A.D. 904.] EDWARD I., CALLED THE ELDER.

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however, several times defeated them, and by taking the precaution to erect forts as he proceeded, in which he was powerfully aided by his sister Ethelfleda, the "lady of the Mercians," he at length succeeded in putting down all opponents; so that, shortly before his death, in 925, he was acknowledged as "father and lord," not only by all the Danish chiefs in England, but also by the kings of the Scots and of the Strathclyde Britons.

Edward left a numerous family, of whom three (Athelstan, Edmund, and Edred) became kings of England; his other children were,-Edwin, who perished at sea; Edgiva, married to Charles the Simple of France; Edith, to Otho the Great of Germany; another Edgiva, to Louis, king of Arles; and several daughters who embraced a religious life, or whose alliances have not been satisfactorily determined. Thyra, wife of Gormo III., of Denmark, is by some writers stated to be one of them, but the fact is doubtful'.

A.D. 901. Ethelwald the atheling ", attempts to make himself king in Wessex. Failing, he joins the Northmen in Northumbria.

A.D. 902. Edward is crowned, May 16.

A great battle at the Holm, in Kent, between the Kentish men and the Northmen; the latter defeated". Elswitha, the widow of Alfred, dies o.

The Northmen driven from Dublin by the Irish. A.D. 904. Ethelwald obtains possession of Essex.

The White Leaf cross, near Prince's Risborough, is regarded as a memorial of one of his victories.

The sepulchre of this princess, who died in 935, still exists, at Jellinge, in Jutland; it is a chamber formed of beams of oak, covered with woollen cloth, and inclosed in a vast tumulus.

m Most probably the son of Ethelbert, Alfred's predecessor (see A.D. 858), but sometimes said to be his nephew.

"This battle is ascribed to the year 904 by Florence of Worcester.

Her death is ascribed to the year 905 in some MSS. of the Saxon Chronicle.

A.D. 905. Ethelwald and the Northmen ravage Mercia. Edward in return invades "all their land between the dikes and the Ouse, as far north as the fens." 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 slain Eohric their king, and Ethelwald the atheling, who had enticed 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. The great diocese of Winchester divided, and new sees established in Wilts, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

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 Carmarthenshire,) two-thirds being laymen, and one-third clergy, to examine the ancient laws (those ascribed to Dyvnwal Moelmud "); some they suffered to continue See A.D. 640.

P See A.D. 840.

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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 (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 doorkeeper, and state their various duties, privileges, and emoluments, some of which are of a singular nature; the second give 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 of the eastern part of its territory. Llewelyn was killed in 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 1063, when he being defeated by Earl Harold, and killed by his own people as the price of peace, the whole of Wales was reduced to a nominal dependence on England. Meredith, a descendant of

From this prince, Cecil, the minister of Elizabeth, professed to be descended.

Howel Dda, was appointed prince of Dynevor, and Blethin and Rywallon (the brothers of Griffin) princes of Gwynneth and Powys, by the victors.

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. 915. The Northmen recommence their invasion of Ireland.

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

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."

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

The coasts of Wales and the Severn ravaged by a Northman fleet from Britanny. The invaders are

driven off, and retire to Ireland.

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

The Northmen re-establish themselves in Dublin. A.D. 919. Edward continues his progress, and captures Bedford.

The Northmen give a signal defeat to the Irish at

Kilmashogue, near Dublin, Sept. 15. fourteen other princes are killed there.

King Niall and

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

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

men.

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.”

Armagh plundered by the Northmen.

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."

The North-Welsh kings seek him for 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. "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,

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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 the Lion 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 were of the English party, having lands in both kingdoms,) successfully resisted the foe, and established the independence of their country.