in Council unless it were St. Dunstan the Archbishop who fixed his foot upon a certain Beam but some were sadly bruised and hurt whilst others were killed outright But since William of Malmesbury hath given us a larger account of this Council and what was done in it I shall give it you in his words But mens minds being not yet settled another Council was summoned at Calne in Wiltshire but the King was absent by reason of his Youth where the same Affair was again debated with great Heat and Contention But when many Reproaches were cast upon Archbishop Dunstan that Bulwark of the Church who could by no means be shaken upon a sudden the Floor of the Chamber fell down all there present being very much bruised except Dunstan who escaped upon a Beam all the rest being either hurt or killed This Miracle says he obtained quiet for the Archbishop and all the Monks of England who were for ever after of his opinion This Accident is also related by Mat. Westminster and copied by Cardinal Baronius into his Annals and is likewise mentioned by other Authors But it is very probable that this Misfortune did not happen without the fore-knowledge if not the Contrivance of Archbishop Dunstan since he had now persuaded the King not to be there though he was present at the last Council But H. Huntington would have it be a sign from Heaven that they should fall from God's love and be oppress'd by Foreign Nations as followed not long after And according to Florence of Worcester there was a Third Synod at Ambresbury but what was done there he does not tell us But to return to our Annals The same year King Edward was killed at Corfesgeate now Corfe-Castle in the Isle of Purbeck on the 15 th of the Kalends of April and was buried at Werham without any Royal Pomp. There was not since the time that the English Nation came into Britain any thing done more wickedly than this But though men murthered him yet God exalted him and he that was an Earthly King is now a Saint in Heaven and though his Relations would not revenge his Death yet God perform'd it severely The rest to the same effect in these Annals I omit because I would not be tedious But I shall give you a more particular account of the manner of this Prince's Death from William of Malmesbury and the Chronicle called Bromton's the former of which relates it thus That as for King Edward he was of so extraordinary Religious and Mild a Nature that for quietness sake he let his Mother-in-Law order all things as she pleased giving her all Respects as to his own Mother and regarding his Younger Brother with all the tenderness imaginable She on the contrary from his Kindness and Love conceives greater and more implacable Malice against him and with the Sovereignty she already enjoyed was so ill satisfied that she must needs take from him the very Title also This Design she covered with notable dissimulation till a convenient opportunity presented it self for the execution of it At length the poor Innocent Prince being one day wearied with hunting and being very thirsty while his Companions followed the Game and minded not what became of him knowing that the Queen's House was not far off rode thither all alone fearing nothing because of his own Innocence and supposing every one meant as honestly as himself Whereupon the Queen receives him with all the seeming kindness imaginable and fain would have had him to light from his Horse but he refusing that and only asking to see his Brother she caused some Drink to be presently brought him but whilest the Cup was at his mouth one of her Servants privately before instructed stabbed him with a Dagger in the Back He exceedingly astonished at this unexpected ill treatment clapp'd Spurs to his Horse and fled away as fast as he could towards his Company but the Wound being Mortal and he spent with loss of blood fell to the ground and having one foot in the Stirrup was dragged through By-ways but being trac'd by his Blood by those she sent after him they brought back the Dead Corps which they buried privately at Werham where they imagin'd they had also buried his Memory as well as his Body but the place of his Sepulture as it 's said soon grew famous for Miracles Queen Elfreda was upon this so convinced of her Wickedness that from her Courtly and Delicate Way of Living she betook her self to very severe Penances as wearing Hair-cloath sleeping on the ground without a Pillow with such other Austerities as were used in that Age and herein she continued all her life So fell this good King Edward after he had only born the Name of King Three years and an half who for his Innocence and the Miracles supposod to be wrought after his Death obtained the Sirname of Martyr Which opinion of his Sanctity was the more confirmed by other great Miseries which shortly after befel the Land which the people did verily believe were inflicted on them for his Murther This year according to Florence a strange Cloud appeared about Midnight all over England being first seen of the Colour of Blood then of Fire and then like a Rainbow of divers Colours King ETHELRED IMmediately after the unfortunate Murther of King Edward there being no other Male Issue of King Edgar left alive Ethelred his Brother was without any difficulty Elected as the Ancient Annals of Thorney Abby preserved in the Cottonian Library relate and was also Crowned King by the Archbishop Dunstan and Oswald and ten other Bishops at Kingston the 8 th Kal. May he being as R. Hoveden describes him a Youth of a most Comely Aspect but not being above Twelve Years of Age William of Malmesbury gives us this short Character of Him and his Reign That he rather distressed than governed the Kingdom for Seven and thirty years that the course of his Life was cruel at the beginning miserable in the middle and dishonourable in the conclusion To Cruelty he attributes the Death of his Brother which he seemed to approve of because he did not punish he was remarkable for his Cowardice and Laziness and miserable in respect of his Death His Sluggishness was predicted by Archbishop Dunstan when at his Christening he superadded his own Water to that of the Font and thereupon Mat. Westminster makes him to swear By God and St. Mary this Boy will prove a Lazy Fellow But all this looks like a Monkish Story invented by those who did not love his Memory since the same thing though of somewhat a grosser nature is likewise related of the Emperor Constantine from thence named Copronymus Yet sure it was no sign of ill nature if what William of Malmesbury and Bromton's Chronicle relate be true That when he wept at the News of his Brother's Death it put his Mother into such a violent Passion that having not a Rod by her she beat
then having found that Britain was Governed by Carausius some time after thô he knew not when putting both these together he makes the fore-mentioned Emperour Bassianus being betrayed by the Picts that came in with his Uncle Fulgenius to be killed in Fight by this Carausius thô there was a distance of some 70 Years between them But that was nothing with Geoffery he writ I dare say what might be true for ought he knew nor has Geoffery erred alone but hath also led John Fordun and Hector Boethius the Scotch Historians into the same Error who as the said Learned Bishop observes make this Fulgenius whom they call a British Consul his Name a little altered into Fulgentius to have headed the Scots and Picts in this War with Severus But I need say no more of this for Geoffery being once exposed as he deserves those that write from him will need no other Confutation After the Death of Severus his Sons Bassianus and Geta having before taken the Sirname of Antonini succeeded in the Empire and althô the Elder pretended to hold it in common with his Brother yet he presently began to Reign alone soon ending the War with the Britains and relinquishing the Garisons not long after left this Island together with his Brother Geta with whom when he had some Quarrels Julia the Empress together with their Friends and Councellors patched up a Reconciliation between them which was only in outward Appearance and more by Constraint than Good Will So both of them enjoying the like Imperial Honours passed into Italy leaving Virius Lupus as their Lieutenant in Britain but as soon as they came to Rome their Hatred to each other breaking out afresh Bassianus coming into his Brother Geta's Bed-chamber when he looked for no such thing cruelly murdered him in his Mother's Arms and then bestowing a great Donative upon the Souldiers to gain their Good Wills was alone declared Emperour and his Brother Geta condemned as an Enemy as having conspired against him But one thing is very remarkable That when he had committed this Parricide he would have had Papinian the great Civil Lawyer to have wrote a Defence of it but he like an honest Roman utterly refused it plainly telling him That it was easier to commit Parricide than to defend it when it was committed But this plain Answer cost him his Life the Emperour commanding his Soldiers to kill him in his Presence which one of them doing with an Axe the Emperour chid him for it saying That he ought to have performed his Commands with a Sword The Reign of Antoninus Bâ—ssianus Caracalla affords us nothing transacted in this Island only that after the Death of his Bother Geta he commanded his Name to be razed out of all Monuments which was accordingly observed in Britain as appears by an Inscription dug out of the Earth in Monmouthshire which was erected for the Safety of the then Emperor Severus and Antoninus and Geta Caesars wherein the Name of Geta by the tract of Letters may be discovered to have once been there though now razed out The like is to be seen in another Stone mentioned by Camden in Richmondshire The Emperor Caracalla so called from a Military Cloak he wore being made away by Opilius Macrinus who was then Praefectus Praetorii and succeeded him being chosen Emperor by the Army in his Reign as likewise of many other of his Successors We find no mention made of Britain whether it were that the Empire declining apace good Authors grew scarce or are now lost or which is more probable that the succeeding Princes being advanced by the heady Affection of the Soldiers and quickly again deposed and murthered had no time to perform any thing considerable in this Island lying so remote Hence it is that for some years we are left in the dark having only a few Fragments left us lying scatter'd here and there in divers Authors which give us just Light enough to discover that Britain as yet continued a Roman Province and still had its Proprâ—tors and Presidents Nay Geoffery himself hath here left wide Gaps and Interregnums for many years together So that if we would we could not piece up a History of these Times even out of his Romances and were it not undecent to leave so great a Breach in the midst of this History many of the following Emperor's Names might be spâ—red But however we will give you the following Emperors in the order they stand in the Roman Histories we have left us To Opilius Maâ—rinus succeeded Anton. Heliogabolus being as the Soldiers falsely believed a Bastard Son of Bassianus Caracalla but this Monster after three Years Reign was killed by the Pretorian Bands and Alexander Severus his Cousin-German succeeded him having been before declared Caesar by the Senate It is thought by some that he made an Expedition into Britain for Lampridius says he was slain in a Town called Sicila but whether it were in Britain or Gaul he leaves it uncertain howbeit somewhat we find in the same Author of his Actions in this Island That he first gave unto the Captains and Soldiers near the Marshes or Wall of Severus those Lands which were won from the Enemy so that they should be their Propriety so long as their Heirs served as Soldiers and that they should not revert to private Men supposing they would go to the Wars more willingly and take better Care to defend their own peculiar Possessions From whence as Mr. Camden very well notes may be deduced either a kind of Feudum or Fee or at least the the first Foot-steps we can find of Military Feuds which were afterwards so much in use amongst the Goths and those Nations derived from them as the Normans and others The same Author also adds that before his Death a Druid Woman cry'd out to him in the Gaulish Tongue Go on but hope not for Victory and trust not thy Soldiers A good Advice if he could have taken it for he Was slain by some of his own Army at the Instigation of Maximin who succeeded him The true cause of his Death was that the Soldiers grown loose under Heliogabolus could not endure the Severity of his Discipline so that though he were one of the best and most virtuous Emperors that ever govern'd yet he found the same Fate from his Soldiers as the worst had done In so sad a Condition are those Monarchs whose Lives or Deaths depend upon the good or bad Humours of a standing Army The place of his Death is uncertain for St. Hierom and Orosius suppose him to have been killed at Mentz by the Conspiracy of his Soldiers together with his Mother whose covetouseness was a great cause of his Ruin Julius Maximinus succeeded him who was as wicked and cruel as his Predecessor was good and gentle he being condemn'd by the Senate was slain by the Soldiers but before his Death the two Gordiani Father and
Coleman that he was resolved to quit his Bishoprick and depart into Scotland to the Isle of Hye from whence he cam◠rather than to comply with it from whence he also departed into Ireland here called Scotland where he built a Monastery in that Country and lived all the rest of his days and in which only English Men were admitted at the time when Bede wrote his History But after the departure of Coleman one Tuda who had been ordained Bishop among the Southern Scots was made Bishop of Lindisfarne but he enjoyed that Bishoprick but a very little while But after the Death of Bishop Tuda according to the Life of Bishop Wilfrid King Oswi held a great Council with the Wise Men of his Nation whom they should chuse in the vacant See as most fit for that holy Function when they all with one Consent nominated and chose Abbot Wilfrid as the fittest and worthiest Person to succeed him but being to be Consecrated he refused it from any Bishop at home because he look'd upon them all as Uncanonical being all ordained by Scotish Bishops who differed from the Roman Church about this Point of keeping Easter so that he would needs go over into France for Ordination where staying too long the King put Ceadda who had lately come out of Ireland into his Place which Wilfred upon his return much resenting retired to his Monastery at Ripon and there resided as also sometimes with Wulfher King of Mercia or else with Ecghert King of Kent till he was restored to his See Bede tells us that the above-mentioned Eclipse was followed by a sudden Pestilence the same Year which first depopulating the Southern Parts of Britain then proceeded to the Northern wherein Bishop Tuda deceased it also invaded Ireland and there took off many Religious as well as Secular Persons The same Year also according to Florence Ercombert King of Kent dying left that Kingdom to Egbert his Son Also Ethelwald King of the East Angles dying this Year Aldulf succeeded him About this time according to Bede Siger and Sebba succeeding Swidhelm in the Kingdom of the East Saxons being unsteady in the Faith and supposing the late great Pestilence to have fell upon them for renouncing their old Superstition relapsed again to Idolatry and rebuilt the Idol-Temples hoping by that means to be defended from the present Mortality but as soon as Wulfher King of the Mercians to whom this Kingdom was then subject heard of it he sent Bishop Jaruman to them who together with their Fellow-Labourers by their sound Doctrine and gentle Dealing soon reclaimed them from their Apostacy This Mortality is also partly confirmed by Mat. Westminster who the next Year relates so great a Mortality to have raged in England that many Men going in Troops to the Sea-side cast themselves in headlong preferring a speedy Death before the Torments of a long and painful Sickness thô this seems to be no other than the great Pestilence which raged the Year before unless we suppose it to have lasted for 2 Years successively The same Year also according to the Account of an ancient British Chronicle lately in the Possession of Mr. Robert Vaughan Cadwallader last King of the Britains having been forced by a great Famine and Mortality to quit his Native Country and to sojourn with Alan King of Armorica finding no hopes of ever recovering his Kingdom from thence went to Rome where professing himself a Monk he died about 8 Years after Now thô the British History of Caradoc Translated by Humphrey Lloyd and Published by Dr. Powel places Cadwallader's going to Rome Anno 680 which Mr. Vaughan in the Manuscript I have by me and which is already cited in the former Book proves can neither agree with the Account of the said old Chronicle nor yet with the Time of the great Mortality above-mentioned for Caradoc and Geoffery of Monmouth do both place Cadwallader's going to Rome in the Year of the great Pestilence which as Bede and Mat. Westminster testifie fell out in the Year 664 or 665 and therefore that learned Antiquary very well observes That as for their Calculation who prolong Cadwallader's Life to the Year 688 or 689 and place his going to Rome in Pope Sergius's time he thinks they had no better Warrant for it than their mistaking Ceadwalla King of the West Saxons who then indeed went to Rome and there died for this Cadwallader who lived near 20 Years before whereby they have confounded this History and brought it into a great deal of uncertainty whereas that ancient Appendix annex'd to the Manuscript Nennius in the Cottonian Library whose Author lived above 300 Years before either Geoffery or Caradoc doth clearly shew that this Monastery above-mentioned and consequently Cadwallader's going to Rome happened in the Reign of Oswi King of Northumberland who according to the Saxon Annals began to Reign Anno 642 and died Anno 670 and therefore no other Mortality ought to be assigned for Cadwallader's going to Rome than this in King Oswi's Reign Anno 665 for the Words of the said old Author are these Oswi the Son of Ethelfred reigned 28 Years and 6 Months and whilst he reigned there happened a great Mortality of Men Catwalater so he spells it then reigning over the Britains after his Father and therein perished Now the Case is clear if these Words in the Latin Et in ea periit have relation to Cadwallader as most likely they have considering Oswi lived 5 Years after the Year 665 wherein this Mortality raged then Cadwallader never went to Rome at all but died of this Plague but of this I dare not positively determine since the greater part of the Welsh Chronicles are so positive in Cadwallader's dying at Rome But to return to our Annals This Year Oswi King of Northumberland and Ecgbrith King of Kent with the Consent of the whole English Church as Bede relates sent Wigheard the Presbyter to Rome to be there made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury but he died almost as soon as he arrived So that Theodorus being the next Year consecrated Arch-Bishop was sent into Britain Of which Transaction Bede gives us this particular Account About this time also as Bede relates Wina Bishop of Winchester being driven from his See by King Kenwalch went and bought the See of London of King Wulfher This is the first Example of Simony in the English Church The See of Canterbury had been now vacant for above 3 Years for the Pope was resolved himself to Ordain an Arch-Bishop and at last at the Recommendation of one Adrian a Greek Monk who might have been Arch-Bishop himself but refused it the Pope chose this Theodorus then a Monk and a Native of Tharsus in Cilicia who being an excellent Scholar brought the knowledge of the Greek Tongue as also Arithmetick Musick and Astronomy in use among the English Saxons This Arch-Bishop immediately upon his coming into England made a thorough Visitation of
mean-spirited Prince succeeding a Magnanimous Father so Prince Edmund his Son and Successor equall'd his Grandfather King Edgar in Courage tho not in good Fortune But though King Ethelred was no Great or Worthy Prince in his own Person yet with the Assistance of his Wites or Wise Men of his Great Council he made divers excellent Laws and Constitutions There are in Bromton's Chronicle four several Bodies of these Laws made at as many several times and in divers places whereof there are only two extant among the Saxon Laws published by Mr. Lambard The Laws comprized in the first Division are Six there said to have been made at Woodstock in Mercia for the restoration of Peace according to the Law of England The first is That every Freeman shall find Sureties to be bound for him that he shall do right in case he be accused The second I shall omit since it hath been already mentioned in the Laws of King Edgar only the latter end of it is very remarkable to wit The Lord shall answer for his whole Family and be Surety for the appearance of every Person in it And if any of his Servants after they are accused run away the Lord or Master shall pay his man's Were to the King And if the Master be accused as the Adviser to or Promoter of his Escape he shall purge himself by five Thanes and if he do it not he shall pay to the King his Were and his man shall be an Outlaw The Third ordains That a Bondman being cast by the Ordeal shall be marked with a Hot Iron for the first Offence and being cast in the same manner the second time shall be put to Death Which Law bears some resemblance to our present Law or Custom whereby Clergy is allowed for the first Crime committed By the fifth the King 's Reeve or Officer is obliged to require Sureties for the good behaviour of such as are of ill fame amongst all men which if such a one obstinately refuses to give he is to be put to death and to be buried in an unhallowed place with Malefactors And if any use force in his behalf to further his Escape he is to undergo the same Punishment As for the next Set of Laws they are said to have been made at Veneting or Wanating now Wantage in Berkshire and for the increase of common Peace and Happiness by King Ethelred and his Wise Men. The first of them is concerning the keeping of the King's Peace as it was in the days of his Predecessors and for the punishment of the breach of it in case of Manslaughter If it were in a Gemot or Assembly of five Boroughs with the forfeiture of five Pounds weight in Silver If in an Assembly of a Borough or Town by a Mulct of Seven hundred Shillings But how much this was is not known for we have not now any true account of the Standard of Money at that time If in a Wapentake by One hundred and if in an Ale-house a man be killed with six half Marks if he be not killed with twelve Oares for the Value of which Vid. Sir Hen. Spelman's Gloss. From hence but especially from the Laws of King Ina we may observe how Ancient the Liquor of Ale and Ale-houses have been in England as also what commonly follows it quarrelling and breaking of the Peace in such places The fourth commands That Publick Meetings be observed in every Hundred or Wapentake and that Twelve Thanes says Bromton or Twelve Men of free condition as Lambard reads it being Elderly Men together with their Praepositus or Chief shall swear upon the Gospels or Holy Reliques That they will neither condemn an Innocent Person nor acquit a Guilty One From whence we may observe the Antiquity of Trials by a Grand Inquest of more than Twelve Men even in the English Saxon times and was not introduced by William the Conqueror as Polydore Virgil an Italian not much skill'd in the Antiquities of this Island hath delivered in his History And to confirm what we have here said the Third Chapter of the League betwixt King Alfred and Guthrun the Dane very much maketh out which orders That if the King's Thane or Servant be accused of Homicide he shall purge himself if he dare by twelve other Thanes Which you may see at large in those Laws themselves and besides these the Reader throughout the whole Collection of Saxon Laws may observe there is frequent mention made of clearing and purging by so many men summoned for that purpose as sometimes by twelve sometimes by fewer and sometimes by more As for the Trial by Ordeal it grew more in request in the Reign of King Cnute and his Successors being indeed originally a Danish Custom The rest of the Laws of King Ethelred made at Wantage having many of them relation to this way of Trial by Ordeal and containing many obscure terms I omit But since several of them may very well be referred to other former Laws I shall only select from amongst them such as are most worthy to be taken notice of here The twenty third appoints what Custom should be paid by Ships and Vessels of all sorts that unladed at Billinggesgate from whence it appears that this was the Ancient Port of London Wines and all other Commodities being here unladed The twenty sixth imposes the same Punishment upon such as wittingly receive as well as on those that make Bad Money Whereby we may observe That though the Coining of Bad Money was not as yet made Treason yet it was punishable at the King's discretion either by Fine or Death as you will see in the following Law The twenty eighth puts it into the King's power whether to fine or put to death such Merchants as import Counterfeit Money And further imposeth upon all Port-reeves that shall be accessary the same Punishment as upon those that coin false Money except the King think fit to pardon them There are also other Laws which we cannot certainly affirm to have been made in his time though the general Conjecture is that they were These are comprised in an Agreement or Act which the Wise Men of England and the Counsellors of Wales made concerning the Inhabitants of the Mountains of that Countrey But as for the particular Laws made in this Common-Council of both Nations since they only concern Cattel or other Goods taken away on either side or else the manner of giving Testimony both by Welsh and English Witnesses in such cases I refer the Reader to the Laws themselves and shall only desire him to take notice That Justice was to be equally administred by Twelve Judges Six Welsh and Six English men much after the same manner as the Commission for the Borders of England and Scotland is now executed But that we may see how great a distance there was then between these two Nations which God be thanked are now united into one the sixth Article of these Laws expresly forbids
Jago the Sons of Edwal Voel and the Sons of Howel Dha and the Danes l. 5. p. 349 350. l. 6. p. 6 7 16 20 21 22 23 26 27 53 64. The Irish-Scots invade it by the means of Howel and Meredyth l. 6. p. 56. Is molested by Conan the Son of Jago who had fled into Ireland for the safety of his life Id. p. 70. So infested by the Danish Pyrates that the Sea-Coasts were almost deserted Id. p. 74. Sparhafock a Monk of St. Edmundsbury made Abbot of Abandune and afterwards Bishop of London upon the Translation of Robbyrd to the See of Canterbury l. 6. p. 74 75. But the Archbishop refused to consecrate him tho he came to him with the King's Letters and Seal because the Pope had forbad him However he held his Bishoprick Id. p. 76. Sometime after is deposed from it Id. p. 78. Spot Wulfric a Courtier builds the Monastery of Burton in Staffordshire with his own Paternal Inheritance and gets King Ethelred to confirm it l. 6. p. 31. Stamford a Castle commanded by King Edward the Elder to be built on the South-side of the River Weland l. 5. p. 323. Standing-Army no War possibly to be maintained long either at home or abroad without one l. 6. p. 33. Stanmore Battel in Westmorland between Marius the British King and the Caledonians l. 2. p. 66. Stealing Vid. Theft Stephanus the Pope succeeds Leo and the next year dies l. 5. p. 251. Another of this name Abbot of Mountcassin is consecrated Pope in the room of Victor l. 6. p. 87. Deceases the next year and who succeeds him Id. p. 88. Stigand Cnute's Chaplain had the care of the Church of Ashdown which the King caused to be built there committed to him l. 6. p. 51. Is consecrated Bishop of the East-Angles i. e. Helmham Id. p. 71 73. Receives again his Bishoprick from which it seems by the Simoniacal Practices of Bishop Grymkitel he had been before deprived Id. p. 72. And upon the death of Alfwin is promoted to the See of Winchester Id. p. 73. At last is made Archbishop of Canterbury Id. p. 81. Had the Pall sent him by Pope Benedict William of Malmesbury his Character of him He consecrates Aegelric a Monk of Christ-Church Bishop of Chichester and Syward the Abbot Bishop of Rochester Id. p. 88. Stilico Governor to the Emperor Honorius during his Minority his Character l. 2. p. 97. By a Legion sufficiently furnished with Arms dispatched to Britain delivered the Inhabitants both from spoil and inevitable Captivity Id. p. 99 104 105. Is killed by the Army when Bassus and Philippus were Consuls Id. p. 104. Stone in Staffordshire whence it had its name l. 4. p. 195. Stonehenge here Aurelius Ambrosius was crowned and not long after buried l. 3. p. 131. Is called Mons Ambrosij said to be the Monument of Ambrosius and thought by the latter Antiquaries to be founded by him Ibid. Straetcluyd the Colony erected by the Britains l. 5. p. 344. Strangers as soon as they landed the Merchants are to declare their number and bring them before the King's Officers in Folcmote l. 5. p. 294. The Law against buying and receiving Strangers Cattle Id. p. 346. A Law to harbour them for two nights as Guests but no longer so l. 6. p. 103. Strathern the Scotish Writers will needs have this Province understood by the word Jerne l. 2. p. 98. Streanshale Monastery founded by Hilda l. 4. p. 188. Is now Whitby in Yorkshire Id. p. 189. Strikers in open Court before the King's Ealdormen their Punishment l. 5. p. 295. Stufe and Withgar Nephews to King Cerdic fight against the Britains and put them to flight l. 3. p. 135. Succession to the Crown how settled between the Picts and Scots l. 1. p. 4 5. The Britains had no Notion of any Right the Eldest Brother had to command all the rest not even after they became Christians Id. p. 17. Suetonius Paulinus in his time the Romans received a great Blow in Britain and the Account of it l. 2. p. 46 47 48. Afterwards he gained a mighty Victory over Boadicia and them Id. p. 49 50. Carries it too haughtily towards those that submit Id. p. 50 51. Is succeeded by Petronius Turpilianus Id. p. 51. Sunday Vid. Lord's-Day Supposititious Birth said to be put upon King Cnute viz. the Son of a Shoemaker then newly born by Aelgiva one of his Wives l. 6. p. 61. Suretyship concerning the Breach of the King 's and Archbishops c. what Fine was to be paid upon it by Alfred's Law l. 5. p. 295. Every one to find Sureties for his good Behaviour l. 6. p. 14. Every Lord to be Surety for the appearance of every person in his Family Id. p. 42. Whosoever refuses to give it to be put to death Id. p. 42 43. For the Danes that stay in England to enjoy in all things perfect Peace Id. p. 101. Sutbury in Suffolk anciently called Southburg where Bishop Alfwin deceased l. 4. p. 242. Swale a River but where is not mentioned l. 4. p. 174. Swanawic now Swanwick in Hampshire near the place where the Danes lost 120 of their Ships in a violent Storm as they were going towards Exmouth l. 5. p. 278. Swebryht King of the East-Saxons his Death l. 4. p. 223. Sweden anciently called Scandinovia l. 1. p. 4. And Gothia Id. p. 5. Swedes and Danes called Normans by the French Historians an Account of their Religion and the Deities they worshipped l. 5. p. 256. Sweyn the Son of Harold the Dane slays Edwal ap Meyric in Battel and destroys the Isle of Man He and Anlaff besieges London endeavouring to burn it but are forced to march off the Ravage and Murthers they committed in Essex Kent and Sussex c. l. 6. p. 25. Ousted his Father both of his Kingdom and Life was afterwards expelled himself and wander'd up and down without relief but plagues England after this all he could for refusing to receive him Id. p. 26. Sweyn King of Denmark receiving news of the Massacre of his Countreymen in England by the Advice of his Great Council comes with Three hundred Sail of great Ships and revenges this barbarous piece of Treachery l. 6. p. 30 31. His frequent Returns home and Incursions and Ravages here Id. p. 32 37 38. His Return into England and upon what occasion Id. p. 37. His Decease and the Monk's Relation of the Suddenness of it Id. p. 38 39 40. Sweyn Eldest Son of King Cnute he appoints before his death to be King of Norway l. 6. p. 56. Is driven out of his Kingdom by Harold sirnamed Hairfax but he recovered it again Id. p. 74. Sweyn Earl Son of Godwin goes over to Baldwin Earl of Flanders and stays there all Winter being in disgrace at Court for deflowring an Abbess l. 6. p. 73 74. Makes a League with Edward the Confessor and the King's Promises to him How he decoys his Cousin Beorne on Shipboard and causes him afterwards
no less than three Writers of part of our History who lived before Malmesbury as you may see above and therefore he must also be understood only in this Sense that till himself there was none had undertaken an entire Latin Body of English History for he distinguishing between an History and Annals did not reckon it seems these Saxon Annals as such though he often mentions them by the Name of the English Chronicles being as I said before the ground-Work upon which that Author as well as others that followed him built their History and these Annals remaining in Manuscript till long after Sir Thomas Craig's Death gave him perhaps occasion to affirm in the same Place That there is nothing of certainty to be found in the British History from 734. which was the Year of Bede's Death to the Year 957. but all things were founded upon the Rumours of Antient Men and it may be old Wives Fables which being collected together into one Book and put in a Latin Dress made up as it were the shadow of a History from whence Hollingshead does nevertheless bring most certain Arguments to establish his fictitious Homage THIS Point concerning the Homage I shall not take upon me here to decide but tho I confess there is no express mention of it in the Annals yet I must needs say there is somewhat to be met with in them that comes very near it for under Anno 924. they relate thus of King Edward the Elder That the King and whole Nation of the Scots chose him in Patrem Dominum in the Latin Version i. e. for their Father and Lord which is word for word the same with the Saxon Original which I omit because not commonly understood or read in that Character But because he supposes that Florence of Worcester was the first Author that wrote this Homage and Fealty therefore he must be the first that ever mentioned the Submission of the Scotish King to the King of England I desire those of Sir Thomas his Opinion to tell me tho the formal Ceremonies of Homage and Fealty which in different Ages and divers Countries even where the Feudal Law was obtained were very different were not brought up till after the Norman William came hither yet what could those words in Patrem Dominum signify but such an Acknowledgment or Dependance upon a Superior Lord as was tantamount And it is the more remarkable because this is mentioned above 20 Years before The same Annals relate that King Edmund the Younger Son to King Edward bestowed Cumberland upon Malcolm King of Scots viz. Anno 945. on condition that he should serve him in his Expeditions by Sea and Land for which alone the Scotish Writers will allow this Homage to have been due AND in the Year following we find in the same Annals that K. Eadred Brother to Edmund having reduced all Northumberland into his Power which then took in almost all the Low-Lands of Scotland as far as Edinburgh thereupon Scoti etiam ei juramenta praestiterunt sese velle quiâ—quid is vellet i. e. the Scotish Nation by which I suppose must be understood the King as well as the People took an Oath to King Eadred to perform whatsoever he should please to command them But that Florence of Worcester understood this to be an Oath of Fealty appears by his Paraphrase of these words in the Annals thus Edredus à Scotis ut sibi fideles essent juramentum accepit BVT that if not Homage yet somewhat very like it was rendered in that Age by the Kings of Scotland to those of England for the best part of what is now called the Lowlands may appear from the Testimony of John of Wallingford who in his History relates that Keneth King of Scots received Lothian from King Edgar under the Condition of doing Homage to himself and his Successors which if it had not then the direct Ceremony of Homage which perhaps came in with the Normans yet that it was somewhat very near it John Fordun the antientest Scotish Historian acknowledges in these words That King Edmund viz. of England gave the Province of Cumberland to Malcolm King of Scots sub fidelitate Juramenti and it was afterwards agreed between the said King Edmund and King Malcolm that Prince Indulf his next Heir and all the future Heirs of Scotland successively should pay to King Edmund and his Successors for the same Homagium fidelitatis Sacramentum so that if our English Writers have been mistaken in calling that Submission which the Kings and Princes of Scotland then payed to England Homage you may here see the most Antient Scotish Historian guilty of the same Error which was indeed an Oath of Fidelity if not the same yet very like what the Scotish Kings afterwards took when they did Homage to our Kings of England after the Conquest HAVING said thus much I shall now leave it to the Reader 's Judgment when he has gone through our Annals to consider whether this Author's Censure of our English History from the Year 734. when Bede ended his to the Year 957. be just that they were only things as he says founded upon the Rumours of Antient Men and it may be old Wives Fables and so being collected together in one Book dress'd up in Latin made up as it were the shadow of a History AS also whether what Florence is cited by the Author to say That after Bede's Death the English History ceased and that for his own part he had left things to Posterity either as he found them in the Text of the English Chronicles or as he had them from the relations of Men worthy of Credit or heard and saw them himself deserves that rash Censure not only concerning these Annals now published but of Florence himself viz. as to what concerned the Text of the English Chronicles he mentioned them that he might deceive his Reader with the greater Facility whereas Florence was accounted always a Writer of unquestionable Diligence and Veracity as appears by the several Testimonies of Learned Men before his History BVT the reason of this Author's Triumph before the Victory was that he did not believe any such thing as a Saxon Chronicle could be found for says he immediately after If there were any Chronicles of those Times seeing Florence lived about the Year 1148. they must still remain in the Archives which hitherto no English Author did ever alledg or hath been able to demonstrate for that Chronicle as is observed by the Prologue did only set down the number of Years And so he proceeds to invalidate the Credit of Florence of Worcester as if he had had no Voucher to warrant his Chronicle BVT I hope this Translation I here present you with will satisfy all ordinary Readers that the Saxon Annals do contain much more than the bare numbers of Years and the Edition first published by Mr. Wheelock in Saxon and Latin from two Copies in
Sir Robert Cotton's and Bennet College Libraries have long since convinced all Learned Men that we really had such Monuments in our Archives which have been also farther confirmed as to the Truth of it from two other Manuscript Copies given by Arch-bishop Laud to the Bodleian Library at Oxford and lately published together with those abovementioned by the aforesaid Mr. Edmund Gibson most of which Copies belonged to several antient Monasteries and I doubt not but many more of them were lost at their Dissolation in Henry the Eighth's Time or carried over Seas for we find Lazius in his Book de Migratione Gentium quotes several of them And it 's evident that our Annals sometimes follow not Tradition only but also old written Histories and perhaps Latin Writers as may appear by the Actions of Athelstane and Eadmund An. 938 and 942. But for the support of their Authority I refer the Reader to this Author 's own Country-man John Fordun where he tells us in his Prologue to his Scotish History He had heard it was very well ordered in England that every Monastery of Royal Foundation should have its particular Writer who was Chronologically to set down all the Memorable things which happened in each King's Reign either in their own or Neighbouring Kingdoms and that at the next Great Council after the Death of every respective King each of those Chronographers met there and produced whatsoever they had so remarked and that some of the most discreet Persons in the said Council who were best skilled in such Matters being chosen for that purpose should examine those Memorials and by comparing them together should extract a brief Chronicle from them all which was to be preserved in the Libraries of those Monasteries as Authentick Annals to be relied on by Posterity that so the remembrance of those publick Affairs of the Kingdom might not be lost or devoured by the Rust of Time WHICH Passage had Sir Thomas Craig but carefully considered he would have had no reason to doubt whether we had had any Chronicles of those times remaining in our Archives and whether William of Malmesbury and all the rest of our Historians have blindly followed Florence of Worcester into an Error as Cattel do their Leader that break over a Ditch BVT if our Saxon Annals were not a good Foundation for succeeding Historians to build upon I desire to know what Credit the Antient Greek and Roman Authors can claim with Men of that scrupulous Temper since they had nothing but such short Annals or Chronicles preserved in their Archives besides Traditions and the common Fame of their Ancestors from whence to compose the particular Histories of those Common-Wealths they treat of such as were the Libri Lintei preserved in the Capitol from whence Livy drew the most antient Memorials for the writing his Roman History AND tho there is some difference to be found between the several Copies of these Annals as to the Calculation of Years and some particular Matters that are sometimes inserted in one and omitted in another yet the Ingenious Author of the Preface before it has given the World a satisfactory Answer as to this Matter which is That as to the general Affairs of the whole Kingdom they all agree well enough tho indeed as to foreign Transactions or some few Passages relating to their own private Monasteries there may be some Additions that are not to be met with in the rest as may be observ'd from those called the Canterbury and Laudean Copies in the Bodleian Library SO I shall leave it upon the whole Matter to the Reader to consider whether the Author has made good his Challenge viz. That the English were not able to produce one approved Writer of their own Countrey who composed any Story or History from the Death of Bede to the Time of Henry the Second tho I suppose he meant the First however it is unluckily printed twice the Second in one Page BVT to come to this Author's second Objection against our English Historians the substance of which is That the Writers as well before as after the Conquest were Monks who being dead to the World have no right of giving a Legal Evidence it being expresly forbid by the Canon Law to concern themselves in secular Matters and also that by reason of their solitary Lives they ought very seldom to be entrusted in publick Affairs seeing they are no competent Judges concerning them for it was not very probable that either the Secrets of Princes or things belonging to the State were ever communicated to them otherwise than by common Report seeing they were kept at the greatest distance from all manner of Action and do oftentimes embrace things doubtful as certain and Fictions for Matter of Fact and that therefore this feigned Homage must of necessity fall to the Ground for which there is no better Evidence than that of a Monk for it will not be admitted as a good Conclusion that because a Monk says so therefore it is true THIS Argument may as easily be retorted upon him thus That as a thing is not true because a Monk writes it so neither is it false for that reason alone for tho Monks are by the Canon Law forbid medling with Secular Affairs and may not perhaps be admitted for good Witnesses in Civil Causes yet is this but a meer Cavil as to the Point in Question since that was not the intent of the Canon to forbid them the writing either of Civil or Ecclesiastical Histories and Bede himself whose Credit this Author says he will not impair was a Monk as were also Marianus Scotus whom he alloweth and would have to be taken for his own Countrey-Man Sigebertus Hermannus Contractus and almost all the Famous Chronographers of those Times who flourished in our Neighbouring Nations as well as our own and that they were not of such retired Lives as not to have Memorials sent them of publick Actions appears by the aforesaid Citation out of Fordun concerning the manner of writing our English Annals in the Monasteries which as he tells us were supervised afterwards by some appointed of the Great Council of the Kingdom And that some of the Monks after the Conquest were in great Reputation for their faithful Accounts appears by the great Credit given to Florence of Worcester and William of Malmesbury in those times the last of whom dedicated his History to Robert Earl of Gloucester Natural Son to King Henry the First and Matthew Paris was of so great Esteem that we learn from himself that King Henry the Third gave him particular Directions for inserting into his History several considerable Passages relating to his own Reign so far were the Princes of that Age from being of this Author's Opinion that Monks were no wise fit to write History nor to be credited when they had done BVT if no Credit must be given to the Memorials of Monks I desire to know what will become of the so much
Kingdom And further to confirm that Ordinatur here signifies the same with Eligitur see the Law abovementioned concerning the Election of the Mercian Kings the Title of it in Sir Henry Spelman's first Volume of Councils is de Ordinatione Regum i.e. of the Election of Kings AND that by this word Ordinatur cannot be meant any Lineal Succession in Ethelwerd will further appear from him where he says Post Obitum Athulfi Regis ordinati sunt filii ejus in Regnum which must be understood either an Appointment by the Father's Will or else a new Election since these Sons of King Aethelwulf could never be thus appointed or ordained Kings by the Law of Lineal Succession because each of these Brothers except the Eldest left Sons BUT William of Malmesbury does likewise as good as own that King Egbert came in by Election when he says that upon the Death of Brytrich Egbert at the frequent Solicitations of his Countrey-men coming over into Britain Móxque imperare jussus Patriae Desideriis satisfecit being immediately commanded to reign did thereupon satisfy the Desires of his Countrey Now I would fain know if he had come in by virtue of a Lineal Descent why he should have needed the being commanded to reign since he ought rather to have commanded their Allegiance as his Due AND either to this Time or rather to the latter end of this King 's Reigny as you may find in the ensuing History I suppose may be referred what the Author of the Mirror of Justices in the very beginning of the Book says concerning the first Election of a King to reign over the rest of the Saxon Sovereign Princes viz. That forty of them made him to swear that he would maintain the Holy Christian Faith with all his Power and govern his People according to Right without regard to any Person and that he should be liable to suffer Right i. e. Judgment as well as others of his People THIS Passage tho it be accounted by some of but a doubtful Authority because of the forty Princes abovementioned whereas we never read of above seven or eight Saxon Kings to have reigned at once and those â—oo were by this Egbert reduced to three besides himself viz. the East-Angles Mercia and Northumberland yet if by the Princes here mentioned we understand not Sovereign Princes but Ealdormen of Counties and Great Cities who as Mr. Selden shews us in his Titles of Honour are commonly stiled in the old Saxon Charters Principes and by this Author in his French Original rendred Princes these meeting together in a Great Council did as the chief Magistrates of the Cities and Counties from whence they came injoin the King this Oath which was taken at the General Council mentioned in the ensuing History under Anno 803 or else 828. This Passage in the Mirrour of Jâ—sticâ—s if it were taken out of some old Saxon Monument now lost as I have great reason to believe it was since the Laws which he here relates concerning King Alfred are admitted by the Learned Author of the Notes upon his Life printed at Oxford to have been transcribed by him from some Antient Commentaries of that King which Laws he there a little after recites I say this Passage may serve as a great Proof not only of this King's Election to be the Chief or Supream King of all England but also it gives us the Original Contract if I may so call it which he then entred into with this Nation at the time of his Election and Coronation TO Egbert succeeded Athelwulf his Son who though I grant it is no where said that he was Elected yet if his Father were so as it is most evident he was it is not likely that the Kingdom should become Successive in one Descent especially if we consider the manner of all his five Sons coming to the Kingdom either in his Life-time or after him FOR as to Athelstane his eldest Son on whom he bestowed almost as soon as he came to the Crown the Kingdom of Kent with the South and East-Saxons I have proved in the ensuing History from Matthew Westminster and other Authors that he was Illegitimate and so could have no Legal Right of Succession nor does it seem probable he should be set over those Kingdoms by his Father without any previous Election or Consent of those People AND as for his other four Legitimate Sons Ethelbald the Eldest of them did by the General Consent of the King and the whole Nation which amounts to an Election divide the Kingdom with his Father he himself enjoying that of the West-Saxons whilst his Father ruled over the rest And by the virtue of his Testament confirmed likewise by the General Consent of the Kingdom Ethelbald remained only King of the West-Saxons whilst Ethelbert his second Brother reigned in Kent as also over the East and South-Saxons which had been his Brother Aethelstane's share who died without Issue for ought we can find BUT after King Ethelbald's Death Ethelbert succeeded in the whole Kingdom and he likewise dying Ethelred his Brother succeeded him after whose Death also Alfred the youngest Brother came to the Throne THIS short Account is the Truth of the Matter of Fact yet there requires a great deal to be said to have it well understood since Dr. Brady in his true and exact History of the Succession of the Crown Vol. 1. of his Introduction will needs derive the whole Right which these Princes had to the Kingdom from the Entail of it by their Father's Will abovementioned and if the Testament of a King then Regnant could dispose of the Crown to the prejudice of the Right Heirs by Lineal Descent I desire this Learned Antiquary to satisfy us how this could consist with his supposed Right of Lineal Succession at the same Time BUT the Truth is this worthy Doctor as well as the Author of the great Point of Succession discussed here deal with us like some crafty Witnesses who indeed speak the Truth but not the whole Truth if they find it will make against them For the Doctor in the first Place conceals and the nameless Author of the other Pamphlet either wilfully or ignorantly positively denies that King Alfred's three elder Brothers who reigned before him left any Issue Male whereas it is most certain that two of them if not all Three left Sons behind them for Athelm and Aethelwold to whom King Alfred by his Testament bequeaths divers Lands therein mentioned under the Title of his Brother's Sons are supposed by the Learned Author of the Notes upon his Life to have been the Children of King Ethelbald his eldest Brother tho whether they were so or no I will not be so confident as to affirm But that they were either the Sons of Ethelbald or Ethelbert is most certain and consequently they ought to have reigned before him who was but their Uncle AS for King Ethelred he had
Civil Matters the words of this last King's Law run thus Ex omni Comitatu bis quotannis conventus agitor cui quidem illius Dioecesis Episcopus Senator intersunto quorum Alter Jura Divina humana alter populum edoceto IN every County let there be twice a Year an Assembly of the People whereat the Bishop of the Diocess and the Earl shall be present the one to direct in Divine the other in humane Matters WHICH so continued the Bishop and Earl sitting therein together until King William the Conqueror in a full Convention of his Arch-bishops Bishops Abbots and Temporal Lords commanded that Ecclesiastical Matters should thenceforth be handled by the Bishops in Courts of their own and not any more be discust amongst Secular Affairs IN this Court as well as in that of the Country according to the Laws of King Henry I. these Persons following were to be present as may appear by this Clause Intersint autèm Episcopi Comites Vicedomini Vicarii Centenarii Aldermanni Preafecti Praepositi Barones Vavassores Tungrevii caeteri terrarum Domini diligentèr intendentes nè malorum Impunitas aut Gravionum pravitas vel Judicum subversio solita miseros laceratione confiniant AGANTVR itâque primò debita verae Christianitatis Jura secundò Regis placita postremò Causae singulorum dignis satisfactionis expleantur Scil. Ecclesiastical Causes and Pleas of the Crown in the Turn but Private Causes in the County Court Vid. Coke 's 4 th Instit. 259 260. where you will find that THE Tourn is a Court of Record holden before the Sheriff the Antient Institution thereof was before Magna Charta to hear and determine all Felonies Death of Man excepted and Common Nusances See the Stat. Mag. Chart. c. 17. and the Exposition of the same in the 2 d. Instit. THE Stile of this Court is Curia Visus Franc. Domini Regis apud B. coram Vicecomite in Turno suo c. ibid. THE reason of which is because in this Court the Pledges or Sureties of every Decennary or Tithing were entred before the Court Leets were taken out of it and granted to particular Lords of Mannors which Sir H. Spelman in his Glossary supposes to have been done in the Reign of King Alfred but since I find nothing concerning these Court Leets till after the Conquest I shall defer the farther treating of them to that time I have no more to say of this Court but that it was also called the Folcmote and in which by Edward the Confessor's Laws all Freemen were to take the Oath of Allegiance or Fidelity to the King as appears by the Law it self Omnes Proceres Regni milites Liberi Homines totius Regni BRITANNIAE facere debent Fidelitatem Domino Regi in Pleno FOLCMOTO corà m Episcopis Regni c. YOU will likewise find in the same Law just preceding this an extraordinary Assembly of this Folcmote upon any sudden Danger which met on ringing of the Bells called in English Motbel and there they were to consult how to prevent the Danger THE second of these Courts was called the County-Court and was also very Antient and to be held once every Month by the Shireeve as from K. Edward the Elder 's Laws appeareth Praepositus quÃsque ad quartam circitèr quamque septimanam frequentem populi concionem celebrato cuÃque jus dicito aequabile Litesque singulas cum dies condicti advenerint dirimito EVERY Shireeve shall convene the People once a Month and do equal Right to all putting an end to Controversies at Times appointed TO this Court were antienly Appeals made from the Hundred-Court as appears by the Laws of Canutus Et nemo namium capiat in Comitatu vel extra Comitatum priusquam ter in Hundredo suo rectum sibi perquisierit si tertia vice rectum non habeat eat quarta vice ad Conventum totius Comitatus quod Anglicè dicitur Scyremot c. No Man by a Distress shall compel another to the County-Court unless he have thrice complained in the Hundred-Court But if he have not Right the third Time he may then sue in the County-Court which is called the Scyregemot AND besides says Sir William Dugdale Regis placita Causa singulorum debita verae Christianitatis jura were first determined here where interesse debent Commissarii Episcopi Comites Ecclesiae potestates and the Presbyter Ecclesiae as well as quatuor de Melioribus villae were obliged to attendance qui Dei Leges as well as Seculi negotia justâ consideratione definirent AND a little after he further proceeds thus Now let us see of what things the Sheriff here antienly held Plea Ad Vicecomites pertinent ista saith Glanvile Placitum de Recto de liberis Tenementis per Breve Domini Regis ubi Curia Dominorum probatur de Recto defecisse Placitum de Nativis sed per Breve Domini Regis ID est It belongeth to the Shireeve to hold Plea in this Court upon a Writ of Right concerning Freehold in Cases where the Lord of the Mannor wherein the Land lieth hath not done Justice as also to hold Plea concerning Bondmen but by the King 's Writ I shall say no more of this Court but refer the Reader to the said Book from whence I have taken most of those things I have here given you concerning all these Courts wherein he may find at large how great the Power of this Court was not only before but after the Conquest And I have also reserved the treating of these two Courts by themselves because tho the 3 former are supposed by some to be of K. Alfred's Erection upon his new Reformation of the Kingdom but these two were not so for notwithstanding Ingulf tells us that this King Alfred first divided the Provinces of England into Counties yet we find Mr. Selden Learnedly makes it out That Alfred was not the first that divided the Kingdom into Shires or Counties for saith he before Alfred's Time those Provinces had their Ealdormen in them Thus we read of Ethelwolfus Barocensis Pagae Comes and Ceorle Domnaniae Comes and Eanulf Somersetensis Pagae Comes for the Earldoms of Barkshire Devonshire and Somersetshire under King Ethelwolf Father to King Alfred are remembred in Asserius Menevensis that lived in King Alfred's Time Two of them are also in Ethelwerd a Writer of the Saxon Times besides Osric Dorsetum Dux for Eolderman of Dorset Eâ—lchere or Alchere was at the same Time Ealdorman of Kent and Auda or Wuda of Surrey as we have it in Hoveden Huntingdon and in that Asserius also And Ingulphus hath the Charter of King Ethelbald's Foundation of Crowland whereunto the Comites of Leicester and of Lincoln both subscribe TO which I may also add divers Examples that you will meet with of the same kind in the following History out of the Saxon Annals HAVING thus dispatched these inferior
Fifty Thousand Souldiers which is also confirm'd by Dion who further tells us That he fought no set Battel nor yet saw any Forces of the Enemies in Battell Array but that they did often leave their Sheep and Oxen on purpose that the Romans going out of the way to seize them might be the more easily taken and overcome besides all this the want of Water much troubled the Romans and Ambushes were laid for those that went about stragling to find it And when they were not able to march any further for want of it they were killed by their fellow Souldiers least they should be taken by the Enemy But in this Expedition the wicked cariage of Bassianus gave Severus perpetual trouble not only because he lived debauchedly but also for that it was evident as soon as he had Power he would kill his Brother and had also made some attempts against Severus himself for he ran once all of a sudden out of his Tent crying out that he was much injur'd by Castor who was the worthiest Man in Severus's Court and was privy to his most secret Councils being the chief of his Bed-chamber the same with the Lord Chamberlain with us Now there were before ready prepared some Soldiers on purpose who upon Bassianus's thus crying out came to his Assistance and as Herodian says proclaim'd him Augustus whereupon Severus immediately made himself to be carried to the Tribunal and having order'd all those Officers and Souldiers who had been engaged in this Action as also his Son who had taken upon him the Name of Augustus to appear before him He commanded them all except his Son to be put to Death when they all begging pardon for their offence fell down prostrate before him upon which he pardon'd them then touching his own Head with his Hand said At last you 'l find that it is a Man's Head and not his Feet that Govern but Dion says he did put some of the most Seditious of them to Death who also further relates that at another time when both the Father and the Son were marching together into Caledonia Bassianus did openly endeavour to kill his Father for as they rode at the head of the Army the Enemies Forces being in sight he stopp'd his Horse and privately drew his Sword that he might run his Father into the back which when those perceived who followed them they presently cryed out at which Bassianus being startled stopt his blow but Severus thereupon turning about saw his Sword drawn yet then said nothing but returning to the Camp went into the Praetorium and there called before him his Son together with Papinian and Castor then Commanding the naked Sword to be laid before them he sharply reproved him that not only now in the sight of his Army but also at other times he had attempted so great a wickedness concluding thus if thou desirest to kill me kill me now for thou art Younger and in full strength and I am Old and can scarce stir which if thou refusest to do with thine own Hand here is Papinian our Prefect whom thou may'st command to kill me for he will do what ever thou bidst him since thou art already Emperor Thô Severus said all this he did no more to his Son notwithstanding he had often blamed Marcus Aurelius that he had not put his Son Commodus to Death but Severus said this only in his passion for his Son was dearer to him than the good of the Common-wealth thô by this means he did as good as Sacrifice his Younger Son to the Elder since he might easily guess what would happen when ever he should die Herodian confirms the same Story and that though several Grave and Wise Men had perswaded him to put his Son to Death yet he refused it too much indulging his paternal Affection The War being thus happily ended Severus in Memory of these Victories caused Coins to be Stamp'd with this Inscription Victoria Britannica and upon the Frontiers of what he had now Conquer'd built a Wall cross the Island from Sea to Sea which our Author judges to have been the most magnificent of all his undertakings and that he thence received the Stile of Britannicus It was in length 132 Miles Orosius makes it fortified with a deep Trench and at certain Spaces by many Towers Buchanan in his History of Scotland will needs place it in Scotland between the Friths of Bodotria and Glotta in the same place which Lollius Urbicus and Agricola had fortified before whilst Mr. Camden affirms it to be only Hadâ—ianus's Wall re-edified and which passes through the higher parts of Cumberland between the Rivers Tine and Eske and brings very good Authorties for this Opinion out of the Roman Authors as well as Inscriptions near the said Wall in which the name of Severus is particularly mentioned which Wall is called by the English the Picts Wall by the Britains Gual Sever and by the Scots Mur Sever all which denominations do manifestly denote the name of its Founder whereas the name of Greames Dike by which the present Scots call the Ruins of that Wall or Trench which is still to be seen in Scotland doth no way denote Severus to have been its founder There is also another Argument that this was the place where he built this Wall we now treat of for between Dun Britton and Edinburgh Friths although there be many Ruins of continued Fortifications yet are they not so visible as this of ours nor doth the Wall in Scotland seem to have been of that strength and solidity as this of Severus is related by all Authors and as by its Ruines still appears to be But the former Wall or Trench seems to have been only faced with Stone about Two Foot thick and then lined within with Earth there are also divers other Arguments to prove it was the same with Hadrian's there built before as first the number of Miles which Spartianus hath truly reckon'd to be Eighty whereas between Edinburgh and Dunbritton there is not half that distance but if any shall object that Eutropius hath reckon'd the length thereof to be but Thirty Five Miles and Aurelius Victor Thirty two yet how even this can agree with the distance between the Friths of Edinburgh and Dunbritton let them consider who maintain this Opinion since even that will not agree with the distance between those two Rivers and thô it is true that Aurelius Victor one of the most authentic Authors that writes of this Matter makes the space that this Wall extended it self between the two Seas to be 30 Miles and Eutropius 35 whilst some later Authors have stretch'd it to 132 Miles yet Arch-Bishop Usher in his Learned Work already cited hath shewn us that these different Accounts may be reconciled by supposing that both Victor and Eutropius at first writ LXXXII Miles in Roman Figures and that afterwards by the carelesness of some Transcribers the L. was left out
whilst by others it was turned into a C which if added to the following Figures viz. XXXII make CXXXII but with an L. before them they make only LXXXII Miles as they are indeed no more But to conclude this Subject on which I doubt we have dwelt too long already if Buchanan had not desired to have been singular and to have differed not only from our English Authors but from his own Country-men John Fordun and Major who in their Histories of Scotland are both of our side he had never fallen into this Mistake Whilst this Peace with the Northern Britains lasted it may well be supposed that remarkable Meeting between the Empress Julia the Wife of Severus and the Wife of Argentocoxus a British King might have happened wherein the Empress upbraiding the British Ladies that they lay with so many Men promiscuously according to their Custom of one Woman's having several Husbands as hath been already related The British Lady made her this quick Return We British Women do much better satisfie the Desires of Nature than you Roman Ladies for we have to do only with the best Men and that openly whilst you commit Adulteries with every mean Fellow in a corner A sharp Reproof though no good Excuse for her Country-women But no sooner was Severus returned into the Roman Province but the Caledonians and Maeatae again took Arms which so incensed the old Emperor that calling his Soldiers together he commanded them repeating a Verse of Homer That they should enter the Country and kill all they met both Men Women and Children but being now worn out with Years and Infirmities he could not go himself but sent Bassianus his Son against them yet whether he did any thing considerable is uncertain since Severus died not long after Whose End whether it was hastened by his Son 's wicked Practices or whether he died of meet Age or Sickness is not truly known since Historians differ much about it but before he died he is said to have spoke thus to his two Sons Bassianus and Geta See that you agree between your selves and pay your Soldiers and then you need care for no body else A notable Maxim which hath been observed not only by them but by all who are or desire to be absolute Monarchs He is likewise said by Spartianus to have rejoyced before his Death that he left the Empire to his Sons according to the Example of Antoninus Pius who left the two Antonini his Sons by Adoption his Heirs whereas he had left two Sons gotten by himself Rulers of the Roman Commonwealth But he was deceived in his Expectation for the one by the Parricide of his Brother the other by his own evil Manners were soon destroyed and to expect otherwise shew'd him not to have been so Prudent in that as in his other Actions Upon which the Author last cited in his Life of this Prince makes this shrewd Observation That scarce any great Men had left behind them a Son good for any thing but either they have had no Children or else such that it had been better for Mankind if they had died without any at all This Author also makes him to have further spoke these as his last Words I received the Commonwealth every where disturbed but leave it even as far as Britain in Peace a firm and stable Empire to my Antonines if they prove Virtuous but if otherwise a weak one Dion tells us That his Corps being carried out in great Pomp and laid upon the Funeral Pile without the Walls of York at a place called to this day Sever's Hoe or Sever's Hill the Souldiers rid round it on Horse-back full speed whilst it was burning his own Sons having first kindled the Fire Herodian gives us a long Description of his Funeral Pile and of the manner of burning the Body of a Roman Emperour which being too tedious to be here recited those who are desirous of reading the Description of this Spectacle may find it at large in this Author His Bones being put in an Urn of Porphiry were carried by his Sons to Rome and placed in the Sepulchre of the Antonines It is also said by Dion That Severus a little before his Death commanded this Urn to be brought to him and holding it in his hand to have spoke thus Must thou hold him whom the whole World could not contain Severus is described by this Author to have been in his old age Corpulent but of a strong Constitution thô much afflicted with the Gout of a sharp and excellent Wit a Lover of good Letters in which thô he was a sufficient Master yet was more able to express it by Writing than Words grateful towards his Friends most cruel to his Enemies diligent in Affairs but careless of what Men said of him greedy of Money which he gathered by all means yet for that cause alone he never put any Man to Death He was magnificent in his publick Expences and built many new Edifices and repaired the old ones so that thô he spent vastly yet he left a great Treasure behind him But to add somewhat farther from others he was a great Enemy to Incontinence and Adultery and made strict Laws against it and had certainly as great a mixture of good and evil Qualities as ever were found in any one Man That he was both Perfidious and Cruel appears by his Dealing with Albinus as also with the Wife and Children of Niger whom thô innocent he caused to be put to Death whilst his own Son who had attempted upon his Life and Empire he easily Pardoned which whether he did out of Love to him or weariness of Life as sated with Honour and Power may be doubted and if he had been then a young Man perhaps he would have acted otherwise I have insisted the longer upon the Character of this Prince as being one of the greatest and most fortunate of all the Roman Emperours But having given you an account of the last Words and Actions of Severus in Britain I cannot but here take notice of a notorious Falshood in Geoffery of Monmouth in this part of his History and whereby you may judge of his Skill in the Roman History and I shall give it you in the Words of a Learned Bishop Geoffery having found that Severus the Emperour died in Britain thought it most for the Honour of our Country to kill him fairly in Battle and therefore by power of Fancy he creates one Fulgentius to be General against him who being overpowered here at home went and fetched in the Picts out of Scythia and with their Aid fought Severus and killed him and was killed together for Company All which was Geoffery's own proper Invention And then having found that Severus left a Son Bassianus that was his Successor in the Roman Empire he makes his Britains set up this Bassianus to be their King on his Mother's account who must be the Sister of Fulgenius
presently declined for as he returned from Constantine out of Gaul into Spain by the way he received the unwelcome News of Gerontius's having revolted from his Obedience and set up one Maximus one of his own Creatures for Emperour and that having raised a powerful Army consisting of divers barbarous Nations that he was upon his march against him Constans allarmed with these Tydings immediately dispatched away one Eddobeccus unto the Germans whilst himself attended with Decimius Rusticus who of the Master of his Offices was advanced to be Praefect and accompanied with an Army of Francks Almans and other Nations passed into Gaul intending with all speed to return again to his Father but being intercepted by Gerontius and by him besieged in Vienna in Dauphine the City being taken he was there slain Then Gerontius marching to meet Constantine found him at Arles against which City he laid close Siege but was hindred from taking it by the sudden coming of Constantius Comes whom the Emperour Honorius had newly made his General at whose arrival with an Army out of Italy Gerontius being deserted by his own Souldiers retired into Spain where growing also into Contempt and Hatred with those few that remained his House in the Night being beset by them he with his own Servants manfully defended himself and slew above 300 of them and when his Darts and other Weapons were spent thô he might have escaped at a back Door as his Servants had done yet out of kindness to his Friend Allan and his Wife Nunnichia he refused it and having first cut off the Head of his Friend as was agreed between them he then slew his Wife thô with great Reluctancy being prevailed upon by her Importunity so to do refusing to out live her Husband and desiring to be freed from the Violence of the inraged Multitude for which her Resolution Sozomen the Ecclesiastical Historian gives her great Commendations This done Gerontius turned his Sword against himself but failing in his Design he finished it with his Dagger This Man being supposed to be a Britain I have been the more particular in his History and Humphrey Lloyd in his Discourse concerning Britain makes him to have been so famous here as to be celebrated by the British Bards whose Verses upon his Death he there gives you But in the mean while Constantine now streighten'd on all sides and discouraged with the ill Success of Eddobeccus who was slain but a little before after having been besieged 4 Months with his other Son Julian in the City of Arles there flings off his Purple Robes and entred into Priests Order hoping under that Protection to secure his Life and so not long after surrendred the Town But his new Habit proved no Sanctuary to him for he was carried into Italy and there beheaded by the Emperour's Order together with his Son Julian and Brother named Sebastian Whilst these Things were acting the Scots Picts and Vandals taking advantage of the Negligence of Constantine who whilst he stayed at Arles and minded his Pleasures more than publick Affairs invaded his Territories the latter breaking into Gaul and then invading Britain but the Britains now destitute of the Roman Aids and kept under by them who had not Power to protect them as Zosimus relates as well the Gauls as Britains forthwith took Arms and resolving to stand on their own Defence renounced all further Obedience to the Roman Empire which they believed they might justifie being then left without its Protection Being thus harrassed by their wonted Enemies having before sent Messages to Honorius for Relief but all to no purpose for he at that time not being able to defend Rome it self which the same Year was taken by Alaric King of the Goths the Emperour permitted them by his Letters to provide for their own safety acquitting them of the Roman Jurisdiction They therefore being thus deserted the Government of course devolved to the People who thenceforth betook themselves to live after their own Laws and to defend their Country as well as they were able But since the Chronology of these Times we are now Treating of is very perplexed and obscure by reason of the great scarcity of good Authors and since some Writers place the Britains casting off their Subjection to the Roman Empire immediately after the Death of this Constantine above-mentioned and others defer it 20 Years later give me leave here to subjoyn what the Learned Dr. Stillingfleet hath said in his above-cited Treatise concerning the time when this great Change happened in this Island for it hath been already proved for though all Authors agree that the Britains petitioned the Emperour Honorius for the first Supplies against the Picts and Scots that then invaded them yet they differ about the time I shall therefore first take notice what Bede saith concerning this matter who makes Gratianus Municeps to be set up two Years before the sacking of Rome by Alaric which happened Anno Dom. 410 and he also therein follows Orosius's Relation concerning Constantine and his Son Constans without ever mentioning their continuing to Govern here and much less losing their Lives in Britain as Nennius falsly supposes but then he applies that Passage in Gildas concerning that lamentable condition of the Britains and there first demanding Help from the Romans to the Times immediately following the Death of Constantine whereas Gildas indeed mentions it as happening upon the Usurpation of Maximus and his withdrawing the Forces from hence and that therefore this first Invasion of the Picts and Scots was between the Death of Maximus and the setting up of Gratianus Municeps when the Britains so earnestly suing for Assistance had a Roman Governour and a Legion sent to their Relief And Mr. Camden in his Introduction to his Britannia supposes that Claudius Rutilius mentions Victorinus as a Roman Governour here about that time but this is very uncertain when he there only speaks of the taking Tholouse by the Goths which was done by Ataulphus some time after the Death of Alaric and therefore could not be before the time of Gratian and Constantine Now that the first Supplies that were sent over into Britain were all of them sent before the Death of Stilico the said Learned Dr. Stillingflâ—et in his above-cited Treatise goes on to prove in the same place It is evident says he from many Passages in Claudian that Stilico took particular care of sending Supplies to the Britains against the Scots and Picts but Stilico was killed by the Army when Bassus and Philippus were Consuls Anno Dom. 408 before the first Siege of Rome by the Goths and therefore the Roman Forces sent by him must be before the Usurpatâ—on of Gratianus and Constantine Stillico being killed the same Year that these Usurpers were set up in Britain it is not possible he should do it after their Death and it seems not probable that any Supplies should be sent through Gaul while Constantine
remained Master there the Army in Gaul then taking part with him against Honorius and withaâ— Gildas saith That the Roman Legion having driven out the Picts and Scots returned in Triumph And so much is confessed by Bâ—de But at what time can we suppose that to have happen'd Is it likely that after the Usurpation of Constantine a Roman Legion should return in so much Triumph For immediately aftâ—r Constantine's Usurpation the Roman Empire begâ—n extreamly to decline in those parts through which they were to pass Gaul being upon Composition not long after delivered up to the Goths by Honorius and besides the Franks and Burgundians making continual incursions there I conclude it therefore most probable that the first supplies sent to the Britains were not after Constantine's Usurpation but between the Death of Maximus and the setting up of Gratianus Municeps Now let us see if we can hence discover when the second Assistance was sent to the Britains for which we must own our selves beholding to the aforesaid learned Doctor in the same place where he thus makes it out The Second time the distressed Britains were forced to sollicite the Romaâ—s for supplies is placed by Arch-bishop Usher Anno Dom. 426 when Gallio of Ravenâ—a was sent hither as he supposes because the next Year Prosper saith that Gallio was sent against Bonifacius in Africa but then the Arch-bishop makes the first supplies to have been sent in the latter end of Honorius's Reign for which the Doctor says he can see no reason for the Lord Primate grants that immediately after the Death of Maxâ—mus the Scots and Picts did waste Britain and that then Stillico did send assistance to them Why then should the first wasting of the Island mentioned by Gildas and the Legion sent thereupon be that in the latter end of Honorius his Reign and not rather in the beginning since the latter was very perplexed and troublesome the Alani Swevi and Vandali having possessed themselves of great part of Spain whil'st the Franks Burgundians and Goths had all Gaul so that Honorius the Year before his Death was forced to send his Forces under Castinus into Spain against the Vandals as Prosper in his Chronicle affirms And that also prov'd the occasion of new Troubles in Africa by the difference between Castinus and Bonifacius who for his own security sent over the Vandals thither Is it not therefore most probable that the first Supplies of the Britains should be sent in the latter end of Honorius's Reign especially since the learned Primate confesseth that Honorius did not in his time recover the Province of Britain and he proves it against Sabellicus from Procopius's Authority a much more ancient Authour besides that of Bede so that the single testimony of Sigebert that Honorius sent assistance to the Britains at the same time that he did to the Spaniards when Prosper Idatius and Cassiodore who all mention the latter say not one word of the former cannot bear down the more weighty Reasons on the other side But it is certain that in this interval between the sending of the two supplies the Roman Affairs became so desperate That the Saxon Annals as well as Ethelward in his Chronicle relates that now the Romans hid their Treasures in the Earth or else carried them away with them into Gaul so that it seems most likely during all the rest of the Reign of the Emperour Honorius the Britains did no more return to his Obedience thô notwithstanding they did again endeavour to put themselves under the protection of the Roman Empire in the time of his Successour Valentinian III. as the learned Dr. above cited makes it more than probable in the same place from divers other Circumstances too long to be here particularly set down So that the second supplies which were sent upon the mighty importunity of the Britains were in all probability in the beginning of the Reign of Valentinian III. after that Aetius had somewhat recovered the credit of the Roman Empire in Gaul for after his success there both against the Goths and Franks he had liberty enough to send over a Legion to the assistance of the Britains who were again miserably harassed by the Scots and Picts And at this time it was that Gildas saith the Romans upon the sad representations of the British Ambassadours sent them speedy supplies So far we have been beholding to the learned Dr. Stillingfleet now Lord Bishop of Worcâ—ster but if I may interpose my own Opinion I should assign the sending of these last supplies by the Romans to have been in the Year of our Lord 435 when Aetius had good sucess against the Burgundians in Gaul To which Year also the Saxon Annals refer the ceasing of the Roman Empire in Britain only the Compiler was mistaken in two things the first in making Rome to have been taken this Year by the Goths the other in supposing the time of the Romans ruling here to be but 470 Years whereas indeed it was 488 Years as I shall presently make out So that from this last departure of the Roman Legion which no doubt was done by the Emperour 's express Order I think I may very well date the total dereliction of Britain by the Romans who now by refusing them their protection left them by the Laws of Nature to provide for and defend themselves And from hence I may also date the final period of the Roman Empire in this Island which had now lasted from Julius Caesar's second landing in Britain in the 53d Year before Christ to this Year being the 435th Year after Christ the space of 488 Years but if you account from the more absolute Conquest of it by Claudius in the Forty Fourth Year after Christ it continued but 391 Years But that the Britains were at last very unwillingly cut off from being any longer a part of the Roman Empire appears by the last message they sent to Aetius again imploring assistance which the Emperour not being able to grant they had no other way left but to provide for themselves as well as they could which since it happened after the time that I suppose the Roman power to have ceased in this Island I shall refer the further Relation of it to the next Book But before I conclude this I shall give you a short account of Ecclesiastical Affairs in this Island in these Two last Centuries where after the last Persecution under Dioclesian Bede tells us the British Church enjoyed a perfect Peace till the Arrian Heresie over-ran the whole World and at last infected this Island though divided from the rest of it but though neither Gildas nor Bede hath set down the Year when this Heresie first began to spread it self here yet he seems to refer it to the Reign of Constantius when this Pestilent Opinion carried the face of Authority as having been confirmed in several pretended Councils But in the beginning of this Century though the Year
King Arthur died this Year as all the British Writers agree but as for the manner of his Death it is uncertain The British Chronicles suppose him to have been slain in a Fight at Camala against his own Nephew Mordred who had usurped the Crown in his absence It is more uncertain who succeeded him Geoffery of Monmouth makes Arthur at his Death to have bequeath'd the Crown to one Constantine his Cousin Son of Cador Duke of Cornwal whom he makes to have fought several times with the Sons of Mordred that he slew them and after 4 Years Reign died But divers of the ancientest British Chronicles we have seen make no mention of this Constantine but leave here an Inter-regnum of near 11 Years But to return to our Saxon Annals Withgar died and was buried at Withgarasbyrig which Place being called after his own Name was certainly some Place in the Isle of Wight and is supposed to be the same with Caresbrook Castle in the same Island Let us now look back to the British Affairs King Constantine being supposed by Geoffery to have died about this time he makes his Nephew Aurelius Conan to have succeeded him who Reigning about two Years was followed by Vortipore who also dying four Years after was succeeded by Malgo called by Gildas Malgoclunus and is supposed to be the same with Maelgwn Guined so often mentioned in the Welsh Annals so that according to Geoffery these three Princes reigned successively after one another which can by no means to reconciled with Gildas's Epistle who speaks to all of them as living and reigning at one and the same time so that it is most likely that Malgo or Malgocunus was only King of North-Wales or else of the Northern Parts of Britain as some of the Welsh Chronicles affirm but that Vortipore was King of that part of South-Wales called Demetia Gildas himself relates whilst Aurelius Conan ruled in Powis Land or some other Southern Province as Arch-Bishop Usher with preat probability supposes but Gildas's Epistle wherein he so sharply inveighs against all these British Kings above-mentioned is to this effect Britain has Kings yet Tyrants it has Judges but preying upon and oppressing the Innocent their Kings have Wives of their own yet are Whoremongers often Swearing yet as often Perjuring themselves often making Wars but those unjust or Civil Ones prosecuting Thieves yet having the greatest near them even at their own Tables sitting in the Seat of Justice yet not observing the Rules of right Judgment despising the Innocent and Peaceable and countenancing the Bloody and Adulterous keeping Men in Prison whom they have put there rather out of Malice than Desert And then proceeds particularly to all the Kings then reigning beginning with Constantine whom he calls The Tyrannical Whelp of an impure Damonian Lioness and accuses him this very Year in which he wrote that Letter to have been guilty of murdering two innocent Youths of Royal Blood at the very Altar and under the Cope of the holy Abbot These are supposed to have been the two Sons of Mordred He likewise accuses this Prince that being polluted with frequent Adulteries he had contrary to Christ's Precept put away his own Wife In the next place applying himself to Aurelius Conan he accuses him of the like if not worse Parricides besides Fornications and Adulteries and that hateing the Peace of his Country he had out of desire of Prey fomented Civil Wars In the third place he comes to Vortipore whom he calls The wicked Son of a good Father and Tyrant of the Demetae that is South-Welshmen and whom he accuses of the like Faults and that thô his Head were then grey yet he was guilty of Adultery his Wife being put away him he also advises to Repentance Next he proceeds to Cuneglasus who is supposed by some Antiquaries to have been King of the Northern or Cambrian Britains but this is to be observed that Geoffery of Monmouth takes no notice of him which shews that either he never saw this Copy of Gildas or else if he did knew not where to place this Prince having already made as many Kings to succeed each other as the Time he had to bestow upon them would allow But whoever he was Gildas accuses him for fighting both against GOD and Men against Men by taking Arms against his own Country-men against God by infinite Wickedness and besides his other Faults that having put away his own Wife he had married her Cousin who had vowed perpetual Chastity Then he concludes with a sharp Reproof of Maglocunus whom he calls the Island Dragon and the Expeller of many other Tyrants he also accuses him of Sodomy asking him Why being taller in Stature and greater in Power than all the rest of the Princes in Britain he had made himself in stead of being better far worse than they Upbraiding him that in his Youth he had murdered the King his Uncle with many of his Men. After many other Reproofs threatens him with speedy Destruction unless he repent This is the Substance of Gildas's Reproof to the British Princes from which all that we can gather is First that there were no less than five Kings at this time in Britain thô by what Means or Title they came to the Crown is uncertain more than that it seems probable some of these Princes here mentioned were descended from Aurelius Ambrosius thô as Gildas observes highly degenerated from the Virtue of their Ancestors But what great Actions these Kings did during their Reigns or what good Qualities they were indued with is not known so that there is but a slender Account of them in the Rolls of Fame which may make us suspect they were guilty of but very few good Qualities because we here find a large Catalogue of their bad Ones Who succeeded each of these Kings in their distinct Territories the most authentick British Chronicles do not mention and therefore thô Geoffery makes one Careticus to have now governed that part of Britain which was still left unconquered by the Saxons and whom he will have to succeed Malgo and that thereupon the Saxons sent for one Gormund an African King with a great Army of his Country-men who making a League with the Saxons set upon Careticus and besieged him in the City of Circester and taking and burning it afterwards fought with Careticus and forced him to flie beyond the Mountains of Wales Yet since neither in our Saxon Annals nor any other good Historian there is any thing to be found concerning these Kings or any Africans that ever invaded Britain it is to be looked upon as no better than one of the bold Inventions of this Author But as I have given you Gildas's Character of their Kings so I shall now give you that of their Clergy whom he thus reproves Britain says he hath Bishops but without Discretion many Ministers but those Impudent many Clerks but subtle Prowlers Pastors in Name but indeed Wolves
Communion and so bore them down with two things which were really false one that the Romans had received their Cycle by Tradition from St. Peter the other that it was made use of every where except in these Islands to the first of these Assertions the Scots for want of knowing better opposed only the Authority of St. John for their Cycle as to the other they could not tell what to say whereas in truth though they did not know it the Roman account came but an Age or two before from Alexandria and was not yet received in all the Western Church no not in some Parts of France it self but that in use among the Scots was the same Cycle that they and the Britains had ever used since their Conversion and was the same that was anciently used in the Roman Church But to return to Bede's Relation of this Synod where when after a long Dispute the British Clergy could neither by Intreaties nor Reproofs of Augustine be brought to a Compliance but that they would prefer their own old Traditions before the Consent of the Christian i. e. the Roman Church the Arch-Bishop as Bede relates offered to decide this Controversie by a Miracle desiring that some sick or impotent Person being brought before them his Doctrine by whom the Man should be cured was to be followed and believed to be from GOD which when the other Party had at last thô unwillingly consented to there was then found out a certain English-man who was quite blind and being offered to the British Bishops could receive no Cure from them when Augustine moved by a just Necessity prayed to GOD That he would restore this blind Man to his Sight whereupon he was immediately cured and Augustine was cried up by all as the only Dispenser of God's Word Then the Britains confessed indeed That they believed that the Doctrine which Augustine preached was the Truth but that they could not without the general Consent of their own Nation quit the ancient Rites and Customs of their Country wherefore they desired that more of their Clergy being assembled there should be a General Synod held about it which when it was agreed to there came as they relate several British Bishops their Annals relate them to have been Seven in all together with several Learned Men especially from the Monastery of Bangor over which one Dinoth is said to have been then Abbot and in which there was so many Monks all living by their own Labour that being divided into seven Divisions under as many Rectors each of these Divisions had not less than 300 Men. But their Abbot Dinoth and his Clergy a little before their going to the aforesaid Synod went first to a certain Man both Holy and Wise who led an Anchorite's Life among them whom they asked Whether they should lay aside their ancient Traditions at the Preaching of Augustine or no Who made this Answer If he is a Man of God follow him They said ' How shall we know this He replied The Lord says Take my Yoak upon you for I am meek and humble in Heart Perhaps that he himself beareth the Yoak of Christ and offereth the same to be born of you but if he be cruel and proud it is apparent that he is not of God neither need you to regard what he saith They said again But how shall we make a Discovery of that He replied Contrive it so that he and his Company may come first into the place of the Synod and if he shall rise up to you when you approach know then that he is the Servant of Christ and obediently hear him but if he shall despise you nor will rise up to you when you are more in number let him be slighted by you also They did as he directed them and it fell out that Augustine bearing himself as the Pope's Legate and their Metropolitan as they drew near sate still in his Chair which when they saw they grew presently angry accusing him of Pride and endeavouring in all Things he said to contradict him But He began thus to discourse to them Whereas ye do many Things contrary to our received Customs and the Consent of the Catholick Church nevertheless if ye will obey me in these few Things to wit That ye celebrate Easter in its proper Time That ye perform the Ministery of Baptism according to the Custom of the Holy Roman Apostolick Church That ye preach the Word of GOD together with us to the English Nation Then as for all other Things which ye practise although contrary to our Customs we will quickly tolerate them But they made answer That they would do none of those Things neither would they acknowledge him for their Arch-Bishop And discoursing further among themselves they said If he would not just now rise up unto us how much more when we shall be subject to him will he then look upon us as nothing To whom Augustine is reported thus threatningly to have denounced against them If ye will not now accept of Peace with your Brethren ye are like to find War from your Enemies and since ye would not prâ—ach the Way of Life to the English Nation ye shall suffer by their hands the Punishment of Death Which in every Thing the Divine Judgment concurring was fulfilled as he had foretold thô Bede here further tells us that Augustine lived not to see the Issue of this Prediction for he died a good while before but of this we shall speak in its due time And though Bede places the fulfilling of this Prediction immediately after its Relation yet since I intend to refer every thing to its proper Time wherein it happened I shall defer the speaking of this for some Years But Sir Henry Spelman out of an ancient British Manuscript of Mr. Peter Moston's a Welsh Gentleman gives us a much more particular Account of the Answer which the Abbot of Bangor then made to Arch-Bishop Augustine which being Translated out of the Welsh Original is to this effect Be it known and without doubt unto you that we all are and every one of us obedient and subject to the Church of GOD and the Pope of Rome and to every godly Christian to love every one in his Degree in perfect Charity and to help them by Word and Deed to be the Children of GOD And other Obedience than this I do not know due to him whom you name to be Pope nor as the Father of Fathers to be claim'd and to be demanded And this Obedience we are ready to give and to pay to him and to every Christian continually Besides we are under the Government of the Bishop of Caerleon upon Uske who is to oversee under GOD over us to cause us to keep the way Spiritual From whence we may observe that the Christian Religion came not first into Britain by the Preaching of any Persons sent from Rome for then they would still have owned Canonical Obedience to the
who left the poor Monks whom he was to defend to be cut to pieces But William of Malmesbury relates this Matter somewhat otherwise thô he says expresly that this Fight was at Chester then in the hands of the Britains which when King Ethelfrid went about to besiege the Townsmen resolving to suffer any thing rather than a Siege trusting in their Numbers sallied out to fight whom when by an Ambush laid near the City he had easily overcome he then falling upon the Monks who were come in great Numbers to pray for the Success of the British Army of which says this Author there must certainly have been an incredible Number since even in his time there were left such vast Remains of Churches and Cloysters and so great a heap of Ruines as you can scarce says he find any where else The Place is called Bangor which was then an Abby of Monks but is now turned into a Bishoprick yet here our Author was mistaken for this Bangor where the Monastery was is in Flintshire not far from the River Dee whereas that which is the Seat of the Bishoprick is in Caernarvanshire not far from the River or Streight of Menai which parts that Country from the Isle of Anglesey But of all these great Ruines mentioned by Malmesbury there is now nothing left save those of the two principal Gates of this old City the one of which is on that side towards England and the other towards Wales being about a Mile asunder the River Dee running betwixt them But before we proceed further it is fit we enquire into the Truth of that Story of Geâ—ffeâ—y of Monmouth who will needs have Arch-Bishop Augustine to have perswaded King Ethelbert to incite Ethelfrid King of Northumberland thus to make War upon the Britains and to destroy these Monks as you have heard in which he is also followed by other later Writers and particularly by Nicholas Trivet an ancient Author in his History lately printed at Paris among the Collections of Monsieur Dachery as also by Arch-Bishop Parker Author of the Latin History De Antiquitate Ecclesiae Anglicanae and likewise in Bishop Jewel's Apology the former of which thô Bede hath expresly told us that Augâ—stine was dead long before this happened yet will have these Words of Bede to have been foisted in contrary to the old Saxon Manuscripts which is not so for it is found in them all thô not in the Saxon Version but besides the Respect which we ought to have for so good a Man as Augustine is supposed to have been and which inclines us to believe that it was not likely he should have a Hand in so cruel an Action I doubt not but to prove from other Arguments supposing this Passage of Bede not to be his that Augustine died about the Year 605 where I have already placed it In the first place therefore I shall not deny that William of Malmesbury in his First Book De Gest. Pontif. Anglor as well as divers other Historians of later Times suppose Augustine to have sate Arch-Bishop 15 and in some Copies 16 Years and then he must certainly have survived this Massacre of the Monks of Bangor but if I can prove they were mistaken in this Account all that had been said to prove Augustine guilty of it will signifie nothing For First Bede relates that Augustine being yet alive ordained Laurence for his Successor lest himself being dead the yet weak State of that Church if vacant thô for never so small a time might happen to suffer which it must be supposed he did when he found himself in a declining condition and not like long to survive Now that this happened in the Year 605 may be also proved by these Circumstances Bede hath already told us that Augustine in the Year 604 had ordained Mellitus and Justus Bishops immediately after which Relation follows that concerning Augustine's Death which he would scarce have mentioned there had not one followed the other within a short time and that it was so appears in the Manuscript Text of Adrian the Abbot of Canterbury who lived within less than 60 Years after and who obtained a Priviledge from Pope Deusdedit concerning the Free Election of the Abbot of that Monastery at the end of which there is this Passage Anno Dom. 605. died the holy Bishop Gregory IV o Idus Martii and in the same Year also Bishop Augustine VII o Kal. Junii with whom also agree Marianus Scotus and Florence of Worcester in their Chronicles the former of whom under Anno Dom. 605 hath these Words Augustine having ordained Laurence the Presbyter Arch-Bishop in his stead after a short time departed to the Heavenly Kingdom thô in Florence's Copy it is placed under the Year 604 which Difference might easily happen by the carelesness of Transcribers This is also observed by Will. Thorne the Historian and Monk of Canterbury from an old Book of the Life and Miracles of this St. Augustine that now is lost who in his Chronicle says expresly That many have erred concerning the Death of St. Augustine thinking him to have died Anno Dom. 613 The cause of which Errour is owing to the false Dates of some Chronicles who make him to have sate Arch-Bishop Sixteen Years whereas Bede in his second Book says That he ordained Mellitus and Justus to be Bishops a little before his Death and there gives us the same reason as I have already done with whom also agrees an ancient Anonymous Chronicle in the Library at Lambeth as also the short Annals of the Church of Rochester which contain the Successions of the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury both which place the Death of Arch-Bishop Augustine and the Succession of Laurentius in Anno Dom. 604 but of this you may see more in the First Volume of Anglia Sacra published by the learned Mr. Wharton deceased wherein you may also find a short dissertation on this Subject and to whom I own my self obliged for the light I have had towards settling this obscure Question Now having cleared Arch-Bishop Augustine's Memory of that Crime which is laid to his Charge I shall proceed to the Ecclesiastical History of this time Laurentius who succeeded Augustine in the See of Canterbury having seen the English Church not only foundâ—d but much encreased began about this time to bestow his Pastoral care not only upon the English and British Inhabitants of this Island but also upon the Scots who inhabited Ireland because he knew that at that time they as well as the Britains did not observe Easter according to the Nicene Canon the occasion of which Controversie I have already given you Therefore the new Arch-Bishop thought it fit to write an Epistle on purpose to the Irish Bishops wherein he exhorted them to maintain the Catholick Unity in the observation of Easter in which Letters this is remarkable That they are directed to all the Bishops per Universam Scotiam That is through out
his Province and as Bede tells us surveyed all Things and ordained Bishops in fit Places and those Things which he found less perfect than they should be he by their Assistance corrected among which when he found fault with Bishop Ceadda as not having been rightly Consecrated he humbly and modestly replied If you believe that I have not rightly undertook the Episcopal Charge I willingly quit it since as I never thought my self worthy so I never consented to accept it but in obedience to the Commands of my Superiours But the Arch-Bishop seeing his Humility answered That he would not have him lay aside his Episcopacy and so he again renewed his Ordination according to the Catholick Rites From whence it appears that this Arch-Bishop then thought the Ordination of the English and Scotish Bishops who differed from the Church of Rome as to the time of keeping Easter to be Uncanonical and for this reason Bede here also tells us That Bishop Wilfrid was sent into France to be Ordained But as for this Bishop Ceadda Florence of Worcester informs us That he was now also deprived of his Bishoprick and Wilfrid restored to it as having been unduly Elected thereunto which thô Bede doth not tell us in express Words yet he confirms it in the very next Chapter where he tells us That Jaruman Bishop of the Mercians being now dead King Wulfher did not ask Arch-Bishop Theodorus to Ordain a new One but only desired of King Oswi that Bishop Ceadda the Brother of Cedda should be sent to him to take that Charge who lived privately at his Monastery of Lestinghen where he was then Abbot Wilfrid then not only Governing the Diocess of York and all the Northumbers but also Picts as far as King Oswi's Dominions extended But to return again to the Saxon Annals This Year King Ecgbert gave to Basse the Priest Reculf where he built a Monastery This was afterwards called Reculver in Kent Oswi King of Northumberland died xv Kal. Martij and was buried at Streanshale Monastery and Ecverth or Egfrid his Son reigned after him also Lothaire Nephew of Bishop Agelbert took upon him the Episcopal Charge over the West Saxons and held it 7 Years Arch-Bishop Theodorus Consecrated him He whom these Annals call Lothair was the same with Leutherius Bishop of Winchester Bede tells us further of King Oswi That being worn out with a long Infirmity he was so much in love with the Roman Rites that if he had recovered of the Sickness of which he died he had resolved to go to Rome and end his Days at the Holy Places having engaged Bishop Wilfrid to be the Guide and Companion of his Journey promising him no small Rewards for his Pains ' This Year was a great slaughter of Birds H. Huntington renders it a great Fight of Birds which seems to have been some remarkable Combat of Crows or Jackdaws in the Air of which we have several wonderful Relations in our Histories Mat. Westminster relates that the strange Birds seemed to flie before those of this Country but that many Thousands were killed This next Year Cenwalch King of the West Saxons died and Sexburga his Wife held the Kingdom after him for one Year Of whom William of Malmesbury gives this Account That this King dying left the Kingdom to Sexburga his Wife nor did she want Spirit or Courage to discharge all the Functions of a King for she straitways began to raise new Forces as also to keep the Old to their Duty to govern her Subjects with moderation and to keep her Enemies in awe and in short to do such great Things that there was no Difference but the Sex between Her and a King But as she aimed at more than Feminine Undertakings so she left this Life when she had scarce Reigned a Year about But Mat. Westminster says she was expelled the Kingdom by the Nobles who despised Female Government But what Authority he had for this I know not for I do not find it in any other Author whereas if what William of Malmesbury says of her be true it was not likely they should Rebel against so good a Governess who seems to have been the perfect Pattern of an Excellent Queen After the Death of King Cenwalch and as I suppose Queen Sexburga likewise Bede relates That the Great Men or Petty Princes of that Kingdom divided it among them and so held it for 10 Years in which time Eleutherius Bishop of the West Saxons i. e. of Winchester dying Heddi was Consecrated by Arch-Bishop Theodorus in his stead in whose time those Petty Princes being all subdued Ceadwalla took the Kingdom but this does not agree with the Saxon Annals About this time thô Bede does not set down the Year King Egfrid of Northumberland waging War with Wulfher King of Mercia won from him all the Country of Lindsey About this time also died Ceadda Bishop of Litchfield according to Ran. Higden's Polychron but Bede does not tell us the time of his Death thô he mentions it and there gives a large Account of the great Humility and Piety of that good Bishop and of the Pious End he made He is called by us at this day St. Chad. This Year Egber◠King of Kent deceased according to Bede's Epitome who as says Math. Westminster gave part of the Isle of Thanet to build a Monastery to explate the Murder of his Cousins whom he had caused to be slain as you have already heard The same Year was a Synod of all the Bishops and great Men of England held at Heartford now Hartford which Synod as Bede tells us was called by Arch-Bishop Theodorus where Wilfred Bishop of York with all the rest of the Bishops of England were either in Person or by their Deputies as Florence relates and in which divers Decrees were made for the Reformation of the Church the first and chiefest of which was That Easter should be kept on the first Lord's Day after the Fourteenth Moon of the First Month i. e. 〈◊〉 which thô it had been before appointed by the Synod at Streanshale above-mentioned yet that being not looked upon as a General Council of the whole Kingdom it was now again renewed the rest of them concerning the Jurisdictions of the Bishops and the Priviledges and Exemptions of Monasteries I pass over and refer you to Sir H. Spelman's First Volume of Councils for farther satisfaction But I cannot omit that it was here first Ordained That thô Synods ought to be held twice a Year yet since divers Causes might hinder it therefore it seem'd good to the whole Council that a Synod should be assembled once a Year at a place called Cloveshoe This Year also the Saxon Annals relate That Etheldrethe late Wife to Egfrid King of Northumberland founded the Monastery of Ely in which she her self became the first Abbess She as Bede tells us had been twice married but would never let either
City from whence was first brought to us the joyful Tidings of the Gospel But they detain'd the Archbishop Prisoner near Seven Months till such time as they martyr'd him Osbern in his Life of St. Elfeage relates That this Archbishop sent to the Danes when they came before the Town desiring them to spare so many innocent Christians lives but they despising his request fell to battering the Walls and so throwing Firebrands into the City set it on fire so that whilst the Citizens ran to save their Houses Aelmeric the Archdeacon let the Danes into the City Florence here adds That the Monks and Laity were decimated after a strange manner so that out of every Ten Persons only the Tenth was to be kept alive and that only Four Monks and about Eight hundred Laymen remain'd after this Decimation And that not long after above Two thousand Danes perished by divers inward Torments and the rest were admonish'd to make satisfaction to the Bishop but yet they obstinately refused it Florence of Worcester and R. Hoveden also relate That the Danes destroyed many of the Prisoners they had taken with cruel Torments and various Deaths This year Eadric the Ealdorman sirnamed Streon and all the Wise and Chief Men both Clerks and Laicks of the English Nation came to London before Easter which fell out then the day before the Ides of April and there stayed until such time as the above-mentioned Tribute could be paid which was not done till after Easter and was then Eight thousand Pounds In the mean time being about Six Months after upon a Saturday the Danish Army being highly incensed against Archbishop Aelfeage because he would neither promise them Money himself nor yet would suffer any body else to give them any thing for his Ransom for which as Osbern in his Life relates they demanded no less than Three thousand Pounds in Silver a vast Sum in those days which being denied them and many of them being got drunk they laid hold on the Archbishop and led him to their Council on the Saturday after Easter and there knocked him on the head as the Annals relate with Stones and Cows Horns till at last one of them striking him with an Axe on the Head he fell down dead with the Blow Florence says that this was done by one Thrum a Dane whom he had the day before confirmed being thereunto moved by an Impious Piety But John of Tinmouth in his Manuscript History of Saints called Historia Aurea now in the Library at Lambeth relates that when Archbishop Elfeage was thus killed the Danes threw his Body into the River which was soon taken out again by those whom he had converted But our Annals here farther That the Bishops Eadnoth and Aelfhune the former of Lincoln and the latter of London took away his sacred Body early the next morning and buried it in St. Paul's Minster where God now shews the power of this Holy Martyr But as soon as the Tribute was paid and the Peace confirmed by Oath the Danish Army was loosely dispersed abroad being before closely compacted together then Five and forty of their Ships submitted to the King and promised him to defend the Kingdom provided he would allow them Victuals and Apparel The year after Archbishop Aelfeage was thus martyr'd the King made one Lifing Archbishop of Canterbury Also the same year before the Month of August King Sweyn came with his Fleet to Sandwich and soon after sailing about East-England arrived in the Mouth of Humber and from thence up the River Trent till they came to Gegnesburgh now Gainsborough in Lincolnshire Which mischief according to William of Malmesbury proceeded from Turkil a Dane who was the great Inciter of the Death of the Archbishop and who had then the East-English subjected to his will This man sent Messengers into his own Countrey to King Sweyn letting him know that he should come again into England for the King was given so much to Wine and Women that he minded nothing else wherefore he was hated by his Subjects and contemned by Strangers that his Commanders were Cowards the Natives weak and who would run away at the first sound of his Trumpets Though this seems not very probable for Earl Turkil was then of King Ethelred's side as you will see by and by King Sweyn being prone enough to slaughter needed no great Intreaties to bring him over he had been here eight years before and why he stayed away so long I wish our Authors would have told us But William of Malmesbury further adds That one chief end of his coming over was to revenge the death of his Sister Gunhildis who being a Beautiful Young Lady had come over into England with Palling her Husband a powerful Danish Earl and receiving the Christian Religion became her self a Hostage of the Peace that had been formerly concluded But tho the unhappy Fury of Edric had commanded her to be beheaded together with some other of her Countreymen yet she bore her Death with an undaunted Spirit having seen her Husband and a Son a Youth of great and promising hopes slain before her face But to come again to our Annals So soon as King Sweyn arrived in the North Earl Vhtred and all the Countrey of the Northumbers with all the people in Lindesige and the people of the five Burghs or Towns but what these were we now know not lying on the other side Waetlingastreet submitted themselves to him There were also Hostages given him out of every Shire but when he found that all the people were now become subject to him he commanded them to provide his Forces both with Horses and Provisions whilst he in the mean time marched toward the South with great expedition committing the Ships and Hostages to Knute his Son And after he had passed Waetlingastreet they did as much mischief as any Army could do Then they turn'd to Oxnaford whose Citizens presently submitted themselves to him from thence he went to Wincester where the Inhabitants did the same and from thence they marched Eastward towards London near which many of his men were drown'd in the Thames because they would not stay to find a Bridge but when they came thither the Citizens would not submit but sallying out had a sharp Engagement with them because King Ethelred was there and Earl Turkil with him Wherefore King Sweyn departed thence to Wealingaford and then over Thames Westward to Bathe and there sate down with his whole Army whither came to him Aethelmar the Ealdorman of Devonshire with all the Western Thanes who all submitted themselves to him and gave him Hostages When he had subdued all these places he marched Northwards to his Ships and then almost the whole Nation received and acknowledged him for their real King And after this the Citizens of London became subject to him and gave him Hostages because otherwise they fear'd they should be utterly destroy'd for Sweyn demanded that they should give full
wont to meet him as he came from School and took delight to pose him in Verses and would also passing from Grammar argue with him in Logick in which she was well skill'd and when she had done would order her Waiting-Woman to give him some Money But as King Edward had till now deferr'd the performance of his Promise in marrying this Lady ever since he came to the Crown so it had been no great matter whether he had married her or not because he never enjoyed her But notwithstanding the temptation of so fair a Lady he not only kept his own Virginity inviolable but also persuaded her to do the like and this as the Abbot of Rieval in his Life relates he did not do out of any hatred to her Father as is commonly reported by several of our other Historians but because the English Nobility being desirous that one from his Loins should succeed him had importun'd him to marry which he could not well refuse for then the secret Resolution of his dying a Virgin would have been disclosed therefore he wedded her both to secure himself against her Father as also to make the Virtue of his Continence appear more conspicuous which as this Author tells us was no Secret being then divulged and believed all over England and divers Censures passed concerning the motives why he did so The same year Brightwulf Bishop of Scirebone deceased who had held that Bishoprick Thirty eight years and Hereman the King's Chaplain succeeded to that Bishoprick Also Wulfric was consecrated Abbot of St. Austin's at Christmas with the King 's good Consent because of the great Bodily Infirmity of Aelfstan the former Abbot This year deceased Living Bishop of Devonshire i.e. of Exeter and Leofric the King's Chaplain succeeded thereunto The same year Aelfstan Abbot of St. Augustin's in Canterbury deceased and also Osgot Glappa the Danish Earl was expelled England The same year likewise according to Simeon of Durham and William of Malmesbury Alwold Bishop of London who had been before Abbot of Evesham being by reason of his great weakness unable to perform his Episcopal Function would have retired to his old Monastery but the Monks not permitting it he resented it so ill at their hands that taking away all the Books and other Ornaments which he had conferred upon them and retiring to the Abby of Ramsey he bestowed them all upon them and there within a short time after ended his days and then King Edward made one Robert a Norman Monk Bishop of London Also the same year the Noble Matron Gunhilda Niece to King Cnute was banished England together with her two Sons This year likewise in a great Council held at London as Florence relates Wulmar a Religious Monk of Evesham was chosen Abbot of that Monastery and was ordained the 4 th of the Ides of August following About this time according to the Welsh Chronicles Prince Griffâ—th having ruled in Peace ever since the last great Battel above-mentioned till now the Gentlemen of Ystrad Towy did by Treachery kill a Hundred and forty of his best Soldiers so that to revenge their deaths the Prince destroyed all those Countries Grymkitel Bishop of the South-Saxons i. e. Selsey deceased as did also the same year Aelfwin Bishop of Winchester and Stigand who was before Bishop in the North-East parts i. e. of Helmham succeeded in that See And Earl Sweyn the Son of Godwin went over to Baldwin Earl of Flanders to Brycge and staid there all Winter and at Summer departed being it seems at that time in disgrace at Court for deflow'ring an Abbess whom he loved This year Aethelstan Abbot of Abbandune deceased to whom succeeded Sparhafock a Monk of St. Edmundsbury Whence you may observe that the Abbots were at that time seldom chosen out of Monks of the same Abby Also this year Bishop Syward deceased and then Archbishop Eadsige retook that Bishoprick Which is contrary to what William of Malmesbury hath already related The same year likewise Lothen and Yrling Danes came to Sandwic with Twenty five Ships and there landing committed great havock and carried away abundance of Booty as well of Gold as Silver so that no man can tell how great it was From whence they sailed about Thanet and attempting there to commit the like Outrages the people of that Countrey vigorously resisted them and hindred their landing and so made them to direct their course towards Essex where they committed the like Barbarities carrying away all the men they could lay hold on and then passing over into the Territories of Earl Baldwin and there selling all their Plunder they sail'd towards the East from whence they came Also the same year according to Simeon of Durham Harold sirnamed Hairfax Brother to the late King Olaf having put Sweyn King of Denmark to flight subdued that Kingdom King Sweyn being thus driven out of his Countrey sent Ambassadors to King Edward desiring his Assistance with his Fleet against the King of Norway which Earl Godwin much approved of but the rest of the Great Men dissuading him from it nothing was done but the King of Norway dying soon after Sweyn recovered his Kingdom But Florence of Worcester places this Transaction two years later but which of them is in the right I will not dispute Also this year according to our Annals as well as other Authors was the great Battel of Vallesdune in Normandy between Henry King of France and the Nobility of that Dukedom because they refused to receive William the Bastard for their Duke But when he afterwards got them into his power he beheaded some of them and others he banished I have mentioned this to let you see with how great difficulty this young Duke who was afterwards King of England was settled in that Dutchy which he could never have obtained without the Protection and Assistance of the King of France About this time also the Welsh Chronicles tell us South-Wales was so infested by the Danish Pyrates that the Sea-Coasts were almost quite deserted The same year or else in 1048 as it is in the Cottonian Copy of the Annals was held the great Synod or Council at St. Remy where were present Pope Leo and the Archbishop of Burgundy i. e. of Besanson tho they are here mentioned as two several Archbishopricks as also the Archbishop of Treves and Remes with many other Wise Men both of the Clergy and Laity and thither King Edward sent Bishop Dudoce and Wulfric Abbot of St. Augustine's with Abbot Aelfwin that they might acquaint the King what was there decreed concerning the Christian Faith This year King Edward sail'd to Sandwic with a great Fleet and there met Earl Sweyn who came with seven Ships at Bosenham i.e. Bosham in Sussex where he made a League with the King and received a Promise from him to be restored to all his possessions but Earl Harold his Brother and Beorne very much opposed him saying He was utterly unworthy
the Bishops and Monks from whom she was sure to have their good word yet however she did not escape Scandal for she had several Enemies that incensed the King against her but especially Archbishop Robert the Norman who had accused her some years before her death of being too familiar with Alwin Bishop of Winchester Whereupon she was sent to the Abby of Werewell having first of all her Goods taken from her whilst the Bishop was committed to Prison Archbishop Robert crying out That such Villany ought not to go unpunished for fear it should be an encouragement for others to do the like but she not being kept very strictly wrote to all the Bishops of England whom she knew to be her Friends professing that she was more troubled at the Disgrace offered to the Bishop than that which was done to her self and that she was ready to clear his Innocency by the Fire Ordeal Upon this the Bishops met and had easily prevailed with the King to put up the business had not Archbishop Robert stifly opposed them demanding of his Brethren How they could have the confidence to take upon them the Defence of that Beast rather than Woman meaning the Queen Mother who had so detracted from the King her Son and yet had called her Paramour The Anointed of the Lord But said he this Woman will purge the Bishop but who shall purge her that consented to the Death of her Son Alfred and prepared Poyson for his Brother now King Edward But if she desires to be acquitted let her accept of her own Proposal and walk barefoot over Nine Red-hot Plowshares four for her self and five for the Bishop and then if she escape untouch'd let her pass for Innocent Upon this the Day for Trial was appointed and she having the night before at his Shrine earnestly invoked the Assistance of St. Swithin she came to the place where the King and all the Bishops except Robert were present and there passed unhurt over all the Red-hot Plowshares to the great Joy and Wonder both of her self and all the Spectators especially of the King her Son that she had so well cleared her self then he was very sorry that he had been so credulous as to admit those Calumnies against his own Mother whose Pardon he now begged as also the Bishops and as divers of the Monkish Writers relate received Penance from them on his bare back Queen Emma for this signal Deliverance gave to St. Swithin Nine Mannors and the Bishop of Winchester as many the Innocency of them both being hereby absolutely cleared Moreover the King is said to have bestowed on the Church of Winchester the whole Isle of Portland and other Possessions The substance of this Story is both delivered by John Bromton and Henry de Knighton but Dr. Harpesfield hath embellished it with divers other trivial Circumstances whilst our more Ancient Authors as Malmesbury and others say nothing of it But methinks that which follows spoils all the rest viz. That Archbishop Robert whom some will have Bishop and others Archbishop at this time thereupon fled out of the Land whereas indeed he continued here much longer and fled out of England upon another occasion as we shall shew hereafter But to return again to our Annals The same year it was also decreed by the King and his Chief Men That Ships should be sent to Sandwich and that Earl Rolfe and Earl Odda should command them in the mean time Earl Godwin departed from Brycge with his Ships to Ysera a place we know not and then landing the next day but one to Midsummer-Eve he came to the Head or Point lying on the South side of Rumenea now Rumney in Kent which when it was told the Earls at Sandwic they immediately sail'd out in pursuit of him and also commanded the Land-Forces to be in a readiness to join them But is seems Earl Godwin had timely notice of it and so he fell back to Pevensea i. e. Pensey in Sussex and then so violent a Tempest arose that the Earls could not inform themselves which way Godwin was gone but afterwards he returned and came to Brycge and the King's Ships went to Sandwic and from thence they were order'd back to London and other Captains to command them but the matter was so long delay'd that all the Seamen left their Ships and returned to their own homes As soon as Earl Godwin heard this he set out his Fleet again to Sea and sail'd directly Westward to the Isle of Wight where his men going ashore plundered so long till at last the people would give them what Contributions soever they demanded Then they sail'd further Westward till they came to the Isle of Portland and there going again on shore they did all the damage they could to the Inhabitants In the mean time Harold return'd from Ireland with Nine Ships and landed at Portloc Bay in Somersetshire where much people were got together against him but he not being at all afraid of them marched out to seek Provisions and there killed all before him taking Men Cattel and Money whatsoever he met with From thence he sail'd Eastward towards his Father whom having met they went together to the Isle of Wight and there plunder'd whatsoever was left and thence coasted to Pevensea where they took all the Ships that were in that Harbour afterwards they went to the Naesse Point and carried away all the Ships that were in Rumenea Hythe and Folcestane now Folcston in Kent Thence they sail'd Eastward again to Dofra and going on shore took there as many Ships and Hostages as they could and then went to Sandwic where also they did the like so that they had Hostages and Provisions given them where ever they came as much as they required then again they sail'd to Northmuthe supposed to be that which we call now the Buoy in the Nore and thence up towards London they also sent some Ships to Scepige and there did a great deal of mischief then they turn'd to Middle-tune a Town of the King's in Essex and burnt it down to the ground and afterwards the Earls went towards London but when they came thither they found the King with all his Great Men ready to receive them with Fifty Sail. Then the outlaw'd Earls sent to the King beseeching him that they might be restor'd to their Estates of which they had been unjustly deprived but for a long time the King would not hearken to them by any means till at last the men who were with the Earl were so enraged against him and his people that the Earl had much a-do to appease them Then were assembled by God's assistance Bishop Stigand and other Prudent Men as well within the City as without and there they agreed upon a Peace to be made Hostages being first given on both sides which when Archbishop Rodbert and the other Frenchmen understood they took Horse and fled some Westward to Pentecost's Castle but where it was we
by Dioclesian Id. p. 87. Died at York Ibid. Vid. Constantine the Great Cloveshoe a Synod appointed to be assembled there once a year l. 4. p. 193. The Great Synod where were present Ethelbald the Mercian King and Archbishop Cuthbert where the place was is uncertain several Supposals and Conjectures about it Id. p. 224. The second Council held here and what was decreed in it Id. p. 225. The third Council held here under King Kenwulf and what was transacted therein Id. p. 243. l. 5. p. 248. A Synod held here under King Beornwulf and Archbishop Wilfrid whose Constitutions wholly relate to Ecclesiastical Affairs l. 5. p. 253. Another Synodal Council held here by Beornwulf c. wherein some Disputes about Lands between Heabert Bishop of Worcester and the Monastery of Westburgh are determined Ibid. Cnobsbury a Town wherein Fursaeus by the help of King Sigebert erects a Monastery which afterwards Anna King of the East-Angles richly endows l. 4. p. 180. Cnute having obtained the Crown of England restores its ancient Laws and Liberties l. 5. p. 246. Builds a Noble Monastery at Beadricesworth now St. Edmundsbury whither the Body of Edmund the Martyr was removed some time before l. 5. p. 323. Is chosen King by all the Danish Fleet and Army after the Death of his Father Sweyn l. 6. p. 39. Puts the Hostages on Shore at Sandwich that were given to his Father but first cuts off their Hands and Noses Ibid. Plunders all about Wiltshire Dorsetshire and Somersetshire c. and Aedric and the West-Saxons Submission to him Id. p. 40 41 42. Is chosen King by several of the Bishops Abbots and Noblemen of England upon which he comes up with his Fleet to Greenwich to besiege London and the Battels he fought with King Edmund and those that espoused his Interest Id. p. 45 46 47. A Peace concluded on between him and Edmund Ironside with an Account of the Particulars of it Id. p. 47 48. The Council he summoned to London about making him King of all England and setting aside his Children and Brethren from the Kingdom of the West-Saxons Id. p. 49. When he began his Reign divides all England into four Parts or Governments râ—serving West-Saxony to himself Id. p. 50. Marries Emma Widow of the King his Predecessor and the Reason of State for it Goes to Denmark to subdue the Vandals carrying along with him an Army of English and Danes the former behaving themselves so bravely against the Enemy that after that Battel he had the English in as much esteem at his own Native Subjects Holds a Great Council at Cyrencester and what is â—ransacted therein Id. p. 51. A Parliament called by him at Winchester and who present and what decreed therein l. 6. p. 52. Founds the Monastery of Beadricesworth where a Church had been built before and endows it which was one of the Largest and Richest in England Ibid. Goes again into Denmark with his Fleet and engages with the Swedes both by Land and Sea the latter getting the Victory Two years after he drives Olaf out of Norway and conquers it for himself Ranishes Hacun a Danish Earl his Nephew by Marriage under pretence of an Embassy Id. p. 53. Agrees with Robert Duke of Normandy That King Ethelred's two Sons should have half the Kingdom peaceably during his life Gives the Port of Sandwich to Christ-Church in Canterbury with all the Issues c. And founds a Monastery for Benedictines in Norfolk called St. Bennet's in Holme Id. p. 54. Goes to Rome and what he does there he declares in a Letter he sent upon his return from thence into England to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York Id. p. 55. Goes into Scotland and there King Malcolme becomes subject to him Before his Death he appoints Swayn his Eldest Son King of Norway Hardecnute his Son by Queen Emma King of Denmark and Harold his Son by Elgiva King of England after him Id. p. 56 61. Dies at Shaftsbury and is buried at the new Monastery of Winchester having reigned almost Twenty Years His Character A pretty Story about the sense he had of the Vanity of Worldly Empire Id. p. 57. The Laws he ordains with the Consent of his Wise Men at Winchester Id. p. 57 58 59 60. His Laws afterwards confirm'd and renew'd by King Edward the Confessor at the Request of the Northumbers Id. p. 90. Coelestine the Pope sends Palladius the Bishop to the Scots to confirm their Faith l. 2. p. 109 110. Cogidunus held several British Cities of Ostorius Scapula as Tributary to the Roman Empire l. 2. p. 41. Coifi chief of King Edwin's Idol Priests consents to receive the Christian Religion confessing his own to be good for nothing l. 4. p. 173. Burns the Idol Temples and demolishes the Altars of his former Gods Id. p. 174. Coil the Son of Marius succeeds him in Britain loves the Romans and is honoured by them and governs the Kingdom long and peaceably l. 2. p. 67. Dies towards the end of Marcus Aurelius the Emperor's Reign Id. p. 68. Coinage King Athelstan's Law That no Money be coined out of some Town no embasing to be of the Coin under Forfeiture of the loss of the Hand c. l. 5. p. 340. Though not Treason in King Ethelred's time yet punishable at the King's discretion either by Fine or Death l. 6. p. 44. Vid. Money Colchester anciently called Colnaceastre taken from the Danes by the men of Kent Surrey and Essex and the neighbouring Towns The Wall rebuilt and all ruinous places repaired by the Command of King Edward the Elder l. 5. p. 322. Coldingham the Monastery Vid. Monastery of Coludesburgh Coleman Bishop of Lindisfarne departs to Scotland and upon what account l. 4. p. 189. Coludesburgh a great Monastery of Monks and Nuns together called afterwards Coldingham in the Marches of Scotland burnt and how l. 4. p. 198 199. Columba the Priest or Presbyter comes out of Ireland to preach the Word of God to the Northern Picts and receives the Island of Hy to build a Monastery in l. 3. p. 143. Comets one appeared in King Egfrid's time that continued three Months carrying with it every morning a large Tail like a Pillar l. 4. p. 196. Another in Ethelheard's time l. 4. p. 220. One appeared some time after Easter in the year 891. l. 5. p. 298. Another appeared about the time of Queen Ealswithe's Death Id. p. 313. Another was seen in the year 995. l. 6. p. 26. A dreadful one appeared which was visible in all these parts of the world Id. p. 106. Commodus succeeds his Father Marcus Aurelius in the Empire l. 2. p. 68. In his Reign the Britains and other Countries were much infested with Wars and Seditions Id. p. 70. Makes Helvius Pertinax Lieutenant in Britain but was soon dismissed of his Government there Id. p. 70 71 He was odious to the Commonwealth because of his Vices by which he not only destroyed it but disgraced himself Id. p. 71.
Sister sent over to the Emperor Henry to whom she had been before Betrothed and was kindly received by him for some time till she was accused of Adultery and how her Honour was vindicated at last be her little Page Id. p. 66 67. But it made her forsake her Husband and retire into a Monastery for all her life afeer Id. p. 67. The Noble Matron was Banished England with her Two Sons Id. p. 73. Gunhildis a Beautiful Young Lady Sweyn's Sister Beheaded and bore her death with great bravery having seen her Husband and her Son slain before her face l. 6. p. 37. Gurgi a British Prince Son of Gliver Gosgard Vawr a Prince of Cumberland l. 3. p. 147. Gurguint in his Reign the Danes refused to pay him the Tribute which had been imposed by Belinus l. 1. p. 13. Guthfrith or Godfred Son to Syhtric a Danish King of Northumberland succeeds his Father there but was soon expelled by Athelstan who added those Dominions to his own l. 5. p. 330. Flie into Scotland and raises a Rebellion against Athelstan but he makes him submit to him The Civil Treatment Athelstan gives him and his Revolt from him afterwards Id. p. 331 332 333. Guthlac first a Monk then a professed Anchoriâ—e builds a Cell at Croyland the incredible Miracles told of him l. 4. p. 216. A Monastery founded in honour of him by Ethelbald King of the Mercians who was then lately deceased Id. p. 218. The Danes break open his Tomb and those of the Princes there buried and finding no plunder set the Church on fire and burn their dead bodies l. 5. p. 271. Guthrun Gythram or Gorman their Leader or King was promised by the Danes to become a Christian and accordingly King Alfred was his Godfather at his Baptism l. 5. p. 283 284 298. The Kingdom of the East-Angles delivered up to him Id. p. 283. The League between King Alfred and him as also the Secular and Ecclesiastical Laws that were made then by them Id. p. 283 284 285. His Christian Name Ethelstan called King of the Normans his Decease l. 5. p. 298. He died Ten years before King Alfred therefore no Ecclesiastical Laws could be made between him and Edward the Elder who was Alfred's Son and Successor Id. p. 326. Guy Earl of Warwick returning from the Holy Land in a Pilgrim's Habit Fights one Colebrand a Monstrous Danish Giant near Winchester and kills him and retiring to a Hermitage near Warwick there ends his days l. 5. p. 337 338. Gwgan King or Prince of Cardigan his death some say he was drowned by misfortune l. 5. p. 277. Gwido Earl of Ponthieu detains Earl Harold Prisoner but soon sets him at Liberty by the Command of William Duke of Normandy l. 6. p. 92. Gwyn or Gwyr a Countrey in North-Wales subdued by Eneon Son of Owen Prince of South-Wales l. 6. p. 6. Is destroyed a second time by the same Person Id. p. 16. Gwyneth that is North-Wales l. 3. p. 147. l. 5. p. 317. Gyrth King Harold's Youngest Brother his excellent Advice to him not to fight in Person against Duke William rejected which cost Harold his Life l. 6. p. 111. H HAcun a Danish Earl Banished England under pretence of an Ambassy by King Cnute who was afraid of him and why l. 6. p. 53. Hadrian Aelius a Spaniard succeeds his Uncle Trajan in the Empire his Politicks l. 2. p. 67. Comes over into Britain and reduces the Inhabitants he builds a wall of Eighty Miles in lâ—ngth cross the Island Id. p. 67 76. Haefe supposed to be Hatfield in Northumberland l. 4. p. 215. Halfdene Marches with one half of the Danish Army into the Kingdom of Northumberland and there soon conquers the whole Countrey spoiling as far as Galloway l. 5. p. 277 315. Divides that Kingdom amongst his People from whence they date their Reign there Id. p. 278. Is slain by King Alfred Id. p. 286. Hamtun that is now Southampton where Wulfheard the Ealdorman fights with a Fleet of Three and thirty Danish Pyrates and obtains a signal Victory over them l. 5. p. 258. Hardecnute Son to King Cnute by Queen Emma is appointed by his Father to be King of Denmark l. 6. p. 56. But is Decreed in the Great Council at Oxnaford upon the fierce disputes of the contending Parties That this Kingdom should be divided between Harold and him and Hardecnute to enjoy all the Southern Provinces but he never did all the time of his Brother Harold Id. p. 62. He being at Harold's Death in Bruges with his Mother is invited by the Chief Men of England to come over and receive the Crown which he accordingly did with all possible convenience and so is Elected King The several Taxes he raises His Consecration His revenging the Injury Harold did to his Mother and sending his Sister Gunhilda to the Emperor Henry to whom she had been before Betroth'd and the Feast he first kept for her Nuptials Id. p. 66. Is incensed against Bishop Lifing and Earl Godwin for the Death of his Half-Brother Alfred and how the business was made up and he reconciled to them Id. p. 67. Plunders and Burns the City and wastes the County of Worcester and upon what account Deceases at Lambeth and is Buried in the New Monastery of Winchester His Character A Holyday kept to his remembrance Id. p. 68. Harold King of Norway his Present to King Athelstan of a Ship whose Stern was Gilded and it's Sails Purple l. 5. p. 339. Harold Son to King Cnute by Aelgiva he appoints to be King of England after him l. 6. p. 56. Is Chosen King by the Great Council held at Oxnaford though opposed by the Great Men of the West-Saxons upon the pretence of a Supposititious Birth and the Disputes rise so high about the Election that many fearing it would issue in a Civil War left their Habitations upon it Id. p. 61 62. Sends a Guard to Winchester and Tyrannically seizes on his Father's Treasures there which he had bequeathed to the Queen his Mother-in-law Id. p. 62. Dies at Oxnaford and is Buried at Westminster how long he Governed England Id. p. 65. The Tax he raised for setting out Sixteen Sail of Ships whereof every Port was to bear their proportion incenses the minds of the English against him His Character and the reason of his being called Harefoot l. 6. p. 65. His Body is dug up by Hardecnute's Order his Head cut off and flung into the Thames buâ— afterwards taken up by Fishermen and Buried in St. Clement's Curch-yard Id. p. 66. Harold sirnamed Hairfax King of Norway and Brother to King Olaf putting Sweyn King of Denmark to flight subdues that Kingdom but dying soon after Sweyn recovers it again l. 6. p. 74. Harold Son of Earl Godwin the Quarrel that arose between Edward the Confessor and his Father his Brother Sweyn and him and how he is forced to fly into Ireland for Protection l. 6. p. 75 77 78. Returns from Ireland and kills and
Eutiches who maintained but One Will and Person in Christ condemned in a Synod at Heathfield in Hertfordshire l. 4. p. 199. Herethaland that is the Countrey of Pyrates l. 4. p. 235. Heriots King Cnute's Law concerning them settling the Rates of them according to every one's Rank and Dignity l. 6. p. 59 60. Hethfield supposed Hatfield in Yorkshire where King Edwin was slain and his whole Army quite routed l. 4. p. 176. In Hertfordshire where Theodore the Archbishop summoned a Synod in which the Five First General Councils were not only received and confirmed but the latter held at Rome under Pope Martyn I. l. 4. p. 199. Hiberni whether Irish-men or Scotch understood by that name l. 2. p. 83 84. Higbald consecrated at Soccabrig to be Bishop of Lindisfarne l. 4. p. 232. When he deceased and who was his Successor l. 5. p. 248. Higbert consecrated Bishop of Hagulstad in the room of Bishop Alchmund l. 4. p. 232. Or Higebryht chosen Archbishop of Litchfield by King Offa Id. p. 233. Hilda founds the Monastery of Streanshale in which she lived and died Abbess l. 4. p. 188 199. Grand-Niece to King Edwin and converted by Paulinus Her severe Sanctity Id. p. 199. Very much against Bishop Wilfrid upon substantial reasons Id. p. 215. Hinguar and Hubba two cruel Danish Tyrants burnt Coldingham-Nunnery with the Abbess and all her Nuns in it and many other Monasteries l. 5. p. 269 270. And destroys the whole Countrey of the East-Angles and Edmund their King l. 5. p. 270 271 272 273 274. Makes a great slaughter of the Britains but is slain with 1200 men near the Castle of Kenwith Id. p. 281. Hlothe Vid. Troops Hock-Wednesday a Holiday in Memory of Hardecnute's Death on which the people danced and drew Cords across the ways as they do now on stated days in several Parishes in England to stop Passengers till they get some Money from them l. 6. p. 68. Holland in Lincolnshire anciently called Hoyland whence all the Youth were drawn out against the Danes and their Success l. 5. p. 270. Homage whether the Submission the King of Scots paid to King Edward the Elder amounted to it questioned l. 5. p. 323. The story of Llewelyn Prince of North-Wales his doing Homage to Edward the Elder very suspicious and the reason why Id. p. 328. Godwin's performing it shews this Tenure to be in use before the Conquest l. 6. p. 83. Vid. Fealty Honorius the Emperor of the West had during his Minority Stilico appointed for his Governor l. 2. p. 97. Admits Constantine Partner with him in the Empire l. 2. p. 102. Delivers Gaule up to the Goths and did not in his time recover the Province of Britain Id. p. 105. Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury received his Ordination from Paulinus l. 4. p. 175. Consecrates Ithamar a Kentish-man Bishop of Rochester in the room of Paulinus who was equal to his Predecessors in Learning and Piety Id. p. 181. His Death and who succeeded him in the Archbishoprick Id. p. 185 186. Honorius Succeeds Boniface in the Roman See and sends Paulinus upon his hearing the Northumbrians had received the Christian Faith by his Preaching an Archiepiscopal Pall c. l. 4. p. 175. Another Pope of the same Name by his Bull not only ratifies all the Privileges confirmed by former Popes to the Abbey of St. Albans but grants to that and his Successors Episcopal Rights c. Id. p. 237 238. Hoocnorton in Oxfordshire anciently Hocneratune where the Danes committed great Ravages and Slaughter l. 5. p. 319. Horesti supposed to be the Inhabitants of Eskdale in Scotland l. 2. p. 63. Horsa Vid. Hengest Horses Forbidden by King Athelstane's Law to be Transported out of England l. 5. p. 341. St. Dunstan's Horse falling down dead under him upon his hearing a voice from Heaven crying aloud King Edred is dead as true as that the Sea burns Id. p. 351. Hostages given to Sweyn the Dane where-ever he came l. 6. p. 37 38. Hostilianus Trebonianus Gallus Deposed from the Empire by the Soldiers that first raised him to it l. 2. p. 81. Houses Religious Vid. Monasteries Howel Brother to Conan Prince of Wales upon a Quarrel betwixt them obtains the Victory it was upon his claiming the Isle of Anglesey l. 5. p. 250. Howel the Son of Jevaf restores his Father to his Liberty but takes upon himself the sole Government of all North-Wales l. 6. p. 7 9. His being Subject to King Edgar Id. p. 9. Makes War upon all who Succour his Uncle Jago and the Countries he Spoils Id. p. 16. Routs the Danes and Welsh-men assisted Constantine the Black Son to Prince Jago who is there slain in the Field Id. p. 20. Comes into England with an Army where he was fought with and killed in Battel leaving no Issue of his Body Id. p. 21. Howel and Meredyth the Sons of Edwin or Owen how they came to get the Government of South-Wales l. 6. p. 56. Is forced to fly his Countrey from Griffyth ap Lewelin ap Sitsylt Id. p. 64. Is slain and his Army routed by Prince Griffyth Id. p. 71. Howel Dha Succeeds his Father Cadelh in the Principality of South-Wales l. 5. p. 315. Takes upon him the Government of all Wales His Laws and Character Id. p. 337. A worthy Prince his Death and Issue and whom he left his Heirs to all South-Wales Id. p. 349. l. 6. p. 9. His Sons engaged in long Wars with Jago and Jevaf Princes of North-Wales Id. p. 349 350. Hubba Vid. the next Word Hubblestones or Hubblestow in Devonshire had its Name from a Danish Captain one Hubba being slain by Odun Earl of that County and there buried under a heap of stones l. 5. p. 281. Huda and his Surrey-men with Ealcher and his Kentish-men fight the Danish Army in the Isle of Thanet and their Success l. 5. p. 262. Huena General of King Ethelred's Forces his advice to have all the Danes in England slain and for what reason which was barbarously put in execution l. 6. p. 29 30. Hugh King of the French sends an Ambassador to King Athelstan to demand his Sister in Marriage l. 5. p. 339. Hundred-Courts every one to be present at them l. 6. p. 13 14. Hundreds when the Counties were first thus divided by King Alfred l. 5. p. 291. Every one of Free Condition ought to enter himself into some Hundred l. 6. p. 58 104. The punishment of them how it came to be in use where a Murther could not be found Id. p. 101. Hunferth has the Bishoprick of Winchester resigned to him by Daniel Bishop thereof and why l. 4. p. 224. He dies and who succeeds him l. 4. p. 226. Hungus King of the Picts by Achaius King of the Scots his helping him with a Thousand Men beats the English and slays one King Athelstan in fight A mere fancy the whole story l. 5. p. 250. Hunting Liberty for every Man to Hunt in his own ground but none to meddle with
Duke William being return'd without any satisfactory Answer from King Harold the Duke employed the rest of the year in preparing all things necessary for his Expedition hiring Soldiers out of his own Countrey with large Pay and inviting Strangers from abroad with greater Allowances so that upon the Muster of his Forces he found that they did not only excel in strength of Body and height of Stature but also the chief Commanders and Captains of them were as remarkable for their Valour as for their Experience and Conduct Also his Bishops and Abbots strove with the Nobility who should by their liberal Contributions most advance this Enterprize But that the Duke might not prejudice the Equity of his Cause by precipitation he sent Ambassadors to Pope Alexander who did with great Eloquence set forth the Justice of the War which their Prince was going to undertake and that Harold not only had broken his Oath with him but refused to give him any Satisfaction either because that now he was a Crown'd Head or else that he distrusted his Cause Whereupon the Pope taking into his serious consideration this weighty matter approved of the Enterprize and sent the Duke a Consecrated Banner as an Omen of Victory which when the Duke had received he called a Great Council of his Nobility at Lillebone to ask all their Opinions in this great Affair and when they had all encouraged his Undertaking by great Promises of Assistance he appointed an Assessment for his Fleet and Army according to their several respective Estates and so they departed home till the time appointed for a General Rendezvouz But Mr. Cambden from the Authority of some Ancient Norman Writers I have not yet met with makes this Enterprize much more difficult than our Historians commonly do as that though he found his Chief Officers to whom he communicated his Design very chearful and resolute to follow him yet all the Skill lay how to bear the Charge of so great a War for when in an Assembly of all the States of Normandy a Subsidy was propounded their Answer was That in the late War against the French their Wealth was so much exhausted that if a new War should happen they should scarce be able to hold and defend their own and therefore that they were more obliged to look after the Defence of their own than to think of Invading the Territories of others That this intended War though never so just yet did not seem so necessary at that time as it was apparently hazardous and that besides the Normans were not by their Allegiance bound to Military Service in Foreign Parts Neither could they by any means be brought to grant a General Tax although William Fitz-osbern a man in high favour with the Duke and as gracious among the People endeavoured what he could to effect it and to draw in others by his own example promised to set out forty Ships at his own proper Charges Duke William then perceiving he could not bring this about in a Publick Meeting went another way to work and therefore sends for the wealthiest men of his Dutchy severally one by one to come to him then he speaks them fair and desires them to contribute somewhat toward this War Whereupon as if they had strove who should most largely assist their Prince they promised him liberally and he causing to be presently registred whatsoever they had promised it amounted to a vast Sum more than most men could reasonably ever have believed This Affair being thus dispatch'd he next craves Aid of the Princes his Neighbours to wit of the Earls of Anjou Poictou Maine and Bretaigne unto these he promised large Tracks of Land and great Possessions in England But how much each of these Princes contributed to this Expedition is not known tho as for Alan Earl of Bretaigne he certainly was so great an Assistant to Duke William that he was after this Conquest of King Harold made Earl of Richmond and had great part of the Country thereabouts given him by William when he came to be King to be held by Knights Service And for the rest of the Princes above-mentioned it is certain that they permitted Duke William to raise great store of men in their Territories who being headed by divers Noble Volunteers of those Countries at their own Charges afterwards enjoyed great Possessions in England as a Reward of their Services Duke William also made his Addresses to Philip King of France and went in Person to solicite his Assistance in this intended War against Harold voluntarily offering that King that in case he would assist him and that he thereby became victorious to hold England of him as his Vassal which King Philip refused to accept thinking it against the interest of France to make the Duke of Normandy greater than he was already who now began not to be so pliant to his Interests as he thought the many Obligations which Duke William owed the King his Father required Therefore as the growing Greatness of a Neighbouring Prince was then is and will ever be suspected by him who is his Rival in Power and Empire so King Philip was so far from giving the Duke any Assistance that he wholly dissuaded him from this Enterprize which nevertheless he vigorously pursued notwithstanding this discouragement But leaving Duke William to his Warlike Preparations we will return into England where our Annals tell us That Earl Tostige had been met upon the Northern Coast with three hundred Norwegian Ships commanded by Harold King of Norway to whom when he had joined those he had with them they all sail'd up the Humber till they came as far as York where the Earls Brothers Morcar and Eadwin met and fought them but it seems the King of Norway gain'd the Victory Ingulph is more express in this affair and says that Harold King of Norway sail'd up the River Ouse as far as York where the Fleet being left under a strong Guard they landed and stormed York and soon plundered it and slew many of the poor Inhabitants But the two Earls abovementioned having gotten together a small Recruit of ill-arm'd Countreymen were easily routed and according to our Annals when King Harold heard of it he immediately marched against the King of Norway and meeting him at Staenford-briâ—ge in Yorkshire there fought and slew that King with Earl Tostige his own Brother Ingulph adds That the Norwegians made a very stout resistance great multitudes of them being slain together with their Chief Commanders so that King Harold obtain'd an entire Victory only Prince Olave Son to Harold King of Norway and Paul Earl of Orcades were permitted quietly to return home with twenty Ships But before I dismiss this Relation I cannot omit a remarkable Example of one single Norwegian who standing upon the Bridge above-mentioned killed more than forty Englishmen with his Battel-Axe making good his Post against the whole Army till three a Clock in the Afternoon and then one going in
a Boat under the Bridge wounded him to death in the lower parts through a hole that it seems he found there But King Harold returning to York had no long time to enjoy his Victory for immediately after the News being brought him that Duke William was landed at Pevensey near Hastings upon Michaelmas day he made all the haste he could to march towards him leaving the Earls Edwin and Morchar behind him with great part of the Forces But since our Annals are very short in the relation of all these Affairs between the Duke and King Harold I shall give you a larger account of it from William of Malmesbury and other Authors who tell us That Duke William with all his Nobility being met in August at St. Walleries a Port-Town in Normandy lay there a long while waiting for a Wind but that continuing contrary for several days the Soldiers at last began thus to murmur in their Camp as it is ordinary for such men when they lye long still and have nothing to do saying among themselves That the man was mad who would go to take away another man's Territories against God's Will which it was plain this was since he had now so long withheld the Wind. This being spread abroad one would have thought it had been enough to have discouraged any one less valiant than the Duke who thereupon consulting with his Chief Officers what was best to be done the wisest of them advised him to bring forth the Body of St. Wallerie to try if by that means they could obtain a fair Wind however perhaps it might put some stop to his Soldiers Discontents What effect the Saint's Body wrought I cannot tell but so much is certain that not long after a fresh Gale offering the Duke immediately set sail for England and his Ship being first got out to Sea casting Anchor lay there till the rest of his Fleet could come up to him who all following the King's Ship which then rid Admiral they in the Afternoon with an easy and gentle Breeze reached Hastings near which the Duke going on Shore his foot by accident slipping he fell down which a Soldier standing by immediately turned into a good Omen saying Sir you have only taken Seisin of that Land of which you will shortly be King As soon as ever his Army had landed he strictly charged them to commit no Outrages nor plunder saying They ought to spare those things which would shortly be their own So the Duke lying still for fifteen days and having strongly fortified his Camp with certain Palisadoes which he had brought over along with him seemed to mind nothing less than War But King Harold precipitated by his own bad Fortune marched against the Duke with but part of his Forces for besides those that had been killed in the late Engagement a great many of his best Soldiers had already deserted him being discontented that they had been denied their share of the Norwegian Plunder yet those Forces which still remained with him he thought sufficient because he heard the Duke was landed but with a small Army so that notwithstanding the strongest and most valiant of his Army were either slain in the late Battel with the Norwegians or else gone from him he yet resolved to fight King Harold being now arrived near Hastings pitched his Camp upon a Hill about Nine Miles from that place and immediately sent out Spies to give him what Account they could of the Number and Forces of the Enemy some of whom being taken within Duke William's Camp though he might have executed them by the Laws of War yet he only commanded them to be led round about it and then having well fed them he ordered them to be sent back to their Lord and being returned King Harold asked them What news they could tell him They hereupon having set forth the generous Behaviour of the Enemies General seriously added That all their Army seemed to be Priests because they had all their Faces with both their Lips close shaven for the English then wore long Beards But the King laughing at their simplicity said He too well knew those they had seen were no Priests but brave Soldiers then Gyrth his youngest Brother being a very young man but of an Understanding and Courage far above his years taking the words out of the King's mouth said thus Sir if you can so far allow the Valour of the Norman Duke I think it is then indiscreet for you to enter the Field against him lest you should be found inferior to him either in Strength or Justice of your Cause for you can no ways deny but that voluntarily or involuntarily you have sworn to him Therefore in my opinion you would do more prudently to withdraw your self from the present Danger and leave to us the Decision of the Day who being free from all Oaths and Promises can with a safe Conscience draw our Swords in defence of our Countrey for it is to be feared that if you your self should engage either your Death or more shameful Flight may ensue whereas if we alone engage with him your Cause will be every where safe for you may either assist us if we should be put to fly or else bury us if we should happen to be slain But the King 's immoderate Pride and Rashness made him deaf to the wholesome Advice of his Brother and he thought it Inglorious and a Dishonour to his past Life to seem afraid of any Danger Therefore being push'd on by his unlucky Fate he hastily sent away the Monk that was newly before come from Duke William to him with these Proposals viz. That either he should quit the Throne or hold it and reign under him or else try the Justice of his Cause by their two single Swords in the sight of both Armies or in case Harold should refuse all these that he was ready to submit it to the Judgment of the Apostolick See I say he hastily sent him away with only this short Answer That he would leave it to God to determine the matter between them So that the Monk being returned with this Answer it added fresh Courage to the Normans whereupon the Generals on both sides immediately drew up their Armies in order to a Battel each according to his Countrey fashion The English had spent the night in drinking and roaring and being thus heated marched early out the next morning against the Enemy The Pikes and Bill-men mingled with a strong Detachment of Targetiers made up the Front and Main Body of the English Army and by their close Order render'd it so impenetrable that nothing but their being outwitted by the Norman Duke could ever have broke it as you will see by and by But King Harold together with his Brethren being all on foot placed themselves near the Royal Standard that by thus being all of them in equal danger with the meanest Soldier no man should so much as think of Flight Whilst in the