Chapter III: Book THE FIRST: Begins (2)

Furthermore after two months the aforesaid king Ethelred renewed the battle, and with him was his brother Alfred, at Merton, against all the army of the barbarians, and a large number was slain on both sides. The barbarians obtained the victory; bishop Heahmund there fell by the sword, and his body lies buried at Caegineshamme.[61] Many others also fell or fled in that battle, concerning whom it seems to be a loss of time to speak more minutely at present. Lastly, after the above-mentioned battle, and after the Easter of the same year, died king Ethelred, from whose family I derive my origin.

And now I have followed up my plan, dear cousin Matilda, and will begin to consolidate my subject; and like a ship which, having sailed a long way over the waves, already occupies the port, to which in her patient voyage she had been tending: so we, like sailors, are already entering, and as I briefly intimated to you in my former epistle, so also in the prefaces to this present book, and without any impropriety I again remind you, and though I cut short the course of that which is visionary, not impelled by necessity, but through love of your affection, I now send it you again more fully to be meditated upon concerning the origin of our family, and sufficiently embrace the study of your sincerity.[62]

Thus far then: I will now leave obscurity and begin to speak concerning the sons of Ethelwulf. They were five in number: the first was Ethelstan, who also shared the kingdom with his father: the second was Ethelbald, who also was king of the Western English: the third was Ethelbert, king of Kent: the fourth was Ethelred, who after the death of Ethelbert succeeded to the kingdom, and was also my grandfather's grandfather: the fifth was Alfred, who succeeded after all the others to the whole sovereignty, and was your grandfather's grandfather. Wherefore I make known to you, my beloved cousin Matilda, that I receive these things from ancient tradition, and have taken care in most brief style to write the history of our race down to these two kings, from whom we have taken our origin. To you therefore, most beloved, I devote this work, compelled by the love of our relationship: if others receive them with haughtiness, they will be judged unworthy of the feast; if otherwise, we advise all in charity to gather what is set before them. Let us return then to the story that we broke off, and to the death of the above-named Ethelred. His reign lasted five years, and he is buried in the monastery which goes by the name of Wimborne.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 58: Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.]

[Footnote 59: I shall be glad if my readers will find a better translation for this obscure and inflated passage.]

[Footnote 60: See William of Malmesbury, b. ii. c. 3, p. 111, note.]

[Footnote 61: Keynsham.]

[Footnote 62: I must again request the reader to pardon the obscurity which so frequently occurs in our author's style, and my inability to deal with such passages; the above is a tolerably close translation of the original.]

CHAP. III.--_Of the reign of king Alfred._

A. 871. After these things, Alfred obtained the kingdom when his brothers were dead,--he also was the youngest son of king Ethelwulf--over all the provinces of Britain.

There came a summer-army innumerable to Reading, and were eager to fight against the army of the West-Angles: to their aid also came those who had already long time been ravaging. But the army of the Angles at that time was small on account of the king's absence, who at the same time had performed his brother's obsequies, and although their ranks were not full, yet their hearts were firm in their breasts, they rejoice in the fight, and repel the enemy: but at length oppressed with fatigue, they cease from the fight. The barbarians hold possession of a sterile field of battle: afterwards also they spread themselves and ravage the country. During their foul domination, there were three battles fought by the Angles, besides the battles before-mentioned, and eleven of their consuls, whom they call "earls," were slain, and one of their kings. Lastly, in the same year the Eastern Angles made peace with them. And the number of years to the encamping of the barbarian army in Reading and to the death of king Ethelred and the succession of his brother Alfred was the seventy-first from the time that Egbert had first consolidated the kingdom, and forty-seven from the time that the Mercians and Western Angles carried on civil wars at the place called Ellandune,[63] and king Egbert received the name of victor twenty-six years from the time that the battle was fought in Pedredan [Petherton]; and twenty years after the contest which was waged near the wood called Ockley, and lastly five years from the arrival of the pagans in the country of the East Angles: and without long delay, they then went to Reading.

A. 872. After a year had elapsed from the time of their coming to Reading, they measured out their camp in the neighbourhood of the city of London. But the Mercians ratify a treaty with them, and pay a stipend.

A. 873. After one year the barbarians change their position to the neighbourhood of the city of Lindsey in a place called Torksey. The Mercian people renew their treaty with them.

A. 874. After the lapse of a year, the barbarians at length remove to a place called Repton, and drive king Burhred from the kingdom beyond the sea. Twenty and two years are enumerated from the time that he first occupied his father's kingdom. They now break the peace, and devastate the lands of the Mercians. The above-named king did not abandon his hope in Christ, but made a journey to Rome and died there, and his body, laid in a worthy mausoleum, reposes in the temple of Christ's blessed mother, which is now called the school of the English. At the same time Ceolwulf possessed the kingdom of the Mercians.

A. 875. Lastly after a year, the barbarians divide the kingdom into two parts: and Halfdene the leader of the barbarians took one part, namely the kingdom of the Northumbrians, and there he chose his winter-quarters near the river called the Tyne, and they ravaged the country there on every side. But they also made frequent wars on the Picts and the men of Cumberland. Oskytel also, and Gothrun, and Anwiund, their three kings, with an immense army, came from Repton to a place called Grantabridge [Cambridge], and there remained twelve months. Furthermore in the summer of the same year, king Alfred came out with his army on board a fleet by sea, and the barbarians met them with seven tall vessels. A battle ensues, and the Danes are routed: the king takes one of their ships.

A. 876. After one year, the tyrant Halfdene obtained the kingdom of the Northumbrians, all of whom he reduced to subjection. And in the course of the same year, the army which had been at Cambridge made a junction with the western army, a thing which they had not done before, near the town which is called Wareham, and ravaged the greater part of that province. Also the king ratified a treaty of peace with them and gave them money. But they gave him hostages chosen out of their army, and made oath to him on their sacred bracelet which they had never done to the kings of the other districts, that they would quickly leave their territories.

A. 877. But they broke the peace and contravened their engagements, and the following year extended their troops into the province of Devon, where they passed the winter at Exeter. Lastly their fleets put to sea and spread their sails to the wind: but a lamentable storm came on, and the greatest part of them, namely a hundred of their chief ships, were sunk near the rock which is called Swanwich. The barbarians renew their fraud and offer peace: hostages were given, more than were demanded, to the effect that they would withdraw out of the territories of king Alfred; and they did so. They devastate the kingdom of the Mercians and drive out all the free men. They erect their huts in the town of Gloucester.

A. 878. At the end of that year therefore this foul mob broke the compact which they had before solemnly made with the Western Angles, and they take up their winter-quarters at Chippenham. The people were everywhere unable to resist: some of them were driven by the impious wretches over the sea into Gaul. King Alfred was at this time straitened more than was becoming. Ethelnoth also duke of Somerset lived with a narrow retinue in a certain wood, and they built a stronghold in the island of Athelingay,[64] which seems to have been situated in a marsh. But the aforesaid king fought daily battles against the barbarians, having with him the province of Somerset only; no others assisted him, except the servants who made use of the king's pastures. In the same year arrived Halfdene brother of the tyrant Hingwar with thirty galleys, in the western parts of the Angles, and besieged Odda duke of Devon in a certain castle, and war was stirred up on all sides. The king of the barbarians fell, and eighty decads with him. At last the Danes obtain the victory.

Meanwhile, after the Easter[65] of that year, king Alfred fought against the army that was in Chippenham, at a place called Ethandune,[66] and they obtain the victory. But after the decision of the battle, the barbarians promise peace, ask a truce, give hostages, and bind themselves by oath: their king submits to be baptized, and Alfred the king receives him from the laver in the marshy isle of Alney.[67] Duke Ethelnoth also purified the same at a place called Wedmore, and king Alfred there bestowed upon him magnificent honors.

A. 879. After a year from the time of the pagan army leaving Gloucester, they marched to Cirencester, and there wintered. In the course of the same year the sun was eclipsed.

A. 880. A year after the eclipse, the aforesaid army struck their tents, and leaving Cirencester went into the country of the East Angles, and pitching their camp, reduced all the inhabitants of those parts to subjection. And it was now fourteen years since the barbarians first wintered in the country aforesaid, and ravaged it. In the same year, when they had reduced the district aforesaid, they went in a vessel to Gaul and took up a position at a place called Ghent: the same men who had formerly measured out their camp at a place called Fulham.

A. 881. After a year, they attempt to proceed further; but the armies of the Franks assail them and gain the victory; the barbarians were put to flight.

A. 882. After a year the aforesaid army passed into the upper districts of the Maese and measured out their camp at a place called Escelum.[68] In the same year king Alfred put to sea and fell in with four ships; which he defeated, and destroyed two, the others surrendered.

A. 883. The next year the aforesaid army entered the parishes of the Scald,[69] to a place called Cundath;[70] and there measured out their camp for the winter.

A. 884. After one year had expired, that pestilential army aforesaid removed to the higher districts of the Somme, to a place called Embenum,[71] and there wintered.

A. 885. After a year they divide themselves into two parts: one to Sofenum,[72] the other to Rochester; and they laid siege to those towns. They also construct other smaller camps. Defeat prevails among the inhabitants until the arrival of king Alfred with an army. The foul plague was vanquished, and sought reinforcement....[73] Some of them made for the sea-coasts. The same year they renewed their league, and gave hostages to the English, and twice in the year they counted the spoil which they had obtained by fraud, in the land which borders on the southern bank of the Thames. The filthy crew which were then in possession of the East Angles, suddenly removed to a place called Bamfleet; and there the allied band divided; some of them remained, and some of them went beyond the sea. In the same year, therefore, the aforesaid king Alfred sent his fleet into the country of the East Angles, and immediately on their arrival, there met them at a place called Stourmouth sixteen ships, which they forthwith ravaged, and slew the captains with the sword. The rest of the pirate-crew met them; they ply their oars, their armour shines over the constrained waters, the barbarians obtain the victory. In the same year died Charles the Magnificent king of the Franks, cut off by death before the revolution of one year; after him came his uterine brother who ruled over the western coasts of Gaul. Both were sons of Louis, who had formerly possessed the sole sovereignty: his life had reached its termination during the eclipse of the sun aforesaid. He was son of the great king Charles, whose daughter Ethelwulf king of the English had taken to wife. In the course of that year, a great number of barbarians landed and filled the coasts of the Old Saxons; two battles were fought soon after: the Saxons were the victors, and the Frisons also were present in the contest. In the same year Charles the Younger succeeded to the sovereignty of all the western parts of Gaul as far as the Tyrrhenian sea, and, if I may so speak, of the dominions of his grandfather, except the province of the Lidwiccas.[74] His father was Lodwicus, brother of the middle Charles whose daughter was married to Ethelwulf king of the English. And both of these were sons of Lodwicus, namely, Lodwicus was son of Charlemagne who was the son of Pepin.

In the same year died the blessed pope Martin,[75] who also gave freedom to the school of the English, by the appointment of king Alfred, and sent as a present part of the thrice blessed cross of Christ, who is the salvation of the world. In the course of that year, the above-named pestilential crew broke their engagements, and marched in arms against king Alfred. Lastly, after a year, they went to the lower parts of Gaul, and fixed on a place to winter near the river Seine. Meanwhile, the city of London was fortified by king Alfred, whom no civil discord could subdue, either by cunning or by force: all men received him as a saviour, and particularly the Saxons--except the barbarians--and those who were then held prisoners in their hands. Also, after his army was strengthened, Ethered was appointed leader there by the aforesaid king, to guard the citadel.

A. 887. Now the army which were at that time ravaging the country of Gaul cut their way through the bridge of the citadel of Paris, and devastated the whole country along the Seine, as far as the Marne, and above its vertex, as far as Catsig [Chezy], where they thrice fixed their winter quarters. In the same year also died Charles, king of the Franks, and his cousin Arnulf succeeded to the kingdom, seven years before his uncle's death. The kingdom was then divided into five, and so many kings in the same: but all things are done by the permission of king Arnulf, and they promised to be all under his subjection, because they were not like him, descended from the paternal stock; and he lived after this on the eastern side of the river Rhine. But Rodulf occupied the middle parts of the kingdom, Oda the western parts, and Beorngar with Witha held the kingdom of the Lombards from the division of the Jovian mountain.[76] There they began a civil war; people assailed people; the lands of both were continually disturbed, nor was there any hope of quiet.

The same year, in which the barbarians had settled on the bridge of Paris, duke Ethelhelm received no small part of the money paid from the diocese of the English by the king for the people, and went to Rome. In the same year died queen Ethelswitha.

A. 888. In the lapse of the same year also, archbishop Athelred deceased, and Ethelwold, commander in Kent.

A. 889. After one year, abbat Bernhelm carried to Rome the alms for the people, and principally those of the western English and of king Alfred. Then also Gothrun, king of the northern English, yielded his breath to Orcus; he had taken the name of Athelstan, as he came out of the baptismal laver, from his godfather, king Alfred, and had his seat among the East-Angles, since he there also had held the first station.

In the same year, the aforesaid army of barbarians removed from the river Seine to a place called Santlaudah,[77] situated between the Bretons and the Franks; but the Bretons met them in arms, and obtained the victory, and followed them to the windings of a certain river, and there not a few of them were drowned in the waters.

A. 891. One year afterwards, the bands of the aforesaid army visited the eastern parts of France; king Arnulf met them; a fight of cavalry took place before the fleets arrived. An army of eastern Franks came up, Saxons and Bavarians; the pagans spread their sails to flee. In the same year, three chosen men of Hibernian race, burning with piety, leave their country: they privately form a boat by sewing ox-hides; they put into it provisions for a week; they sail seven days and seven nights, and arrive on the shores of Cornwall: here they left their fleet, which had been guided, not by the strength of their arms, but by the power of Him who rules all things, and set out for the court of king Alfred, who with his senate rejoice in their coming. From thence they proceed to Rome, and, as is customary with teachers of Christ, they essay to go thence to Jerusalem:[78] ... Their names were, Dubslane, the first; Macbeth, the second; Maelinmun, the third, flourishing in the arts, skilled in letters, and a distinguished master of the Scots. Also in the same year, after Easter a comet appeared, which some think to be an omen of foul times, which have already past; but it is the most approved theory of philosophers, that they foretel future things, as has been tried in many ways.

A. 893. One year after the barbarians fought against king Arnulf, they go to Boulogne, and there build a fleet, and pass over into England. There they station their fleet in the Limnean port, at a place called Apoldre [Appledore, in the eastern part of Kent,] and destroy an ancient castle, because there was but a small band of rustics within, and there they make their winter camp. In the course of this year, a large fleet belonging to Hasten arrives on the banks of the river Thames, and found a citadel on the coasts of Kent, at a place called Middleton [Milton]: they encamp there the whole winter; and the number of years that had elapsed from the glorious nativity of our Saviour was nine hundred, all but seven.

After the Easter of that year, the army which had come from Gaul leave their camp, and trace the intricacies of a certain immense wood, which is called Andred, and they extend as far as the Western Angles. Slowly as they go, they ravage the adjoining provinces, Hampshire and Berkshire: these things were told to the heir of Edward, son of king Alfred, who had been exercising himself in the southern parts of England. After this they reach the Western Angles, who meet them with threatening arms and dense array at Farnham: they exult, freed by the arrival of the prince, like sheep under the protection of the shepherd; the tyrant is wounded, and his troops are driven across the river Thames into the northern countries.

Meanwhile, the Danes are held besieged in Thorney isle. Earl Ethered, setting out from the city of London, lent his aid to the prince. The barbarians asked peace and a treaty: hostages are given, they promise by oath to leave the kingdom of the aforesaid king; their words and deeds agree together without delay. Lastly, they set out for the country of the East-Angles, formerly governed by the king Saint Edmund, and their ships fly round to them from the Limnean port to Meresige [Mersey], a place in Kent.

In the course of the same year, Hasten breaks away with his band from Bamfleet, and devastates all Mercia, until they arrive at the end of Britain. The army, which was then in the eastern part of the country, supplied them with reinforcements, and the Northumbrian, in the same way. The illustrious duke Ethelm, with a squadron of cavalry, and duke Ethelnoth, with an army of Western-Angles, followed behind them, and Ethered, earl of the Mercians, pressed after them with great impetuosity. The youth of both people join battle, and the Angles obtain the victory. These things are said by ancient writers to have been done at Buttington, and the exertions of the Danes appeared futile; they again ratify peace, give hostages, and promise to leave that part of the country. In the same year Danaasuda,[79] in Bamfleet, was destroyed by the people, and they divide the treasure among them.

After this, Sigeferth, the pirate, lands from his fleet in Northumbria, and twice devastates the coast, after which he returns home.

A. 895. When two years were completed, from the time that an immense fleet came from Boulogne to Limnae, a town of the Angles, duke Ethelnoth set out from the western parts of the Angles, and goes from the city of York against the enemy, who devastate no small tracts of land in the kingdom of the Mercians, on the west of Stanford; _i.e._ between the courses of the river Weolod[80] and a thick wood, called Ceoftefne.

A. 896. In the course of one year also, died Guthfrid, king of the Northumbrians, on the birthday of Christ's apostle, St. Bartholomew, whose body is buried at York, in the high church.

A. 900. Meanwhile, after four years, from the time that the above-named king died, there was a great discord among the English, because the foul bands of the Danes still remained throughout Northumberland. Lastly, in the same year, king Alfred departed out of this world, that immoveable pillar of the Western Saxons, that man full of justice, bold in arms, learned in speech, and, above all other things, imbued with the divine instructions. For he had translated into his own language, out of Latin, unnumbered volumes, of so varied a nature, and so excellently, that the sorrowful book of Boethius seemed, not only to the learned, but even to those who heard it read, as it were, brought to life again. The monarch died on the seventh day before the solemnity of All Saints, and his body rests in peace in the city of Winton. Pray, O reader, to Christ our Redeemer, that he will save his soul!

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 63: Allington, Wiltshire.]

[Footnote 64: Athelney, no longer an island, is situated near Borough-bridge in Somersetshire.]

[Footnote 65: Easter Day was the 23rd of March in the year 878.]

[Footnote 66: Heddington.]

[Footnote 67: Some suppose that this is Aller near Athelingay, or Athelney; but Athelney itself is called Alney by the common people; it is therefore more likely that Athelingay and Alney were the same place, as they are at present.]

[Footnote 68: Aschloha, or Ascloha, is on the Maese, about fourteen miles from the Rhine.]

[Footnote 69: The Scheldt.]

[Footnote 70: Conde.]

[Footnote 71: More commonly Ambiani, now Amiens.]

[Footnote 72: Louvain.]

[Footnote 73: I acknowledge my inability to translate this and many other passages of this obscure author. The events which here follow for the next half page are referred by the Saxon Chronicle to the year 894.]

[Footnote 74: Armorica, or Bretagne.]

[Footnote 75: This should be Marinus, not Martinus.]

[Footnote 76: Mount St. Barnard.]

[Footnote 77: Saint Lo.]

[Footnote 78: I omit this obscure passage rather than run the risk of misleading the reader by an inaccurate translation of it.]

[Footnote 79: This must be the fortress which Hasten's men built in Bamfleet.]

[Footnote 80: Welland, Northamptonshire.]

CHAP. IV.--_Of the reign of king Edward, and of his wars._

A. 901. The successor to the throne was Edward, son of the above-named king. He was elected by the nobles, and crowned with the royal crown on Whitsunday, one hundred years having elapsed since his great grandfather, Egbert, had gained his present territories. In the same year Ethelbald received, in the city of London, the bishopric of the city of York; and, it appears, that the number of years completed, since Christ came in the flesh, was nine hundred full.

A. 902. After two years was the battle of Holme.[81] ... Five days after the festival of the blessed mother, they lock together their shields, brandish their swords, and vibrate their lances in both hands. There fell duke Siwulf and Sigelm, and almost all the Kentish nobility: and Eohric, king of the barbarians, there descended to Orcus: two princes of the English, in the flower of their youth, there yield up the breath of life, and explore the foreign regions, under the waves of Acheron, and numbers of full-grown men fall on both sides. The barbarians remain victors, and triumph on the field of battle.

A. 905. At length, after three years, the number of years completed since the beginning of the world, was six thousand and one hundred.

A. 908. After three years archbishop Plegmund inaugurized, in the city of Winchester, a lofty tower, which had been recently founded in honour of Mary, the mother of God. The pontiff aforesaid, in the course of the same year carried to Rome the alms for the people, and for king Edward.

A. 909. After one year the barbarians break their compact with king Edward, and with earl Ethered, who then ruled the provinces of Northumberland and Mercia. The lands of the Mercians are laid waste on all sides by the hosts aforesaid, as far as the streams of the Avon, where begins the frontier of the West-Saxons and the Mercians. Thence they pass over the river Severn into the western regions, and gained by their devastations no little booty. But when they had withdrawn homewards, rejoicing in their rich spoils, they passed over a bridge on the eastern side of the river Severn, at a place commonly called Cantabridge,[82] the troops of the Mercians and West-Saxons met them: a battle ensued, and in the plain of Wodnesfield the English obtained the victory: the Danish army fled, overwhelmed by the darts of their enemies: these things are said to have been done on the fifth day of August; and their three kings fell there in that turmoil or battle, namely, Halfdene, Ecwils, and Hingwar: they lost their sovereignty, and descended to the court of the infernal king, and their elders and nobles with them.

A. 910. After one year, Ethered, who survived of the Mercians, departed this life, and was buried peacefully in the city of Gloucester.

A. 912. After two years, died Athulf in Northumbria; he was at that time commander of the town called Bebbanburgh.[83]

A. 913. After a year, a fleet entered the mouth of the river Severn, but no severe battle was fought there that year. Lastly, the greater part of that army go to Ireland, formerly called Bretannis by the great Julius Caesar.

A. 914. After one year, the day of Christ's nativity fell on a Sunday; and so great was the tranquillity of that winter, that no one can remember anything like it either before or since.

A. 917. After three years, Ethelfled the king's sister departed this life, and her body lies buried at Gloucester.

A. 926. Also in the ninth year died Edward, king of the English. This was the end; his name and his pertinacity here ceased.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 81: The particulars recorded in this passage, concerning the battle of Holme, are ascribed, by Florence of Worcester and the Saxon Chronicle, to another battle, fought three years later. This caused Petrie to suppose, that the paragraph in question had slipped out of its real place.]

[Footnote 82: Cambridge, in Gloucestershire.]

[Footnote 83: Bambrough.]

CHAP. V.--_Of the reign of king Athelstan, his wars and deeds._

A. 926. The year in which the stout king Athelstan gained the crown of the kingdom, was the nine hundred and twenty-sixth from the glorious incarnation of our Saviour.

A. 939. Therefore, after thirteen years, a fierce battle was fought against the barbarians at Brunandune,[84] wherefore that fight is called great even to the present day: then the barbarian tribes are defeated and domineer no longer; they are driven beyond the ocean: the Scots and Picts also bow the neck; the lands of Britain are consolidated together, on all sides is peace, and plenty of all things, nor ever did a fleet again come to land except in friendship with the English.

A. 941. Two years afterwards the venerated king Athelstan died.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 84: Brumby, Lincolnshire.]

CHAP. VI.--_Of the reign of king Edmund._

After him Edmund succeeded to the neglected kingdom.

A. 948. After seven years, therefore, bishop Wulfstan and the duke of the Mercians expelled certain deserters, namely, Reginald and Anlaf from the city of York, and gave them into the king's hand. In the same year died also queen Elfgiva, wife of king Edmund, and afterwards was canonized. In her tomb, with God's assistance, even to the present day, miracles are performed in the monastery called Shaftesbury. In the same period also died king Edmund on the solemnity of Augustine the Less, who also was the apostle of the English: and he held the kingdom six years and a half.

CHAP. VII.--_Of the reign of king Edred._

Edmund's successor was Edred his brother, to whom all the Northumbrians became subject; and the Scots also give oaths of allegiance and immutable fidelity. Not long after these things he also departed in peace, on the birthday of the blessed pope and martyr Clement. He had held the kingdom nine years and half.

CHAP. VIII.--_Of king Edwy._

His successor to the throne was Edwy, who, on account of his great personal beauty, was called Pankalus by the people. He held the sovereignty four years, and was much beloved.

CHAP. IX.--_Of the reign of king Edgar._

A. 959. After this, Edgar was crowned, and he was an admirable king.[85]

Moreover from the nativity of our Lord and Saviour was then completed the number of 973 years.[85]

HERE HAPPILY ENDS THE FOURTH BOOK OF
FABIUS ETHELWERD,
QUESTOR AND PATRICIAN.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 85: Here follow two sets of Latin verses, of a most obscure and angrammatical character, and altogether untranslatable.]

ANNALS OF THE REIGN

OF

ALFRED THE GREAT.

ANNALS OF THE REIGN

OF

ALFRED THE GREAT,

FROM A.D. 849 TO A.D. 887.

BY ASSER OF SAINT DAVID'S.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 849, was born Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, at the royal village of Wanating,[86] in Berkshire, which country has its name from the wood of Berroc, where the box-tree grows most abundantly. His genealogy is traced in the following order. King Alfred was the son of king Ethelwulf, who was the son of Egbert, who was the son of Elmund, was the son of Eafa, who was the son of Eoppa, who the son of Ingild. Ingild, and Ina, the famous king of the West-Saxons, were two brothers. Ina went to Rome, and there ending this life honourably, entered the heavenly kingdom, to reign there for ever with Christ. Ingild and Ina were the sons of Coenred, who was the son of Ceolwald, who was the son of Cudam, who was the son of Cuthwin, who was the son of Ceawlin, who was the son of Cynric, who was the son of Creoda, who was the son of Cerdic, who was the son of Elesa, who was the son of Gewis, from whom the Britons name all that nation Gegwis,[87] who was the son of Brond, who was the son of Beldeg, who was the son of Woden, who was the son of Frithowald, who was the son of Frealaf, who was the son of Frithuwulf, who was the son of Finn of Godwulf, who was the son of Geat, which Geat the pagans long worshipped as a god. Sedulius makes mention of him in his metrical Paschal poem, as follows:--

When gentile poets with their fictions vain,
In tragic language and bombastic strain,
To their god Geat, comic deity,
Loud praises sing, &c.

Geat was the son of Taetwa, who was the son of Beaw, who was the son of Sceldi, who was the son of Heremod, who was the son of Iterinon, who was the son of Hathra, who was the son of Guala, who was the son of Bedwig, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech, who was the son of Methusalem, who was the son of Enoch, who was the son of Malaleel, who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam.

The mother of Alfred was named Osburga, a religious woman, noble both by birth and by nature; she was daughter of Oslac, the famous butler of king Ethelwulf, which Oslac was a Goth by nation, descended from the Goths and Jutes, of the seed, namely, of Stuf and Wihtgar, two brothers and counts: who, having received possession of the Isle of Wight from their uncle, king Cerdic, and his son Cynric their cousin, slew the few British inhabitants whom they could find in that island, at a place called Gwihtgaraburgh;[88] for the other inhabitants of the island had either been slain or escaped into exile.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 851, which was the third after the birth of king Alfred, Ceorl, earl of Devon, fought with the men of Devon against the pagans at a place called Wicgambeorg;[89] and the Christians gained the victory; and that same year the pagans first wintered in the island called Sheppey, which means the Sheep-isle, and is situated in the river Thames between Essex and Kent, but is nearer to Kent than to Essex; it has in it a fine monastery.[90]

The same year also a great army of the pagans came with three hundred and fifty ships to the mouth of the river Thames, and sacked Dorobernia,[91] which is the city of the Cantuarians, and also the city of London, which lies on the north bank of the river Thames, on the confines of Essex and Middlesex; but yet that city belongs in truth to Essex; and they put to flight Berthwulf, king of Mercia, with all the army, which he had led out to oppose them.

After these things, the aforesaid pagan host went into Surrey, which is a district situated on the south bank of the river Thames, and to the west of Kent. And Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, and his son Ethelbald, with all their army, fought a long time against them at a place called Ac-lea,[92] i.e. the Oak-plain, and there, after a lengthened battle, which was fought with much bravery on both sides, the greater part of the pagan multitude was destroyed and cut to pieces, so that we never heard of their being so defeated, either before or since, in any country, in one day; and the Christians gained an honourable victory, and were triumphant over their graves.

In the same year king Athelstan, son of king Ethelwulf, and earl Ealhere slew a large army of pagans in Kent, at a place called Sandwich, and took nine ships of their fleet; the others escaped by flight.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 853, which was the fifth of king Alfred, Burhred, king of the Mercians, sent messengers, and prayed Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, to come and help him in reducing the midland Britons, who dwell between Mercia and the western sea, and who struggled against him most immoderately. So without delay, king Ethelwulf, having received the embassy, moved his army, and advanced with king Burhred against Britain,[93] and immediately, on entering that country, he began to ravage it; and having reduced it under subjection to king Burhred, he returned home.

In the same year, king Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred, above-named, to Rome, with an honourable escort both of nobles and commoners. Pope Leo [the fourth] at that time presided over the apostolic see, and he anointed for king the aforesaid Alfred, and adopted him as his spiritual son. The same year also, earl Ealhere, with the men of Kent, and Huda with the men of Surrey, fought bravely and resolutely against an army of the pagans, in the island, which is called in the Saxon tongue, Tenet,[94] but Ruim in the British language. The battle lasted a long time, and many fell on both sides, and also were drowned in the water; and both the earls were there slain. In the same year also, after Easter, Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, gave his daughter to Burhred, king of the Mercians, and the marriage was celebrated royally at the royal vill of Chippenham.[95]

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 855, which was the seventh after the birth of the aforesaid king, Edmund the most glorious king of the East-Angles began to reign, on the eighth day before the kalends of January, i.e. on the birthday of our Lord, in the fourteenth year of his age. In this year also died Lothaire, the Roman emperor, son of the pious Lewis Augustus. In the same year the aforesaid venerable king Ethelwulf released the tenth part of all his kingdom from all royal service and tribute, and with a pen never to be forgotten, offered it up to God the One and the Three in One, in the cross of Christ, for the redemption of his own soul and of his predecessors. In the same year he went to Rome with much honour; and taking with him his son, the aforesaid king Alfred, for a second journey thither, because he loved him more than his other sons, he remained there a whole year; after which he returned to his own country, bringing with him Judith, daughter of Charles, the king of the Franks.

In the meantime, however, whilst king Ethelwulf was residing beyond the sea, a base deed was done, repugnant to the morals of all Christians, in the western part of Selwood. For king Ethelbald [son of king Ethelwulf] and Ealstan, bishop of the church of Sherborne, with Eanwulf, earl of the district of Somerton, are said to have made a conspiracy together, that king Ethelwulf, on his return from Rome, should never again be received into his kingdom. This crime, unheard-of in all previous ages, is ascribed by many to the bishop and earl alone, as resulting from their counsels. Many also ascribe it solely to the insolence of the king, because that king was pertinacious in this matter, and in many other perversities, as we have heard related by certain persons; as also was proved by the result of that which follows.

For as he was returning from Rome, his son aforesaid, with all his counsellors, or, as I ought to say, his conspirators, attempted to perpetrate the crime of repulsing the king from his own kingdom; but neither did God permit the deed, nor would the nobles of all Saxony consent to it. For to prevent this irremediable evil to Saxony, of a son warring against his father, or rather of the whole nation carrying on civil war either on the side of the one or the other, the extraordinary mildness of the father, seconded by the consent of all the nobles, divided between the two the kingdom which had hitherto been undivided; the eastern parts were given to the father, and the western to the son; for where the father ought by just right to reign, there his unjust and obstinate son did reign; for the western part of Saxony is always preferable to the eastern.

When Ethelwulf, therefore, was coming from Rome, all that nation, as was fitting, so delighted in the arrival of the old man, that, if he permitted them, they would have expelled his rebellious son Ethelbald, with all his counsellors, out of the kingdom. But he, as we have said, acting with great clemency and prudent counsel, so wished things to be done, that the kingdom might not come into danger; and he placed Judith, daughter of king Charles, whom he had received from his father, by his own side on the regal throne, without any controversy or enmity from his nobles, even to the end of his life, contrary to the perverse custom of that nation. For the nation of the West-Saxons do not allow a queen to sit beside the king, nor to be called a queen, but only the king's wife; which stigma the elders of that land say arose from a certain obstinate and malevolent queen of the same nation, who did all things so contrary to her lord, and to all the people, that she not only earned for herself exclusion from the royal seat, but also entailed the same stigma upon those who came after her; for in consequence of the wickedness of that queen, all the nobles of that land swore together, that they would never let any king reign over them, who should attempt to place a queen on the throne by his side.

And because, as I think, it is not known to many whence this perverse and detestable custom arose in Saxony, contrary to the custom of all the Theotiscan nations, it seems to me right to explain a little more fully what I have heard from my lord Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, as he also had heard it from many men of truth, who in great part recorded that fact.

There was in Mercia, in recent times, a certain valiant king, who was feared by all the kings and neighbouring states around. His name was Offa, and it was he who had the great rampart made from sea to sea between Britain[96] and Mercia. His daughter, named Eadburga, was married to Bertric, king of the West-Saxons; who immediately, having the king's affections, and the control of almost all the kingdom, began to live tyrannically like her father, and to execrate every man whom Bertric loved, and to do all things hateful to God and man, and to accuse all she could before the king, and so to deprive them insidiously of their life or power; and if she could not obtain the king's consent, she used to take them off by poison: as is ascertained to have been the case with a certain young man beloved by the king, whom she poisoned, finding that the king would not listen to any accusation against him. It is said, moreover, that king Bertric unwittingly tasted of the poison, though the queen intended to give it to the young man only, and so both of them perished.

Bertric therefore being dead, the queen could remain no longer among the West-Saxons, but sailed beyond the sea with immense treasures, and went to the court of the great and famous Charles, king of the Franks. As she stood before the throne, and offered him money, Charles said to her, "Choose, Eadburga, between me and my son, who stands here with me." She replied, foolishly, and without deliberation, "If I am to have my choice, I choose your son, because he is younger than you." At which Charles smiled and answered, "If you had chosen me, you would have had my son; but as you have chosen him, you shall not have either of us."

However, he gave her a large convent of nuns, in which, having laid aside the secular habit and taken the religious dress, she discharged the office of abbess during a few years; for, as she is said to have lived irrationally in her own country, so she appears to have acted still more so in that foreign country; for being convicted of having had unlawful intercourse with a man of her own nation, she was expelled from the monastery by king Charles's order, and lived a vicious life of reproach in poverty and misery until her death; so that at last, accompanied by one slave only, as we have heard from many who saw her, she begged her bread daily at Pavia, and so miserably died.

Now king Ethelwulf lived two years after his return from Rome; during which, among many other good deeds of this present life, reflecting on his departure according to the way of all flesh, that his sons might not quarrel unreasonably after their father's death, he ordered a will or letter of instructions to be written, in which he ordered that his kingdom should be divided between his two eldest sons, his private inheritance between his sons, his daughters, and his relations, and the money which he left behind him between his sons and nobles, and for the good of his soul. Of this prudent policy we have thought fit to record a few instances out of many for posterity to imitate; namely, such as are understood to belong principally to the needs of the soul; for the others, which relate only to human dispensation, it is not necessary to insert in this work, lest prolixity should create disgust in those who read or wish to hear my work. For the benefit of his soul, then, which he studied to promote in all things from the first flower of his youth, he directed through all his hereditary dominions, that one poor man in ten, either native or foreigner, should be supplied with meat, drink, and clothing, by his successors, until the day of judgment; supposing, however, that the country should still be inhabited both by men and cattle, and should not become deserted. He commanded also a large sum of money, namely, three hundred mancuses, to be carried to Rome for the good of his soul, to be distributed in the following manner: namely, a hundred mancuses in honour of St. Peter, specially to buy oil for the lights of the church of that apostle on Easter eve, and also at the cock-crow: a hundred mancuses in honour of St. Paul, for the same purpose of buying oil for the church of St. Paul the apostle, to light the lamps on Easter eve and at the cock-crow; and a hundred mancuses for the universal apostolic pontiff.

But when king Ethelwulf was dead, and buried at Stemrugam,[97] his son Ethelbald, contrary to God's prohibition and the dignity of a Christian, contrary also to the custom of all the pagans, ascended his father's bed, and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, and drew down much infamy upon himself from all who heard of it. During two years and a half of licentiousness after his father he held the government of the West-Saxons.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 856, which was the eighth after Alfred's birth, the second year of king Charles III, and the eighteenth year of the reign of Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, Humbert, bishop of the East-Angles, anointed with oil and consecrated as king the glorious Edmund, with much rejoicing and great honour in the royal town called Burva, in which at that time was the royal seat, in the fifteenth year of his age, on a Friday, the twenty-fourth moon, being Christmas-day.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 860, which was the twelfth of king Alfred's age, died Ethelbald, king of the West-Saxons, and was buried at Sherborne. His brother Ethelbert, as was fitting, joined Kent, Surrey, and Sussex also to his dominion.

In his days a large army of pagans came from the sea, and attacked and destroyed the city of Winchester. As they were returning laden with booty to their ships, Osric, earl of Hampshire, with his men, and earl Ethelwulf, with the men of Berkshire, confronted them bravely; a severe battle took place, and the pagans were slain on every side; and, finding themselves unable to resist, took to flight like women, and the Christians obtained a triumph.

Ethelbert governed his kingdom five years in peace, with the love and respect of his subjects, who felt deep sorrow when he went the way of all flesh. His body was honourably interred at Sherborne by the side of his brothers.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 864, the pagans wintered in the isle of Thanet, and made a firm treaty with the men of Kent, who promised them money for adhering to their covenant; but the pagans, like cunning foxes, burst from their camp by night, and setting at naught their engagements, and spurning at the promised money, which they knew was less than they could get by plunder, they ravaged all the eastern coast of Kent.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 866, which was the eighteenth of king Alfred, Ethelred, brother of Ethelbert, king of the West Saxons, undertook the government of the kingdom for five years; and the same year a large fleet of pagans came to Britain from the Danube, and wintered in the kingdom of the Eastern-Saxons, which is called in Saxon East-Anglia; and there they became principally an army of cavalry. But, to speak in nautical phrase, I will no longer commit my vessel to the power of the waves and of its sails, or keeping off from land steer my round-about course through so many calamities of wars and series of years, but will return to that which first prompted me to this task; that is to say, I think it right in this place briefly to relate as much as has come to my knowledge about the character of my revered lord Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, during the years that he was an infant and a boy.

He was loved by his father and mother, and even by all the people, above all his brothers, and was educated altogether at the court of the king. As he advanced through the years of infancy and youth, his form appeared more comely than that of his brothers; in look, in speech, and in manners he was more graceful than they. His noble nature implanted in him from his cradle a love of wisdom above all things; but, with shame be it spoken, by the unworthy neglect of his parents and nurses, he remained illiterate even till he was twelve years old or more; but he listened with serious attention to the Saxon poems which he often heard recited, and easily retained them in his docile memory. He was a zealous practiser of hunting in all its branches, and hunted with great assiduity and success; for skill and good fortune in this art, as in all others, are among the gifts of God, as we also have often witnessed.

On a certain day, therefore, his mother[98] was showing him and his brother a Saxon book of poetry, which she held in her hand, and said, "Whichever of you shall the soonest learn this volume shall have it for his own." Stimulated by these words, or rather by the Divine inspiration, and allured by the beautifully illuminated letter at the beginning of the volume, he spoke before all his brothers, who, though his seniors in age, were not so in grace, and answered, "Will you really give that book to one of us, that is to say, to him who can first understand and repeat it to you?" At this his mother smiled with satisfaction, and confirmed what she had before said. Upon which the boy took the book out of her hand, and went to his master to read it, and in due time brought it to his mother and recited it.

After this he learned the daily course, that is, the celebration of the hours, and afterwards certain psalms, and several prayers, contained in a certain book which he kept day and night in his bosom, as we ourselves have seen, and carried about with him to assist his prayers, amid all the bustle and business of this present life. But, sad to say, he could not gratify his most ardent wish to learn the liberal arts, because, as he said, there were no good readers at that time in all the kingdom of the West-Saxons.