CHAP. XI. Review of the Causes and Consequences of the NORTHMAN Invasions. -The Actions of HASTINGS, and his Invasions of ENGLAND.ALFRED's Death. By XI. 878. ALFRED having permitted Godrun to colonise East CHAP. Anglia, the limits of their respective territories were settled by a treaty, which still exists. the first article, the boundary was placed in the Thames, the river Lea to its source, and Watling Street to the Ouse. 2 The spaces thus marked contained Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, part of Hertfordshire, part of Bedfordshire, and a little of Huntingdonshire. 3 These regions were subjected to Godrun, and were filled with Danes. 4 66 1 It is in Wilkins's Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ, p. 47. The beginning may be quoted as an intimation of the parties to such transactions: "Thirr the Fpyche tha Elpped cyning and Luthpun cyning, and ealler Angel cynnes pitan and eal seo theod the on East-Englum beoth, ealle zecpeden habbach and mid athum zefæstnod for hi rylfe and for heopa zingpan ze for zebopene, ze foɲ ungeboɲene, the goder miltre pecca oththe upe." 2 The words are, "Æpert ýmb uɲe landzemeɲa upon Temere, and thonne upon Lizan and andlang Lizan oth hipe æpylm, thonne on geniht to Bedanfoɲda, thon upon Uran oth Wætlingartner." p. 47. Sir John Spelman places Northumbria also under Godrun, p. 66. He is certainly sanctioned by Malmsbury, p. 43.; but Asser, 35.; Florence, 328.; Sax. Chron. 86.; Ethelwerd, 845.; Hunt. 350.; Ingulf, 26.; and Mailros, 144., unite in merely stating Godrun's occupation of East Anglia. The grammatical construction of the Saxon treaty appears to me to imply no more. 4 The other articles of the treaty are legal regulations. Spelman's Summary may be cited: They provide "that there shall be one and the same estimation of person, both of English and Dane, and the mulct for slaughter of them both alike. That a thane of the king's BOOK IV. 878. Northumbria was afterwards put under Guthred, THE Sovereignty of Mercia, on the defeat of the THE reign of Alfred, from his restoration to his death, was wise and prosperous. One great object of his care was, to fortify his kingdom against hostile attacks. He rebuilt the cities and castles which had been destroyed, and constructed new fortifications in every useful place; and he divided the country into hundreds and tythings for its better military defence and internal peace, and to repel that disposition for depredation which was pre being questioned for manslaughter, or any offence above four marks, 5 Mailros, 145. In 890, Godrun died in East Anglia. Flor. 328.; 6 Spelman thinks that the superior sovereignty of Alfred was preserved in his treaties with the Danes. He remarks from Malmsbury, that Alfred gave the dominion to Godrun, ut eas sub fidelitate regis jure hereditario foveret, and that the very joining in the laws shows that the one was a vassal. p. 69. 7 It is said in the Saxon life of Neot, that after the pacification, Godrun, with the remains of his army, departed in peace to his own country, "to hir agenem eaɲde mid ealpe ribbe." MSS. Vesp. D. This seems to imply a return to Denmark, as East Anglia was not properly his own country. 14. XI. 878. vailing even among his own subjects. 8 By these CHAP. defensive precautions, he gave to the country a new face, and not only kept in awe the Northmen who were in it, but was prepared to wage, with advantage, that defensive war, which the means and disposition of the impetuous invaders could never successfully withstand. attempt of men. THE policy of Alfred's conduct towards Godrun Another was evinced and rewarded immediately afterwards. the NorthA large fleet of Northmen arrived in the Thames, who joined Godrun, as if desirous to unite with him in a new warfare; but, Alfred having pacified his ambition, these adventurers found no encouragement to continue here. They wintered at Fulham, and then followed their leader, the famous Hastings, into Flanders; and remained a year at Ghent." ALFRED discerned the inestimable benefit to England of creating a naval armament for the protection of its coast from the adventurers that now swarmed on the ocean. This king, who never used war but from necessity, which he deplored, may be considered as the founder of the English navy. In this, however, he was but the copyist of Charlemagne, whose policy of building ships to repress the northern invasions has been noticed before. 10 Alfred had already experienced the efficacy of a few ships of war. In 882, he was pre 8 9 Ingulf, 27. Matt. West. 345. Asser, 35, 36. Malmsb. 43. 10 About this time kings seem to have thought of navies. In 888, Mahomet, the Saracen king in Corduba, ordered ships to be built at Corduba, Hispali, and in other places where wood abounded. Of this king it is said, that as he was walking in his garden, a soldier exclaimed, "What a beautiful place! What a delightful day! How charming would life be if death never came !"—"You are wrong," answered Mahomet; "if death never had come, I should not have reigned here." Rod. Tol. Hist. Arab. c. 28. p. 24. IV. BOOK pared to engage in a naval conflict, and took two ships. The chief of two others and the crews, but not until they were all wounded, submitted to him. "1 878. 884. Another attempt. 11 THE army of the Northmen on the Scheld divided into two branches. One moved against Eastern France; the other invaded England, and besieged Rochester. They built a castle against its gate, but the valour of the citizens prolonged their defence, till Alfred, with a great army, approached to relieve them. On the king's sudden presence, the Pagans abandoned their tower, all the horses which they had brought from France, and the greatest part of their captives, and fled with precipitation to their ships. Compelled by extreme necessity, they returned in the same summer to France. 12 ALFRED, improving the hour of success, directed his fleet, full of warriors, to East Anglia, where new bands of depredation had arrived or were forming. They met thirteen war-ships of the Danes ready for battle. The Saxons attacked and took them, with all their booty; the crews fighting fiercely, till every one perished. But the Saxons forgot the suspicious vigilance which should always be maintained on an enemy's coast. The Danes gathered all their ships together, and coming on the fleet of Alfred, which was at the mouth of the river, they obtained a victory of superiority or surprise. 13 The colonising followers of Godrun 12 Asser, 37. 13 Asser, 38. The Cotton MSS. and the editions of Parker and Camden say, the English fleet dormiret. Florence, in relating the incident, substitutes the word rediret, p. 321.; and the Saxon. Chron. p. 87. hampeaɲd pendon. XI. broke their treaty with Alfred; but as no account CHAP. of the consequences is transmitted to us, the peace was probably soon restored. 14 THE most brilliant incident in the life of Alfred was his defence of England against the formidable Hastings, which has not hitherto been sufficiently remarked. In his struggles against the Northmen, over whom he prevailed at Eddinton, he had to oppose power rather than ability; but in resisting Hastings, he had to withstand a skilful veteran, disciplined in all the arts of war by thirty years' practice of it; renowned for his numerous successes in other regions, and putting in action a mass of hostility, which might have destroyed a man of less ability than the Saxon king. 884. Hastings. HASTINGS must have long been a favourite of Actions of tradition, because he was one of those heroic and successful adventurers whom popular fame loves to celebrate, and sometimes to fancy. Time has, however, so much to record, such numerous characters to perpetuate, that it suffers many to fall into the shroud of oblivion, of whom our curiosity would desire a distinct memorial. Hastings has scarcely survived the general lot. 15 We know him but by a few imperfect fragments: they announce a character of high importance in his day, but they give us little acquaintance with his individual features. HE first appears to us as selected by Ragnar 14 Asser, 39. A great army of Northmen was at this time attacking the continental Saxons and Frisians. Ibid. 38. 15 Dudo has attempted to draw his character; but he has only recollected and applied to him thirty-two vituperative epithets from the Latin language, strung into hexameters. One of the historian's bright ideas is, that Hastings should be non atramento verum carbone notan. dus, p. 63. |