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Project Gutenberg's Britain in the Middle Ages, by Florence L. Bowman
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Britain in the Middle Ages
A History for Beginners
Author: Florence L. Bowman
Release Date: July 29, 2012 [EBook #40371]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITAIN IN THE MIDDLE AGES ***
Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
BRITAIN IN THE MIDDLE AGES
A HISTORY FOR BEGINNERS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
C. F. CLAY, Manager
LONDON: FETTER LANE, E. C. 4
NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
BOMBAY }
CALCUTTA } MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
MADRAS }
TORONTO: J. M. DENT AND SONS, LTD.
TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA
All Rights Reserved
[Illustration: THE ARMING OF A KNIGHT]
BRITAIN IN THE MIDDLE AGES
A HISTORY FOR BEGINNERS
BY
FLORENCE L. BOWMAN, M.Ed.
FINAL HONOUR SCHOOL OF MODERN HISTORY, OXFORD
LECTURER IN EDUCATION, HOMERTON COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1920
_First Edition_ 1919
_Second Edition_ 1920
PREFACE
Since, in the early stages of school work, it is more important to
present, as vividly as possible, some of the fundamental historic ideas
than to give any outline of events, it is hoped that this collection of
stories, told from the chronicles, may provoke readers to discussion
and further inquiry.
Questions have been included in the appendix, some suggesting handwork,
both as a means of presentation in lessons and for illustrative
purposes.
Considerable use has been made of literature as historic evidence.
Stories like those of the Knights of the Round Table often leave us
with a clearer impression of the spirit of the times than any historic
record. Many books of the kind are now easily accessible and could be
read side by side with the text. Collections of pictures, such as the
Bayeux Tapestry, published by the Victoria and Albert Museum, and
Foucquet's _Chroniques de France_, offer valuable opportunities
for some research on the child's part.
F. L. BOWMAN.
HOMERTON COLLEGE
_December_, 1918
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. BEFORE THE COMING OF THE ROMANS 1
II. THE ROMANS 3
III. THE SAXONS 6
IV. THE SAXON VILLAGE 9
V. THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY 15
VI. ALFRED AND THE DANES 20
VII. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS 27
VIII. NORMAN KINGS 31
IX. NORMAN BARONS 34
X. NORMAN PRELATES 39
XI. NORMAN BUILDERS 44
XII. KNIGHTHOOD 47
XIII. THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE 52
XIV. THE CONQUEST OF IRELAND 57
XV. THE COMING OF THE FRIARS 61
XVI. THE THIRD CRUSADE 64
XVII. THE LOSS OF NORMANDY. THE SIGNING OF
THE GREAT CHARTER 69
XVIII. THE FIRST PARLIAMENT 71
XIX. THE CONQUEST OF WALES 74
XX. THE WAR WITH SCOTLAND 76
XXI. THE WAR WITH FRANCE 79
XXII. THE WAR WITH FRANCE (_continued_) 83
XXIII. THE BLACK DEATH AND THE PEASANTS' REVOLT 85
XXIV. THE WAR WITH FRANCE (_continued_) 89
XXV. NEW WORLDS 95
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 100
BIBLIOGRAPHY 102
DATES 103
TIME CHART 104
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE ARMING OF A KNIGHT FRONTISPIECE
From John Duke of Bedford's _Book of Hours_
(15th century). In the British Museum
TO FACE PAGE
THE ABBEY OF CITEAUX 18
From Viollet-le-duc, D_ictionnaire raisonne de
l'architecture francaise_
A SERVICE IN THE CHAPEL 19
From the _Miracles de Notre Dame_, collected
by Mielot, Canon of S. Peter's at Lille, and
finished on 10 April, 1456. In the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris
By arrangement with MM. Catala Freres, Paris
HAROLD DEFEATS AND KILLS TOSTIG AND THE KING
OF NORWAY AT STAMFORD BRIDGE 30
From the _Life of Edward the Confessor_
(about 1260). In the University Library, Cambridge
A BATTLE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 31
By Jean Foucquet, from the _Grandes chroniques
de France_ (middle of the 15th century). In the
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
By arrangement with MM. Catala Freres, Paris
ARCHITECT AND BUILDERS 44
From a Bible written at Lille, about 1270. In the
library of Mr S. C. Cockerell
BUILDING A CHURCH IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 44
By Jean Foucquet, from the _Grandes chroniques
de France_ (middle of the 15th century). In the
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
By arrangement with MM. Catala Freres, Paris
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM 45
From the _Antiquites Judaiques_, by Jean
Foucquet (middle of the 15th century)
By kind permission of MM. Plon-Nourrit et Cie,
Paris
A SIEGE 46
From Viollet-le-duc, _Dictionnaire raisonne de
l'architecture francaise_
GATEWAY AND DRAWBRIDGE 47
From Viollet-le-duc, _Dictionnaire raisonne de
l'architecture francaise_
A COURT OF JUSTICE, 1458. DUKE OF ALENCON CONDEMNED
FOR TREASON BY CHARLES VII, KING OF FRANCE 72
By Jean Foucquet. From _Le Boccace de Munich_. In
the Royal Library at Munich.
The King is seated on his throne, and below him
the princes, and on his right the Chancellor of
France with bands of gold on his shoulder.
Sentence is being read by one of the officers of
the law. On the King's left the lords of the
Church are seated and below are the chief officers
of the realm. Outside the barrier is the royal
guard
THE PARLIAMENT OF EDWARD I 73
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are seated
just below Alexander King of Scotland, and
Llewelyn Prince of Wales. The two behind are
supposed to be the Pope's ambassadors. There are
19 mitred Abbots, 8 Bishops and 20 Peers present.
The Chancellor and Judges are seated on the
woolsacks.
From Pinkerton, _Iconographia Scotica_. Probably
drawn in the 16th century
PREPARING THE FEAST 88
From the _Luttrell Psalter_ (14th century).
In the British Museum
THE FEAST 89
From the _Luttrell Psalter_ (14th century).
In the British Museum
A CHRISTIAN OF CONSTANTINOPLE BORROWING MONEY
FROM A JEW AND PLEDGING HIS CRUCIFIX 96
From the _Miracles de Notre Dame_, collected
by Jean Mielot, and finished on 10 April, 1456.
In the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
By arrangement with MM. Catala Freres, Paris
MIELOT IN HIS STUDY 97
From the _Miracles de Notre Dame_, collected
by Jean Mielot, and finished on 10 April, 1456.
In the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
By arrangement with MM. Catala Freres, Paris
A PRINTING PRESS 97
A mark of Josse Badius Ascensius. From _De
Sacramentis_ of Thomas Waldensis, 1521. In
the University Library, Cambridge
THE TWELVE MONTHS AT END
From _Les tres riches heures de Jean de France,
Duc le Berry_, chiefly the work of Pol de
Limbourg, painted between 1412 and 1416 and now
in the Musee Conde, Chantilly
By kind permission of MM. Plon-Nourrit et Cie, Paris
CHAPTER I
BEFORE THE COMING OF THE ROMANS
The world is very old, and it has taken a long time to discover much of
the ancient story of Britain. Scholars have found out many things
because they are able now to read the signs on the rocks and under the
soil. From the tools left behind, from the remains of dwellings and
from treasures found in graves, we have learned about the ways of men
in times before history was written down.
Once, it seems, Britain was a hot land. Great forests grew up
everywhere. Strange wild creatures roamed about, and there were
monsters in the waters.
Once, too, it was a very cold land, and the snow lay in the valleys and
ice-glaciers came sliding down the mountains, making great river beds
as they passed.
As it grew warmer, the ice melted and disappeared. The ice fields left
pools of water behind them, the lakes that you find in the country
still. The rivers, too, brimming over, flowed swiftly to the sea.
Mighty rivers they must have been, broader and deeper than they are
now.
When men came, they made their homes in the caves and in underground
dwellings, and later they built mud huts. They hunted for their food,
learned to weave clothes from the grasses, to make weapons from stone
and to strike fire from the rocks. This is a very long story and we
know little about it.
Of the Britons who dwelt here, we know something from those who had
heard of them and wrote about them. Round about their villages, they
made wattle-fences to keep away their enemies and the wild beasts that
came out of the forests in winter nights.
They were shepherds and had many herds of sheep and cattle, and they
grew a little corn. Sometimes, travellers from far-off lands came to
visit them, to exchange their eastern coins for grain and skins.
The Britons loved beautiful things. They made cunning designs on their
shields and helmets and with dainty tracings they ornamented their pots
and jugs. They wove linen in fine patterns and knew how to make dyes.
They were fond of music and told stories to one another of dragons and
heroes and the great dreams of men.
When their chief died, they raised a mound over his grave; sometimes,
too, great pillars of stone. They carried presents of corn and meat and
fruit to put upon the grave, because they thought he might need them on
his long journey. In some parts of the country, there are pillars of
stone set up in circles. It is thought that perhaps the Britons used
these as temples, praying and making their offerings under the sky, in
sunshine and starshine.
The Romans said that the Britons loved riding wild horses, which they
had tamed, and they were so skilful that however fast they galloped,
the rider could make the horse stand quite still at any moment. They
sometimes rode in chariots and drove furiously. When they went into
battle they armed their chariots with sharp knives and cut the enemy
down on both sides. But they did not use their chariots often, for they
would rather tend flocks in the fields than go to war.
CHAPTER II
THE ROMANS
The best soldiers in the world were the Romans, who came from the great
city of Rome, far away in Italy. Everybody had heard of their mighty
deeds, for they had conquered nearly every land except Britain, and to
them Britain seemed to be in the farthest corner of the world, just on
the edge, a land, no doubt, of dragons and strange wild people. Now the
Romans had heard that there was meat and corn in plenty in the land,
that there were tin mines, and tin was very useful for mixing with
copper to make armour. So they invaded Britain.
The great Roman army moved very slowly through the land, for there were
few roads. Sometimes the soldiers had to cut down trees to make their
way through the forests, sometimes they had to cross the dismal
fenlands, sometimes to make a bridge over a flooded river, or to wade
knee-deep through the swamps. As they marched, they had to fight with
the Britons.
The Scots had heard of their coming and were safely hiding in their
fastnesses when the Romans reached the Borderland. Then the Romans
built a great wall from sea to sea between the two countries, Scotland
and Britain, a wall that must have taken several years to build even if
they had thousands of men to build it. It was made of the finest stone,
which they seem to have carried many miles across the country. It was
nine feet wide and eighteen feet high and the turrets were placed so
near together that the sentinels could call to one another and so send
a message quickly. Below the wall, on the enemy's side, they dug a deep
ditch, often having to make it through the hard limestone rock. Every
mile, they built a spacious fort for the soldiers to rest in, well
defended and quite close to the wall. Every four miles, there was a
station, sometimes a small town, surrounded by a wide wall, too, where
perhaps the chief officers lived. From station to station, from east to
west, ran the great road, for the traffic of the army. Up to the gates
of the stations, too, came the new Roman roads from the south, for the
army sometimes had to call for help from other places and needed food
and many things from the south. It must have been a stern duty to keep
watch in the bleak winter months, and the soldiers seem to have had few
comforts. The remains of this great wall still lie from Wallsend to the
west coast.
At the cross-roads, by the great rivers, the Romans built their towns
and camps all over Britain, just like those they had known in Italy.
Every town was surrounded by a great wall, whence the soldiers could
keep a look-out for the enemy, and nobody could enter the place except
through the gates between sunrise and sunset. Outside the town, they
sometimes built an amphitheatre, where games and wild beast fights were
held on holidays.
The houses of the chief officers were built like those in sunny Italy.
The most interesting room in the house was the bath-room, with a large
tank, like a swimming bath, in the floor and a furnace to keep a good
supply of hot water. The floor was paved with beautiful coloured tiles
and scenes were painted on the walls. This room was very important,
because the Roman often received his guests there and sometimes invited
them to share in the ceremony of the bath. The garden was often lovely,
there were orchards and smooth lawns and closely clipped hedges of box
and yew, sometimes cut into fantastic shapes like birds and beasts.
There were brightly coloured flowers, which had been brought from
Italy--geraniums, roses and orchids. Then, there was the summer house,
whose walls were made of tall trees growing close together, and inside
were couches and rugs and sometimes even a little lake in the centre,
where jellies and fruits were to be seen floating in beautiful dishes,
to keep them cool and fresh, as though the summer in Britain were very
hot.
There was much work to be done. The Roman officer had to visit the
camps, driving in his chariot or carried in his litter by his slaves.
He had to see that the road-making went on well, for the Romans made
fine roads through Britain from north to south, to the east and to the
west. He had to look after the building of the factories, where the
wool was made into cloth and dyed in the famous purple dye, and if he
lived in the south west, the tin mines in Cornwall had to be
supervised. Sometimes, he had even to take the long and difficult
journey to Rome. The Britons looked on at this new life with great fear
and wonder, and soon they learned to make better houses, to raise
better crops and to live in the towns.
When, three hundred years later, all the Romans were called to their
own land to protect it against a strong enemy, the Britons were worse
off than ever they had been before. Not only did the Scots come over
the wall to burn and steal, but a new and a stronger enemy came over
the seas from Denmark and Germany to seize the treasure that the Romans
had left unguarded.
CHAPTER III
THE SAXONS
These sea robbers were the Angles and the Saxons, and Britain became
Angleland or England. They were fine men, tall and strong, with long
fair hair and blue eyes. The Britons gazed in wonder as boat after boat
glided into the bays. Graceful, brightly coloured boats they were, with
forty oars on each side and a magnificent sail, sometimes made of silk,
embroidered with a dragon or a serpent, the gift of a great prince may
be. Every sailor, as he stepped ashore, became a soldier, armed himself
with his shield which he took from the vessel's side, and a sword, the
best in the world, dearer to him than all other treasures, made by the
chief, or by a famous blacksmith.
The Britons marked the chief long before he landed, for he stood at the
prow or gave orders. His corselet was of beaten gold or bronze, his
helmet too. If indeed he were a great champion, he carried on his
helmet a pair of eagle's wings, or a cock's comb, as the reward of his
bravery and skill in battle. All these men had been soldiers since they
were twelve years old. They had learned "to run, to ride, to swim, to
wrestle and to leap," so it is no wonder that the Britons fled before
them in terror. Some fell into the hands of these stern warriors and
became their servants, but those who lived in peace in the mountains of
the west were called "Welsh," i.e. "foreigners," by all who heard of
them afterwards. The Scots vanished into their fastnesses and the
Saxons became lords of Britain.
The Saxons loved fighting and hunting, but when the hunt and the fight
were over they came back to their spacious halls, where they hung up
their swords and trophies and gathered round the banquet table or sat
by the fire, making rhymes and listening to the tales and songs of the
gleemen. While the mead cup was being passed round, they heard the
songs about the gods and the great heroes of old, and sometimes they
liked to think that Odin took a seat amongst them and told his tale.
Odin, the one-eyed father of all the gods, crept in with a scarlet
cloak wrapped round him, feasted with them, and, at dawn, the doors of
the hall opened mysteriously, a great wind blew, and he was gone.
They had many stories about the gods and Valhalla, the home of the
spirits, whither every good soldier hoped to journey at the end of his
life. Thor was the great god of thunder; you could see his red beard,
when the Northern light shone in the winter sky. Sometimes he drove by
in his chariot with the sound of a storm, the lightning was the flash
of his eye, and the thunder his mighty hammer striking the rocks as he
passed.
The most beloved of the gods of the northmen was Baldur, the god of
Spring. Once, he had a dream that a great cloud passed over him, and
his mother, in sorrow, summoned all the things upon the earth to
promise never to hurt her son. Everything promised, the mountains and
the trees and the rocks and the rivers, everything except the little
mistletoe, which grew at the palace gate and was so small that nobody
thought it could do any harm. But Loki, the god of mischief, Baldur's
brother, guided the hand of blind Hoedur and so killed Baldur with an
arrow made from the mistletoe.
Odin was very angry when he heard the news and mounted his war horse to
ride to Valhalla, to fetch Baldur from the home of the spirits. But the
old witch, who sat at the gates, would not let Baldur return to the
earth until she heard that everything on the earth was weeping for him.
Everything did weep, except Loki and the little mistletoe. So the witch
allows Baldur to come back for three months every year, and then the
earth puts on her freshest green, the flowers blossom, the corn ripens,
and gods and men rejoice. Thus, the Saxons showed how much they loved
the sunshine and the warmth and the south winds that come in the summer
time.
When a hero died, the Saxons sent him on his journey to Valhalla, with
food enough to last a week and with all his treasures, his sword and
helmet, his hunting trophies and his most loved things. They liked best
of all to send him on his boat across the unknown seas. They towed it
to the harbour mouth, set fire to it, when the sun was going down,
shouting as they watched it drift away, "Odin, receive thy Champion."
They fancied Odin sat in the far North with all the gods waiting to
welcome a brave man and to give him a seat of honour in his hall. For
the Saxons thought a brave soldier the noblest of all men.
CHAPTER IV
THE SAXON VILLAGE
Though the Saxons loved fighting, they soon learned to love peace and
to rule their kingdoms well. They divided the spoil amongst themselves
and the chiefs rewarded their soldiers with lands. They built their
villages as near the streams as they could, so that they might get
water easily. They built them near the woods, if possible, so that they
could get timber to build their houses and fuel for the winter; but not
so near that an enemy could spring on them suddenly without a warning,
or the packs of hungry wolves come prowling round in the long, dark
nights. Any stranger who came in sight of the village must blow his
horn three times loudly, else the Saxons killed him, for they feared
anyone they did not know.
The soldiers who settled in the village were freemen, and they shared
in the harvest of the soil. Only half the land was ploughed for seed
and the other half was left fallow or idle for a year. In the ploughed
land, they planted wheat or rye one year and barley next time, after a
year's rest. Sometimes they divided the land and planted wheat in one
half in October and barley in the other in March. When the ploughing
was done, they were all very careful to throw up a little heap of earth
to make a ridge between the strips in each field, so that each freeman
might know his own strip in the wheat field and in the barley field
too. He made bread from the wheat or rye and a drink from the barley,
and if there were any to spare he would exchange it for some of the
things he wanted very much, honey perhaps, for everybody needed that
when there was no sugar.
Beyond the ploughed lands, there was a piece of common ground, where
all the freemen turned out their geese and cows and sheep and pigs,
though the pigs liked the woods better, for there they could find
acorns and hazel nuts.
There was a hayfield, too, and, when spring came, a fence was put all
round it and it was carefully divided into strips, so that everyone had
a share of the hay. The "hayward" was a busy man, for it was his duty
to keep the woods, corn and meadows. In haytime, he looked after the
mowers. In August, he was to be seen, rod in hand, in the cornfields,
watching early and late, so that no beasts strayed and trampled down
the corn.
When Lammastide came, all the freemen kept holiday for joy that harvest
time had come.
Now, there was sure to be one man who had more treasure than the
others, and oxen perhaps for the plough. It was very hard work trying
to plough the fields with less than eight, so the other freemen were
glad to borrow the oxen sometimes. But the chief, the rich man, made a
bargain, that those who borrowed his oxen should pay him by doing three
days' work a week for him in his fields, for they had no money. So, in
time, he became lord over them.
Then he made a mill where all the corn should be ground into flour and
every man who brought a sackful must pay so many handfuls of flour to
the miller for his trouble. Not every village had a mill, so it
sometimes happened that men travelled far to make a bargain with the
miller, for they found it slow work to grind their own corn between the
grindstones at home.
From an old writing[1] that we have still, we can find out many things
about the peasants, for they tell how they spend their time. The
ploughman says: "I work hard. I go out at daybreak driving the oxen to
the field and I yoke them to the plough. Be it never so stark winter I
dare not linger at home for awe of my lord, but having yoked my oxen
and fastened share and coulter, every day I must plough a full acre or
more. I have a boy driving the oxen with a goad-iron, who is hoarse
with cold and shouting. And I do more also. I have to fill the bins of
the oxen with hay, and water them and take out their litter. Mighty
hard work it is, for I am not free." The shepherd says: "In the first
morning I drive my sheep to their pasture and stand over them in heat
and in cold, with my dogs, lest the wolves swallow them up; and I lead
them back to their folds and milk them twice a day, and their folds I
move, and I make cheese and butter and I am true to my lord."
[1] AElfric's _Dialogues_.
The oxherd says: "When the ploughman unyokes the oxen, I lead them to
pasture and all night I stand over them waking against thieves; and
then again in the early morning I betake them, well-filled and watered,
to the ploughman."
The King's hunter says: "I braid me nets and set them in fit places and
set my hounds to follow up the wild game, till they come unsuspecting
to the net and are caught therein, and I slay them in the net. With
swift hounds I hunt down wild game. I take harts and boars and bucks
and roes and sometimes wild hares. I give the King what I take because
I am his hunter. He clothes me well and feeds me and sometimes gives me
a horse or an arm-ring that I may pursue my craft merrily."
The fisherman says: "I go on board my boat and cast my net into the
river and cast my angle and baits and what they catch I take. I cast
the unclean fish away and take the clean for meat. The citizens buy my
fish. I cannot catch as many as I could sell, eels and pike, minnows
and trout and lampreys. Sometimes I fish in the sea, but seldom, for it
is a far row for me to the sea. I catch there herring and salmon,
porpoises and sturgeon and crabs, mussels, periwinkles, sea-cockles,
plaice and fluke and lobsters and many of the like. It is a perilous
thing to catch a whale. It is pleasanter for me to go to the river with
my boat than to go with many boats whale-hunting."
The fowler says: "In many ways I trick the birds--sometimes with nets,
with snares, with lime, with whistling, with a hawk, with traps. My
hawks feed themselves and me in winter, and in Lent I let them fly off
to the woods and I catch me young birds in harvest and tame them. But
many feed the tamed ones the summer over, that they have them ready
again."
The merchant says: "I go aboard my ships with my goods, and go over sea
and sell my things and buy precious things which are not produced in
this country and bring them hither to you, brocade and silk, precious
gems and gold, various raiment and dye-stuffs, wine and oil, ivory, and
brass and bronze, copper and tin, sulphur and glass and the like. And I
wish to sell them dearer here than I buy them there, that I may get
some profit wherewith I may feed myself and my wife and my sons."
While all the village people were busy at their work in the fields,
they must have peace and order in the land. Every week, the lord and
the freemen met together under the great oak tree to talk about
business. If they heard of any evil deed done near their village, the
lord rode out at the head of all the men who could ride or run, to find
the evil doer, and they searched for miles, shouting "Hi! Hi!" and if
they passed through any village, they summoned every freeman to follow
in the chase. When the thief was found, he was brought back to his own
village, and if he could not find any who would stand by him as "oath
helpers," then none would listen to his tale. They said that only the
great god could judge, so they prayed that Odin would send a sign.
Sometimes, they bound the prisoner hand and foot and threw him into the
village pond; if he floated they said, "He is not guilty." Sometimes,
they burned the prisoner with hot irons or made him thrust his hand
into boiling water; then the wounds were bound up; and if, after three
days, they were healed and there was no scar, they said, "He is not
guilty." But this did not happen often.
Sometimes, if the man had a bad character, they branded him on the
forehead with the sign of a wolf's head and took him to the forest,
where he had to live all the rest of his life, for no one would have an
outlaw in a village. If a man were afraid of being made an outlaw, he
must find a great lord and ask him to protect him. If the man promised
to work for a lord or gave him a present of fish or corn or honey every
year he could find a lord. If it should happen that he were caught by
the Hue and Cry, on that day the word of his lord in his favour was
worth more than the words of six freemen against him. So most people
worked for a lord.
As time went on, the King began to call the lords and freemen together
to ask them about a great war, or to make some new laws. They did not
like going very much, for travelling was troublesome and dangerous. So
the King usually asked only his cup-bearer and chamberlain and the
great men of his court for advice.
CHAPTER V
THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY
Some there were who had heard of Christ in the old days, but a band of
monks landing on the coast of Kent brought the news again to this
country. Pope Gregory had sent Augustine from Rome to tell the Saxons
about Christ, for he was sorry that they loved Odin and Thor, and did
not know any other god. Ethelbert, the King of Kent, had a Christian
wife, and he was very anxious to know what these strangers had to say
about the new God. But he was afraid that they might know how to work
charms and to call out wicked spirits, so he let Augustine and his
monks preach to the people out of doors, for he thought that they could
not harm any one in the open air. When the Roman monks preached, many
people became Christians, but the old Saxon poets sang sorrowful
stories of Odin's anger, and how the gods had left the world for ever
because the people were not faithful. Bede tells a story of how the old
wise men of Northumbria met together to decide whether they would give
up the old gods for Christ or not, and as they sat in solemn silence,
thinking of this great thing, an old man rose and said, "The present
life of man, O King, seems to me like the swift flight of a sparrow,
who on a wintry night darts into the hall, as we sit at supper. He
flies from the storms of wind and rain outside, and for a brief space
abides in the warmth and light, and then vanishes again into the
darkness whence he came. So is the life of man, for we know not whence
we came nor whither we go. Therefore if this stranger can tell us
anything more certain, we should hearken gladly to him." Thus, they
became Christians. They built churches in their villages; first of
wood, then of stone.
Many Christian teachers then came to England and built homes or
monasteries, wherever they went, first of rough timber, then of stone.
They made clearings in the forests and drained the fenlands, and the
people followed and built houses for themselves near the monasteries,
for they found that they could learn many things from the monks. The
sick, the poor, the tired and the old were always welcome, and
travellers too were glad to rest there, for there were no inns in those
days.
The monks were ruled by an abbot, and the nuns, who lived in other
houses, by an abbess. They took a vow of poverty and thought that they
served God best by giving their time to prayer and praise.
They loved their monastery, and, as the centuries went by, they made it
more and more beautiful. The people gave rich offerings and builders
came from foreign lands, skilled in stonework and other arts. Carvings
were made for the church, pictures were painted on the walls, and
flowers and trees were brought from the Holy Land to plant in the
gardens. In this way came the cedar trees and the juniper, and certain
plants that now grow wild in parts of the country like the poisonous
hellebore, the grape hyacinth and the little fritillary or snake's
head. Great men brought gifts of frankincense and myrrh, to be burned
in the church on holy days, or jewels for the altar, and silk from the
east for hangings, but the greatest treasure of all was the "relic."
People would travel many miles to see this, for those who saw it could
be healed of their sickness or forgiven for their sins. There were many
curious relics. There were little bits of wood, that men believed
belonged to the real cross, on which Christ was crucified, and thorns,
which were said to have come from His crown. S. Louis, King of France,
built the beautiful Sainte Chapelle in Paris, where he might keep the
crown of thorns, which the Crusaders brought from Palestine.
The monastery was usually built round a square garden or lawn. On one
side was the church, on another the hall and large kitchens and
pantries, for there were often visitors, some of high estate, and they
must be royally feasted. In the Rule of S. Benedict it was written,
"Let all guests who come to the monastery be entertained like Christ
Himself; because He will say, 'I was a stranger and ye took me in'."
The guest-house must stand apart "so that the guests, who are never
wanting in a monastery, may not disquiet the brethren by their untimely
arrivals." Anyone could claim a lodging for two nights, and in a few
monasteries there was stabling provided for as many as three hundred
horses.
There was a long dormitory where the monks slept. It was the custom for
them to get up at midnight to make a procession into the church by the
night stairs. There they said matins and lauds (the last three psalms),
and then returned to the dormitory to sleep if it were winter until
daybreak, if summer till sunrise. Only those who had worked hard in the
fields all day were excused. They dressed by the light of the wicks set
in oil in little bowls at either end of the dormitory.
In the cloisters were troughs for washing before meals, filled with
water by taps; and above were little cupboards for towels.
Some monasteries had a library, for they were quite rich in books. Then
there was a writing room, where the scribes were busy making beautiful
copies of the precious books, some skilled in writing, others in
painting and illuminating. When the writing was done, the artist
brought his colours to make the capital letters and the little pictures
in the text. There was music to be copied too, and the accounts of the
Abbey must be kept neatly. Sometimes a chronicle was made of great
events that happened. It is from such books as these that we have
learned much about the story of the country.
[Illustration: THE ABBEY OF CITEAUX
A. Round this court, stables and barns. H. Guest houses and abbot's
quarters. N. The Church. I. The kitchen. K. The dining hall. M. The
dormitories. P. Cells of the scribes. R. The hospital.]
[Illustration: A SERVICE IN THE CHAPEL]
The monks led peaceful lives in days when most men were busy about war.
The monks divided the hours between sunrise and sunset into twelve
equal parts, so it happened that the hour in winter was twenty minutes
shorter than in summer. Every three hours, there was a service in
church, prime at the first, terce at the third, sext at the sixth and
none at the ninth. After prime, on summer mornings, the monks were
summoned by the Abbot to the chapter house and there each man received
his task. The latest business was talked about and plans were made for
the coming guests. Then each monk went to his business, some to the
gate to give food to the poor and help to the sick, some to work in the
orchard and garden, to spin or to weave, though in some monasteries
this kind of work was done for the brethren. They had their first meal
at midday in the hall in silence. While they ate, one of their number,
who had already had his meal, would read to them from a book of sermons
or the Lives of the Saints. After grace, the Miserere (Psalm 51) was
sung through the cloister. In summer, they would rest in the afternoon,
in the dormitory or perhaps in the cloister, on the sunny south side,
where they could read or think or pray. In winter, they worked at this
time, because their nights were long. Vespers was read at sunset, then
came supper. Compline ended the day, but it sometimes happened that
they lingered in the warming-house to chat with one another, but this
was against rules.
Kings and princes found out what wise counsellors these men were and
brought them to the courts to help them govern, though this was against
the rules of the monastic orders.
Then, in those days, Abbots began to ride forth like princes,
monasteries were full of treasure and monks forsook the humbler ways of
life they had once followed.
CHAPTER VI
ALFRED AND THE DANES
After the Saxons had been in England many years, when their weapons had
grown rusty and they had almost forgotten how to fight, bands of Danes
came sailing over the North Sea to plunder the land. "God Almighty sent
forth these fierce and cruel people like swarms of bees," says the
chronicler. First, they carried away the beautiful things from the
monasteries and churches, and then they came to live here. They drove
the Saxons from their houses or built new villages by the side of the
old ones. We know that they must have settled in Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire, in Westmorland and Cumberland, because they gave Danish
names to many places, such as Grimsby (Grim's town), Whitby, Appleby.
In those days, the Danes grew very bold. "Ships came from the west
ready for war with grinning heads and carven beaks," runs the legend,
"the golden war banner" shining in the bows. They tried to conquer the
west and south, as well as the north and east. In the land of the West
Saxons, many battles were fought, and still the little band of hungry,
worn-out soldiers stood at bay.
It was at this time that Alfred was made King and, like his father and
brothers, was soon defeated and driven into Athelney, a little island
in the west in the midst of a great swamp. There, he spent the winter
drilling his soldiers and making plans to drive away the Danes in the
spring time. A story is told of how he went into the Danish camp as a
bard. He carried a harp, and while the mead cup was handed round, he
sang the old sagas. When the feast was done and the chess board was
brought out, the captains talked about the war, as they played their
favourite game. So Alfred heard their plans.
The Danes were surprised when the spring came, for Alfred drove them
out of his kingdom and made them promise never to come into the land of
the West Saxons again.
But he did not try to drive them out of England, for he knew that it
would be many years before his people would be strong enough, perhaps
not until his own children were grown up. So he worked hard all his
life to make his people good soldiers and thoughtful men, in order
that, when the time came, they could drive the enemy across the seas
and rule over the whole land in their stead.
"Formerly," said the King, "foreigners sought wisdom and learning in
this land, now we should have to get them from abroad if we would have
them." Alfred found his nobles careless and idle, they loved hunting
and feasting and thought very little about ruling a kingdom or leading
an army. They were too old to learn, but the king made up his mind that
their children should grow up good soldiers and wise rulers. So he made
a school at his court for these boys. There they learned the art of war
and many other things too.
They read the history of their own country from Bede's Book, that had
been kept at York. This book was written in Latin, so the King had to
have it translated for them. He had heard of the fame of a great
writer, Asser, who lived in South Wales. Messages were sent to him to
ask him to come to Alfred's court to write the history of the reign.
Asser did not wish to leave his beautiful home, but in the end, he
promised to stay for six months every year; that is why we know so much
about this great King.
Alfred turned into English some beautiful old Latin books that taught
men how to rule well, and in the margins he himself wrote what he
thought wise counsel. Two of these books had been written by Pope
Gregory who sent Augustine to England, and at the beginning of one of
them there are these words, "Alfred, King, turned each word of me into
English and sent me to his writers, north and south, and bade them make
more such copies that he might send them to the bishops."
Alfred loved reading and he wrote down all the wise sayings that he
found. Asser tells the story of how the King came to do this.
"When we were one day sitting together in the royal chamber and were
holding converse upon divers topics, as our wont was, it chanced that I
repeated to him a quotation from a certain book. And when he had
listened attentively to this with all his ears, and had carefully
pondered it in the deep of his mind, suddenly he showed me a little
book which he carried constantly in the fold of his cloak. In it were
written the Daily Course and certain psalms and some prayers, which he
had read in his youth, and he commanded that I should write that
quotation in the same little book. And when he urged me to write that
as quickly as possible, I said to him, 'Are you willing that I should
write the quotation apart by itself on a small leaf? For we know not
that at some time we shall not find some other such quotation or more
than one, which will please you: and if it should so turn out
unexpectedly we shall rejoice that we have kept this apart from the
rest.'
"And when he heard this, he said 'Your counsel is good.' And I, hearing
this and being glad, made ready a book of several leaves, in haste, and
at the beginning of it I wrote that quotation according to his command.
And on the same day, by his order, I wrote in the same book no less
than three other quotations pleasing to him, as I had foretold."
"This book he used to call his handbook, because with the utmost care
he kept it at his hand day and night and in it he found, as he said, no
small comfort."
Alfred desired to hear of other lands, but there were hardly any maps
in those days and no books of geography. Great travellers were welcomed
at his court, for, when he was very young, he had paid a visit to Rome
and had seen a little of foreign lands. Othere, the famous seaman, who
had sailed in the Arctic regions, came to tell his stories of the
frozen seas that men could walk upon and of the strange midnights when
the sun shone as bright as by day. Othere spoke of whales and walruses
and he brought their tusks of fine ivory to show the King. Wulfstan
came, too, and he had travelled in Prussia and brought stories of a
land rich in honey and fish.
Travellers came from the hot lands, from India and the far east. They
brought presents of tiger skins and spices, of rich silks and jewels.
They told stories of wonderful deserts, of the high snowy mountains and
thick jungles, that they had passed on their long journey. The King
delighted to read of elephants and lions and of "the beast we call
lynx" that men said could see through trees and even stones.
"Or what shall I say," says the chronicler, "concerning the daily
intercourse with the nations which dwell from the shores of Italy unto
the uttermost bounds of Ireland? for I have seen and read letters and
gifts sent to Alfred by Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem."
In this way the West Saxon folk heard of great, unknown countries and
peoples, and the sons of the nobles learned not only "to run, to ride,
to swim and to make runes or rhymes," but to be great rulers and
adventurers as their forefathers had been.
Alfred was a very busy King, for not only had he to receive ambassadors