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A HISTORY OF ENGLAND

MEDIÆVAL MONARCHY

449–1485

A HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

By the Rev. J. Franck Bright, M.A., Fellow of University College, and Historical Lecturer in Balliol, New, and University Colleges, Oxford; late Master of the Modern School in Marlborough College.

With numerous Maps and Plans. Crown 8vo.

This work is divided into three Periods of convenient and handy size, especially adapted for use in Schools, as well as for Students reading special portions of History for local and other Examinations.

Period I.—Mediæval Monarchy: The Departure of the Romans, to Richard III. From A.D. 449 to A.D. 1485. 4s. 6d.

Period II.—Personal Monarchy: Henry VII. to James II. From A.D. 1485 to A.D. 1688. 5s.

Period III.—Constitutional Monarchy: William and Mary to the Present Time. From A.D. 1689 to A.D. 1837. 7s. 6d.

[All rights reserved.]

A

History of England

BY THE REV.

J. FRANCK BRIGHT, M.A.

FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, AND HISTORICAL LECTURER IN BALLIOL, NEW, AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGES, OXFORD; LATE MASTER OF THE MODERN SCHOOL IN MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE

PERIOD I.

MEDIÆVAL MONARCHY

From the Departure of the Romans to Richard III.

449–1485

With Maps and Plans

RIVINGTONS

WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON

Oxford, and Cambridge

MDCCCLXXVII

[Second Edition, Revised]

PREFACE.

The object of this book is expressed in the title. It is intended to be a useful book for school teaching, and advances no higher pretensions. Some years ago, at a meeting of Public School Masters, the want of such a book was spoken of, and at the suggestion of his friends, the Author determined to attempt to supply this want. The objections raised to the school histories ordinarily used were—first, the absence of historical perspective, produced by the unconnected manner in which the facts were narrated, and the inadequate mention of the foreign relations of the country; secondly, the omission of many important points of constitutional history; thirdly, the limitation of the history to the political relations of the nation, to the exclusion of its social growth. It was at first intended to approach the history almost entirely on the social and constitutional side; but a very short trial proved that this method required a too constant employment of allusions, and presupposed too much knowledge in the reader, to be suitable for a book intended primarily for schools. It was therefore resolved to limit the description of the growth of society to a few comprehensive chapters and passages, and to follow the general course of history in such a way as to bring out as clearly as possible the connection of the events, and their relative importance in the general national growth. This decision, though taken against his inclinations, the Author can no longer regret, as the social side of our history has been so adequately treated by Mr. Green in his History of the English People, of the approaching publication of which he was at the time quite ignorant. On the same grounds of practical utility, it has been thought better to retain the old and well-known divisions into reigns, rather than to disturb the knowledge boys have already gained by the introduction of a new though more scientific division.

The Author has not scrupled to avail himself of the works of modern authors, though, in most cases, he has verified their views by reference to original authorities. In the earlier period the works of Professor Stubbs, Mr. Freeman, and Dr. Pauli; in the Tudor and Stuart period those of Froude, Ranke, and Macaulay; in the later period the histories of Miss Martineau and Lord Stanhope have been of the greatest assistance. Greater stress has been laid upon the later than the earlier periods, as is indeed obvious from the divisions of the work. With regard to the starting-point chosen, it may be well to explain that the English invasion was fixed upon, because it so thoroughly obliterated all remnants of the Roman rule, that they have exerted little or no influence upon the development of the nation—the real point of interest in a national history. It is hoped that the genealogies of the great families will assist in the comprehension of mediæval times in the history of which they played so large a part, and that the maps supplied will suffice to enable the reader to follow pretty accurately, without reference to another atlas, the military and political events mentioned. A brief and rapid summary for the use of beginners was originally projected to preface the work, but the brevity required by a book of this description rendered such an addition impossible without injury to the more important part. An attempt has been made to replace it by a very full analysis, which, in the hands of a careful teacher, has been proved by experience a useful method of teaching the main facts of history.

Oxford, 1875.

A LIST OF SOME USEFUL AUTHORITIES.

BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

General Histories.

Lappenberg’s England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings. Lingard’s History of England. Sharon Turner’s History of the Anglo-Saxons. Freeman and Palgrave have each published short books for the young on the period.

Constitutional.

All that is necessary to be known is to be found in Stubbs’ Constitutional History. Treated more at length in Kemble’s Saxons in England, and Sir F. Palgrave’s History of the English Commonwealth. An excellent sketch in Freeman’s Norman Conquest. All the ancient laws are collected in Thorpe’s Ancient Laws; sufficient extracts to be found in Stubbs’ Illustrative Documents. The whole history, including literature and society, is given in Green’s History of the English People in a brief and very interesting form.

General Authorities.

Bæda’s Ecclesiastical History, for a century and a half after the landing of Augustin. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which becomes very important after the time of Alfred. Milman’s Latin Christianity.

The English Conquest.

Gildas, and the earlier part of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Establishment of the Church.

Kemble’s Saxons. Stubbs’ Constitutional History.

Alfred.

Asser’s Life. Dr. Pauli’s Life.

Dunstan.

Stubbs’ Preface to Life of Dunstan (Master of the Rolls’ series). E. W. Robertson’s Essay on Dunstan.

Eadward the Confessor and Family of Godwine.

Lives of Eadward, edited by Luard (Rolls’ series). Freeman’s Norman Conquest, vol. ii.

Normandy.

Palgrave’s History of Normandy and England. Freeman’s Norman Conquest. William de Jumièges. Orderic Vitalis. William of Poitiers.

NORMAN AND PLANTAGENET KINGS.

General Histories.

Lingard. Lappenberg. Pearson’s Early and Middle Ages of England. Hook’s Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Campbell’s Lives of the Chancellors. Foss’s Judges of England.

Constitutional.

Stubbs’ Constitutional History and Illustrative Documents.

General Authorities.

Orderic Vitalis. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

William I.

Eadmer’s Historia Novorum. Domesday-Book with Ellis’ Introduction.

William II.

Palgrave’s William Rufus. Eadmer’s Life of Anselm. Church’s Life of Anselm.

Henry I.

William of Malmesbury. Henry of Huntingdon (Surtees Society).

Stephen.

Gesta Stephani (Surtees Society).

Henry II. and Becket.

Dr. Giles’ Collection of the Letters of Becket, Foliot, and John of Salisbury. Gervais of Canterbury till 1200 (Twisden’s Decem Scriptores). Benedict of Peterborough, 1169-1192, and Roger of Hoveden to 1201, with Stubbs’ Prefaces in the Rolls’ series. William of Newbury, to 1198 (English Historical Society). Lord Lyttleton’s Life of Henry II.

Ireland.

Geraldus Cambrensis’ Conquest of Ireland (Rolls’ series, translated in Bohn).

Richard I.

Itinerarium Regis Ricardi (Rolls’ series). Richard of Devizes (English Historical Society). Ralph of Diceto, 1200 (Twisden). Several chronicles are translated in Bohn as Chronicles of the Crusades.

John and the Great Charter.

Roger of Wendover, who was continued by Matthew of Paris, and William Rishanger (Rolls’ series). Chronicles of various abbeys, such as Waverley and Dunstable. For the English reader, Stubbs’ Illustrative Documents.

Henry III.

Matthew of Paris. Rishanger. The Royal Letters (edited by Shirley in the Rolls’ series). The Rhyming Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester to 1270. Blaauw’s Barons’ War. Wright’s Political Songs (Camden Society). Brewer’s Monumenta Franciscana (Rolls’ series).

LATER PLANTAGENETS.

General Histories.

Sharon Turner’s Middle Ages. Lingard. Dr. Pauli’s Geschichte von England. Hook’s Archbishops. Campbell’s Chancellors.

Constitutional.

Stubbs. Hallam.

General Authorities.

Rymer’s Fœdera. Public Documents published chiefly by the Record Commission. Various Rolls, especially Rolls of Parliament, Statutes of the Realm, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council. Walter of Hemingburgh, to 1346. Thomas of Walsingham, a compilation from the Annals of St. Albans Abbey (Rolls’ series).

For Scotch History.

Hill Burton’s History of Scotland.

For French History.

Martin or Sismondi’s History.

Edward I.

Trivet (English Historical Society). Rishanger. Palgrave’s Documents and Records illustrating History of Scotland. Freeman’s Essay on Edward I. Modus tenendi Parliamentum (Stubbs’ Documents). Rotuli Scotiæ (Record Commission).

Towns.

Ordinances of the English Guilds (Early English Text Society), with Brentano’s Preface.

Edward II.

Trokelowe, to 1323 (Rolls’ series). Anonymous Monk of Malmesbury, to 1327. Thomas de la Moor (Camden Society). Adam of Murimuth (English Historical Society).

Edward III.

Froissart. John le Bel. Robert of Avesbury, to 1356 (Hearne). Knyghton (Twisden’s Decem Scriptores). Longman’s History of Edward III.

Wicliffe.

Shirley’s Preface to Fasciculi Zizaniorum. Vaughan’s Life of Wicliffe.

Black Death.

Seebohm’s Essays in the Fortnightly Review for 1865.

Condition of the People.

Rogers’ History of Prices.

Richard II.

Walsingham. Annales Ricardi Secundi et Henrici Quinti (Rolls’ series). Chronique de la Traison et Mort de Richard (English Historical Society). M. Wallon’s Richard II. is said to be the best modern book on the subject. Wright’s Political Songs (Rolls’ series).

HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK.

General Histories.

As before, with Brougham’s History of England under the House of Lancaster.

Old Histories.

Fabyan, died 1512 (edited by Sir Henry Ellis). Hall, Henry IV. to Henry VIII. Polydore Vergil (Camden Society). Stowe, published 1592. Ellis’ Collection of Original Letters illustrative of English History.

Henry IV.

Walsingham (Rolls’ series). Knyghton. Royal Historical Letters (Rolls’ series).

Henry V.

Walsingham. Memorials of Henry V. (Rolls’ series). Titus Livius Vita Henrici Quinti (copied in part in the Gesta). Gesta Henrici Quinti (Historical Society). Monstrelet.

Henry VI.

William of Worcester to 1491 (completed by his son). English Chronicle (Richard II. to 1471) (Camden Society). Continuator of Croyland, 1459-1485. John of Westhampstead (Hearne). Paston Letters, 1434-1485 (E. D. Gairdner). Memoir of John Carpenter. Wars of the English in France (Rolls’ series). Procès de Jeanne d’Arc (Historical Society of France).

Edward IV.

Arrival of Edward IV. (Camden Society). Warkworth, 1461-1474.

Edward V.

Life, by Sir Thomas More.

Richard III.

History, by Sir Thomas More. Miss Halsted’s Life. Letters of Richard III. and Henry VII. (Gairdner, Rolls’ series).

CONTENTS.

LIST OF MAPS.

INTRODUCTION.

The history of civilization can be traced in great lines which have more or less followed a similar direction throughout all Europe. The interest of a national history is to observe the course which these lines have followed in a particular instance; for, examined in detail, their course has never been identical. The period occupied by what we speak of as English history is that, speaking broadly, during which the great mediæval systems—feudalism and the Church—have by degrees given place to modern society, of which the moving-springs are freedom of the individual, government in accordance with the popular will, and freedom of thought. The object of a History of England is therefore to trace that change as it worked itself out amid all the various influences which affected it in our own nation. The peculiar circumstances of the Norman conquest prevented the complete development in England of either of the great Continental systems. Neither the feudal system nor the system of the Roman Church are to be found in their completeness in England. The separation of England from the Empire, the entire destruction of the Roman occupation by the German invaders, prevented that contact between German and Roman civilization from which Continental feudalism sprang. And though, if left to itself, the civilization of the early English would have ripened into some form of feudalism, it was caught by the Conquest before the process was completed. The Normans brought with them, indeed, the external apparatus of the completed system; but in the hands of their great leader, and grafted upon the existing institutions of the country, it assumed a new form. The power of the King was always maintained and the power of the barons suppressed, while room was left under the shadow of a strong monarchy for the growth of the lower classes of the nation. In the same way, the Church was always kept from assuming a position of supremacy, and its subordinate relations to the State maintained. The establishment of this new form of government may be held to occupy the first period of our history since the Conquest, lasting till the reign of John. During that time the barons, who had more than once attempted to establish the same virtual independence as was enjoyed by their fellows abroad, were taught to recognize the power of the Crown. The legislation of Henry I. and Henry II., and the establishment under the latter of a new nobility dependent for their status upon their ministerial services, coupled with the incorporation of the national system of justice with the feudal system of the conquerors, united all classes of Englishmen and consolidated the nation, but in so doing raised to an alarming degree the power of the Crown. The miserable reign of John, and the tyrannical use he made of the power thus placed in his hands, called attention to the dangers which beset the administrative arrangements of his father. The total severance of England from France, which took place in his reign, and his rash quarrel with the Church, completed the work of national consolidation, but placed the united nation in antagonism to the throne. The nobility, which in other countries were the natural enemies of all classes below them, were thus forced to assume the lead of all who desired a reasonable amount of national freedom.

The struggle to harmonize the relations which should exist between the Crown and the subject occupies the second period of our history. It assumes several forms; sometimes the dislike of foreigners, sometimes a desire for self-taxation, sometimes it seems little more than an outbreak of an over-strong nobility. But whatever its form, the fruits of the struggle were lasting. The rival claims of King and nation, acknowledged and regulated by the wisdom of Edward I., gave rise to that balanced constitution which in its latest development still exists among us. But it would seem that this great advance in government had been somewhat premature. In other nations institutions resembling our Parliament sprang into existence, and faded away before the power of the Crown, an effect which can be traced chiefly to the strong line of division separating the commonalty from the nobles. Without support from the nobility, and in all its interests in direct antagonism to it, the commonalty, after supporting the Crown in the destruction of the baronage, found itself in presence of a power to which it was unable to offer any resistance. Several causes already mentioned had in England weakened the sharp definition of classes, but there was a great risk even there of a similar failure of constitutional monarchy. It was as the leader of the nobility that Henry IV. first rose into importance in the reign of Richard II., and subsequently obtained the crown. The limitation of the franchise in the reign of Henry VI., and the consequent subserviency of Parliament, were steps towards the elevation of an aristocratical influence, which, had it grown till its suppression by the Crown was rendered necessary, would have reproduced in England the historical phenomena visible in France. Fortunately the nobility were not at one among themselves. The various sources from which they derived their origin, the close family connections, and personal interests, split them into factions, which, taking advantage of a disputed succession, brought their quarrel to the trial of the sword with such animosity that the nobility of England was virtually extinguished.

But while this faction fight, and the great French war which preceded it, attract the attention chiefly during the third period of the history, a quiet advance of great importance had been going on, sheltered by the more obvious movements of the time. The same spirit which had found its expression in the establishment of the Constitution, had indirectly, if not directly, influenced every class of the nation. The exclusive merchant guild had given place to the craftsman’s guild. The wars in France, the alienation of property fostered by the legislation of Edward I., the Black Death, which had robbed the country of at least a third of its labouring hands, had sealed the fate of serfdom, and established in England the great class of free wage labourers. The same alienation, the gradual increase and importance of trade, and the formation and introduction of capital, had formed a middle class of gentry, from which the successful merchant was not excluded. Nor had this political growth been unaccompanied by an advance of thought. The failure of the crusades, the last great exhibition of material religion; the Franciscan revival; the philosophy of Bacon and his successors; the bold declaration of independence on the part of Wicliffe, and the grasping and repellent character of the Roman Court, had shaken the Church to its foundations. The storm which had shaken the surface of English society had left its depths unmoved and undisturbed by the great work of extermination proceeding overhead; these processes of growth had been gradually continuing their course during the whole of the third period. Thus, then, when Edward IV. emerged from the troubles of the Wars of the Roses as King of England, his position, though it might seem very similar to that of a king who had triumphed over his nobility, was yet considerably modified. The nobility were no doubt gone, but it was not the Crown which had crushed them. The Church, indeed, threw all its influence on the side of the Crown, but it was in the consciousness of the insecurity of its position in the hearts of the people that it did so. The King and his Commons stood face to face, with no intermediate class to check their mutual action, but the Commons were already free, and headed by a rapidly rising body of wealthy secondary landowners or merchants. Nevertheless, the immediate effect of the destruction of the nobility was completely to check constitutional growth, and to establish a government which was little short of arbitrary.

The Italian statecraft, which the influence of the Renaissance rendered paramount, for the moment increased the tendency to absolutism; and in the reign of Henry VIII., though a shadow of popular government yet remained, the will of the king was little short of absolute. What may be called the fourth period of our history is occupied by the establishment of this arbitrary power, and the gradual awakening of national life, under the influences of the Renaissance, and of the circumstances which accompanied the Reformation, which tended to modify it in the reign of Elizabeth. When Protestantism and the vigorous young thought of the reawakened nation became linked indissolubly with the fortunes of the sovereign in her national war against Spain, the mere necessity of the union tended much to put a practical limit to the arbitrary character of the new monarchy. It was the miscomprehension of the necessity of this union between king and people which produced the contests which occupy our history during the reign of the Stuarts.

Bred in the theory of monarchy by Divine right, the logical offspring of feudalism, when separated from the Empire and the Church, the Stuarts were willing to accept the arbitrary power of their predecessors, but would not acknowledge the necessity of harmonious action with the people, on which alone, as things then were, such arbitrary authority could rest. The middle class of gentry had been increasing in power and influence till they were now in a position to assume that leadership in the nation which the destruction of the nobles had left vacant. And behind them there was the bulk of the people, whose Protestantism, the religious character of the late national struggle, and the love of truth engendered by the Renaissance, had raised to enthusiastic Puritanism. The constitutional life, checked for a time by the Tudor monarchy, again sprang into existence. In the struggle which ensued it was the enthusiastic party which ultimately triumphed, and its leader, Cromwell, is seen mingling his conscientious efforts at the establishment of constitutional government with a religious fervour too great to be sustained.

But his rule, freed from those parts for which, as yet, the gentry at all events were unprepared, established, definitely and for ever, the necessity of recurring sooner or later to the constitutional principles of the fourteenth century. In the Revolution of 1688 those principles triumphed. But they triumphed in the hands no longer of a great enthusiastic leader, but of a party, which found its chief supporters in a limited number of noble houses, whose aristocratic pride was injured by the arbitrary power of the sovereign, and whose influence in the formation of Parliament promised them political superiority under the establishment of parliamentary government. From that time till the present the scene of the contest has been changed. A party struggle of some thirty years gave place to the unchecked predominance of parliamentary rule. And the last period of our history has been occupied by the efforts of the excluded nation to make their voice heard above that of a nominal representation, consisting in reality of the representatives of a dominant class, under the influence either of the great Whig families or of the Crown.

GENEALOGIES OF THE LEADING FAMILIES

(The founder of the family a kinsman of William I.)

DE BOHUNS (Hereford, Essex, Northampton).

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Henry de Bohun = Maud, daughter of Geoffrey | Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex. 1st Earl of Hereford. | Hereditary Constable of England. | One of the Guardians of the | Charter. Taken prisoner at | battle of Lincoln. Died 1220. | | +---------------+ | Humphrey, 2nd Earl of = Maud, daughter of Earl of Ewe. Hereford. Made also | Earl of Essex by Henry | III. Godfather to Prince | Edward. On Barons’ | side. Taken prisoner | at Evesham. Restored | to favour. | Humphrey = Eleanor, daughter of Commanded on | Eve and William de Braose. Barons’ side | at Lewes. | Taken prisoner | at Evesham. | Died 1266. | | Humphrey, 3rd Earl of Hereford = Maud, daughter of and Essex. Restored to favour | Ingelram de Fines. by Edward I. Fought in Scotland. | Refused to fight for | Edward I. Compelled him to | ratify the Charter. Died 1298. | | Humphrey, 4th Earl of Hereford = Elizabeth, daughter and Essex. Fought for | of Edward I. Edward I. and II. in | Scotland. Taken prisoner at | Stryvelin; exchanged for | Bruce’s wife. Refused to | obey Edward’s order not to | fight Despenser. Joined | Lancaster’s insurrection. | Killed at battle of | Boroughbridge, 1322. | | 1 2 3 | +--------------------------+---------------+------+ | | | John = Alice Fitz-Alan, Humphrey William = Elizabeth, daughter 5th Earl daughter of 6th Earl Fought at | of Badlesmere, of Hereford Earl of of Hereford Cressy. Made | widow of Edmund and Essex. Arundel. and Essex. Earl of | Mortimer. Died 1335. Northampton, | 1337. | Died 1360. | | +---------------+ | Humphrey = Joan, daughter of 7th Earl of Hereford, | Richard, 9th Earl Essex, and Northampton. | of Arundel. Died 1372. | | +-------------------------------+----------+ | | Eleanor = Thomas of Woodstock, Mary = Henry IV., who thus became sixth son of Edward Earl of Hereford, Essex, III., who thus became and Northampton. Constable.

(Family founded at the Conquest.)

BEAUCHAMP
(Warwick).

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Walter de Beauchamp = Bertha de Braose. Fought against John. | Made peace with | Henry III. One of | the Barons-Marchers. | Died 1235. | | Walcheline = Joan, daughter of Died 1235. | Roger Mortimer, | who died 1215. | William = Isabel, sister and Fought in Gascony. | heiress of and in Scotland. | William Maudit, Died 1268. | Earl of Warwick. | William = Maud Fitz-John, 1st Earl of Warwick. | widow of Girard Distinguished in | de Furnival. Edward I.’s wars. | Died 1298. | | Guy = Alice de Toni. 2nd Earl, “The Black | Dog of Ardenne.” | Caused Gaveston | to be beheaded. | Died 1315. | | Thomas = Catherine, daughter 3rd Earl. Fought | of Roger Mortimer, at Cressy and | 1st Earl of March. Poitiers. Died | of the plague | at Calais, | 1369. | | Thomas = Margaret Ferrars. 4th Earl. Governor of Richard | II. Joined Thomas of | Gloucester. Condemned to | death. Banished to Isle of | Man. Kept in the Tower. | Restored by Henry IV. Died | 1401. | | Richard = 1. Eliz. de Lisle. 5th Earl. Fought against the = 2. Isabel Despenser, Percies at Shrewsbury. | daughter of Earl Governor of Henry VI. | of Gloucester, Lieutenant-General of | widow of Richard France. Died 1439. | Beauchamp, Earl | of Worcester. | +--------------------------------------+---+ | | Henry = Cicely Neville. Anne = Richard Neville, 6th Earl, Premier | Became heiress | “The Kingmaker.” Earl of England. | on her niece’s | Duke of Warwick | death. | (married at ten | | years old). Died | | 1445. | | | | | +-------------------------+ | | | Ann. Isabel = George, Ann = Prince Edward. Died 1449. Duke of = Richard III. Clarence.

(Family founded at the Conquest.)

MOWBRAY (Nottingham, Norfolk).

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William de Mowbray = Agnes, daughter of Earl of Arundel. Strong against John. One of the | 25 Guardians of the Charter. | Taken prisoner at battle of | Lincoln. Made peace with | Henry III. Lands restored. | Died 1222. | Roger = Maud, daughter of Beauchamp Died 1266. | of Bedford. | Roger = Rose, daughter of Richard de Fought in Wales | Clare, Earl of Gloucester. and Gascony. | Died 1298. | | John = Aliva de Braose. Fought in Scotland. | Warden of the | Marches towards | Scotland, 1314. | Joined Lancaster. | Hanged at | York 1322. | | John = Joan, daughter of Henry, In favour with | Earl of Lancaster. Edward III. | Fought in | France. | Died 1361. | | John = Elizabeth, granddaughter Died fighting against | and heiress of Thomas the Turks at | de Brotherton, Earl Constantinople, | Marshall, and Earl of 1368. | Norfolk. | +----------------------------------------------+ | | John, made Earl of Thomas = Elizabeth, daughter Nottingham, Earl of Nottingham, 1383. Earl | of Richard, Earl 1377. Died Marshall, 1386. Governor | of Arundel. 1379. of Calais. Helped to execute | Arundel, his father-in-law, | and Thomas of Woodstock. | Had the lands of Arundel | and of Thomas Beauchamp, | Earl of Warwick. Duel with | Hereford. Banished for | life. Died at Venice, 1400. | | +-------------------------+-----------------+----+ | | | Thomas = Constance, John = Kate Margaret = Robert Earl Marshall. daughter Earl of | Neville. | Howard. Joined Scrope. of Holland, Nottingham, | | Beheaded 1405. Duke of Duke of | John, became Duke of Exeter. Norfolk. | Norfolk, and Earl Died 1432. | Marshall after | Anne’s death, 1483. | John = Eleanor Bouchier. 3rd Duke of | Norfolk, | Died 1461. | | +----------------+ | | John = Elizabeth, daughter of Talbot, Earl of Warrenne | Earl of Shrewsbury. and Surrey 1451, | 4th Duke of | Norfolk. Died | 1475. | Anne = Betrothed to Richard, son of Edward IV.

MORTIMERS (March).

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Roger, related to William I. | Ralph, fought at Hastings for William. Conquered | and succeeded Edric at Wigmore. | Hugh, opposed accession of Henry II. Conquered | by him. Died 1185. | Roger, constantly fighting the Welsh. Died 1215. | +-----------------+-----------+ | | Hugh--Strong partisan Ralph = Gladuse, daughter of Llewellyn, of John. Strong | widow of Reginald de Braose. Died 1227. against Welsh. | | Roger = Maud de Braose. Fought in Gascony and against Wales. | On Henry III.’s side against the | Barons. Escaped to Wales after | battle of Lewes. Planned Edward’s | escape. Commanded 3rd division at | Evesham. As reward was made Earl | of Oxford. Sheriff of Hereford. | Died 1282. | | +------+ | Edmund = Margaret, a Spaniard, Wedding at Edward I.’s expense.| related to Queen Eleanor. Died fighting against the | Welsh, 1303. | | Roger = Joan of Genevil, daughter of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. | Lord of Trim in Ireland. Paramour of Queen Isabella. | 1st Earl of March, 1327. | Hanged at Smithfield, 1330. | | Edmund = Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Mortimer. | Lord Badlesmere. Died 1331. | | Roger = Philippa, daughter of Went to France with Edward III. | Montague, 1st Earl Knighted there. Restored | of Salisbury. to his Earldom of March, | 1355. Died 1360. | | Edmund = Philippa, daughter of 3rd Earl of March. Treated for | Lionel Plantagenet, peace with France when only | Duke of Clarence. 18. Lord-Lieutenant of | Ireland, 1380. Died 1381. | | Roger = Eleanor Holland, 4th Earl of March, ward to | daughter of Earl Richard, Earl of Arundel. | of Kent. Lieutenant of Ireland. | Made heir-apparent, 1386. | Died 1398. | | +-----------------------------+----------+ | | Edmund = Ann, daughter of Ann = Richard Plantagenet, son 5th Earl of March. Earl of Stafford. | of Edmund of York, 5th Ward to Henry IV. | son of Edward III. Fought in France. | Beheaded 1415. Lord-Lieutenant of | Ireland. Died 1424. | Richard = Cicely Neville, Baron Mortimer, | daughter of the Duke of York, | 1st Earl of killed at | Westmoreland. Wakefield, 1460. | | Edward IV.

(Family founded at the Conquest.)

NEVILLES (Westmoreland, Warwick).

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Ralph de Neville = Alice de Audley. Commissioner to Scotland 1334. | Warden of the West Marches, | conjointly with Henry | de Percy. Died 1367. | | +---------------------------------+---------+ | | John Lord Neville = Maud, daughter of Margaret = Henry Percy, Lieutenant of Aquitaine | Lord Percy. 1st Earl of 1379. Died 1388. | Northumber- | land. | Ralph de Neville = 1. Margaret, daughter of Hugh, 2nd Earl Guardian of the West Marches of Stafford, by whom he had nine 1386. 1st Earl of children. Ralph his grandson by Westmoreland 1399. For this wife became 2nd Earl of assisting Henry IV., was made Westmoreland. Earl Marshal of England. Fought against the Percies 1403. Died 1425. = 2. Joan Beaufort, daughter of | John of Gaunt. | +-----------------------+------------------+-----------------+ | | | | Richard = Alice, William = Joan of George = Elizabeth | Earl of | daughter Lord of Lord Beauchamp | Salisbury. | and Falcon- Falcon- Latimer. daughter | Warden of | heiress bridge, bridge. Died of 5th | the | of the Earl of 1649. Earl of | Marches. | Earl of Kent. Warwick. | Beheaded | Salisbury. Died 1462. | after | | Wakefield, | | 1460. | | | | +----------------+ | | | | | | +----------------------+-------+----------------+----------+------+--+ | | | | | | | Edward = Elizabeth Robert, Kate = Duke of Eleanor = Lord | | Lord Beauchamp Bishop Norfolk. Spencer | | Abergav- heiress of of = Sir John = Henry | | enny. the Durham. Woodville. Percy | | Despensers. 2nd Earl | | of North- | | umberland. | | | | +------------------------+ | | | +---------------+ | | | (& 4 others.) | Anne = 1st Cicely = Richard | | Duke | Duke of | | of | York. | | Buck- | | | ingham. | | | | | | Edward IV. | | | +--------------+------------+ | | | | Humphrey = Margaret Henry = Margaret | of Somerset. Tudor. | | +-------------+ | | | +-------+-----------------+-----------+-------------------+---------+ | | | | | Richard = Anne Beauchamp, Thomas. John = Isabel George, | Earl of | heiress of the Killed at Lord Ingolds- Arch- | Warwick. | 6th Earl of Wakefield, Montague. thorp. bishop | “The King | Warwick. On the 1460. Killed at of York, | Maker.” | death of her Barnet Chancellor. | Killed at | daughters her 1471. | Barnet, | inheritance was | 1471. | restored to her, | | and by her | | transferred to | | Henry VII. | | | +---+--------------------+ | | | | Isabel = George, Duke Anne = Edward, Prince of Wales. | of Clarence. = Richard III. | | +------------------------------+ | +--------------+-------------------+----+----------+-------------------+ | | | | | Joan = Fitz- Cicely = Henry Alice = Lord Eleanor = Thomas | Alan, Beauchamp, Fitz- | Stanley, | 16th Duke of Hugh. | who | Earl of Warwick. | afterwards | Arundel. = Earl of | married | Worcester, | Margaret | beheaded, | Tudor. | 1470. | | | | Lord Strange. | | +------------------------+------------------------------+ | | Kate = Lord Margaret = De Vere, Earl of Oxford. Bonville. = Lord Hastings.

MARSHALLS AND BIGODS.

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William Marshall = Isabel de Clare, heiress Governor while Richard at | of Strongbow, Earl of at Crusade. Made Earl of | Pembroke. Pembroke 1199. John gave him | Leinster 1208. Guardian of | Henry III. Died 1219. | | 1 | 2 +----------------------------------+-----+---------------+ | | | William, 2nd Earl of = 1. Alice, Richard, 3rd Earl | Pembroke, one of the daughter of Pembroke. | 25 Guardians of the of Earl of Fought against | Charter. Fought Albermarle. Henry III. for | against Llewellyn. 2. Eleanor, his castles in | Captain-General in sister of Ireland. Killed | Brittany. Died 1231. Henry III. in Ireland 1234. | | +------------------------------------+ | 3 | 4 +-----------------------+---------+--------------------------+ | | | Gilbert, 4th Earl = Margaret, Walter, 5th Earl = Margaret, | of Pembroke. daughter of Pembroke. daughter | Opposed to of Acknowledged by of | Henry III. William, Henry III. in Robert | Killed at a King of in spite of the de | tournament Scotland. family politics. Quincy. | 1241. Died 1245. | | +---------------------------------------+ | 5 | 6 +------------------------+--------+------------------------------+ | | | Ansolm, 6th = Maud de Maud = 1. Hugh Bigod, 3rd | Earl of Bohun, Obtained | Earl of Norfolk. | Pembroke daughter of office of | One of the 25 | for eighteen Humphrey, Marshall on| Guardians of the | days only. 2nd Earl of Anselm’s | Charta. Died 1225. | Died 1245. Hereford. death. | 2. William of Warrenne, | | Earl of Surrey. | | 3. Walter of | | Dunstanville. | | | +-------------------------------------------+ | | | | +------------------------------------+ | | | | | 7 8 | 9 10 | +----------------+----------+-----------+-----------------+ | | | | | | Joan = Warine Isabel = 1. Gilbert Sybil = William de Eve = William | de Mont- Had de Clare. Had Ferrars, de Braose | chensy. Kilkenny 2. Richard, Kildare Earl of of | for her Earl of for her Derby. Brecknock. | portion. Cornwall. portion. | +--------------------------------------+ | +-----------------------+-------------+ | | Roger Bigod = Isabel, sister of Hugh Bigod = Joan Burnet. 4th Earl of Alexander, Made Chief | Norfolk. A hot King of Justice by | partisan of the Scotland. the Barons | Barons. Made 1257. | Governor of Orford | Castle by the | Barons after Lewes. | Inherited the | Marshallship | through his mother. | | +-----------------------------+ | Roger Bigod = 1. Alice Basset, widow of Despenser. 5th Earl of Norfolk. 2. Joan, daughter of Earl of Bayonne. Compelled Edward to ratify the Charter. Made him his heir. [Edward made his son Thomas (de Brotherton) Marshall and Earl of Norfolk.]

(Family founded at the Conquest.)

FITZ-ALAN (Arundel).

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John Fitz-Alan = Isabel, heiress of Albini, Fought against John. | 4th Earl of Arundel. Died 1239. | | John, 5th Earl = Maud de Verdun. of Arundel. | Died 1270. | | John, 6th Earl = Isabel de Mortimer. Died 1272. | | Richard, 7th Earl = Alice de Saluce. Died 1301. | | Edmund, 8th Earl = Alice Plantagenet, heiress of the Received the confiscated lands of | Earl of Warrenne and Surrey. Mortimer. Fought in Scotland. | Beheaded by Mortimer 1326. | | Richard, 9th Earl = Eleanor, daughter of Henry Restored by Edward III. | Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster. Died 1375. | | +-----------------------------+-----+-------+ | | | Richard = Elizabeth, daughter Thomas John = Eleanor Maltravers. 10th Earl. | of William de Arundel, | Fought in | Bohun, Earl of Archbishop | France. | Northampton. of Canterbury. | Beheaded | Chancellor. | 1398. | Died 1413. | | | +------+--------+ John, 12th Earl = Eleanor Berkeley. | | Lord Maltravers. | Thomas Elizabeth = William, Died 1421. | Restored by son of the | Henry IV. 2nd Earl of John, 13th Earl = Maud Lovel. 11th Earl. Salisbury. Fought in France | Died 1415. = Thomas Mowbray. Died 1434. | [See [Mowbray].] | | +------------------------------+----+ | | William = Joan Neville, Humphrey 15th Earl. | daughter of Earl 14th Earl. Died 1487. | of Salisbury. | Thomas, 16th Earl = Margaret Woodville. Died 1524. | | William, 17th Earl = Anne, sister of Died 1543. | the Earl of | orthumberland. | Henry, 18th Earl = Catherine Grey, Imprisoned in | daughter of 2nd Edward VI.’s reign. | Marquis of Dorset. Died 1579. | | Mary = Thomas Howard, who became Earl of Arundel.

(Family founded in Henry I.’s reign.)

DESPENSERS.

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Hugh = Aliva Basset of Wycombe, Joined Barons against | widow of Roger Bigod, Henry III. Made | Earl of Norfolk. Justiciary 1260. Had | custody of the King | after Lewes. Killed | at Evesham, 1265. | Hugh = Isabel, daughter of Beauchamp, Fought at Dunbar, 1296. | 1st Earl of Warwick, In favour with Edward | widow of Patrick Chaworth. I. Favourite of Edward | II. Banished by | Parliament. Recalled. | One of Lancaster’s | judges. Earl of | Winchester. Seized by | Isabella. Hanged, | aged 90, 1326. | | Hugh = Eleanor, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, The favourite of Edward | Earl of Gloucester. II. Excited the enmity | of the Barons. | Impeached and hanged, | 1327. | +--------------+-----------+ | | Hugh, Baron in Edward = Anne Ferrars. Parliament, 1338. Died 1342. | Fought in France and | Scotland. Died 1349. | | Edward = Elizabeth de Burghersh. Fought at | Poitiers. | Died 1375. | | Thomas = Constance, daughter Made Earl of Gloucester, | of Edmund, 5th son 1398. Degraded by | of Edward III. Henry IV. Beheaded, 1400.| | +------------------------+-----+ | | 2. | 1. | Richard Beauchamp = Isabel = Richard Beauchamp, Richard = Eliz., 5th Earl of Warwick, | | Lord Abergavenny, daughter of nephew of Earl of | | Earl of Worcester. Ralph, Earl Worcester. | | of West- | | moreland. | | Cicely Neville = Henry Elizabeth = Edward Neville, son of Ralph, d. of Earl 1st Earl of Westmoreland, of Salisbury. who thus obtained the Baronies of Despenser and Abergavenny.

LANCASTERS.

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HENRY III. | +---------------+--------------+ | | Edward I. Edmund = Blanche, daughter of Robert Proposed King of Sicilies. | of Artois, third son of was Earl of Chester, 1246, | Louis VIII., widow of King was given the land of | of Navarre. Simon de Montfort. Made | Earl of Leicester. Fought | in Scotland, Wales, | Gascony. Crusade, | 1270–1272. Died 1295. | | +----------------------------+---------------+ | | Thomas = Alice, daughter Henry = Maud, daughter Earl of Lancaster, of de Lacy, Earl of Leicester, | and heiress of Lincoln, Earl of 1324. Helped to | Sir Patrick Salisbury, Lincoln depose Edward II. | Chaworth. Leicester, and and Guardian to Edward | Derby. Fought Salisbury. III. Restored to his | in Scotland. brother’s Earldoms, | Headed the 1327. Captain-General| party against in Scotland. Died | both Gaveston 1345. | and the | Despensers. | Taken prisoner | at Boroughbridge. | Beheaded at | Pontefract, 1321. +--------------------+ | +----------------------+----------+ | | Henry = Isabel, d. 2. Ralph = Maud = 1. William de Burgh, Captain-General | of Lord de Ufford | | Earl of Ulster. in Scotland. Earl | Beaumont. | | of Derby, 1338. | Thomas = Maud. Elizabeth = Lionel, Fought in Flanders | de Vere, | Duke of and Sluys. Earl | 8th Earl | Clarence. of Lancaster and | of Oxford. | Leicester, 1345. | Died 1371. Philippa = Edmund Steward of | Mortimer England. Duke of | (see Lancaster and Earl | Mortimer). of Lincoln, 1350. | Died 1360. | | +--------------+-----------+ | | Maud = Lord Stafford. Blanche = John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, = Duke of Zeeland. | who thus became Duke of Lancaster, No children. | Earl of Derby, Lincoln and | Leicester. | Henry IV. (Earl of Hereford, Derby, Lincoln and Leicester, and Duke of Lancaster.)

DE LA POLES.

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William de la Pole = Catherine, daughter of Great Merchant at Kingston, | Sir John Norwich. advanced £1000 to Edward | III., for which he was | made a Banneret. | | Michael de la Pole = Katherine Wingfield. Earl of Suffolk 1385. | Impeached and exiled. | Died at Paris 1388. | | Sir Michael = Katherine, daughter of Restored to his Earldom | the Earl of Stafford. 1399. In the French | wars. Died at Harfleur | 1415. | | +-----------------------+----+ | | Michael William, 4th Earl = Alice, grand- 3rd Earl of Suffolk. Commanded at Verneuil and | daughter of Died at Agincourt Orleans. Brought Margaret | Chaucer. 1415. of Anjou over. Duke of | Suffolk 1448. Impeached, | banished, murdered in the | boat, 1450. | | +-------------------+ | John de la Pole = Elizabeth, sister Duke of Suffolk 1463. | of Edward IV. Died 1491. | | +---------------------------+------------+------------+ | | | John, Earl of Lincoln. Edmund. Fought at Richard. Fought Lord Lieutenant of first for Henry VII. for the French. Ireland. Declared heir- Subsequently took Died at Pavia 1525. apparent by Richard III. offence and withdrew His dukedom of Joined Lambert Simnel. to his aunt Margaret Suffolk given to Died at Battle of of Burgundy. Was given Charles Brandon. Stoke 1487. up. Imprisoned in the Tower. Executed as a Yorkist 1513.

BEAUFORT (Somersets), and STAFFORD (Buckinghams).

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John of Gaunt = Catherine Swinford. | 1 | 2 +--------------------------------+------------------+-----------+ | | | John, Earl of Somerset = Margaret, daughter of Henry Beaufort, | One of the accusers | Sir Thomas Holland, Cardinal Bishop | of Gloucester, 1397. | Earl of Kent. of Winchester. | Died 1410. | | | | +--------------------+ | | 3 4 | | +------------------+--------------------+ | | | | Thomas = Margaret Joan = Sir Ralph Neville, | Earl of Dorset and Neville. first Earl of | Exeter. Admiral 1404. Westmoreland. | Chancellor. Fought at | Agincourt. Died 1426. | | +---------------------------------+ | | 1 2 | +-----------------+-------+------------------------+ | | | Henry. John = Margaret, daughter of | Died Lieut.-Gen. in | Sir John Beauchamp. | young. France. Killed | | himself, 1444. | | | | Margaret = 1. Edmund Tudor, | | Earl of Richmond. | | 2. Sir Henry Stafford, | | son of 1st Duke | | of Buckingham. | | 3. Thomas, Lord | | Stanley. | | | Henry VII. | | +--------------------+ | 3 | 4 +------------------------------+ | | Edmund, = Eleanor Beauchamp, Jane = James I. of 1st Duke, 4th Earl | daughter of 5th Scotland. of Somerset, fought | Earl of Warwick. under Duke of Bedford. | Beseiged Harfleur. | Regent of France, | 1445. Killed at St. | Albans, 1455. | | +----------------+--------+------------+ | | | | Henry, Duke of Edmund John, Margaret = Humphrey, Earl of Somerset, Beaufort, killed at | Stafford (son of 1st beheaded after beheaded Tewkesbury. | Duke of Buckingham, Hexham, 1464. after | who died at battle Tewkesbury, | of Northampton). 1471. | Killed at St. Albans | 1455. [See genealogy | of [Edward III.]] | +--------------------------------------------+ | Henry, 2nd Duke of Buckingham = Catherine Woodville. Helped Richard III. Joined | Richmond. Beheaded 1483. | | +-------------+ | Edward, Duke of Buckingham = Eleanor, daughter of Percy, Restored by Henry VII. High | Earl of Northumberland. Constable. Offended Wolsey. | Beheaded 1521. | | +----------------------+ | Henry, Lord Stafford = Ursula, daughter of restored in blood by | Sir Richard Pole Edward VI., 1547. | and Margaret Died 1562. | Plantagenet. | +-----------------------------+ | | Edward, Baron Stafford. Richard, whose grandson became a cobbler.

WOODVILLES

(Courtenays. Greys.)

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Richard de Widvile = Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Seneschal of Normandy. | widow of Duke of Bedford. Earl Rivers 1466. | Beheaded 1469. | | +-----------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+ | | | | | Anthony = Elizabeth, John, Lionel, Richard, | Lord heiress of Beheaded Bishop of 2nd Earl | Scales. Lord Scales. 1469. Salisbury. Rivers. | Earl Rivers. | Guardian | of Edward V. | Beheaded | 1483. | | +-----------------------------------+ | +----------+------------+----------------------+ | | | 2. Edward IV. = Elizabeth = 1. Sir John Margaret = Fitz-Alan, | | | Grey a Earl of | | | Lancastrian. Arundel. | | | Died at St. | +----------------+ | Albans 1455. | | | | | +-----------------------+ | | + +--------------------------+ | | | | | | | | +---------------------+--------+------------+ | | | | | | | Mary = Earl of Katherine = 2d Duke of Anne = Lord Bouchier. | | Huntingdon. Buckingham. = Earl of Kent. | | = Jaspar Tudor. = Sir Anthony | | = Sir Richard Wingfield. | | Wingfield. | | | +----------------------------+ | | | +------------+--------------+ | | | | Thomas, 1st = Cecily Sir Richard Grey | Marquis of | Bonvile. Beheaded 1483. | Dorset, | | escaped to | | Brittany | | 1483. Restored | | by Henry VII. | | Died 1501. | | | | | | Thomas Grey = Margaret Wotton. | 2nd Marquis of Dorset. | | A great General under | | Henry VIII. Died 1530. | | | | Henry Grey = Lady Frances Brandon, | 3rd Marquis of | daughter of Henry | Dorset. Duke | VII.’s daughter Mary. | of Suffolk. | | Beheaded 1554. | | | | +--------------------+-------+ | | | | Lady Jane Grey = Guildford Katherine = Edward | Dudley. Seymour. | +----------------------------+ | | +------+-----+----------+-------+----------------------+ | | | | | Edward V. | Elizabeth = Henry VII. | | | | | | Katherine = Sir William Anne = Duke of Richard, | Courteney, Norfolk. Duke of | Earl of Devon. York. | Suspected of | treasonable | intercourse with | Edmund de la Pole. | Imprisoned till | 1509. Died 1512. | Edward Courtenay. Marquis = Gertrude Blount, of Exeter. Involved in | daughter of Henry Pole’s conspiracy. | Lord Mountjoy. Beheaded 1539. | | Edward Courtenay, Imprisoned from 1539 to 1553. Proposed as a husband for Elizabeth, 1554. In Wyatt’s rebellion. Died at Padua 1566.

[ENGLAND BEFORE THE CONQUEST.]

Departure of the Romans.

The dominion of the Romans in Britain had been complete. The country, as far as the Frith of Forth, had been brought under Roman civilization. But in England, as elsewhere, the continuance of that form of civilization had produced weakness; and the unconquered Britons of the North, known by the name of Picts, broke into the Romanized districts, and pushed their incursions far into the centre of the country. On all sides, the nations outside the Empire were breaking through its limits and threatening its existence. The danger which threatened the very heart of the Empire, from the advance of the Goths into Italy, compelled the Romans in 411 to withdraw their legions from Britain, and leave the inhabitants of the island to fight their own battles with the Picts. When these enemies formed an alliance with the pirates of Ireland, known by the name of the Scots, and with the German pirates of the North Sea, known as English or Saxons, the civilized Britons were unable to make head against them, and found it necessary to seek for aid among the invaders themselves They therefore made an arrangement with two Jutish chiefs or Ealdormen, Hengist and Horsa, to come to their assistance. The German rovers consisted of three nations—the Saxons, the inhabitants of Holstein, who had advanced along the coast of Friesland; to the north of them the Angles or English, who inhabited Sleswig; and still further to the north, the Jutes, whose name is still perpetuated in the promontory of Jutland.

The Jutish settlement in Kent. 449.

The Saxons in Sussex. 477-495.

The Angles in East Anglia. 520.

The first landing-place of the Jutish allies of the Britons was in the Isle of Thanet, separated at that time by a considerable inlet from the British mainland. Their aid enabled the Britons to drive back the Pictish invaders. But their success, and the settlement they had formed, enticed many of their brethren to join them, and their numbers were constantly increasing. Increase of numbers implied increased demand in the way of payment and provisions. Quarrels arose between the new-comers and their British allies. War was determined on. The inlet which divided Thanet from the mainland was passed, and at Aylesford, on the Medway, a battle was fought, which, though it cost Horsa his life, put the conquering Barbarians into possession of much of the east of Kent. The victory was followed by the extermination of the inhabitants; against the clergy especially the anger of the conquerors was directed. The country was thus cleared of the inhabitants, and the new-comers settled down, bringing with them their goods and families and national institutions. This process was repeated at every stage of the conquest of the country, which thus became not only a conquest but a re-settlement. The Jutish conquest of Kent was followed, in 477, by an invasion of the Saxons, who, under Ella, overran the south of Sussex, and captured the fortress of Anderida near Pevensey; and in 495, by a fresh Saxon invasion under Cerdic and Cymric, who passed up the Southampton water and established the kingdom of the West Saxons. A momentary check was given to the advance of the conquerors, in 520, at the battle of Mount Badon. But almost immediately fresh hordes of Angles began conquering and settling the East of England, where they established the East Anglian kingdom, with its two great divisions of Northfolk and Southfolk. Between that time and 577, the date of a victory at Deorham, in Gloucestershire, the West Saxons had overrun what are now Hampshire and Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and the valley of the Severn, reaching almost as far as Chester; while the Angles, entering the Humber and working up the rivers, established themselves on the Trent, where they were known as Mercians or Border men, and formed two Northern kingdoms, that of Deira in Yorkshire, and that of Bernicia, extending as far as the Forth. The capital of this last-named kingdom was Bamborough, founded by Ida, and called after his wife Bebba, Bebbanburgh, or Bamborough.

The junction of these two kingdoms under Æthelfrith, about 600, established the Kingdom of Northumbria; thus was begun the process of consolidating the several divided English kingdoms. This tendency to consolidation is marked by the title of Bretwalda, which is given to the chief of the nation dominant for the time being. The name had been applied to Ella of Sussex, to Ceawlin of Wessex, and was held at the time of the establishment of the Northumbrian power by Æthelberht of Kent. There were thus two pre-eminent powers among the English—Northumbria, under its king Æthelfrith, claiming supremacy over the middle districts of England, including the Mercians and Middle English; and Kent, under Æthelberht, paramount over Middlesex, Essex, and East Anglia; while a third kingdom, that of Wessex, though large in extent and destined to become the dominant power, was as yet occupied chiefly in improving its position towards the west. Beyond these lay the district still in the possession of the Britons. The possessions of this people were now divided by the conquest of the English into three—West Wales, or Cornwall; North Wales, which we now call Wales; and Strathclyde, a district stretching from the Clyde along the west of the Pennine chain, and separated from Wales by Chester, in the hands of the Mercians, and a piece of Lancashire in the hands of the Northumbrians.

Conversion of the English. 597.

It was while the kingdoms of Northumbria and Kent were thus in the balance that the conversion of the English to the Christian faith began. Æthelberht of Kent had married Bercta, the daughter of the Frankish King of Paris. She was a Christian; and Gregory the Great at that time occupying the Roman See, which was rapidly rising to the position of supremacy in the Christian Church, took advantage of the opening thus afforded, and despatched a band of missionaries under a monk named Augustine to convert the people. In 597 they landed in Thanet. By the influence of the Queen they were well received, and established themselves at Canterbury, which has ever since retained its position as the seat of the Primacy. The Kings of Essex and East Anglia followed the example of their superior Lord, and became Christians. The Northern kingdom was still heathen. But Eadwine, who succeeded Æthelfrith on the Northumbrian throne, surpassed his predecessor in power. On Æthelberht’s death, he received the submission of the East Anglians and men of Essex, and conquered even the West Saxons. Kent alone remained independent, but was compelled to purchase security by a close alliance with Eadwine, who married a Kentish princess. With her went a priest, Paulinus; and priest and Queen together succeeded in converting Eadwine, and bringing the Northern kingdom to Christianity. Heathenism was however not extinct. It found a champion, Penda, King of the Mercians. In alliance with the Welsh king he attacked and defeated Eadwine, in 633, at the battle of Heathfield, and united under his power those who were properly called Mercians and the other English tribes south of the Humber. He also conquered the West Saxon districts along the Severn, and thus established what is generally known as the Kingdom of Mercia. Paulinus had fled from York after the battle of Heathfield. But the contest between heathen and Christian was renewed by Oswald, Eadwine’s successor; for Paulinus’ place was taken by Bishop Aidan, a missionary from Columba’s Irish monastery in Iona, who had established an Episcopal See in the Island of Lindisfarne. From thence missionaries issued, who continued the work of conversion, to which Oswald chiefly devoted his life. Birinus, sent from Rome, with the support of Oswald, succeeded in converting even Wessex, and establishing a Christian church at Dorchester. Penda still continued in the centre of England to uphold the cause of heathendom. At the battle of Maserfield he conquered and slew Oswald, and re-established his religion for a time in Wessex. But at length, in 655, he succumbed to Oswi, Oswald’s successor, and with him fell the power of heathendom. It seemed as though Irish Christianity, and not Roman, would thus be the religion of England. But Rome did not suffer her conquests to slip from her hand. A struggle arose between the adherents of the two Churches. The matter was brought to an issue in 664 at a Council at Whitby. The Roman Church there proved predominant. And this victory was followed by the appointment of Theodore of Tarsus, an Eastern divine, to the See of Canterbury. Under him the English Church was organized. Fresh sees were added to the old ones, which had usually followed the limits of the old English kingdoms. Canterbury was established as the centre of Church authority. Theodore’s ecclesiastical work tended much both to the growth of national unity and to the close connection of Church and State which existed during the Saxon period. The unity of the people was expressed in the single archiepiscopal See of Canterbury and in the Synods; while the arrangement of bishoprics and parishes according to existing territorial divisions connected them closely with the State.

Supremacy of Mercia. 716-819.

The contest for supremacy between Mercia and Northumbria still continued. After the fall of Penda, the supremacy of the Northern kingdom was for some time unquestioned. But sixty years later, during the reign of three Christian kings, Ethelbald, Offa, and Cenwulf (716-819), Mercia again rose to great power. Offa indeed came nearer to consolidating an empire than any of the preceding kings, although he is not mentioned among the Bretwaldas. It is said that he corresponded on terms of something like equality with Charlemagne; and the great dyke between the Severn and the Wye which bears his name is supposed to mark the limits of his conquests over the Britons.

Ecgberht. 800-836.

Consolidation under the West Saxons.

With these princes the supremacy of Mercia closed, for a great king had in the year 800 ascended the throne of Wessex. Ecgberht had lived as an exile in his youth at the court of Charlemagne, and there probably imbibed imperial notions. During his reign of thirty-six years he gradually brought under his power all the kingdoms of the English, whether Anglian or Saxon. In 823, at the great battle of Ellandune, he defeated the Mercians so completely that their subject kingdoms passed into his power. Four years later Mercia owned his overlordship, and Northumbria immediately after yielded without a struggle. These great kingdoms retained their own line of sovereigns as subordinate kings. Ecgberht continued the hereditary struggle against the British populations, with the West Welsh or Cornish, and the North Welsh or Welsh, and in each instance succeeded in establishing his supremacy over them. North of the Dee, however, his power over the British population did not spread. Thus the kingdom of the West Saxons absorbed all its rivals, and established a permanent superiority in England.

Period of Danish invasion. 790-1013.

Already, however, a new enemy, before which the rising kingdom was finally to succumb, had made its appearance; a year before his death, Ecgberht was called upon to defend his country from the Danes. This people, issuing from the Scandinavian kingdoms in the North of Europe, had begun to land in England, to harry the country, and to carry off their spoil. At first as robbers, then as settlers, and finally as conquerors, for two centuries they occupy English history. Their first appearance in this reign was at Charmouth in Dorsetshire. Subsequently, in junction with the British, they advanced westward from Cornwall. This led to the great battle of Hengestesdun, or Hengston, where the invaders were defeated (835). It seems not unnatural to trace the appearance of the Northern rovers in England to the state of the Continent. Driven from their own country by want of room, obliged to seek new settlements, they found themselves checked by the organized power of Charlemagne’s empire. They were thus compelled to find their new home in countries they had not yet visited. The reign closed with the capture of Chester, the capital of Gwynedd, the British kingdom of North Wales.

Æthelwulf. 836-857.

The reign of Æthelwulf, the successor of Ecgberht, was chiefly occupied in constant war with the Danes. Various success attended his efforts. The great battle at Ockley (851), where they were heavily defeated, for a time kept them in check; but, on the whole, the invaders constantly gained ground, and at last, in 855, for the first time so far changed their predatory habits as to winter in the Isle of Thanet. Another characteristic of Æthelwulf’s reign is the connection with Rome which he established. When his youngest son Alfred was still a child, he sent him to Rome, where the young prince was anointed; and two years afterwards he himself took the same journey, was received on the road by Charles the Bald, King of France, and spent a whole year in Italy. He there re-established the Saxon College, and by his engagement to supply funds for its support seems to have originated the well-known Peter’s Pence. His connection with Charles the Bald was further cemented by his marriage with Judith, daughter of that king. After Æthelwulf’s death she married her stepson Æthelbald, was divorced by him, returned to France, married Baldwin of Flanders, and was the ancestress of Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. These connections show the rising importance of England, and the entrance of the country into the general politics of Europe. Something in Æthelwulf’s government, perhaps his lengthened absence abroad, or the step he had taken in getting Alfred anointed, excited discontent. His eldest surviving son, Æthelbald, conspired with other nobles to exclude him from the country, and he was forced to consent to a compromise, accepting as his own kingdom, Kent and the Eastern dependencies of Wessex, while his son ruled over the rest of the kingdom.

Æthelbald. 858-860.

Æthelberht. 860-866.

On his death he bequeathed his own dominions to Æthelberht, his second son, while Wessex was, upon the death of Æthelbald, to pass in succession to his two sons, Æthelred and Alfred. In spite of this will, on the death of Æthelbald five years later, Æthelberht of Kent succeeded in making good his claims to Wessex also, and upon Æthelberht’s death, after a reign of five years, marked only by renewed attacks of the Danes, both kingdoms passed without question to Æthelred.

Æthelred. 866-871.

Danish conquest of East Anglia. 870.

It was during the reign of Æthelred that the Danes first established themselves permanently in the country. In 867 Ingvar and Hubba, said to be the sons of Ragner Lodbrog, a great Scandinavian hero, invaded England. Legend says that this invasion was intended to exact vengeance for the death of their father, who had been cruelly put to death by Ella of Northumberland. There are chronological difficulties in the way of accepting this story, which are increased by the fact that the Danish landing was really in East Anglia. Thence, in 867, they advanced into Northumbria and took York. The anarchy in which Northumbria lay, caused by the rival claims of Osberht and Ella to the throne, rendered its conquest easy. In 868, they marched towards Mercia, and took Nottingham. Burhred, the King of Mercia, then implored the aid of Æthelred and his brother Alfred, who so far succeeded that they drove the Danes back to Northumbria. From thence, in 870, an invasion, under many leaders, whose connection is not very clear, was directed against East Anglia. They were there joined by Guthrum, another Danish leader, and their combined forces pressed victoriously onwards through Croyland, to Peterborough, Huntingdon, and Ely. After defeating the English at Thetford, they took Edmund, the Saxon King of East Anglia, prisoner, and, upon his refusal to accept the pagan religion, put him to death. For his constancy he was honoured with the title of Saint Edmund. East Anglia was thus completely in possession of the Danes, and Guthrum took to himself the title of king. East Anglia became henceforward for some time the principal point of Danish settlement in England. From thence the invaders passed into Wessex, under the command of Bagsecg and Halfdene. They were vigorously met by Æthelred. They pushed on, however, as far up the Thames as Reading, near which town a series of battles was fought,—at Englefield, where the Danes were beaten; at Reading, where the fortune of the day was changed; and subsequently at the great battle of Ashdown, where the victory of the English was regarded as being due to Alfred, who, being in command of half the army, attacked and defeated the enemy, while his brother was losing the precious moments in prayer for success. Though the victory of Ashdown was complete, it did not close the war. Almost immediately afterwards we hear of battles at Basing and at Merton, in which the Danes were again successful. These battles took place just before the death of Æthelred.

Alfred. 871-901.

Treaty of Wedmore.

He was succeeded at once by his brother Alfred. Another victory of the Danes at Wilton compelled Alfred to make peace. For a time the Danes withdrew from Wessex, and employed their energy in subjugating Mercia. Burhred, who had married Alfred’s sister, was driven from the throne, and retired to Rome to die. A Danish agent, named Ceolwulf, was put in his place, and the country laid under heavy contribution. But Ceolwulf in his turn was displaced, and the Danes took possession of much of the country themselves, conquering among other places the five great towns, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Stamford, known as the five Danish Burghs, or, with the addition of York and Chester, the seven Burghs. They also carried their invasions northward, and Cumberland and part of Strathclyde were overrun and peopled by them, under the command of Halfdene. Nor was the treaty with the East Anglian Danes permanent. Guthrum sailed round the coast and captured Wareham and Exeter. To oppose them on their own element, Alfred introduced a new form of ship, of greater size and length than had hitherto been used, and succeeded in winning a great naval victory in Swanage Bay. But the Danish forces were gradually closing round him. London and Essex had been taken, and a colony of Danes had conquered South Wales. At length, attacked in all directions, his kingdom of Wessex was practically limited to the country of the Somersœtas; and, unable to make head against his enemies, the King took refuge among the impassable morasses of the river Parret. It is during this time of his exile that the well-known story of the burnt cakes is told. But while apparently completely beaten, Alfred succeeded in gathering a new army, issued from his seclusion, and attacking the Danes at Edington (878), near Westbury, completely defeated them. The consequence of this battle was the Treaty of Wedmore. By this treaty the kingdom of East Anglia was surrendered to the Danes, and a line was drawn to separate their kingdom from that of Wessex. This line from the Thames ran along the Lea to Bedford, then along the Ouse till it struck Watling Street, and then followed Watling Street to the Welsh Border. The greater part of Mercia was thus restored to Wessex. In exchange, Anglia and Mercia beyond this line were ceded to the Danes, who were to hold them as vassals of the West Saxon king, and who were to become Christians. The limits of their occupation are still to be traced by the occurrence of the termination “by” in the names of the towns; it was in many instances appended to the name of the Danish holder of the manor. Guthrum, on his baptism, took the name of Æthelstan, and many difficulties in the chronology of the legends of the time may be solved by supposing that the Æthelstan mentioned in them is Guthrum, and not the Æthelstan who reigned in the year 925. This treaty, although it curtailed the supremacy of Wessex, made the kingdom in fact stronger, and secured a temporary rest for the whole of England. Mercia, that part of it at least which remained English, was governed by its Alderman Æthelred, and by the King’s daughter Æthelflæd, known as the Lady of the Mercians. On the death of Gutred, the Danish King of Northumbria, Alfred re-established his power there, and the peace and prosperity of England were further increased by the fact that the energy of the Danes was for the present chiefly directed against France and Belgium. Guthrum died in 890, and though the treaty was confirmed by his successors, the defeat of the Danes in Belgium threw fresh invaders into the kingdom. In 893, Hasting, a well-known sea-rover, in alliance with the Anglians and Northumbrians, committed fresh ravages in all directions; but at last, having ventured up the Lea, Alfred hit upon the expedient of draining the river, and leaving their ships aground. After this they were glad to retreat, but lesser expeditions were constantly vexing the coast. The reign of Alfred is thus divided into two periods of Danish war, between which, and at the close of his life, there occurred intervals of peace.

Appreciation of Alfred’s character.

It has been usual to attribute to Alfred most of the marked peculiarities of English civilization, the formation of shires, the establishment of juries, and so on. Such assertions will not bear examination. As a lawgiver, he collected the laws of the three principal states over which he ruled—Kent, Mercia, and Wessex—which had been already recorded by the Kings Æthelberht, Offa, and Ine. As a warrior he was on the whole victorious, and understood the necessity of establishing a fleet, which he appears to have constructed on a different principle from that of the Danes, the ships being longer, and serving less as mere stages on which to fight. As a governor he was impartial and strict; his police was severe, the system of mutual responsibility became universal, and under him the idea of morality began to mingle with the idea of injury to the commonwealth, which had been the Saxon notion of crime. His son Eadward, who succeeded him, was probably as great as his father, but he had not the love of literature which forms the marked characteristic of Alfred’s public life. It has been questioned whether Alfred could himself read; however this may have been, he was so conscious of the necessity of literature for the people that he set himself to work to make translations for them. “The History of the World on Christian Principles,” by Orosius, Bede’s “History of the Anglo-Saxon Church,” and Boethius’ “Consolation of Philosophy,” were the works he translated. Besides his own literary work, he established conventual schools at Shaftesbury and Athelney, and probably a more general one at Oxford. The love of the people, whom his indefatigable energy saved from their barbarous and pagan invaders, has attributed to their hero an original genius of which there are no distinct proofs. What is really known of him is, that he was an able, honest, persevering governor, gifted with that power and habit of method and organization which is perhaps more useful in advancing early civilization than greater and more splendid gifts. Upon Alfred’s death, though England, as a whole, had suffered by the loss of the country granted to the Danes, or, as it was called, the Danelagu, Wessex had assumed a position of superiority, and was regarded as the representative state of the English. This position it fully vindicated during the reigns of Eadward, Alfred’s son, who succeeded him, and of the four next kings, till the kingdom of Wessex grew to be the kingdom of England, and exerted an imperial supremacy over the whole island.

Supremacy of Wessex.

Eadward the Elder. 901-925.

Eadward’s first difficulty was with his cousin Æthelwulf, the son of Alfred’s elder brother Æthelred. This prince claimed the throne. He landed in England, was driven to Northumbria, where he was chosen king, and then, in company with Eohric, the King of East Anglia, marched up the Thames to Cricklade. He was however defeated, and with his ally killed by a portion of the English army near the Ouse. The consequence was the renewal of the acknowledgment of the supremacy of Wessex by Guthrum II. of East Anglia. In conjunction with his sister, the Lady of the Mercians, Eadward attempted to secure himself from further molestation by the erection of numerous stone castles. These castles, which seem to have been built on a new and better plan than any before erected, became also in many instances the origin from which towns sprang; for laws were passed creating them into markets, and forbidding bargains to be made without the walls. Some sort of monopoly of trade was thus secured for fortified posts. On the death of Æthelflæd, Mercia, both Anglian and Danish, submitted to Eadward’s authority. He continued the active government of his sister, and went on with her work of fortress-building. An invasion by the Danes of Northumbria in conjunction with the Welsh, who hoped to find Mercia unguarded, was signally defeated. The Welsh kings swore alliance to Eadward, and the Danes of Northumbria, and even the Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde, acknowledged him as their “father and lord.” Eadward was thus in fact master of the whole of England, and had completed more thoroughly the work of Ecgberht. The greatness of his position is clearly marked by the marriages of his children with the greatest Princes of the Continent. One married Charles the Simple of France, a second Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, a third Otto I., Emperor of Germany.

Æthelstan. 925-940.

Battle of Brunanburh. 943.

The greatness Eadward had thus secured descended to his son Æthelstan, with whom the grandeur of the Saxon monarchy reached its highest point. He married one of his sisters to a Northumbrian prince, Cytric, receiving his allegiance for Benicia from the Tees to Edinburgh, and, on the death of Cytric, incorporated the country with his own dominions. Cytric’s two sons fled, the one to Ireland, where the Danes received him willingly, the other (Guthrith) to Constantine, King of Scotland. The consequence of the escape of these princes became evident in after years. In 934, Constantine and his heir Eorca, Owen or Eugenius, King of Cumberland, made war upon England, but were defeated and compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Æthelstan. The attention of the English King was subsequently drawn abroad, where he upheld the cause of his nephew, Louis de Outre-Mer, son of Charles the Simple, against the attacks of his brothers-in-law, the German Otto and Hugh of Paris. It was while thus employed that the Scotch kingdoms again rose in insurrection. A great conspiracy against Æthelstan appears to have been formed, at the head of which were Anlath, son of that Guthrith who had fled to Scotland, Constantine, Owen, and several princes of the Danes from Ireland. Their object was the re-establishment of the Danish power in Northumbria. The attempt was completely thwarted by the great battle of Brunanburh, near Beverley, in Yorkshire. Not long after this decisive victory Æthelstan died. His splendid reign is further marked by legislation of a more original description than that of his predecessors. He ordered, among other things, that every man should have a lord who should be answerable for him to justice, and rendered more systematic the arrangement of mutual responsibility, which appears to have been one of the principles of Saxon police.

Eadmund. 940-946.

Eadred. 946-955.

His younger brothers, Eadmund and Eadred, followed in his footsteps, defeating the Northumbrian rebels, who from time to time elected kings of their own, but were completely conquered by Eadred. He so thoroughly incorporated the country with his own, that its ruler could no longer claim the title of king. Both Bernicia and Deira were bestowed as an earldom on Osulf, who had assisted in the conquest of the rebels, and remained in the hands of his family till the Norman Conquest. Eadmund also maintained his supremacy over Scotland, with which country his relations were of a very friendly nature, as he granted a part of the kingdom of Strathclyde, consisting of Cumberland and Galloway, to King Malcolm, to be held by military service.

Rise of Dunstan.

The policy of Eadred and of his successors seems so closely connected with the rise of Dunstan, that it may be justly attributed to him. The monkish historians, to whom we owe our knowledge of this great man, have overlaid his history with mythical stories, and have given him a character and policy to suit their own purposes. In their eagerness to secure the name of the greatest statesman of the age in support of their pretensions against the secular clergy, they have drawn him as a youth of miraculous gifts, of severe monkish asceticism, whose claim to greatness consisted in the establishment of the Benedictine rule. In the same way they have painted his opponent King Edwy [Eadwig] in the blackest colours. The common story tells us that, after a childhood passed in learning, so deep as to excite a suspicion of magic, illness drove Dunstan to the cloister at Glastonbury; that he there established the Benedictine rule, entering with such vehemence into its spirit that his asceticism almost turned his brain. On the accession of Edwy, the young king, it is said, deserted the assembly of the nobles, to pass his time in the company of the beautiful Ælfgyfu [Elgiva], his mistress. Dunstan is represented as violently dragging the unworthy king back to his proper place, as securing the banishment of Ælfgyfu, and with his partisans cruelly putting her to death upon her return. Edwy is then described as raging fiercely against all the monks in his kingdom. In truth, it is in politics rather than in ecclesiastical discipline that Dunstan’s greatness must be sought, and he must take his place in history rather as a conciliatory and patriotic governor than as an ascetic and violent churchman.

Born at the beginning of King Æthelstan’s reign, and trained partly at Glastonbury, where he found and studied books left by wandering Irish scholars, and partly at the King’s Court like other young nobles of the time, an illness induced him to devote himself to the Church. His interest secured him the Abbey of Glastonbury at the early age of seventeen. He shortly returned to the Court, became the King’s treasurer, and as an influential minister joined himself to the party which he found pre-eminent during the reign of Eadred. That king was a constant invalid, the influence of the Queen Mother was paramount, and she was supported by the chiefs of East Anglia and those whose views were national rather than provincial. The kingdom of Northumbria was in a state of ceaseless confusion. Again and again the Danes and Ostmen raised insurrections there. Wulstan, the Archbishop of York, with constantly shifting policy, at one time supported the insurgents, at another persuaded the Northern Witan to submit to Eadred. At length, in a final insurrection, he was overcome and imprisoned. The affairs in Northumbria had to be settled. It is here that the national policy of the dominant party made itself felt. Contrary to the views of the Wessex nobles, who would have wished for active interference of the government, the kingdom was reduced to the condition of an earldom under Osulf. But English supremacy being thus established, Wulstan was released, and self-government both in Church and State permitted. This conciliatory policy was interrupted by the death of Eadred.

Edwy. 955-957.

Eadgar. 957-975.

The new King Edwy, nephew of Eadred, was a mere child, and a palace intrigue, headed by Æthelgyfu and her daughter Ælfgyfu, who had obtained influence over the lad, drove the Queen Mother Eadgyfu from the Court, and established the power of the Wessex party. Unpopular among the Wessex nobles and in his own monastery, Dunstan was driven abroad, and took refuge in Ghent. But his party was still strong in England. Indignant probably at a violent resumption of grants from the Folkland, the nobles of England, with the exception of Wessex, set up Edwy’s younger brother Eadgar as a rival king, and were sufficiently powerful to oblige Edwy to divide the kingdom and content himself with the territories of Wessex south of the Thames. Dunstan was recalled by his partisans. He received from King Eadgar the sees of Rochester and of London; and when, on the death of Edwy, Eadgar succeeded to the undivided sovereignty of the kingdom, Dunstan rose with him, and became his chief minister and Archbishop of Canterbury.

Dunstan’s government.

Division of Northumbria.

As minister, Dunstan had both Church and State to reform. In both, decay had made great progress. The increased importance of the English King had raised him to a position very different from that of the tribal monarch. Along with the King had risen his dependants, the old members of the Comitatus. His Thegns or servants, rendered rich by grants of the public land, had gradually succeeded the old nobility by birth, of the German races. The troubled situation of the country had driven the freeholders more and more to seek safety by placing themselves and their land in a state of dependence on the Thegns. Even as early as Alfred every man was obliged to have a lord. At the same time the spirit of provincialism was strong, each district which had been a separate kingdom wishing to maintain its own independence. Dunstan seems to have understood that a change in the character of the monarchy was inevitable, and that national unity could only be secured by upholding that change, placing the monarch in what may be regarded as an imperial position over the subject kingdoms, and allowing the separate districts as much self-government as possible. Within the kingdom of Wessex itself, and perhaps of Mercia also, he established a strict police, and suppressed disorder with a strong hand. Beyond that, the largest freedom was permitted. Thus, the subordination of Northumbria was further secured by its division into three parts. The district between the Tees and the Humber was intrusted to Oslac. From the Tees to the Tweed remained in the hands of Osulf, while the Lothians between the Tweed and the Forth were given out on military service to the King of Scotland; and in subsequent history it was this district, peopled with English and Danes, which formed the civilized centre of the Scottish kingdom. But, when the supremacy of Wessex was thus secured, the Danes of the North were allowed to keep their own customs and make their own laws. Similarly, friendship with the Northmen of Ireland was maintained, and through their friendship the King was enabled to keep up a powerful fleet, which constantly sailed round the coasts, and kept them free from foreign invasion. The tradition that Eadgar was rowed upon the Dee to Chester by eight tributary kings, whether the fact be true or not, points to the imperial position which Dunstan had secured for him. In the Church the same policy was pursued. The great disturbances of the kingdom had thrown much power into the hands of the Church, the most permanent element of society. This increase of influence had been followed by an increase of secularity. The bishops became statesmen, and even commanders of armies. The older form of monasticism died out. Marriage of priests was constant. Livings began to be handed on from father to son. There was some chance of the establishment of an hereditary priestly caste. In Ghent, Dunstan had become acquainted with the Benedictine rule lately established there. He saw its efficiency for securing discipline among the clergy. Like other strong rulers, he regarded anarchy with aversion, and was therefore anxious to introduce the rule into England. He intrusted the work to his friend Æthelwold, whom he made Bishop of Winchester, and to Oswald, whom he raised to the See of Worcester. In Wessex and Mercia he carried out his reform with vigour, even with violence: but, as in his secular government, he kept himself under the restraints of prudence. Thus, when Oswald was appointed Archbishop of York, he made no efforts to restrain the marriage of the clergy, and in Dunstan’s own See he yielded to the prejudices of the people, and allowed the abbeys to continue in the hands of secular clerks. The title of Eadgar the Peaceful, and a reign of seventeen years unbroken by any great foreign war, attest the success of Dunstan’s policy.

Eadward the Martyr 975-979.

Fall of Dunstan.

But with Eadgar’s death, and the accession of his son Eadward, this prosperous state of things ended. For a time Dunstan held his own, but not without strong opposition. Again and again he had to plead his cause before the Witan. And at one synod, at Calne, it was intended to bring the matter to a crisis. Beornhelm, a Bishop of the Scottish Church, was brought forward as a champion by his enemies. His eloquence was carrying the assembly with him, and Dunstan could only appeal to heaven for assistance. Nor was that assistance denied; by accident or design, the floor of the upper chamber where the meeting was held gave way in that part where Beornhelm and his friends were seated, and they were hurried to swift destruction, while Dunstan’s triumphant party remained uninjured on the floor above. But even miraculous interferences did not suppress the enemies of the Prelate. A conspiracy, in which Ælfthryth [Elfrida], the mother of Ethelred, seems to have been chiefly engaged, was formed; and Eadward, returning from the chase, was killed at her castle at Corfe.

Æthelred the Unready. 979-1016.

Third Period of Danish invasion.

Battle of Maldon. 991.