Part 3 — 7. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART III.
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7. AFTER THE ROMANS. PART III.
Alaric, king of a German tribe called the Visigoths (West Goths) invaded Greece and Italy, and after several defeats finally took and sacked Rome in 410 A.D. It was this state of thing which compelled the Romans to withdraw their troops from Britain.
The West where the Britons still held their own: Wales and Cornwall were never occupied by the invading Saxons: Welsh and Cornishmen are Celts, with a language of their own in Wales, while the Cornish language has only disappeared during the last hundred years.
Wessex: the land of the West Saxons corresponds roughly to England south of the Thames.
oblivion: being forgotten.
The river Lea rises in Bedfordshire, near Luton, passes Hertford and Ware, forms the boundary between Middlesex and Essex, and falls into the Thames at Blackwall, after a course of forty miles.
quagmires: marshy, boggy ground that quakes under the feet (quake, mire).
8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT.
Ecclesiastic: connected with the Church. For many centuries Rome was the centre of Christian influence, and is so still to all Roman Catholics.
ritual: the customs and ceremonies employed in performing service in a church.
Gregory I. or the Great was Pope from 590-604 A.D. He it was who sent Augustine to attempt the conversion of the English in the year 597.
kinglet: a petty king. England was then divided among many kings, so that the realm of each was necessarily very small.
crucifix: a figure of Christ fixed to the cross.
Bede: a monk and Church historian who lived and died at Jarrow in county Durham in 735 A.D.
Lindesfarne, or Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland.
Northumbrians: the men of Northumbria—that is, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland.
Mercians: the men of Mercia, or land of the Middle English.
supremacy: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, were separate kingdoms which were successively, in the order in which they are given, strong enough to overawe or exercise supremacy over the others. The king of Wessex eventually became king of England.
Witan, or in its fuller form wit-an-a-ge-mote, the 'meeting of wise men,' was the national council which afterwards grew up into our modern parliament.
9. THE SECOND SAXON SETTLEMENT.
Pagan: heathen, not yet converted to Christianity.
King Alfred, called the Great, was king of England from 871-901 A.D.
Alderman in early England meant the ruler of a large district, such as a shire or kingdom. When Mercia became subject to Wessex it was ruled by an alderman.
Benfleet: a place in Essex, on the north bank of the Thames, not far from Southend.
Brunanburgh was the scene of a defeat of the Danes by Athelstan in 937 A.D.; the place cannot now be identified.
Sweyn, King of Denmark, invaded England with his son Canute in 1013 A.D.
Redriff is now called Rotherhithe, south of the Thames.
King Ethelred II., called the Unredig, or lacking in counsel, reigned 979-1013 A.D.
Olave or Olaf and Magnus are Scandinavian names: there were early kings of Norway so called.
The Portreeve: the reeve or governor of London was a chief magistrate or mayor of the City.
The 'Staller' or Marshal led the men of London to battle.
The Knighten Guild was the ruling council of London: they were not chosen by election, but were the chief owners of property, and, like their land, the office was handed down from father to son.
mote: meeting.
hustings: a general meeting of the citizens held every week; later on the word came to mean the platform whence candidates for parliament addressed their constituents.
10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN.
Athelstan (925-940), the grandson of Alfred the Great, and Etheldred II. (979-1013) were kings of England.
earl or eorl was what we should now call a gentleman of good family; thanes: nobles who for the most part acquired their titles from the king as rewards for services.
municipal: having to do with the municipality or city.
French: Norman-French was the language spoken by the Normans.
the meat and fish were salted: in the absence of root-crops it was found difficult to keep animals through the winter. Hence much salt meat and fish were stored up.
embroidery: the art of working designs on cloth in needlework.
spinster: an unmarried woman; so called because unmarried daughters worked at spinning and weaving for the household, making 'homespun' cloth for them.
marauding: roving about for plunder.
solar: in early houses the chamber over the hall, used as the bedroom for the master and mistress of the house. (See picture on p. 73.)
tapestry: thick hangings or curtains with figures worked on them.
mead: a fermented drink made of honey: metheglin is another form of the word.
wattle: flexible twigs, withies, or osier rods: daub, mud.
turbulent: disorderly, riotous.
Thames Street: a very narrow street running along the bank of the Thames between Blackfriars and the Tower.
ward: a division of the City. The ward mote or ward meeting still exists, and elects the alderman or representative of the ward on the City Council.
11. THE WALL OF LONDON.
The White Tower is the 'keep' or central part of the Tower of London, begun by William the Conqueror and finished by the Red King. It is 92 feet high and the walls are 17 feet thick.
Dowgate: the site of one of the gates of Old London Wall is near where Cannon Street Railway Station now stands: here the Walbrook fell into the Thames.
Queen Hithe: 'The Queen's Landing Place.' Merchants were compelled to land their goods here so that the dues paid should go to the Queen.
confluence: a flowing together, the place where two rivers meet. The Fleet fell into the Thames at Blackfriars. (Latin cum, with, together; fluo, to flow. Compare, fluid, fluent.)
Montfichet's Tower was near Baynard's Castle, at the south-west corner of the old walls in Blackfriars. Both were named after the Norman tenants who occupied them.
Houndsditch is now a cross street joining Bishopgate Street and Aldgate, with a Church of St. Botolph at each end of it. It adjoined the moat or ditch round the City wall.
Allhallows: the same as All Saints—all the saints to whom churches were often dedicated, and whose memory is celebrated on November 1, which is All Saints' Day.
St. Giles, Cripplegate, contains in its churchyard part of London Wall. Milton was buried here in 1674.
12. NORMAN LONDON.
Bishop and Portreeve: the two chief officers of the City, one ruling for the Church, the other a civil ruler.
charter: a writing confirming or granting privileges.
burghers or burgesses: citizens of a borough.
Guildhall contains the necessary offices and accommodation for the guild or corporation, town clerk, &c., the City library, museum and law courts, and a great hall that will hold 7,000 persons.
feudal claims: demands made on their tenants by owners under the feudal system. Such demands were usually for military service or something equivalent.
Matilda, daughter of Henry I., and mother of Henry II., and widow of the Emperor Henry V. of Germany, was the opponent of Stephen (1100-1135) in the civil war of his reign. She gave London as 'a demesne' to the Earl of Essex, with the Tower as his castle.
Danegeld, or Dane money: a tax raised to buy off the Danes.
Sheriff, or shire-reeve, governor of a shire, was the king's representative in each shire: he collected the revenue, called out and led the soldiers, and administered justice.
Justiciar: judge. It was one of the privileges of the City to have a judge of its own to try cases within its own limits.
stipulated: bargained for.
constitution: form of government.
priory: a house for monks or nuns under the rule of a prior or prioress.
St. Katherine Cree: this church is in Leadenhall Street, near Aldgate. Cree in this name is for Christ.
Portsoken is one of the City wards near Aldgate and the Minories.