But they all looked up to Egbert, and agreed not to fight against him or against each other any more. 2. The Coming of the Danes.-Very likely, if this had been all, they would have separated again as soon as Egbert died. But during the lifetime of Egbert a new enemy appeared. A people who were called Danes in England, and were called Northmen or Normans on the Continent, came from Denmark and Norway. They were very much what the ancestors of the English had been when they came with Hengist and Horsa 350 years before. They swept over the sea in light vessels, sailed up the mouths of the rivers, burnt, slew, and plundered, and then sailed away again before they could be caught. The monasteries were their especial prey, for they knew that wealth would be stored up there. Though the monks had once been poor, people who reverenced them had brought them presents, not for themselves but for their churches. They had now gold and silver chalices and crosses, and their books were often bound in jewelled bindings. The Danes knew too that the monks could not fight. They killed the monks like sheep, set fire to the monasteries, and carried off everything that was valuable in them. In some places on the Continent a new petition was added to the Litany: From the fury of the Northmen, Good Lord deliver us!' 6 3. The Fight against the Danes.-Egbert, and his son, and grandsons after him, did their best to resist the sea - robbers. Sometimes they won victories, sometimes they were defeated. But on the whole the sea-robbers pressed on. They were no longer content to plunder and to sail away. They came in swarms and tried to settle in the land, as the English had settled in it before. It seemed as if they would succeed, and as if all England would fall into the power of the Danes. 4. The First Year of Alfred the Great.-At last the Danes met their match. Alfred, the youngest and the noblest of the grandsons of Egbert, was chosen king on his elder brother's death. That brother had left a son who would, in our time, have succeeded to the throne. But a warrior was wanted, and the warrior-uncle was lawfully chosen instead of the boy-nephew. Alfred was at first defeated, and driven to take refuge in Athelney, which was then an island in the midst of the swamps of Somersetshire across which the Great Western Railway now runs with dry ground on either side. After some time, he came out, gathered his countrymen around him, defeated the Danes, and forced them to accept the treaty of Wedmore. 5. Submission of the Danes to Alfred.-By the Treaty of Wedmore in 878 England was divided into two parts by a line which ran from the Thames a little below London to Chester on the Dee. To the south-west of this line the land was English. To the north-east it was Danish. The Danes had not indeed slaughtered all the English in their part, but they had taken the best lands, and they kept all power in their hands. The settlements of the Danes. are known by the termination by' at the ends of names of places. Such names as Grimsby or Kirkby tell us that a Dane once settled there. 'By' means no longer content to plunder and to sail away. They came in swarms and tried to settle in the land, as the English had settled in it before. It seemed as if they would succeed, and as if all England would fall into the power of the Danes. 4. The First Year of Alfred the Great.-At last the Danes met their match. Alfred, the youngest and the noblest of the grandsons of Egbert, was chosen king on his elder brother's death. That brother had left a son who would, in our time, have succeeded to the throne. But a warrior was wanted, and the warrior-uncle was lawfully chosen instead of the boy-nephew. Alfred was at firs defeated, and driven to take refuge in Athelney which was then an island in the midst of tl. swamps of Somersetshire across which the Gre Western Railway now runs with dry ground on eith side. After some time, he came out, gathered countrymen around him, defeated the Danes, forced them to accept the treaty of Wedmore. 5. Submission of the Danes to Alfred.-By Treaty of Wedmore in 878 England was divided two parts by a line which ran from the Than little below London to Chester on the Dee. T south-west of this line the land was English. the north-east it was Danish. The Danes had indeed slaughtered all the English in their but they had taken the best lands, and they ke power in their hands. The settlements of the are known by the termination 'by' at the e names of places. Such names as Grimsby or F tell us that a Dane once settled there. By ' |