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07 - King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbott · King Alfred of England

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  Speaker 1: Chapter six of King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbot.
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  Speaker 1: This is LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Ryan Cherick. King Alfred of
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  Speaker 1: England by Jacob Abbot. Chapter six Alfred's accession to the
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  Speaker 1: throne at the battle in which Alfred's brother Ethelred, whom
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  Speaker 1: Alfred succeeded on the throne, was killed. As is briefly
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  Speaker 1: mentioned at the close of chapter four, Alfred himself, than
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  Speaker 1: a brave and energetic young man, fought by his side.
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  Speaker 1: The party of Danes whom they were contending against in
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  Speaker 1: this final fight was the same one that came out
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  Speaker 1: in the expedition organized by the Sons of Lothbrook, and
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  Speaker 1: whose exploits in destroying monasteries and convents were described in
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  Speaker 1: the last chapter. Soon after the events there narrated, the
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  Speaker 1: formidable body of marauders moved westward toward that part of
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom were the dominions, more particularly pertaining to the
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  Speaker 1: family of alfred Ley, There was in those days a
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  Speaker 1: certain stronghold or castle on the River Thames about forty
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  Speaker 1: miles west from London, which was not far from the
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  Speaker 1: confines of Ethelred's dominions. The large and populous town of
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  Speaker 1: Reading now stands upon the spot. It is at the
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  Speaker 1: confluence of the River Thames with the Kennet, a small
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  Speaker 1: branch of the Thames, which here flows into it from
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  Speaker 1: the south. The spot, having the waters of the rivers
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  Speaker 1: for a defense, upon two sides of it, was easily fortified.
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  Speaker 1: A castle had been built there, and as usual in
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  Speaker 1: such cases, a town had sprung up about the walls.
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  Speaker 1: The Danes advanced to this stronghold and took possession of it,
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  Speaker 1: and they made it for some time their headquarters. It
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  Speaker 1: was at once the center from which they carried on
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  Speaker 1: their enterprises in all directions about the island, and the
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  Speaker 1: refuge to which they could always retreat when defeated and pursued.
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  Speaker 1: In the possession of such a fastness, they of course
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  Speaker 1: became more formidable than ever. King Ethelred determined to dislodge them.
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  Speaker 1: He raised accordingly as large a force as his kingdom
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  Speaker 1: would furnish, and taking his brother Alfred as his second
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  Speaker 1: in command, he advanced towards Reading in a very resolute
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  Speaker 1: and determined manner. He first encountered a large body of
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  Speaker 1: Danes who were out on a marauding excursion. This party
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  Speaker 1: consisted only of a small detachment, the main body of
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  Speaker 1: the army of the Danes having been left at reading
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  Speaker 1: to strengthen and complete the fortifications. They were digging a
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  Speaker 1: trench from river to river, so as completely to insulate
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  Speaker 1: the castle and make it entirely inaccessible on either side
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  Speaker 1: except by boats or a bridge. With the earth thrown
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  Speaker 1: out of the trench. They were making an embankment on
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  Speaker 1: the inner side, so that an enemy, after crossing the
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  Speaker 1: ditch would have to step ascent to climb defended too,
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  Speaker 1: as of course it would be in such an emergency,
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  Speaker 1: by long lines of desperate men upon the top, hurling
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  Speaker 1: at the assailants showers of javelins and arrows. While therefore
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  Speaker 1: a considerable portion of the Danes were at work within
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  Speaker 1: and around their castle to make it as nearly as
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  Speaker 1: possible impregnable as a place of defense, the detachment above
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  Speaker 1: referred to had gone forth for plunder under the command
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  Speaker 1: of some of the bolder and more adventurous spirits in
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  Speaker 1: the Horde. This party ethelred overtook a furious battle was fought,
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  Speaker 1: the Danes were defeated and driven off the ground. They
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  Speaker 1: fled towards reading Ethelred and Alfred pursued them. The various
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  Speaker 1: parties of Danes that were outside of the fortifications, employed
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  Speaker 1: in completing at the outworks, or encamped in the neighborhood
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  Speaker 1: were surprised and slaughtered, or at least vast numbers of
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  Speaker 1: them were killed, and the rest were treated within the works.
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  Speaker 1: All maddened at their defeat and burning with desire for revenge.
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  Speaker 1: The Saxons were not strong enough to dispossess them of
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  Speaker 1: their fastness. On the contrary, in a few days, the Danes,
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  Speaker 1: having matured their plans, made a desperate sally against the Saxons,
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  Speaker 1: and after a very determined and obstinate conflict, they gained
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  Speaker 1: the victory and drove the Saxons off the ground. Some
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  Speaker 1: of the leading Saxon chieftains were killed, and the whole
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  Speaker 1: country was thrown into great alarm at the danger which
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  Speaker 1: was impending that the Danes would soon gain the complete
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  Speaker 1: and undisputed possession of the whole land. The Saxons, however,
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  Speaker 1: were not yet prepared to give up the struggle. They
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  Speaker 1: rallied their forces gathered new recruits, reorganized their ranks, and
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  Speaker 1: made preparations for another struggle. The Danes, too, feeling fresh
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  Speaker 1: strength and energy in consequence of their successes, formed themselves
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  Speaker 1: in battle array, and leaving their stronghold, they marched out
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  Speaker 1: into the open country in pursuit of their foe. Armies
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  Speaker 1: gradually approached each other and prepared for battle. Everything portrended
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  Speaker 1: a terrible conflict, which was to be, in fact, the
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  Speaker 1: great final struggle. The place where the armies met was
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  Speaker 1: called in those times is Sestoun, which means ashtown. It
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  Speaker 1: was in fact a hillside covered with ash trees. The
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  Speaker 1: name has become shortened and softened in the course of
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  Speaker 1: the ten centuries which have intervened since this celebrated battle
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  Speaker 1: into Ashton. If indeed, as it generally supposed, the Ashton
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  Speaker 1: of the present day is the locality of the ancient battle.
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  Speaker 1: The armies came into the vicinity of each other toward
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  Speaker 1: the close of the day. They were both eager for
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  Speaker 1: the contest, or at least they pretended to be so,
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  Speaker 1: but they waited until morning. The Danes divided their forces
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  Speaker 1: into two bodies. The kings commanded one division, and certain
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  Speaker 1: chieftains called earls directed the other King. Ethelred undertook to
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  Speaker 1: meet this order of battle by a corresponding distribution of
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  Speaker 1: his own troops, and he gave accordingly to Alfred the
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  Speaker 1: command of one division, while he himself was to leave
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  Speaker 1: the other. All things being thus arranged, the hum and
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  Speaker 1: bustle of the two great encampments subsided at last at
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  Speaker 1: the late hour, as the men sought repose under the
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  Speaker 1: rude tents in preparation for the fatigues and exposures.
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  Speaker 2: Of the coming day.
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  Speaker 1: Some slept, others watched restlessly and talked together sleepless, under
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  Speaker 1: the influence of that strange excitement, half exhilaration and half
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  Speaker 1: fear which prevails in a camp on the eve of battle.
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  Speaker 1: The campfires burned brightly all the night, and the sentinels
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  Speaker 1: kept vigilant watch, expecting every moment some sudden alarm. The
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  Speaker 1: night passed quietly away. Ethelred and Alfred both arose early.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred went out to arouse and mustered the men in
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  Speaker 1: his division of the encampment and to prepare for battle. Ethelret,
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, sent for his priest and assembling
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  Speaker 1: the officers in immediate attendance upon him commenced divine service
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  Speaker 1: in his tent, the service of the mass, according to
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  Speaker 1: the forms and usages which even in that early day
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  Speaker 1: were prescribed by the Catholic Church. Alfred was thus spent
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  Speaker 1: on immediate and energetic action, while Ethelret thought that the
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  Speaker 1: hour for putting forth.
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  Speaker 2: The exertion of human strength did.
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  Speaker 1: Not come until time had been allowed for completing in
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  Speaker 1: the most deliberate and solemn manner, the work of imploring
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  Speaker 1: the protection of Heaven. Ethelred seems, by his conduct on
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  Speaker 1: this occasion to have inherited from his father even more
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  Speaker 1: than Alfred, the spirit of religious devotion, at least so
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  Speaker 1: far as to the strict and faithful observance of religious
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  Speaker 1: forms was concerned. There was, it is true, a particular
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  Speaker 1: reason in this case why the forms of divine service
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  Speaker 1: should be faithfully observed, and that is that the war
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  Speaker 1: was considered in a great measure of religious war. The
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  Speaker 1: Danes were Pagans, the Saxons were Christians. In making their
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  Speaker 1: attacks upon the dominions of Ethelred, the ruthless invaders were
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  Speaker 1: animated by a special hatred of the name of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: and they evinced a special hostility towards every edifice or
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  Speaker 1: institution or observance which bore the Christian name. The Saxons, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: in resisting them, felt that they were not only fighting
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  Speaker 1: for their own possessions and for their own lives, but
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  Speaker 1: that they were defending the Kingdom of God, and that He,
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  Speaker 1: looking down from his throne in the heavens, regarded them
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  Speaker 1: as the champions of his cause, and consequently that he
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  Speaker 1: would either protect them in a struggle, or if they fell,
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  Speaker 1: that he would receive them to mansions of special glory
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  Speaker 1: and happiness in heaven, as martyrs who had shed their
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  Speaker 1: blood in his service and for his golaes. Taking this
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  Speaker 1: view of the subject, ethelret insisted of going out to
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  Speaker 1: battle at the early dawn, collected his officers into his tent,
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  Speaker 1: and formed them into a religious congregation. Alfred, on the
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  Speaker 1: other hand, full of impetuosity and ardor, was arousing his men,
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  Speaker 1: animating them by his words of encouragement and by the
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  Speaker 1: influence of his example, and making as energetically as possible
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  Speaker 1: all the preparations necessary for the approaching conflict. In fact, Alfred,
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  Speaker 1: though his brother was king and he himself only a
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  Speaker 1: lieutenant general, under him had been accustomed to take the
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  Speaker 1: lead in all the military operations of the army, on
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  Speaker 1: account of the superior energy, resolution and tact which he
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  Speaker 1: evinced even in this early period of his life. His brothers,
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  Speaker 1: though they retained the scepter as it fell successively into
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  Speaker 1: their hands, relied mainly on his wisdom and courage in
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  Speaker 1: all their efforts to defend, and Ethelred may have been
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  Speaker 1: somewhat more at his ease in listening to the priest's
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  Speaker 1: prayers in his tent, from knowing that the arrangements for
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  Speaker 1: marshaling and directing a large part of the force were
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  Speaker 1: in such good hands. The two encampments of Alfred and
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  Speaker 1: Ethelred seemed to have been at some little distance from
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  Speaker 1: each other. Alfred was impatient at Ethelred's delay. He asked
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  Speaker 1: the reason for it. They told him that Ethelred was
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  Speaker 1: attending Mass, and that he had said he should on
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  Speaker 1: no account leave his tent until the service was concluded. Alfred,
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  Speaker 1: in the meantime took possession of a gentle elevation of land,
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  Speaker 1: which now would give him an advantage in the conflict.
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  Speaker 1: A single thorn tree growing there alone marked the spot
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  Speaker 1: The Danes advanced to attack him, expecting that as he
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  Speaker 1: was not sustained by Ethelred's division of the army, he
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  Speaker 1: would be easily overpowered and driven from his post. Alfred
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  Speaker 1: himself felt an extreme and feverish anxiety at Ethelred's delay.
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  Speaker 1: He fought, however, with the greatest determination in bravery. The
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  Speaker 1: Thorn Tree continued to be the center of the conflict
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  Speaker 1: for a long time, and as the morning advanced, it
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  Speaker 1: became more and more doubtful how it would end. At last, Ethelred,
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  Speaker 1: having finished his devotional services, came forth from his camp
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  Speaker 1: at the head of his division and advanced vigorously to
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  Speaker 1: his faltering brother's aid. The soon decided the contest. The
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  Speaker 1: Danes were overpowered and put to flight. They fled at
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  Speaker 1: first in all directions wherever each separate band saw the
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  Speaker 1: readiest prospect of escape from the immediate vengeance of their pursuers.
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  Speaker 1: They soon, however, all began with one accord to seek
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  Speaker 1: the roads which would conduct them to their strongholder. Reading
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  Speaker 1: They were madly pursued and massacred as they fled by
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  Speaker 1: Alfred and Ethelred's army. Vast numbers fell the remnants secured
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  Speaker 1: their retreat, shut themselves up within their walls.
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  Speaker 2: And began to devote their eager and.
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  Speaker 1: Earnest attention to the work of repairing and making good
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  Speaker 1: their defenses. This victory changed, for the time being the
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  Speaker 1: whole face of affairs, and led in various ways to
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  Speaker 1: very important consequences, the most important of which was, as
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  Speaker 1: we shall presently see, that it was the means indirectly
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  Speaker 1: of bringing Alfred soon to the throne. As to the
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  Speaker 1: cause of the victory, or rather the manner in which
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  Speaker 1: it was accomplished, the writers of the times give very
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  Speaker 1: different accounts, according as their respective characters inclined them to
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  Speaker 1: command in man a feeling of quiet trust and confidence
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  Speaker 1: in God when placed in circumstances of difficulty or danger,
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  Speaker 1: or a vigorous and resolute exertion of his own powers.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred looked for deliverance to the determined assaults and heavy
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  Speaker 1: blows which he could bring to bear upon his pagan
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  Speaker 1: enemies with weapons of steel. Around the thorn tree in
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  Speaker 1: the field Ethelred trusted to his hope of attaining by
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  Speaker 1: his in his tent, the effectual protection of Heaven. And
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  Speaker 1: they who have written the story differ as they who
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  Speaker 1: read it will. On the question to whose instrumentality the
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  Speaker 1: victory is to be ascribed, one says that Alfred gained
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  Speaker 1: it by his sword. Another that Alfred exerted his strength
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  Speaker 1: and his valor in vain, and was saved from defeat
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  Speaker 1: and destruction only by the intervention of Ethelred, bringing with
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  Speaker 1: him the blessing of Heaven. In fact, the various narratives
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  Speaker 1: of these ancient events which are found at the present
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  Speaker 1: day in old chronicles that record them, differ always very essentially,
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  Speaker 1: not only in respect to matters of opinion and to
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  Speaker 1: the point of view in which they are to be regarded,
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  Speaker 1: but also in respect to questions of fact.
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  Speaker 2: Even the place where this battle was.
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  Speaker 1: Fought, notwithstanding what we have said about the derivation of
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  Speaker 1: Ashton from Eskandoun, is not absolutely certain. There is in
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  Speaker 1: the same vicinity another town called Ashbury, which claim the honour.
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  Speaker 1: One reason for supposing that this last is the true
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  Speaker 1: locality is that there are the ruins of an ancient
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  Speaker 1: monument here, which tradition says, was a monument built to
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  Speaker 1: commemorate the death of a Danish chieftain slain here by Alfred.
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  Speaker 1: There is also in the neighborhood. Another very singular monument
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  Speaker 1: called the White Horse, which also has the reputation of
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  Speaker 1: having been fashioned to commemorate Alfred's victories. The white Horse
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  Speaker 1: is a rude representation of a horse, formed by cutting
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  Speaker 1: away the turf from the steep slope of a hill
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  Speaker 1: so as to expose a portion of the white surface
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  Speaker 1: of the chalky rock below. Of such a form that
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  Speaker 1: the figure is called a horse, though they who see
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  Speaker 1: it seem to think it might as well have been
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  Speaker 1: called a dog. The name, however, of the white horse,
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  Speaker 1: has come down with it from the ancient times, and
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  Speaker 1: the hill on which it is cut is known as
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  Speaker 1: the white Horse Hill. Some ingenious antiquitarians think they find
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  Speaker 1: evidence that this gigantic profile was made to commemorate the
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  Speaker 1: victory obtained by Alfred and Ethelred over the Danes at
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  Speaker 1: the ancient s c.
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  Speaker 2: Stoone.
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  Speaker 1: However this may be, and whatever view we may take
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  Speaker 1: of the comparative influence of Alfred's energetic action and Ethelred's
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  Speaker 1: religious faith and the defeat of the Danes at this
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  Speaker 1: great battle, it is certain that the results of it
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  Speaker 1: were very momentous to all concerned. Ethelred received a wound,
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  Speaker 1: either in this battle or in some of the smaller
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  Speaker 1: contests and collisions which followed it, under the effects of
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  Speaker 1: which he pinned and lingered for some months and then died. Alfred,
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  Speaker 1: by his decision and courage on the day of battle,
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  Speaker 1: and by the ardor and resolution with which he pressed
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  Speaker 1: all the subsequent operations during the period of Ethelred's decline,
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  Speaker 1: made himself still more conspicuous in the eyes of his
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  Speaker 1: countrymen than he had ever been before. In looking forward
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  Speaker 1: to Ethelred's approaching death, the people accordingly began to turn
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  Speaker 1: their eyes to Alfred as his successor. There were children
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  Speaker 1: of some of his older brothers living at that time,
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  Speaker 1: and they, according to all received principles of hereditary right,
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  Speaker 1: would naturally secede to the throne. But the nation seems
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  Speaker 1: to have thought that the crisis was too serious and
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  Speaker 1: the dangers which threatened their country were too imminent to
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  Speaker 1: justify putting any child upon the throne. The accession of
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  Speaker 1: one of those children would have been the signal for
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  Speaker 1: a terrible and protracted struggle among powerful relatives and friends
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  Speaker 1: for the regency. During the minority of the youthful sovereign
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  Speaker 1: and this, while the Danes remained in their stronghold at
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  Speaker 1: reading and daily expectation of new reinforcements from beyond the
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  Speaker 1: sea would have plunged the country into hopeless ruin. They
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  Speaker 1: turned their eyes toward Alfred, therefore as their sovereign, to
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  Speaker 1: whom they were to bow so soon as Ethelred should
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  Speaker 1: cease to breathe. In the meantime, the Danes, far from
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  Speaker 1: being subdued by the adverse turn of fortune which had
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  Speaker 1: befallen them, strengthened themselves and their fortress, made desperate sallies
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  Speaker 1: from their intrenchments, attacked their foes on every possible occasion,
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  Speaker 1: and kept the country in continual alarm. They at length
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  Speaker 1: so far recruited their strength and intimidated and discouraged their foes,
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  Speaker 1: whose king and nominal leader, Ethelred, was now less able
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  Speaker 1: than ever to resist them. As to take the field again,
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  Speaker 1: they fought more pitched battles, and though the Saxon chroniclers
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  Speaker 1: who narrate these events are very reluctant to admit that
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  Speaker 1: the Saxons were really vanquished in these struggles, they allowed
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  Speaker 1: that the Danes kept the ground, which they successively took
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  Speaker 1: post upon and the discouraged and disheartened inhabitants of the
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  Speaker 1: country were forced to retire. In the meantime, too, new
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: parties of Danes were continually arriving on the coast and
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  Speaker 1: spreading themselves in marauding and plundering excursions all over the country.
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  Speaker 1: The Danes at Reading were reinforced by these bands, which
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  Speaker 1: made the conflict between them and Ethelred's forces more unequal. Still,
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  Speaker 1: Alfred did his utmost to resist the tide of ill fortune,
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  Speaker 1: with a limited and doubtful authority which he held, but
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  Speaker 1: all was in vain. Ethelred, worn down, probably with anxiety
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  Speaker 1: and depression which the situation of his kingdom brought upon him,
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  Speaker 1: lingered for a time and then died, and Alfred was
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  Speaker 1: by general consent called to the throne. This was in
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  Speaker 1: the year eight seventy one. It was a matter of
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  Speaker 1: moment to find a safe and secure place of deposit
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  Speaker 1: for the body of Ethelred, who, as a Christian slain
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  Speaker 1: and contending with Pagans, was to be considered a martyr.
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  Speaker 1: His memory was honored as that of one who had
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  Speaker 1: sacrificed his life in defense of the Christian faith. They
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  Speaker 1: knew very well that even his lifeless remains would not
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  Speaker 1: be safe from the vengeance of his foes unless they
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  Speaker 1: were placed effectually beyond the reach of these desperate marauders.
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  Speaker 1: There was far to the south, in Dorsetshire, on the
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  Speaker 1: southern coast of England, a monastery at Wimborne, a very
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  Speaker 1: sacred spot, worthy to be selected as a place of
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  Speaker 1: a royal sepulcher. The spot has continued sacred to the
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  Speaker 1: present day, and it is now upon the site as
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  Speaker 1: is supposed of the ancient monastery, a grand cathedral church
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  Speaker 1: or minister, full of monuments of former days, and impressing
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  Speaker 1: all beholders with its solemn architectural grandeur. Here they conveyed
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  Speaker 1: the body of ethel Red and interred it. It was
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  Speaker 1: a place of sacred seclusion where they reigned, a solemn
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  Speaker 1: stillness in awe which no Christian hostility would have ever
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  Speaker 1: dared to disturb. The sacrilegious paganism of the Danes, however,
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  Speaker 1: would have respected it but little if they had ever
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  Speaker 1: found access to it.
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  Speaker 2: But they did not.
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  Speaker 1: The body of Ethylred remained undisturbed, and many centuries afterward
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  Speaker 1: some travelers who visited the spot recorded the fact that
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  Speaker 1: there was a monument there with this inscription in Hawk
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  Speaker 1: loco quist Corpus ethilreddi Regis West Saxonium Martyrs Cleano Domini
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: Aprilus per menace Danorum Paganorum occupant such as the commonly
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: received opinion of the death of Ethelred, And yet some
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: of the critical historians of modern times, who find cause
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: the doubt or disbelieve a very large portion of what
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: is stated in ancient records, attempt to prove that Ethelred
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: was not killed by the Danes at all, but that
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: he died of the plague, which terrible disease was at
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: that time prevailing in that part of England. At all events,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: he died and alpared his brother was called to reign
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: in his stead. End of Chapter six recording by Ryan
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Cherrick