English 5 Ja 15 ira I PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. DESIRE in the following pages to present to English readers in a popular and readable form the early authorities for the life of King Alfred of England, which, interesting as they are, are for the most part scarcely known, save to professed students of history, and are in some cases hard to come by. I give, accordingly, in full, his biography by Asser, his friend and chaplain, and such entries as relate to his reign in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the leading mediæval historians— Ethelwerd, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, Simeon of Durham, Geoffrey Gaimar, Roger of Wendover, the Chronicle of St. Neot's, etc. In each case I have made a new translation from the original, and have endeavoured, as far as possible, in my selections from each writer, to confine myself to such events as are narrated by him alone, or with some special colouring of his own; for each, as a matter of course, made the freest use of the work of his predecessors, and almost invariably without one syllable of acknowledgment. But each adds his own. touches to the story-touches which may well be founded on some floating tradition still surviving to his day. I have also prefixed to each a few words of critical notice, and when needful, a table of contents. The Introductory Sketch will, I hope, show how the information derived from these various sources combines into an authentic picture of our hero-King. And this picture I would fain make yet more life-like by the extracts given from his own literary works, his laws, and the beautiful Proverbs of Alfred,' which record far-off echoes of his traditional wisdom. CAMBRIDGE, 26 October, 1899. EDWARD CONYBEARE. 286622 TH PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. HIS edition has profited by the criticisms of my Reviewers, and has been revised in the light of Twentieth Century contributions to Alfredian biography. Amongst these I must acknowledge my special debt to Mr. Stevenson for his illuminating work 'Asser's Life of Alfred.' It also embodies the results of a careful and minute exploration throughout the whole Athelney and Edington district, which I have personally undertaken with a view to working out upon the spot the problem of Alfred's crucial 'Ethandune' campaign. Like the first, this edition is intended to be essentially a popular, not a minutely critical work. Thus the notes are elementary in their character, and well-known names (Alfred, London, etc.) are given in their conventional spelling. CAMBRIDGE, March, 1914. CONTENTS Celtic and Teutonic ideals-Arthur and Alfred-Scope of the present work-English settlement of Britain-Gradual unification-Marks— Danish invasions renewed-Sack of London-Battle of Ockley-First Danish settlements-Raid of 870-St. Edmund-Invasion of Wessex Early life of Alfred-His claim to the throne-Designation by Pope Leo -Saracen raid on Rome-Alfred at Rome-Judith, his step- Outset of Alfred's reign-The nine battles of 871-Wessex cleared of Danes-Their settlements elsewhere-Alfred's early reforms-His Great Danish inroad of 876-Siege of Wareham-Capture of Exeter— Danish fleet destroyed at Swanage-Alfred the founder of our navy Danish defeat in Devon-The Magic Standard-Rising of Wessex- Decisive battle of Ethandune—Surrender of Chippenham-Baptism of Guthrum-Peace of Wedmore-Its results-Alfred's restoration Alfred's publications- The Consolations of Boethius'-Bede's 'History of the Anglican Church'-Orosius' 'History of the World '-Its Alfred's laws-The Witan-His introduction to the code-Offences against the person-Against property-Dog's first bite-Sanctuary— CHRONICLE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. NEOT [FANI SCTI NEOTI CHRONICON'], OR 'THE ANNALS OF Asser ' N.B. The whole of the above were originally written in Latin, with the |