History of the British Empire

Front matter

HISTORY

OF

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Contents

Chap.

V. Edward I. , . .

VI. Edward II., ..

Introduction

The British Isles.

Etymology of names.

Earliest inhabitants.

The British Isles lie to the north-west of the Continent of Europe ; the larger, Great Britain, Being situated near the Continent ; the smaller, Ireland, lying further west in the Atlantic Ocean.' Great Britain, called by the ancients Albion and Britannia, comprises the three countries, England, Wales, and Scotland.

The origin of the names, Britain, Albion, Wales, and Scotland, is wrapped in much obscurity. Some have supposed that the name Britain was derived from Brutus, a son of Ascanius the Trojan. The name Albion — still used in the form Albyn, or Alpin, as the Highland term for Scotland— is supposed to have been given to the island by the Gauls, from the chalk cliffs of the south-eastern coast. It is a Celtic word, meaning ‘ White Island,’ and is most likely connected with albus and Alp. Wales, or Weallas, is thought to have been so named from a Saxon word, meaning ‘ wanderers’ or ‘foreigners,’ because it was peopled by British refugees. It was also called Cambria. The Welsh have always called themselves Cymvi, a name which probably connects them with the ancient Cimbri. Scotland took its

Their condition in Caesar’s time.

Druidism.

T-' CELTS.

name from a tribe called Scoti, — perhaps akin to the Scythians of Northern Europe, — who, early in the Christian era, passed from the north of Ireland into Britain, and, many centuries afterwards, gave their name to their new country. At the time of the Roman invasion the southern Britons called the inhabitants of the northern part of the island Caoill daoin, or ‘ people of the woods.’ Hence the Latinized name Caledonia. The etymology of the word England admits of no doubt. It is another form of Angleland, and was derived from the Angli, the chief of the Saxon tribes. The smaller island was anciently called Ierne, a name which seems to have been formed from the Celtic word eire, meaning ‘ west.’ The Romans called it Hibernia and Insula Sacra. Its present names are Ireland and Erin, in which can still be traced its old appellation.

These two islands, lying almost in the centre of the land hemisphere, with the great colonies of British America, Australia, and Cape Colony, with India, and numerous smaller dependencies in every quarter of the globe, form the British Empire. The object of this work is to trace, from the earliest time, of which we have any sure knowledge, to the present day, the events which have united under one Sovereign so many scattered lands.

The original inhabitants of the British Isles were Celts. The population now consists of two well-defined races — the Celtic and the Gothic, branches of the great Indo-European or Japhetic stock. The former are found in Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, the Highlands of Scotland, and the south and west of Ireland, — in all places speaking the same language, though in different dialects, and still retaining in manners and dress many peculiarities of the ancient mce ; while the latter hold the lower and more fertile dis- 1 rids. Akin to the Celts of Britain are the Bretons, or people of Bretagne, anciently Armorica, the most westerly part of France.

Many centuries before the Christian era, Phoenician sailor* from the colonies in Africa and Spain visited the British Islands, led thither by their rich tin mines. Herodotus, writing about four centuries and a half before Christ, mentions the Cassiterides or Tin Islands (supposed to be the

THE DRUIDS. 11

ScPTy Isles); but the Greeks then knew nothing of them beyond their existence.

From Caesar, Tacitus, Diodorus Siculus, and others, we learn a little about ancient Britain. The country seems to have been then full of marsh and forest, with a few patches of rudely tilled ground on the shore next Gaul. The natives of the interior sowed no corn, but lived on milk and flesh Those far north were often obliged to feed on the roots and leaves which grew wild in the woods. They clad themselves in skins, leaving their limbs bare ; and these they stained blue witli the juice of a plant called woad. They were a brave and hardy people, and had some knowledge of war. Caesar describes them as fighting on foot, on horseback, and in chariots, which, from blades that have been dug up on ancient battle-fields, seem to have been armed with scythes attached to the axle. Although divided into many tribes, they chose a single leader when danger menaced their common country; and, thus united, they were most formidable. Those who lived in the south were, from their intercourse with Gaul, more civilized than the rest. They wore a dress of woollen cloth, woven in many colours ; and were adorned with chains of gold, silver, or bronze. Golden and silver ornaments for the arms, neck, and head ; rings of various metals, which Caesar says were the only sort of money they used ; spear and arrow heads of flint and bronze, shaped with a delicacy which, with all our machinery, we cannot excel ; and great works of rudely piled stone, such as Stonehenge in Wiltshire and Stennes in Orkney, are almost the only memorials by which we can judge ef this ancient people.

The religion of the Celts was Drmdism ; their priests were called Druids ; and their chief sanctuary was the Island of Mona, now Anglesea. The word Druid seems to be connected with drus, the Greek name of the oak, their sacred tree. In addition to their priestly duties, the Druids were the bards, the lawgivers, and the teachers of the people. They wore long white robes and flowing beards, to distinguish them from the people, over whom they had complete control. They believed in the transmigration of souls, and taught the worship of one God ; but the serpent, the sun

FRUIT FEASTS.

and moon, and the oak, shared their veneration; and their altars were stained with the blood of men and women, whom, as Caesar tells, they burned in large numbers, enclosed in immense cages of wicker-work. These victims were generally men who had been convicted of theft or some other crime, their sacrifice being deemed peculiarly acceptable to the gods ; but in the absence of such, they never hesitated to immolate the innocent. The circles of stone already referred to are supposed by some to have been the scenes of these fearful rites ; but it is more probable that they were sepulchral monuments erected in honour of departed chiefs. The oak groves were the dwellings of the Druids, and the temples for their daily worship. Their three chief feasts had reference to the harvest: one was held after the seed was sown, another when the corn was ripening, and a third when the crop was gathered in. Besides these, a solemn ceremony took place on the sixth day of the moon nearest to the 10th of March, which was their New-year’s-day, when the Archdruid with a golden knife cut the mistletoe from its parent oak ; while attendant priests, with their white robes outspread, caught the sacred plant as it fell. The traces of these customs linger still, especially in the south of England, where the sports of May-day, the fires of Midsummer-eve, the harvest-home, and the cutting of the mistletoe at Christmas, are duly observed.

LANDING OF (LESAR.

ROMAN PERIOD.

Leading Features: THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION, AND THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER I. Julius Caesar lands

His return.

Intentions of Augustus and Caligula.

Lieutenants of Claudius.

Caractacus.

Boadicea.

Agricola.

Roman walls.

Sever us.

Roman division of Britain.

Caurausius and Allectus.

Christianity introduced.

Scotland and Ireland during Roman period.

Roman roads and towns

Julius Cjssab, having subdued the tribes of Gaul, desired to add Britain to his conquests. He had left a legion under Publius Crassus to guard the Venetic Isles, the group of which Belle-isle is chief ; and from the soldiers he learned the course, long and carefully kept a secret, by which the Gallic merchants reached the coast of Britain. The valuable pearl fisheries, and the mineral^wealth of the island, were inducements additional to the glory which he expected to reap. He first called together a number of Gallic merchants, but could learn nothing of value from them ; then, having sent an officer with a ship of war to 55 reconnoitre, he crossed the Strait of Dover, called b.c. in Latin ‘ Fretum Oceani,’ with 80 ships, having on board two legions, or 12,000 troops. He found the high, white cliffs of Kent studded with bands of Britons, and had much difficulty in landing ; however, the eagle-bearer of the tenth legion led the way, and Roman discipline prevailed. Four days after, a storm' shattered the fleet ; and Caesar, having repaired his vessels, thought it best to return to Gaul. He had been absent seventeen days.

Next summer he landed on the Kentish shore with five legions, comprising 30,000 foot and 2000 horse. The British tribes had united their forces, and were led by Cassivelau-

LIEUTENANTS OF CLAUDIUS.

nus, whose territory lay along the Thames. He proved him* self a brave and skilful general, and kept the Romans in check for some time, by taking advantage of the woods and rivers. However, Caesar forced his way across the Thames, and came up with his foe, intrenched in the midst of thick woods and treacherous marshes. Here the British chief held out for a while, in hopes that the leaders of the Kentish tribes would take the Roman camp and burn the fleet ; but, when he heard that they had been foiled in this attempt, he came to terms with Caesar. Hostages were given, the amount of yearly tribute settled, and Caesar went back to Gaul.

Until the reign of the Emperor Claudius, the A D Romans did not return to Britain. Augustus, first Emperor of Rome, had formed a plan to do so, but its execution was prevented. The foolish Caligula led his troops to the shore of Gaul, opposite to Britain ; where, having shown them the faint outline of the hills in the distance, he set them to gather shells in their helmets, as the spoils of the conquered ocean. This lie celebrated on his return to Rome with a triumph.

Plautius and Vespasian, the lieutenants of Claudius, after hard fighting, gained a footing on the island. Plautius, supplied from Gaul with all necessaries, drove the Britons across the Thames ; but further he could not go, until the Emperor joined him with new forces. Then, having crossed the river, the Romans penetrated Essex, where they founded their first colony— Camalodunum, now Colchester or Maldon. Vespasian fought more than thirty battles, before he subdued the tribes of Hampshire aud Wight.

Plautius was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula, who disarmed all the Britons within the Roman bounds. This act roused the spirit of the natives. The Silures, a tribe of South Wales, took the lead ; and under their chief, Caractacus, they kept the Romans in constant war for nine years. But at last the Romans, having forced their way into the British strongholds, routed the army of Caractacus ; who, fleeing to his step-mother, Cartismaudua, Queen of the Brigantes, was by her betrayed into their hands. He was led in triumph through the streets of Rome, aud was doomed to die ; but his

JULIUS AGRICOLA. 15

dauntless bearing in the Emperor’s presence won for him a free pardon.

Another leader of the Britons was Boadicea, who, in Nero’s reign, was Queen of the Iceni, a tribe inhabiting Norfolk and Suffolk. She, having suffered shameful wrongs and insults from the Romans, called her countrymen to arms. She led them to battle, destroyed Camalodunum and London, which was, even at this early date, a flourishing com- 6 1

mercial town ; but, being defeated by Suetonius Pau- a.d.

linus, she killed herself.

To Julius Agricola, lieutenant of Domitian, is due the honour of making Britain a Roman province in more than name. We have an account of his opera- 78 tions^in the works of Tacitus, his son-in-law. While a.d. he upheld the terror of the Roman arms and checked all revolt, he adopted a milder policy. He taught the arts of peace to the conquered race, and many high-born Britons assumed the Roman toga, language, and manner of life. He did what no Roman general had yet done, in penetrating the pathless woods of Caledonia, and extending Roman rule to the shores of the Moray Firth. In this expedition he had to contend with many fierce foes, and fought a battle at Mons Grampius, with the Caledonian chief 84 Galgacus, before passing that great natural barrier, a.d. The scene of this battle is uncertain: many name Ardoch in Perthshire as the probable place. While cruising upon the northern coasts, the sailors of Agricola discovered Britain to be an island.

This great general built two lines of forts from sea to sea, for the protection of the southern provinces ; one from the Tyne to the Solway Firth ; the other, two years 7 9 after, from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde, a.d. The Emperor Adrian, unable to hold the northern ramparts, raised that called Vallum Adriani, or the 120 Piets’ Wall, close to the first chain of forts built by a.d. Agricola. In the reign of Antonine the Romans, under Lollius Urbicus, pushed their territory far north, and 138 restored Agricola’s second wall, which was then called a.d. Vallum Antonini, and at a later date Graham’s Dyke.

ROMAN DIVISION OF BRITAIN.

More than once a Roman governor of Britain assumed the imperial purple. This happened in one case during the reign of Severus, when Albinus led the British legions into Gaul to contest the Empire. Severus, victorious over his rival, divided the government of Britain between two of his lieutenants ; but he was soon obliged, by the incursions of the Caledonians, to visit the island in person. He marched to attack his fierce foes in their mountain fastnesses. They, whose only weapons were a dirk, a heavy sword slung around them by an iron chain, and a lance witli a bell at one end, and whose sole protection was a rude target of hide, soon yielded to the skill and valour of disciplined legions. Severus traversed their forests, and, having inflicted heavy punishment for their ravages, built, a few yards from the wall of Adrian, a strong stone wall, requiring a garrison of 10,000 men. He had scarcely turned south when the Caledonians rose again ; and in his northward march to reduce 211 them he died at York, then Eboracum. His son a.d. Caracalla yielded to the native chiefs all the terri tory north of the wail built by his father.

By the Romans, Britain was divided into six provinces. These were as follow : —

I. BRITANNIA PRIMA, including all the country south of Gloucestershire and the Thames.

II. FLA VIA C2ESARIENSIS, the central counties, forming a square whose angles rest on the Wash and the mouths of the Dee, the Severn, and the Thames.

III. BRITANNIA SECUNDA, Wales and that, part of England west of the Severn and the Dee.

£V. MAXIMA CiES ARIEN SIS, from the Wash and the Dee on the south to the wall of Adrian on the Tyne V. VALENTIA, the country between the walls of Adrian and Antonine.

VI. VESPASIANA or CALEDONIA, the tracts north of Antonine's wall.

The first four provinces were completely reduced ; the fifth was partially subdued by Agricola, Urbicus, Severus, and Theodosius, who lived in the reign of Valentinian, and gave his sovereign’s name to the district ; the last was merely traversed by the Roman troops, but never conquered.

INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. U

Our knowledge of Britain during the latter years of the Roman period is very scanty. For twelve years the island was an independent state. Caurausius, appointed Count of the Saxon Shore by the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, commanded a fleet, wThich was sent to defend the British coasts from the Scandinavian pirates. He 288 established himself as Ruler of Britain, and actually a.d. forced the Emperors to acknowledge his claim to the title. He fell at York by the dagger of a Briton 297 named Allectus, who seized the throne; but, three a.d. years after, he too fell in battle with the Emperor Constantius Chlorus, and Roman ascendency was 300 restored. This prince married Helena, a British lady, a.d. by whom he had a son, afterwards called Constantine the Great.

It is an unfailing rule in history, that, when a civilized nation subdues one less advanced, the ultimate benefit derived by the conquered people far outweighs any temporary loss at first suffered. The early years of Roman rule in Britain were but the dark hour before the dawn. Christianity was introduced into Britain about the latter end of the first century ; some say by Peter or Paul. The Britons suffered persecution for the Cross in the reign of Diocletian. St. Alban, the first British martyr for Christ, gave his name to the town of Hertfordshire at which he 303 suffered. Constantine the Great, having been born a.d. at York, honoured Britain as his birth-place, and greatly encouraged the teaching of the Christian faith in the island. Thus the Britons received from their Roman conquerors the greatest boon that could be conferred on a nation, —‘to know Christ and him crucified.’

At last the incursions of the Goths and other northern tribes became so frequent, and so fierce, that the Roman soldiers were withdrawn from Britain to guard the heart of the Empire. Levies of the British youth were employed in the Roman service in Gaul, and elsewhere on the Continent. Soon, the Emperor Honorius, finding it advisable to contract the limits of the Empire, re- AD’ leased the Britons from Roman sway, and withdrew all signs of authority.

TRACES OP THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN.

Little can be said of Scotland and Ireland during this period. The remains of Roman baths and forts at Burgh-head, Ardoch near Dunblane, and other places, clearly prove that the Romans penetrated as far north as the Moray Firth. But the wild forests north of the Forth were too dense for the manoeuvres of disciplined troops, and the Roman legions made no permanent conquest of their savage denizens. The Orkney and the Shetland Islands, with the northern counties, were, during the latter years of this period, seized by the Scandinavians, whose descendants may still be found there. Ireland, or the Sacred Isle, maintained intercourse with the Welsh, and was the abode of the older Celtic tribes, who long preserved the Druidical worship in its original forms.

The Romans taught the Britons to develop the resources of their country. They opened up the island by making roads paved with stone. These were called Strata ; whence our word Street. They also laid the foundation of a lucrative trade, Rome and her continental provinces affording a good market for British produce. The chief exports at this time were corn, cheese, lime, chalk, oysters, and pearls. British cattle, horses, and dogs, were much prized ; and large supplies of tin, lead, iron, with some gold and silver, were drawn from the island. A gold coinage was in use shortly after Caesar’s time. Specimens have been found stamped with the figures of cattle, like the Latin pecunia (from pecus). The Romans being essentially a military nation,, the words .ntroduced by them, and still used by us, relate to their position in the island, as an army in occupation of a conquered land. Their towns were military stations, strongly fortified ; and were called in Latin castra, or ‘ camps.’ This word can be recognised in various forms in such names as Chester, Winchester, Leicester, and Doncaster. The Latin word colonia can be traced in Lincoln, and Colchester ; and the city of Bath, although not now called by a Roman name, was a leading Roman watering-place, as recent discoveries of longburied temples and statues have shown.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

LEADING DATES OF THE ROMAN PERIOD.

Landing of Julius Caesar,

Return of the Romans in the reign of Claudius, ...

Death of Boadicea,

Agricola begins his government,

Agricola builds Ms walls,

Battle of Mons Grampius,

Adrian’s Wall built.

Antonine’s Wall built, ...

Death of Severus at York,

...

Britain independent,

Roman rule restored, ...

...

Martyrdom of St. Alban,

Romans leave Britain; ...

..

4RRIVAL OF SAXON TRIBES.

SAXON PERIOD.

CHAPTER I.

TIME OF THE HEPTARCHY. 410 A.D. to 827 A.D.— 417 years.

Leading Features: BLOODSHED AND CHANGE. •

Miserable state of the Britons.

Arrival of Saxon tribes.

Establishment of the Heptarchy.

Prince Arthur.

Bretwalda.

Revival of Christianity.

Heptarchy reduced to three.

Wessex survives.

The Britons, who had lived in peace under Roman protection, were in a wretched plight when that was withdrawn. The Piets and Scots, breaking through the unguarded walls, pillaged the northern country; the pirates of the Danish and German coasts, who had hardly been kept in cheek by the Roman fleets, descending upon the east and south, sailed up the rivers in their light flat-bottomed skiffs, burning and slaying without mercy ; while the land was torn by interna) strife, between a Roman faction under Ambrosius and a British under Vortivcrn. The petty British states made a feeble attempt at union by the election of a monarch, whom they called Pendragon ; but the contentions for this office only made things worse.

Vortigern asked the aid of the pirates, or sea-kings, as they called themselves. They were fierce men, of great size, with blue eyes, ruddy complexion, and yellow, streaming hair ; practised in war, using the axe, the sword, the spear, and the mace. Their chief god was Odin, or Woden ; their heaven was Valhalla. The story of their settlement in Britain, though true in some points, rests on uncertain tradition. It is, that two chiefs of the Jutes, or people of Jutland, named

KINGDOMS OF THE HEPTARCHY. 21

Hengist and Horsa, were hired by Vortigern for the defence of his faction. They landed at Ebbsfleet, on the coast of Thanet in Kent; but, after they had repelled the 449 enemies of Vortigern, they turned their arms against a.d. himself, seized Kent, and invited their kindred over to share the spoil. Another story, of British origin, makes Kent a gift to the Jutes from Vortigern, who fell in love with Rowena, the daughter of Hengist. For more than a century after this, bands of invaders, from the countries lying between the Elbe and the Rhine, continued to pour upon the south and east shores of Britain, driving the inhabitants west and north before them, and seizing all the lowland territory. These invaders were of -three tribes, Jutes, Angles, 'and Saxons.

Seven kingdoms, called the Saxon Heptarchy, were thus founded. These were,; —

I. KENT; founded by Hengist, 457 a.d.

II. SOUTH SAXONY, including Sussex and Surrey ; founded by Ella, 490 a.d. ->

III. WEST SAXONY, or WESSEX, including all the counties west of Sussex and south of the Thames, Cornwall excepted; founded by Cerdic, 519 a.d.

IY. EAST SAXONY, including Essex and Middlesex ; founded by , Ercenwin, 527 a.d.

V. NORTHUMBRIA, the land north of the Humber, as far as the Forth, founded by Ida, 547 a.d.

VI. EAST ANGLIA, including Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge; founded by Uffa, 575 a.d.

VII. MERCIA, including the Midland counties, east of the Severn, north of the Thames, and south of the Humber; founded by Cridda, 582 a.d.

The chief opponent of the Saxon invaders was Arthur, King of the Silures of South Wales. He won twelve battles. The sixty ‘ Knights of the Round Table’ were his principal officers. He was slain by his nephew, Mor- 542 dred ; and was buried at Glastonbury, where his a.d. coffin was found in the reign of Henry II.

The Kings of the Heptarchy were at constant war among themselves, and the bounds of the seven states were always changing. The King who for the time had the ascendency was called Bretwalda, a word meaning ‘powerful king.’

MISSION OP AUGUSTINE.

Christianity, which had been forgotten in these wars, now began to revive, and Pope Gregory became desirous 596 of bringing the Saxons under the rule of the Roman a.d. see. Purchasing some English youths in the slave-market at Rome, he endeavoured to train them for the work of missionaries ; but soon abandoning this project, he sent Augustine, with forty monks, to preach the Cross in Britain. The conduct of these emissaries of Pope Gregory has been variously represented, but this at least is certain, that God overruled all for good, and the heathenism of the Saxons gradually fell before the power of Christianity. Ethelbert, King of Kent, influenced by his VrIfe Bertha, a professed Christian, was the first royal convert; and the chief church was built at Canterbury, which has ever since continued to be the ecclesiastical capital of England. Sebert, King of Essex, was also converted. He destroyed the temple of Apollo at Westminster, and built a church in honour of St. Peter, where the Abbey now stands. The temple of Diana fell too, and on its site was raised a church to St. Paul. Edwin was a famous Bretwalda of this period, who subdued Anglesea and Man. His dominion extended over nearly the whole country from the Forth to the Thames. On the southern shore of the Forth he founded a city, still bearing his name — Edwin’s burgh or Edinburgh. On becoming a Christian himself, he convoked the National Assembly, and explained the reasons of his change of faith. His chiefs, following his example, solemnly renounced the worship of the ancient gods, and Coifi the high-priest was the first to give a signal for destruction by hurling his lance at the idol in the pagan temple. Thirty-three years previous to the mission of Augustine, Columba had landed in Scotland with twelve companions, and established a Christian seminary in the island of Iona. His followers were called Culdees (worshippers of God). They founded institutions in many parts of Scotland, and penetrated into England. Oswald, successor to Edwin of Northumbria, had, during an exile among the Scots, wandered to Iona, and received the lessons of Christianity. On his return he founded a monastery on Lindisfarne, thence called Holy Isle. In their principles and practice the Culdees offered a vigorous opposition

EGBERT SOLE KING.

to the Homan Catholic Church. The followers of Augustine tried to arrest their progress, and bring the whole of Britain under the spiritual supremacy of the Pope ; and ultimately the policy of Borne triumphed. Many words connected with the Christian worship were brought into use by the Roman monks, such as minster, for monasterium: candle, for candela; preach, for prcedicare.

The seven kingdoms were at last reduced to three, Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex. Northumbria soon fell before the prowess of the Mercian Kings. One of these, called Offa the Terrible, is worthy of notice. He conquered the Welsh, and confined them to their mountains by Offa’s Dyke, a ditch and rampart stretching from the mouth of the Dee to the channel of Bristol. He also subdued a great part of Wessex. He did much good to the Church, although not a pious man. His palaces, coius, and medals, prove him to have been a man of some refinement.

Wessex was the last surviving kingdom of the Heptarchy. When Offa died, Beortric, a usurper, held the throne. He had married Offa’s daughter, Eadburga, and was upheld by the influence of the Mercian King. Soon after her father’s death, Eadburga poisoned her husband and fled to Erance ; hut, being driven from that country, she fell into great want, and died a beggar on the streets of an Italian town. Egbert, the true King, who had been living for fourteen years at the court of Charlemagne, returned to England on his rival's death, and received the crown of Wessex. He defeated tho Britons of Devon and Cornwall ; overthrew Bernwulf, usurper of Mercia, who was killed in the battle ; added 82 7 Mercia to his kingdom of Wessex; and soon united a.d. under his sway all the territories south of the Tweed.

The kingdom thus formed was called England, or the land ©f the English. $

FIRST DESCENT OF THE DANES.

Chapter II. Early Saxon Kings

9TH CENTURY. a.d.

EGBERT— began to rule 827

ETHELWULF (son) A 836

ETHELBALD (son) 857

ETHELBERT (brother) 860

ETHELRED I. (brother) 866

ALFRED (brother) 871

10TH CENTURY.

EDWARD the Elder (son) 901

ATHELSTAN (son) 925

-190 years.— 15 Kings.

EDMUND I. (brother) 941

EDRED (brother) 946

EDWY (nephew) 955

EDGAR (brother) ..959

EDWARD the Martvr (son).. .975 ETHELRED II. the Unready (half-brother) 978

1 lTH CENTURY.

EDMUND H., Ironside (son) ... 1017

Leading Features: LAW AND ORDER SLOWLY IMPROVING; THE DANES A CONSTANT SOURCE OF TROUBLE.

The Five Burghs.

Dunstan.

Danegeld.

Massacre of Danes.

Sweyn.

Triumph of Canute.

Egbert was crowned at Winchester, then the chief city. His achievements prove him to have been a man of fortitude, valour, and decision. He was called Egbert (Bright-eye), according to the custom of half-civilized nations, whose names are often derivedfroin personal appearance. The Danes began to be troublesome in this reign. They came, like the Saxons, originally from the forests of Germany ; but, being worsted in war with Charlemagne, they removed to the country we call Denmark. Akin to the Saxons— for they were both ' ° ' from the Scandinavian stock — they hated these with AD‘ no common hatred, as renegades from the faith of Woden and Thor. Their first descent on the island was

The Danes.

Peter’s Pence.

Alfred the first Earl.

Alfred King.

War with the Danes.

Chippenham.

Alfred’s Hiding-place.

Ethandune.

Landing of Hastings.