A literal translation of the Saxon chronicle

by Unknown

The same year King Edward went out to Sandwich with a large fleet, and Earl Swegn came with seven ships to Boseham, and treated with the King, and it was promised him that he should be put in possession of all that he had before; then his brother Earl Harold and Earl Beorn interfered, and prevented his enjoying the King’s grant, and four days were allowed for his return to the ships. In the mean while word was brought to the King that an hostile fleet lay off the west, and was plundering. Then Earl Godwin sailed westward with two of the King’s ships, one of which was commanded by Earl Harold, and the other by his brother Tostig, and with 42 of the ships furnished by the people.—Then Earl Harold was removed from the king’s ship which he had commanded, and they sailed as far as Pevensey, and lay there weather-bound. And within two days Earl Swegn came thither and spake with his father and with Earl Beorn, who was then with Godwin; and he entreated Beorn that he would go with him to the King at Sandwich, and assist him in obtaining the King’s favour: and Beorn consented to this, and they departed as if they would go to the King. But, as they rode along, Swegn begged him to go with him to his ships, for he feared that his sailors would desert unless he returned speedily: and they both proceeded to the place where the ships lay at anchor, and when they came thither Earl Swegn desired Beorn to go on board with him; this he wholly refused, until the sailors seized him, and threw him into a boat, and bound him, and rowed to the ships, and put him in one of them. Then they hoisted sail, and proceeded westward to Exmouth; and they kept him with them until they slew him, and they took his body and buried it in a church. His friends and the seamen of London afterwards came and took it up again, and carried it to the old monastery at Winchester, and there he is buried beside his uncle King Cnut. And Swegn went away eastward to the land of Baldwin, with whose full leave he abode at Bruges during the whole winter. And the same year died Eadnoth Bishop in the north,[BE] and Ulf was appointed his successor.

1047.

This year a great council was held at London in the middle of Lent, and nine of the ships belonging to the seamen were sent out, and five were left there. And the same year Earl Swegn came to England. And a great synod was assembled at Rome this year, and King Edward sent thither the Bishops Hereman and Ealdred, and they arrived on Easter eve. And after this the Pope held a synod at Vercelli; and Bishop Ulf came there, and his staff would have been broken, if he had not given large sums of money; for he did not know his office so well as he ought. This year Archbishop Eadsige died on the 4th of the calends of November.

1048.

This year, during Lent, King Edward being in London, nominated Robert Archbishop of Canterbury. And the same Lent he went to Rome for his pall. And the King gave the Bishoprick of London to Sparhafoc Abbot of Abingdon, and the Abbacy of Abingdon to his kinsman Bishop Rothulf. The Archbishop returned from Rome one day before the eve of the feast of St. Peter, and he was installed in Christ Church on St. Peter’s day, and immediately afterwards he proceeded to the King. Then the Abbot Sparhafoc came to him with the King’s letters and seal, to the intent that he should consecrate him Bishop of London. But the Archbishop refused, and said that the Pope had forbidden it: the Abbot endeavoured to persuade the Archbishop, and he earnestly desired the promotion, but the other constantly denied him, still saying that the Pope had forbidden it. The Abbot notwithstanding returned to London, and resided there in the diocese which the King had granted him all the summer and autumn, and this with his full permission. And Eustace arrived from beyond sea soon after the Archbishop, and he proceeded to the King and spoke with him all that he would, and then he journeyed homeward. When they had gone as far east as Canterbury he and his men rested to eat, and thence they went on to Dover. And when he was a mile or more from Dover he put on his breast-plate, and so did all his followers; and they came to Dover. And when they were there, they would fix on their quarters according to their own pleasure, and one of his men came, and would have lodged in the house of a certain person against his will, and he wounded the master of the house, but the householder slew him. Then Eustace mounted his horse, and his followers theirs, and they fell upon and slew the householder on his own hearth. And thence they went towards the town, and they killed within and without more than twenty men. And on the other hand the townsmen slew nineteen of Eustace’s train, and wounded they knew not how many. And Eustace got off with a few others, and returned again to the King, and related partially what had occurred. And the King was very angry with the townsmen, and he sent Earl Godwin, commanding him to march into Kent, and to take vengeance upon Dover; for Eustace had told the King that the townsmen were more in fault than himself, but it was not so, neither was the Earl consenting to this expedition, for he was unwilling to ruin his own vassals.—Then the King sent for all his Witan, and desired that they should come to him at Gloucester, soon after St. Mary’s day. At this time the Welch had built a castle in Herefordshire, in the territory of Earl Swegn, and they did all manner of despite and injury to the King’s subjects in the neighbourhood. Then Earl Godwin, and the Earls Swegn and Harold, and many with them, met at Beverston, that they might proceed to their liege Lord and his Witan then assembled, and that they might obtain their advice and aid for avenging this insult offered to the King and all his people. But the Welch were with the King beforehand, and accused the Earls, so that they were not admitted into his presence, because the others had said, that they were coming with treasonous designs against the King. Earl Siward and Earl Leofric and a great number of men from the north had joined the King, and it was told Earl Godwin and his sons that the King and those who were with him, were about to attack them, on which they fortified themselves strongly, albeit they were loth to act against their natural Lord. Then the Witan on either side advised that they should abstain from hostilities, and the King gave the peace of God and his own full friendship to both parties.—Then the King and his Counsellors determined that another meeting of all the Witan should be held at London, at the autumnal equinox: and the King commanded that an army, as powerful as might be, should be raised both from the south and from the north of the Thames. Earl Swegn was declared an outlaw, and Earl Godwin and Earl Harold were summoned to be at the meeting with as much speed as they could make. When they were come thither, they were called before the Council, and they desired hostages and security that they might go in and out of the Council safe from treachery; and the King demanded all the Thanes whom the Earls had with them, and they delivered them all into his hands. Then the King sent to them again, and desired that they should come into the Council with twelve attendants, but the Earl again desired security and hostages, that so he might clear himself from every charge which had been brought against him; but these hostages were finally denied him, and five days were allowed him, in which he was to depart from the country. Then Earl Godwin and Earl Swegn went to Boseham, and they put to sea, and sought shelter with Baldwin, and they abode in his land the whole winter. And Earl Harold sailed westward to Ireland, and remained there through the winter, under the protection of the king of that country. And as soon as all this had happened, the King sent away the Lady, who had been consecrated as his Queen; and he caused all that she possessed of gold, and of silver, and of every other thing, to be taken from her; and he put her under the charge of his sister at Wherwell (in Hampshire). And the Abbot Sparhafoc was driven from the Bishoprick of London, and the King’s Priest William was consecrated thereto. And Odda was appointed Earl of Devon, Somerset, and Dorset, and of Wales; and the Earldom which Harold had enjoyed was given to Ælfgar the son of Leofric.

1052.

This year died Ælfgiva Ymma the mother of King Edward and of King Hardacnut. And the same year the King and his Witan resolved that a fleet should be assembled at Sandwich, and they appointed the Earls Raulf and Odda to command it. Then Earl Godwin went with his ships from Bruges to Ysera (the Ysere?), and thence after one day’s voyage he arrived at the Ness south of Romney on Midsummer’s eve.—The Earls who were stationed at Sandwich were informed of his arrival, and they sailed in pursuit of him, and a land army was also called out to oppose him. But in the mean time Earl Godwin was warned of their intentions, and he put into Pevensey, and the weather was very stormy, so that the Earls could not find out whither he was gone; and Earl Godwin sailed out again and went back to Bruges, and the other ships returned to Sandwich. Then it was advised that the fleet should be brought back to London, and that other Earls and officers should be appointed, but they delayed so long that all the ships separated and returned home. When Earl Godwin heard this, he set sail and hastened westward to Wight, and there they landed and plundered until the inhabitants gave them as much money as they chose to exact. And thence they proceeded westward, till they came to Portland, and there they landed, and did all the mischief that they could. At this time Harold had left Ireland with nine ships, and he arrived at Porlock, and a large body of the inhabitants were collected to oppose him; nevertheless he feared not to go in quest of provisions, and he landed and slew a great number of these people, and seized whatever fell in his way, cattle, men, and money.—And thence he proceeded eastward to join his father, and they sailed together to Wight, and there they seized whatever had been left before. Thence they sailed to Pevensey, and they took away with them as many ships as were in the harbour: thus they proceeded to the Ness, and they took with them all the ships that were at Romney, Hythe, and Folkestone; and thence they turned eastward to Dover, and there they landed, and obtained as many ships and hostages as they would; and so they proceeded to Sandwich, and they did the same there, and the people every where gave them the hostages and provisions that they demanded. And from this place they made for the North Mouth (Buoy of the Nore); and so they proceeded towards London; but some of the ships stopped at Sheppey, and did much damage there, and at King’s Milton also, and they burned that town, and then they followed the Earls to London. When they were come to London, the King and all his Earls had stationed themselves with fifty ships to oppose them. Then the Earls sent to the King, and desired that all their possessions of which they had been unjustly deprived should be restored to them: this demand the King resisted for some time, even so long, that all the people who were with the Earls became furiously enraged against him and his party; so that the Earls themselves scarcely quieted them. At length, by God’s help, and the intervention of Bishop Stigand, and wise men from the city and the country, an exchange of hostages was brought about. When Archbishop Robert and the French heard this, they took their horses and rode away, some westward to Pentecost’s Castle, and others northward to Robert’s. And Archbishop Robert and Bishop Ulf and their train rode out at the east gate, and slew or wounded many young men, and they proceeded to Ealdulf’s-ness (the Nase, Essex), and the Archbishop embarked in a mean little vessel and went away beyond sea, and he left his pall and his Archbishoprick in this land, even as God willed, since he had at first obtained the same in a manner that pleased not Him. Then a great Council was convened out of London, and all the Earls and the chief men of England were at this meeting: Earl Godwin there took up the word, and he protested before his Lord King Edward and the people of this land that he was guiltless of all that was charged against him, and against his son Harold, and all his children. And the King restored to the Earl and his children his full friendship, and his whole Earldom, and all that had belonged to him: and he granted the same pardon to the men who were with him: and the King gave the Lady all that she possessed before. And Archbishop Robert and all the Frenchmen were fully outlawed, because they had been the chief promoters of the difference between Earl Godwin and the King. And Bishop Stigand was translated to the Archbishoprick of Canterbury. And at this time Arnwi Abbot of Peterborough, being in sound health, gave up the Abbacy to the monk Leofric, with the consent of the King and of the monks, and he lived eight years afterwards. And the Abbot Leofric gilded the monastery, so that men called it Golden Borough; and it became very rich in lands, in gold, and in silver.

1053.

This year Earl Godwin died on the 17th of the calends of May, and he is buried in the old monastery of Winchester. And his son Earl Harold succeeded to the Earldom, and to all that his father possessed, and Earl Ælfgar received Harold’s Earldom.

1054.