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and said to him: "Be thou the most faithful abbot of this seat and of this church, and if you find anything wanting for the complete service of our holy religion, I will supply that out of my royal treasures." And so, the blessed Dunstan being reestablished in favour, and being called by God to the office of a ruler, studied to behave amicably to all men, without impairing the strictness of his religious duties.

About the same time, Anlaf, a Norwegian by birth, who in the time of king Athelstan had been expelled from the kingdom of Northumberland, in this year, being accompanied by a large fleet, proceeded towards York. After this, he approached the southern parts of England in a hostile manner, and attempted to make himself master of England by a sudden attack. And when news of this was brought to king Edmund, he went to meet him with a numerous army, and the two kings met in hostile fashion near Leicester, and, for the greater part of the day, fought a battle which was only too murderous on both sides. But the two prelates, Otho, archbishop of Canterbury, and Wolfstan, archbishop of York, when they saw the mutual danger, and the impending destruction of the kingdom, arranged a peace between the two parties, on condition of Anlaf possessing the whole island of Britain on the northern side of the royal street which is called Watlinge Strete; and of Edmund enjoying all the island to the south of the same road, in peace. And whichever of the two lived the longest, was to have the whole kingdom after the death of the other. Then Anlaf married Alditha, daughter of count Ormus, owing to whose counsel and assistance it was that he had gained the before-mentioned victory.

The same year, Alfred, bishop of Sherborne, died, and was succeeded by Wolf.

CH. XVIII.-FROM A.D. 941 To A.D. 975. Anlaf dies-William, duke of Normandy, is murdered-Death of king Edmund-Edred succeeds to the throne—His courage and Death-Edwy succeeds-Dunstan is banished— Edwy is banished and Edgar made king-Dunstan is recalled -Simony in the Church-The wisdom and power of Edgar -He dies, and is succeeded by Edward.

A.D. 941. Anlaf, who had been lately created king was visited by the judgment of God while he was plundering the church

A.D. 946.

KING EDMUND PLUNDERS CUMBERLAND.

473

of Saint Balter, and burning Tinningham with fire, and soon after died miserably; and king Edmund invading Northumberland in a hostile manner, expelled Anlaf, the son of Sithric, and Reginald, the son of king Cuthred, from that province by force, and became a second time master of the whole of England.

A.D. 942. King Edmund wrested Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Stamford, out of the hands of the Danes, and likewise all Mercia, and compelled all those places to submit to his authority.

A.D. 943. After his queen Algiva had made the magnificent king Edmund father of a son, named Edgar, the holy Dunstan heard the voices of persons playing the harp and singing in the sky, "Peace to the church of England in the time of the child that is now born, and of our beloved Dunstan."

The same year, king Edmund received king Anlaf out of the laver of holy regeneration, as his godfather, and honoured him with royal gifts. He also held Reginald, viceroy of Northumberland, while he was being confirmed by the bishop, and adopted him his own son. Martin was elected pope, and ruled the see of Rome three years, six months, and fourteen days.

A.D. 944. William, the second duke of Normandy, was slain by the treachery of Arnulf, count of Flanders. For because this William had occupied one of the castles of the before-mentioned count Arnulf, making a pretence of good faith, invited him to a conference in a ship, and while they were discussing the question of peace, he slew him by the hands of Balzo, his general. And he was succeeded by his son, Richard, the third duke of Normandy.

A.D. 945. King Edmund gave to the blessed martyr, Edmund Beatrichewith, a royal town, in which the body of that holy martyr rests to this day. And he also gave the same martyr an estate of no small size around that place, which gift he confirmed with pious devotion, by the signature of the bishops, and counts, and barons to the deed.

A.D. 946. Agapetus became pope of Rome, and ruled that see ten years, six months, and ten days. The same year, king Edmund, relying on the assistance of Keoline, king of Demetia, plundered the whole of Cumberland of all its riches, and having put out the eyes of the two sons of Dummail, king of that province, he granted that kingdom to Malcolm, king of Scot

land, to be held of himself, in order that Malcolm might defend the northern districts of England by land and sea from the incursions of enemies who might arrive from foreign countries.

The same year, Edmund, that most pious king of England, when, on the festival of Saint Augustine, the apostle of the English, he had invited all the nobles of the kingdom to a great banquet in the royal town which is called Michelesberith, as it was the fashion among the English to do every year, on account of the veneration in which they held the blessed Augustine, by whose means the English received the light of the faith; when they were all assembled, and were sitting down at the king's dinner, they began to feast and to rejoice, the king himself doing his best to promote their entertainment. At length, when the king raised his head in order to see the guests sitting at table, he beheld, standing, among others in the hall, a robber of the name of Leof, whom a few years before he had banished for robbery. And the king being exceedingly indignant at this, made a sign to his cupbearer to remove that robber from the palace immediately. But when that wicked man refused to go for the word of the cupbearer, the king, being provoked and exceedingly angry, leaped up suddenly from the table, and, seizing the robber by the hair, threw him down on the floor. But that traitor, when he felt that he was hurt, and found the king lying on him, quickly drew a knife, which he wore secretly, and, alas! alas! he slew the king. Then the soldiers and servants of the king, when they saw their master slain and wallowing in his gore, all rushed upon that robber and cut all his body and bones into the smallest pieces, and thus the splendid beginning of the king's banquet was terminated by a very cloudy ending of circumstances.

When, therefore, Edmund was dead and buried at Glastonbury, Edred, his brother, received the crown of the kingdom, at Kingston, a royal town, from the blessed Otho, archbishop of Canterbury, on the fifteenth of August. Edmund, also, left behind him two sons as his legitimate heirs, by name Edwin and Edgar, who, because of the obstacle of their tender age, could not succeed their father in his kingdom. He, as his brother king Edmund had formerly done, reduced the whole of Northumberland under his dominion, received an oath of fealty from the king of Scotland, and with great devotion gave to the metropolitan church of York two statues of great size. Afterwards, when he had received the oath of fealty from the

A.D. 946. INTERPRETATION OF ST. DUNSTAN'S DREAM. 475

king of Cumberland, and had placed all that district in security, he proceeded southward, with his friends. And this noble king, inferior in no respect to his predecessors, loved the blessed Dunstan with such ardent affection, that he entrusted all his treasures to his guardianship. In the meantime the blessed Elfeg, bishop of the city of Winchester, who had invested Dunstan with the orders of monk and priest, departed this life. And the king, wishing to appoint Dunstan in his place, treated with him on the subject by the intervention of the queen, his mother. But Dunstan replied, “I entreat you, my mistress, to give up entreaties of this kind, and to be assured that I will not be a pontiff in the days of the king your son." But the man of God said this because he loved the king, and was unwilling to be compelled to absent himself from his councils, because of the duties of the pontificate. But on the following night he had a vision, in which he seemed to himself to have gone to Rome, and having adored the Apostles, to have immediately returned home again; and when he had come to the Mount of Joy, behold Saint Peter met him, with the apostles Paul and Andrew, each of them holding a sword in his hand, and offering it to him with outstretched hands. On the sword of Saint Peter was written, "In the beginning was the Word;" and the swords of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew were inscribed with their own names. Then Saint Peter, the apostle, sang to him in a sweet voice, "Take my yoke upon you, and you shall find rest for your souls." Then, reproving him, he lifted up the rod which he held in his hand, and, striking him a slight blow on the hand, he said, "Take this as a warning not to persist any longer in refusing the yoke of the Lord." On this, the man of God woke, and in the morning related the vision to the king, who marvelled at it. And the king said to him, "As the swords which you have received by the bounty of the Apostles, denote the armour of the Holy Spirit, you may know for certain by the sword of Saint Peter, inscribed as it is with the Word of God, that you are to be presented, by heavenly invention, with the dignity of archbishop; by the sword of Paul, you may know that you will receive a simple bishopric; and by the sword of Andrew, that you will receive another bishopric, over which you are to exercise the rights of government." And afterwards, in accordance with the interpretation of his dream, he ruled the church of Can

terbury, which was dedicated in the name of the Holy Trinity, the church of London, which was dedicated in the name of Paul, and that of Rochester, which had been consecrated in the name of the blessed Andrew.

A.D. 947. Ælffin succeeded the holy Elfeg as bishop of Winchester. Of the blessed Elfeg it is written that on Ash Wednesday, when, according to custom, he removed the penitents from the threshold of the church, he exhorted them to devote themselves for the next forty days to fasting and chastity, and during those days to abstain even from the delights of their wives. But, when the others reverently expressed their willingness to comply with the commands of the bishop, one of them began to jest, and say that he could not abstain from love and food and wedlock all at once. And the bishop answered him, "You make me very sorrowful, as you do not know what the day that is coming may produce to you." And so that profligate man, departing, experienced the truth of the hard prophecy of the blessed Elfeg, for the next morning he was found dead in his bed, it being uncertain whether he was not strangled by the devil.

At another time, when he had been celebrating holy orders, he promoted three monks to the order of the priesthood. And then, having completed his ordinations, the bishop of blessed memory said to the bystanders, "This day I have laid hands on three monks, two of whom will hereafter obtain the dignity of the pontifical rank, one in the city of Worcester and subsequently in Canterbury, and the other will, at a future time, fill my seat. The third being inflamed by wantonness and love of pleasure, will have a miserable end." And this prophecy of the holy prelate was proved by the event which turned out as he had predicted. The same year, the people of Northumberland, violating the faith which they had pledged to king Edred, raised a prince of the name of Eilric, descended from Danish blood, to be their king.

A.D. 948. King Edred, as a punishment for the disloyalty of the Northumbrians, laid that province waste. And in this district, the monastery at Ripon, which had been formerly built by the holy Wilfred, was burnt by fire. But when the king was retreating, an army sallied out of York, and made a great slaughter of the rear of the royal army. And when this was made known to the king, he proposed to return back, and to destroy all the enemy to a man. But the people of

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