Books: Heroes Every Child Should Know

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"Now King Alfred was driven from his Kingdom by the Danes, and he
lay hid for three years in the isle of Glastonbury. And it came to
pass on a day that all his folk were gone out to fish, save only
Alfred himself and his wife and one servant whom he loved. And there
came a pilgrim to the King, and begged for food. And the King said
to his servant, 'What food have we in the house?' And his servant
answered, 'My Lord, we have in the house but one loaf and a little
wine.' Then the King gave thanks to God, and said, 'Give half of the
loaf and half of the wine to this poor pilgrim.' So the servant did
as his lord commanded him, and gave to the pilgrim half of the loaf
and half of the wine, and the pilgrim gave great thanks to the King.
And when the servant returned, he found the loaf whole, and the wine
as much as there had been aforetime. And he greatly wondered, and he
wondered also how the pilgrim had come into the isle, for that no
man could come there save by water, and the pilgrim had no boat. And
the King greatly wondered also. And at the ninth hour came back the
folk who had gone to fish. And they had three boats full of fish,
and they said, 'Lo, we have caught more fish this day than in all
the three years that we have tarried in this island.' And the King
was glad, and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon
that which had come to pass. And when night came, the King went to
his bed with Ealhswyth his wife. And the Lady slept, but the King
lay awake and thought of all that had come to pass by day. And
presently he saw a great light, like the brightness of the sun, and
he saw an old man with black hair, clothed in priest's garments, and
with a mitre on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of
the Gospels adorned with gold and gems. And the old man blessed the
King, and the King said unto him, 'Who art thou?' And he answered,
'Alfred, my son, rejoice; for I am he to whom thou didst this day
give thine alms, and I am called Cuthberht the soldier of Christ.
Now be strong and very courageous, and be of joyful heart, and
hearken diligently to the things which I say unto thee; for
henceforth I will be thy shield and thy friend, and I will watch
over thee and over thy sons after thee. And now I will tell thee
what thou must do. Rise up early in the morning, and blow thine horn
thrice, that thy enemies may hear it and fear, and by the ninth hour
thou shalt have around thee five hundred men harnassed for the
battle. And this shall be a sign unto thee that thou mayest believe.
And after seven days thou shalt have by God's gift and my help all
the folk of this land gathered unto thee upon the mount that is
called Assandun. And thus shalt thou fight against thine enemies,
and doubt not that thou shalt overcome them. Be thou therefore glad
of heart, and be strong and very courageous, and fear not, for God
hath given thine enemies into thine hand. And He hath given thee
also all this land and the Kingdom of thy fathers, to thee and to
thy sons and to thy sons' sons after thee. Be thou faithful to me
and to my folk, because that unto thee is given all the land of
Albion. Be thou righteous, because thou art chosen to be the King of
all Britain. So may God be merciful unto thee, and I will be thy
friend, and none of thine enemies shall ever be able to overcome
thee.' Then was King Alfred glad at heart, and he was strong and
very courageous, for that he knew that he would overcome his enemies
by the help of God and Saint Cuthberht his patron. So in the morning
he arose, and sailed to the land, and blew his horn three times, and
when his friends heard it they were glad, and when his enemies heard
it they feared. And by the ninth hour, according to the word of the
Lord, there were gathered unto him five hundred men of the bravest
and dearest of his friends. And he spake unto them and told them all
that God had said unto him by the mouth of his servant Cuthberht,
and he told them that, by the gift of God and by the help of Saint
Cuthberht, they would overcome their enemies and win back their own
land. And he bade them as Saint Cuthberht had taught him, to fear
God alway and to be alway righteous toward all men. And he bade his
son Edward who was by him to be faithful to God and Saint Cuthberht,
and so he should alway have the victory over his enemies. So they
went forth to battle and smote their enemies and overcame them, and
King Alfred took the Kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well and
wisely over the just and the unjust for the rest of his days."

Now is there any truth in all this story? I think there is thus
much, that Alfred, for some reason or other, thought he was under
the special protection of Saint Cuthberht. For several years after
880 there was peace in the land, and for a good many more years
still there was much less fighting than there had been before. It
was no doubt at this time that Alfred was able to do all those
things for the good of his people of which we hear so much. He had
now more time than either before or after for making his laws,
writing his books, founding his monasteries, and doing all that he
did. You may wonder how he found time to do so much; but it was by
the only way by which anybody can do anything, namely, by never
wasting his time, and by having fixed times of the day for
everything. Alfred did not, like most other writers of that time,
write in Latin, so that hardly anybody but the clergy could read or
understand what he wrote. He loved our own tongue, and was
especially fond of the Old-English songs, and all that he wrote he
wrote in English that all his people might understand. His works
were chiefly translations from Latin books; what we should have
valued most of all, his notebook or handbook, containing his remarks
on various matters, is lost. He translated into English the History
of Basda, the History of Orosius, some of the works of Pope Gregory
the Great, and the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. Perhaps
you will ask why he did not rather translate some of the great and
famous Greek and Latin writers of earlier times. Now we may be sure
that King Alfred did not understand Greek at all; very few people in
those days in the West of Europe knew any Greek, except those who
needed to use the language for dealing with the men in the Eastern
Empire who still spoke it. Indeed Alfred complains that, when he
came to the Crown, very few people, even among the clergy,
understood even Latin at all well. And as for Latin books, no doubt
Alfred thought that the writings of Christians would be more
edifying to his people than those of the old heathens. He chose the
History of Orosius, as a general history of the world, and that of
Basda, as a particular history of England. Boethius was a Roman
Consul in the beginning of the sixth century, who was put to death
by the great Theodoric, King of the East-Goths, who then ruled over
Italy. While he was in prison he wrote the book which King Alfred
translated. He seems not to have been a Christian; at least there is
not a single Christian expression in his book. But people fancied
that he was not only a Christian, but a saint and a martyr, most
likely because Theodoric, who put him to death, was not an orthodox
Christian, but an Arian. Alfred, in translating his books, did not
always care to translate them quite exactly, but he often altered
and put in things of his own, if he thought he could thus make them
more improving. So in translating Boethius, he altered a good deal,
to make the wise heathen speak like a Christian. So in translating
Orosius, where Orosius gives an account of the world, Alfred greatly
enlarged the account of all the northern part of Europe, of which
Alfred naturally knew much more than Orosius did.

Alfred was also very careful in the government of his Kingdom,
especially in seeing that justice was properly administered. So men
said of him in their songs, much as they had long before said of
King Edwin in Northumberland, that he hung up golden bracelets by
the roadside, and that no man dared to steal them. In his collection
of laws, he chiefly put in order the laws of the older Kings, not
adding many of his own, because he said that he did not know how
those who came after him might like them.

King Alfred was very attentive to religious matters, and gave great
alms to the poor and gifts to churches. He also founded two
monasteries; one was for nuns, at Shaftesbury in Dorsetshire, of
which he made his own daughter, Aethelgifu, abbess. The other was
for monks at Athelney; you can easily see why he should build it
there. He also sent several embassies to Rome, where he got Pope
Marinus to grant certain privileges to the English School at Rome;
the Pope also sent him what was thought to be a piece of the wood of
the True Cross, that on which our Lord Jesus Christ died. He also
sent an embassy to Jerusalem, and had letters from Abel the
Patriarch there. And what seems stranger than all, he sent an
embassy all the way to India, with alms for the Christians there,
called the Christians of Saint Thomas and Saint Bartholomew.

Lastly, there seems some reason to think that the Chronicle began to
be put together in its present shape in Alfred's time, and that it
was regularly gone on with afterward, so that from the time of
Alfred onward we have a history which was regularly written down as
things happened.

All these things happened mainly in the middle years of the reign of
Alfred, when there was so much less fighting than there was before
and after, and when some years seem to have been quite peaceable.
Guthorm Aethelstan and his Danes in East-Anglia were for some years
true to the treaty of Wedmore, and the other Danes seem just now to
have been busy in invading Gaul and other parts of the continent
rather than England. Also King Alfred had now got a fleet, so that
he often met them at sea and kept them from landing. This he did in
882, and we do not find that any Danes landed again in England till
885. In that year part of the army which had been plundering along
the coast of Flanders and Holland came over to England, landed in
Kent, and besieged Rochester. But the citizens withstood them
bravely, and Alfred gathered an army and drove the Danes to their
ships. They seem then to have gone to Essex and to have plundered
there with their ships, getting help from the Danes who were settled
in East-Anglia, or at least from such of them as still were
heathens. Alfred's fleet however quite overcame them and took away
their treasure, but his fleet was again attacked and defeated by the
East-Anglian Danes. It would seem that in some part of this war
Guthorm Aethelstan was helped by Hrolf, otherwise called Rollo, the
great Northern chief.

The Danish wars began again in 893. For years now there was a great
deal of fighting. Two large bodies of Danes, one of them under the
famous chief Hasting, landed in Kent in 893 and fixed themselves in
fortresses which they built. And the Danes who had settled in
Northumberland and East-Anglia helped them, though they had all
sworn oaths to King Alfred, and those in East-Anglia had also given
hostages. There was fighting all over the south of England
throughout 894, and the King had to go constantly backward and
forward to keep up with the Danes. One time Alfred took a fort in
Kent, in which were the wife and two sons of Hasting. Now Hasting
had not long before given oaths and hostages to Alfred, and the two
boys had been baptised, the King being godfather to one of them and
Alderman Aethelred to the other. But Hasting did not at all keep to
his oath, but went on plundering all the same. Still, when the boys
and their mother were taken, Alfred would not do them any harm, but
gave them up again to Hasting.

In 897 we read that Alfred made some improvements in his ships.
"They were full-nigh twice as long as the others; some had sixty
oars, some more; they were both swifter and steadier and eke higher
than the others; they were neither on the Frisian shape nor on the
Danish, but as himself thought that they useful might be." These new
ships seem to have done good service, though one time they got
aground, seemingly because they were so large, and the Danes were
therefore able to sail out before them. These sea-fights along the
south coast were nearly the last things that we hear of in Alfred's
reign. The crews of two Danish ships were brought to Winchester to
Alfred and there hanged. One cannot blame him for this, as these
Danes were mere pirates, not engaged in any lawful war, and many of
them had been spared, and had made oaths to Alfred, and had broken
them, over and over again.

This was in 897; the rest of King Alfred's reign seems to have been
spent in peace. In 901 the great King died himself. He was then only
fifty-two years old. Alfred's wife, the Lady Ealhswyth, lived a
little while after her husband, till 903 or 905. King Alfred was
buried at Winchester in the New Minster which he himself began to
found and which was finished by his son Edward. It then stood close
to the Old Minster, that is, the cathedral church. Afterward it was
moved out of the city and was called Hyde Abbey. But you cannot see
King Alfred's grave there now, because everything has been
destroyed, and the bones of the great King have been turned out, to
make room for a prison.

CHAPTER XI

THE CID

Afterwards the Castillians arrived, and they kissed his hands in
homage, all, save only my Cid. And when King Don Alfonso saw that
the Cid did not do homage and kiss his hand, as all the other chief
persons had done, he said, "Since now ye have all received me for
your Lord, and given me authority over ye, I would know of the Cid
Ruydiez why he will not kiss my hand and acknowledge me; for I would
do something for him, as I promised unto my father King Don
Ferrando, when he commended him to me and to my brethren." And the
Cid arose and said, "Sir, all whom you see here present, suspect
that by your counsel the King Don Sancho your brother came to his
death; and therefore I say unto you that, unless you clear yourself
of this, as by right you should do, I will never kiss your hand, nor
receive you for my lord." Then said the King, "Cid, what you say
pleases me well; and here I swear to God and to St. Mary, that I
never slew him, nor took counsel for his death. And I beseech ye
therefore all, as friends and true vassals, that ye tell me how I
may clear myself." And the chiefs who were present said, that he and
twelve of the knights who came with him from Toledo, should make
this oath in the church at St. Gadea at Burgos, and that so he
should be cleared.

So the King and all his company took horse and went to Burgos. And
when the day appointed for the oath was come, the King came forward
upon a high stage that all the people might see him, and my Cid came
to him to receive the oath; and my Cid took the book of the Gospels
and opened it, and laid it upon the altar, and the King laid his
hands upon it, and the Cid said unto him, "King Don Alfonso, you
come here to swear concerning the death of King Don Sancho your
brother, that you neither slew him nor took counsel for his death;
say now you and these hidalgos, if ye swear this." And the King and
the hidalgos answered and said, "Yea, we swear it." And the Cid
said, "If ye knew of this thing, or gave command that it should be
done, may you die even such a death as your brother the King Don
Sancho, by the hand of a villain whom you trust; one who is not a
hidalgo, from another land, not a Castillian"; and the King and the
knights who were with him said "Amen." And the King's colour
changed; and the Cid repeated the oath unto him a second time, and
the King and the twelve knights said "Amen" to it in like manner,
and in like manner the countenance of the King was changed again.
And my Cid repeated the oath unto him a third time, and the King and
the knights said "Amen." But the wrath of the King was exceedingly
great, and he said to the Cid, "Ruydiez, why dost thou thus press
me, man? To-day thou swearest me, and to-morrow thou wilt kiss my
hand." And from that day forward there was no love toward my Cid in
the heart of the King.

After this King Don Alfonso assembled together all his power and
went against the Moors. And the Cid should have gone with him, but
he fell sick and perforce therefore abode at home. And while the
King was going through Andalusia, having the land at his mercy, a
great power of the Moors assembled together on the other side, and
entered the land, and did much evil. At this time the Cid was
gathering strength; and when he heard that the Moors were in the
country, laying waste before them, he gathered together what force
he could, and went after them; and the Moors, when they heard this,
began to fly. And the Cid followed them as far as Toledo, slaying
and burning, and plundering and destroying, and laying hands on all
whom he found, so that he brought back seven thousand prisoners, men
and women; and he and all his people returned rich and with great
honour. But when the King of Toledo heard of the hurt which he had
received at the hands of the Cid, he sent to King Don Alfonso to
complain thereof. And the King was greatly troubled. And he went
with all speed to Burgos, and sent from thence to bid the Cid come
unto him.

Now my Cid knew the evil disposition of the King toward him, and
when he received his bidding he made answer that he would meet him
between Burgos and Bivar. And the King went out from Burgos and came
nigh unto Bivar; and the Cid came up to him and would have kissed
his hand, but the King withheld it, and said angrily unto him,
"Ruydiez, quit my land." Then the Cid clapt spurs to the mule upon
which he rode, and vaulted into a piece of ground which was his own
inheritance, and answered, "Sir, I am not in your land, but in my
own." And the King replied full wrathfully, "Go out of my kingdoms
without any delay." And the Cid made answer, "Give me then thirty
days' time, as is the right of the hidalgos"; and the King said he
would not, but that if he were not gone in nine days' time he would
come and look for him. The counts were well pleased at this; but all
the people of the land were sorrowful. And then the King and the Cid
parted. And the Cid sent for all his friends and his kinsmen and
vassals, and told them how King Don Alfonso had banished him from
the land, and asked of them who would follow him into banishment,
and who would remain at home. Then Alvar Fanez, who was his cousin-
german, came forward and said, "Cid, we will all go with you,
through desert and through peopled country, and never fail you. In
your service will we spend our mules and horses, our wealth and our
parments, and ever while we live be unto you loyal friends and
vassals." And they all confirmed what Alvar Fanez had said; and the
Cid thanked them for their love, and said that there might come a
time in which he should guerdon them.

And as he was about to depart he looked back upon his own home, and
when he saw his hall deserted, the household chests unfastened, the
doors open, no cloaks hanging up, no seats in the porch, no hawks
upon the perches, the tears came into his eyes, and he said, "My
enemies have done this. God be praised for all things." And he
turned toward the East and knelt and said, "Holy Mary Mother, and
all Saints, pray to God for me, that He may give me strength to
destroy all the Pagans, and to win enough from them to requite my
friends therewith, and all those who follow and help me." Then he
called for Alvar Fanez and said unto him, "Cousin, the poor have no
part in the wrong which the King hath done us; see now that no wrong
be done unto them along our road," and he called for his horse.

My Cid Ruydiez entered Burgos, having sixty streamers in his
company. And men and women went forth to see him. and the men of
Burgos and the women of Burgos were at their windows, weeping, so
great was their sorrow; and they said with one accord, "God, how
good a vassal if he had but a good Lord!" and willingly would each
have bade him come in, but no one dared so to do. For King Don
Alfonso in his anger had sent letters to Burgos, saying that no man
should give the Cid a lodging; and that whosoever disobeyed should
lose all that he had, and moreover the eyes in his head. Great
sorrow had these Christian folk at this, and they hid themselves
when he came near them because they did not dare speak to him; and
my Cid went to his Posada, and when he came to the door he found it
fastened, for fear of the King. And his people called out with a
loud voice, but they within made no answer. And the Cid rode up to
the door, and took his foot out of the stirrup, and gave it a kick,
but the door did not open with it, for it was well secured. A little
girl of nine years old then came out of one of the houses and said
unto him, "O Cid, the King hath forbidden us to receive you. We dare
not open our doors to you, for we should lose our houses and all
that we have, and the eyes in our head. Cid, our evil would not help
you, but God and all His saints be with you." And when she had said
this she returned into the house. And when the Cid knew what the
King had done he turned away from the door and rode up to St.
Mary's, and there he alighted and knelt down, and prayed with all
his heart; and then he mounted again and rode out of the town and
pitched his tent near Arlanzon, upon the sands. My Cid Ruydiez, he
who in a happy hour first girt on his sword, took up his lodging
upon the sands, because there was none who would receive him within
their door. He had a good company round about him, and there he
lodged

Moreover the King had given orders that no food should be sold them
in Burgos, so that they could not buy even a pennyworth. But Martin
Antolinez, who was a good Burgalese, he supplied my Cid and all his
company with bread and wine abundantly. "Campeador," said he to the
Cid, "to-night we will rest here, and tomorrow we will be gone: I
shall be accused for what I have done in serving you, and shall be
in the King's displeasure; but following your fortunes, sooner or
later, the King will have me for his friend, and if not, I do not
care a fig for what I leave behind." Now this Martin Antolinez was
nephew unto the Cid, being the son of his brother, Ferrando Diaz.
And the Cid said unto him, "Martin Antolinez, you are a bold
lancier; if I live I will double you your pay. You see I have
nothing with me, and yet must provide for my companions. I will take
two chests and fill them with sand, and do you go in secret to
Rachel and Vidas, and tell them to come hither privately; for I
cannot take my treasures with me because of their weight, and will
pledge them in their hands. Let them come for the chests at night,
that no man may see them. God knows that I do this thing more of
necessity than of wilfulness; but by God's good help I shall redeem
all." Now Rachel and Vidas were rich Jews, from whom the Cid used to
receive money for his spoils. And Martin Antolinez went in quest of
them, and he passed through Burgos and entered into the Castle; and
when he saw them he said, "Ah Rachel and Vidas, my dear friends! now
let me speak with ye in secret." And they three went apart. And he
said to them, "Give me your hands that you will not discover me,
neither to Moor nor Christian! I will make you rich men for ever.
The Campeador went for the tribute and he took great wealth, and
some of it he has kept for himself. He has two chests full of gold;
ye know that the King is in anger against him, and he cannot carry
these away with him without their being seen. He will leave them
therefore in your hands, and you shall lend him money upon them,
swearing with great oaths and upon your faith, that ye will not open
them till a year be past." Rachel and Vidas took counsel together
and answered, "We well knew he got something when he entered the
land of the Moors; he who has treasures does not sleep without
suspicion; we will take the chests, and place them where they shall
not be seen. But tell us with what will the Cid be contented, and
what gain will he give us for the year?" Martin Antolinez answered
like a prudent man, "My Cid requires what is reasonable; he will ask
but little to leave his treasures in safety. Men come to him from
all parts. He must have six hundred marks." And the Jews said, "We
will advance him so much." "Well then," said Martin Antolinez, "ye
see that the night is advancing; the Cid is in haste, give us the
marks." "This is not the way of business," said they; "we must take
first, and then give." "Ye say well," replied the Burgalese: "come
then to the Campeador, and we will help you to bring away the
chests, so that neither Moors nor Christians may see us." So they
went to horse and rode out together, and they did not cross the
bridge, but rode through the water that no man might see them, and
they came to the tent of the Cid.

Meantime the Cid had taken two chests, which were covered with
leather of red and gold, and the nails which fastened down the
leather were well gilt; they were ribbed with bands of iron, and
each fastened with three locks; they were heavy, and he filled them
with sand. And when Rachel and Vidas entered his tent with Martin
Antolinez, they kissed his hand; and the Cid smiled and said to
them, "Ye see that I am going out of the land, because of the King's
displeasure; but I shall leave something with ye." And they made
answer, "Martin Antolinez has covenanted with us, that we shall give
you six hundred marks upon these chests, and keep them a full year,
swearing not to open them till that time be expired, else shall we
be perjured." "Take the chests," said Martin Antolinez; "I will go
with you, and bring back the marks, for my Cid must move before
cock-crow." So they took the chests, and though they were both
strong men they could not raise them from the ground; and they were
full glad of the bargain which they had made. And Rachel then went
to the Cid and kissed his hand and said, "Now, Campeador, you are
going from Castille among strange nations, and your gain will be
great, even as your fortune is. I kiss your hand, Cid, and have a
gift for you, a red skin; it is Moorish and honourable." And the Cid
laid, "It pleases me: give it me if ye have brought it; if not,
reckon it upon the chests." And they departed with the chests, and
Martin Antolinez and his people helped them, and went with them. And
when they had placed the chests in safety, they spread a carpet in
the middle of the hall, and laid a sheet upon it, and they threw
down upon it three hundred marks of silver. Don Martin counted them,
and took them without weighing. The other three hundred they paid in
gold.

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