Frederick George Meeson Beck

“ The violent death of Selred, king of Essex, is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle under the year 746; but we have no more information of historical importance until the defeat of the Mercian king Beornwulf in 825, when Essex, together with Kent, Sussex and Surrey, passed into the hands of Ecgbert, king of Wessex. After 825 we hear of no more kings of Essex, but occasionally of earls. About the year 870 Essex passed into the hands of the Danes and was left to them by the treaty between Alfred and Guthrum. ”

“ According to Bede, Edwin was favourably disposed towards Christianity owing to a vision he had seen at the court of Rœdwald, and in 626 he allowed Eanfled, his daughter by Æthelberg, to be baptized. On the day of the birth of his daughter, the king’s life had been attempted by Eomer, an emissary of Cwichelm, king of Wessex. Preserved by the devotion of his thegn Lilla, Edwin vowed to become a Christian if victorious over his treacherous enemy. ”

“ At all events there can be little doubt that the whole region was conquered within the next fifty years. Most probably the greater part of it was conquered by the Northumbrian king Æthelfrith, who, according to Bede, ravaged the territory of the Britons more often than any other English king, in some places reducing the natives to dependence, in others exterminating them and replacing them by English settlers. ”

“ With this exception, Watling Street, the Ouse and the Lea, continued to be the boundary between Mercia and the Danish kingdom of East Anglia down to the death of Æthelred, between 910 and 912. The government was then carried on by Æthelflaed, who built a number of fortresses, and in conjunction with her brother, King Edward the Elder, succeeded in expelling the Danes from Derby and Leicester by the year 917–18. After her death in the latter year her daughter Ælfwyn was soon deprived of the government by Edward, and Mercia was definitely annexed to Wessex. ”

“ York was the capital of its kings. The date of its first settlement is quite unknown, but the first king of whom we have any record is Ella or Ælle, the father of Edwin, who is said to have been reigning about 585. After his death Deira was subject to Æthelfrith, king of Northumbria, until the accession of Edwin, in 616 or 617, who ruled both kingdoms (see Edwin) till 633. Osric the nephew of Edwin ruled Deira (633–634) , but his son Oswine was put to death by Oswio in 651. For a few years subsequently Deira was governed by Æthelwald son of Oswald. ”

“ Such notices as we have of the history of Strathclyde in the 7th and 8th centuries are preserved only in the chronicles of the surrounding nations and even these supply us with little more than an incomplete record of wars with the neighbouring Scots, Picts and Northumbrians. It is probable that the Britons were allied with the Scots when Aidan, the king of the latter, invaded Northumbria in A.D. 597. In 642, however, we find the two Celtic peoples at war with one another, for in that year the Britons under their king Owen defeated and slew the Scottish king Domnall Breac. ”

“ In the year 653 we find North-umbrian influence paramount in Essex, for King Sigeberht at the instance of Oswio became a Christian and received Cedd, the brother of St Chad, in his kingdom as bishop, Tilbury and Ythanceastere (on the Blackwater) being the chief scenes of his work. Swithhelm, the successor of Sigeberht, was on terms of friendship with the East Anglian royal house, King Æthelwald being his sponsor at his baptism by Cedd. ”

“ The most important were those at the mouth of the Loire founded in the time of Childeric, Clovis's father, and at Bayeux, in a district which remained in their possession until towards the close of the 6th century. From the 6th century onwards, however, we hear practically nothing of the Saxons as a seafaring people. Almost all the southern coast of the North Sea had now come into the possession of the Frisians, and one can hardly help concluding that most of the maritime Saxons had either voluntarily or by conquest become incorporated in that kingdom. ”

“ He was defeated and slain, however, by Oswio, at a river called the Winwaed. Mercia then came again under Northumbrian rule. Peada, the eldest son of Penda, was allowed to govern the part south of the Trent, while north Mercia was put in charge of Northumbrian officials. Penda, although he did not prohibit the preaching of Christianity, had remained a heathen to the end of his life. His death was followed by the conversion of his kingdom. Peada had embraced Christianity on his marriage with a daughter of Oswio, and under him the first Mercian bishopric was founded. ”

“ TEUTONI, or Teutones, a tribe of northern Europe, who became known to the Romans in the year 103 B.C., when, according to the Epitome of Livy, together with the Ambrones they reinforced the Cimbri after their repulse from Spain by the Celtiberi. In 102 the Teutoni and Ambrones were totally defeated by Marius at Aquae Sextiae (see Marius, Gaius) . The racial affinities of the Teutoni have formed a matter of dispute amongst historians. Their name is Celtic in form, and many writers suppose that the Teutoni were really a Celtic tribe, a branch of the Helvetii. ”

“ In 798 he invaded Kent, deposed and imprisoned Eadberht Præn, and made his own brother Cuthred king. Cuthred reigned in Kent from 798 to 807, when he died, and Cœnwulf seems to have taken Kent into his own hands. ”

“ They were entirely devoted to warfare and served not only in the Roman armies, but also in those of all the surrounding nations. They disdained the use of helmets and coats of mail, and protected themselves only with shields. ”

“ The first kings of whom we read were two brothers, Eanhere and Eanfrith, probably contemporaries of Wulfhere. They were followed by a king named Osric, a contemporary of Æthelred, and he by a king Oshere. Oshere had three sons who reigned after him, Æthelheard, Æthelweard and Æthelric. The two last named appear to have been reigning in the year 706. At the beginning of Offa’s reign we again find the kingdom ruled by three brothers, named Eanberht, Uhtred and Aldred, the two latter of whom lived until about 780. After them the title of king seems to have been given up. ”

“ In 743 or 745 Æthelbald of Mercia is found granting privileges at the port of London, and perhaps the western portion of the kingdom had already been annexed, for henceforward London is frequently the meeting-place of the Mercian council. ”

“ The Heruli remained heathen until the overthrow of their kingdom, and retained many striking primitive customs. When threatened with death by disease or old age, they were required to call in an executioner, who stabbed them on the pyre. ”

“ Æthelberht married Berhta, daughter of Charibert, king of Paris, who brought over Bishop Liudhard as her private confessor. According to Bede, Æthelberht’s supremacy in 597 stretched over all the English kingdoms as far as the Humber. The nature of this supremacy has been much disputed, but it was at any rate sufficient to guarantee the safety of Augustine in his conference with the British bishops. Æthelberht exercised a stricter sway over Essex, where his nephew Saberht was king. ”

“ BERNICIA, the northern of the two English kingdoms which were eventually united in the kingdom of Northumbria. Its territory is said to have stretched from the Tyne northwards, ultimately reaching the Forth, while its western frontier was gradually extended at the expense of the Welsh. ”

“ Its first prominent appearance in English history may be dated in the year 633, when the Mercian prince Penda joined the Welsh king Ceadwalla in overthrowing Edwin. According to the Saxon Chronicle, Penda began to reign in 626, and fought against the West Saxons at Cirencester in 628. ”

“ The internal organization of the kingdom of Kent seems to have been somewhat peculiar. Besides the division into West Kent and East Kent, which probably corresponds with the kingdoms of the 8th century, we find a number of lathes, apparently administrative districts under reeves, attached to royal villages. In East Kent there were four of these, namely, Canterbury, Eastry, Wye and Lymne, which can be traced back to the 9th century or earlier. In the 11th century we hear of two lathes in West Kent, those of Sutton and Aylesford. ”

“ During the next few years the kingdom alternated between Eric and Anlaf until 954, when Eadred finally succeeded in establishing his power. Eric was killed by Maccus, the son of Anlaf, while Anlaf himself withdrew to Ireland, where he died in 980. Eadred placed Northumbria in the hands of a certain Osulf, who is called high-reeve at Bamburgh. In the reign of Edgar, Oslac was appointed earl of southern Northumbria, but he was banished at the beginning of the following reign. The next earl was Waltheof and after him Uhtred, who defeated Malcolm II., king of the Scots, in 1006. ”

“ Cerdic died in 534. Cynric defeated the Britons at Salisbury in 552 and again in conjunction with his son Ceawlin at Beranburh, probably Barbury Hill, in 556. At his death in 560 he was succeeded by Ceawlin, who is mentioned by Bede as the second of the English kings to hold an imperium in Britain. With him we enter upon a period not perhaps of history, but at least of more or less reliable tradition. How far the earlier part of the story deserves credence has been and still is much debated. At all events no value can be attached to the dates given in the Chronicle. ”

“ Sigeberht also founded a school in East Anglia, and on the arrival of an Irish missionary named Furšeus he built him a monastery at Cnobheresburg, perhaps to be identified with Burgh Castle. Before 644, however, Sigeberht resigned the crown in favour of his brother Ecgric and retired to a monastery. Shortly afterwards both brothers were slain by Penda of Mercia in his invasion of East Anglia, and Anna became king. This king was an enthusiastic Christian, and converted Cœnwalh, king of Wessex, who had fled to his court. ”

“ He was a learned man and a patron of scholars, and during his reign the Northumbrian kingdom partially recovered its prosperity. He was succeeded in 705 by his son Osred, and under him and his successors Northumbria began rapidly to decline through the vices of its kings and the extravagance of their donations; Osred was slain in 716. He was succeeded by Coenred 716—718, and Coenred by Osric 718—729. The next king was Ceolwulf, to whom Bede dedicated his Historia Ecclesiastica in 731. In the same year he was deposed and forced to become a monk, but was soon restored to the throne. ”

“ Ælfwald then became king, but Eardwulf was restored in 808 or 809 after appealing to the emperor and the pope. Eanred, son of Eardwulf, probably came to the throne in 809 and reigned until 841. It was during his reign in 827 that Northumbria acknowledged the supremacy of Ecgberht, king of Wessex. Eanred was succeeded by his son Æthelred, who was slain in 850, when Osberht came to the throne and reigned until 863. ”