Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/70

56 no other view but to betray him, finding he had lost his aim, openly declared for Canute; and this would have been rather an advantage than a detriment to the king's affairs, if the traitor had not carried with him a considerable body of troops, with forty ships of war. This desertion, which proved very serviceable to Canute, was a mortal wound to Ethelred; and the people went over in crowds to the Danes in proportion as the king's affairs fell to decay, so that even Wessex itself was not very secure.

Canute's expectations daily increasing by these successes, he turned his arms against those of the Mercians who continued in their alliance to the king, and at length, with the assistance of Streon, entirely subdued them. After which he formed a design to attack Ethelred in Wessex itself, where he had the more reason to expect success, as Edric had artfully instilled into the Mercians who were in the English army a notion that it was a sin to bear arms against a prince in possession of their country; and, consequently, all that Edmund could obtain of these troops was, that they would follow the king when he commanded the army in person, refusing to fight under any other general. But Ethelred, who was haunted by a suspicion of an intention of delivering him to the Danes, obstinately refused to quit London, and his gallant son had the mortification of seeing his forces disbanded without giving battle.

Meanwhile Canute pursued his career of conquest.

Edmund repaired himself to London, and persuaded the king to visit the army. He did so, but remained a very short time; after which his son joined Uthred, Earl of Northumberland, in ravaging those parts of the kingdom leagued with, or under the government of the Danes.

At this crisis the weak, worn-out monarch fell sick and died (April 23, A.D. 1016), leaving a numerous issue.

He had by his first wife, Elgiva, Edmund, who succeeded him; Athelstan, who died in childhood; Edwy, afterwards murdered by. Canute; and three daughters.

Edgiva, the eldest, was married to an English earl, who fell in battle.

Edgith, the second, who espoused the traitor Edric, Duke of Mercia.

Edgina, the youngest, the wife of Uthred, Earl of Northumberland.

By Emma, the Pearl of Normandy, his second queen, Ethelred left two sons, Alfred and Edward, and a daughter named Godda, who first married Walter, the Earl of Nantes, and then Eustacius, Earl of Boulogne.

 

on the death of Ethelred, his son, Edmund, who had given so many proofs of courage and devotion to his unhappy country, was proclaimed king, to the great joy of the English. At the same time the Danes declared for Canute, who was already in possession of a great part of the kingdom. London, however, still held out against him.

This city the Danish monarch felt it necessary to possess; and in the absence of the new king he laid siege to it with a very considerable force; but the citizens defended themselves so bravely, that Edmund had time to pour in such succours as obliged his rival to abandon his attempt.

Both parties were impatient to decide their claims by battle. The armies met, and so obstinately was it contested that neither side could claim the victory, although the English, it is recorded, were near being defeated by the cunning of Edric Streon, who fought on the side of the Danes. Perceiving that the English troops fought with such desperate courage, he cut off the head of Osmer, a soldier who so resembled Edmund that he might easily have been mistaken for him.

Placing the bleeding head upon his lance, he advanced with it to the front of the English army, and exclaimed, "Fly, villains, fly! Behold the head of your king in whom you trust!"

This stratagem had nearly succeeded; the soldiers of Edmund began to waver, on seeing which the king threw aside his helmet and rode bareheaded through the ranks, when he was received with cheers of delight.

The battle lasted till night, without any decisive advantage on either side. In the morning Edmund intended to renew the battle, but Canute, who had other intentions, retired to his ships and set sail, hastily landed his forces, and besieged London a second time with no better success than the first.

This battle was fought at Sceorstan, which Camden supposes to be Sherston, in Wiltshire; other writers suppose it to have been where four stones, called Shire-stones, part the counties of Oxford, Gloucester, Worcester, and Warwick. Matthew of Westminster relates that the battle lasted two entire days, and that Edric's stratagem occurred on the second.

Edmund, like his father, was doomed to be the victim of treason. In one of his battles, in Essex, he would have vanquished his rival, but for the bad advice of Edric Streon, who, continually changing sides, as ambition or caprice prompted him, was then in the English army. Although he had sworn to be faithful, he was little better than the spy and agent of the Danish monarch, whose cause he lost no opportunity of serving.

Seeing the Danes in retreat, he advised the king to cease the pursuit, under pretence, that if too hardly pressed, despair might cause them to rally.

The greatest act of treachery occurred at Assandun, where he threw aside the mask, and went over with his troops to the enemy. The English, in the utmost consternation, believing they were betrayed on every side, threw down their arms. Edmund's loss was immense; the chief of his nobility were slain in the defence of their unhappy country.

On the spot where Canute gained this signal victory, now called Ashdon, in Essex, he built a church, and caused four hillocks to be thrown up, in memory of those who fell in the battle. Two of these monuments have been opened; several stone coffins were found filled with bones and iron chains, something like horse-bits.

These hills are known by the name of Bartlow Hills, though situated in Ashdon parish; whence some writers contend that it was Bartlow Church which the Danish conqueror built.

After this triumph, Canute fondly imagined that all serious rivalry between himself and Edmund was at an end; but he knew not the temper of the English, who, roused by the greatness of the danger, made extraordinary efforts for their deliverance.

Edmund had long possessed the affection of the inhabitants of London, who flocked to his standard in such numbers that in an incredibly short space of time he found