A.D.

901 Alfred dies at the age of fifty-three, and is buried at Winchester.

Edward and Ethelwald dispute the succession; the latter flies to Danelagh, and þecomes king of the Danes.

904 Donald IV., king of Scots, killed fu battle near Forteviot, and is succeeded by Constantine III.

905 Ethelwald is slain in battle by Edward.

911 Edward gains a signal victory over the Danes.

912 Ethelred dies, and leaves the care of Mercia to his widow Ethelfleda; she drives the Danes out of Derby and Leicester, compels many of the tribes to submit, and takes the wife of the Welsh king prisoner.

920 Ethelfleda dies; is succeeded in Mercia by Edward, who dies, and is succeeded by Athelstane.

925 Accession of Athelstane; reduces nearly all Wales; compels the Welsh to pay tribute, and drives the Cornish out of Devon.

934 North Britain called for the first time Scotland.

937 Athelstane defeats Anlaf the Dane, and Constantine, king of Scots, at Brunnaburgh; assumes the title of king of the Anglo Saxons.

940 He dies and is buried at Malmsbury.

Anlaf again invades England; takes a great part; Edmund Atheling regains posses. sion of it.

944 Constantine III., king of Scots, becomes Abbot of the Culdees of St. Andrews, and Malcolm I. succeeds.

Kenneth is murdered by Fenella at Fettercairn.

916 Edmund Atheling expels Dunmail, king of Cumbria, and gives the country to the king of Scots; puts out the eyes of Dunmail's sons; is stabbed by Leof; dies, and is buried at Glastonbury.

Accession of Edred. The Danes again infest England; are beaten; Edred obliges the Danes of England to pay a fine, and incorporates Northumbria with the rest of the kingdom; he dies.

948 The Danes of Ireland embrace Christianity.

953 Malcolm I., king of Scots, is killed, and succeeded by Indulf.

955 Accession of Edwy; appoints Edgar sub regulus of part of England; marries Elgiva; Dunstan insults him, and is banished. The Northumbrians and Mercians rise and declare Edgar king of England north of the Thames.

956 Dunstan returns. Elgiva cruelly treated and murdered.

958,9 Edwy dies, and is succeeded by Edgar. Dunstan is made archbishop of Canterbury. Edgar is styled emperor of Albion and king of England.

He causes the extirpation of wolves.

961 Indulf, king of Scots, killed at the battle of the Bauds, and is succeeded by Duff. 964 Edgar issues a new coinage. Athelwold marries Elfrida; he is murdered; Edgar marries the widow.

965 Duff, king of Scots, is assassinated, and Culen succeeds.

978 Culen is killed in battle, and is succeeded by Kenneth III.

973 Kenneth overcomes Dunwallon, king of Strathclyde, at the battle of Vacornar, and incorporates his kingdom with the rest of Scotland.

975 Edgar dies, and is buried at Glastonbury.

Accession of Edward the Martyr.

978 He is murdered near Corfe Castle by an attendant of Elfrida.

979 Ethelred is crowned at Kingston by Dunstan.

981 Southampton is plundered and its inhabitants taken for slaves by Sweyn, a prince of Denmark, who afterwards takes Chester, London, and attacks many other places. 991 The Danes ravage all between Ipswich and Maldon, and slay Earl Brithnoth.

992 A large fleet is collected at London, but Alfric, the principal commander, goes over to the Danes; the eyes of Elfgar, his son, are put out by Ethelred.

993 A Danish host land and take Bamborough Castle by storm.

991 Sweyn, king of Denmark, and Olave, king of Norway, ravage the south, and are bought off by the payment of 16,000 pounds of silver.

998 Ethelred prepares a large fleet.

A.D.

1001 The Danes again land and ravage the whole country; they are paid 24,000l. to depart. The Dane-geld becomes permanent.

1002 Ethelred marries Emma, the Flower of Normandy, the sister of Duke Richard.

Nov. 13. The Danes throughout England are massacred in the feast of St. Brice;
Gunhilda, sister of Sweyn is murdered.

Sweyn invades England; lands near Exeter, which city he plunders and ravages Wiltshire. 1003 Malcolm II. of Scotland defeats and slays Kennet the Grim, at the battle of Monivaird. The Danes take, plunder, and burn Norwich, and destroy the other towns in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Lincolnshire.

Bryan the Brave, king of Ireland, begins to reign.

1004 The Danes return to the Baltic.

1006 Sweyn again ravages the kingdom, and is paid 36,000l. to retire.

1008 A large fleet is built and equipped, but rendered useless by treachery of the commanders; Wulfnoth takes twenty and ravages the south coast, and eighty are destroyed by a storm.

1009, The Danes called "Thurkill's host" land in England and ravage the country; Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, defends that city, but it is taken and the Archbishop is murdered.

1010, 1011

Thurkill accepts 48,000l. and the cession of some counties, and enters the service of
Ethelred.

The Danes under Sweyn sail up the Humber, and landing, devastate the country; many counties submit, and some of the Thanes do homage to him. Ethelred retires to Normandy. 1013 Sweyn is declared "Full King of England." He dies suddenly at Gainsborough, and Ethelred returns, but Canute is declared king by his Danish followers.

1014 Bryan the Brave, king of Ireland, is killed by the Danes at the battle of Clontarf. 1016 Ethelred dies, and Edmund Ironside is chosen king by the Saxons. England is again divided, Canute reigning over the north and Edmund the south. Edmund dies suddenly.

1017 Canute succeeds to the whole kingdom of England; murders all the Saxon princes he can, except Edmund and Edward, who are sent to Sweden; he marries Emma, the widow of Ethelred; engages in foreign wars.

1019 Compels the Cumbrians and Scots to submit.

1020 Eadulf cedes to Malcolm, king of Scots, part of his dominions called Lodonia.

1030 Canute goes on a pilgrimage to Rome; visits Denmark; and after two years' absence returns to England.

1038 Malcolm II., king of Scots, dies, and is succeeded by Duncan.

1034 Robert, Duke of Normandy, dies.

1035 Canute dies and is buried at Winchester.

The Wittenagemote declare that the kingdom shall be divided between Harold and
Hardicanute.

Hardicanute remains in Denmark; Edward lands, but returns to Normandy; Alfred
lands at Herne Bay, and is received by Earl Godwin; he is captured and cruelly
treated; he dies.

Harold is declared full king over all the Island.

1039 Duncan, king of Scots, is murdered at Bothgouanan by Macbeth, who succeeds to the throne.

1040 Harold dies and is buried at Westminster. Hardicanute arrives in England, and is accepted as king.

1042 He dies at a feast, and is buried at Winchester.

Accession of Edward the Confessor.

He marries Editha, the daughter of Earl Godwin.

1043 The Danes, under King Magnus, threaten to invade England, but retire.

1044 Sweyn II., son of Earl Godwin, violates an abbess and is exiled; he becomes a pirate and murders his cousin Beorn; he is pardoned and restored to his government. 1051 A retainer of Eustace, Count of Bologne, kills an Englishman at Dover, and the count and his followers are driven out; Earl Godwin is disgraced; he flies to Flanders; his sons Harold and Leofwin go to Ireland.

A.D.

Edward seizes the jewels and money of his queen Editha, and confines her in the monastery of Wherwell; William, Duke of Normandy, visits England at the king's invitation. 1052 Earl Godwin lands on the south coast; he and his sons Harold and Leofwin sail up the Thames and stop at Southwark; the Normans and French are banished; the queen set at liberty; Wilnot, one of the sons, and Haco, a grandson of the earl, are given as hostages, and sent to Normandy; Sweyn is banished and goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; the Saxon authority is rendered supreme.

Earl Godwin dies at Windsor, and is succeeded in his titles and possessions by Harold, his eldest son.

1054 Siward, Earl of Northumbria, defeats Macbeth near Dunsinane.

1056 Dec. 5. Macduff and Malcolm defeat and slay Macbeth.

1057 April 3. Lulach, successor of Macbeth, is defeated and slain at the battle of Eassie by Malcolm III.

1063 Harold with his brother Tostig overcome the Welch, who decapitate their king Griffith, and send his head to Harold; the Welch give hostages and engage to pay the ancient tribute.

Edward, the outlaw, arrives in London and dies soon after, and is buried in St. Paul's. 1065 Harold is wrecked on the French coast; is taken prisoner; is ransomed by the Duke of Normandy; Harold swears to aid William to get possession of the English crown after Edward's death.

Tostig is expelled from Northumbria, and Morcar is appointed Earl in his stead; he flies to Bruges.

Nov. 30. Harold arrives in London.

1066 Jan. 5. Edward the Confessor dies and is buried at Westminster.

Harold is proclaimed king; the foreign favourites are dismissed; Duke William demands by his ambassadors the fulfilment of Harold's oath; he refuses; the Pope sanctions the invasion of England.

Tostig ravages the Isle of Wight and the coast of Lincolnshire; sails up the Humber, but is beaten off; Hardrada, king of Norway, invades England, and with Tostig defeats Earls Morcar and Edwin, and takes York; Harold fights and beats them at Samford bridge, and Hardrada and Tostig are slain.

Sept. 28. The Normans land at Bulverhithe, march to Hastings, and form a fortified camp.

They ravage the surrounding country.

Harold arrives in London from the north, and in six days marches against the
Normans.

Oct. 14. The battle of Hastings; Harold is slain.

BOOK III.

WILLIAM I. TO EDWARD III.

35.-THE CONQUEROR'S MARCH TO LONDON.

THIERRY.

WHILST the army of the king of the Anglo-Saxons, and that of the invader were confronting each other, a fresh detachment of vessels from Normandy had crossed the channel to rejoin the great fleet stationed in the roads of Hastings. Their commanders landed, by mistake, several miles farther north, at a place called Rumen-ey, now Romney. The inhabitants of the coast received the Normans as enemies, and a battle took place, in which the foreigners were vanquished. William learnt their defeat, a few days after his victory, and, to spare a similar misfortune to the recruits that he still expected from across the strait, he resolved, first of all, to secure possession of the south-eastern coast. Instead, therefore, of advancing towards London, he marched back to Hastings, and remained there for some time, in order to try if his presence might not induce the people of the neighbouring country to submit themselves voluntarily. But, receiving no peaceful advances, the conqueror resumed his march, with the remains of his army, and the fresh troops which had arrived, in the interval, from Normandy. He proceeded along the shore, from south to north, devastating all in his course. At Romney he avenged the defeat of his soldiers by burning the houses and massacreing the inhabitants. From Romney he marched towards Dover, the strongest place on the coast, of which he had formerly attempted to obtain peaceful possession by means of the oath which he extorted from Harold. The fortress of Dover, recently finished by the son of Godwin, under happier auspices, was situated on a rock which naturally rose precipitously from the sea that washed its base, and on which much pains and labour had been expended, in trimming it on all sides, so as to render it as smooth as a wall. The details of the seige by the Normans are not known; all that we learn from historians is, that the town of Dover was burnt down, and that, influenced either by terror or treason, the garrison of the fortress surrendered it. William passed eight days at Dover, in constructing new walls and works of defence; then, changing his route, and discontinuing his course along the coast, he marched towards the metropolis.

The Norman army advanced by the great Roman way, called by the English Wetlinga-street, the same which had so often served as a common boundary in the divisions of territory between the Saxons and the Danes. This road led from Dover to London through the middle of the province of Kent; the conquerors traversed a portion of it without their passage being disputed; but in one place, where the road approached the Thames, on the border of a forest well adapted for an ambuscade, a large body of armed Saxons suddenly appeared. They were commanded by two priests, Egelsig, abbot of the monastery of St. Augustine, at Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, the same who had crowned king Harold. It is not exactly known what occurred in this encounter, whether there was a battle, followed by a treaty between the two armies, or whether the capitu

lation was concluded without fighting. It appears, however, that the army of Kent stipulated for all the inhabitants of that province, who engaged to offer no further resistence to the conquerors, on condition that they should remain as free, after the conquest, as they had been before it.

In thus treating for themselves, and separating their own fate from that of their country, the men of Kent, (if indeed it be true that they entered into this compact), acted in a manner more hurtful to the common cause than advantageous to themselves; for no edict of the time gives any evidence that the foreigner kept faith with them, or distinguished them from the rest of the English in his oppressive measures and laws. Archbishop Stigand, either having joined in this capitulation, or vainly opposed it (which is the most probable conjecture, considering his proud and intrepid character), quitted the province which had laid down its arms and repaired to London, where submission had not yet been thought of. The inhabitants of this great town, and the chiefs who were assembled there, had resolved to fight a second battle, which, well ordered and ably commanded, would be, to all appearance, more fortunate than the first.

But a supreme commander was needed, under whom all the troops and all volunteers might rally, and the national council, which ought to have named this commander, delayed making a decision, agitated and divided as it was by divers intrigues and pretensions. Neither of the brothers of the late king, who were men capable of worthily filling his place, had survived the battle of Hastings. Harold had left two sons, who were still very young, and too little known to the people; it does not appear that they were then proposed as claimants to the throne. Amongst all the candidates, the most powerful from their wealth and renown were Edwin and Morkar, brothers-in-law of Harold, the chiefs of Northumbria and Mercia. They had the suffrages of all the men of the north of England; but the citizens of London, the inhabitants of the south, and some others, set up in opposition to them, Young Edgar, the nephew of king Edward, who was surnamed Ætheling, or the illustrious, on account of his descent from several kings. This young man, feeble minded, and without any acquired reputation, had been unable, a year before, to stand against the popularity of Harold; but he now outweighed that of the sons of Alfgar, and was supported against them by Stigand himself, and by Eldred, Archbishop of York.

Among the rest of the bishops there were several who were neither in favour of Edgar nor of his competitors, but demanded that submission should be made to him who had brought the pope's bull and the consecrated standard. Some of these men were influenced by a sentiment of blind obedience to ecclesiastical power, others by political cowardice; and others, of foreign origin, and bought beforehand by the foreign pretender, played the part for which they had been paid either in money, or in promises. They did not, however, prevail, the majority of the great national council fixed their choice on a Saxon, but on the one least fit to command in these trying circumstances, the young nephew of Edward. He was proclaimed king, after long hesitation, during which much previous time was lost in useless disputes. His accession did not conduce to rally the unsettled spirits of the nation; Edwin and Morkar, who had engaged to put themselves at the head of the troops assembled in London, retracted their promise, and retired to their governments in the north, taking with them the soldiers of these countries, over whom they had entire influence. They vainly hoped to be able to defend the northern provinces distinct from the rest of England. Their departure weakened and discouraged those who remained in London with the new king; depression, the fruit of civil discord, succeeded the first ebullition of spirit and enthusiasm excited by the foreign invasion.