have heard tell of unto the present day, and there got the victory." Athelstan of Kent dies. The Northmen driven from Dublin; they regain possession the following year. A.D. 852. Beorhtwulf of Mercia dies; Burgred succeeds. A.D. 853. Ethelwulf assists the Mercians against the North Welsh. The Northmen in Thanet unsuccessfully attacked by Ealhere and Huda, the ealdormen of Kent and Surrey, who are both killed. Burgred marries Athelswith, the daughter of Ethelwulf. Anlaf, a Northman, establishes his supremacy in Ireland, and makes a truce with the natives. A.D. 855. "This year the heathen men, for the first time, remained over winter in Sheppy." "King Ethelwulf gave by charter the tenth part of his land throughout his realm for the glory of God and his own eternal salvations. And the same year he went to Rome in great state, and dwelt there twelve months, and then returned homewards." A.D. 856. Ethelwulf marries Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks (Charles the Bald), Oct. 1. A.D. 857. Ethelwulf parts his kingdom with his son. A.D. 858. Ethelwulf dies, January or June, and is buried at Winchester. This grant, which is only to be taken as a proof of the personal piety of Ethelwulf, in bestowing a tenth of his private estate on the Church, is often incorrectly spoken of as if it were the origin of tithes in England. See notice of Anglo-Saxon Laws, p. 154. ETHELBALD AND ETHELBERT-ETHELRED. 87 ETHELBALD AND ETHELBERT. THE two elder sons of Ethelwulf shared his dominions between them. Ethelbald, who only survived two years, is chiefly remarkable for his incestuous marriage with Judith, his father's widow, by whom, however, he left no issue. Ethelbert contended vigorously with the Northmen until his death in 866, and left two sons: Ethelwald, who afterwards by leaguing with the invaders made himself for a short time king in Northumbriat; and Adhelm, of the events of whose life no record has been preserved. A.D. 858. Ethelbald succeeds in Wessex, and Ethelbert in the rest of Ethelwulf's dominions. A.D. 860. Ethelbald dies, and is buried at Sherborne; "and Ethelbert succeeded to all the realm of his brother, and he held it in godly concord and in great tranquillity." The Northmen storm Winchester, but are shortly after defeated. A.D. 864. The Northmen again winter in Thanet. A.D. 866. Ethelbert dies, and is buried at Sherborne; Ethelred succeeds. ETHELRED. ETHELRED, the third son of Ethelwulf, succeeded, to the prejudice of his brother's children, but this was not * See p. 102. contrary to the practice of the age in regard to minors. He fought nine battles with various success against the Northmen, and died shortly after Easter, 871. His brother Alfred was appointed to succeed him, as he left only young children, from one of whom Ethelwerd the historian traced his descent. A.D. 866. The Northmen make a truce with the East Angles, and obtain horses from them. A.D. 867. The Northmen pass from East Anglia, and capture York; the Northumbrians, who had expelled Osbert and chosen a king, Ella, not of the royal blood, attempt to drive them from York, but are defeated. Osbert and Ella are both slain, and a truce is made. A.D. 868. The Northmen pass into Mercia, and possess themselves of Nottingham, where they are ineffectually besieged by Ethelred and his brother Alfred; the Mercians at length make a truce with them. A.D. 869. The Northmen retire to York, and remain there during the year. A.D. 870. The Northmen pass again into East Anglia, and take up their winter quarters at Thetford. "And the same winter King Edmund fought against them, and the Danes got the victory and slew the king, [Nov. 20,] and subdued all the land, and destroyed all the minsters which they came to. The names of their chiefs who slew the king were Ingwair and Ubba. At that same time they came to Medeshamstede (Peterborough), and burned and beat it down, slew abbot and monks, and all that they found there; and that place, which before was full rich, they reduced to nothing "." Ethelred, archbishop of Canterbury, endeavours to expel the secular priests from his cathedral. A.D. 870. Anlaf the Northman ravages England, but dies shortly after his return to Ireland. A.D. 871. The Northmen pass into Wessex. They are defeated at Englefield, but gain the victory three days after at Reading. They are defeated four days after at Ashdown, (near Aston, in Berkshire,) and fourteen. days after are victorious at Basing; "and about two King Edmund, described by Simeon of Durham as a just and holy man, began his reign over the East Angles in 855. Having been defeated by the pagans, and captured, he was offered his life on condition of apostacy, but firmly refusing, he was first cruelly scourged, then pierced with arrows, and his head being stricken off was cast into a thicket. Hence he was reverenced as a saint and martyr, and is still retained in the Church Calendar. The ancient service contains the following legend of the discovery of his remains. A party of his friends having ventured in search of them, "they went seeking all together, and constantly calling, as is the wont of those who oft go into woods, ... 'Where art thou, comrade?' and to them answered the head, 'Here, here, here.' They all were answered as often as any of them called, until they all came through the calling to it. There lay the Edmund of East Anglia; from a gray wolf that guarded the head, and with painted panel of the 15th century. his two feet had the head embraced, greedy and hungry, and for God durst not taste the head, and held it against wild beasts. Then were they astonished at the wolf's guardianship, and carried the holy head home with them, thanking the Almighty for all His wonders. But the wolf followed forth with the head until they came to the town, as if he were tame, and after that turned into the woods again." The remains were interred at the place, since called in consequence, Bury St. Edmund's, and many churches still exist dedicated to St. Edmund, king and martyr. months after this, King Ethelred and Alfred his brother fought against the army at Meretun, and they were in two bodies, and they put both to flight, and during a great part of the day were victorious, and there was great slaughter on either hand; but the Danes had possession of the place of carnage; and there Bishop Heahmund (of Sherborne) was slain, and many good men." Ethelred dies, "over Easter," and is buried at Wimborne. His brother Alfred succeeds. ALFRED THE GREAT. ALFRED, the fourth son of Ethelwulf, was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, in 849. In his fifth year he was sent to Rome, and was there "consecrated king" by the Pope, and again visited that city in company with his father in the year 855. In 868 he married Elswitha, the daughter of Ethelred, an East Anglian chief, and for the next three years was actively engaged in seconding the efforts of his brother Ethelred against the Northmen. In 871 his brother's death placed him on the throne, and he continued the contest with various fortune for seven years, when the overpowering force of the enemy compelled him to withdraw to the isle of Athelney, where he passed the early months of 878; As he met his death from idolaters, King Ethelred was considered as a martyr, and was canonized. His commemoration in the ancient English church was on April 22, which is therefore most probably the day of his death, though Florence of Worcester says April 23. A church at Norwich is still found dedicated to him. |