the others fled.

6 This year, therefore, was fortunate for the English people.

2 To whom [BERT WOLF] SUCceeded Burrhed on the throne of Mercia.

place, God granting them help, and seized nine of their ships the rest struck with terror escaped by flight.

853.

Burhred, king of the Mer

cians, by messengers, prayed Etheluulf king of the West-Saxons, to come and help him in reducing the midland Britons, who dwell between Mercia and the

Adelwlf, in the 18th year of his reign, most powerfully helped Burhred to subdue under his rule the North

Welsh.

CHARTERS IN 853. ETHELWOLF

western sea, and who strug- king of Wessex, subscribed by gled against him most im

moderately.

So without delay, king Ætheluulf, having received the embassy, moved his army, and advanced with king Burhred against Britain, and immediately on entering that country, he began to ravage it; and having reduced it under subjection to king Burhred, he returned home.

ETHELBERTUS rex, CIALNOTHUS Dei gratia archiepiscopus, and others, among whom we find " Ego ELFRED fili regis consensi et subscripsi." II, 48.

relates, under this year, a legend concerning the terrible death and

MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER

damnation of a witch; also the fate of Charles Martel.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 853, of the birth of Alfred 5, Burhred king of the Mercians sent messengers, and begged Ethelwlf king of the West Saxons to bring him help in order that he might be able to subdue under his dominion the midland Britons who dwell between Mercia and the Western Sea, who often

strove against him. But King Ethelwlf, having received his embassy, moved an army, distributed pay, and bravely went forth with

king Burhred to war. Presently when he had begun to lay waste that nation, he took, slew, and subdued it to king Burhred, who giving thanks sent him away with joy to return to his own land.

3 In the same year also, after And gave him his daughter

Easter, Etheluulf, king of the West-Saxons, gave his daughter to Burhred, king of the Mercians, and the marriage was celebrated royally at the royal vill of Chippenham.

in marriage.

3 The same year after the feast of Christ's holy resurrection, king Ethelwlf, of glorious power, gave his daughter, with great glory, as it is customary for kings, to Burhred king of the Mercians, at the vill which is called At Chippenham ;

Saxon Chronicle

Asser

Ethelwerd 853

1 And the same year king 1 In the same year, king Æthelwulf sent his son Elfred to Rome. Leo was then pope of Rome, and he consecrated him king, and took him for his son at confirmation. *

*See note in page 18.

2 Then, in the same year, Ealhere, with the men of Kent, and Huda, with the men of Surrey, fought in Thanet against the heathen army; and at first they were victorious; and many there were slain, and drowned on either hand, and both the alderman were killed.

A. 854.

CHARTERS IN 854. 1. ETHELWOLF, king of Wessex, subscribed also by Alstan, "Æthred fili. reg." and "Elfred fili. reg." II, 50. This is the celebrated grant of tithes : it

A. 855. Here the heathen men first sat over winter in

Sheppey.

And the same year king Ethelwulf gave by charter the tenth part of his land throughout his realm for the glory of God and his own eternal salvation.

Æthelwulf sent his son Elfred, above-named, to Rome, with an honourable escort both of nobles and commoners. Pope Leo [THE FOURTH] at that time presided over the apostolic see, who ordained and anointed for king the aforesaid child Elfred, and confirmed him, receiving him as his son of

adoption.

2 The same year also, earl Ealhere, with the men of Kent, and Huda with the men of Surrey, fought bravely and resolutely against an army of the pagans, in the island, which is called in the Saxon tongue, Tenet, [THA

NET], but Ruim in British. 3 And at first the Christians had the victory, but when the battle was protracted to a great length, many fell on both sides, and also were drowned in the water; and both the earls were there slain.

is dated April 22. 2. Another copy of the same charter follows, p. 52, in which the names of Ethelred and Alfred do not appear. Both copies bear the subscription of the celebrated Swithun bishop of Winchester, and Alstan bishop of

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 855, which was the seventh after the birth of the aforesaid king, the great army of the pagans passed the whole winter in the afore

said isle of Sheppey. In the same year the aforesaid venerable king Ethelwulf released the tenth part of all his kingdom from all royal service and tribute, and with a pen never to be forgotten, offered it up to God the One and the Three in One, in the cross of Christ, for the redemption of his own soul and of his prede

cessors.

In the same year king Athulf gave the tenth of all his possessions to be the Lord's

portion, and So appointed it to be in all the government of his kingdom. INGULF places the grant of tithes in 855, after the return of Ethelwolf from Rome: but, if he started for Rome in 855, and stayed there 12 months, it is certain that he returned

in 856, and consequently, if the grant was made in 855, it must have been made before he started. Ethelwolf married Judith on the 1st of October 856. [BOUQUET, vii, 72.]

year of Grace 854 died WYMUND archbishop of York to whom succeeded WILFER.

7 About this time the pagans tarried the whole winter in Sheppey.

1 Ethelwolf, in the 19th year of his reign, tithed all his land for the service of the churches, on account of his love of God and for the redemption of himself.

Simeon

whereby, on the completion of the nuptials, he appointed her the dignity of the name of queen.

1 In the same year king Ethelwlf sent over to Rome his son Elfred accompanied by a great band of noble soldiers. At which time the blessed pope Leo presided over the apostolic see who ordained and anointed for king the aforesaid child, and receiving him for his adopted son, confirmed him and sent him back to his country and to his father with the blessing of St Peter the apostle.

2

At that time earl Alchere and Wada, with the men of Kent and Surrey, fought severely against the army of the pagans in the island which is called TENED in the Saxon tongue, but in the British RUIM. At first the Christians had the victory; but, when the battle was protracted to a great length, many fell on both sides, and many were drowned in the river and slain, a number not to be described. Both the aforesaid leaders there fell for the deliverance of their people.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 854, archbishop Wlfere received the pall, and Eardulf undertook the bishopric of Lindisfarne.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 855, and the seventh from the birth of the aforesaid king, the army of the pagans wintered the

whole winter in the island of Sheppey.

At which time king Ethelwlf tithed all the dominions of his kingdom for the redemption of his soul and that of

his ancestors.

ANNALS. AN. 855. Eadmund, the most glorious king of the EastAngles, begins to reign on the 8th before the calends of January, i. e. on our Lord's birth-day, in the 14th year of his age.

The most holy Edmund, beloved by God, sprung from the lineage of the old Saxons, and a true worshipper of the Christian faith, affable to all by his sweet mode of speech, and deeply imbued with the grace of humility, liberal to the needy, and a most merciful father to orphans and widows, obtained the government of the province of East-Anglia.

2 In the meantime, however, whilst king Etheluulf was residing beyond the sea, a base deed was done, repugnant to the morals of all Christians, in the western part of Selwood. For king Æthelbald and Ealhstan, bishop of the church of Sherborne, with Eanwulf, earl of the district of Somerton, are said to have made a conspiracy together, that king Ætheluulf, on his return from Rome, should never again be

3 And returning thence, he took to wife the daughter of Charles the Bald king of France, and brought her with him into

this country.

received into his kingdom. This crime, unheard-of in all previous ages, is ascribed by many to the bishop and earl alone, as resulting from their counsels. Many also ascribed it solely to the insolence of the king, because that king was pertinacious in this matter, and in many other perversities, as we have heard related by certain persons; as also was

When he [ETHELWOLF] Was returning to his ountry,