gloriosa erat inter cathedras, demum ad summe id est
Romane sedis apicem. Eundem uero
interius postea compunctum, & exterius
horribiliter aflictum, manus & pedes abscisos
diabolo proiecisse dicunt, &
sic truncum obisse, & inter beatos collocatum.
A[nno] movio obiit
Alfricus Dorobern’ archiepiscopus, cui Elfegus Wintoniensis episcopus successit, &
pro illo
Kenulfus substituitur episcopus. Danorum classis Angliam aduecta, cede
& incendio
queque consumens, Cantiam, Suthsaxoniam, Suthamtonensem prouinciam,
Bar
rochire deuastans, ad naues cum preda repedauit.
A[nno] moviio obiit papa Siluester, cui
successit Iohannes. Rex Eilredus necessitate compulsus, pro pace
ulterius seruanda
xxxvim librarum tributum Danis singulis annis persoluere,
concessit. Quo anno etiam rex Edricum cognomento Streone perfidum, & postea
patrie pro
ditorem, licet gener regis fuerit, Merciorum constituit ducem.
A[nno] moviiio obiit papa
Iohannes, cui successit Iohannes. Rex Eilredus naues per totam Angliam inten
te
precepit frabicari,1 ut regni sui
fines ut ab exterorum irruptione defenderet.
A[nno] moixo obiit papa
Iohannes, \cui successit/
Sergius \papa
¶/. Turkillus comes cum sua classe, & Hemingus,
& Ailafus,
cum innumerabili excercitu Danorum, ad Tenetland insulam
applicuerunt, deinde ciui
tatem Cantuarie infringere incipientibus, dextras dederunt
ciues, & Orientales Cant’
& eis iiim librarum
pro firma pace dederunt, postea nisi perfidus dux Edricus impedisset,
plene de
eisdem rex triumphasset Eilredus.
A[nno] moxo memoratus Danorum excercitus, omnem fere australem Angliam,
usque ad Lincoln
ensem prouinciam deuastantes, concremauerunt, & uictoriam de
Estanglis, heu in prelio
obtinuerunt.
A[nno] moxio obiit papa Sergius, cui successit Benedictus. Dani ferro,
flamis, urbem Cant’ miserabili
ter consumunt Sanctum Elfegum archiepiscopum,
spoliata principali Christi ecclesia, & Godwinum
Rofensem episcopum, &
Leofrunam abbatissam capiunt, Elfredum etiam regis prepositum, monach
os quoque
& clericos, & populum utriusque sexus innumerabilem. Sanctus uero Elfegus
uinctus
tenetur, & uariis iniuriis afficitur, & grauiter sauciatur, ad
classem ducitur, in carcere
truditur, ibique viitem
mensibus affligitur. Monachi, uiri, mulieres, infantuli, deciman
tur, nouem
trucidantur, decimus uite reseruatur iiiior monachis,
dccctis uiris, decimato
rum summa perficitur. Interim
ira Dei in populum homicidam deseuiens, ex eis ii milia per
diros internorum
cruciatus prostrauit, nec tamen Deo & sancto pontifici satisfaciunt.
A[nno] moxiio perfidus dux
Edricus Streona, & omnes primates Angl’ London’ congregati, promissum
Danis
tributum, xlmviiito librarum
persoluebant. Interea sacrosancta dominice diei sabbato
Sancto Elfego a Danis
proponitur condicio, ut si uita, & libertate uellet potiri iiim librarum persoluat, illo nolente necem eius, usque ad
aliud sabbatum protelant. Quo
adueniente, spiritu f\u/roris2
exagitati, uino multo inebriati, de carcere eductum ad
eorum concilium protractum,
auersis securibus, deiciunt lapidibus, ossibus bouinis
capitibus ob\r/uunt. Ad ultimum quidam Tum nomine quem pridie confirmarat,
impia
motus pietate, securim capiti eius infixit, qui statim in Domino obdormiuit.
Corpus uero
was renowned
among cathedrals—and at last to the top, that is to Rome, the pinnacle among sees. The
same man, indeed, afterwards felt remorse inwardly and was outwardly tormented
dreadfully: they say that the hands and feet which he had stretched out to the devil
were cut off, and that he had accordingly died mutilated, and was placed among the
blessed.
In the 1006th year Ælfric, archbishop of
Canterbury, died; Ælfheah, bishop of Worcester, succeeded him, and in his place Cenwulf
is substituted. The fleet of Danes, having been borne to England, wasting everything by
fire and slaughter, devastating Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire, turned back to
their ships with spoils.
In the 1007th year Pope
Silvester died; John succeeded him. King Æthelred, forced by need, agreed to pay 36
thousand pounds tribute to the Danes each year, for the further preservation of peace.
Also in this year the king appointed Eadric, surnamed Streona, as ealdorman of the
Mercians—a treacherous man, and later a traitor to his country, although he was to be
the king’s son-in-law.
In the 1008th year Pope John
died; John succeeded him. King Æthelred commanded ships to be built throughout all
England as a matter of urgency, so that the limits of his kingdom so that
might be defended from enemy incursion.
In the 1009th year Pope John died;
\Pope/
Sergius
\succeeded him ¶/
. Earl Thorkell with
his fleet, Hemming, and Eilaf, with a countless army of Danes, landed on the Isle of
Thanet; then, on beginning to break into the city of Canterbury, the citizens and the
men of East Kent gave the right hand of fellowship and gave them 3 thousand pounds for a
lasting peace. Afterwards, King Æthelred would have triumphed over them completely
except that the treacherous Eadric prevented this.
In the 1010th year the aforementioned Danish army laid waste and burnt
almost all of the south of England, as far as Lincolnshire, and they, alas, gained
victory in battle over the East Anglians.
In the 1011th
year Pope Sergius died; Benedict succeeded him. The Danes wretchedly waste the town of
Canterbury with sword and fire, and take the holy Ælfheah the archbishop—having
plundered Christ’s chief church—, Godwine, bishop of Rochester, and the abbess Leofrun,
and moreover Ælfred, the king’s reeve, monks and clerks also, and countless people of
either sex. The holy Ælfheah, moreover, is held, bound, and is afflicted by various
insults, and is severely wounded, and is led to the fleet, thrown into prison, and
tormented there for 7 months. Monks, men, women, and little infants are tithed: nine out
of ten are butchered, a tenth left alive. The final total of the tithed was 4 monks and
800 men. Meanwhile, the wrath of God, raging against the murderous people, laid low 2
thousand of them with fearful tortures of their intestines; however they did not make
amends to God or to the holy pontiff.
In the 1012th year the treacherous Eadric Streona and all the leading men of England
assembled in London, and paid 48 thousand pounds tribute promised to the Danes.
Meanwhile, on the Holy Saturday of the Lord’s feast, a proposal was put forward by the
Danes to the holy Ælfheah, that if he should pay 3 thousand pounds, he would be able to
have life and freedom. At his refusal, they delayed his death to the next Saturday. With
that day approaching, they, aroused by a feeling of rage and drunk with much wine, took
him out from prison and dragged him to their council, and, having discarded their
battle-axes, they threw him down and overwhelmed him with stones, bones, and ox-heads.
In the end a certain man, Thrum by name, whom the holy Ælfheah had confirmed the day
before, moved by wicked piety, stuck a battle-axe into his head; and he immediately fell
asleep in the Lord. His body, though,