a coast in summer, pillage and destroy, then disappear. In the first instance they cared for nothing but plunder and took pleasure in laying waste the territory they visited. Their condition was quite similar to that of the Saxons and Jutes who had invaded Britain almost three hundred years before. These Danes were the terror of the land. They destroyed trade, burned monasteries, plundered villages and killed the inhabitants. Finally they fortified themselves near by and did not return to the far north in the fall. In vain the Saxon kings tried to control their lawless chiefs; they recognized no authority and showed no pity.

In 871 Alfred succeeded to the throne left vacant by his brother's death. Fortunate was it for the future of England that he was possessed of unusual ability and capacity to organize and control a harassed country. The Danes began a struggle for possession of the island that at first threatened to engulf the inhabitants quite as they themselves had formerly overcome the Celts. However, Alfred was tireless and after repeated defeats rallied the people to a final stand against the invaders. He was victorious and made a treaty with the Danish chieftain-the famous Treaty of Wedmore. It provided that the Danes should not invade the territory of the Anglo-Saxons but should have lands comprising most of the southeastern part of the island for their habitation. While the destruction accompanying the struggle was for the time tremendous, the result was fortunate in that it brought an infusion of new and vigorous blood into the English race.

Alfred was by far the greatest of the Saxon kings. He restored peace and order in his kingdom and when settled life came once more to his stricken country, set to work to improve the condition of his people. Schools were founded, books translated into the language of the Saxons, and education encouraged. The ignorance of England was at this time very dense; even the priests, it is said, were frequently unable to read the church services. Alfred was by nature a student and he found personal pleasure in thus promoting learning in his realm. He began the Saxon chronicle, which was continued for three hundred years after his death.

King Alfred took prudent measures for the future protection of England by building a fleet of ships, made to cope with

those of the Vikings. He helped to revive commerce which had fallen away during years of insecurity. One of his greatest services was the collection and codifying of the laws. These remain to us and from them we are able to understand the stage of development already attained by the Saxons. They had passed through the age of blood retribution and the injured frequently accepted money in compensation for the harm they had suffered. In several respects Alfred's Code can be compared with the Code of Hammurabi, formulated about 2250 B. C. in Babylonia.

In 1016 the Danes were for the first time strong enough to enthrone one of their number, Cnut, who reigned also in Denmark and Scandinavia. After his death the Saxons reinstated their line, Edward the Confessor ascending the throne in 1042. He has been remembered as a very religious ruler. Educated and trained at the court of Normandy, his ways were quite unlike those of the people over whom he came to reign. Possessing qualities for which he has always been revered, Edward was, notwithstanding, a weak king who depended upon a stronger arm to make his rule effective. During the later years, Harold rendered support to his sovereign, and when the king died, Harold was chosen by the Witan to succeed him.

FROM KING ALFRED'S CODE OF LAWS.

If any one smite his neighbor with a stone or with his fist, and he nevertheless can go out with a staff; let him get a leech, and work his work the while that himself may not.

If an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, let it be stoned, and let not its flesh be eaten. The lord shall not be liable, if the ox were wont to push with its horns for two or three days before, and the lord knew it not; but if he knew it, and he would not shut it in, and it then shall have slain a man or a woman, let it be stoned; and let the lord be slain, or the man be paid for, as the Witan decree to be right. If it gore a son or a daughter, let him be subject to the like judgment. But if it gore a "theow" or a "theow-mennen,' "let XXX shillings of silver be given to the lord, and let the ox be stoned.

Injure ye not the widows and the step-children, nor hurt them anywhere: for if ye do otherwise, they will cry unto me, 'Bondman and Bondwoman.

and I will hear them, and I will then slay you with my sword; and I will so do that your wives shall be widows and your children shall be step-children.

Judge thou very evenly: judge thou not one doom to the rich, another to the poor; nor one to thy friend, another to thy foe, judge thou.

If any one fight in the king's hall, or draw his weapon, and he be taken; be it in the king's doom, either death or life, as he may be willing to grant.

2

If a man fight before an archbishop or draw his weapon, let him make bot with one hundred and fifty shillings. If before another bishop or an ealdorman this happen, let him make bot with one hundred shillings.

If a man, kinless of paternal relatives, fight, and slay a man, and then if he have maternal relatives, let them pay a third of the wer; his guild-brethren a third part; for the third let him flee. If he have no maternal relatives, let his guild-brethren pay half, for half let him flee.

If a man strike out another's eye, let him pay LX. shillings, and VI. shillings, and VI. pennies and a third part of a penny, as bot. If it remain in the head, and he cannot see aught therewith, let one-third part of the bot be retained.

If a man strike out another's tooth in the front of his head, let him make bot for it with VIII. shillings; if it be the canine tooth, let IV. shillings be paid as bot. A man's grinder is worth XV. shillings.

If the shooting finger be struck off, the bot is XV. shillings; for its nail it is IV. shillings.

If a man maim another's hand outwardly, let XX. shillings be paid him as bot, if he can be healed; if it half fly off, then shall be XL. shillings as bot.

-Quoted in Kendall's Source-book of English History.

2 Compensation to the injured.

Valuation of a man expressed in money.

Edward the Confessor left no heir or near relative to take his place as king of England. William of Normandy is said to have visited his cousin and exacted a promise that he would use his influence to have him named as the next sovereign. Harold, who was chosen to receive the crown, was a powerful earl and known to stand high in Edward's favor. Once while sailing on the Channel his ship had been blown against the French coast in a sudden storm. He was captured and retained. William of Normandy came to his rescue and held him for some time at his court. At length he agreed to give him his liberty if Harold in turn would swear to aid him upon the death of King Edward in securing the English crown. This promise, extracted under such circumstances, the Earl probably had little intention of keeping.

Ascending the throne, Harold well knew he would have to reckon with his Norman rival and he kept a strong guard along the coast. However, an exiled brother who had taken refuge with the king of Norway now incited the Vikings to ravage the English shores. Compelled to meet them, Harold hurried north and offered to pardon his faithless brother but to no avail. A battle was thereupon fought in which the Scandinavians were routed with great slaughter. Rejoicing at his victory in this quarter, Harold received tidings that William the Norman had landed in his kingdom with one hundred thousand men. Lacking a sufficient force, he had proclaimed far and near his intention of invading England, promising gifts of land to all who would join him.

There was little time to gather forces with a large foreign army in the land, and Harold could but hurry to meet it, commanding his nobles to rally men and follow. Several of the nobles were jealous of Harold and delayed bringing him support. A battle was fought on the field of Hastings, the English ranks filled with foot-soldiers, the Norman, with cavalrymen.

For some time the trial hung in the balance but finally the English were forced to give way before the well protected knights. Harold himself was killed.

Moving rapidly on to London, William was crowned king of England. The situation was rather strange: the new king knew little or nothing of the customs of the people over whom he aspired to rule and could not understand their language. Men who had joined him for spoils and land had to be rewarded and in order to satisfy their clamorings, he declared all lands belonging to those who had assisted Harold to be confiscated to the crown. Thus the greater portion of southeastern England fell into his hands and was granted out at once to his retainers. Those Saxons who had taken no part in the struggle might retain their possessions under the following conditions: they must pay a fee to the king, surrender to him their lands and receive them back as a feudal grant from him. So far the north and west remained in the hands of the Saxons, the south and east in the hands of the Normans. However, as soon as William departed for a brief sojourn in Normandy, several of the English lords rose up against the invaders and tried to drive them out. Unfortunately for their attempted revolt there was no concerted action and William returning was able to immediately quell the uprising. At best he was relentless and cruel and many a district was now left bare and desolate, ravaged by his retaliating army. Never again did the English attempt to assert themselves and whatever troubles the Norman kings experienced were due to jealousies on the part of their own people.

Many of the former customs were perpetuated by the new king. He summoned the Witan at regular intervals; he observed and enforced many of the earlier laws. Certain innovations were brought into the kingdom by him. He was passionately fond of hunting and for the purpose of preserving the game, turned wide tracts of land into royal preserves. Sometimes villages happened to be located in the areas coveted by William. In that case the people were driven from home, losing their all, that the king and his nobles might enjoy the excitement of the chase. All others were forbidden to kill the game and were punished by death if they disobeyed. The New Forest laws and regulations caused untold misery to the poor people who hated their oppressors because of them.