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fleet fell in with the royal fleet, and a naval battle ensued, in which many of the Londoners were slain, and the Danes captured the whole armament, with Elfric, who was on board and had the command. That same year, St. Oswald, archbishop of York, passed to his heavenly reward, and Aldulf succeeded him. Afterwards Bamborough was stormed and pillaged, and the Danish fleet sailed up the Humber and ravaged the shores on both sides, in Lindsey and Northumbria. An English force was collected and marched against them, but as soon as the two armies met, Frene, Godwin, and Frithegist, the English commanders, gave the signal for flight. At this time Ethelred ordered Elfgar, son of Elfric the ealdorman, to be deprived of sight, thereby increasing the odium in which his cruelty was held. Now, also, Richard the Second succeeded his father, Richard the Elder, in Normandy. After these transactions [A.D. 994], Olave and Sweyn came up to London on the nativity of St. Mary, with ninety-four ships; but by the aid of the blessed Virgin, the Christians were delivered from their heathen foes; for the city being assaulted, and preparations made to set it on fire, the assailants were repulsed in great confusion. Frustrated in this enterprise, they spread themselves through Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, procuring horses and overrunning the country more fiercely than usual, and carrying everywhere fire and sword. Whereupon the king sent messengers to them with a promise of ransom and provisions, which they accepted, and spent the winter peaceably at [South] Hampton. King Ethelred also sent for King Olave, giving hostages for his safe conduct, and entertained him honourably at Andover, where he received him at confirmation from the bishop's hands, and gave him many rich presents. Upon this, Olave promised the king that he would never again appear in arms on the English territory, which promise he kept. About that time, Siric, archbishop [of Canterbury], died; after whom Elfric received the pail.

[A.D. 995.] In the nineteenth year of King Ethelred, the Danes sailed round the coast of Cornwall into the Severn, and pillaged Devonshire and South Wales. They also landed at Watchet, laying waste the country with fire and sword.

Returning from thence they sailed round Penwith-stert1 to the south coast and entered the Tamar, which they went up as far as Liddyford, committing everything to the flames, and burning Ordulf's Minster at Tavistock. After this the enemy sailed to Frome-mouth, and, landing, overran Dorsetshire with their usual success, there being no resistance. This year also [A.D. 998] they established themselves for a time in the Isle of Wight, drawing their supplies from Hampshire and Sussex. Afterwards they entered the Thames and sailed up the Medway to Rochester. There the Kentish men assembled and gave them battle; their attack was spirited, but the Danes, who were inured to constant war, repulsed it and remained masters of the field.

[A.D. 1000.] Now King Ethelred assembled a powerful army and marched into Cumberland, which was at that time the stronghold of the Danes, and he vanquished them in a great battle, and laid waste and pillaged almost all Cumberland. After this a party of the Danes landed at Exmouth and assaulted the town, but, meeting with a determined resistance, they drew off. Then they spread themselves over the country under their constant leaders, Mars and Vulcan. The Somersetshire men assembled to oppose them, and engaged with them at Penhoe, but the Danes, whose only business was war, had the advantage.

This Book, which relates to the Danes, though not too large for the importance of the subject, will now be brought to a close. I must, however, according to my custom, carefully set before the reader, as a light for his guidance, a short summary of the contents of the present Book.

Of the kingdom of KENT, there is little to be said; inas much as Egbert, the king of Wessex, after expelling Bal dred, retained it in his own hands, and at his death left it to his [second] son, Athelstan. After the death of Athelstan, the kingdom of Kent reverted to Ethelwulf, his [elder] brother, who was also king of Wessex; and he left it to his [youngest] son, Ethelbert, who, on the death of his brother Ethelbald, five years afterwards, inherited also the kingdom of Wessex, in which Ethelbald had succeeded Ethelwulf; so that both kingdoms were again united under the rule of

1 The Land's End.

Ethelbert, and were never again separated. This suffices with respect to the kingdom of Kent.

The following summary will elucidate the history of the kingdom of WESSEX :

ETHELWULF reigned xix. years. He was defeated by the Danes at Charmouth, but gained a great victory over them at Ockley.

ETHELBALD, his son, reigned v. years. Sherburn.

He was buried at

ETHELBERT, his brother, reigned v. years. and army defeated the Danes at Winchester.

His officers

ETHELRED, the brother of the two last kings, reigned v. years and a little more. He and his brother Alfred had a sharp encounter with the Danes at Reading.

ALFRED, his brother, reigned xxviii. years and a half. His acts were so numerous and so marvellous that nothing can be said of them in a short compass.

EDWARD, the son of Alfred, reigned xxiv. years. He fought against the Danes in Northumbria; and again as they evacuated Mercia, when he gained a glorious victory and slew valiant kings. He also defeated the Danes at Tettenhall, and reduced Mercia.

ATHELSTAN, the son of Edward, reigned xiv. years. In his time was fought the great battle of Bruneburh.

EDMUND, the son of Athelstan, reigned vi. years and a half. He took from the Danes the "Five Burghs," and, reducing them to subjection, added Northumbria to his dominions.

EDRED, the brother of Edmund, for ix. years governed fortunately all the divisions of England.

EDWY, the son of Edmund, for iv. years possessed the same dominions, and the same extent of power.

EDGAR, son of Edmund, reigned xvi. years in peace and greater glory than all the rest.

St. EDWARD, the son of Edgar, reigned v.1 years; his death (though sudden) was happy.

ETHELRED, his brother, suffering under the wrath of God, had a troublesome reign. Much of it I have still to relate.

It should be three years; Edward succeeded his father A.D. 975, and was killed A.D. 978.

A short notice must now be given of the kingdom of NORTHUMBRIA. In the time of Ethelwulf, Osbert was king there; but his subjects ejected him, as their custom was, and elected Ælla king. Both of them were killed by the Danes, and for many years a succession of Danish kings reigned in Northumbria. These were Healfdene, Godfred, Nigel, Sitric, Reginald, and Olaf. But their history is confused; at one time we find a single king, at another two, at another several inferior kings. In the end, the kingdom fell under the dominion of Edred, king of Wessex, and his Thus much is clear concerning the kingdom

successors.

of Northumbria.

A short account must be given of the kingdom of MERCIA. Berthwulf, king of Mercia, in the third1 year of his reign, was driven out by the Danes. Burrhed, also, after reigning xxii. years, was driven from his kingdom. The Danes having thus subjugated it, they allowed Ceolwulf to hold it; but afterwards they divided it into several small portions. Part of the territory, and the lords of it, were still subject to the laws of Wessex. At length, Edmund, king of Wessex, reduced the whole of it under his dominion. We find, then, that the kingdom of Mercia became altogether a dependency of the crown of Wessex.

The kingdom of EAST-ANGLIA, which, as we have already observed, had by various means been long subjugated, was either held by the kings of Kent or of Wessex, and at other times by some one or by various persons to whom they granted it. Thus there was sometimes a single king, at others many subject kings. St. Edmund was the last of the English kings who governed East-Anglia under the king of Wessex; when he was slain, Guthrum, the Dane, became king there; and afterwards the Danes divided the kingdom into small portions, and it continued under their government until King Edward reduced the greatest part of it to submission to himself. Thus it appears how the kingdom of East-Anglia became annexed to the crown of Wessex.

I now come to treat of the origin and the causes of the coming of the Normans into England.

1 Thirteenth year.

BOOK VI.

In the year 1000 from our Lord's incarnation, King Ethelred, before mentioned, in order to strengthen himself on the throne, formed the design of demanding in marriage the daughter of Richard, duke of Normandy. For he was a valiant prince, and all-powerful in the kingdom of France; while the English king was deeply sensible of his own and his people's weakness, and was under no small alarm at the calamities which seemed impending. It is clear that these were the work of God, who brings evil on the reprobate. For it was the purpose of the Almighty to distract and afflict the English nation, whose wickedness called for punishment; just as before He had humbled the Britons, when their sins accused them. He therefore prepared a double chastisement and a snare, as it were, into which they might fall as the device of an enemy. And thus it

was that while on the one hand the Danish invasion was raging, and on the other the Norman alliance was springing up, if they escaped the open attacks of the Danes, they might not have the firmness to break the meshes in which the subtlety of the Normans would entangle them unawares. And so it appeared in the sequel, when from this union of the king of England with the daughter of the Duke of Normandy, the Normans justly, according to the law of nations, established a footing in England, while they vilified it. Indeed, a certain man of God had predicted to them that, on account of the enormity of their offences, not only because bloodshed and rebellion were ever in their thoughts, but also because they abandoned themselves to gluttony and to the neglect of the temples of the Lord, a tyranny they little expected would come upon them from France, which should for ever trample their greatness in the dust, and scatter their glory to the winds, never to be recovered. He also predicted that not only

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