exiled robber stabbed him with a dagger which he had secreted (1). It is, however, singular, that, on an incident so palpable and so impressive, such a contrariety of rumours became popular, that Malmsbury states, that his death opened the door for fable all over England (2); and Wallingford was so perplexed as to aver, that it was to his day uncertain who was the murderer, or what was the cause (3). Instances like these, which often occur in the history of man, prove the truth of the observation of our intelligent moralist, that "the usual character of human testimony is substantial truth under circumstantial variety (4)."

Edred.
946.

CHAPTER IV.

The Reign of Edred.

Edred, who succeeded Edmund, was the third son of Edward, who had reigned after his father, Alfred. As the preceding king, the elder brother of Edred, was but eighteen years of age when he acceded, Edred must have been less than twenty-three at his elevation. His reign was short. Disease produced to him that crisis which the arm of violence had occasioned to his predecessor.

The most remarkable circumstance of Edred's short reign was, the complete incorporation of Northumbria. It had been often conquered before. Its independence was now entirely annihilated.

It has been mentioned, that Athelstan gave the Northumbrian crown to Eric, the son of Harald of Norway, who had been expelled his paternal inheritance, for his fratricides and cruelty. But peaceful dignity can have no charms except for the cultivated mind, the sensualist, or the timid. It is only a scene of apathy to those who have been accustomed to the violent agitations of barbarian life; whose noblest hope has been an ample plunder; whose most pleasurable excitations have arisen from the exertion

(1) Hist. Rames. 389.

(2) Quo vulnere exanimatus fabulæ januam in omnem Angliam de interitu suo patefecit, p. 54.

(3) Sed qua ratione vel a quo occisus fuit usque ad præsens incertum habetur. Chron. p. 541. The MS. Saxon Chronicle has a passage on Edmund's death, not in the printed one, agreeing in the fact as stated by the authors quoted in note 7. p. 143. "Tha was wide cuth hu he his dagas geendode tha Liofa hine æfstang æt Pulcan cyrcan." Tib. b. iv. Torfæus makes a Jatmund king of England to have been killed by one Owar-Oddi, in the third century. Hist. Norw. 1. vi. p. 72. It may be a traditional misplacement of this incident.

(4) Paley's View of the Evidences of Christianity, vol. ii. p. 289. 5th ed. 8vo.; a work which displays a highly-accomplished and candid mind in the full exertion of its enlightened energies.

and the triumphs of war. Eric therefore still loved the activity of depredation. The numerous friends with kindred feelings, who crowded to him from Norway, displeased or disappointed with the government of Haco, cherished his turbulent feelings; and to feed, to employ, or to emulate them, he amused his summer months by pirating on Scotland, the Hebrides, Ireland, and Wales (1). In the reign of Edmund, perceiving that this king or his unquiet subjects desired a new regent, he hastened to his beloved ocean and its plunder. From the Orkneys he collected some companions. In the Hebrides he found many vikingr and seakings (2), who joined their forces to aid his fortunes. He led them first to Ireland; thence to Wales; and, at last, reaching England, he plundered extensively. The Northumbrians again received him as their king (3), and Eric became formidable to the Anglo-Saxons.

It had happened that before this event this people had sworn fidelity to Edred at Tadwine's Cliffe (4). Provoked by this rebellion, Edred assembled an army, and spread devastation over Northumbria. As he returned, the Northmen warily followed him from York, and at Casterford surprised and destroyed his rear guard. Enraged at the disaster, the king stopped his retreat, and again sought Northumbria with augmented fury. Terrified at his power and its effects, the people threw off Eric, and appeased Edred with great pecuniary sacrifices (5).

But Eric was not to be discarded with impunity. He collected his forces, and gave battle to the revolters. Snorre mentions Olafe as the friend of Edred (6). Simeon of Durham omits him, but notices his son Maccus (7). The Icelander states the battle to have lasted the whole day, and that Eric and five other kings, among whom he names Gothorm, and his sons Ivar and Harekr, probably sea-kings, perished; Rognvalldr and others also fell (8). Our chronicler, Matthew, admits such a catastrophe, but states that Osulf betrayed Eric, and that Maccus fraudulently killed him in a desert (9).

(1) Snorre, Saga Hakonar Goda, c. iv. p. 128.

(2) Snorre, ibid.

(3) Flor. Wig. 352. He calls him Ircus. Saxon Chronicle says, Yric, the son of Harold, p. 115. So Wallingford, 541. The Chronicle of Mailros also calls him Eyric the son of Harold, p. 148. Ingulf names him Hircius, p. 30. Simeon calls him Eiric, a Dane, 134. Matt. West. has Elric, p. 368.

(4) Hoveden, 423. Flor. 352. The printed chronicle has nothing of this. The MS. Chronicle, Tib. b. iv., states it.

(5) Flor. Wig. 352, 353. Hoveden, 423. The MS. Saxon Chronicle, Tib. b. iv., supplies on this incident the silence of the one printed, by a long passage, of which the paragraphs in Florence and Hoveden seem to be a translation. In the MS. Tib. b. i. there is a blank from 946 to 956.

(6) Hakonar Saga, p. 129.

(7) Simeon, 204.

(8) Snorre, 129. He errs in placing the catastrophe under Edmund. (9) Matt. West. 369. Sim. 204. Matthew says, "that with Eric fell his son Henricus, and his brother Reginaldus. He perhaps means the Harekr and

Edred improved the moment by exerting all the power of conquest. He carried away in bonds the proudest nobles of the country, and overspread it with devastation (1); he imprisoned Wulfstan, the turbulent archbishop (2); he annexed Northumbria inseparably to his dominions; and to govern it the more easily, he partitioned it into baronies and counties, over which he placed officers of his own appointment (3). Osulf, whose treachery had produced the destruction of Eric, was the first carl; to whom in another reign Oslac was added (4).

955.

In 955, Edred died; but not worn out by old age, as some have dreamt (5). One expression has descended to us concerning him, debilis pedibus, weak in the feet (6). We also learn from the writing of an author, almost, if not quite, his contemporary, that his indisposition, rather an offensive one, lasted all his reign; and, by a gradual wasting, produced his death (7).

CHAPTER V.

The Reign of Edwin.

Edwin (8), who has been usually called Edwy, the eldest son

Rognvalldr of Snorre. Our writers mention no battle; but this additional incident is highly credible. Mailros calls Eric the last king of Northumbria, 148.

(1) Ingulf, 41. He adds a strong picture of Edred's invasion :—“ Erasaque tota terra et in cineres redacta ita ut multis milliariis longo tempore sequenti solitudo fieret."

(2) Flor. 353. Matt. West. 369. The MS. Chronicle, Tib. b. iv., is like the passage in Florence.

(3) Wallingford, 541.

(4) Mailros, 148. Sim. Dun. 204.

(5) It is curious to read in Wallingford, p. 542., that old age greatly vexed Edred, and that multis incommodis quæ senes solent circumvenire ad extrema deduxit. Among these evils of senility, he particularises the loss of teeth, debility, and the frequent cough, familiariş senibus. Yet this old man could not have been much above thirty; for he was under twenty-three at his accession, and he reigned nine years. The chronicler mistook the consequences of disease, for the natural effects of old age.

(6) It is Hermannus who has left us this trait. His MS. is in the Cotton Library, Tib. b. ii.

(7) Vita Dunstani, p. 75. MS. Cotton Library, Cleopatra, b. xiii.

(8) He is commonly called Edwy; but the old authorities are numerous, which express his name to have been Edwin. Of Chroniclers that have been printed, he is styled Edwin-by Ingulf, p. 41.; by Alured of Beverley, p. 111.; by Simeon Dunelm, p. 135.; by Wallingford, 541.; by Ethelridus Rievallensis, 359.; by Knighton, 2312.; by Hoveden, 425.; by Bromton, 863.; by Malmsbury, 201.; by the Hist. Ramesiensis, 389.; by Thorn. 2243.; by Higden, 263.; by Radulf de Diceto, 455.; by Ann. Way. and by the authors in Leland's Collectanca, vol. i. p. 241. 260. 304. and vol. iii. p. 399. Rudborne says, Edwyi, sive Edwini, p. 217. The unpublished MSS. in the Cotton Library, that I have seen, which name him

of Edmund the Elder, succeeded his uncle Edred, at the age of sixteen (1).

It was his misfortune to live in one of those periods, which have frequently occurred in the history of mankind, when new opinions and new systems are introduced into society, which essentially counteract the subsisting establishments. The ardour of the discussions, and the opposition of interests and prejudices, inflame the mind and passions of the country; cruelty and persecution, hatred and revenge, usually accompany the conflict, and both the advocates for the revolution and its opponents become alike fanatical, ferocious, unjust, and implacable.

In the tenth century, a new religious discipline was The Benedictine spreading in Europe, which occasioned the misfortunes order. in the reign of Edwin. This was the Benedictine order of Monks— an order which, in the course of time, became celebrated in Europe beyond every other (2).

It is a fact perpetually pressed upon the notice of the historian, that individuals often appear who seem to act at random, yet whose notions are destined to affect ages and nations. One of these was Benedict, an Italian, born 480 (3), whose peculiar associations of Edwin, are also numerous. The Chronicles in Dom. A. xii. p. 62; Dom. A. 3.; Peter de Ickham, p. 24.; Vesp. E. iv. p. 110.; Faustini, A. viii. p. 77. and b. vi. p. 66.; Thomas de Elmham; Claudius, E. iv. p. 54.; Nero, A. vi. p. 9.: Vesp. b. xi. p. 1. and 73.; Cleop. b. xiii. p. 130; Vesp. A. xvi. p. 43.; and Joh. Oxenedes, Nero, D. ii. p. 215.; the Historiola Gallice, in Calig. A. iii. p. 19.; also, the MS. in the King's Library, 13. D. 1.; so the Welsh Chron. Clcop. b. v. Baronius also calls him Edwini. But the Saxon Chronicle, 115.; Ethelwerd, 849.; the Wilton Chartulary, and a coin (see it in Gough's Camden, cxv.) have Eadwig. Matt. West. printed, has Edwius. A MS. of part of his book, erroneously entitled Godefrid of Malmsbury, has Edwinus. Vesp. D. iv. p. 96. Edwin and Edwig have the same meaning "prosperous in battle." His charter in Hist. Abb. Claud. c. 9. is signed Edwi, others Eadwi. On the whole, it appears to me that Edwy, Edwin, and Edwig are the same name; but as Edwy is apparently a familiar abbreviation, it cannot be entitled to a place in history any more than Willy or Harry I have therefore inserted Edwin, which has most authorities in its favour.

(1) For Edwin to have been sixteen at his accession, his father must have married at fifteen, because Edmund was eighteen in 941. This seems almost too early to be true; and yet there is no alternative, for Edwin, at his coronation, appears to us also as married. It shows us, indeed, how early the Anglo-Saxons sometimes united-Edmund at fifteen; his son Edwin at sixteen. If there be an error any where, it must be in Edmund's age at his accession, for that makes him and Edred to have been born in the two last years of their father's reign; yet Edmund's age is attested by Ingulf, Flor. Al. Bev. already quoted, and also by the Sax. Chron. 144; Sim. Dun. 155.; Malmsb. 53.; and others. Eadgiva, the mother of Edwin and Edgar, left a will, which yet exists in this she mentions Edwin, and she calls him a child. See it in the appendix to Lye's Saxon Dictionary.

(2) It is not, however, safe to adopt implicitly the statement of Trithemius, p. 238., though Baronius follows it. This enumerates eighteen popes, above 200 cardinals, 1600 archbishops, about 4000 bishops, 15,700 abbots, and 15,600 saints, to have been of the order before his time, who was born 1462.

(3) Dupin, vol. ii. p. 45., sixth century. Fab. Bib. Med. 1. p. 533.

thought induced him to descend into a deep cavern in a desert, and to reside there for several years, known only to a friend, who let down his provisions. His singularities attracted notice, and, being connected with a piety that seems to have been genuine, though enthusiastic, at last produced veneration. His admiring spectators were so numerous, that he was enabled to found many monasteries near him. He afterwards went to Mount Cassin, in the kingdom of Naples, destroyed some temples of idolatry which he found there, erected a monastery, and laid down a new series of rules for its governance (1).

Benedict died about 543 (2). Soon afterwards the Lombards destroyed his monastery at Mount Cassin. The monks fled to pope Pelagius, who, by giving them an asylum, kept alive an institution destined to overspread the West.

The memory of Benedict was preserved, and peculiarly honoured by the famous pope Gregory, who admired his regulations, and devoted one book of dialogues to record his supposed miracles (3). By the influence of the third Gregory, who died 742, the monastery at Mount Cassin was rebuilt, and this new construction first began the establishment of its fame. Zachary, the following pope, sent them the MS. rule of Benedict, and gave them, as a mark of his favour, the important and attractive privilege of being under no bishop, and no jurisdiction but that of the pope (4).

The Benedictine rule began now to diffuse itself beyond Italy. Boniface, the Anglo-Saxon missionary to Germany, built a Benedictine monastery in Fulda, which the pope sanctioned, and which Pepin exempted from all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but the papal (5). Boniface describes his monks as men of strict abstinence, who used neither flesh, wine, nor strong drink, nor servants, but who were contented with the produce of their own labour (6). He interested Carloman so much in his favour, that in his reign the clergy of Gaul were urged to patronise it (7).

The order increased, though slowly, till the beginning of the tenth century. Berno, preferring it to other monastic rules, introduced it at Clugny in 910. One of his pupils was Odo, who succeeded him, and who seconded his partiality to this order, added

(1) The rule is in the Bibliotheca Magna Patrum, vol. xv. p. 690. There are also some Anglo-Saxon translations of it in the Cotton Library; and one exposition of it by Dunstan, with his picture. Bib. Reg. 10. A. 13.

(2) Fabricius mentions that others talk of 542, and 547.

(3) Gregory's Dial. lib. ii. Gregory characterises his rule as discretione præcipuam, sermone luculentam. Dial. p. 275.

(4) See Marsham's Пpauiora, prefixed to Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. 1.

(5) See the letters of Boniface and Zachary, 16. Mag. Bib. Pat. 115. and of Pepin, p. 121. Our countryman describes the place thus: "Est præterea locus sylvaticus in eremo vastissimæ solitudinis." Ibid. 115.

(6) Bonif. ibid.

(7) See the two councils held in 742, in Bib. Mag. Pat. p. 84, 85.