they began to shoe soon after the Norman conquest. William the Conqueror gave to Simon St. Liz, a noble Norman, the town of Northampton, and the whole hundred of Falkley, then valued at forty pound per annum, to provide shoes for his horses." If the shoes were not wanted, by reason of the nature of the soil in Anglo-Saxon times, the invading Normans might have equally dispensed with them, and William might have saved his manor for some better suit and service. Montfaucon tells us, that when the tomb of Childeric, the father of Clovis, who was buried with his horse in the fifth century, was opened in 1653, an iron horse-shoe was found within it. If the horse of Childeric wore iron horseshoes, we may reasonably conclude that the horses of Alfred and Athelstan, of Edgar and Harold, were equally provided by their native smiths. There is little doubt that the mines of England were well worked in the Saxon times. "Iron-ore was obtained in several counties, and there were furnaces for smelting. The mines of Gloucestershire in particular are alluded to by Giraldus Cambrensis as producing an abundance of this valuable metal; and there is every reason for supposing that these mines were wrought by the Saxons, as indeed they had most probably been by their predecessors the Romans. The lead-mines of Derbyshire, which had been worked by the Romans, furnished the Anglo-Saxons with a supply of ore; but the most important use of this metal in the Anglo-Saxon period, that of covering the roofs of churches, was not introduced before the close of the seventh century." ("Pictorial History of England," Bock II. Chap. VI.). It is not impossible that something more than mere manual labour was applied to the operations of lifting ore from the mines, and freeing them from water, the great obstacle to successful working. In the Cotton Manuscripts we have a representation of the Anglo-Saxon mode of raising water from a well with a loaded lever. At the present day we see precisely the same operation carried on by the market-gardeners of Isleworth and Twickenham. A people that have advanced so far in the mechanical arts as thus to apply the lever as a labour-saving principle, are in the direct course for reaching many of the higher combinations of machinery. The Anglo-Saxons were exporters of manufactured goods in gold and silver; and after nine hundred years we are not much farther advanced in our commercial economy than the merchant in Alfric's Colloquy, who says, "I send my ship with my merchandise, and sail over the sea-like places, and sell my things, and buy dear things, which are not produced in this land. . . . . Will you sell your things here as you bought them there?—I will not, because what would my labour benefit me? I will sell them here dearer than I bought them there, that I may get some profit to feed me, my wife, and children." A.D. Chronological List of the Saron Rings. FROM EGBERT TO THE DEATH OF HAROLD, 1065. (From Chronology of History, by Sir Harris Nicolas.) 827 EGBERT, or EGBRYIIT, king of Wessex. He defeated and slew the king of Mercia in 825, and conquered that kingdom and all south of the Humber in 827, when he became the first sole monarch of England. He died 836-7. 837 ETHELWULF, son of king EGBERT, succeeded his father in February, 839. Died 857, "having reigned eighteen years and a half.” * 858 ETHELBALD II., eldest son of king Ethelwulf, succeeded his father in the kingdom of Wessex in 858. Died 860. 861 ETHELBERT, or ETHELBRIGHT II., second son of Ethelwulf, succeeded his father in the kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex, and in 860 he succeeded his brother in the kingdom of Wessex. Died 866, "having reigned five years." 866 ETHELRED, or ETHERED, third son of king Ethelwulf, succeeded his brother Ethelbert in 866. Died 871, "having reigned five years." * 872 ALFRED THE GREAT, fourth son of king Ethelwulf, succeeded his brother in 871. Died "six nights before the feast of All Saints," viz., the 25th or 26th of October, 901, having reigned twenty-eight years and a half. * Saxon Chronicle. It will be seen that the length assigned to several reigns in that work does not agree with the date assigned to the accession of the kings. A.D. 901 EDWARD I., THE ELDER, eldest surviving son of king Alfred, succeeded his father in 901. Died 925. 925 ATHELSTAN, or ETHESTAN, natural son of king Edward the Elder, elected by the Witan on the death of his father in 925. Died 27th of October, 940, "having reigned fourteen years and ten weeks."* 940 EDMUND I., the Elder, fifth son of king Edward the Elder, succeeded king Athelstan in 940. Died 26th of May, 947, "having reigned six years and a half."* 947 EDRED, brother of king Edmund I., whom he succeeded in 946. Died 23rd of November, 955, “having reigned nine years and a half.”* 955 EDWY, or EDWIN, eldest son of king Edmund I., succeeded his uncle, and was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames in 955. Died 1st of October, 957 or 959. 959 EDGAR, THE PEACEABLE, succeeded his brother king Edwy in 959. "Consecrated as king with great pomp at Bath," 11th of May, 973. Died July 18th, 975. 975 EDWARD II., THE MARTYR, eldest son of king Edgar, succeeded his father in 975. Died 11th of March, 978. 978 ETHELRED II., THE UN READY, half-brother of king Edward the Martyr, whom he succeeded in 978. Abdicated the throne in 1012, but was restored in 1015. Died 23rd of April, 1016. 1016 EDMUND IRONSIDES, natural son of king Ethelred, elected by the Witan in London, and the citizens, on the death of Ethelred; crowned April, 1016, but was defeated by Canute, with whom he divided the realm, Edmund taking Wessex, and Canute Mercia. Died 30th of November, 1016. 1013 SWAIN, or SWEYN, king of Denmark, brother of king Ethelred II., usurped the crown, and was proclaimed king in the autumn of 1013. Died 3rd of February, 1014. 1014 CANUTE, or CNUT, son of king *Saxon Chronicle. Swain, was elected king of · Edmund Ironsides in 1016, A.D. 1036 HAROLD I., son of king Canute, succeeded his father, by election of the Witan, in 1036, and died 16th of April, 1039, "having reigned four years and sixteen weeks."* 1039 HARDICANUTE, or HARDICNUT, king of Denmark, half brother of king Harold I., succeeded to the throne about Midsummer, 1039. Died 8th of June, 1041. "He was king over all England two years all but ten days." 1041 EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, son of king Etheldred II., and half brother of king Hardicanute; elected to the throne before the funeral of Hardicanute, in June, 1041, and was crowned at Winchester on Easter-day, 3rd of April, 1043. Died 5th of January, 1066. 1056 HAROLD II., son of Godwin, earl of Kent, succeeded under a grant of the kingdom by Edward the Confessor. He was crowned on the 6th of January, 1066, but was slain at the battle of Hastings, 14th of October in the same year. The following Chronology of English History to the Battle of Hastings, is taken from the "Chronological Index to the Pictorial History of England.” B.C. 55 JULIUS CÆSAR lands in Britain; gains several battles, and returns the same year to Gaul. 54 Julius Cæsar lands a second time in Britain; fights Cassivellaunus ; forces the passage of the Thames; takes the capital of Cassivellaunus ; appoints a yearly tribute, and again returns to Gaul. A D. 43 Aulus Plautius lands in Britain; defeats Caractacus and Togodumnus, and compels some of the tribes to submit. Claudius arrives in Britain, receives the submission of some of the tribes, and returns to Rome after being in the island six months. 50 Ostorius Scapula, proprætor, arrives in Britain; carries on the war nine years; erects forts and lines; defeats the Sceni, captures Caractacus, and sends him to Rome. 59-61 Paulus Suetonius takes Mona (Anglesey). Boadicea defeats the Romans, and is afterwards defeated by Suetonius, and poisons herself. 75-78 Julius Frontinus subdues the Silures. Agricola completes the conquest of South Britain, and reconquers Mona. 79 He pursues his operations in the south-west. 80,81 He builds Agricola's wall; erects a chain of forts from Solway Frith to the Friths of Clyde and Forth. 82 Agricola subdues the Novanta, Selgovæ, and Damnii, and clears the south-west of Scotland. * Saxon Chronicle. A.D. 83 Croses the Frith of Forth, and defeats the Caledonians. 84 Again defeats them at the Grampians under Galgacus. Britain discovered to be an island. Agricola recalled to Rome by Domitian. 120 Hadrian arrives in Britain; raises a rampart between Solway Frith and the German Ocean. 121 He repairs the wall of Agricola. 138 Lollius Urbicus drives the Caledonians beyond the Clyde and Forth, 140 and there fixes the Roman frontier; erects a rampart on the line of Agricola's forts. 183 The Caledonians lay waste the country between the lines of Agricola and the wall of Hadrian. 207 Severus lands in South Britain; penetrates into Caledonia; builds a wall parallel with those of Agricola and Hadrian. 211 IIe marches against the Caledonians, but dies at Eboracum (York). Caracalla yields the ground between the Solway and Tyne and the Friths of Clyde and Forth to the Caledonians. 288 Carausius defeats the Scandinavian and Saxon pirates; is made emperor of Britain, &c. Britain a naval power. 297 He is murdered at Eboracum by Allectus, who succeeds him. 300 Allectus defeated and slain. 306 Constantius Chlorus dies at Eboracum. 337 The emperor Constantine the Great dies. 367 The Picts and Scots pillage Augusta (London) and make the inhabitants slaves. 382 Maximus becomes emperor of Britain, Gaul, Spain, and Italy. 388 He is defeated and put to death by the emperor Theodosius the Great. 395 Theodosius dies, bequeathing the empire of the west to Honorius, over whom he appoints Stilicho guardian. Stilicho repels the Picts, Scots, and Saxons. 403 The Roman empire dismembered; part of the Roman troops recalled. 407 Marcus elected emperor of Britain; dethroned and murdered. 411 Constantine elected emperor of Britain; conquers a great part of Gaul; gives Spain to his son Constans; dies. 420 The Romans finally abandon Britain. 428 Leogaire MacNeil, first Christian king of Ireland, began to reign. 441 The Roman party in Britain petition Ætius for aid. Germanus, a Gallic bishop, defeats the Picts. 449 Vortigern calls in the aid of the Saxons under Hengist and Horsa, whom he places in the Isle of Thanet. 463 Leogaire MacNeil, first Christian king of Ireland, dies. Hengist and Horsa drive out the Picts and Scots. Vortigern marries The Saxons fortify Thanet. Vortigern is deposed, and Vortimer elected |