England and sojourned with the most Holy and Religious Monks in the City of Winchester Helmestan Abbot of the said Cathedral Church and the Venerable Swithune Praepositus i. e. Bishop of the same who had been before in Professione sacrae Theologiae in Studio Canterbriggiensi Cathedratus i. e. Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge had often relieved him during the many Hardships he suffered in his Banishment with special Favour he desired always should be acknowledged If we were assured that this Epistle was Genuine it would advance the Antiquity of this University far higher than the time we are now treating of and would make it Ancienter than the time of King Alfred in the latter end of whose Reign St. Swithune sate Bishop of Winchester But since we have not the Originals but only Citations from these ancient Pieces I shall not take upon me to determine of their Validity but leave that as also this Authors Credit to the Reader 's Judgment But to return to our Annals This Year Egbriht the innocent Abbot was slain on the 16th Kal. of July a little before the Summer Solstice and about three Days after Aethelfleda sent an Army against the Welsh which took Brecenanmere supposed to be either Brecknock Castle or else some place near it and there she took the King's Wife and about thirty four Prisoners The Danes marching now on Horseback after Easter from Hamtune i. e. Northampton and Lygraceaster now Leicester slew many Men at Hocneratune now Hoocnorton in Oxfordshire and the places adjoyning and as soon as they had returned home again they sent out another Company of Robbers which marched towards Ligtune most likely to be Leighton in Bedfordshire but the People of that Country being forewarned of their coming fought with them and not only put them to flight but also recovered whatsoever they had taken away so that they left a great many of their Horses and Arms behind them Now a great Fleet sailed from the Southern Parts of Armorica under the Command of two Earls Ohtor and Rhoald and sailing about toward the East entred the Mouth of the River Severne and there spoiled all the Coasts of North Wales toward the Sea as far as they could and they also took Cumeleac the Welsh Bishop in Yrcingafield now Archenfield in Herefordshire and carried him Prisoner to their Ships but King Edward within some time Ransomed him for Forty Pounds but after this the Danes quitting their Ships marched again towards Yrcingafeild where the Men of Hereford and Gleawcester and the neighbouring Towns fought them and put them to flight and there slew Rhoald and a Brother of Earl Ohtor's with a great part of their Army and drove them into a certain Wood where they besieged them till they made them give Hostages to depart out of King Edward's Kingdom But at last it seemed advisable for the King to place a good Guard from the South part of the Mouth of Severne and from the West of Wales toward the East as far as the River Avon that so the Danes might not Land any more on that side nevertheless leaving their Ships they stole away privately by Night in two Companies to plunder the one to Weced now Watchet in Somersetshire and the other to Portlocan now Portlochbay in the same County but they were routed in both places insomuch that few of them escaped alive unless it were those who swam off to their Ships Then they besieged an Island at Bradanrelic Florence calls it Reoric which is supposed to be a little Island now called Shepholm in the Mouth of Severne where they were in such great want of Victuals that many died with Hunger because they could get no Provisions there After this they went to Deomed supposed to be South Wales from whence they passed into Ireland All this happened in Autumn And the same Year a little before Martinmass King Edward marched with his Army to Buckingaham and there stayed a Month building two Forts on each side the River Ouse before he parted thence Thurkytel the Danish Earl owned him for his Lord as also all their chief Commanders and almost all their Noblemen who were at Bedanford now Bedford with many of them that belonged to Hamptune This Year also Ethelfleda Lady of the Mercians before Whitsontide took the Town of Deorby where within the Gates were killed four Thanes who were very dear to her Also we read in the Collections of that Learned Antiquary Mr. Lambert and by him given to the Cottonian Library that it is found in an Ancient Chronicle once belonging to the Monastry of Rochester and collected by one Edmund de Hadenham That this Year the Lady Elfleda by the Assistance of the King her Brother besieged the City of Canterbury and taking it slew a great many Danes that were therein King Edward marching with his Army to Bedanford about Martinmass had the Town surrendred to him and then all the Inhabitants who were his Subjects returned thither and there he stayed a Month and before he departed he commanded a Castle to be built there on the South-side of the River After this King Edward went to Maeldune now Maldon and rebuilt the Town and saw it fortified whilst he was there Also Earl Thurkytel passed over into France by K. Edward's Leave and Convoy with all those Danes that would follow him as likewise Aethelfleda brought under her Dominion the Town of Legracester now Leicester and a great many of the Danes belonging to that place became subject to her as also those who were at York nay some of them confirmed it both with an Oath and by giving of Hostages that they would continue so but as soon as this was done she departed this Life twelve days before Midsummer at Tammeworth it being the Eighth Year of her Government over the Mercians after her Husband's Death with great Moderation and Justice Her Body lies buried at Gleawcester in the East Isle of St. Peter's Church This Lady's Death is placed in our printed Annals under the Year 918 and that more rightly for the Cottonian Copy of these Annals is certainly mistaken in putting the Death of this Princess two Years later than this viz. 920. though they all agree in Substance viz. that she died at Tamworth about a Fortnight before Midsummer and that thereupon King Edward going thither the whole Nation of the Mercians submitted to him But whenever this Princess died she was certainly a Woman of great Virtue Prudence and Courage and truly resembled her worthy Father King Alfred as far as the Difference of Sex would permit But to return again to our Annals The same Year the Daughter and Heir of Ethered Lord of the Mercians called Aelfwinna whom her Mother had left her Heir was deprived by the King of that Dominion and she was about three weeks before Christmas brought into West-Seax John Bevour who calls himself Castoreus in his Manuscript History of the Kings
of their Ancestors do advance even these young Men to the Degree and Honour of being a chief Man FROM hence we may observe that all Nobility among the antient Germans was at first Military as being derived from the Noble and Valiant Acts of their Ancestors in War and thence proceed all the present Ensigns of it videlicet the Shield on which our Coats of Arms are now depicted as also the Helmet and Crest that stand for an Ornament over them for until some Brave and Worthy Act was performed it was not lawful among the Germans for a young Warriour to paint any Device upon his Shield which was only Personal to himself and extended not to his Posterity THE fifth is That Dotem non Vxor Marito sed Vxori Maritus offert viz. THE Husband settles a Dower upon the Wife and not vice versâ the Wife upon the Husband Which shews the Antiquity of Doweâ— among the Germans and English-Saxons and as Mr. Selden upon this Law observes it was called antiently MORGANGHEB among them THE sixth shews that Accisis Crinibus nudatam adulteram coram propinquis expellit domo Maritus ac per omnem vicum verbere agit viz. FOR Adultery the Husband turned the Wife out of his House in the presence of her Relations having first cut off her Hair and being then strip'd whip'd her through the Town BUT the Severity of this Punishment if ever it was in use here was quite abolished by the English-Saxons as you will find from the Laws about it THE seventh is that Haeredes successoresque sui cuique Liberi nullum Testamentum viz. EVERY Man's Heirs and Successors are his Children and no Testament is allowed BUT in this the English-Saxon Law differed much from those of the Germans for it was lawful in England for Men of Quality to dispose of their Land by Will if they pleased provided it were Bocland that is Free-Tenure grantable by Deed as you may find by some Laws in the ensuing Volume otherwise in Lands held in Socage every Man's Sons inherited all alike But this law was changed after the Conquest and no Will could be made of Lands held by Military Service but they descended entirely to the eldest Son which Law continued so low as the Reign of King Henry the 8 th when the Statute was first made which gives the Tenant by Knights Service Power to bequeath his Estate by Will provided there were enough left to perform the Service THE eighth says that Suscipere Inimicitias seu patris seu propinqui quà m amicitias necesse est viz. IT is absolutely necessary to continue the Enmities of a Father or near Kinsman as well as Friendships FROM whence as Mr. Selden well observes arose those Family-Quarrels called in the North of England DEADLY FEUDS which you will also find mentioned in the ensuing Collection of Saxon Laws and which are continued in Scotland even to this Day BUT to proceed with Tacitus he says Nec implacabiles durant Luitur enim etiam homicidium certo Armentorum as Pecorum numero recipÃtque satisfactionem universa Domus viz. THAT they do not remain implacable for the Homicide is recompensed with a certain Number of great and small Cattel and the whole Family thereupon receives Satisfaction THIS Custom continued long not only among the Germans but also English-Saxons The Price of Blood being to be redeemed at a certain Rate according to each Man's Condition which you will hereafter often find in the said Laws to be mentioned under the Title of WIREGILD and in the Laws of King Aethelstan you will meet with the particular Prices of each Man's Head from the Clown even to the King himself the Estimation of whose Life is likewise there set down thô at a much higher Rate as it ought to be than that of other Mens But of this we shall speak more anon THE ninth Law bears that Frumenti modum Dominus aut pecoris aut vestis Colono injungit viz. THE Lord of the Soil prescribes to the Husbandman what quantity of Corn Cattel or Clothes he shall pay him FROM whence we may take notice of the Antiquity of Rent reserved upon Farms which was chiefly in Provision and not in Money as it continued for a long Time after the Conquest here in England and remains so in Scotland even to this Day HAVING thus done with the Laws we shall next descend to the People who practised them The antient Saxons as Adam of Bremen from Einhardus relates were like the Germans divided into these four sorts viz. Noblemen Freemen Slaves that were Manumized and lastly those that continued Slaves But Nithardus speaking of his Time makes them but of three sorts scilicet Ethelings Frilingues and Lazzi that is Noblemen Freemen and Slaves and it was established as a Law among them that none of these should transgress the Bounds of their own Condition by matching with those who were either a Degree above or below them THIS Custom was also long observed in England after the Conquest and gave Original to those Statutes of Mag. Char. and Merton by which the Lord was to lose the Benefit of his Wardship in case he married the Ward to his Disparagement that is To the Daughter of a Villain or a Tradesman in case that the Kindred complained of it BUT before we come to treat of the several Degrees of People abovementioned it is fit we should say something of the Head of the Saxon Common-Weal viz. their King who though he was chosen in all the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy out of the Blood-Royal of Woden their first Leader of this Gothick Colony into Europe as appears by their Pedigree at the end of the Book yet were they at first no better than Generals in War and in time of Peace they had little or no Power as we may see in Bede FOR he speaking of the Province of the Hither i. e. East Frizeland from whence he supposes our Saxon Ancestors to have come and to which the two Hewalds the White and the Black went to preach the Gospel and were there martyr'd for their Pains he hath this remarkable Passage Non enim habent Regem iidem antiqui Saxones sed Satrapas plurimos suae Genti praepositos qui ingruente Belli Articulo mittunt aequalitèr sortes quemcunque sors ostenderit hunc tempore Belli Ducem omnes sequuntur huic obtemperant peracto autèm Bello rursum aequalis potentiae omnes fiunt Satrapae i. e. For the Antient Saxons says he have no King but several Noblemen of their own Nation set over them who on the breaking out of any War cast Lots and on whomsoever the Lot happened to fall all the People during that War follow and obey him as their General but when the War was over and at an end all these Lords again became of equal Power AND it is likewise very observable that neither Bede nor any other German Author who relates the Story of
succeeded him in the Kingdom of Bernicia Aella still reigning in Deira This Theodoric and his Sons according to the Ancient Author of the English-Saxon Genealogies at the end of Nennius lately put forth by Dr. Gale fought with Vrbgen or Vrien King of Cumberland and his Sons with various Success who besieged Theodoric in the Isle of Medcant now Turne Island until by the means of Morgant a Prince of the same Countrey who envied his Valour Vrien was in that Expedition murthered by his own men But the Succession of these Kings of Northumberland is very obscure and uncertain For the Author of the abovecited Genealogies makes one Freodguald to have succeeded this Theodoric or Deoric as he calls him but whether he was the same with Freothwulf mentioned by Florence is hard to determine and after this Freodguald who reigned seven years one Hussa is said to have succeeded who reigned seven years likewise but whether in Deira or Bernicia he does not say in which he is also followed by Rog. Hoveden in his Prologue to his History but the Succession of these Kings having no certain Time assigned them I can only set them down as I find them Here is a large Gap left in the Saxon Annals where nothing occurs further of English Affairs for seven years To supply which we must have recourse to the British Affairs in those Countries we now call Wales Where to shew you the Uncertainty of the British Chronology According to Matthew of Westminster Malgo or Magoclunus whom the Welsh Annals call Mael Guineth was elected King of all the Britains of Wales having been long before King of North-Wales as the word Gwineth in the Welsh Tongue signifies And Humphrey Lloyd in his Fragment of the Description of Wales from an Ancient Book of British Laws thus gives us the manner of his Election After the Saxons had obtained the Kingdom and Crown of London upon the Expulsion of the Britains all the People of Wales met at the mouth of the River Dee to Elect a King and thither came the men of Gwineth or North-Wales the men of Powis-land the men of Dehaubarth Glamorgan and divers other Countries who all elected Mael Gwineth King Whom Geoffry of Monmouth fables to have been King not only of all this Island but also to have conquered Ireland Iceland Gothland Norway Denmark and the Orcades a story so ridiculous that the very telling it is a sufficient Confutation And all this he collects from those words of Gildas wherein he calls him the Island-Dragon and a driver out of many Tyrants and because to express his great wickedness he says He was drunk with the Wine of Sodom Geoffry will needs conclude him to have been guilty of Sodomy This Prince is supposed to have reigned as Supreme King of Wales about six years Ceawlin King of the West-Saxons and Cutha fought against the Britains at a place called Frethanleag now Frethern in Gloucestershire where Cutha was slain yet Ceawlin now took many Towns with great Treasures and other Spoil and so returned home As H. Huntington relates the Britains had at first the better but Ceawlin having sent for fresh Recruits overcame the Conquerors William of Malmesbury mentions a Son of Ceawlin's of the same Name to have been killed before his face but either the Copy he had of these Annals differed from those we have left us or else he was no other than this Cutha here mentioned who was his Brother About this time began the Kingdom of the Mercians according to H. Huntington and Matth. of Westminster whose first King was Crida or Creoda this though the last erected yet was one of the largest of the English Saxon Kingdoms and was also one of the last that was conquered by the West-Saxons This Year also according to the Welsh Annals happened a great Slaughter of the Britains of the North for now Gurgi and Fredur two British Princes being Brothers and Twins the Sons of Oliver Gosgard Vawr i. e. Oliver with the great Train a Prince of Cumberland fought with Aedda or Adda the Saxon King of Northumberland at a place called Caergrew where both the Brothers were slain many of their men treacherously deserting them the Night before the Battel ' This year Aella King of Deira died after 30 years Reign and Athelric succeeded him and reigned 5 years over all Northumberland having as Will. of Malmesbury relates obtained the Kingdom in his Old Age his Youth being spent in a very narrow Fortune yet having according to Florence of Worcester's Account reigned two years over Bernicia in Aella's time And this year also according to Matth. of Westminster this Athelric for so I suppose it should be and not Ethelfrid who had not yet begun to reign married Acca Daughter to Aella King of Deira and on her got seven Sons whose Names he there gives us Also this year in the Welsh Annals as well as those of Vlster Constantine is mention'd to be converted to the Lord whom Archbishop Vsher understands to have been that wicked Constantine King of Devonshire and Cornwall whom Gildas has before inveighed against and who at this time being now bereft of his Wife and Children was also weary of his Kingdom and therefore went privately into Ireland and there building a Monastery took upon him the Habit of a Monk as John of Tinmouth in his Life of St. David relates And this Constantine Hector Boethius in his Scotish History will have to have been sent over by a certain Irish Bishop to preach the Gospel to the Scots and being by them martyr'd to have been some Ages after canonized for a Saint But this sounds like a Legend since the Scots had been long before converted by St. Patrick to the Christian Faith This year there was a great and bloody Battel fought at Wodensbeorge now called Wodensburg a little Village in Wiltshire between the Britains and the Saxons though it is not here said who were the Generals on either side only H. Huntington tells us that the Britains having drawn up their Army after the Roman manner and the Saxons charging them boldly but confusedly there followed a sharp Battel in which GOD gave the Victory to the Britains for the Saxons being wont to have the better in all their Wars being now grown more careless were vanquished and the whole Army almost destroyed which as W. of Malmesbury relates happened through the English joining with the Britains against him though of what Countrey the English were he does not tell us so that Ceawlin being driven out of his Kingdom and Ceolric Son to his Brother Cuthwalf obtaining it reigned five years Ceawlin being thus expell'd after 31 years Reign was forced to take Refuge in some other Kingdom but whether in this Island or else beyond Sea our Histories are silent He had been a little before the greatest and most powerful of all the English-Saxon Kings his Atchievements being a Wonder to the English and
growing Greatness of King Edwin sent privily one Eomer an hired Cut-Throat to assassinate him He under pretence of delivering a Message from his Master with a poyson'd Weapon stabs at Edwin whil'st he was discoursing with him in his House by the River Derwent in Yorkshire on an Easter-day which Lilla one of the King 's Attendants at the lucky instant perceiving having no other Means to defend him interposed his own Body to receive the Blow thrô which notwithstanding it reached the King's Person with a dangerous Wound the Murtherer being now encompassed with many Swords and made more desperate by his own Danger slew another of the King's Servants in the same manner That Night the Queen brought forth a Daughter who was called Eanfled and when the King in the presence of Paulinus gave Thanks to his Gods for the Birth of his Daughter the Bishop on the contrary gave Thanks to our Lord Christ that the Queen was safely delivered by his Prayers At which the King being well pleased promised the Bishop to renounce his Idols and become the Servant of Christ if he would grant him Life and Victory against that King who had thus sent a Murtherer to kill him and as an earnest thereof he gave his new-born Daughter to be bred up in that Religion who with 12 other of his Family on the day of Pentecost was baptised and by that time being well recovered of his Wound to punish the Authors of so foul a Fact he march'd with an Army against the West Saxons whom having subdued and put some of those to Death who had conspired against him and received others to Mercy he return'd home victorious But I cannot omit here taking notice of a great Mistake in Mat. Westminster's Flores Historiarum who under this Year makes K. Cuichelme abovementioned to have been kill'd in this Battle though from what Authority I know not whereas it will appear by our Annals that he was alive and Christned near ten Years after But thô after this Victory K. Edwin forbore to worship Idols yet ventured he not presently to receive Baptism but first took care to be instructed aright by the Bishop Paulinus in the Principles of the Christian Faith still conferring with himself and others of his chief Men whom he thought most wise what was best to be done in so weighty an Affair and he himself being a Man of a piercing Understanding when he was alone often considered with himself which Religion was best to be followed About this time also he received Letters from the Pope wherein having briefly set forth the Doctrine of the Trinity as the Foundation of the Christian Faith and having extolled the Conversion of King Eadbald and Piety of the Queen his own Wife he exhorts him to imitate their Examples and casting away his Idols to receive Christ. The Pope writ also Letters at the same time to Queen Ethelâ—urga his Wife wherein he congratulated her Conversion and praised her Piety exhorting her to persist in the Course she had begun and to do her Endeavour to reclaim her Husband from his Infidelity But thô the King joyfully received these Letters yet did they not so much prevail with him as the wonderful fulfilling of the Prediction of the Vision above-mentioned for when the King still deferred the declaring himself a Christian Bishop Aidan as it is supposed had that Transaction revealed to him for one day coming in to the King on a sudden he laid his Hand upon his Head and desired him to remember that Sign whereupon the King being much surprised fell down at his Feet but the Bishop raising him up said thus GOD hath delivered you from your Enemies and given you the Kingdom as you desired perform now what so long since you promised him and receive his Doctrine which I now bring you and that Faith which will not only save your Soul from perpetual Torments but also make you a Partaker of Eternal Happiness Which when the King heard he confessed That he would nay ought to receive this Faith but said he I must first consult further with my chief Friends and Councellors concerning this Matter that if they should likewise receive it we might all be Converted and Baptized together Which Paulinus agreeing to and the King there holding a Council with his wise Men asked them severally What they thought of this new Doctrine and Worship which had been as yet unknown among them To whom Coifi chief of the Idol-Priests presently answered You may Sir consider what is now preached to you but to tell you freely my Opinion the Religion we profess is good for nothing for although no Man hath more studiously observed the Worship of our Gods than my self yet nevertheless there are many who have received greater Benefits and Dignities from you than I have done and have been more Happy and Prosperous in all their Undertakings whereas if these Gods had any Power they would rather have assisted me who took such care to serve them Wherefore if upon a good Examination you find that the New Doctrine now preached is far better than the Old let us then receive it without delay To which Opinion another of the great Men also yielding his Assent further said It seems Sir to me that the present Life of Man upon Earth in comparison of that Time which to us is unknown is like unto a little Sparrow which whilst you feasted in your Presence-Chamber flew in at one Window and out at another we saw it that short time it remained in the House and it was then well shelter'd from Wind and Weather but as soon as it got out into the cold Air whither it went we were altogether as ignorant as from whence it came Thus we can give some Account of our Souls during its abode in the Body whilst hoâ—sed and harboured therein but where it was before or how it fareth afterwardâ— is to us altogether unknown If therefore Paulinus his Preaching can certainly inform us herein it deserveth in my Opinion to be well received To which Discourses Coifi also further added That he desired to hear Paulinus himself preach concerning his God Which when he had performed as the King had commanded him Coifi cried out I have long since understood that what we worshipped was nothing for the more I sought to understand the Truth in that Religion the less still I found of it So that it is in this Doctrine alone that Truth clearly shines and which is able to confer upon us Eternal Happiness In short the King not only gave Paulinus his Consent to preach publickly but also renouncing his Idolatry received the Christian Faith But Coifi the Chief Priest did not only declare That the Temples and Altars of their false Gods should be pulled down and destroyed but when the King asked him who should undertake it he freely offered himself to do it and so desiring of him a Horse and Arms taking a Lance in his Hand he
Midsummer being joyfully received both by the Danes and English and as H. Huntington relates was by both of them elected King though afterwards the Great Men that did it paid dearly for it for not long after it was decreed That a Tax of Eight Marks should be again paid to the Rowers in Sixty two Sail of Ships The same year also a Sâ—ster i. e. a Horse-load of Wheat was sold for Fifty five Pence and more This year Eadsige the Archbishop went to Rome and also another Military Tax was paid of Twenty nine thousand twenty nine pounds And after this was paid Eleven thousand forty eight pounds for two and thirty Sail of Ships But whether these Taxes were raised by Authority of the Great Council of the Kingdom our Authors do not mention but I believe not for this Danegelt was now by constant usage become a Prerogative The same year came Eadward the Son of King Aethelred into this Kingdom from Wealand by which our Annals mean Normandy After which time Prince Edward returned no more thither but staid in England till his Brother died But the same year not long after his Coronation he sent Alfric Archbishop of York and Earl Godwin and divers Great Men of his Court to London attended by the Hangman and out of Hatred to his Brother Harold and Revenge of the Injuries done to his Mother as he pretended commanded his Body to be dug up and the Head to be cut off and flung into the Thames but some Fishermen afterwards pulling it up with their Nets buried it again in St. Clement's Church-yard being then the Burying-place of the Danes The same year also according to Bromton's Chronicle King Hardecnute sent over his Sister Gunhilda to the Emperor Henry to whom she had been in her Father's life-time betroth'd But before she went the King kept the Nuptial Feast with that Magnificence in Cloaths Equipage and Feasting that as Mat. Westminster relates it was remembred in his time and sung by Musicians at all great Entertainments But this Lady was received and treated by the Emperor her Husband with great kindness for some time till being accused of Adultery she could find it seems no beter a Champion to vindicate her Honour than a certain little Page she had brought out of England with her who undertaking her defence fought in a single Combat against a man of a vast Stature named Rodingar and by cutting his Hamstrings with his Sword and falling down he obtained the Victory and so cleared his Lady's Honour of which she yet received so little satisfaction that she forsook her Husband and retired into a Monastery where she ended her days About this time also as Simeon of Durham Bromton's Chronicle and other Authors inform us King Hardecnute was highly incensed against Living Bishop of Worcester and Earl Godwin for the death of his Half Brother Alfred Son to King Ethelred Alfric Archbishop of York accusing them both of having persuaded King Harold to use him so cruelly as you have already heard The Bishop and Earl being thus accused before King Hardecnute the former was deprived of his Bishoprick and the latter was also in very great danger But not long after the King being appeased with Money the Bishop was again restored and as for Earl Godwin he had also incurred some heavy Punishment had he not been so cunning as to buy his peace as these Authors relate by presenting the King with a Galley most magnificently equipp'd having a gilded Stern and furnished with all Conveniences both for War and Pleasure and mann'd with Eighty choice Soldiers every one of whom had upon each Arm a Golden Bracelet weighing sixteen Ounces with Helmet and Corslet all gilt as were also the Hilts of their Swords having a Danish Battel-Axe adorned with Silver and Gold hung on his Left Shoulder whilst in his Left Hand he held a Shield the Boss and Nails of which were also gilded and in his Right a Launce in the English-Saxon Tongue called a Tegar But all this would not serve his turn without an Oath That Prince Alfred had not his eyes put out by his Advice but he therein merely obeyed Harold's Commands being at that time his King and Master This year according to Simeon of Durham King Hardecnute sent his Huisceorles i. e. his Domestick Servants or Guards to exact the Tax which he had lately imposed But the Citizens of Worcester and the Worcestershire men rising slew two of them called Feadar and Turstan having fled into a Tower belonging to a Monastery of that City Thereupon Hardecnute being exceedingly provoked to hear of their deaths sent to revenge it Leofric Ealdorman of the Mercians Godwin of the West-Saxons Siward of the Northumbrians and others with great Forces and orders to kill all the men plunder and burn the City and waste the Countrey round about On the evening preceding the thirteenth of November they began to put his Commands in execution and continued both wasting and spoiling the City and Countrey for four days together but few of the Inhabitants themselves could be laid hold of the Countrey-men shifting for themselves every man as well as they could and the Citizens betaking themselves to a little Island in the Severne called Beverege which they fortified and vigorously stood upon their Defence till their Opposers being tired out and spent were forced to make Peace with them and so suffered them to return quietly home This was not done till the fifth day when the City being burnt the Army retreated loaded with the Plunder they had got Simeon next after this cruel Expedition places the coming over of Prince Edward but our Annals with greater probability put his Return under the year before This year also King Hardecnute deceased at Lambeth 6. Id. Junii He was King of England two years wanting seven days and was buried in the New Monastery of Winchester his Mother giving the Head of St. Valentine to pray for his Soul But since our Annals are very short in the Relation of his Death we must take it from other Authors who all agree That the King being invited to a Wedding at the place above-mentioned which with great Pomp and Luxury was solemnized betwixt Tovy sirnamed Prudan a Danish Nobleman and Githa the Daughter of Osgod Clappa a great Lord also of that Nation as he was very jolly and merry carousing it with the Bridegroom and some of the Company he fell down speechless and died in the Flower of his Age. He is to be commended for his Piety and Good Nature to his Mother and Brother Prince Edward But the great Faults laid to this Prince's charge are Cruelty Gluttony and Drunkenness For the first of these you have had a late Example and for the latter take what H. Huntington relates That Four Meals a day he allowed his Court and it must be then supposed he loved eating well himself though this Author attributes it to his Bounty and how he rather desired that
bloody slaughter on both sides l. 6. p. 31. University of Paris by whose means erected Alcuinus an Englishman reading there Logick Rhetorick and Astronomy l. 4. p. 244. Of Oxford and Cambridge Vid. their particular Heads Unust King of the Picts Vid. Eadbert King of Northumberland Vortigern is chosen King by the Britains l. 3. p. 116. By the Advice of his Council he sent for the Heathen Saxons to repel the Scots and Picts Id. p. 117. Falls passionately in Love with Rowena Hengest's daughter Id. p. 125. Marries her and is divorced from his former Wife Id. p. 126. The story of his taking his own Daughter to Wife and having a Son by her is all unlikely Id. p. 127 128. Is deposed and Vortimer his Son is chosen King by the British Nobles Id. p. 128. Is restored wages War with the Saxons but by the Treachery of Hengest is taken Prisoner and for his Ransom gives up East-Sex Middlesex and Sussex Id. p. 129. Uncertain what at last became of him but was again deposed and thought to be burnt in his Castle by his Successor Aurelius Ambrosius Id. p. 131. Vortimer obtainâ— a great Victory over the Saxons l. 3. p. 128. Drives them into Germany for all his lifâ—time Id. Ib. Dies supposed by Poyson of his Mother-in-Law Rowena's Procurement Id. p. 129. Vortipore King of that part of South-Wales called Demetia l. 3. p. 139. Urbgen or Urien King of Cumberland and his Sons fight with Theodoric and his Sons and where l. 3. p. 146. Urbicus Lollius drives back the Brigantes draws another Wall beyond that of Hadrian and keeps out the Incursions of the Northern Britains l. 2. p. 68. Urgeney Bishop of St. David's is slain by the Danes l. 6. p. 27. Urych Merwin King of the Britains slain at the Battel of Ketell l. 5. p. 260. Uscfrea a Son of King Edwin's l. 4. p. 176. Usurers not to continue in the Kingdom but if any were convicted to forfeit their Goods and be look'd on as outlaw'd l. 6. p. 102. Uther Pendragon look'd on by the British Antiquaries as a mere imaginary King l. 3. p. 133. Uthred his Bravery against the Scots and the Reward he met with for it from King Ethelred casts off his Wife but gives her back her Fortune and marries another one Sigâ— l. 6. p. 27. Submits with all his Northumbrian Kingdom to King Sweyn the Dane and the mischiefs he his Son and their Army did both there and where ever they went Id. p. 37 38. He with Edmund Etheling plunders all places where ever they come Id. p. 41. But at last submits to Cnute and though he gave Hostages was soon after slain and some say by Cnute's Orders Id. Ib. Utrecht in the Gallick Tongue Trajectum in the old Language Wiltaburg l. 4. p. 212. Vulgar or Common People the Care the English-Saxons had of the Persons and Chastity of their meanest Subjects l. 5. p. 293 294. W WAda a Rebel in chief in Northumberland that leads out the Conspirators to Battel against King Eardwulf at Billingahoth near Whalie in Lancashire l. 4. p. 241. Wakes or Parish Feasts their Antiquity in several parts of England l. 6. p. 99. Wales anciently called Cambria by some supposed to come from the King Ina's marrying Gualla the Daughter of Cadwallader King of the Britains but it is certainly a notorious Falshood l. 4. p. 220. Their Chief Lords of any Countrey there called Kings Id. p. 241. Kings of Cardigan Divet and Powis died in one year Id. p. 243. The several Princes of Wales were perpetually weakning each other with Civil Wars which the English observing at last reduced them all under their Dominion l. 5. p. 279 280. Great Commotions there between Jevaf and Jago and their Children after them sevâ—ral Countries being thereby spoiled l. 6. p. 16 20 21 22. Laws concerning the Inabitants of the Mountains of this Countrey Id. p. 44. A great Revolution happen'd there from the fickleness of the Nation Id. p. 64. The last Civil War or Rebellion there that happen'd in Edward the Confessor's Reign Id. p. 85. Is called Brytland and subdued by E. Harold and E. Tostige Id. p. 89. Wall That which Severus built from Sea to Sea 132 miles in length which procured him the stile of Britannicus l. 2. p. 76. Is repaired and fortified with Castles c. by Carausius Id. p. 84. Built cross the Island between the two Seas or Streights called then Glotta and Bodotria now the Friths of Edinburgh and Dunbritton with Turf instead of Stone Id. p. 99 100. A Description of the other Wall of Stone Id. p. 100. Wall-brook whence it had its name l. 2. p. 85. Waltham-Abbey the Foundation of it and the story of the Crucifix brought thither and the Miracles said to be effected by it l. 6. p. 89. King Harold is buried in the Abbey-Church there Id. p. 144. Wall-Town near the Picts-Wall anciently called Admurum l. 4. p. 184. Wanating now Wantige in Berkshire l. 5. p. 261. l. 6. p. 43. Warewell now Harwood Forest l. 6. p. 10. Warham in Dorfetshire formerly Werham a strong Castle of the West-Saxons is taken and destroyed by the Danes together with the Nunnery there l. 5. p. 278. Warwick anciently called Caer-Gaurvie supposed to be built by Gurgwint l. 1. p. 13. And Weringwic l. 5. p. 316. l. 6. p. 41. Watchet in Somersetshire anciently called Weced l. 5. p. 319. And Weedport destroyed by the Danes l. 6. p. 22 26. Wax-Tapers hated by King Ethelred because of his Mother 's unmercifully beating him with one and for what reason l. 6. p. 19. Wectij or Wiccij now Worcester l. 4. p. 160 197.230 The same Shire also anciently called Wiccon l. 4. p. 242. l. 5. p. 247. Vid. the City and County of Worcester Wedesbury in Staffordshire anciently supposed to be called Wearbyrig l. 5. p. 316. Weland River in Northamptonshire on the side of Rutland anciently called Weolade l. 5. p. 322. Welsh the Chronicle called Triades l. 3. p. 140. Manuscript of Britain the Credit of it arraign'd by a late Romish Writer l. 4. p. 162. Are forced to quit all the plain Countrey bâ—tween Severne and Wye and to retire to the Mountains l. 4. p. 231. Western-Welsh that is Cornish-men where a great Fleet of Danes landed l. 5. p. 257. The Welsh beaten by Igmond the Dane Id. p. 303. Are forbid to come into England or the English to enter Wales l. 6. p. 44. Raise some Insurrections in Harold's time and upon what account Id. p. 65. A Law that no Welshman should pass over Offa's Ditch on pain of death Id. Ib. And on the Penalty of losing his Right Hand Id. p. 115. Vid. Britains Build a Castle in Herefordshire upon the Lands of Earl Sweyn and what ensued thereupon Id. p. 77. Wenbury in Devonshire by the Saxons called Wicganbeorch a place where Earl Ceorle with his Forces fights the Pagan Danes and gets the Victory l. 5. p. 261. Werfriht Bishop of Worcester one