bretwalda, which he was the second to hold. But Ethelbert afterwards acquired the ascendancy, and the death of his rival in 593 secured to him the position which he holds in Anglo-Saxon history as the third bretwalda. He married Bertha, a daughter of Charibert, king of Paris, and as this princess was permitted to carry her christian profession and worship to the court of her pagan husband, the pontiff Gregory hastened to execute the purpose which the sight of some Saxon captives in the slave-market at Rome had previously led him to form. Requesting the Frankish princes Theodoric and Theodebert, with their grandmother, the intriguing and unprincipled Brunchilda, to further his schemes, he missioned Augustine and a numerous band of priests to Britain. They landed on the isle of Thanet in 597, received permission from Ethelbert to establish themselves at Canterbury, and prosecuted their labours with such success, that ere long the king himself made a profession of christianity, and his subjects followed his example with an eagerness which produced, it is said, ten thousand baptisms in one day. It was in this reign, also, that the first penal code in the vernacular language was published. A copy by Ernulphus, bishop of Rochester in the twelfth century, contains eighty-nine enactments, apportioning the fines which were to be imposed on criminals. Ethelbert died in 615.—W. B.
ETHELBERT of Wessex, second son of Ethelwulf, ascended the throne of that kingdom after his brother Ethelbald in 860. At the death of his uncle Athelstane in 852, he had obtained the sovereignty of Kent, which he had continued to administer with all the power of an independent monarch even during the lifetime of his father. The sceptre of Wessex, which the death of Ethelbald placed in his hand, was held by him for six years in comparative tranquillity, although the latter part of the period was darkened by the first shadows of the formidable Danish invasions which tested so severely the abilities of his successors, Ethelred I. and Alfred.—W. B.
ETHELFLEDA, a daughter of Alfred the Great, was married to Ethelred, sovereign-earl of Mercia. After the death of her husband, she continued to govern that kingdom, and distinguished herself by the spirit with which she resisted successive inroads of the Northumbrian Danes. She died at Tamworth in 922, and Mercia was then formally annexed to Wessex, under the rule of her brother Edward.—W. B.
ETHELFRID or ADELFRID, King of Northumbria, having succeeded his father Ethelric in Bernicia in 593, and driven his brother-in-law Edwin from the throne of Deira, united the two states in his kingdom of Northumbria. He subsequently invaded North Wales, massacred twelve hundred unresisting British presbyters, and destroyed their flourishing seminaries at Bangor. He fell in battle in 617, and his victorious antagonist, Redwald of East Anglia, the fourth bretwalda, then placed Edwin on the Northumbrian throne.—W. B.
ETHELGIVA, an Anglo-Saxon lady, is only known in history for the more than questionable connection which subsisted between her and Edwy, one of the Anglo-Saxon kings, who succeeded his uncle Edred in 955. Her object was to induce the young king to marry either herself or her daughter; nor did she scruple, according to the contemporary chroniclers, to sacrifice both her own and her daughter's honour to Edwy's unbounded licentiousness. On the day of his coronation Edwy rose from the banquet, which, according to custom, followed that ceremony, and leaving the company of the bishops and nobles, sought the society of Ethelgiva and her daughter in an inner apartment. The insult was deeply resented; and the bishop of Lichfield, and St. Dunstan, then abbot of Glastonbury, were deputed to bring the king back into the banqueting-hall. St. Dunstan used some degree of force in executing the commission, and as he drew the king from the room, was followed by the revilings and threats of Ethelgiva. She soon after prevailed on the king to expel him from his monastery, and St. Dunstan had to seek refuge in Flanders. Soon after this transaction Edwy appears to have married, whether the daughter of Ethelgiva or some other person is uncertain; yet he still kept up his guilty connection with Ethelgiva. Hearing this, Archbishop Odo caused her to be arrested and conveyed over to Ireland. In the year 956 or 957 she returned and rejoined the king, who was at the time endeavouring to quell an insurrection of the Mercians. Edwy had to flee before the insurgents. Ethelgiva, in what manner we are not informed, fell into their hands at Gloucester, and they put her to death by dividing the sinews of her legs. Some authors state that this was done by the direction of Odo.—T. A.
ETHELRED. See Ailred.
ETHELRED I., son of Ethelwulf, succeeded his brother Ethelbert on the throne of Wessex in the year 866. Shortly after his accession, a Danish host, collected to avenge the death of the terrible viking, Ragnar Lodbrog, and commanded by his sons, Ingwar and Hubba, landed in East Anglia. The weak king of that country furnished them with a number of horses, thus enabling them to invade Northumbria, and seize on York. After having completely subjugated Northumbria, the invading host passed into Mercia, and obtained possession of Nottingham. At the call of Burrhed king of Mercia, Ethelred, with Alfred, whom he had lately made a sharer in the regal dignity, and the whole force of Wessex, marched to the aid of his countrymen. A pacification was agreed to, under which the Danes returned into Northumbria. In the following year they crossed the Humber, and terribly ravaged Lincolnshire and other districts of East Anglia, whose king, St. Edmund, they butchered. From Norfolk they passed into Wessex, and advanced as far as Reading. Here Ethelred met them, and stubbornly opposed their further progress. "It is related," says Malmesbury, "that this king was personally engaged in hostile conflict against the enemy nine times in one year, with various success indeed, but for the most part victor." At Ashdown in Berkshire Ethelred gained a great victory over the Danes, one of whose kings and five earls fell in the battle. The impetuosity of Alfred had nearly occasioned a disaster; but Ethelred, after having calmly waited in his tent until the priest had concluded mass, led the troops under his command to his brother's aid, and completely routed the enemy. Subsequently, at Basing and at Morton, the Danes were victorious. In the action at Morton Ethelred received a wound, which in a few days proved mortal. He died on the 23rd March, 871, and was buried at Winborne, where his memory was afterwards honoured as that of a martyr.—T. A.
ETHELRED II., younger son of Edgar by his second wife Elfrida, succeeded to the throne upon the murder of his half-brother Edward in 978. He was then ten years of age, handsome in person, and amiable in disposition. But the curse of his brother's blood seemed to rest both on him and on his subjects. As he grew up, he became notorious for weakness, faithlessness, cruelty, and love of pleasure. The Danes, who for nearly a hundred years had left England unmolested, finding that the sceptre of Alfred and of Athelstan had fallen into so ignoble a hand, renewed, from the year 980, their descents on the coast. At first they were vigorously opposed; but the sloth and irresolution of Ethelred discouraged his officers and subjects, and the disgraceful expedient was discovered, and during the next twenty years frequently resorted to, of purchasing immunity from ravage by the payment of large ransoms. In 1002 Ethelred, whose cruelty almost equalled his cowardice, organized a general massacre of the Danish inhabitants on St. Brice's day, the 13th November. The beautiful Gunhilda, sister of Sweyn, king of Denmark, was among the slain. In 1003 Sweyn, thirsting for revenge, landed with a considerable force on the coast of Devonshire. During the four succeeding years, the merciless barbarian carried fire and sword into nearly every county of England. At length, in 1007, he consented to peace upon payment of a large sum of money. The following year, 1008, was one of active preparation on the part of the English; a powerful fleet was collected; but disunion and treason showed themselves among the commanders, and the effort came to nothing. In 1009 and the two following years, the defenceless kingdom was perpetually harassed by the descents of Thurchill, one of Sweyn's earls. In 1011 Thurchill took Canterbury, and caused the venerable Archbishop Elphege to be put to the sword, upon his refusing to take any steps to procure his ransom. The misery of the unhappy English during all these years was indescribable. The bonds of social order were everywhere relaxed; crime of every kind was committed, without scruple and without chastisement; and, in the midst of all these horrors, Ethelred, like Nero in burning Rome, rioted and revelled in every kind of sensual excess. In 1013 Sweyn again appeared, and landing in the Humber, marched southwards, proclaiming himself king of England, Ethelred had to quit London, and take refuge in Normandy. But in February, 1014, Sweyn died, and Ethelred was recalled; only, however, to find a new competitor for the crown in Canute, the son of Sweyn. For the
