the English being now full had provoked the Divine Vengeance for that the Priests despising God's Law treated Holy Things with corrupt hearts and polluted hands and not being true Pastors but Mercenaries exposed the Sheep to the Wolves seeking the Wool and the Milk more than the Sheep themselves That the Chief Men of the Land were Infidels Companions of the Thieves and Robbers of their Countrey who neither feared God nor honoured his Law to whom Truth was a Burthen Justice a Maygame and Cruelty a Delight And that therefore since neither the Rulers observed Justice nor the Ruled Discipline the Lord had drawn his Sword and bent his Bow and made it ready for that he would shew this People his Wrath and Indignation by sending Evil Angels to punish them for a year and a day with Fire and Sword But when the King replied to them That he would admonish his People to repent them of the evil of their ways and doings and then he hoped God would not bring these dreadful Judgments upon them but would again receive them into his Mercy To this they answered That now it could not be because the hearts of this people were hardened and their eyes blinded and their ears stopped so that they would neither hear those that would instruct them nor be advised by those that should admonish them being neither to be terrified by his Threatnings nor melted by his Benefits And the King asking them when there would be an end of all these Judgments and what comfort they might be like to receive under all these great afflictions those holy men only answered him in a Parable of a certain Green Tree that should be cut down and removed from the Root about the distance of Three Acres and when without any human hand the Tree should be restored to its Ancient Root and flourish and bear Fruit then and not till then was there any Comfort to be hoped for But this Author's application of the Tree that was to be cut down to the English-Saxon Royal Family's being for a time destroyed and its Separation to the distance of three Acres to Harold and the two first Norman Kings and its Restitution again to King Henry the first by his marrying of Queen Mathildis and its flourishing again in the Empress her Daughter and then its bearing Fruit to the Succession of Henry the second do sufficiently shew that great part of this Vision was made and accommodated for the Reigns of these Princes William of Malmesbury indeed recites the same Vision though in fewer words but without any Interpretation of the Parable But be this Vision true or false I think we may have reason to pray to God that neither our Clergy nor Laity by falling into the like wicked and deplorable state above described may ever bring the like Judgments upon this Nation But when the Queen Robert the Lord Chamberlain and Earl Harold who are said to have been present at the Relation of this Vision seemed very much concern'd Archbishop Stigand received it with a Smile saying That the good Old Man was only delirous by reason of his Distemper But says Malmesbury we have too dearly tried the Truth of this Vision England being now made the Habitation of Strangers and groaning under the Dominion of Foreigners there being says he at this day i. e. at the time when he wrote no Englishman either an Earl a Bishop or an Abbot but Strangers devour the Riches and gnaw even the very Bowels of England neither is there a prospect of having any End of these Miseries This it seems was written in the beginning of the Reign of Henry the First and before he had seen the more Happy Times that succeeded in that of Henry the Second when the Abbot above-mentioned tells us That England had then a King of the Ancient Blood Royal as also Bishops and Abbots of the same Nation with many Earls Barons and Knights who as being descended both from the French and English Blood were an Honour to the One and a Comfort to the Other But to come to the Death and Last Words of this most Pious King The Abbot above-mentioned gives us an Excellent Discourse which he made before his Death recommending the Queen to her Brother and the Nobility there present and highly extolling her Chastity and Obedience who though she appeared publickly his Wife yet was privately rather like a Sister or Daughter desiring of them That whatsoever he had left her for her Jointure should never be taken from her He also recommended to them his Servants who had followed him out of Normandy and that they should have their free choice either of returning home to their own Countrey or staying here After which he appointed his Body to be buried in St. Peter's Church at Westminster which he had so newly dedicated and so having received the Blessed Eucharist and recommended his Soul to God he quietly departed this Life having reigned Three and twenty Years Six Months and Seven and twenty Days It is very observable That this Abbot does not tell us that he said any thing concerning who should be his Successor whereas many of the Monks of those Times make him to have bequeathed the Crown at his Death to his Cousin William Duke of Normandy and Ingulph further says That King Edward â—â—me years before his Death had sent Robert Archbishop of Canterbury as an Ambassador to him to let him know that he had design'd him his Successor both because he was of his Blood and also Eminent for his Virtue What Pretences the Duke might have to the Crown by the latter I know not but it is certain the former could give him no Title to it since all the Relation that was between King Edward and Duke William was by Queen Emma who was Mother to the King and Aunt to the Duke so that it is evident on the score of this Relation that Duke William could have no pretence by Blood to the Crown of England But it is very suspicious that this Story of Archbishop Robert's being sent into Normandy upon this Errand was but a Fiction since he sate but three years in that See before his Expulsion and that happened near ten years before after which King Edward sent over for his Cousin Edward sirnamed The Outlaw to make him his Heir King Edward being dead they made great haste to bury him for his Funerals were performed the next day with as great Solemnity as the shortness of that time would admit of but it was sufficient that all the Bishops and Nobility of the Kingdom attended his Body to the Grave in the Church aforesaid where his Tomb is at this day to be seen behind the Altar and his Body was afterwards preserved in a Rich Shrine of Gold and Silver till the Reign of Henry the Eighth As for the Character which the Writers of the following Age give this Prince it is such as they thought was due to One whom they took to be
his History of the Church of Durham who has interspersed many excellent Passages concerning the same Northern Story Here likewise we may add the Chronicle of the Abbey of Mailross which tho wrote by the Abbot of Dundraimon was certainly collected out of some much antienter Annals of that Monastery which was then destroyed and these together with the last mentioned Authors have helped us to make up the Succession of the Northumbrian Kings after Eardulf that was expelled his Kingdom Anno 806. from whom our common Writers suppose there was an Interregnum for the space of above sixty Years tho by those above-named it appears to have been otherwise as you may see in the Tables at the end of the last Book AFTER these flourished William of Malmesbury who finished his History in the Reign of King Stephen but certainly he began it long before viz. in the Reign of Henry the First To which Learned Monk being one of the best Writers both for Judgment and Stile of that Age I must own my self obliged for the best and choicest Passages in this Volume TO him succeeded Henry Arch-Deacon of Huntington who wrote a History of the Kings of England as well before as after the Conquest and retiring to Rome lived there for some time for that purpose He deduced his History almost to the end of K. Stephen and writing most commonly by way of Annals transcribed many things out of Florence of Worcester and was of that great Reputation that Geoffrey of Monmouth who was his Cotemporary recommends the English History to be written by his Pen as he does the British to be continued by Caradoc of Lancarvon who wrote a Welsh Chronicle as far as his own Time the Substance whereof I have here likewise given you as it was put out by Dr. Powell to which I have also added several remarkable Passages that were designed in a new Edition of the same Work to be published from the Manuscripts of the Learned Antiquary Mr. Robert Vaughan by Mr. Ellis late of Jesus College in Oxon but which were never finished And I have likewise inserted divers choice Notes that I gathered from another Manuscript of the same Author's relating to the Chronology and Actions of the British Princes which he wrote for the Satisfaction of the Lord Primate Usher and from him is now in my Possession And I suppose no Ingenious British Antiquary will think this Performance unnecessary since he will here find the Substance of all that is contained in Caradoc's Chronicle together with a great many considerable Additions from the Manuscripts abovementioned as also some others gathered from two MS. Copies of the Chronicles of Wales the one in the Cottonian Library the other in the Exchequer written at the end of one of the Volumes of Doomesday for the perusal of which I stand obliged to the Reverend Dr. Gale H. Huntingdon was followed by Rog. Hoveden a secular Priest of Oxford and was Domestick Clerk or Secretary to Henry the Second he seems to have chiefly transcribed from Simeon of Durham as to the Affairs before the Conquest as he does from William of Malmesbury and other Authors as well as his own Observations for those that occur'd afterwards to his own Time continuing his History to the beginning of King John's Reign THE next we come to are those Authors contained in that noble Volume called the Decem-Scriptores such as Ailred Abbot de Rievalle who wrote concerning the Kings of England so far as King Henry the 2d in whose Time he lived as also concerning the Life and Miracles of Edward the Confessor from whom I have taken divers memorable Passages relating to the Life of that King as well as to his Predecessors omitting his Fables and Legends in which he does too much abound AFTER him follows Radulphus de Diceto Dean of St. Pauls London who flourished in the Reign of King John about the Year 1210. he was esteemed a very accomplished Historian and an indefatigable Collector in his Time of things not only before but after the Conquest I have also taken some few Passages from William Thorn a Monk of Canterbury who wrote an entire History of the Affairs of his own Monastery of St. Augustin down to the beginning of King Richard the Second in whose Reign he lived AFTER whom we had for a long time no printed Historians of the Times before the Conquest till that in the Decem-Scriptores which goes under the Name of John Brompton Abbot of Jorvaulx in Richmondshire tho Mr. Selden has shewn us in his Preface to that Volume that he was rather the Purchaser than Author of this Chronicle which he left to his own Abbey he is supposed to have lived in the time of Edward the Third but the History concludes with the Death of Richard the First BVT the said Reverend Dr. Gale farther observes of him That he intended to continue Geoffrey of Monmouth as appears in the Preface and in Col. 1153. as also that he took much from Benedictus Abbas still in Manuscript in the Cottonian Library and not from Roger Hoveden for where a Fault or Omission is found in Benedictus the same is here found also but not so in Hoveden e. g. Benedictus wanted the Seal of the King of Sicily and so did Bromton till it was added from some other Copy and not out of Hoveden for the Seals differ and some Copies of Hoveden have it not at all And tho the Compiler of this History seems to have lived in the Time of Richard I. as himself seems to intimate yet Col. 967. it mentions Richard the Third which must have been added to continue down the Genealogy of our Kings as is often done in antient Chronicles by some later Hand But the Learned Doctor farther supposes this Chronicle to have been written by one John Brompton who as the Doctor found in an old Manuscript Year-Book or Collection of Reports of the Reign of King Edward the First was a Justice Itinerant about that Time which Conjecture is also confirmed by his careful inserting the Antient Saxon Laws into this Chronicle This as it was not done by any before him so neither does it savour of the Monk THIS is the more worthy taking notice of because Sir William Dugdale hath omitted this John Brompton in his Catalogue of Judges Itinerant at the end of his Origines Juridiciales TO this Historian succeeds Henry de Knyghton Canon of Leicester who wrote his History de Eventibus Angliae beginning with King Edgar and ending with the Reign of Richard the Second BVT the Reader may be pleased to take notice that in these two last Authors are found many Passages which are in none of the more Antient Writers and since most of them relate to Customs and Terms that had their Original after the coming in of the Normans therefore they may with good Reason be suspected to have been borrowed from some common Stories or Traditions that then passed up and down for current NOR can
Book at a certain rate and not arbitrary 127 Folcland what it was 118-120 Folcmote the same with the County-Court 83 Fornication its Punishment 125 Franc Pledg what 8 France its antient Kings the manner of their Succession 69 Friburg or Tithing-Court its Institution and Business 80 81 G. GAvelkind 118 119 General of the King's Forces his Antiquity 72 Antient German Laws 35 c. Government of Britain before the arrival of Jul. Caesar very uncertain 29. During the time of the Romans 31-34 Vnder the Saxons 34 c. Of the Antient English Saxons rather Aristocratical than Monarchical pag. 39 H. HAgulstad Richard an account of him and his History 15 Heir its antient Signification 53 54. His Right to Lands and Goods 122 Saxon Heptarchy vid. Kingdoms Heretoch what that Office was 74 Heriots to whom due 122 Higden Ranulph his Polychronicon 17. Our Historians in English a brief Censure of them 5 6 7 Historians in Latin an Account and Censure of their Works 7-18 The Holde what 74 Homage from the Scotish Kings to those of England how far to be credited 19 20 Hoveden Roger an Account of his Works 16 Dr. Howel his Mistake in making the first Saxon Kings absolute Monarchs 39 Hundred-Court what 80 Huntingdon Henry an Account of him 16 I. INtestates their Goods how antiently to be divided 121 122 Introduction its Design 127 Joseph of Arimathea his preaching the Gospel in England fabulous 24 Judgments inflicted for several Offences 125 126 Grand-Juries how antient 123 Jury-men their Number to be Twelve in the English-Saxon Times 123 Jus Haereditarium its Signification 53 K. KEntish Kings their Succession 42 43 Kings of Britain not despotic but often elected 30 Kings at first no better than Generals in War in Peace they had little or no Power pag. 38 Saxon Kings not absolute or by Conquest 39 40 Kings of the Saxons at first elected 39-41 The manner of their Succession to the Crown ib. 66. Their losing their Crowns otherways sometimes than by Death 68 c. The King in what sense he is said to make Laws 108 English Saxon Kings what kind of Supremacy they exercised in Ecclesiastical Affairs 108 c. Kingdoms of the English-Saxons how many erected in this Island 34 35 L. LAnds in England all held under the three great Services called in Latin Trinoda necessitas 120 Lathes what 80 Laws British 29 German 35-38 Ecclesiastical by whom 108-113 Saxon Customary Laws their Original and how many sorts of them 117 118. Reduced into one Body by ◠Edward the Confessor ib. Their Civil Laws concerning Lands 118 Legislative Power in whom it resided under the English Saxon Kings 105-108 M. MAiming c. how punishable antiently 126 Malmesbury William his Character 15 Manslaughter and Murder their distinction ibid. Mercian Kings their Succession 45 Milites what sort of Men 90 Monasteries how far taken notice of in the ensuing History 24 Monmouth Geoffery a Censure of his Work 7 Mulcts the difference betwixt this word and Fines 126 127 Murder its Punishment in the English-Saxon Times pag. 126 N. NObiles Angli who they antiently were 91 Northumbrian Kings their Succession 44 O. OFfences of several sorts with their Penalties 125 126 Optimates who they were 92 Ordeal what and what the Trial 123 124 Ordinaries at first had nothing to do in Administrations 122 Ordinary People how they were called in the Saxon Times 121 Original of the first English Saxon Kings 38-41 Original Contract 70 c. Osbern Author of the Lives of St. Dunstan and St. Alphege 14 P. PArliament the Original of this Great Assembly 86. The same with the antient Witena-Gemots and Mycel Synoth 86. which met thrice every Year ex more ibid. Perjury Saxons utter Enemies to it and their Punishment of it 126 127 Plebs Vulgus their Signification 99 100 Populus Populi must signify the Commons in the Saxon Laws and Charters ibid. to 102 Portgereses or Port Reves their Antiquity 96 The antient Prerogatives of our English Kings 67 68. to pardon 67 127. They could not debase the Money nor give away their Crown-Lands without the Consent of the Common Council of the Kingdom 126 127 Primates Principes Proceres what they were 90 92 Probate of Wills 122. how long a matter of Civil Cognizance 122 123 Procuratores Patriae who they wer◠pag. 95 Punishments among the English Saxons their several sorts 125 126 Q. SEveral Questions for Dr. Brady to answer 99 100 R. DE Rationabili parte Bonorum the Writ grounded at Common Law and on what Custom 122 Robbery how punishable 126 Romans their Government in Britain 31-33 S. SAbaoth-breaking its Punishment 125 Sacrilege its Punishment 125 Sapientes who they were 96 Saxons not at first govern'd by Kings 38 English Saxons whence deriv'd 35. Their Government rather Aristocratrical than Monarchical 39 South-Saxons their Kingdom 34 43 Saxon-Tenures 121 Scandal how punishable 126 Senatores Gentis Anglorum who they were 92 93 The Scire-mote or Sheriffs-tourn what 82 83 Sheriff his antient Office 75 Sithcundman what 78 Slaves or Servants among the English-Saxons and what Power their Lords had over them 79 80 Free Socmen what they were with their Privileges 78 Studia Sapientiae sometimes tho rarely taken for the Study of the Law 88 Succession of the English-Saxon Kings whether hereditary or elective 38-65 Swearing and Cursing rarely known in the Saxon Times 125 Mycel Synoth what 86 T. TEnants in England how many sorts under the Saxon-Kings 118 119. In antient Demesne who 121 Thane his Title and Dignity 75 76 136. Their several sorts ibid. Thanes of London who 96 Trinoda necessitas what 120 Thefts small ones their Punishments 126 The Tourn of the Sheriff 83 Trespasses upon Lands and Goods how punishable 126 A Tithing or Decennary what 81 Tithes granted à Rege Baronibus Populo 100 Treason its Punishment 125 126 Trials the several sorts among the English-Saxons 123 124 125 The Trihing Court what it was 80 V. VIcarius Britanniae what he was 32 Villanus its Signification 120 121 Voyer dire what 125 W. WAllingford John an Account of him 17 Mr. Washington's Observations on the King's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction 108-113 West-Saxon Kings their Succession 47-65 The Form of their Crowns and Titles 66 67. Often deposed 69 70 Witena Gemote or Great Council by what other Names it is called in our antient Histories 90 Wites or Witan among the English-Saxons its Signification did not mean only Lawyers 88. For what they were established in the Great Councils 41 War or Peace in whom the Power 68 Will the antientest observed before the Conquest when 122 Wiregilds what 67 68 126 Worcester Florence his Character and an Account of his Chronicle 17 ERRATA In the Preface PAge 5. line 5. for be would read would be P. 17. l. 4. f. Greshams r. Gresham Ibid. l. 45. del in P. 23. l. 3. f. Ilcombil r. Ilcombkil P. 23. l. 14. f. that r. whither ib. f.
leaving Hreoptun became divided into two and Halfden their Commander marched with one part of it into the Kingdom of Northumberland and there took up his Winter-Quarters near the River Tine where they conquered the whole Country and also spoiled the Country between the Picts and the Straecled Welsh-men who then inhabited part of Galloway in Scotland whilst another part of them under the Command of Godrun Oskytel and Amwynd three of their Kings marched to Grantbridge and there Wintered And the same Summer King Aelfred fought at Sea against seven of their Ships and took one of them the rest escaping This Year as Asser and the Saxon Annals relate Rollo the Dan◠or Norman wasted Neustria afterwards called Normandy and in some time after made an entire Conquest of it Asser also says that this Rollo having had a Dream of a Swarm of Bees flying towards the South he chose to leave England and go over into France though as other Authours affirm it was because he was so warmly received by King Alfred that he did not like to stay here but rather chose to pass into another Country of easier Conquest as Normandy indeed proved for he reigned there fifty Years The same Year according to the Chronicle of Mailrosse and Simeon of Durham Ricsig King of Northumberland dying another Egbert succeeded him but we have no account of his Actions more than that he reigned beyond Tyne as a Tributary to the Danes who possessed all the rest of the Country as you will find by the Saxon Annals The same Year accordingly the Danes stealing away by Night from Grantbridge where they had long encamped marched to Werham now Warham in Dorsetshire being then a strong Castle of the West-Saxons this place they took and destroyed together with the Nunnery there then passing higher as into a secure Harbour they drew up all their Ships so that now King Alfred was reduced to such great streights that he was forced to make Peace with him and they gave the King for Pledges some of the Noblest Persons in their Army and took an Oath upon a sacred Bracelet they had which Oath they would never take to any Nation before that they would presently depart the Kingdom but in the mean while that part of the Army which had Horses stole away to Exanceaster now Exeter whereupon the King put all their Hostages to Death The same Year in the Month of August Healfden the Danish King divided the Kingdom of the Northumbers among his People who now settling there ploughed and sowed from whence the Danes date their Reign over that Kingdom But the Year following The Danes having left Werham and come to Exeter as you have already heard their Fleet in the mean time fetching a compass sailing towards the West I suppose to Exmouth there arose so violent a Storm as that 120 of their Ships were cast away near Swandwic now Swanwick in Hampshire then King Aelfred followed that part of the Army as far as Exeter thô he could not overtake them till they had got into the Castle which proved so strong that no body could come at them but he streightning them there they gave him what Hostages he required and took fresh Oaths and for a small time observed the league they had made yet nevertheless in the Month of August following the same Danish Army marched into the Province of the Mercians where dividing part of it between themselves they left the rest to Ceolwulf above mentioned About this time also according to Caradoc's Chronicle the English having entred Wales the Year before fought a Bloody Battel with the Welshmen though this Authour neither tells who were the Commanders nor who had the Victory and the Year following there was another Battel between them wherein Rodorick Sirnamed The Great King or Prince of Wales and Guyriad his Brother or as some say his Son were slain This Rodorick had by his Wife Engharaud the Daughter of Prince Meyric several Sons as Anarawd his Eldest to whom he gave Aberffraw with North Wales Cadelh the second to whom he left Dynevowr with South-Wales who also took by force Marthraval and Powysland after the Death of Mervyn the third Son to whom their Father Rodorick had given the same To which Dr. Powel likewise adds That this Rodorick is esteemed by all Writers to be sole King of all Wales North-Wales descending to him from his Mother Esylcht the Daughter and sole Heir of Conan Tindaethwy but South-Wales he had in Right of his Wife the Daughter and Heir of Meyric ap Dyfnwal King of Cardigan Powis he had by Nest the Sister and Heir of Congen ap Cadhel King of Powis his Father's Mother These three Dominions he appointed under their Meeres and Bounds with a Princely House in each of them These he had named Ytair Talaeth and left them unto three of his Sons Anarawd Cadhel and Mervyn who were called Ytrit Twysoc Talaethioc that is the three Crown'd Princes because each of them did wear upon his Bonnet or Helmet a Coronet of Gold being a broad Lace or Head-band indented upwards set and wrought with precious Stones which in the British or Welsh Speech is called Talaeth and to which Mr. Vaughan in his Additional Notes to Caradoc's History hath added out of an ancient Welsh Manuscript That this Rodorick is said to have corrected some of the old British Laws and to have appointed new ones He also ordained that his Eldest Son should have the Crown or Coronet of Aberffraw with the Fifteen Cantreds thereunto belonging This Aberffraw is now a small Village in the Isle of Anglesey and was anciently the chief Seat of the Princes of Guyneth or North-Wales He left to his second the Crown or Coronet of Dinevowr or Cardigan with its fifteen Cantreds extending from the Mouth of the River Devi to the Mouth of Severne and also that his Son should have the Crown or Coronet of Mathraval with the Fifteen Cantreds of Powis from the mouth of the River Dee to the bridge over Severne at Gloucester He ordained also That his Eldest Son and his successours should continue the payment of the ancient tribute to the King of London i. e. King of England and that the other two their Heirs and Successours should acknowledge his Sovereignty and pay the like tribute to him and his Successours and that upon the Invasions of Strangers they should all send him aid and be also ready to protect them when there should be need Moreover he ordained That when any difference should arise between the Princes of Aberffraw and Cardigan the Three Princes should meet at Bwlchy Pawl and after hearing of Council on both sides the Prince of Powis should be Umpire between them And if the difference were between the Kings of Aberffraw and Powis that they should likewise all Three meet at Dolhrianedd perchance Morvarhianed on the Bank of the River Dee where the King of Cardigan was to end the Controversie And if
and instead thereof engaged the Prince of Wales to send him a Yearly Tribute of so many Wolves Heads in lieu of that Tribute which the said Prince performed till within some Years there being no more Wolves to be found either in England or Wales that Tribute ceased But to proceed with our Annals This Year deceased Aelfgar Cousin to the King and Earl also of Devonshire whose Body lies buried at Wilton Sigeferth likewise here called a King though he was indeed no more than Vice-King or Earl of some Province now made himself away and was buried at Winborne The same Year was a great Mortality of Men and a very Malignant Feaver raged at London Also the Church of St. Pauls at London was this Year burnt and soon after rebuilt and Athelmod the Priest went to Rome and there died I have nothing else to add that is remarkable under this Year but the Foundation of the Abby of Tavistock by Ordgar Earl of Devonshire afterwards Father-in-law to King Edgar though it was within less than fifty years after its foundation burnt down by the Danes in the Reign of King Ethelred but was afterwards rebuilt more stately than before This Year Wolfstan the Deacon deceased and afterwards Gyric the Priest These I suppose were some men of remarkable Sanctity in that Monastery to which this Copy of these Annals did once belong The same Year also Abbot Athelwald received the Bishoprick of Winchester and was consecrated on a Sunday being the Vigil of St. Andrew The second year after his Consecration he repaired divers Monasteries and drove the Clerks i. e. Canons from that Bishoprick because they would observe no Rule and placed Monks in their stead He also founded two Abbies the one of Monks and the other of Nuns and afterwards going to King Edgar he desired him to bestow upon him all the Monasteries the Danes had before destroyed because he intended to rebuild them which the King willingly granted Then the Bishop went to Elig where St. Etheldrith lieth buried and caused that Monastery to be rebuilt and then gave it to the care of one of his Monks named Brightnoth and afterwards made him Abbot of the Monks of that Monastery where there had been Nuns before Then Bishop Athelwald went to the Monastery which is called Medeshamstead which had also been destroyed by the Danes where he found nothing but old Walls with Trees and Bushes growing among them but at last he spied hidden in one of these Walls that Charter which Abbot Headda had formerly wrote in which it appeared that King Wulfher and Ethelred his Brother had founded this Monastery and that the King with the Bishop had freed it from all secular servitude and Pope Agatho had confirmed it by his Bull as also the Archbishop Deus Dedit Which Charter I suppose is that the Substance of which is already recited in the Fourth book Anno 656. and which I have there proved to be forged for the Monks had then a very fair opportunity to forge that Charter and afterwards to pretend they found it in an old Wall But letting that pass thus much is certain from the Peterburgh Copy of these Annals That the said Bishop then caused this Monastery to be rebuilt placing a new Set of Monks therein over whom he appointed an Abbot called Aldulf Then went the Bishop to the King and shewed him the Charter he had lately found whereby he not only obtained a new Charter of Confirmation of all the Lands and Privileges formerly granted by the Mercian Kings but also many other Townships and Lands there recited as particularly Vndale with the Hundred adjoining in Northamptonshire which had formerly been a Monastery of it self as may be observed in the account we have already given of the Life of the Archbishop Wilfrid The King likewise granted That the Lands belonging to that Monastery should be a distinct Shire having Sac and Soc Tol and Team and Infangentheof which terms I shall explain in another place the King there also grants them a Market with the Toll thereof and that there should be no other Market between Stamford and Huntington and to the former of these the King also granted the Abbot a Mint But as for the Names of the Lands given together with the Limits and the Tolls of the Market there mentioned I refer the Reader to the Charter it self Then follows the Subscription of the King with the Sign of the Cross and next the Confirmation of the Archbishop of Canterbury with a dreadful Curse on those that should violate it as also the Confirmation of Oswald Archbishop of York Athelwald Bishop of Winchester with several other Bishops Abbots Ealdormen and Wisemen who all confirmed it and signed it with the Cross This was done Anno Dom. 972. of our Lord's Nativity and in the sixteenth year of the King's Reign which shews this Coppy of the Annals to be written divers years after these things were done as does also more particularly that short History concerning the Affairs of this Abby and the Succession of its Abbots for many years after this time As how Abbot Adulf bought many more Lands wherewith he highly enriched that Monastery where he continued Abbot till Oswald Archbishop of York deceased and he succeeded him in the Archbishoprick and then there was another chosen Abbot of the said Monastery named Kenulph who was afterwards Bishop of Winchester he first built a Wall round the Monastery and gave it the name of Burgh which was before called Medeshamested but he being sometime after made Bishop of Winchester another Abbot was chosen from the same Abby called Aelfi who continued Abbot fifty years He removed the Bodies of St. Kyneburge and St. Cynesuith which lay buried at Castra and St. Tibba which lay entomb'd at Rehala i. e. Ryal in Rutlandshire and brought them to Burgh and dedicated them to St. Peter keeping them there as long as he continued Abbot I have been the more particular in the Account of this so Ancient and Famous Monastery as having been the Episcopal See of the Bishops of Peterburgh almost ever since the Dissolution of that Abby in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth This Year also according to Simeon of Durham King Edgar married Ethelfreda the Daughter of Ordgar Earl of Devonshire after the Death of her Husband Ethelwald Earl of the East-Angles Of her he begot two Sons Edwald and Ethelred the former of whom died in his Infancy but the latter lived to be King of England But before he married this Lady it is certain he had an Elder Son by Elfleda sirnamed The Fair Daughter of Earl Eodmar of whom he begot King Edward called the Martyr But whether King Edgar was ever lawfully married to her may also be doubted since Osbern in his Life of St. Dunstan says That this Saint baptized the Child begotten on Ethelfleda the King's Concubine with whom also agrees Nicholas Trevet in his Chronicle though I confess the Major
Pay and Victuals to his Army and that Winter Thurkil demanded the same for King Ethelred's Forces which lay at Grenawic i. e. Greenwich But both the Armies refrain'd not a jot the less from plundering where they pleased so that the Nation both as well in the North as in the South was no longer able bear it After this the King stayed some time with his Fleet which lay then in the Thames whilst the Queen retired beyond Sea to her Brother Earl Richard in Normandy and Elsige Abbot of Burgh went along with her the King also sent thither the Princes Eadward and Aelfred with Bishop Aelfune to be their Governor Then the King went with his Fleet about Christmass into Wihtland and there kept the Festival and afterwards passed over to Earl Richard and there stayed with him till Sweyn died There is in the Peterburgh Copy of these Annals this following Relation That whilst the Queen thus remained beyond Sea Elsige Abbot of Burgh who was then with her went to the Monastery called Boneval where the Body of Saint Florentine lay buried This place he found almost wholly deserted and the poor Abbot and Monks in a miserable condition having been robbed of all they had then he bought of the Abbot and Monks the whole Body except the Head for Five thousand Pounds and at his return into England dedicated it to Christ and St. Peter that is he placed it in the Church of Peterburgh of which he was then Abbot This was a vast Sum of Money in those days to be given for the Bones of one dead Carkass and not entire neither but such was the Superstition of that Age. This year King Sweyn ended his Life about Candlemas Then all the Danish Fleet and Army chose Cnute his Son to be their King But all the Wise or Chief Men of the English Nation as well of the Clergy as Laity sent to King Aethelred to let him know that there was no Prince dearer to them than their own Natural Lord provided he would govern them better than he had hitherto done Upon this the King sent Prince Edward his Son and several others Attendants into this Kingdom with Orders to recommend him to the whole Nation in his Name promising them to be a faithful and kind Lord to them and that he would redress whatever Grievances they had suffer'd and would also pardon whatsoever had been done against him either by Words or Deeds provided they would all sincerely return to their Allegiance Then a full and firm Amity being concluded on both by Words and Deeds and Hostages being given on both sides they decreed the Danish King for ever banished England After which King Ethelred return'd about Lent into his own Countrey and was chearfully received by all men The Bodleian Copy of Florence here adds That Queen Elfgiva or Emma with the Two Young Princes her Sons remained still in Normandy until she was after the Death of her Husband sent for over by King Cnute and the Common-Council of the Kingdom and being married to him was solemnly crowned at Westminster in the presence of all the Bishops and Great Men of England After Sweyn was dead Cnute his Son staid with his Army at Gegnesburgh until Easter and there agreed with the people of Lindesige that they should provide his Army with Horses and then that all of them should march out together to plunder but King Ethelred came thither with a strong Army before they were ready to execute their Design and spoiled and burnt all places killing all the men they could meet with therefore King Cnute departed thence with his Fleet leaving the poor miserable people to shift for themselves and sail'd Southward till he came to Sandwic and there put the Hostages on shore which had been given to his Father having first cut off their Hands and Noses But for an addition to all these Calamities the King commanded Twenty one thousand Pounds to be paid to the Army that then lay at Grenawic Also this year on the Vigil of St. Michael happen'd a great Inundation of the Sea all along this Coast insomuch that it spread further than ever it had yet done so that it drowned many Towns and an innumerable company of men We have nothing further to add under this year more than to observe the various Relations of our Monkish Writers concerning the sudden death of King Sweyn which they will needs have to be a Judgment upon him for wasting the Lands belonging to the Monastery of Badricesworth and for giving opprobrious language against the Memory of St. Edmund who was then enshrin'd But because their Relation of this matter is very remarkable I shall give you both Florence of Worcester and Simeon of Durham their Account of it which is thus That King Sweyn lying then at Gainsborough there held a General Assembly of his Great Officers and when it grew toward evening being encircled with his Armed Men he cast out Threats that he would send and spoil that Monastery whereupon he presently thought he saw St. Edmund coming all Armed toward him which made him cry out vehemently Help help Fellow-soldiers look here King Edmund comes to kill me and as he uttered these words he received a Mortal Blow by the Saint's hands and so fell from his Horse and lying till the dusk of the evening in great torment he expired on the second of February and was carried to York and there buried So these Writers report from the Legend of St. Edmund Yet John of Tinmouth makes St. Edmund's Ghost to have stabbed him with his Dagger as he sate in his Chair But William of Malmesbury tells us That St. Edmund appeared to him in his sleep and smote him whilst he was in bed because he answered him rudely But they all agree that he died of the Blow which St. Edmund had given him But I do believe that there may be so much Truth in this story that King Sweyn being mortally wounded by some unknown hand who had the good fortune to make his escape gave occasion to the Monks of St. Edmundsbury to invent this Legend for the Honour of their Saint and also to deter others from daring to violate that place which was then accounted sacred But is seems King Ethelred was not much better'd by Affliction nor did he long observe his Promise of governing according to Law for the next year A Mycel Gemot or Great Council being now held at Oxnaford Earl Eadrâ—c there betray'd Sigeferth and Morcar two Danish Thanes of the Seafenburghs that is the Seven Towns but where they lay we know not and inviting them all into his Chamber they were there treacherously slain Then the King seized upon all their Goods and commanded the Widow of Sigeferth to be secured and carried to Meadelnesbyrig i. e. Malmesbury But some short time after Edmund Aetheling coming thither married this Woman against his Father's will For the Prince going as William of Malmesbury relates to see
year the same Archbishop translated the Reliques of St. Aelfeage his Predecessor from London to Canterbury The King himself as William of Malmesbury tells us removed them with his own hands paying them all due Veneration and further adds that his Body remain'd as uncorrupt as if he had been but lately kill'd Richard the Second Duke of Normandy died and Richard his Son ruled after him one year and then Rodbert his Brother succeeded him and ruled eight years This year King Cnute sail'd with his Fleet into Denmark to a Plain near the Holy River but where that was I know not and there came against him Wulf and Eglaf with a very powerful Army out of Sweden both by Land and Sea and many on King Cnute's side were there killed both Danes and English the Swedes keeping the field of Battel After which Cnute returning into England I find no mention made of any Action here in any Author for the two succeeding years But then King Cnute sail'd with fifty Ships of English Thanes into Norway and drove King Olaf out of that Countrey and conquer'd it for himself Bromton's Chronicle relates That this Olaf being a Soft and Easy Prince was already in a manner driven out by his own Subjects and so Cnute only went as it were to receive the Kingdom from the Nobility and People who submitted themselves presently to him ' King Cnute came back into England And as R. Hoveden adds upon his Return banished Hacun a Danish Earl that had married his Niece Gunhilda who was his Sister's Daughter sending him away under pretence of an Embassy for the King was afraid lest otherwise he might deprive him both of his Kingdom and Life