his tongue, and putting out his eyes,' Charles hastily proceeded to Rome to settle the state of the church. Justly punishing these abandoned wretches, he stayed there the whole winter, and restored the pontiff, now speaking plainly and seeing clearly by the miraculous interposition of God, to his customary power. At this time the Roman people, with the privity of the pontiff, on the day of our Lord's Nativity, unexpectedly saluted him with the title of Augustus; which title, though, from its being unusual, he reluctantly accepted, yet afterwards he defended it with proper spirit against the Constantinopolitan emperors, and left it, as hereditary, to his son Lewis. His descendants reigned in that country, which is now properly called France, till the time of Hugh, surnamed Capet,* from whom is descended the present Lewis. From the same stock ⚫ came the sovereigns of Germany and Italy, till the year of our Lord nine hundred and twelve. Then Conrad, king of the Teutons, seized that empire. The grandson of this personage was Otho the Great,' equal in every estimable quality to any of the emperors who preceded him. Thus admirable for his valour and goodness, he left the empire in hereditary succession to his posterity: for the present Henry' derives his lineage from his blood. § 69. To return to my narrative: Alcwin, though promoted by Charles the Great to the monastery of St. Martin in France, was not unmindful of his fellow-countrymen; but exerted himself to retain the emperor in amity with them, and stimulated them to virtue by frequent epistles. I shall here subjoin many of his observations, from which it will appear clearly, how extremely soon 1 Upon the death of pope Adrian, 25th December, A. D. 795, Leo III. was chosen as his successor, in preference to Adrian's nephew, who employed conspirators to assault and slay the pope during a procession. The assurance of the miraculous restoration of his eyes and tongue, of which he had been twice deprived by the knife of the assassin, as given by Anastasius (ap. Labb. Concil. vii. 1079), is supported by the credulity of some French annalists; but Eginhard, and other writers of the same age, are more rational and sincere. The mutilation of Leo took place 25th April, A.D. 799. 2 Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the West by pope Leo III. on Christmasday, in the last year of the eighth century. Charlemagne died at Aix-la-Chapelle, on the 28th of January, A.D. 814. Several ancient writers, commencing the year either on the 25th of March, or at Easter, place his death in 813. He was succeeded by his son Louis le Débonnaire, also called the Pious. The race of Charlemagne terminated with Louis V., who died on the 22d of June, 987. Hugh Capet, son of Hugh le Grand, was then chosen king, and consecrated at Rheims on the 3d July. He died 24th October, A. D. 996. 5 Louis VI., called Louis le Gros, succeeded his father Philippe I., and was consecrated at Orleans 3d August, 1108. He died 1st August, 1137. 6 The German branch of the family of Charlemagne became extinct on the death of Louis IV., 21st January, 912; when the Germans, in a general assembly of the nation, elected Conrad, count of Franconia, emperor. He died 23d December, 918. 7 Otho the Great was not grandson of Conrad. He was elected emperor in 937, upon the death of his father, Henri l'Oiseleur, who was the son of Otho duke of Saxony. 8 Upon the extinction of the line of Charlemagne, the empire of the West became elective. Saville's text, following MS. C., here adds, "the son-in-law of Henry, king of England." This Henry was crowned emperor of Germany, A. D. 1105. He married Matilda, the daughter of Henry I. of England, 7th January, 1114, and died at Utrecht, 23d May, 1125. after the death of Beda the love of learning declined even in his own monastery, and how quickly after the decease of Egbert the kingdom of the Northumbrians came to ruin, through the prevalence of degenerate manners. " 3 § 70. He says thus to the monks of Wearmouth,' among whom Beda had both lived and died, obliquely accusing them of having done the very thing which he begs them not to do: "Let the youths be accustomed to attend the praises of our heavenly King, not to dig up the burrows of foxes, or pursue the winding mazes of hares: let them now learn the holy Scriptures, that when they are grown up they may be able to instruct others. Remember the most noble teacher of our times, Beda the priest; what thirst for learning he had in his youth, what praise he now has among men, and what a far greater reward of glory with God!" Again, to those of York he says: The Searcher of my heart is witness, that it was not for lust of gold that I came to France, or continued there, but for the necessities of the church." And thus he writes to Offa, king of the Mercians: "I was prepared to come to you, with the presents of king Charles, and to return to my country: but it seemed more advisable to me, for the peace of my nation, to remain abroad, not knowing what I could have done among those persons, with whom no one can be secure, or able to proceed in any laudable pursuit. Lo! the holy places are laid desolate by Pagans, the altars polluted by perjury, the monasteries dishonoured by adultery, the earth itself stained with the blood of rulers and of princes." Again, to king Egelred, third in the sovereignty after Egbert: "Behold the church of St. Cuthbert sprinkled with the blood of God's priests, despoiled of all its ornaments, and the holiest spot in Britain given up to pagan nations to be plundered; and where, after the departure of St. Paulinus from York, the christian religion first took its rise in our own nation, there misery and calamity took their rise also. What portends that shower of blood, which in the time of Lent, in the city of York, the capital of the whole kingdom, in the church of the chief of the apostles, we saw termendously falling on the northern side of the building from the summit of the roof, though the weather was fair? Must not blood be expected to come upon the land from the northern regions?" Again, to Osbert,' prince of the Mercians: "Our kingdom of the Northumbrians has almost perished through internal dissensions and perjury." So also to Adalard, archbishop of Canterbury: "I speak this on account of the scourge' which has lately fallen on that part of our island which has been inhabited by our forefathers for nearly three * See Alcuini Opp. i. 22, ep. xiii. 1 "ad Wiorenses." This passage does not occur in any of the letters known to Froben, the last editor of Alcuin's works; but it in reality forms part of Ep. vi. (Opp. i. 9), which will be given (for the first time) in its entire state, in the edition which will be included in the present series. See Alc. Opp. i. 57, ep. xlii. 5 See Id. i. 20, ep. xii. Saville here reads, "St. Peter, the chief," &c. 7 Froben has not been able to recover the letter from which this is an extract. See Alc. Opp. i. 297. 8 See Alc. Opp. i. 15, ep. ix. Alcuin most probably here alludes to the devastations of the Danes, which began A. D. 793. hundred and forty years. It is recorded in the writings of Gildas,' the wisest of the Britons, that those very Britons ruined their country through the avarice and rapine of their princes, the iniquity and injustice of their judges, the bishops' neglect of preaching, the luxury and abandoned manners of the people. Let us be cautious that such vices become not prevalent in our times, in order that the Divine favour may preserve our country to us, in that happy prosperity for the future which hitherto, in his most merciful kindness, He has vouchsafed to us." § 71. It has been made evident, I think, what disgrace and what destruction the neglect of learning and the immoral manners of degenerate men brought upon England! These remarks obtain this place in my History merely for the purpose of cautioning my readers. § 72. Egbert,' then, rivalling his brother in piety, and receiving the tonsure, gave place to Osulph' his son, who being, without any offence on his part, slain by his subjects, was after a twelvemonth's reign succeeded by Mollo: and he carrying on the government with commendable diligence for eleven years, fell a victim to the treachery of Alcred. Alcred,' in his tenth year, was compelled by his countrymen to retire from the government which he had usurped. Ethelbert' too, the son of Mollo, being elected king by their consent, was expelled by them at the end of five years. Alfwold, next hailed sovereign, lamented, after eleven years, the perfidy of the inhabitants; being assassinated, though guiltless, which his distinguished interment at Hexham and divine miracles sufficiently declare. His nephew, Osred,' the son of Alhred, succeeding him, was expelled after barely a year, and gave place to Ethelbert, who was also called Athelred. He was the son of Mollo, also called Athelwald; and, obtaining the kingdom after twelve years of exile, held it during four, at the end of which time, unable to escape the fate of his predecessors, he was cruelly murdered.1o this many of the bishops and nobles, greatly shocked, fled from the country. Some, indeed, affirm that he was punished deservedly, because he had assented to the unjust murder of Osred;" whereas he had it in his power to quit the sovereignty, and restore him to 1 The precise words cited by Alcuin are not to be found in either the Historia or the Epistola Gildæ, as these works at present exist; but the expressions of Gildas, to which Alcuin seems to allude in showing whence resulted the misfortunes of the country, occur in §§ 27, 66 of the Epistola. 2 Edberht abdicated in the year 758, and became a monk. He died A. D. 768. 3 Osulf was murdered on the 24th of July, 759. • Mull Athelwald, the paternal uncle of Osulf, was elected king on the 5th August, 759. Mull Athelwald was expelled from Northumberland 30th October, A. D. 765, having completed the sixth year of his reign in the August preceding. The Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester assign only six years to his reign. • Alhhred was driven from the throne A. D. 774. 7 Athelberht, or Athelred, the son of Mull Athelwald, was banished by Alfwold in 779. Alfwald was slain on the 23d September, A. D. 789. Osred was expelled from his kingdom A. D. 790, and Athelberht was restored after an exile of twelve years. 10 Athelberht was murdered on the 19th April, A. D. 796. 11 Compare Simeon of Durham, a. D. 790–792. his throne. Of the beginning of this reign Alcwin thus speaks: "Blessed be God, the only worker of miracles: Ethelred, the son of Adelwald, went lately from the dungeon to the throne, from misery to grandeur; by the recentness of whose accession we are detained from coming to you." Of his murder he writes thus to Offa, king of the Mercians: "Your esteemed kindness is to understand that my lord, king Charles, often speaks to me of you with affection and sincerity, and in him you have the firmest friend: he therefore sends becoming presents to your grace, and to the several episcopal sees of your kingdom. In like manner he had appointed presents for king Ethelred, and for the sees of his bishops; but oh, dreadful to think! at the very moment of despatching these gifts and letters, there came a sorrowful account by the ambassadors, who returned out of Scotland through your country, of the faithlessness of the people, and the death of the king. So that Charles, withholding his liberal gifts, is so highly incensed against that nation, calling it perfidious and perverse, and the murderer of its sovereigns, and esteeming it worse than pagan, that had I not interceded, he would have already deprived them of every advantage within his reach, and have done them all the injury in his power." § 73. After Ethelred no one durst ascend the throne;' each dreading the fate of his predecessor, and preferring a life of safety in inglorious ease to a tottering reign in anxious suspense; for most of the Northumbrian kings had made their exit by a violent death, which was now become almost habitual. Thus being without a sovereign for thirty-three years, that province became an object of plunder and contempt to its neighbours; for when the Danes, who (as I have before related from the words of Alcwin) laid waste the holy places, on their return home represented to their countrymen the fruitfulness of the island and the indolence of its inhabitants, these barbarians, coming over hastily and in great numbers, obtained forcible possession of that part of the country till the time of which we are speaking. Indeed, they had a king of their own for many years, though he was subordinate to the authority of the king of the West Saxons: however, after the lapse of these thirty-three years, king Egbert* obtained the sovereignty of this province, as well as of the others, in the year of our Lord's incarnation eight hundred and twenty-seven, and the twenty-eighth of his reign. And since we have reached his times, mindful of our engagement, we shall speak briefly of the kingdom of the Mercians; and this, as well because we admire brevity in relation, as that there is no great abundance of materials. The editor of Alcuin's works (1777) had not discovered the letter from which Malmesbury took this extract. See Alc. Opp. i. 5, epist. ii. note (c). Alc. Opp. i. 57, epist. xlii. • Malmesbury is incorrect in his account of the circumstances which attended the decline and fall of the once illustrious kingdom of Northumbria. The better informed Simeon of Durham, and Hoveden, may here be consulted with advantage. This statement is incorrect, for Egbert's rule did not extend over Northumbria. Of the Kingdom of the Mercians. § 74. In the year of our Lord's incarnation six hundred and twenty-six, and the hundred and thirty-ninth after the death of Hengist, Penda,' the son of Wibba, tenth in descent from Woden, of noble lineage, expert in war, but at the same time an irreligious heathen, assumed the title of king of the Mercians, when, now arrived at the age of fifty, he had fostered his presumption by frequent incursions on his neighbours. Seizing the sovereignty, therefore, with a mind loathing quiet, and unconscious how great an enormity it was even to be victorious in a contest against his own countrymen, he began to attack the neighbouring cities, to infest the confines of the surrounding kings, and to fill everything with terror and confusion. For what would not that man attempt, who, by his lawless daring, had extinguished those luminaries of Britain, Edwin' and Oswald,' kings of the Northumbrians, Sigebert, Egric,' and Anna," kings of the East Angles, men in whom nobility of race was equalled by sanctity of life? Chenwalch also, king of the West Saxons, after being frequently harassed by him, was driven into exile; though he deservedly paid the penalty of his perfidy towards God in denying his faith, and towards Penda himself in repudiating his sister. It is now irksome to relate, that eagerly watching opportunities of slaughter, and like a raven greedily flying at the scent of a carcase, he readily joined in assisting Chedwalla,' and was of infinite service to him in recovering his dominion. In this manner, for thirty years, attacking his countrymen, he did nothing worthy of record against strangers. His insatiable desires, however, at last found an end suitable to their deserts for being routed with his allies by Oswiu, who had succeeded his brother Oswald, more through the assistance of God than his military powers, Penda1 added to the number of infernal spirits. By his queen Kineswitha" his sons were Weda, Wulfer, Ethelred, Merewald, Mercelin: his daughters, Kineburga and Kineswitha, both distinguished for inviolable chastity. Thus the parent, though ever rebellious towards God, produced a most holy offspring for heaven. § 75.. His son Weda" succeeded him in a portion of the kingdom, by the permission of Oswiu, advanced to the government of the 1 Great obscurity prevails about the early history of Mercia. Henry of Huntingdon considers Crida to have been the founder of that kingdom, about the year 584. Crida died in the year 600, and was succeeded by Wibba, who died A.D. 610. Ceorl was the next in succession, and Penda succeeded him. Malmesbury here follows the Saxon Chronicle in dating Penda's reign from A.D. 626; but Beda says that he reigned for twenty-two years, and died in 655. His reign began, therefore, in 633, the year of his victory over Edwin. See the Eccl. Hist. § 148. 2 See § 48. 6 See § 97. 3 See § 49. • See § 97. • Penda joined Ceadwalla, king of the Britons, and defeated Edwin of Northumberland, at Hatfield, on the 12th of October, A.D. 633. See § 48. 10 Penda was killed A. D. 655. See Beda, E. H. § 221. 12 Weda is a blundering of the scribe or author; the son and successor of Penda, in Beda, the Saxon Chronicle, and other authorities, being called Peada. He was advanced to the government of the South Mercians by his kinsman, Oswiu, A.D. 656, and slain in the spring of the following year. |