competitor he was the immediate sovereign of all England. He was even nominal lord of Wales and Scotland. THE fame of Athelstan extended beyond the island he governed. His accomplishments, his talents, and his successes, interested Europe in his favour, and he received many proofs of the respect with which foreigners regarded him. He had connections with Bretagne, France, Germany, Norway, and Normandy; and from this period England began to lose its insular seclusion, and to be concerned with the current transactions of Europe. II. Athelstan. 934. nections WHEN the Northmen who had settled in Nor- His conmandy overran Bretagne, the sovereign, Mathue- with Bredoi, escaped to England with his family. The tagne; Breton lords followed; and all who preferred honourable poverty to the loss of liberty swelled the emigration. Athelstan received the wretched exiles, who came to him under the same circumstances as those in which their ancestors had fled to Bretagne, with that humanity which ennobles the benefactor. THE Young Alan, the son of Mathuedoi, by the daughter of the celebrated Alain, he took into his palace, and was the sponsor at his baptism. Nourished and educated by Athelstan's liberality, the young Alan grew up to manhood with ability and honour. He beheld indignantly the sufferings of his country; he projected a day of retribution. As soon as his age would permit, he assembled the surviving Bretons who had emigrated, and directed his course to the shores of Bretagne. He surprised Dol and St. Brieux. His appearance and first successes revived both patriotism and hope; he VI. BOOK was numerously joined; he drove the Northmen Athelstan. from his country and from the Loire, and received the sceptre of Bretagne as his well-merited reward.5 934. and with France. 50 WHEN Charles the Simple, the king of France, was imprisoned and dethroned, his queen, Edgiva, fled into England to her father Edward the Elder, carrying over her son Louis, but three years old.31 THE queen and her son continued the guests of Athelstan, who treated his unfortunate sister with affection and respect. RODOLF, a Frankish noble, who, after Robert's year of power, had assumed the throne of Charles, governed France, full of seditions, revolts, and hostilities, with those talents which gave celebrity to 926-939. their possessor, and happiness to the people.52 In 926, an intercourse was opened with Athelstan by Hugues the son of Robert, whose dignity had been so fleeting. Hugues requested of Athelstan, his sister, Ethilda, in marriage. This was a very delicate negotiation. Hugues had co-operated with the other chiefs, that had dethroned and still kept imprisoned the king, who had married the sister of the 50 Chronicon Namnetense restitutum, in the appendix to Lobineau, vol. ii. p. 45.; and in Bouquet, vol. viii. p. 276.; and Flodoard. Chron. ib. Such was the desolation which had attended the Northman invasion, that the civitas Namnetica sine ullo habitatore vacua et omnino longo tempore deserta remansit. Ib. Of Alanus, the Chronicon says, 66 fuit vir potens ac valde adversus inimicos suos belligerator fortis habens et possidens omnem Britanniam, fugatis inde Normannis sibi subditam et Redonicam et Namneticum et etiam trans Ligerim Medalgicum, Theofalgicum et Herbadilicum." 8 Bouquet. 276. 51 Daniel, 236. 52 His successful wars, the humiliation of the vassals of the crown, thirteen years' possession of an usurped throne, and la France pacifiée malgré tant d'esprits inquiets, sont des preuves très certaines de sa prudence, de son courage, de sa fermeté et de ce génie supérieur qui fait les grands hommes et les héros. Daniel, 250. II. 926. lady he wooed. This sister was with Athelstan CHAP. with her infant child. Hugues, however, perse- Athelstan. vered in his suit, and conducted it with dexterity. He obtained for his ambassador, Adulf, the son of the count of Flanders, and of Alfred's daughter, the aunt of Athelstan.53 The affinity of Adulf must have given interest to his negotiation. Splendid presents enforced the request; perfumes never seen in England before; emeralds of fascinating verdure; many fine coursers with rich caparisons; a vase of onyx, so beautifully carved that the corn, vines, and men seemed animated, and so polished, that it reflected like a mirror; the sword of Constantine the Great; the conquering lance of Charlemagne; a diadem of gold and gems, so radiant as to dazzle; and some venerated relics, composed the splendid gift. Policy, perhaps, taught the importance, even to the dethroned Charles, or to his family, of making Hugues a friend. His wishes were therefore gratified, and he became the brother-in-law of Athelstan.55 54 WHEN Rodolf died without male issue, the competition for the crown was renewed between Hugues and Vermandois. Their factions were too equally balanced to admit either to reign. Some persons, remembering the family of Charles, proposed the election of his son. Hugues despairing of his own elevation, inclined to this idea. 53 Malmsbury, 51. The British Chronicle, Cleop. B. 5., mentions this: 66 Ac y daeth Edulf iarll Boloyn ap Baudewine iarll Flandrys ac aurec gan Huges." 54 The presents are enumerated by Malmsbury, p. 51., who says, "Equos plurimos." The British Chronicle specifies, but with apparent amplification, "Try chant emmys ac eu gwisgoed," "three hundred coursers with their trappings." MSS. Cleop. B. 5. 55 Athelstan returned the courtesy with non minoribus beneficiis, in addition to the lady. Malmsb. 51. 936. BOOK VI. Athelstan understanding the circumstances, exAthelstan. erted himself in behalf of Louis, the young prince, who was still at his court. He sent an embassy to the duke of Normandy 56, to engage his influence with the Frankish lords, who at last resolved to send to England to offer the crown to Louis.57 936. Louis quits Louis allies with Athelstan. THE deputies, one of whom was the archbishop of Sens, reached England in 936, and supplicated Athelstan, on the part of the states of France, to permit their chosen king to join them. Athelstan had the glory of receiving this address, and of expressing, in return, his joy at the event, and his anxiety for the safety of the young prince. The French ambassadors plighted their oaths, and saluted him king. Athelstan allowed him to depart a few days afterwards, and sent many AngloSaxon bishops and lords to accompany him in honour. Hugues and the nobles of France received him at Boulogne, and he was crowned at Laon.58 THE reign of Louis was not attended with the friendship of Hugues. Differences, in time, arose, and Hugues increased his consequence by marrying Hadwida, the daughter of Henry the First, emperor of Germany.59 Louis, to collect a power capable of securing himself against the aspiring nobles, procured the alliance of Athelstan, who 56 Dudo de Act. Norman. lib. iii. p. 97. 57 Hugo comes trans mare mittit pro accersendo Ludovico Caroli filio quem Rex Alstannus avunculus ipsius nutriebat. Flodoardi Hist. Eccles. Rhem. lib. iv. c. 26. 58 Flodoardi, ibid. Louis, from his residence in England, was surnamed Transmarinus, or Outremer. 59 Chronicon Flodoardi, 8 Bouquet, 184. By her he had Hugh Capet, who completed the deposition of the family of Charlemagne, which his ancestors had begun, and whose dynasty that seemed violently terminated in our days has been since restored. promised to send a fleet to his succour. "This is CHAP. II. 936. the first example," says a modern French historian, Athelstan. "which we have in our history, not only of an offensive league between France and England, but it is also the first treaty by which these two kingdoms concerned themselves about each other's welfare. Until this event, the two nations had considered themselves as two worlds, which had no connection but that of commerce to maintain, and had no interest to cultivate either friendship or enmity in other concerns."60 ATHELSTAN performed his engagements. When Otho passed the Rhine, in 939, Louis claimed of England the stipulated aid. The Anglo-Saxon fleet sailed immediately for his support. It appeared off the coast of Flanders, and protected the maritime cities: it ravaged some territories of the enemy, but returned to England without having had the opportunity of any important achievement." So much was Athelstan considered abroad, that Arnulf, the count of Flanders, having taken the fortress of the count Herluin, in 939, sent his captive wife and children to Athelstan. 62 THE EMPEROR of Germany, Henry the First, permitted his son, Otho, afterwards surnamed the Great, to solicit a sister of Athelstan in marriage. IN 919, the dignity of emperor was conferred on the prince nominated by Conrad, who has become illustriously known to posterity under the title of Henry the First, or the Fowler. THE wars of Henry with the barbarous nations of Hungary, with the Danes, Bavarians, Suabians, 939. Athelstan aids Louis with a feet. His conwith the Emperor nection Henry I. 919. |