Saron Chronicle A petty prince of South Wales. harm from king Hemeid, who often plundered that monastery and the parish of St Deguus, † and sometimes expelled the prelates, as they expelled archbishop Novis, my relation, parish of St Deguus is meant the and myself; if in any manner I could secure the notice and friendship of the king. At that time, and long before, all the countries on the right Nor was it in vain that all these princes gained the + Or St Dewi. Probably by the diocese of St David's. Hence it is said, that Alfred gave to Asser the whole parish (omnis parochia) of Exeter. Archbishop of St David's. One MS. has Cungresburyplace near Banwell. Banwell in Somersetshire. § Wessex. 885 Florence Huntingdon Simeon FLORENCE, HUNTINGDON, AND SIMEON ARE SILENT ON THE SUBJECT OF ASSER'S INTRODUCTION TO KING ALFRED, AND THE INTERESTING CONVERSATION WHICH TOOK PLACE BETWEEN THE TWO ON THAT AND OTHER SUBSEQUENT OCCASIONS. not done so; but that I might certify to those who are ignorant, how profuse he is in giving. He then at once gave me permission to ride to those two rich monasteries and afterwards to return to my own country. A. 886. Here the army, which before had drawn eastward, went westward again, and thence up the Seine, and there took up their winter quarters near the town of Paris. That same year king Ælfred repaired London; and all the English submitted to him, except those who were under the bondage of the Danishmen; and then he committed the town to the care of alderman Æthered. In the year of our Lord's incarnation, 886, which was the thirty-eighth since the birth of Ælfred, the army so often beforementioned again fled the country, and went into the country of the Western Franks, directing their ships to the river called the Seine, and sailed up it as far as the city of Paris, and there they wintered and measured out their camp. They besieged that city a whole year, as far as the bridge, that they might prevent the inhabitants from making use of it; for the city is situated on a small island in the middle of the river; but by the merciful favour of God, and the brave defence of the citizens, the army could not force their way inside the walls. In the same year, Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, after the burning of cities and the slaying of the people, honourably rebuilt the city of London, and made it again habitable. He gave it into the custody of his sonin-law, Æthered, earl of Mercia. To which king all the Angles and Saxons, who before had been dispersed everywhere, or were in captivity with the pagans, voluntarily turned and submitted themselves to his dominion. [In the same year there arose a foul and deadly discord at Oxford, between Grymbold, with those learned men whom he had brought with him, and the old scholars whom he had found there, who, on his arrival, refused altogether to embrace the laws, modes, and forms of prælection instituted by the same Grymbold. During three years there had been no great dissension between them, but there was a secret enmity which afterwards broke out with great atrocity, clearer than the light itself. To appease this quarrel, that invincible king Ælfred, having been informed of the strife by a messenger from Grymbold, went to Oxford to put an end to the controversy, and endured much trouble in hearing the arguments and complaints which were brought forwards on both sides. The substance of the dispute was this: the old scholars con Ethelwerd 885 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 besieged by king Ælfred. 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, thred was appointed leader there by the aforesaid king, to guard the citadel. The whole of this paragraph concerning Oxford is thought to be an interpolation, because it is not known to have existed in more than one MS. copy. 886 Florence Huntingdon Simeon 886. In the year of our Lord's incarnation 886, the 38th from the birth of the glorious king Elfred, that army of Danes not to be named came again into the country of the Western French, and came to land in the river called Sigene [SEINE]. They also went to Paris, and wintered there, cutting off the thoroughfare of the bridge from the inhabitants. But by the true support of God, and the valour of the citizens in defending themselves, they could not break into that fortress. At the same time the king of the English, after the burning of cities, and the slaughter of people, honourably rebuilt and made habitable the great city of London, which he gave into the ward of Ethelred the illus trious duke of the Mercians. But all men, both Angles and Saxons, who had before been dispersed here and there with the pagans or set free from captivity, came freely into the king's presence, submitting themselves voluntarily to his dominion. And he, as he was of a most merciful mind, indulged to all the patronage of his benignity. tended, that literature had flourished at Oxford before the coming of Grymbold, although the number of scholars was smaller than in ancient times, because many had been driven away by the cruelty and tyranny of the pagans. They also proved and showed, by the undoubted testimony of ancient annals, that the orders and institutions of that place had been sanctioned by certain pious and learned men, as for instance by Saint Gildas, Melkinus, Nennius, Kentigern, and others, who had all grown old there in literature, and happily administered everything there in peace and concord; and also, that Saint Germanus had come to Oxford, and stopped there half a year, at the time when he went through Britain to preach against the Pelagian heresy; he wonderfully approved of the customs and institutions above-mentioned. The king, with unheard of humility, listened to both sides carefully, and exhorted them again and again with pious and wholesome admonitions to cherish mutual love and concord. He therefore left them with this decision, that each party should follow their own counsel, and preserve their own institutions. Grymbold, displeased at this, immediately departed to the monastery at Winchester, which had been recently founded by king Ælfred, and ordered a tomb to be carried to Winchester, in which he proposed, after this life, that his bones should be laid in the vault which had been made under the chancel of St Peter's church in Oxford; which church the same Grymbold had built from its foundations, of stone polished with great care.] A. 887. In the year of our Lord's in- of the river Materne Here follows the sentence IN Ethelwerd 886 ↑ Hyde Abbey. 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. And that same year Charles king of the French died; and six weeks before he died, Earnulf his brother's son bereaved him of the king dom. In the same year Charles, In the same year also died Charles, king of the Franks, and his cousin Arnulf succeeded to the kingdom, seven weeks before his uncle's death. |