A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy

by J. Franck Bright

The first Danegelt. 994.

Æthelred’s marriage with Emma.

Massacre of St. Brice. 1002.

Pernicious influence of Eadric Streona.

Eadward the Martyr, as his monkish chroniclers call him, being thus disposed of, his brother, Æthelred the Unready, ascended the throne. Dunstan, compelled to assist at the coronation, did so only to denounce curses on the new king He had to withdraw from Court. His policy was at an end. Mercia and the North fell away from Wessex. The King’s own character, at once weak and cruel, was not such as to inspire confidence; and we accordingly enter upon a period of almost inexplicable treasons, weakness, and disorder. The Danes reappear on the coast, and what has been spoken of as the third period of Danish invasion begins. The fleets were no longer merely piratical expeditions, but were commanded by kings of whole countries, and towards the end of the period the object was no longer plunder, or even settlement, but national conquest. The change was closely connected with the gradual consolidation of the three Northern kingdoms of Europe—Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, in each of which, as in England, one sovereign had now become paramount. The chief personage in these invasions is Swegen or Swend, son of the King of Denmark. In the year 982 he made his appearance on the English coasts, and Southampton, Chester, and London were either taken or destroyed. The kingdom was in no condition to offer a firm resistance. Internal dissensions had already begun. The King was at enmity with the whole of Dunstan’s party. We hear of a fierce quarrel with the Bishop of Rochester. The allegiance of Mercia and Northumbria was more than doubtful. East Anglia, where resistance to a kindred people might have been least expected, alone succeeded in checking the Danes. There, under Brihtnoth, the great battle of Maldon was fought, which forms the subject of one of the greatest of the Anglo-Saxon poems. Such single instances of resistance were of no real avail. Sigeric of Canterbury, who had succeeded to Dunstan’s position and policy, and was therefore by no means unfriendly to the Danes as the opponents of Wessex, induced the King to entertain a fatal plan of buying off the invaders. With the consent of his Witan, he raised £10,000, with which he bribed the Danish hosts. This was the origin of the tax known as Danegelt, which became permanent, and lasted till the reign of Henry II. The effect of such a bribe was naturally only to excite the Northern robbers to further efforts. Accordingly, in 994, Swegen and Olaf of Norway made their appearance, and England was assaulted by the national fleets of Denmark and Norway. Divided by faction, undermined by treason, and without a leader, the English knew no expedient but the repetition of bribes. Olaf, as a Christian, was indeed induced to return to his own country, but Swegen’s invasions were continuous. Supported by the disloyal chiefs of the North, he ravaged in turn Dorsetshire, Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent. And when, in the year 1000, a temporary lull occurred, Æthelred, with a madness which seems almost inconceivable, insisted on quarrelling, first with the King of Cumberland, who is said to have refused the disgraceful tribute demanded of him, though willing to serve with his forces against the Danes, and afterwards with the Normans in France. An expedition undertaken against this people with ridiculous ostentation was easily defeated. A peace was made, and hostility changed into alliance, cemented by the marriage of the King with Emma, a Norman Princess. In her train came certain followers, who obtained high office and military commands, and added a fresh element of weakness to already weakened England. But though contemptible in the field, with the craft and cruelty of a weak mind Æthelred planned the massacre of all the Danes in Wessex. Many of these were settled quietly in different parts of the country, or billeted and living on friendly terms with their landlords. On the 13th of November 1002, on the festival of St. Brice, the cruel plan was carried out. Among other victims was a sister of Swegen’s who had become a Christian; she was put to death with circumstances of unusual barbarity, it is said, at the instigation of Eadric Streona, or the Gainer. This man henceforward plays a prominent part in the history. Though of low birth, he had contrived to make himself the favourite of the King, whose daughter he subsequently married. Selfish, unscrupulous, and treacherous, his influence as the King’s adviser was most pernicious; while, if it suited his own ends, he never hesitated to betray his master. So completely is he identified with the disasters of England, that there is scarcely any criminal act of the reign that is not traced to him. But his repeated treasons do not seem to have destroyed the trust which Æthelred and his nobler son Edmund placed in him. After the massacre of St. Brice the Danes naturally sought revenge. Exeter was taken by the treachery of Hugh the Frenchman, one of Emma’s followers. Wiltshire and Salisbury were deserted by the traitor Ælfric. Again East Anglia, under Ulfcytel the Ealdorman, made the only show of resistance; but here too, treason, not of the commander but of the soldiers, themselves of Danish origin, proved fatal. Famine and civil quarrels added to the misery of the English. Again Eadric is visible, ruining rival Thegns, and advising still further use of bribes. In 1006, he had succeeded in getting made Ealdorman of the Mercians. His family rose with him, and in 1008, when at last a great national fleet was collected, the quarrels of his brother Brihtric and his nephew Wulfnoth destroyed its utility.

Thurkill’s invasions.

Swegen’s invasion.

England submits to Swegen. 1013.

In the same year, a fresh host, one division of which was commanded by Thurkill or Thurcytel, one of the most formidable of the Danish sea kings, made its appearance In 1010, the English were again defeated at the battle of Ipswich, and the country was in a condition of absolute collapse. Mercia and Wessex itself were overrun. The cause of Æthelred looked so hopeless, that Eadric the Gainer thought it time to change sides, and after the capture of Canterbury and the death of the Archbishop St. Alphege, the Witan was collected under Eadric, without the participation of the King, and a further large tribute paid, while by some arrangement, probably the cession of East Anglia, Thurkill was drawn to the English side. This step of Thurkill seems to have opened Swegen’s eyes at once to the inutility of single invasions, and to the possibility of himself effecting some similar arrangement. He felt confident of the support of Northumbria and Mercia against Wessex. He therefore moved his fleet to the Humber, and advanced to York. He had not miscalculated. The whole of the Danelagu joined him, and with this assistance, leaving his son Cnut behind him in command of the fleet in the Humber, he advanced into Wessex. His success was constant. Oxford was taken, and the royal town of Winchester. At Bath the Danish conqueror received the submission of the Thegns of the West. London, which we find constantly rising in importance, alone held out, nor was it till Æthelred deserted the city that it surrendered. But then, there being no longer any opposition, Swegen was, in fact, King of England. Æthelred sought and obtained an asylum in Normandy, till recalled by Swegen’s death the following year.

Restoration of Æthelred. 1014.