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02 - Life of Alfred the Great by Bishop of Sherbourne Asser · Life of Alfred the Great

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  Speaker 1: Part one, Section one of the Life of King Alfred.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. The Life of King Alfred by Asser,
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  Speaker 1: Bishop of Sherborne, translated by J. A. Giles, Part one,
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  Speaker 1: Section one The Life of King Alfred from a d.
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  Speaker 1: Eight hundred forty nine to a d. Eight hundred eighty
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  Speaker 1: seven Part one. In the year of our Lord's incarnation
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  Speaker 1: eight hundred forty nine, was born Alfred, King of the
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  Speaker 1: Anglo Saxons, at the royal village of Wanating in Berkshire,
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  Speaker 1: which country has its name from the wood of Berock,
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  Speaker 1: where the box tree grows most abundantly. His genealogy is
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  Speaker 1: traced in the following order. King Alfred was the son
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  Speaker 1: of King Ethelwulf, who was the son of Egbert, who
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  Speaker 1: was the son of Elmund, was the son of Aapha,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Aeopa, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Ingild. Ingild and Ina, the famous King of the
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  Speaker 1: West Saxons, were two brothers. Ina went to Rome and there,
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  Speaker 1: ending this life, honorably entered the heavenly Kingdom to reign
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  Speaker 1: there forever with christ Ingild Andina were the sons of Cohenrad,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Caelwald, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Coudam, who was the son of Cuthwin, who was
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  Speaker 1: the son of Kalden, who was the son of Kinrich,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Creoda, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Kurdic, who was the son of Alesa, who was
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  Speaker 1: the son of Gewis, from whom the Britons name all
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  Speaker 1: that nation, Gegwis, who was the son of Bron, who
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  Speaker 1: was the son of Beldeg, who was the son of Woden,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Frithewald, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Frayelaf, who was the son of Frithewulf, who is
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  Speaker 1: the son of Finn, of Godwulf, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Gayat, which Gaiat the Pagans long worshiped as a god.
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  Speaker 1: Note gegwis the Goissa generally understood to be the West Saxons.
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  Speaker 1: End of note. Sedulius makes mention of him in his
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  Speaker 1: metrical Paschal poem, as follows when gentile poets, with their fictions,
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  Speaker 1: vain and tragic language, and bombastic strain to their god
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  Speaker 1: Gayat comic deity loud praises sing et cetera. Gayat was
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  Speaker 1: the son of Tatwa, who was the son of Beoo,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Sceldi, who is the son
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  Speaker 1: of Heremoud, who is the son of Ettermon, who was
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  Speaker 1: the son of Hathra, who is the son of Guala,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Bedwig, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was
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  Speaker 1: the son of Lamek, who was the son of Methusalem,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Enoch, who was the son
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  Speaker 1: of Malalaki, who was the son of Canaan, who was
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  Speaker 1: the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of Adam. The mother of Alfred
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  Speaker 1: was named Osberga, a religious woman, noble both by birth
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  Speaker 1: and by nature. She was daughter of Oslac, the famous
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  Speaker 1: butler of King Ethelwulf, which Oslac was a Goth by
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  Speaker 1: nation descended from the Goths and Jutes of the seed,
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  Speaker 1: namely of Stuff and Whitgar. Two brothers and counts who,
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  Speaker 1: having received possession of the Isle of Wight from their uncle,
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  Speaker 1: King Curdic and his son Kinrich, their cousin slew the
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  Speaker 1: few British inhabitants whom they could find in that island
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  Speaker 1: at a place called Whitg Gerabourg, for the other inhabitants
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  Speaker 1: of the island had either been slain or escaped into exile.
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  Speaker 1: Note Guit Garibourg Carrisbrook as may be conjectured from the name,
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  Speaker 1: which is a combination of white and Caribourg end of note.
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  Speaker 1: In the year of Our Lord's Incarnation eight hundred fifty one,
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  Speaker 1: which was the third after the birth of King Alfred, Carol,
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  Speaker 1: Earl of Devon, fought with the men of Devon against
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  Speaker 1: the Pagans at a place called Wigemborg, and the Christians
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  Speaker 1: gained the victory. And that same year the Pagans first
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  Speaker 1: wintered in the island called Sheppey, which means the sheep
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  Speaker 1: Isle and is situated in the River Thames between Essex
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  Speaker 1: and Kent, but is nearer to Kent than to Essex.
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  Speaker 1: It has in it a fine monastery. The same year
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  Speaker 1: also a great army of the Pagans came with three
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty ships to the mouth of the the
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  Speaker 1: River Thames and sacked Dorobernia, which is the city of
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  Speaker 1: the Cantoarians and also the city of London, which lies
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  Speaker 1: on the north bank of the River Thames, on the
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  Speaker 1: confines of Essex and Middlesex. But yet that city belongs
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  Speaker 1: in truth to Essex. And they put to flight Beretwulf,
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  Speaker 1: king of Mercia, with all the army which he had
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  Speaker 1: led out to oppose them. After these things, the aforesaid
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  Speaker 1: Pagan host went into Surrey, which is a district situated
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  Speaker 1: on the south bank of the River Thames and to
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  Speaker 1: the west of Kent. And ethel Wulf, King of the
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  Speaker 1: West Saxons, and his son Ethelbald, with all their army,
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  Speaker 1: fought a long time against them at a place called Aklee,
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  Speaker 1: that is the Oak Plain, and there after a lengthened battle,
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  Speaker 1: which was fought with much bravery on both sides, the
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  Speaker 1: greater part of the Pagan multitude was destroyed and cut
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  Speaker 1: to pieces, so that we never heard of their being
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  Speaker 1: being so defeated either before or since in any country.
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  Speaker 1: In one day, and the Christians gained an honorable victory
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  Speaker 1: and wore triumphant over their graves. In the same year,
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  Speaker 1: King Athelstan, son of King ethel Wulf, and Earl Alhara,
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  Speaker 1: slew a large army of Pagans and kent at a
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  Speaker 1: place called Sandwich, and took nine ships of their fleet.
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  Speaker 1: The others escaped by flight. In the year of our
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  Speaker 1: Lord's incarnation eight hundred fifty three, which was the fifth
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  Speaker 1: of King Alfred wore Read, king of the Mercians, sent
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  Speaker 1: messengers and prayed ethel Wulf, King of the West Saxons,
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  Speaker 1: to come and help him in reducing the Midland Britons,
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  Speaker 1: who dwell between Mercia and the Western Sea, and who
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  Speaker 1: struggled against him most immoderately. So without delay, King ethel Wulf,
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  Speaker 1: having received the embassy, moved his army and advanced war
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  Speaker 1: with King Boorhread against Britain, And immediately on entering that country,
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  Speaker 1: he began to ravage it, and having reduced it under
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  Speaker 1: subjection to King Boord, he returned home. Note this is
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  Speaker 1: one of the few instances in the work in which
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  Speaker 1: the name Britannia applied to Wales. End of note. In
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  Speaker 1: the same year, King Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred above
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  Speaker 1: named to Rome with an honorable escort, both of nobles
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  Speaker 1: and commoners. Pope Leo the Fourth at that time presided
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  Speaker 1: over the Apostolic Sea, and he anointed for king the
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  Speaker 1: aforesaid Alfred, and adopted him as his spiritual son. The
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  Speaker 1: same year, also Earl Alhara with the men of Kent
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  Speaker 1: and Eluda with the men of Surrey, fought bravely and
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  Speaker 1: resolutely against an army of the Pagans in the island
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  Speaker 1: which is called in the Saxon tongue Tenet, but Room
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  Speaker 1: in the British language. The battle lasted a long time,
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  Speaker 1: and many fell on both sides, and also were drowned
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  Speaker 1: in the water, and both the earls were there slain.
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  Speaker 1: In the same year, also after Easter, Ethelwulf, king of
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  Speaker 1: the West Saxons, gave his daughter to Boorred, king of
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  Speaker 1: the Mercians, and the marriage was celebrated royally at the
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  Speaker 1: royal ville of Chippenham. In the year of our Lord's
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  Speaker 1: incarnation eight hundred fifty five, which was the seventh after
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  Speaker 1: the birth of the aforesaid King Edmund, the most glorious
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  Speaker 1: King of the East Angles began to reign on the
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  Speaker 1: eighth day before the callons of January, that is, on
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  Speaker 1: the birthday of our Lord in the fourteenth year of
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  Speaker 1: his age. In this year also died Lothare, the Roman Emperor,
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  Speaker 1: son of the pious Lewis Augustus. In the same year,
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  Speaker 1: the aforesaid venerable King ethel Wulf released the tenth part
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  Speaker 1: of all his kingdom from all royal service and tribute,
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  Speaker 1: and with a pen never to be forgotten, offered it
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  Speaker 1: up to God, the one and the three in one
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  Speaker 1: in the Cross of Christ, for the redemption of his
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  Speaker 1: own soul and of his predecessors. In the same year
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  Speaker 1: he went to Rome with much honor, and taking with
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  Speaker 1: him his son, the aforesaid King Alfred, for a second
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  Speaker 1: journey thither, because he loved him more than his other sons.
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  Speaker 1: He remained there a whole year, after which he returned
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  Speaker 1: to his own country, bringing with him Judith, daughter of Charles,
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  Speaker 1: the King of the Franks. In the meantime, however, whilst
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  Speaker 1: King Ethelwulf was residing beyond the sea, a base deed
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  Speaker 1: was done repugnant to the morals of all Christians in
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  Speaker 1: the western part of Selwood. For King Ethelwald, son of
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  Speaker 1: King Ethelwulf, and Alstone, Bishop of the Church of Sherborne,
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  Speaker 1: with aon Wulf, Earl of the District of Somerton, are
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  Speaker 1: said to have made a conspiracy together that King Ethelwulf,
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  Speaker 1: on his return from Rome, should never again be received
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  Speaker 1: into his kingdom. This crime, unheard of in all previous ages,
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  Speaker 1: is ascribed by many to the Bishop and Earl alone,
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  Speaker 1: as resulting from their counsels. Many also ascribe it solely
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  Speaker 1: to the insolence of the king, because that king was
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  Speaker 1: pertinacious in this matter and in many other perversities, as
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  Speaker 1: we have heard related by certain persons, as also was
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  Speaker 1: proved by the result of that which follows. For as
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  Speaker 1: he was returning from Rome, his son aforesaid, with all
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  Speaker 1: his counselors, or as I ought to say, his conspirators,
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  Speaker 1: attempted to perpetrate the crime of repulsing the King from
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  Speaker 1: his own kingdom. But neither did God permit the deed,
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  Speaker 1: nor would the nobles of all Saxony consent to it.
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  Speaker 1: For to prevent this irremediable evil to Saxony of a
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  Speaker 1: son warring against his father, or rather of the whole
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  Speaker 1: nation carrying on civil war, either on the side of
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  Speaker 1: the one or the other, the extraordinary mildness of the father,
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  Speaker 1: seconded by the consent of all the nobles, divided between
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  Speaker 1: the two. The kingdom which had hitherto been undivided. The
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  Speaker 1: eastern parts were given to the father, and the western
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  Speaker 1: to the son. For where the father ought by just
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  Speaker 1: right to reign, there his unjust and obstinate son did reign.
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  Speaker 1: For the western part of Saxony is always preferable to
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  Speaker 1: the eastern. When ethel Wulf therefore, was coming from Rome,
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  Speaker 1: all that nation, as was fitting, so delighted in the
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  Speaker 1: arrival of the old man, that if he permitted them,
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  Speaker 1: they would have expelled his rebellious son Ethelbald, with all
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  Speaker 1: his counselors, out of the kingdom. But he, as we
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  Speaker 1: have said, acting with great clemency and prudent counsel, so
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  Speaker 1: wished things to be done that the kingdom might not
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  Speaker 1: come into danger. And he placed Judith, daughter of King Charles,
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  Speaker 1: whom he had received from his father by his own side,
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  Speaker 1: on the regal throne, without any controversy or enmity from
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  Speaker 1: his nobles, even to the end of his life, contrary
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  Speaker 1: to the perverse custom of that nation. For the nation
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  Speaker 1: of the West, Saxons do not allow a queen to
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  Speaker 1: sit beside the king, nor to be called a queen,
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  Speaker 1: but only the king's wife, which stigma the elders of
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  Speaker 1: that land say, arose from a certain obstinate and malevolent
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  Speaker 1: queen of the same nation, who did all things so
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  Speaker 1: contrary to her lord and to all the people, that
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  Speaker 1: she not only earned for herself exclusion from the royal seat,
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  Speaker 1: but also entailed the same stigma upon those who came
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  Speaker 1: after her. For in consequence of the wickedness of that queen,
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  Speaker 1: all the nobles of that land swore together that they
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  Speaker 1: would never let any king reign over them who should
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  Speaker 1: attempt to place a queen on the throne by his side.
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  Speaker 1: And because, as I think it is not known to many,
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  Speaker 1: whence this perverse and detestable custom arose in Saxony, contrary
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  Speaker 1: to the custom of all the Theotsian nations, it seems
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  Speaker 1: to me right to explain a little more fully what
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  Speaker 1: I have heard from my Lord Alfred, King of the
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  Speaker 1: Anglo Saxons, as he also had heard it from many
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  Speaker 1: men of truth, who in great part recorded that fact.
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  Speaker 1: There was in Mercia in recent times a certain valiant
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  Speaker 1: king who was feared by all the kings and neighboring
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  Speaker 1: states around. His name was Offha, and it was he
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  Speaker 1: who had the great rampart made from sea to sea
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  Speaker 1: between Britain and Mercia. Note Offa's dyke between Wales and England.
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  Speaker 1: End of note. His daughter, named Adburga, was married to Bertrick,
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  Speaker 1: King of the West Saxons, who, immediately, having the king's
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  Speaker 1: affections and the control of almost all the kingdom, began
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  Speaker 1: to live tyrannically like her father, and to execrate every
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  Speaker 1: man whom Bertrick loved, and to do all things hateful
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  Speaker 1: to God and man, and to accuse all she could
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  Speaker 1: before the King, and so to deprive them insidiously of
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  Speaker 1: their life or power. And if she could not obtain
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  Speaker 1: the King's consent, she used to take them off by poison,
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  Speaker 1: as is ascertained to have been the case with a
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  Speaker 1: certain young man beloved by the King, whom she poisoned,
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  Speaker 1: finding that the King would not listen to any accusation
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  Speaker 1: against him. It is said moreover that King Bertrick unwittingly
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  Speaker 1: tasted of the poison, though the queen intended to give
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  Speaker 1: it to the young man only, and so both of
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  Speaker 1: them perished. Bertrick therefore being dead, the queen could remain
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  Speaker 1: no longer among the West Saxons, but sailed beyond the
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  Speaker 1: sea with immense treasures, and went to the court of
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  Speaker 1: the great and famous Charles, King of the Franks. As
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  Speaker 1: she stood before the throne and offered him money, Charles
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  Speaker 1: said to her, choose ad Berga between me and my son,
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  Speaker 1: who stands here with me. She replied, foolishly and without deliberation,
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  Speaker 1: if I am to have my choice, I choose your son,
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  Speaker 1: because he is younger than you, at which Charles smiled
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  Speaker 1: and answered, if you had chosen me, you would have
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  Speaker 1: had my son. But as you have chosen him, you
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  Speaker 1: shall not have either of us. However, he gave her
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  Speaker 1: a large convent of nuns, in which, having laid aside
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  Speaker 1: the secular habit and taken the religious dress, she discharged
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  Speaker 1: the office of abbess during a few years, for as
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  Speaker 1: she is said to have lived irrationally in her own country,
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  Speaker 1: so she appears to have acted still more so in
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  Speaker 1: that foreign country. For being convicted of having had unlawful
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  Speaker 1: intercourse with a man of her own nation, she was
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  Speaker 1: expelled from the monastery by King Charles's order, and lived
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  Speaker 1: a vicious life of reproach, in poverty and misery until
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  Speaker 1: her death, so that at last, accompanied by one slave
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  Speaker 1: only as we have heard from many who saw her,
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  Speaker 1: she begged her bread daily at Pavia, and so miserably died.
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  Speaker 1: Now King Ethelwulf lived two years after his return from Rome,
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  Speaker 1: during which, among many other good deeds of this present life,
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  Speaker 1: reflecting on his departure according to the way of all flesh,
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  Speaker 1: that his sons might not quarrel unreasonably after their father's death,
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  Speaker 1: he ordered a will or letter of instructions to be written,
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  Speaker 1: in which he ordered that his kingdom should be divided
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  Speaker 1: between his two eldest sons, his private inheritance between his sons,
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  Speaker 1: his daughters, and his relations, and the money which he
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  Speaker 1: left behind him between his sons and nobles, and for
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  Speaker 1: the good of his soul. Of this prudent policy, we
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  Speaker 1: have thought fit to record a few instances out of many,
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  Speaker 1: for posterity to imitate, namely, such as are understood to
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  Speaker 1: belong principally to the needs of the soul. For the others,
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  Speaker 1: which relate only to human dispensation, it is not necessary
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  Speaker 1: to insert in this work, lest prolixity should create disgust
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  Speaker 1: in those who read or wish to hear my work.
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  Speaker 1: For the benefit of his soul, then which he studied
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  Speaker 1: to promote in all things. From his youth. He directed,
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  Speaker 1: through all his hereditary dominions, that one poor man in
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  Speaker 1: ten either native or foreigner, should be supplied with meat,
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  Speaker 1: drink and clothing by his success until the day of judgment. Supposing, however,
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  Speaker 1: that the country should still be inhabited both by men
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  Speaker 1: and cattle, and should not become deserted. He commanded also
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  Speaker 1: a large sum of money, namely three hundred mancuses, to
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  Speaker 1: be carried to Rome for the good of his soul,
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  Speaker 1: to be distributed in the following manner, namely one hundred
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  Speaker 1: mancuses in honor of Saint Peter, specially to buy oil
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  Speaker 1: for the lights of the Church of that Apostle on
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  Speaker 1: Easter Eve and also at the cock Crow, a hundred
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  Speaker 1: mancuses in honor of Saint Paul for the same purpose
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  Speaker 1: of buying oil for the Church of Saint Paul the
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  Speaker 1: Apostle to light the lamps on Easter Eve and at
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  Speaker 1: the cock crow. And a hundred mancuses for the Universal
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  Speaker 1: Apostolic Pontiff. But when King Ethel Wolf was dead and
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  Speaker 1: buried at Stemrugum, his son Ethel Bald, contrary to God's
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  Speaker 1: prohibition and the dignity of a Christian. Contrary also to
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  Speaker 1: the custom of all the Pagans, ascended his father's bed
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  Speaker 1: and married Judith, daughter of Charles, King of the Franks,
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  Speaker 1: and drew down much infamy upon himself from all who
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  Speaker 1: heard of it. Note stemrougum Ingram supposes this to be Stonehenge. Stanningham, however,
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  Speaker 1: is the common reading which Camden thinks is staining. In Sussex.
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  Speaker 1: The Saxon Chronicle a. D. Eight hundred fifty five states
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  Speaker 1: that Ethelwulf was buried in Winchester end of note. During
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  Speaker 1: two years and a half of licentiousness after his father,
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  Speaker 1: he held the government of the West Saxons. End of
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  Speaker 1: Part one, Section one