Observations of all the Kings of England, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
OF the Saxons that reigned sole Kings of this Island.Anglorum Reges, postquam in Monarchiam septem regna coaluerunt, Egbertus. Aethelwalphus.
1. Egbert raigned thirty seven years.
2. Ethelwulf (the son of Egbert) twenty years.
3. Ethelbald (the eldest son of Ethelwulf) five years.
4.Aethelbaldus. Aethelb…us. Aetheltedus. Alfredus, Edvardus sen, Aethelstanus, Edmundus. Edredus. Edwinus. Edgarus. Edwardus martyr. Ethelredus. Edmundus. ferrcum l…tus. Canutus. Haroldus. Harde-Canutus. Edwardus Confessor. Haroldus, Boxhornij Metamorphosis Anglorum. Ethelbert (the second son of Ethelwulf five years.
5. Ethelred (the third son of Ethelwulf) five years.
6. Alfred (the youngest son of Ethelwulf) five years.
7. Edward (sirnamed the elder) twenty three years.
8. Aethelstane (the eldest son of Edward) sixteen years.
9. Edmund (the second son of Edward) six years.
10. Edred (the youngest son of Edward) nine years.
11. Edwin (the elder son of Edmund) four years.
12. Edgar (the younger son of Edmund) sixteen years.
13. Edward: (the elder son of Edgar) forty years.
14. Ethelred (the younger son of Edgar) thirty seven years.
15. Edmund (the son of Ethelred) in whose time the Danes possessed the greatest part of England.
Egbert.
The eighteenth King of the West-Saxons, Regnavit inde Egbertus, cò autem faeliciue quod Alcuinum viderit, omni (quae aetas illa tulerit) literatum genere doctissimum cu…us quidem operain Parisicus… Academia instituenda Carolus Magnus usus est. Seldeni Analect. Anglobrit l. 2. c. 2.the nineteenth, but first sole and absolute Monarch of the English men.
Upon report of the death of Britic, he with great speed returned out of France, where (during the time of his abode) he had served with good commendation in the Warres, under Charles the Great; by meanes whereof (his reputation encreasing among his own Country-men) he was thought worthy of the Government, before he obtained it.
He first gave this Kingdom the name of England.Egbertus conscendit Thronum avitum omnibus ante se regibus meritò praeserendus. Mulm. de rebus gestis Angl. … l. 1. c. 2.
He ordained by publick Edict, that the Heptarchy possessed by the Saxons, should be called thence forward the Land of the English, whence the Latines took also their name Anglia, and the French that d' Angleterre.
There were three hundred years from King Egbert unto William the Conquerour.
He raigned over the West-Saxons thirty six years and seven moneths,Thirty seven saith Mr. Foxe. and Monarch of the whole Island seventeen.
Ethelwulfe.
The nineteenth King of the West-Saxons, Anno Dom. 837 Ethelwulphus (quem quidam Athulphumvocant) filius Egberthi regnum sortitus regnavit viginti annis, & quinque mensibus, natura leuis, & quisub quiete degere, quam multis provincijs imperitare mallet. Malmesb, de gestis Regum Anglorum l. 2. c. 2. Omnis Anglia hoc tempore istuc vectigal pietatis & Religionis causa, Romano pontifici pendit domesticatim collatum, & nominum illi argentei vocantur vulgo denarij divi Petri, quos pontifici quaestor exigit qui publicò bonas artes prositerentur, quô multi doctrina clari constuxerunt, docend… gratia. Nos hanc olim quaesturam aliquot per annos gessimus, ejus que muner… obeundi causa, primum iu Angliam venimus. Polyd. Virg. Aug. hist. l. 4.and the twentieth Monarch of the English men.
He being once himself nuzled in that order,Quis facile crediderit Aethelwulfum Regem decimam partem non solùm bonorum & facultatum, sed & mansionum praediorumque totius Ecclesiae contulisset Spelm. Epist. Dedicat. ad lib. de Concil. was alwayes good and devout to religious orders.
He was so well learned and so devout, that the Clerks of the Church of Winchester did choose him in his youth to be their Bishop, which function he took upon him, and was Bishop of Winchester for seven years before he was King. The History of Cambria by Lhoyd, augmented by Doctor Powell p. 32.
A Monk, a Deacon, and a Bishop, yet elected King, because they could not finde a fitter person for the Crown. Necessitate cogente factus est Rex, Roger Hoveden.
He ordained that Tythes and Church-Lands should be free from all taxes and Regall services.
Ethelwolphus Rex omnium historicorum consensu & fide praestantissimus, nec pietatis magis quàm rerumoptimé gestarum laude celebri… & illustris. Anti Sanderus Dialogo secundo.
Polyd. Virgil in the fifth Book of his English History saith of King Alfred:
Atqui Neotum inprimis monas…icae professionis virum sanctissimum, ob eximiam eruditionem, miro amore complexus est, quo hortante, Oxonij gymnasium instituit, proposita mercede omnibus.
His second son by his Queen Iudith, daughter of Charles the bald Emperour, King of France, Neote, was much addicted to learning, and was one of the first Divinity readers in the University of Oxford.
He was interred in the County of Huntington, St. Needes in Huntingtonshire why so called.at a place then called Arnulphsbury, and afterwards in regard of his interment St. Neots, and now St. Needes.
This King was famous for having four sons,Ethelbald Ethelbert and Ethelred successively raigned, and dying left the Kingdome distracted by continuall conflicts with the Danes; and Alfred having faithfully served his Brothers, as Viceroy in each of their severall Raigns, survived, and in the twenty second year of his age succeeded in his Kingdome. Powells life of Alfred. who all of them were Kings of this Land successively.
He raigned twenty years, one monethmonth, and nine dayes.
Ethelbald.
The twentieth King of the West-Saxons, Anno Dom. 857 duo silij Ethelwulphi regnum paternum partientes, Ethelbaldus in West-Saxonia, Ethelbertus in Cant…a regnaverunt. Ethelbaldus ignavus & perfidus patris ejus thorum polluit, in conjugium Judith n…ver…ae post …ar…ntis obi…m devolutus; sed post quinquennium eo defuncto, & Schireburniae co…dito, totum regnum ad alterum derivatum est Malmesb. de gestis Regum Angl. l. 2. c. 3.and the twenty first Monarch of the English men.
He took Iudith his stepmother to be his wife; this prodigious incest was soone punished by his untimely death.
He raigned five years.
Ethelbert.
The one and twentieth King of the West-Saxons, and the two and twentieth Monarch of the English men.
The first Christned Prince of all the Saxon Nation.Primus ille, nodum Cantii, praeter Northumbriam totius Angliae Rex, sacro font… ab Augustino Monacho Anglorum, ut a…unt Apostolo, tinctus. Seldenjanus Anglorum.
Omnium Anglo-Saxonum regum Christi nominis primus hospes. Twini Comment. de rebus Brittanicis.
His name signifieth nobly-conceited or advised, or of noble conceit or advisement. Verstegan.
He raigned over the Kentish-South, and East-Saxons ten years, and was Monarch of the whole only five.
Ethelred.
The two and twentieth King of the West-Saxons, and the twenty third Monarch of the English men.
Great was the valour of this King;Regnum paternum obtinuit …odem numero, annorum quo fratres miserabili prorsus & dolenda sorte, ut immatura omnes occumberent morte, nisi quod tantis matis obstrepentibus regij pueri magis optarem honestum exitum quam acerbum imperium, Malm. de gestis Regum Angl l. 2. c. 3. for in his short time of Raign, as Malmesbury and other Writers record, he fought no less than nine set Battels against the Danes in one year, in most of them victorious.
At Wintburne in Darset-shire there is this Epitaph written on his Tomb.
In hoc loro quiescit corpus S. Ethelredi Regis West-Saxonum Martyris, qui anno Domini DCCCLXXII. XXIII. Aprilis per manus Danorum Pag…norum occu…uit.
He raigned in great trouble five years,Six saith A… dre Du Chesne. saith Malmesbury.