Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/619

 ENGLAND 607 to a not uncommon custom. They chastised the Scottish invaders, and when the Saxon leaders proposed sending for more of their countrymen, in order that their defensive mea- sures might be more extensive, the proposition was readily received, and numbers of Saxons, Angles, and Jutes arrived in the country. At first these strangers proved good friends to the Britons, but when they had conquered the other barbarians they took Britain for their reward. This, however, was not eifected with- out a bloody contest, in which the Britons evinced great bravery, and at one time are said to have expelled their false allies. The history of these times is little better than fable, and the very names of Hengist and Horsa are per- haps as mythical as those of Romulus and Re- mus. The most that is known is, that certain Germanic invaders subdued the greater part of Britain, driving the Celtic natives into Wales and adjoining parts, and laid the foundation of that England which has occupied so large a space in the history of the world for so many centuries. These invaders appear to have be- longed substantially to one race, but they had strong points of difference, which were par- ticularly prominent as between Saxons and Angles. One effect of this German conquest was to cause Britain to revert to heathenism ; but in the pontificate of Gregory the Great the work of Saxon conversion commenced, under the guidance of the monk Augustin. Seven independent kingdoms, jointly called the hep- tarchy, had gradually been formed by the con- querors since the year 449, viz. : Kent, Sussex, "VVessex, Essex, East Anglia, Mercia, and North- umbria. The last consisted of the two prior kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia, united by King Ethelfrid in 593. There was almost constant war among them, and two or more were fre- quently united under one head (in which case monarch of the united kingdoms was called a bretwalda), until finally Egbert, king of Wessex, about 827, conquered them all, and first styled himself king of England. In his reign the Northmen first appeared in force in England ; and it shows the vitality of the old British race that numbers of them joined the invaders. There had been previous attacks, but this was the most serious ; it was unsuccessful, and the Britons who had risen were punished severely. These invasions were constantly renewed, the Northmen and Danes being the terror of all peoples who could be reached from the sea. Large portions of England fell into their hands. Much of Alfred's reign (871-901) was passed in contests with them. The fortune of these wars was various, but even the victories of the Anglo-Saxons cost them dear; yet it is probable that the gen- eral result was good, and that the infusion of new blood into England prevented the country from degenerating, and gave to it a new life. Much of what is called Saxon is of Danish origin ; but the Danes and Saxons were substantially of the same race, the differ- 295 VOL. vi. 39 ences being in favor of the former. A Danish dynasty was established in the early part of the llth century, and the name of Canute, or Knut, is high on the list of England's sove- reigns. The Saxon dynasty was restored in 1042, in the person of Edward the Confessor, on whose death the throne was conferred on Harold, son of Earl Godwin, a great Saxon statesman. But an event was impending over England which was to color her history for ever. The Normans, descendants of those Northmen who had settled in Neustria (N. "W. Erance) and given it the name of Normandy, had obtained considerable influence in England in the Confessor's time, and were indeed the leading race of the West. William, duke of Normandy, claimed the throne of England through his great-aunt Emma, mother of Ed- ward the Confessor; the latter favored his claim, although compelled to leave the crown to Harold. Neither William nor Harold had a strictly legitimate right to the throne, but Harold had the support of the English nation, and William assembled a powerful army to en- force his claim. The support the duke re- ceived from his own subjects was reluctantly given, but the promises of spoil attracted many adventurers from different parts of Europe, so that he was enabled to land 60,000 men in England. Harold, who had just defeated an army of Norwegian invaders, met the Normans at Hastings, where he lost his life and his king- dom, Oct. 14, 1066. William's victory was complete, and the Normans and other adven- turers soon became masters of all England. Saxons and Danes were involved in common slavery. The victor introduced the feudal sys- tem into England. It is probable that the ex- tent of the Norman spoliation has been much exaggerated, but that the natives were reduced to a state of political bondage admits of no doubt whatever. The very name of English- man was made odious. A foreign rule was es- tablished over England, and it was not until seven generations had passed away that the distinction between Norman and Saxon was nearly obliterated. It did not disappear alto- gether till a much later period, but it ceased to influence legislation- about the end of the 13th century. The Norman line gave three sovereigns to England : William I., William II., and Henry I. The death of the last, in 1135, was followed by the reign of Stephen of Blois, his nephew, and by the wars between that king and the adherents of the old dynasty. Henry I. left an only daughter, Matilda, mar- ried first to the emperor of Germany, and then to Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, by whom she had that prince who became Henry II. of England in 1154. England suffered terribly in the contest between Stephen and Matilda, the rightful heiress to the crown, who was sup- ported by a powerful party. Henry II. be- came king in consequence of an arrangement with Stephen, who had lost his only son Eus- tace, but the treaty was really the work of the