City from whence was first brought to us the joyful Tidings of the Gospel But they detain'd the Archbishop Prisoner near Seven Months till such time as they martyr'd him Osbern in his Life of St. Elfeage relates That this Archbishop sent to the Danes when they came before the Town desiring them to spare so many innocent Christians lives but they despising his request fell to battering the Walls and so throwing Firebrands into the City set it on fire so that whilst the Citizens ran to save their Houses Aelmeric the Archdeacon let the Danes into the City Florence here adds That the Monks and Laity were decimated after a strange manner so that out of every Ten Persons only the Tenth was to be kept alive and that only Four Monks and about Eight hundred Laymen remain'd after this Decimation And that not long after above Two thousand Danes perished by divers inward Torments and the rest were admonish'd to make satisfaction to the Bishop but yet they obstinately refused it Florence of Worcester and R. Hoveden also relate That the Danes destroyed many of the Prisoners they had taken with cruel Torments and various Deaths This year Eadric the Ealdorman sirnamed Streon and all the Wise and Chief Men both Clerks and Laicks of the English Nation came to London before Easter which fell out then the day before the Ides of April and there stayed until such time as the above-mentioned Tribute could be paid which was not done till after Easter and was then Eight thousand Pounds In the mean time being about Six Months after upon a Saturday the Danish Army being highly incensed against Archbishop Aelfeage because he would neither promise them Money himself nor yet would suffer any body else to give them any thing for his Ransom for which as Osbern in his Life relates they demanded no less than Three thousand Pounds in Silver a vast Sum in those days which being denied them and many of them being got drunk they laid hold on the Archbishop and led him to their Council on the Saturday after Easter and there knocked him on the head as the Annals relate with Stones and Cows Horns till at last one of them striking him with an Axe on the Head he fell down dead with the Blow Florence says that this was done by one Thrum a Dane whom he had the day before confirmed being thereunto moved by an Impious Piety But John of Tinmouth in his Manuscript History of Saints called Historia Aurea now in the Library at Lambeth relates that when Archbishop Elfeage was thus killed the Danes threw his Body into the River which was soon taken out again by those whom he had converted But our Annals here farther That the Bishops Eadnoth and Aelfhune the former of Lincoln and the latter of London took away his sacred Body early the next morning and buried it in St. Paul's Minster where God now shews the power of this Holy Martyr But as soon as the Tribute was paid and the Peace confirmed by Oath the Danish Army was loosely dispersed abroad being before closely compacted together then Five and forty of their Ships submitted to the King and promised him to defend the Kingdom provided he would allow them Victuals and Apparel The year after Archbishop Aelfeage was thus martyr'd the King made one Lifing Archbishop of Canterbury Also the same year before the Month of August King Sweyn came with his Fleet to Sandwich and soon after sailing about East-England arrived in the Mouth of Humber and from thence up the River Trent till they came to Gegnesburgh now Gainsborough in Lincolnshire Which mischief according to William of Malmesbury proceeded from Turkil a Dane who was the great Inciter of the Death of the Archbishop and who had then the East-English subjected to his will This man sent Messengers into his own Countrey to King Sweyn letting him know that he should come again into England for the King was given so much to Wine and Women that he minded nothing else wherefore he was hated by his Subjects and contemned by Strangers that his Commanders were Cowards the Natives weak and who would run away at the first sound of his Trumpets Though this seems not very probable for Earl Turkil was then of King Ethelred's side as you will see by and by King Sweyn being prone enough to slaughter needed no great Intreaties to bring him over he had been here eight years before and why he stayed away so long I wish our Authors would have told us But William of Malmesbury further adds That one chief end of his coming over was to revenge the death of his Sister Gunhildis who being a Beautiful Young Lady had come over into England with Palling her Husband a powerful Danish Earl and receiving the Christian Religion became her self a Hostage of the Peace that had been formerly concluded But tho the unhappy Fury of Edric had commanded her to be beheaded together with some other of her Countreymen yet she bore her Death with an undaunted Spirit having seen her Husband and a Son a Youth of great and promising hopes slain before her face But to come again to our Annals So soon as King Sweyn arrived in the North Earl Vhtred and all the Countrey of the Northumbers with all the people in Lindesige and the people of the five Burghs or Towns but what these were we now know not lying on the other side Waetlingastreet submitted themselves to him There were also Hostages given him out of every Shire but when he found that all the people were now become subject to him he commanded them to provide his Forces both with Horses and Provisions whilst he in the mean time marched toward the South with great expedition committing the Ships and Hostages to Knute his Son And after he had passed Waetlingastreet they did as much mischief as any Army could do Then they turn'd to Oxnaford whose Citizens presently submitted themselves to him from thence he went to Wincester where the Inhabitants did the same and from thence they marched Eastward towards London near which many of his men were drown'd in the Thames because they would not stay to find a Bridge but when they came thither the Citizens would not submit but sallying out had a sharp Engagement with them because King Ethelred was there and Earl Turkil with him Wherefore King Sweyn departed thence to Wealingaford and then over Thames Westward to Bathe and there sate down with his whole Army whither came to him Aethelmar the Ealdorman of Devonshire with all the Western Thanes who all submitted themselves to him and gave him Hostages When he had subdued all these places he marched Northwards to his Ships and then almost the whole Nation received and acknowledged him for their real King And after this the Citizens of London became subject to him and gave him Hostages because otherwise they fear'd they should be utterly destroy'd for Sweyn demanded that they should give full
Batavi Herculi Jovii and Victores he marched toward London that ancient City which was afterwards called Augusta and dividing his Forces into several Parties fell upon these Rovers whilst they marched scattered up and down laden with Booty so that easily routing them the Plunder and Captives he quickly recovered and having restored all to their respective owners except some small Portion bestowed on the weary Soldiers he returned to the said City in a triumphant manner and thô before it laboured under many Difficulties he hereby restored it to its former Splendour being emboldened with this Success to undertake greater Matters entring into a ferious consideration what was further to be done he found by what he got out of the Prisoners and Fugitives that the Enemy consisting of divers Nations was too fierce and numerous to be mastered by downright Force but rather by Stratagems and sudden Attacks He first therefore by Promises of Pardon brought most of his own Deserters and Stragglers to return to their Colours but being himself taken up with divers Cares he sent for Civilis to govern Britain as Vice-Praefect a Man of a sharp Wit and a strict observer of Justice with Dulcitius a Commander very famous for his Military Skill Of which Expedition the same Author gives us this short general Account in another place That Theodosius having by his Industry got together an Army of well-disciplined Souldiers marching from London he extreamly relieved the Calamities of the Britains seizing upon all Places from which he might infest the Enemy and commanding his common Souldiers nothing which he did not first undertake himself by which means he performed both the Duties of a valiant Souldier and a famous Commander divers Nations being put to flight who had before been encouraged by Impunity to assault the Roman Territories and repaired the Cities and Castles which had before suffered very much so that a firm Peace was hereby established for a long time But the Year following whil'st Theodosius was thus employ'd there happen'd a horrid Conspiracy which had like to have proved of dangerous Consequence had it not been stifled in its very Birth For one Valentinus of Pannonia a Man of an insolent and unquiet Spirit being for some great Crime banish'd into Britain this wretch impatient of rest contrived a Plot against Theodosius who was the only Obstacle to his wicked designs so that considering by what means he might bring them to pass his Ambitious desires still encreasing he excited some Souldiers and Outlaw'd persons by promising them both Pardon and Preferment And now the time drawing near for effecting his Treason the General being informed thereof and being now become more bold to take Revenge on the Conspirators seized them and delivered them all to Dulcius the Prefect to be put to Death but judging of things future by that long Military Experience in which he excelled all others of his time he forbid any further enquiry into the rest of the Plotters lest many being thereby made afraid those troubles which had been already compos'd should be again revived Then falling to the reforming more necessary things now the danger was over and that it was evident good fortune attended all his undertakings he restored the Cities and Garisons as we have already said fortifying the Borders with constant Watches and Guards which though now recovered had been formerly given up to the Enemy so that the Northern Province being restored to its former condition appointing a new Governour over it he order'd that it should for the future be called Valentia in Honour of Valentinian the Emperour He also removed the Areans from their Stations a sort of Men Instituted in former times to good purpose thô who these Men were we know not but there seems here to be somewhat wanting in the Copy but our Author tells us That he had said somewhat more of them in the Acts of Constans which Book is lost but these sort of Men now fallen into Vices were openly convicted that being allur'd by Promises and Rewards they were often wont to betray to the Barbarians whatsoever was done among the Romans though it ought to have been their business by running to and fro to give notice to the Roman Generals of the Motions of the neighbouring Nations So that all these actions being so well executed when Theodosius was recalled he left this Province in Peace and being attended with the general applause of all Men to the Sea-side he passed over to wait upon the Emperour who received him with great commendations Nor can I here omit inserting that noble Eulogy which Claudian the Poet hath given this renowned General Theodosius in his Panegyrick to his Grandson Honorius in these Verses Facta tui numerabit Avi quem littus adusti Horrescit Lybiae ratibusque impervia Thule Ille leves Mauros nec falso nomine Pictos Edomuit Scotumque vago mucrone secutus Fregit Hyperboreas remis audacibus undas He shall relate thy Gransier's Acts whose name Burnt Libya dreads and Thule known by Fame Who the light Moores and Painted Picts did tame And with his Sword the roving Scots pursued Whil'st with bold Oars He Northern Seas subdued By which last Verses he seems to intimate that as he tamed the Picts by Land so he pursued the Scots by Sea but what are meant by those Hyperborianae Waters whether the Irish Ocean or the Friths of Dunbritton called in the Old Scotish Laws Mare Scoticum I shall not take upon me to determine But those Antiquaries who would have the Scots to be planted in Ireland in the time of Claudian do urge these Verses of the same Poâ—t in the next Panegyrick to that Emperour when speaking in praise also of his said Grandfather he thus proceeds maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades in caluit Pictorum Sanguine Thule Scotorum tumulos flevit glacialis Ierne The Orcades were moistened with a Flood Of Saxon Gore and Thule by the Blood Of Picts was warmed nor did Ierne fail Whole heaps of Scots then slaughter'd to bewail And about these times the Picts and Scots raising fresh disturbances the Emp. Valentinian sent Framarius King of the Almans whose Country had been totally destroyed by a late incursion into Britain though with no higher a command than that of a Tribune over a Regiment of his own Country Men then highly in request for their Valour and Fidelity but what he did here Ammianus ceases to tell us So that being for the future bereft of the help of good Historians we must be forced to take up with such scraps as we can pick up here and there out of Zosimus Orosius and with other Epitomators of better Authors now lost The Emperour now Valentinian dying his Sons Flavius Gratianus and Fl. Valentinianus succeeded him in the Western Empire in the Fifth Year of whose Reign the Emperour Gratian created Theodosius Son to the former his Partner in the Empire assigning him the East for his
his Province and as Bede tells us surveyed all Things and ordained Bishops in fit Places and those Things which he found less perfect than they should be he by their Assistance corrected among which when he found fault with Bishop Ceadda as not having been rightly Consecrated he humbly and modestly replied If you believe that I have not rightly undertook the Episcopal Charge I willingly quit it since as I never thought my self worthy so I never consented to accept it but in obedience to the Commands of my Superiours But the Arch-Bishop seeing his Humility answered That he would not have him lay aside his Episcopacy and so he again renewed his Ordination according to the Catholick Rites From whence it appears that this Arch-Bishop then thought the Ordination of the English and Scotish Bishops who differed from the Church of Rome as to the time of keeping Easter to be Uncanonical and for this reason Bede here also tells us That Bishop Wilfrid was sent into France to be Ordained But as for this Bishop Ceadda Florence of Worcester informs us That he was now also deprived of his Bishoprick and Wilfrid restored to it as having been unduly Elected thereunto which thô Bede doth not tell us in express Words yet he confirms it in the very next Chapter where he tells us That Jaruman Bishop of the Mercians being now dead King Wulfher did not ask Arch-Bishop Theodorus to Ordain a new One but only desired of King Oswi that Bishop Ceadda the Brother of Cedda should be sent to him to take that Charge who lived privately at his Monastery of Lestinghen where he was then Abbot Wilfrid then not only Governing the Diocess of York and all the Northumbers but also Picts as far as King Oswi's Dominions extended But to return again to the Saxon Annals This Year King Ecgbert gave to Basse the Priest Reculf where he built a Monastery This was afterwards called Reculver in Kent Oswi King of Northumberland died xv Kal. Martij and was buried at Streanshale Monastery and Ecverth or Egfrid his Son reigned after him also Lothaire Nephew of Bishop Agelbert took upon him the Episcopal Charge over the West Saxons and held it 7 Years Arch-Bishop Theodorus Consecrated him He whom these Annals call Lothair was the same with Leutherius Bishop of Winchester Bede tells us further of King Oswi That being worn out with a long Infirmity he was so much in love with the Roman Rites that if he had recovered of the Sickness of which he died he had resolved to go to Rome and end his Days at the Holy Places having engaged Bishop Wilfrid to be the Guide and Companion of his Journey promising him no small Rewards for his Pains ' This Year was a great slaughter of Birds H. Huntington renders it a great Fight of Birds which seems to have been some remarkable Combat of Crows or Jackdaws in the Air of which we have several wonderful Relations in our Histories Mat. Westminster relates that the strange Birds seemed to flie before those of this Country but that many Thousands were killed This next Year Cenwalch King of the West Saxons died and Sexburga his Wife held the Kingdom after him for one Year Of whom William of Malmesbury gives this Account That this King dying left the Kingdom to Sexburga his Wife nor did she want Spirit or Courage to discharge all the Functions of a King for she straitways began to raise new Forces as also to keep the Old to their Duty to govern her Subjects with moderation and to keep her Enemies in awe and in short to do such great Things that there was no Difference but the Sex between Her and a King But as she aimed at more than Feminine Undertakings so she left this Life when she had scarce Reigned a Year about But Mat. Westminster says she was expelled the Kingdom by the Nobles who despised Female Government But what Authority he had for this I know not for I do not find it in any other Author whereas if what William of Malmesbury says of her be true it was not likely they should Rebel against so good a Governess who seems to have been the perfect Pattern of an Excellent Queen After the Death of King Cenwalch and as I suppose Queen Sexburga likewise Bede relates That the Great Men or Petty Princes of that Kingdom divided it among them and so held it for 10 Years in which time Eleutherius Bishop of the West Saxons i. e. of Winchester dying Heddi was Consecrated by Arch-Bishop Theodorus in his stead in whose time those Petty Princes being all subdued Ceadwalla took the Kingdom but this does not agree with the Saxon Annals About this time thô Bede does not set down the Year King Egfrid of Northumberland waging War with Wulfher King of Mercia won from him all the Country of Lindsey About this time also died Ceadda Bishop of Litchfield according to Ran. Higden's Polychron but Bede does not tell us the time of his Death thô he mentions it and there gives a large Account of the great Humility and Piety of that good Bishop and of the Pious End he made He is called by us at this day St. Chad. This Year Egber◠King of Kent deceased according to Bede's Epitome who as says Math. Westminster gave part of the Isle of Thanet to build a Monastery to explate the Murder of his Cousins whom he had caused to be slain as you have already heard The same Year was a Synod of all the Bishops and great Men of England held at Heartford now Hartford which Synod as Bede tells us was called by Arch-Bishop Theodorus where Wilfred Bishop of York with all the rest of the Bishops of England were either in Person or by their Deputies as Florence relates and in which divers Decrees were made for the Reformation of the Church the first and chiefest of which was That Easter should be kept on the first Lord's Day after the Fourteenth Moon of the First Month i. e. 〈◊〉 which thô it had been before appointed by the Synod at Streanshale above-mentioned yet that being not looked upon as a General Council of the whole Kingdom it was now again renewed the rest of them concerning the Jurisdictions of the Bishops and the Priviledges and Exemptions of Monasteries I pass over and refer you to Sir H. Spelman's First Volume of Councils for farther satisfaction But I cannot omit that it was here first Ordained That thô Synods ought to be held twice a Year yet since divers Causes might hinder it therefore it seem'd good to the whole Council that a Synod should be assembled once a Year at a place called Cloveshoe This Year also the Saxon Annals relate That Etheldrethe late Wife to Egfrid King of Northumberland founded the Monastery of Ely in which she her self became the first Abbess She as Bede tells us had been twice married but would never let either
it is to this Year we are to refer the great Council which Bede tells us was held in the Kingdom of the West Saxons in which after the Death of Bishop Hedda the Bishoprick of that Province became divided into two one whereof was conferred on Daniel who held it at the time when Bede wrote his History and the other was bestowed upon Aldhelm above-mentioned then Abbot of Malmesbury who was now made Bishop of Shireburn and when he was only an Abbot did at the Command of a Synod of the whole Nation write an excellent Book against that Errour of the Britains in not keeping Easter at the due time whereby he converted many of those Britains which were then subject to the West Saxons to the Catholick Observation thereof Of whose other Works likewise Bede gives us there a Catalogue being a Person says he admirable in all Civil as well as Ecclesiastical and Divine Learning and as William of Malmesbury further informs us was the first of the English Saxons who wrote Latin Verses with a Roman Genius There is here in the Saxon Annals a Gap for the space of 3 Years in which I think we may according to H. Huntington's Account place what Bede relates in the Chapter and Book last cited viz. That Daniel and Aldhelm yet holding their Sees it was ordained by a Synodal Decree That the Province of the South Saxons which had hitherto belonged to the Diocess of Winchester should now be an Episcopal See and have a Bishop of its own and so Ceadbert who was then Abbot of the Monastery of Selsey was consecrated first Bishop of that Place who dying Ceolla succeeded in that Bishoprick but he likewise dying some Years before Bede wrote his History that Bishoprick then ceased This Year the Saxon Annals began with the Death of Bishop Aldhelm whom it calls Bishop of Westwude for so Shireburne was then called after whom one Forther took the Bishoprick and this year Ceolred succeeded in the Kingdom of the Mercians for now Kenred King of the West Saxons went to Rome and Offa with him and Kenred remained there to his Live's end and the same year Bishop Wilferth or Wilfred deceased at Undale his Body was brought to Rypon in Yorkshire This is the Bishop whom King Egferth long since forced to go to Rome There being divers Things put very close together under this Year they will need some Explanation This Offa here mentioned was as Bede and William of Malmesbury relate the Son of Sigher King of the East Saxons who being a young Man of a sweet Behaviour as well as handsom Face in the Flower of his Youth and highly beloved by his People and having not long before succeeded to the Kingdom after Sighard and Senfrid above-mentioned he courted Keneswith the Daughter of King Penda whom he desired to marry but it seems not long after their Marriage she over-perswaded him to embrace a Monastick Life so that he now went to Rome for that End And Bede tells us expresly that both these Kings left their Wives Relations and Countries for Christ's sake But to this Offa succeeded Selred the Son of Sigebert the Good in the Kingdom of the East Saxons H. Huntington proposes King Offa as a Pattern to all other Princes to follow and makes a long Exhortation to them to that purpose as if a King could not do GOD better Service nor more Good to Mankind by well-governing his People than by renouncing the World and hiding his Head in a Cell But such was the Fashion or rather Humour of that Age and the Affairs as well as Consciences of Princes being then altogether Govern'd by Monks it is no wonder if they extoll'd their own Profession as the only One wherein Salvation could certainly be obtained But since I have already given you from Bede and Stephen Heddi a large Account of Bishop Wilfred's Life and Actions above-mentioned I shall not need to add any more to it He was certainly a Man who had tried all the Vicissitudes of an adverse as well as a prosperous Fortune having been no less than three times deprived of his Bishoprick the first time unjustly but whether we may say the same of both the other seems doubtful for let his Friends say what they will it is evident he was at first deprived for opposing a very good Design viz. That of dividing the Northumbrian Kingdom into more Diocesses and he having the rich Monastery of Hagulstad under his Charge would not permit it to be made a Bishoprick thô the Diocess was more than he could well manage and this seems to have been the true Original of that great Quarrel between him and the two Kings Egfrâ—d and Alfred as you have already heard so it should seem the Wrong pretended to have been done him was none at all or else such holy Men as St. Cuthbert St. John of Beverlie and Eatta are described to be would never have accepted of the Bishopricks of York and Hagulstad during the time of his Deprivation and it is very strange that two Arch-Bishops successively with the greater part of the Bishops of England should have agreed to his Deprivation if there had not been great Cause for it nor would so holy and knowing a Woman as the Abbess Hilda have been so much against him had not there been some substantial Reason to justifie it but he had the Pope on his side who always encouraged Appeals to Rome and then it was no wonder if he prevailed but he was certainly a Prelate of a high Spirit and great Parts and who building a great many Monasteries by the Benevolence of the Kings and Princes of that Time and himself thô a Bishop being Abbot of two of them at once it was no wonder if he grew very rich which together with his high way of Living being the first Bishop of that Age who used Silver Vessels it procured him the Envy of those Princes but he was a grand Patron of the Monks and therefore it is not to be wondred at if they cried him up for a Saint of whom the Writer of his Life which he Dedicates to Acca his Successour relates too many Miracles to be believed raising the Dead cuting the Lame being very ordinary Feats but the Monks being the only Writers of that Age we must be contented with what Accounts they will give us thô thus much must be acknowledged in his Commendation That he converted great Multitudes to the Christian Faith and caused the Four Gospels to be written in Letters of Gold But having given you this Account of Bishop Wilfred's Life it is fit I say somewhat further of his Death concerning which the Author above-mentioned tells us That having lived 4 Years in Peace after his last Restitution he at last went to visit the Monasteries which he had founded in the South Parts of England where he was received by his Abbots whom he had put in with great Joy till coming to a Monastery which
this matter among themselves some were for giving Judgment for the King but others differed from them saying That Earl Godwin had never been obliged to the King by either Homage Service or Fealty and therefore could be no Traytor to him and besides that he had not kill'd the Prince with his own hands But others replied That no Earl Baron nor any other Subject of the King could by Law wage Battel against him in his Appeal but ought upon the whole matter to submit himself to the King's Mercy and offer him reasonable Amends Then Leofric Earl of Chester who was an upright and sincere man both with respect to God and the world spoke thus Earl Godwin who next to the King is indeed a Person of the best Quality in England cannot deny but that by his Counsel Alfred the King's Brother was killed and therefore my opinion is That both he himself and his Sons and Twelve of us Earls that are his Friends and Kinsmen should appear humbly before the King each of us carrying as much Gold and Silver as he can bold in his Arms and offering it to him most humbly supplicate for his Pardon and then the King should remit to the Earl all Rancor and Anger whatsoever against him and having received his Homage and Fealty peacebly restore him to all his Lands To this the Assembly agreed and those that were appointed loading themselves with Treasure after the manner aforesaid went unto the King shewing him the order and manner of their Judgment which he being unwilling to contradict complied with and so ratified whatever they had before decreed This tho written a long time after the Conquest as appears by the Words there used viz. Parliament Baron Homage and Fealty yet it might be true in the main as being transcribed out of some Ancient Records of the Great Councils of those times which are now lost and if so would be a Notable Precedent of the large Authority of the Witena Gemot or Great Council of the Nation not only in assenting to new Laws but also of their Judicial Authority in giving Judgment upon all Suits or Complaints brought before them as well in Appeals between Subject and Subject as also where the King himself was a Party and if Authentick would also shew not only that this Tenure of the King by Homage and Fealty was in use before the Conquest but also according to the Judgment of this Great Council that there was no Allegiance due by Birth nor until a man had actually performed his Homage or sworn Fealty to the King and lastly that a satisfaction made by Money was looked upon as sufficient for the Death even of the King 's own Brother Yet to deal ingenuously with the Reader notwithstanding this fair story Bromton himself seems to doubt the truth of it for after he hath there told us from some nameless Author that Earl Godwin out of fear of some of the English Nobility who had sworn to be revenged of him for the murther of Prince Alfred retired into Denmark during the Reign of King Hardecnute but returning in the beginning of King Edward's Reign he appeared at a Parliament at London where the King impeached him of the Death of his Brother in the manner as you have already heard and if so this could not fall out as Mr. Selden supposes in this Great Council after this last return of Earl Godwin which happen'd not in the beginning but the middle of this King's Reign With which Relation also agree two Ancient Chronicles in French written in the time of Edward the Third and are both in the Cottonian Library And Bromton himself acknowledges that according to most Authors Earl Godwin never went into Denmark at all nor left England during the Reign of King Hardecnute so that this Transaction if it ever happen'd at all seems most likely to have fell out in the Reign of King Hardecnute when that King charged Earl Godwin with his Brother's Death and made him redeem it with a great Present as we have above told you But to conclude this year From the Peterburgh Copy of these Annals it appears that about this time Arnwy Abbot of Burgh resigned his Dignity by reason of his bad Health and conferred it with the King's License and the Consent of the Monks upon Leofriâ— a Monk of that Abby But Abbot Arnwy lived eight years after During which time Abbot Leofric so adorned that Monastery with rich Guildings that it was called the Golden Burgh he also endowed it very much with Lands as well as other Treasures This year according to Florence of Worcester Griffyn Prince of Wales entring England spoiled great part of Hâ—refordshire against whom many Inhabitants of that County marched together with the Norman Garison of Hereford Castle but Prince Griffyn meeting with them killed a great many and putting the rest to flight carried away a great deal of Booty This year Earl Godwin deceased 17 th Kal. of May and was buried in the Old Monastery of Winchester Of the manner of whose Death though our Annals are silent yet I shall here set down what I find concerning it by almost all our Historians and it is thus That King Edward celebrating the Feast of Easter at Winchester or at Windsor as some will have it Earl Godwin as his Custom was sitting at Table with him was suddenly seized with so violent a Distemper that it struck him speechless and made him fall off from the Chair on which he sate and his Three Sons Harold Tosti and Gyrth being present they immediately removed him into the King's Chamber hoping it was but a sudden Fit and would be speedily over but he lay in that languishing condition four days and died on the fifth This is the account of his Death to which the Norman Monks and such as write in favour of them add other Circumstances which shew either his Guilt or their Malice since they relate That mention being made by somebody at the King's Table of Alfred his late Brother he thereupon looked very angrily at Earl Godwin when he to vindicate himself told King Edward He perceived that upon the least mentioning of that Prince he cast a frowning Countenance upon him But saith he let not God suffer me to swallow this Morsel if I am guilty of any thing done either toward the taking away his Life or against your Interest After which words being presently choaked with the Bit he had just before put into his Mouth he sunk immediately down and never recovered more But let the manner of his death be as it will he was a Man of an Active and Turbulent Spirit not over-nicely conscientious either in getting or keeping what he could not to be excused for his too much forcing his Sovereign to whatever he listed But had he not been so great a Lover of his Countrey and an Enemy to Strangers those that wrote in the Norman times and who durst not write any thing but