Alfred The Great — The Saxons In England (ii)
by John Lord, LL.D.
How well Alfred paid his soldiers it is difficult to de-
termine. His own private means were large, and the
Crown lands were very extensive. One-third of hid
income was spent upon his army. But it is not prob-
able that a large force was under pay in time of peace;
yet he had always one third of his forces ready to act
promptly against an enemy. The burden of the service
was distributed over the whole kingdom. The main
feature of his military reform seems to have been in the
divisions of his forces into three bodies, only one of
which was liable to be called upon for service at a time,
except in great emergencies. In regard to tactics, or
changes in armor and mode of fighting, we know noth-
ing; for war as an art or science did not exist in any
Teutonic kingdom; it was lost with the fall of the
Roman empire. How far Alfred was gifted with
military genius we are unable to say, beyond courage,
fertility of resources, activity of movement, and a mar-
vellous patience. His greatest qualities were moral,
like those of Washington. It is his reproachless char-
acter, and his devotion to duty, and love of his people
which impress us from first to last. As has been said of
Marcus Aurelius, Alfred was a Saint Anselm on a throne.
He had none of those turbulent and restless qualities
which we associate with mediæval kings. What a con-
trast between him and William the Conqueror!
Alfred also gave his attention to the construction of
a navy, as well as to the organization of an army, know-
ing that it was necessary to resist the Northmen on the
ocean and prevent their landing on the coast. In 875
he had fought a naval battle with success, and had
taken one of the ships of the sea-kings, which furnished
him with a model to build his own ships,——doing the
same thing that the Romans did in their early na-
val warfare with the Carthaginians. In 877 he de-
stroyed a Danish fleet on his way to relieve Exeter.
But he soon made considerable improvement on the
ships of his enemies, making them twice as long as
those of the Danes, with a larger number of oars. These
were steadier and swifter than the older vessels. As
the West Saxons were not a seafaring people, he em-
ployed and munificently rewarded men from other na-
tions more accustomed to the sea,——whether Frisians,
Franks, Britons, Scots, or even Danes. The result was,
He was never beaten badly at sea, and before the end
of his reign he had swept the coast clear of pirates.
Within two years from the treaty of Wedmore his fleet
was ready for action. He was prepared to meet the sea-
kings on equal terms, and in 882 he had gained an im-
portant naval battle over a fleet that was meditating an
invasion.
In the year 885 the Danes again invaded England
and laid siege to Rochester, but fled to their ships on
the approach of Alfred. They were pursued by the
Saxon king and defeated with great slaughter, sixteen
Danish vessels being destroyed and their crews put to
the sword. Nor had Guthren Athelstan, the ex-viking,
been true to his engagements. He had allowed two
additional settlements of Danes on the East Anglian
coasts, and had even assisted Alfred's enemies. Their
defeat, however, induced him to live peaceably in East
Anglia until he died in 890. These successes of Alfred
secured peace with the Danes for eight more years, dur-
ing which he pursued his various schemes for the im-
provement of his people, and in preparation for future
wars. He had put his kingdom in a state of defence,
and now turned his attention to legislation,——the su-
premest labor of an enlightened monarch.
The laws of Alfred wear a close resemblance to those
which Moses gave to the Hebrews, and moreover are
pervaded with Christian ideas. His aim seems to have
been to recognize in his jurisprudence the supreme
obedience which is due to the laws of God. In all the
laws of the converted Teutonic nations, from Charle-
magne down, we notice the influence of the Christian
clergy in modifying the severity of the old Pagan codes.
Alfred did not aim to be an original legislator, like
Moses or Solon, but selected from the Mosaic code, and
also from the laws of Ethelbert, Ina, Offa, and other
Saxon princes, those regulations of the people whom
he governed. He recognized more completely than any
of his predecessors the rights of property, and attached
great sanctity to oaths. Whoever violated his pledge
was sentenced to imprisonment. He raised the dignity
of ealdormen and bishops to that of the highest rank.
He made treason against the royal authority the grav-
est offence known to the laws, and all were deemed
traitors who should presume to draw the sword in the
king's house. He made new provisions for personal
security, especially of the property of the Church.
he bestowed freedom on slaves after six years of ser-
vice. Some think he instituted trial by jury. Like
Theodosius and Charlemagne, he gave peculiar privi-
leges to clergy as a counterpoise to the lawlessness
of nobles.
One of the peculiarities of his legislation was com-
pensation for crime, ——seen alike in the Mosaic dispen-
sation and in the old customs of the Germanic nations
in their native forests. On Conviction, the culprit was
compelled to pay a sum of money to the relatives of the
injured, and another sum to the community at large.
This compensation varied according to the rank of the
injured party,——and rank was determined by wealth.
The owner of two hydes of land was ranked above a
ceorl, or simple farmer, while the owner of twelve hydes
was a royal thane. In the compensation for crime the
gradation was curious: twelve shillings would pay for a
thumb. If a man robbed his equal, he was compelled
to pay threefold; if he robbed the king, he paid nine-
fold; and if he robbed the church, he was obliged to
return twelvefold: hence the robbery of ecclesiastical
property was attended with such severe penalties that
it was unusual. In some cases theft was punished with
death.
The code of Alfred was severe, but in an age of
crime and disorder severity was necessary. He also
instituted a vigorous police, and divided the country
into counties, and these again into hundreds or parishes,
each of which was made responsible for the mainte-
nance of order and the detection of crime. He was
severe on judges when they passed sentence irrespective
of the rights of jurors. He did not emancipate slaves,
but he ameliorated their condition and limited their
term of compulsory service. Burglary in the king's
house was punished by a fine of one hundred and
twenty shillings; in an archbishop's, at ninety; in a
bishop's or ealdorman's, at sixty; in the house of a man
of twelve hydes, at thirty shillings,——the fine being
graded according to the rank of him whose house had
been entered. There was a rigorous punishment for
working on Sunday: if a theow, by order of his lord,
the lord had to pay a penalty of thirty shillings; if
without the lord's order, he was condemned to be
flogged. If a freeman worked without his lord's order,
he had to pay sixty shillings or forfeit his freedom.
If a man was found burning a tree in a forest, he was
obliged to pay a fine of sixty shillings, in order to pro-
tect the forest; or if he cut down a tree under which
thirty swine might stand, he was obliged to pay a fine
of sixty shillings. These penalties seem severe, but
they were inflicted for offences difficult to be detected
and frequently committed. We infer from these
various fines that burglary, robbery, petty larcenies,
and brawls were the most common offences against
the laws.
One of the greatest services which Alfred rendered to
the cause of civilization in England was in separating
judicial from executive functions. The old eorls and
ealdormen were warriors; and yet to them had been
committed the administration of justice, which they
often abused,——frequently deciding cases against the
verdicts of jurors, and sometimes unjustly dooming in-
nocent men to capital punishment. Alfred hanged an
ealdorman or alderman, one Freberne, for sentencing
Haspin to death when the jury was in doubt. He even
hanged twenty-four inferior officers, on whom judicial
duties devolved, for palpable injustice.
The love of justice and truth was one of the main
traits of Alfred's character, and he plainly perceived
that the ealdormen of shire, though faithful and valiant
warriors were not learned and impartial enough to ad-
minister justice. There was scarcely one of them who
could read the written law, or who had any extensive
acquaintance with the common law or the usages which
had been in force from time immemorial,——as far back
as the original villages of Germany. Moreover, the
poor and defenceless had nee of protection. They al-
ways had needed it, for in Pagan and barbarous coun-
tries their rights were too often disregarded. When
brute force bore everything before it, it became both
the duty and privilege of the king, who represented
central power, to maintain the rights of the humblest
reliance, mutual trust, patient self-restraint, and orderly love
of law among a young people.
"To recapitulate the reforms of Alfred in the administra-
tion of justice and the resettlement of the country, the old
divisions of shires were carefully readjusted, and divided into
hundreds or tythings. The alderman of the shire still re-
mained the chief officer, but the office was no longer heredi-
tary. The king appointed the aldermen, or eorl, who was
president of the shire gemot, or council, and chief judge of the
county court as well as governor of the shire, but was as-
sisted and probably controlled in his judicial capacity by jus-
tices appointed by the king, and not attached to the shire, or
in any way dependent on the aldermen. The vice-domini, or
nominees of the alderman, were abolished, and an officer sub-
stituted for them called the reeve of the shire, or sheriff, who
carried out the decrees of the courts. The hundred and
tythings were represented by their own officers, and had their
hundred-courts and courts-leet, which exercised a trifling crim-
inal jurisdiction, but were chiefly assemblies answering to our
grand juries and parish vestries. All householders were
members of them, and every man thus became responsible
for keeping the king's peace."
In regard to the financial resources of Alfred we know
but little. Probably they were great, considering the
extent and population of the little kingdom over which
he ruled, but inconsiderable in comparison with the rev-
enues of England at the present day. To build fortres-
es, construct a navy, and keep in pay a considerable
military force,——to say nothing of his own private
expenditure and the expense of his court, his public
improvements, the endowment of churches, the support
of schools, the relief of the poor, and keeping the high-
ways and bridges in repair,–—required a large income.
This was derived from the public revenues, crown lands,
and private property. The public revenue was raised
chiefly by customs, tolls, and fines. The crown lands
were very extensive, as well as the private property of
the sovereign, as he had large estates in every county
of his kingdom.
But whatever his income, he set apart one quarter of
it for religious purposes, one-sixth for architecture, and
one-eighth for the poor, besides a considerable sum for
foreigners, whom he liberally patronized. He richly
endowed schools and monasteries. He was devoted to
the Church, and his relations with the Pope were pleas-
ant and intimate, although more independent than those
of many of his successors.
All the biographies of Alfred speak of his zealous
efforts in behalf of education. He established a school
for the young nobles of his court, and taught them
himself. His teachers were chiefly learned men drawn
from the continent, especially from the Franks, and were
well paid by the king. He made the scholarly Asser
——a Welsh monk, afterwards bishop of Sherborne, from
whose biography of Alfred our best information is de-
rived——his counsellor and friend, and from his instruc-
tions acquired much knowledge. To Asser he gave the
general superintendence of education, not merely for
laymen, but for priests. In his own words, he declared
that his wish was that all free-born youth should perse-
vere in learning until they could read the English Scrip-
tures. For those who desired to devote themselves to
the Church, he provided the means for the study of
Latin. He gave all his children a good education. his
own thirst for knowledge was remarkable, considering
his cares and public duties. He copied a prayer-book
with his own hands, and always carried it in his bosom.
Asser read to hm all the books which were then acces-
sible. From an humble scholar the king soon became
an author. He translated "Consolations of Philosophy"
from the Latin of Bœthius, a Roman senator of the sixth
century,——the most remarkable literary effort of the de-
clining days of the Roman Empire, and highly prized in
the Middle Ages. He also translated the "Chronicle of
the World," by Orosius, a Spanish priest, who lived in the
early part of the fifth century,——a work suggested by
Saint Augustine's "City of God." The "Ecclesiastical
History" of Bede was also translated by Alfred. He is
said to have translated the Proverbs of Solomon and the
Fables of Æsop. His greatest literary work, however,
was the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the principal authority of
the reign of Alfred. No man of his day wrote the Saxon
language so purely as did Alfred himself; and he was
distinguished not only for his knowledge of Latin, but for
profound philosophical reflections interspersed through
his writings, which would do honor to a Father of the
Church. He was also a poet, inferior only to Cædmon.
Nor was his knowledge confined to literature alone; it
was extended to the arts, especially architecture, ship-
building, and silver-workmanship. He built more beau-
tiful edifices than any of his predecessors. He also had
a knowledge of geography beyond his contemporaries,
and sent a Norwegian ship-master to explore the White
Sea. He enriched his translation of Orosius by a sketch
of the new geographical discoveries of the North. In
fact, there was scarcely any branch of knowledge then
known in which Alfred was not well instructed,——being
a remarkably learned man for his age, and as enlight-
ened as he was learned.
But in the midst of his reform and wise efforts to
civilize his people, the war-clouds gathered once more,
and he was obliged to put forth all his energies to de-
fend his realm from the incursion of his old enemies.
The death of Charles the Bald in the year 877 left France
in a very disordered state, and the Northmen under
Hasting, one of the greatest of their vikings, recom-
menced their ravings. In 893 they crossed the Channel
in two hundred and fifty vessels, and invaded England,
followed soon after by Hasting with another large
detachment, and strongly intrenched themselves near
Winchester. Alfred at the same time strongly fortified
his own position, about thirty miles distant, and kept
so close a watch over the movements of his enemies
that they rarely ventured beyond their own intrench-
ments. A sort of desultory warfare succeeded, and con-
tinued for a year without any decisive results. At last
the Danes, getting weary, broke up their camps, and
resolved to pass into East Anglia. They were met by
Alfred at Farnham and forced to fight, which resulted
in their defeat and the loss of all the spoils they had
taken and all the horses they had brought from France.
The discomfited Danes retreated, by means of their ships,
to an island in the Thames, at its junction with the
Colne, where they were invested by Alfred. They
would soon have been at the mercy of the Saxon king,
had it not unfortunately happened that the Danes on
the east coast, from Essex to Northumbria, joined the
invaders, which unlooked-for even compelled Alfred to
raise the blockade, and sent Ethelred his son to the
west, where the Danes were again strongly intrenched
at Banfleet, near London. Their camp was successfully
stormed, and much booty was taken, together with the
wife and sons of Hasting. The Danish fleet was also
captured, and some of the vessels were sent to London.
But Hasting still held out, in spite of his disaster, and
succeeded in intrenching himself with the remnants of
his army at Shoebury, ten miles from Banfleet, from
which he issued on a marauding expedition along the
northern banks of the Thames, carrying fire and sword
wherever he went, thence turned northward, making no
halt until he reached the banks of the Severn, where he
again intrenched himself, but was again beaten. Hast-
ing saved himself by falling back on a part of East
Anglia removed from Alfred's influence, and appeared
near Chester. Alfred himself had undertaken the task
of guarding Exeter and the coasts of Devonshire and
South Wales, where he wintered, leaving Ethelred to
pursue Hasting.
Thus a year passed in the successful defence of the
kingdom, the Danes having gained no important ad-
vantage. At the end of the second campaign Hasting
still maintained his ground and fortified himself on the
Thames, within twenty miles of London. At the close
of the third year, Hasting, being driven from his posi-
tion on the Tames, established himself in Shropshire.
"In the spring of 897 Hasting broke up his last camp
on the English soil, being foiled at every point, and
crossed the sea with the remnant of his followers to
the banks of the Seine." The war was now virtually
at an end, and the Danes utterly defeated.
The work for which Alfred was raised up was at last
accomplished. He had stayed the inundations of the
Northmen, defended his kingdom of Wessex, and
planted the seeds of a higher civilization in England,
winning the love and admiration of his subjects. The
greatness of Alfred should not be measured by the size
of his kingdom. It is not the bigness of a country
that gives fame to illustrious men. The immortal
heroes of Palestine and Greece ruled over territories
smaller and of less importance than the kingdom of
Wessex. It is the greatness of their character that
preserves their name and memory.
Alfred died in the year 901, at the age of fifty-two,
worn out with disease and labors, leaving his kingdom
in a prosperous state; and it had rest under his son
Edward for nine years. Then the contest renewed
with the Danes, and it was under the reign of Edward
that Mercia was once more annexed to Wessex, as well
as Northumbria. Edward died in 925, and under the
reign of his son Æthelstan the Saxon kingdom reached
still greater prosperity. The complexion of the West
Saxon realm was reserved for Edmund, son of Æthel-
stan, who ascended the throne in 940, being a mere boy.
He was ruled by the greatest statesman of that age, the
celebrated Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury and Arch-
bishop of Cnterbury,——a great statesman and a great
Churchman, like Hincmar of Rheims.
Thus the heroism and patience of Alfred were re-
warded by the restoration of the Saxon power, and the
absorption of what Mr. Green calls "Dunelagh,' after a
long and bitter contest, of which Alfred was the great-
et hero. In surveying his conquests we are reminded
of the long contest which Charlemagne had with the
Saxons. Next to Charlemagne, Alfred was the greatest
prince who reigned in Europe after the dissolution of
the Roman Empire, until the Norman Conquest. He
fought not for the desire of bequeathing a great empire
to his descendants, but to rescue his country from
ruin, in the midst of overwhelming calamities. It was
a struggle for national existence, not military glory.
In the successful defence of his kingdom against the
ravages of Pagan invaders he may be likened to Wil-
liam the Silent in preserving the nationality of Hol-
land. No European monarch from the time of Alfred
can be compared to him in the service he rendered to
his country. The memorableness of a war is to be
gauged not by the number of the combatants, but by
the sacredness of a cause. It was the devotion of Wash-
ington to a great cause which embalms his memory in
the heart of the world. And no English king has left
so hallowed a name as Alfred: it was because he was
a benefactor, and infused his energy of purpose into
a discouraged and afflicted people. How far his saint-
like virtues were imitated it is difficult to tell. Re-
ligion was the groundwork of his character,——faith
in God and devotion to duty. His piety was also
more enlightened than the piety of his age, since it was
practical and not formal. His temper was open, frank,
and genial. He loved books and strangers and travel-
lers. There was nothing cynical about him, in spite of
his perplexities and discouragements. He had a beauti-
fully balanced character and a many-sided nature. He
had the power of inspiring confidence in defeat and
danger. His judgment and good sense seemed to fit
him for an emergency. He had the same control over
himself that he had over others. His patriotism and
singleness of purpose inspired devotion. He felt his
burdens, but did not seek to throw them off. "Hard-
ship and sorrow," said he, "not a king but would wish
to be without these if he could; but I know he cannot."
"So long as I have lived I have striven to live worthily."
"I desire to leave to the men that come after me a re-
membrance of me in good works." These were some
of his precious utterances, so that the love which he
won a thousand years ago has lingered around his name
from that day to this.
It was a strong sense of duty, quickened by a Chris-
tian life, which gave to the character of Alfred its pecu-
liar radiance. He felt his responsibilities as a Christian
ruler. He was affable, courteous, accessible. His body
was frail and delicate, but his energies were never re-
laxed. Pride and haughtiness were unknown in his
intercourse with bishops and nobles. He had no striking
defects. He was the model of a man and a king; and
he left the impress of his genius on all the subsequent
institutions of his country. "The tree," says Dr. Pauli,
one of his ablest biographers, "which now casts its
shadow far and near over the world, when menaced
with destruction in its bud, was carefully guarded by
Alfred; but at the period when it was ready to burst
forth into plant, he was forced to leave it to the in-
fluence of time. Many great men have occupied them-
selves with the care of this tree, and each in his own
way has advanced its growth. William the Conqueror,
with his iron hand, bent the tender branches to his will;
Henry the Second ruled the Saxons with true Roman
pride, but in Magna Charta the old German nature be-
came aroused and worked powerfully, even among the
barons. It became free under Edward the Third,——
the prince so ambitious of conquest: the old language
and the old law, the one somewhat altered, the other
much softened, opened the path to a new era. The
nation stood like an oak in the full strength of its leafy
maturity; and to this strength the Reformation is in-
debted for its accomplishment. Elizabeth, the greatest
woman who ever sat upon a throne, occupied a central
position in a golden age of power and literature. Then
came the Stuarts, who with their despotic ideas out-
raged the deeply-rooted Saxon individuality of the
English, and by their fall contributed to the sure de-
velopment of that freedom which was founded so long
before. The stern Cromwell and the astute William
the third aided in preparing for the now advanced
nation that path in which it has ever since moved.
The Anglo-Saxon race has already attained maturity in
the New World, and, founded on these pillars, it will
triumph in all places and in every age. Alfred's name
will always be placed among those of the great spir-
its of this earth; and so long as men regard their past
history with reverence they will not venture to bring
forward any other in comparison with him who saved
the West Saxon nation from complete destruction, and
in whose heart all the virtues dwelt in such harmonious
concord.
AUTHORITIES.
Asser's Life of Alfred; the Saxon Chronicle; Alfred's own writings;
Bede's Ecclesiastical History; Thorpe's Ancient Laws and Institutes of
England; Kemble's Saxons in England; Sir F. Palgrave's History of the
English Commonwealth; Sharon's Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons;
Green's History of the English People; Dr. Pauli's Life of Alfred; Alfred
the Great, by Thomas Hughes. Freeman, Pearson, Hume, Spelman, Knight,
and other English historians may be consulted.
chapter from Beacon Lights of History, by John Lord, LL. D.,
Volume IV, Great rulers, pp. 43 - 62
©1883, 1885, 1886 by John Lord.
©1921, By Wm. H. Wise & Co., New York
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