife, he wished to establish his mind in God’s commandments, for he perceived that he could not abstain from carnal desires[167]; and because he saw that he should incur the anger of God if he did anything contrary to His will, he used often to rise at cockcrow and at the matin hours, and go to pray in churches and at the relics of the saints. There he would prostrate himself, and pray that Almighty God in His mercy would strengthen his mind still more in the love of His service, converting it fully to Himself by some infirmity such as he might bear, but not such as would render him contemptible and useless in worldly affairs. Now when he had often prayed with much devotion to this effect, after an interval of some time he incurred as a gift from God the before-named disease of the _ficus_, which he bore long and painfully for many years, even despairing of life, until he entirely got rid of it by prayer. But, sad to say, though it had been removed, a worse one seized him, as I have said, at his marriage, and this incessantly tormented him, night and day, from the twentieth to the forty-fifth year of his life. But if ever, by God’s mercy, he was relieved from this infirmity for a single day or night, or even for the space of one hour, yet the fear and dread of that terrible malady never left him, but rendered him almost useless, as he thought, in every affair, whether human or divine.

=75. Alfred’s Children and their Education.=[168]--The sons and daughters whom he had by his wife above-mentioned were Æthelflæd, the eldest, after whom came Edward, then Æthelgivu, then Ælfthryth, and finally Æthelward--besides those who died in childhood. The number of ...[169] Æthelflæd, when she arrived at a marriageable age, was united to Æthelred,[170] Ealdorman of Mercia. Æthelgivu, having dedicated her maidenhood to God, entered His service, and submitted to the rules of the monastic life, to which she was consecrate. Æthelward, the youngest, by the divine counsel and by the admirable foresight of the king, was intrusted to the schools of literary training, where, with the children of almost all the nobility of the country, and many also who were not noble, he was under the diligent care of the teachers. Books in both languages, namely, Latin and Saxon, were diligently read in the school.[171] They also learned to write; so that before they were of an age to practise human arts, namely, hunting and other pursuits which befit noblemen, they became studious and clever in the liberal arts. Edward and Ælfthryth were always bred up in the king’s court, and received great attention from their tutors and nurses; nay, they continue to this day, with much love from every one, to show humbleness, affability, and gentleness towards all, both natives and foreigners, while remaining in complete subjection to their father. Nor, among the other pursuits which appertain to this life and are fit for noble youths, are they suffered to pass their time idly and unprofitably without liberal training; for they have carefully learned the Psalms[172] and Saxon books, especially Saxon poems, and are in the habit of making frequent use of books.

=76. Alfred’s Varied Pursuits.=[173]--In the meantime, the king, during the wars and frequent trammels of this present life, the invasions of the heathen, and his own daily infirmities of body, continued to carry on the government, and to practise hunting in all its branches; to teach his goldsmiths[174] and all his artificers, his falconers, hawkers, and dog-keepers; to build houses, majestic and rich beyond all custom of his predecessors, after his own new designs; to recite the Saxon books, and especially to learn by heart Saxon poems,[175] and to make others learn them, he alone never ceasing from studying most diligently to the best of his ability. He daily attended mass and the other services of religion; recited certain psalms, together with prayers, and the daily and nightly hour-service; and frequented the churches at night, as I have said, that he might pray in secret, apart from others. He bestowed alms and largesses both on natives and on foreigners of all countries; was most affable and agreeable to all; and was skilful in the investigation of things unknown.[176] Many Franks, Frisians,[177] Gauls, heathen,[178] Welsh, Irish,[179] and Bretons,[180] noble and simple, submitted voluntarily to his dominion; and all of them, according to their worthiness,[181] he ruled, loved, honored, and enriched with money and power, as if they had been his own people.[182] Moreover, he was sedulous and zealous in the habit of hearing the divine Scriptures read by his own countrymen, or if, by any chance it so happened that any one arrived from abroad, to hear prayers in company with foreigners. His bishops, too, and all the clergy, his ealdormen and nobles, his personal attendants and friends, he loved with wonderful affection. Their sons, too, who were bred up in the royal household, were no less dear to him than his own; he never ceased to instruct them in all kinds of good morals, and, among other things, himself to teach them literature night and day. But as if he had no consolation in all these things, and suffered no other annoyance either from within or without, he was so harassed by daily and nightly sadness that he complained and made moan to the Lord, and to all who were admitted to his familiarity and affection, that Almighty God had made him ignorant of divine wisdom and of the liberal arts; in this emulating the pious, famous, and wealthy Solomon, King of the Hebrews, who at the outset, despising all present glory and riches, asked wisdom of God, and yet found both, namely, wisdom and present glory; as it is written, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’[183] But God, who is always the observer of the thoughts of the inward mind, the instigator of meditations and of all good purposes, and a plentiful aider in the formation of good desires--for He would never inspire a man to aim at the good unless He also amply supplied that which the man justly and properly wished to have--stirred up the king’s mind from within, not from without; as it is written, ‘I will hearken what the Lord God will say concerning me.’[184] He would avail himself of every opportunity to procure assistants 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,[185] which, rising in summer at early morning from her beloved cells, steers her course with rapid flight along the uncertain paths of the air, and descends on the manifold and varied flowers of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, essaying that which most pleases her, and bearing it home, he directed the eyes of his mind afar, and sought that without which he had not within, that is, in his own kingdom.[186]

=77. Alfred’s Scholarly Associates: Werfrith, Plegmund, Æthelstan, and Werwulf.=[187]--But God at that time, as some consolation to the king’s benevolence, enduring no longer his kindly and just complaint, sent as it were certain luminaries, namely, Werfrith,[188] Bishop of the church of Worcester, a man well versed in divine Scripture, who, by the king’s command, was the first to interpret with clearness and elegance the books of the _Dialogues_ of Pope Gregory and Peter, his disciple, from Latin into Saxon, sometimes putting sense for sense; then Plegmund,[189] a Mercian by birth, Archbishop of the church of Canterbury, a venerable man, endowed with wisdom; besides Æthelstan[190] and Werwulf, learned priests and clerks,[191] Mercians by birth. These four King Alfred had called to him from Mercia, and he exalted them with many honors and powers in the kingdom of the West Saxons, not to speak of those which Archbishop Plegmund and Bishop Werfrith had in Mercia. By the teaching and wisdom of all these the king’s desire increased continually, and was gratified. Night and day, whenever he had any leisure, he commanded such men as these to read books to him--for he never suffered himself to be without one of them--so that he came to possess a knowledge of almost every book, though of himself he could not yet understand anything of books, since he had not yet learned to read anything.

=78. Grimbald and John, the Old Saxon.=[192]--But since the king’s commendable avarice could not be gratified even in this, he sent messengers beyond sea to Gaul, to procure teachers, and invited from thence Grimbald,[193] priest and monk, a venerable man and excellent singer, learned in every kind of ecclesiastical discipline and in holy Scripture, and adorned with all virtues. He also obtained from thence John,[194] both priest and monk, a man of the keenest intellect, learned in all branches of literature, and skilled in many other arts. By the teaching of these men the king’s mind was greatly enlarged, and he enriched and honored them with much power.

=79. Asser’s Negotiations with King Alfred.=[195]--At that time I also came to Wessex, out of the furthest coasts of Western Wales; and when I had proposed to go to him through many intervening provinces, I arrived in the country of the South Saxons, 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.[196] He received me with kindness, and, among other conversation, besought me eagerly to devote myself to his service and become his friend, and to leave for his sake everything which I possessed on the northern and western side of the Severn, promising he would give me more than an equivalent for it, as in fact he did. 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 and educated, where I had received the tonsure, and had at length been ordained, for the sake of any earthly honor and power, unless by force and compulsion. Upon this he said: ‘If you cannot accede to this, at least grant me half your service: spend six months with me here, and six in Wales.’ To this I replied: ‘I could not easily or rashly promise even that without the approval of my friends.’ At length, however, when I perceived that he was really anxious for my services, though I knew not why, I promised him that, if my life were 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 rode away from him, and returned to my own country. After our departure, a violent fever seized me in the city of Cærwent,[197] where I lay for twelve months and one week, night and day, without hope of recovery. When at the appointed time, therefore, I had not fulfilled my promise of visiting him, he sent letters to hasten my journey on horseback to him, and to inquire the cause of my delay. As I was unable to ride to him, I sent a reply to make known to him the cause of my delay, and assure him that, if I recovered from my illness, I would fulfil what I had promised. My disease finally left me, and accordingly, by the advice and consent of all my friends, for the benefit of that holy place and of all who dwelt therein, I devoted myself to the king’s service as I had promised, the condition being that I should remain with him six months every year, either continuously, if I could spend six months with him at once, or alternately, three months in Wales and three in Wessex. It was also understood that he should in all ways be helpful to St. Davids, as far as his power extended.[198] For my friends hoped by this means to sustain less tribulation and harm from King Hemeid--who often plundered that monastery and the parish of St. Davids, and sometimes expelled the bishops who ruled over it, as he did Archbishop Nobis, my relative, and on occasion myself, their subordinate--if in any way I could secure the notice and friendship of the king.

=80. The Welsh Princes who submit to Alfred.=[199]--At that time, and long before, all the countries in South Wales belonged to King Alfred, and still belong to him. For instance, King Hemeid, with all the inhabitants of the region of Dyfed,[200] restrained by the violence of the six sons of Rhodri,[201] had submitted to the dominion of the king. Howel also, son of Ris, King of Glywyssing,[202] and Brochmail and Fernmail, sons of Mouric, kings of Gwent,[203] compelled by the violence and tyranny of Ealdorman Æthelred and of the Mercians, of their own accord sought out the same king,[204] that they might enjoy rule and protection from him against their enemies. Helised, also, son of Teudubr, King of Brecknock, compelled by the violence of the same sons of Rhodri, of his own accord sought the lordship of the aforesaid king; and Anarawd, son of Rhodri, with his brothers, at length abandoning the friendship of the Northumbrians, from whom he had received no good, but rather harm, came into King Alfred’s presence, and eagerly sought his friendship. The king received him with honor, adopted him as his son by confirmation from the bishop’s hand,[205] and bestowed many gifts upon him. Thus he became subject to the king with all his people, on condition that he should be obedient to the king’s will in all respects, in the same way as Æthelred and the Mercians.

=81. How Alfred rewards Submission.=[206]--Nor was it in vain that they all gained the friendship of the king. For those who desired to augment their worldly power obtained power; those who desired money gained money; those who desired his friendship acquired his friendship; those who wished more than one secured more than one. But all of them had his love and guardianship and defense from every quarter, so far as the king, with all his men, could defend himself. When therefore I had come to him at the royal vill called Leonaford,[207] I was honorably received by him, and remained that time with him at his court eight months; during which I read to him whatever books he liked, of such as he had at hand; for this is his peculiar and most confirmed habit, both night and day, amid all his other occupations of mind and body,[208] either himself to read books, or to listen to the reading of others. And when I frequently had sought his permission to return, and had in no way been able to 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 manifold list of all the things which were in the two monasteries which are called in Saxon Congresbury and Banwell[209]; and on that same day he delivered to me those two monasteries with everything in them, together with a silken pallium of great value, and of incense a load for a strong man, 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 the whole diocese which belonged to him in Wessex and in Cornwall, besides gifts every day without number of every kind of worldly wealth; these it would be too long to enumerate here, lest it should weary my readers. 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 honor; I call God to witness that I have not done so, but that I might certify to those who are ignorant how profuse he was in giving. He then at once gave me permission to ride to those two monasteries, so full of all good things, and afterwards to return to my own.

=82. The Siege of Paris.=[210]--In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 886, which was the thirty-eighth of King Alfred’s life, the army so often mentioned again fled the country, and went into that of the West Franks. Entering the river Seine with their vessels, they sailed up it as far as the city of Paris; there they wintered, pitching their camp on both sides of the river almost to the bridge, in order that they might prevent the citizens from crossing the bridge--since the city occupies a small island in the middle of the stream. They besieged the city for a whole year, but, by the merciful favor of God, and by reason of the brave defense of the citizens, they could not force their way inside the walls.

=83. Alfred rebuilds London.=[211]--In that same year Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, after the burning of cities and massacres of the people, honorably rebuilt the city of London, made it habitable, and gave it into the custody of Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia. To this king[212] all the Angles and Saxons who hitherto had been dispersed everywhere, or were in captivity with the heathen,[213] voluntarily turned, and submitted themselves to his rule.[214]

=84. The Danes leave Paris.=[215]--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 heathen, leaving the city of Paris uninjured, since otherwise they could get no advantage, passed under the bridge and rowed their fleet up the river Seine for a long distance, until they reached the mouth of the river Marne; here they left the Seine, entered the mouth of the Marne, and, sailing up it for a good distance and a good while, at length, not without labor, arrived at a place called Chézy, a royal vill, where they wintered a whole year. In the following year they entered the mouth of the river Yonne, not without doing much damage to the country, and there remained one year.

=85. Division of the Empire.=[216]--In that same year Charles,[217] King of the Franks, went the way of all flesh; but Arnolf, his brother’s son, six weeks before he died, had expelled him from the kingdom. Immediately after his death five kings were ordained, and the kingdom was split into five parts; but the principal seat of the kingdom justly and deservedly fell to Arnolf, were it not that he had shamefully sinned against his uncle. The other four kings promised fidelity and obedience to Arnolf, as was meet; for none of these four kings was heir to the kingdom on his father’s side, as was Arnolf; therefore, though the five kings were ordained immediately upon the death of Charles, yet the Empire remained to Arnolf. Such, then, was the division of that realm; Arnolf received the countries to the east of the river Rhine; Rudolf the inner part of the kingdom[218]; Odo the western part; Berengar and Wido, Lombardy, and those countries which are on that side of the mountain. But they did not keep such and so great dominions in peace among themselves, for they twice fought a pitched battle, and often mutually ravaged those kingdoms, and drove one another out of their dominions.

=86. Alfred sends Alms to Rome.=[219]--In the same year in which that army left Paris and went to Chézy,[220] Æthelhelm, Ealdorman of Wiltshire, carried to Rome the alms of King Alfred and of the Saxons.

=87. Alfred begins to translate from Latin.=[221]--In that same year also the oft-mentioned Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, by divine inspiration first began, on one and the same day, to read and to translate; but that this may be clearer to those who are ignorant, I will relate the cause of this long delay in beginning.

=88. Alfred’s Manual.=[222]--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. While he was listening to it attentively with both ears, and pondering it deeply with his inmost mind, he suddenly showed me a little book[223] which he carried in his bosom, wherein were written the daily course, together with certain Psalms and prayers which he had read in his youth, and thereupon bade me write the quotation in that book. Hearing this, and perceiving in part his active intelligence and goodness of heart, together with his devout resolution of studying divine wisdom, I gave, though in secret, yet with hands uplifted to heaven, boundless thanks to Almighty God, who had implanted such devotion to the study of wisdom in the king’s heart. But since I could find no blank space in that book wherein to write the quotation, it being all full of various matters, I delayed a little, chiefly that I might stir up the choice understanding of the king to a higher knowledge of 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 separate leaf? Perhaps we shall find one or more other such which will please you; and if that should happen, we shall be glad that we have kept this by itself.’ ‘Your plan is good,’ said he; so I gladly made haste to get ready a pamphlet of four leaves, at the head of which I wrote what he had bidden me; and that same day I wrote in it, at his request, and as I had predicted, no less than three other quotations which pleased him. From that time we daily talked together, and investigated the same subject by the help of other quotations which we found and which pleased him, so that the pamphlet gradually became full, and deservedly so, for it is written, ‘The righteous man builds upon a moderate foundation, and by degrees passes to greater things.’[224] Thus, like a most productive bee, flying far and wide, and scrutinizing the fenlands, he eagerly and unceasingly collected various flowers of Holy Scripture, with which he copiously stored the cells of his mind.[225]

=89. Alfred’s Handbook.=[226]--When that first quotation had been copied, he was eager at once to read, and to translate into Saxon, and then to teach many others--even as we are assured concerning that happy thief who recognized the Lord Jesus Christ, his Lord, aye, the Lord of all men, as he was hanging on the venerable gallows of the holy cross, and, with trustful petition, casting down of his body no more than his eyes, since he was so entirely fastened with nails that he could do nothing else, cried with humble voice, ‘O Christ, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!‘[227]--since it was only on the cross that he began to learn the elements of the Christian faith.[228] Inspired by God, he began the rudiments of Holy Scripture on the sacred feast of St. Martin.[229] Then he went on, as far as he was able, to learn the flowers[230] collected from various quarters by any and all of his teachers, and to reduce them into the form of one book, although jumbled together, until it became almost as large as a psalter. This book he called his Enchiridion[231] or Handbook,[232] because he carefully kept it at hand day and night, and found, as he then used to say, no small consolation therein.

=90. Illustration from the Penitent Thief.=[233]--But, as it was written by a wise man,[234]

Of watchful minds are they whose pious care
It is to govern well,

I see that I must be especially watchful, in that I just now drew a kind of comparison, though in dissimilar manner,[235] between the happy thief and the king; for the cross is hateful to every one in distress.[236] But what can he do, if he cannot dislodge himself or escape thence? or in what way can he improve his condition by remaining there? He must, therefore, whether he will or no, endure with pain and sorrow that which he is suffering.

=91. Alfred’s Troubles.=[237]--Now the king was pierced with many nails of tribulation, though established in the royal sway; for from the twentieth year of his age to the present year, which is his forty-fifth,[238] he has been constantly afflicted with most severe attacks of an unknown disease, so that there is not a single hour in which he is not either suffering from that malady, or nigh to despair by reason of the gloom which is occasioned by his fear of it. Moreover the constant invasions of foreign nations, by which he was continually harassed by land and sea, without any interval of quiet, constituted a sufficient cause of disturbance.

What shall I say of his repeated expeditions against the heathen, his wars, and the incessant occupations of government? Of the daily ... of the[239] nations which dwell on[240] the Tyrrhene[241] Sea to the farthest end of Ireland? For we have seen and read letters, accompanied with presents, which were sent to him from Jerusalem by the patriarch Elias.[242] What shall I say of his restoration of cities and towns, and of others which he built where none had been before? of golden and silver buildings,[243] built in incomparable style under his direction? of the royal halls and chambers, wonderfully erected of stone and wood at his command? of the royal vills constructed of stones removed from their old site, and finely rebuilt by the king’s command in more fitting places?

Not to speak of the disease above mentioned, he was disturbed by the quarrels of his subjects,[244] who would of their own choice endure little or no toil for the common need of the kingdom. He alone, sustained by the divine aid, once he had assumed the helm of government, strove in every way, like a skilful pilot, to steer[245] his ship, laden with much wealth, into the safe and longed-for harbor of his country, though almost all his crew were weary, suffering them not to faint or hesitate, even amid the waves and manifold whirlpools of this present life. Thus his bishops, earls, nobles, favorite thanes, and prefects, who, next to God and the king, had the whole government of the kingdom, as was fitting, continually received from him instruction, compliment, exhortation, and command; nay, at last, if they were disobedient, and his long patience was exhausted, he would reprove them severely, and censure in every way their vulgar folly and obstinacy; and thus he wisely gained and bound them to his own wishes and the common interests of the whole kingdom. But if, 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, because they were not carried through, did not redound to the advantage of those who put them in execution--take as an example the fortresses which he ordered, but which are not yet begun or, begun late, have not yet been completely finished--when hostile forces have made invasions by sea, or land, or both, then those who had set themselves against the imperial orders have been put to shame and overwhelmed with vain repentance. I speak of vain repentance on the authority of Scripture, whereby numberless persons have had cause for sorrow when they have been smitten by great harm through the perpetration of deceit. But though by this means, sad to say, they may be bitterly afflicted, and roused to grief by the loss of fathers, wives, children, thanes, man servants, maid servants, products, and all their household stuff, what is the use of hateful repentance when their kinsmen are dead, and they cannot aid them, or redeem from dire captivity those who are captive? for they cannot even help themselves when they have escaped, since they have not wherewithal to sustain their own lives. Sorely exhausted by a tardy repentance, they grieve over their carelessness in despising the king’s commands; they unite in praising his wisdom, promising to fulfil with all their might what before they had declined to do, namely, in the construction of fortresses, and other things useful to the whole kingdom.

=92. Alfred builds two Monasteries.=[246]--Concerning his desire and intent of excellent meditation, which, in the midst both of prosperity and adversity, he never in any way neglected, I cannot in this place with advantage forbear to speak. For, when he was reflecting, according to his wont, upon the need of his soul,[247] he ordered, among the other good deeds to which his thoughts were by night and day[248] especially turned, that two monasteries should be built, one of them being for monks at Athelney.[249] This is a place surrounded by impassable fens and waters on every hand, where no one can enter but by boats, or by a bridge laboriously constructed between two fortresses, at the western end of which bridge was erected a strong citadel, of beautiful work, by command of the aforesaid king. In this monastery he collected monks of all kinds from every quarter, and there settled them.

=93. Monasticism was decayed.=[250]--At first he had no one of his own nation, noble and free by birth, who was willing to enter the monastic life, except children, who as yet could neither choose good nor reject evil by reason of their tender years. This was the case because for many years previous the love of a monastic life had utterly decayed in that as well as in many other nations; for, though many monasteries still remain in that country, yet no one kept the rule of that kind of life in an orderly way, whether because of 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. On this account it was that King Alfred sought to gather monks of different kinds in the same monastery.

=94. Monks brought from beyond Sea.=[251]--First he placed there John[252] the priest and monk, an Old Saxon by birth, making him abbot; and then certain priests and deacons from beyond sea. Finding that he had not so large a number of these as he wished, he procured as many as possible of the same Gallic race[253]; 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 there in monastic dress a young man of heathen birth who was educated in that monastery, and by no means the hindmost of them all.

=95. A Crime committed at Athelney.=[254]--There was a crime committed once in that monastery, which I would <not>,[255] by my silence, utterly consign to oblivion, although it is an atrocious villainy, for throughout the whole of Scripture the base deeds of the wicked are interspersed among the reverend actions of the righteous, like tares and cockle among the wheat. Good deeds are recorded that they may be praised, imitated, and emulated, and that those who pursue them may be held worthy of all honor; and wicked deeds, that they may be censured, execrated, and avoided, and their imitators be reproved with all odium, contempt, and vengeance.

=96. The Plot of a Priest and a Deacon.=[256]--Once upon a time, a certain priest and a deacon, Gauls by birth, of the number of the aforesaid monks, by the instigation of the devil, and roused by jealousy, became so embittered in secret against their abbot, the above-mentioned John, that, after the manner of the Jews, they circumvented and betrayed their master. For they so wrought upon two hired servants of the same Gallic race 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 there, and wait till the abbot should enter the church alone. At length, when, as was his wont, he should secretly enter the church by himself to pray, and, bending his knees, bow before the holy altar, the men should fall upon him, and slay him on the spot. They should then 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 device, adding crime to crime, as it is said, ‘The last error shall be worse than the first.’[257] But the divine mercy, which is always wont to aid the innocent, frustrated in great part the evil design of those evil men, so that it did not turn out in all respects as they had planned.

=97. The Execution of the Plot.=[258]--When, therefore, the whole of the evil teaching had been explained by those wicked teachers to their wicked hearers, and enforced upon them, the night having come and being favorable, the two armed ruffians, furnished with a promise of impunity, shut themselves up in the church to await the arrival of the abbot. In the middle of the night John, as usual, entered the church to pray, without any one’s knowledge, and knelt before the altar. Thereupon the two ruffians rushed upon him suddenly with drawn swords, and wounded him severely. But he, being ever a man of keen mind, and, as I have heard say, not unacquainted with the art of fighting, if he had not been proficient in better lore, no sooner heard the noise of the robbers, even before he saw them, than he rose up against them before he was wounded, and, shouting at the top of his voice, struggled against them with all his might, crying out that they were devils and not men--and indeed he knew no better, as he thought that no men would dare to attempt such a deed. He was, however, wounded before any of his monks could come up. They, roused by the noise, were frightened when they heard the word ‘devils’; being likewise unfamiliar with such struggles, they, and the two who, after the manner of the Jews, were traitors to their lord, rushed toward the doors of the church; but before they got there those ruffians escaped with all speed, and secreted themselves in the fens near by, leaving the abbot half dead. The monks raised their nearly lifeless superior, and bore him home with grief and lamentations; nor did those two knaves shed tears less than the innocent. But God’s mercy did not allow so horrible a crime to pass unpunished: the desperadoes who perpetrated it, and all who urged them to it, were seized and bound; then, by various tortures, they died a shameful death. Let us now return to our main narrative.

=98. The Convent at Shaftesbury.=[259]--Another[260] monastery also was built by the aforesaid king as a residence for nuns, near the eastern gate of Shaftesbury; and over it he placed as abbess his own daughter Æthelgivu, a virgin dedicated to God. With her many other noble ladies, serving God in the monastic life, dwell in that convent. These two edifices were enriched by the king with much land, and with all sorts of wealth.

=99. Alfred divides his Time and his Revenues.=[261]--These things being thus disposed of, the king considered within himself, as was his practice, what more would conduce to religious meditation. What he had wisely begun and usefully conceived was adhered to with even more beneficial result; for he had long before heard out of the book of the law that the Lord[262] had promised to restore to him the tenth many times over; and he knew that the Lord had faithfully kept His promise, and had actually restored to him the tithe manyfold. Encouraged by this precedent, and wishing to surpass the practice of his predecessors, he vowed humbly and faithfully to devote to God half his services, by day and by night, and also half of all the wealth which lawfully and justly came every year into his possession; and this vow, as far as human discretion can perceive and keep, he skilfully and wisely endeavored to fulfil. But that he might, with his usual caution, avoid that which Scripture warns us against, ‘If thou offerest aright, but dost not divide aright, thou sinnest,’[263] he considered how he might divide aright that which he had joyfully vowed to God; and as Solomon had said, ‘The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord’[264]--that is, his counsel--he ordered with a divinely inspired policy, which could come only from above, that his officers should first divide into two parts the revenues of every year.

=100. The Threefold Division of Officers at Court.=[265]--After this division had been made, he assigned the first part to worldly uses, and ordered that one third of it should be paid to his soldiers and to his officers, the nobles who dwelt by turns at court, where they discharged various duties, for thus it was that the king’s household was arranged at all times in three shifts,[266] in the following manner. The king’s attendants being wisely distributed into three companies, the first company was on duty at court for one month, night and day, at the end of which they were relieved by the second company, and returned to their homes for two months, where they attended to their own affairs. At the end of the second month, the third company relieved the second, who returned to their homes, where they spent two months. The third company then gave place to the first, and in their turn spent two months at home. And in this order the rotation of service at the king’s court was at all times carried on.

=101. The Distribution for Secular Purposes.=[267]--To these, therefore, was paid the first of the three portions aforesaid, to each according to his standing and peculiar service; the second to the workmen whom he had collected from many nations and had about him in large numbers, men skilled in every kind of building; 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 worthiness,[268] exemplifying what is written, ‘God loveth a cheerful giver.’[269]

=102. The Distribution for Religious Purposes.=[270]--But the second part of all his revenues, which came yearly into his possession, and was included in the receipts of the exchequer, as I mentioned just above, he with full devotion dedicated to God, ordering his officers to divide it carefully into four equal parts with the provision that the first part should be discreetly bestowed on the poor of every nation who came to him; on this subject he said that, as far as human discretion could guarantee, the remark of Pope Gregory on the proper division of alms should be followed, ‘Give not little to whom you should give much, nor much to whom little, nor nothing to whom something, nor something to whom nothing.’[271] The second share to the two monasteries which he had built, and to those who were serving God in them, as I have described more at length above. The third to the school[272] which he had studiously formed from many of the nobility of his own nation, but also from boys of mean condition. The fourth to the neighboring monasteries in all Wessex and Mercia, and also during some years, in turn, to the churches and servants of God dwelling in Wales, Cornwall,[273] Gaul,[274] Brittany, Northumbria, and sometimes, too, in Ireland; according to his means, he either distributed to them beforehand, or agreed to contribute afterwards, if life and prosperity did not fail him.

=103. Alfred’s Dedication of Personal Service.=[275]--When the king had arranged all these matters in due order, he remembered the text of holy Scripture which says, ‘Whosoever will give alms, ought to begin from himself,’[276] and prudently began to reflect what he could offer to God from the service of his body and mind; for he proposed to offer to God no less out of this than he had done of external riches.[277] Accordingly, he promised, as far as his infirmity and his means would allow, to render to God the half of his services, bodily and mental, by night and by day,[278] voluntarily, and with all his might. Inasmuch, however, as he could not distinguish with accuracy the lengths of the night hours in any way, on account of the darkness, nor frequently those of the day, on account of the thick clouds and rains, he began to consider by what regular means, free from uncertainty, relying on the mercy of God, he might discharge the promised tenor of his vow undeviatingly until his death.