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The Kentish men, against his orders, remain behind, and are defeated by the Northmen. "There was great slaughter made on either hand; and of the Danish men there were more slain, though they had possession of the place of carnage." "And on the Danish side were

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slain Eohric their king, and Ethelwald the atheling, who had inticed him to break the peace. . . . and likewise very many with them, whom we are now unable to name."

The Northmen ravage Ireland.

A.D. 906. "This year King Edward, from necessity, concluded a peace both with the army of East Anglia and Northumbria.”

A.D. 907. Chester rebuilt by Ethelfleda.

A.D. 909. Bishops' sees founded at Wells, and at Wilton, and others in Cornwall and Devon.

66

A.D. 910. King Edward sent out a force both of West Saxons and of Mercians, and they greatly spoiled the army of the north, as well of men as of every kind of cattle, and slew many of the Danish men; and they were therein five weeks."

The Northmen defeated at Teotenheal, (probably Tettenhall, in Staffordshire,) Aug. 6.

WALES.

Howel Dda, having about this time become ruler of the whole of Wales, summoned a numerous assembly to the White House on the Tav (near Whitland, in Car

• See p. 85.

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marthenshire,) two-thirds being laymen, and one-third clergy, to examine the ancient laws (those ascribed to Dyvnwal Moelmud1); some they suffered to continue unaltered, some they amended, others they entirely abrogated, and some new laws they enacted." These laws being submitted to the Pope, (Anastasius III.) and approved by him, were ordered to be observed throughout Wales; but numerous modifications were soon made in them, and, as now known to us, they are in the form of separate codes for each of the three states of Gwynneth, Dynevor, and Gwent, into which Wales was in the tenth century divided.

Each code presents the laws of the court, and the laws of the country. The first contain most minute regulations for every member of the royal household, from the king to the door-keeper; state their various duties, privileges, and emoluments, some of which are of a singular nature; and the second gives the rules applicable to all offences against person or property, which are carried to the extreme of defining the legal worth of most animals, whether wild or tame, the price of a blind kitten even being duly laid down, as well as the sums to be paid for wounds or murder; the principle of money payment, rather than of blood for blood, prevailing in the Welsh as fully as in the Anglo-Saxon community.

After the death of Howel Dda usurpation and civil war ensued; at length Gwynneth was recovered by the descendants of Anarawd, and under Llewelyn ap Sitsylht it became the ruling state, Dynevor having lost much

See p. 64.

of the eastern part of its territory.

Llewelyn was killed

în 1031, when Iago, his brother-in-law, obtained Gwynneth, and Rytherch, Dynevor; they were, however, subdued by Griffin, the son of Llewelyn, who held the supremacy till 1056, when he being defeated by Earl Harold, and killed by his own people, the whole of Wales was reduced to a nominal dependence on England; Meredith, a descendant of Howel Dda, being appointed prince of Dynevor, and Blethin and Rywallon (the half-brother of Griffin) princes of Gwynneth and Powys.

A.D. 911. The Northmen overrun Mercia, but are overtaken and defeated on their retreat.

The Northmen from Dublin ravage South Wales.

A.D. 912. "King Edward obtains possession of London, and of all the lands which owed obedience thereto."

A.D. 913. Edward advances into Hertford and Essex, and builds several forts there.

Ethelfleda builds forts at Tamworth and at Stafford, and at Warwick and other places in the next year.

A.D. 916. Ethelfleda's forces defeat the Welsh at Brecenan-mere (Brecknock).

The Northmen sustain a signal defeat from the Irish.

A.D. 917. Derby captured from the Northmen. A.D. 918. Leicester surrendered by treaty to Ethelfleda. "And the people of York had also covenanted with her, some having given a pledge, and some having

bound themselves by oath, that they would be at her command."

The coasts of Wales and the Severn ravaged by a fleet from Britanny. The invaders are driven off by the men of Gloucester and Hereford and the adjoining towns, and retire to Ireland.

Cameleac, bishop of Llandaff, having been captured, is ransomed by King Edward.

A.D. 919. Edward continues his progress, tures Bedford.

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A.D. 920. Thurcytel, the Northman, and his followers, are allowed to withdraw to France.

A.D. 921. Towcester ineffectually besieged by the Northmen.

King Edward relieves his towns, and strengthens some with stone walls, "and much people submitted to him, as well among the East Anglians as among the East Saxons, who before were under the dominion of the Danes. And all the army among the East Anglians swore oneness with him, that they would observe peace towards all to which the king should grant his peace, both by sea and land."

A.D. 922. "King Edward went with his forces to Stamford, and commanded the fort (burh) to be built upon the south side of the river; and all the people which owed obedience to the northern towns submitted to him, and sought him to be their lord."

Ethelfleda dies, June 12. Edward takes possession of Mercia, "and all the people there, as well Danish as English, submitted to him."

The North-Welsh kings seek him to be their lord.

A.D. 923. Edward advances into Northumbria, and builds forts at Thelwall, in Cheshire, and at Manchester. Regnold, a Danish king, captures York.

A.D. 924. Edward builds other forts, as at Nottingham and in the Peak; "and then chose him for father and for lord, the king of the Scots and the whole nation of the Scots", and Regnold and the son of Eadulf, and all those who dwell in Northumbria, as well English as Danes, and Northmen and others, and also the king of the Strathclyde Britons, and all the Strathclyde Britons."

A.D. 925. King Edward dies, and is buried at Winchester; Athelstan succeeds.

ATHELSTAN.

ATHELSTAN, the eldest, and perhaps the natural, son of Edward, succeeded him, and shewed great vigour and ability in contending with the Anglo-Danes and their confederates, to whom he gave a signal overthrow at Brunanburg. He also protected his young nephew Louis, the son of Charles the Simple, and assisted in placing him on the throne of France. He added many valuable provisions to the laws promulgated by Alfred, and like him favoured both literature and commerce. He

This, and some similar transactions in Anglo-Saxon times, formed the ground for the claim of feudal subjection of the crown of Scotland to that of England, which was urged by the Norman kings and their successors. The capture of William I. and the disputed succession on the death of Alexander III. occasioned its temporary admission; but Wallace and Bruce, aided at first rather by the people than the nobles of Scotland, (many of whom joined the English,) successfully resisted the foe, and established the independence of their country.

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