EXERCISES.

1. What was the nature of Ethelwald's claims to the crown? Was the succession to the Saxon crown in the direct hereditary order of modern times? Mention other instances which show the nature of this succession. In whose reign did Dunstan become conspicuous? Describe the acts done by him and Ŏdo.

2. What was the public character of Edgar? And what was his private character? What was his conduct to Athelwold? Describe the nature of Dunstan's projects during this reign.

3. What was the designation given to King Edward? Describe his death. What events occurred in the reign of Ethelred? Who were Olave and Sweyn, and what acts did they do? Give an account of the Dane-geld and its purpose.

4. Describe the actions of Sweyn on his second landing. What was the conduct of Ethelred? What was done at the cathedral of Canterbury? Describe the circumstances that preceded and accompanied Sweyn's triumphal entry into London.

5. Under what circumstances was Ethelred recalled to the throne? Whose advice did he promise to take? How did he fulfil his engagements? What were his acts of cruelty?

6. Who succeeded Ethelred on the throne? By whom were his claims contested? What agreement was entered into between Edmund and Canute? Did Edmund long survive the treaty? What were the imports during Ethelred's reign? What were the exports? Describe a regulation showing the smallness of the trade of the Saxons.

CHAPTER V.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF CANUTE TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST, A. D. 1016-1066.

Canute-Danish Emigration-Anglo-Danish Code-Canute's Pilgrimage to Rome-Harold and Hardicanute-Edward the Confessor-Norman Influence at the Court-Rebellion of Earl Godwin-Rise of Harold's Power-Harold-Defeat of the Norwegian Invaders-William, duke of Normandy-Battle of Hastings-Condition of England-Learning and Literature-Manners and Customs of the Anglo-Saxons-Commerce and Manufactures.

1. CANUTE, immediately upon Edmund's death, convoked the witan, by which he was unanimously raised to the vacant throne. The first care of the new monarch was to get rid of all the members of the Saxon royal family who might become his rivals, and also of those chiefs who had formerly opposed his claims. Having murdered Edmund's brother Edwy, he seized the two infant sons of the deceased monarch, and sent them to his brother Olave, king of Sweden, with a request

that they might be so disposed of as to cause no farther trouble. Olave, however, unwilling to stain his hands with. innocent blood, conveyed them to the court of Stephen, king of Hungary, by whom they were educated as his own children. Edward afterwards married the Princess Agatha, daughter of the Emperor Henry II., and became the father of Edgar Atheling and Margaret. Margaret became the wife of Malcolm of Scotland, through whom the claims of the line of Alfred were transmitted to Malcolm's descendants after the Norman Conquest.

Canute, having no longer any thing to fear from the progeny of his predecessor, now turned his attention to the sons of Ethelred by Emma. The two princes were still in Normandy, and he knew that Duke Richard II. was preparing an armament to enforce their claims to the crown of England. But Canute had the wisdom to avert the impending danger by demanding the hand of Emma their mother; and the widow, forgetting the wrongs of her family in the dazzling prospects of royalty, readily give her consent to the marriage, which was soon afterwards solemnized with great pomp and splendour.

2. To recompense the warriors who had so ably served him, Canute divided England into four governments: East Anglia he gave to Thurkill, with the title of duke; Northumbria to Eric; Mercia to Edric, the faithless favourite of Ethelred and Edmund; and Wessex he administered in person. He had soon, however, cause to suspect the fidelity of these governors; and at a Christmas festival held in London, at which Edric imprudently boasted of his services, he ordered him to be assassinated, and his body thrown into the Thames. Thurkill and Eric were some time after expelled from the kingdom; and the lands of the slain or banished Saxons received new proprietors from among the crowd of Danish adventurers. But the hatred of the natives followed these foreign possessors of the soil, and anxious to enjoy in peace the fruits of their labour, many of the Danes sold their estates, and returned to their own country. Such a system of emigration was readily encouraged by Canute, who, foreseeing that the animosity which existed between his English and Danish subjects would only increase by the prolonged sojourn of the latter in England, and that eventually it would endanger his throne, determined to send away all who were not necessary to the consolidation of his power. He therefore imposed on the city

of London a tax of about 15,000 pounds of silver; and on the rest of the nation, the sum of 72,000 pounds. This money he apportioned among the soldiers whom he disbanded and sent back to Denmark, reserving only 3000 picked men as a body-guard. He commanded these in person, and subjected them to a severe code of regulations, chiefly with a view to the prevention of quarrelling, which was very common among them, and generally ended in bloodshed. From these regulations he did not exempt himself; and it is related that having killed a soldier in a moment of passion, he appeared before the assembled guard, without either crown or sceptre, and declared his willingness to submit to any chastisement they should impose. In accordance with the usage of the period, a pecuniary fine was deemed sufficient compensation, and he voluntarily paid nine times the amount of the penalty. Such a monarch was soon understood by his new subjects, and they bore his heavy taxes without a murmur.

3. Being now in peaceable possession of the throne, Canute applied himself to heal the wounds which had been inflicted on the country during the long internal wars. He confirmed

the laws enacted during the reign of Edgar, and promulgated a new code based on the legislation of previous sovereigns. The natives and his Danish followers were placed upon a footing of perfect equality, the highest offices in the state being impartially divided among them. Nor did he neglect those acts of piety which the monks recommended as most meritorious. He built a church at Assington in commemoration of the victory which placed him on the throne; endowed monasteries, restored St Edmund's Abbey, which Sweyn had burnt, and gave large sums of money to defray the expense of masses for the souls of those who had fallen in his battles.

The king, who had now become the favourite of the clergy, conducted numerous missionaries to Denmark, by whose exertions the Christian religion was rapidly propagated in that country. But in his anxiety for the spread of religion, he did not forget his claims to the sovereignty of Norway and Sweden; and having fitted out a fleet of fifty vessels, manned principally by his Anglo-Saxon subjects, he succeeded in reducing these countries to obedience. His last warlike demonstration was against Malcolm of Scotland, who refused to acknowledge A.D. his supremacy over Cumbria, on the ground that he 1081. was a usurper; but negotiations prevented an appeal to

the sword, and Duncan, the grandson of the Scottish king, agreed to do homage for the territory.

Canute, now at the height of prosperity, determined to visit Rome, with a wallet on his back and a pilgrim's staff in his hand. Wherever he halted, he left some evidence of his liberality; and, on his return through the city of Pavia, he gave a hundred talents of silver and as many of gold for the arm of Saint Augustine, which he afterwards presented to the church of Coventry. He survived his pilgrimage three years, which was an acceptable period of repose to his subjects. He died at Shaftesbury in 1035, and was buried at Winchester.

4. Canute left three sons, Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute, of whom the last only was legitimate, and among them he wished his empire to be divided. Sweyn was to receive Norway; Hardicanute, Denmark; and Harold, England; which last was esteemed by far the best portion. But the people of the south declared in favour of Hardicanute, whose cause was espoused by the great Earl Godwin. To prevent a civil war, the witan met at Oxford, and decided that Harold should have all the country north of the Thames, including London; while the remainder should belong to Hardicanute. The latter, however, still lingered in his continental dominions, leaving his mother Emma and Godwin to govern his insular territory. Edward, the eldest surviving son of Ethelred, now attempted to establish his claims to his father's throne; and sailing from Normandy, landed at Southampton; but he was compelled to abandon the enterprise, being opposed by a body of troops raised against him by his own mother.

Emma now became reconciled with Harold, and went to reside in London at the court of her children's enemy. From this place a letter was sent, in her name, to the two princes, who were living in Normandy, informing them that the AngloSaxons, disgusted with Harold's government, were disposed to throw off his yoke. She therefore invited them to repair promptly and secretly to England, in order to confer with her and their friends on the means of asserting their rights to the crown. Alfred, the younger of the two brothers, accepted the invitation; and at the head of a few troops landed near Canterbury, where he was met by Earl Godwin, who promised to conduct him to his mother. Instead, however, of leading him to London, the earl took him to Guildford, where he quartered Alfred's escort among the inhabitants; and during the night, a body of Harold's soldiers entered the town, fell upon the

strangers as they lay asleep, and made them prisoners. At daybreak they were collected to the number of six hundred, and barbarously murdered, with the exception of every tenth man, and a few who were reserved as slaves. Alfred was tied half-naked on a wretched horse, and taken to Ely, where he was condemned to lose his eyes; and the sentence was executed with such barbarity, that he died a few days after. The unnatural Emma, who is said to have been banished from England by Harold's command, retired to the court of Baldwin, earl of Flanders.

5. HAROLD, exulting in the success of his bloodstained policy, seized on Hardicanute's possessions, and was proclaimed king of all England. Ethelnoth, archbishop of Canterbury, at first refused to perform the ceremony of his coronation, and placing the crown and sceptre on the altar, exclaimed: "Canute intrusted to me these ensigns of royalty: I will neither give them to thee, nor prevent thee from taking them; but I will not bless thee, nor shall any bishop consecrate thee." It is believed, however, that the scruples of the haughty archbishop were overcome by a few timely presents, and that the coronation was afterwards solemnly performed. Harold died in 1040, after a reign of four years.

HARDICANUTE, his half-brother, was unanimously chosen to fill the vacant throne; and one of the first acts of his reign was to exhume the corpse of his predecessor, and throw it into the Thames. The mutilated body was picked up by some fishermen, and secretly interred in the churchyard of St Clement, the burying-place of the Danes. Earl Godwin, who felt conscious of being considered an accomplice in the murder of Alfred, a crime committed to serve the cause of Harold,— is said to have willingly assisted in this barbarous treatment of his late sovereign's remains, hoping thereby to allay suspicion. He was nevertheless publicly charged with the crime; but the present of a stately ship, superbly gilt and ornamented, with a figurehead of pure gold, and a crew of eighty chosen men, is said to have softened the king's wrath, and smoothed the road to the earl's acquittal.

Hardicanute's exactions to support his numerous army weighed heavily upon the nation; and the discontent became so great, that at Worcester two collectors of taxes fell victims to the popular fury. The exasperated monarch vowed the destruction of the city; and after subjecting it during four days to the pillage of his licentious soldiery, he ordered it to