FROM THE DANISH TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST

Ethelred and the Danes

The period from the close of Eadgar's reign to the Norman conquest (975-1066) was one of great disturbance and confusion. With few exceptions the Anglo-Saxon kings showed little of the military sagacity and statesmanship of their predecessors. From without, continued Danish attacks brought misery to the people and finally ended with the accession of a line of Danish kings to the English throne; while from within the kingdom arose great territorial lords, whose ambitions and quarrels threatened England with disunion and civil war, the worst features of feudalism.

After the short reign of Eadward the Martyr, whose violent death was the result of a disputed succession, Ethelred, the younger son of Eadgar, was raised to the throne in 979. Idle and incompetent, he was unfit to rule by himself, and his councillors, ambitious and evil-minded, gave him only bad advice. thelred the Redeless, "the unwisely advised," he was justly called in his own day. Around him were men who, taking advantage of his weakness, quarrelled among themselves for the leadership, and became, each in his own earldom, like independent lords. Thus the English, governed by an inefficient king, and divided among themselves by the rivalries of the ealdormen, were in no condition to meet the attack of the Danes, who now appeared off their coasts.

The new invasion of the Danes was very different from that of Alfred's day. It was the work of a Danish king and army, coming from a Danish kingdom, and it had a purpose and unity that the earlier movement had not possessed. The Danish invasion of the ninth century was the last phase of a great tribal wandering, that is, it represented the work of tribes, not kings; the invasion of the tenth and eleventh centuries was the work of kings, not tribes. In this sense Olaf, Sweyn, and Cnut were the forerunners of William the Conqueror, who, though not a king, was the head of a compact and well-organized feudal state.

The ships of the Danish conquerors were first seen in 980 off Southampton, then off the east coast, and a little later off Dorset; and they met with little opposition. The East Saxon ealdorman, the mighty Byrthnoth, was slain in a fight with Olaf, afterward king of Norway, at Malden, August 11, 991, a fight celebrated in one of the most spirited of old English songs. Then Ethelred and his witan, acting under the advice of Archbishop Siroc, made a peace with the Danish king, arranged the terms under which English and Danes should live side by side, each under his own law, and for the peace paid a price of I0,000. In 994, 16,000 were paid. These sums in-List have been exceedingly heavy. The money was raised by a tax on land, called Danegeld, the first general tax levied in England, so far as we know, since there is no evidence to show how Alfred got the money that he paid to the Danes. But tribute once given was sought again more eagerly. One heretoga tried to resist, but in vain, for unity of military defence no longer existed. In 999 king and witan raised a ship force to cooperate with the land force, but so inefficient was the management that nothing was accomplished; and tribute was again paid to the amount of 24, 000. Finally, in 1002, other measures having failed, Ethelred resorted to massacre; and on St. Brice's day caused the Danish residents in. southern England to be slain.

Then came Sweyn Fork-beard, who had been among the earlier invaders and who returned now to wreak a bitter vengeance on the English king for the death of his sister, slain on St. Brice's day. Blow after blow was struck; towns were burned, harvests were ruined. In 1007 tribute to the enormous sun-, of 30,000 was paid, and in addition 3000 in East Kent. In 1009 ships were again built, shipgeld was levied, a national fast observed; but all to no purpose.. Jealousy, treachery, and bad management prevailed and rendered all efforts useless. At last the men of the north, who had never wanted thelred for their king, went over to Sweyn ; Wessex, East Anglia, and London did the same. In 1014 Sweyn died, leaving the kingdom to his son Cnut. Then the English recalled Ethelred, who had been forced to flee to Normandy. But in 1016 thelred himself died, and was succeeded by his son Edmund, called Ironside for his bravery, a much abler man than his father. For nine months Edmund carried on the struggle against Cnut in the north with courage and skill; then he died, and Cnut became the ruler of all the English.