The Conquest of England (Volume 1)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1906. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V THE HOUSE OF ALFRED 901-937 With the death of DEGREESElfred the work for which he had so long prepared passed into the hands of his son.1 Eadward seems only partially to have shared his father's taste for letters; while his younger Chap. v. brother, DEGREESEthelweard, mastered both Latin and The House English in the palace-school,1 Eadward's studies, -- like those of most of the young nobles, were restricted to books and songs in his own tongue. But he was already famous as a warrior who had rivalled the glory of DEGREESEthelred in the storm of the pirate camp on the Colne as well as in the victory of Buttington; and with his father's warlike ardour he inherited his political capacity. Like Alfred he was able to set aside for years the dreams of mere warlike enterprize; and his earlier reign, though troubled for a while by the revolt of a claimant of his throne, was in the main a time of peace. The failure of their last attack had left the English Danes little minded to quarrel with Wessex, while the strength of their Wiking allies was thrown for some years into the strife on the other side of the Channel, where Hrolf was establishing himself in the valley of the Seine. The peace indeed was far from being unbroken. DEGREESElfred's death had revived the question of the succession; the order established under DEGREESEthelwulf by which his sons followed one another to the exclusion of their children was now exhausted; and it can only have been by a 1 For Eadward's reign the great authority is the English Chronicle. The portion of this work due to Alfred's pen, or written under his supervision, probably ends in 891 [Earle, Parallel Chron. Intr. xv.-xvii.], but from 891 to Eadward's death in 924 the annals are carried on by a writer of singular force. Of the years from 894...