A.D. 895 (circa). The Northmen permanently establish themselves in the Orkneys and Hebrides. The Northmen from Chester ravage North Wales, and then return to Northumbria and East Anglia. Sussex ravaged by the Northmen from Northumbria and East Anglia. The Northmen reassemble in Mersey island, and thence proceed up the Thames and the Lea. A.D. 896. there, and went southwards over sea to the Seine. Thanks be to God, the army had not utterly broken down the English nation; but during the three years it was much more broken down by the mortality among cattle, and among men, and most of all by this, that many of the most eminent king's thanes in the land died during the three years." The south coast of England harassed by plundering parties. Alfred builds ships of a new model to contend with them. Some of the pirate vessels are captured, and their crews put to death. Twenty more are wrecked on the south The Northmen build a fort on the Lea, probably near Ware, which is unsuccessfully attacked by the Londoners. Alfred encamps in the neighbour-coast. hood, and by cutting fresh channels leaves the ravagers' ships aground. The Northmen retire to Shropshire, and pass the winter there. A.D. 897. A.D. 900. Wales ravaged by the Northmen, and Mervin, prince of Powys, killed. His state is seized by Cadel of Dynevor. A.D. 901. Alfred dies, Oct. 26, and is buried The Northmen break up their army. "Some went for East Anglia, some for Northumbria; and they who were at Winchester. moneyless procured themselves ships Edward. EDWARD I., CALLED THE ELDER. EDWARD, the eldest surviving son of Alfred, was born about 870, and as early as 894 he distinguished himself against the Northmen at Farnham. His accession to the throne was unsuccessfully opposed by Ethelwald, his cousin, who obtained aid from the Anglo-Danes, and the greater part of his reign was passed in repelling the attacks of the insurgents and their allies from the North and from Ireland. Edward, 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'. Thyra's Cup. 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. It has more than once been opened, and in it were found a round coffer, and the figure of a bird formed of thin plates of gold, as well as the cup here engraved; it is of silver, plated with gold, is of very small size, and is remarkable as an example of the state of the decorative arts in the tenth century. Howel Dda, having about this time become ruler of the whole of Wales P, summoned a numerous assembly to the White House on the Tav (near Whitland, in Carmarthenshire,) twothirds being laymen, and one-third clergy, to examine the ancient laws (those ascribed to Dyvnwal Moelmud ); "some they suffered to continue 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, 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. 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 com- | having given a pledge, and some munity. 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 Howel Dda, was appointed prince of Dynevor, and Blethin and Rywallon (the brothers of Griffin) princes of Gwynneth and Powys, by the victors. 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. to the Irish at Kilmashogue, near The Northmen give a signal defeat Dublin, Sept. 15. King Niall and fourteen other princes are killed there. "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 Derby captured from the Northmen. be their lord." A.D. 918. Leicester surrendered by treaty to Ethelfleda. "And the people of York had also covenanted with her, some The North-Welsh kings seek him for lord. A.D. 923. Edward advances into Northumbria, From this prince, Cecil, the minister of Elizabeth, professed to be descended. and builds forts at Thelwall, in Che- of the Scots, and Regnold and the shire, and at Manchester. son of Eadulf, and all those who dwell Regnold, a Danish king, captures in Northumbria, as well English as York. A.D. 924. Danes, and Northmen and others, and also the king of the Strathclyde Bri Edward builds other forts, as at tons, and all the Strathclyde Britons." Nottingham and in the Peak. "Then chose him for father and for lord, the king of the Scots and the whole nation A.D. 925. Edward dies, and is buried at Winchester. Athelstan succeeds. ATHELSTAN. ATHELSTAN, the eldest, and perhaps the natural, son of Edward, succeeded him, and shewed great vigour and ability in contending with the AngloDanes and their confederates, to whom he gave a signal overthrow at Brunanburg. He also protected his young nephew Louis, the son of Charles the Simple, and assisted in placing him on the throne of France. He added many valuable provisions to the laws promulgated by Alfred, like him was liberal to monasteries, and favoured both literature and commerce. He was never married, and was succeeded by his brother Edmund, in the year 940. This, and some similar transactions in AngloSaxon 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. Sihtric had long reigned in Dublin, but was driven from thence about A.D. 920. Anlaf Cuaran, with an army of Northmen from Ireland, and Constantine III., king of the Scots (his father-inlaw), land at the mouth of the Humber. They are defeated by Athelstan and Edmund the atheling, at Brunanburg. "Five youthful kings and seven earls were laid in slumber by the sword, and of their army countless shipmen and Scots. The West Saxons onward throughout the day, in bands, pursued the footsteps of the loathed nations. Carnage greater has not been in this island, of people slain by the edge of the sword, since from the east hither came the Angles and Saxons." u His two sons, Anlaf and Guthferth (Godfrey), sought refuge with the Scots, but soon retired to the Ostmen in Ireland. Some writers, as Simeon of Durham, charge Athelstan with his murder; but this earlier notice leaves the matter doubtful. * This tribute is stated in the North Welsh Code as three score and three pounds in money, when the king of Aberfraw received his land from the king of London, beside dogs, hawks, and horses. y The site of this celebrated battle has not been ascertained. The isles are visible from St. Buryan, near the Land's End, and Athelstan is said to have rebuilt the church, in performance of a vow, in token of his victory. These were Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford, and Derby, the inhabitants of which, "by need constrained, had ere while a long time dwelt in captive chains to heathen men." Probably the son of Godfrey the brother of Sihtric, and consequently cousin of Anlaf Cuaran, with whom he has been confounded by many writers. See Todd's "War of the Gael." ⚫ It had been not long before seized by the Northmen. It was ruled as a separate principality by the Scottish heir-apparent, and was not re-annexed to England till the time of Edward I. * Dunstan, one of the most prominent names in Anglo-Saxon history, was born of noble parents in Wessex, about 920. He became a recluse in Glastonbury whilst still a youth, but was brought to the court by his uncle, Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury. Gaining the favour of King Edmund, he was made by that prince abbot of Glastonbury. Dunstan, though abbot, remained at court, became, in effect, the prime minister of Edmund, Edred, and Edgar, and eventually archbishop of Canterbury. He devoted himself zealously to ecclesiastical and monastic reforms, and hence he has been described in very unfavourable colours by many modern writers. He was canonized shortly after his death in 988. His skill in music and mechanics was remarkable, but his monkish biographers have so exaggerated these and other matters concerning him, as to produce the very contrary effect to that intended. |