St Brice's Day Massacre

Chronicle of William of Malmesbury Book 2 Chapter 9. 13th November 1002. For, besides the English, whom he King Æthelred (age 36) despoiled of their hereditary possessions without any cause, or defrauded of their property for supposititious crimes: besides the Danes, whom, from light suspicion only, he ordered to be all butchered on the same day throughout England; which was a dreadful spectacle to behold; each one compelled to betray his dearest guests, now become dearer from the tenderest connexions of affinity, and to cut short their embraces with the sword: yet besides all this, I say, he was so inconstant towards his wife [Emma aka Ælfgyfu of Normandy Queen Consort England (age 17)], that he scarcely deigned her his bed, and degraded the royal dignity by his intercourse with harlots. She too, a woman, conscious of her high descent, became indignant at her husband, as she found herself endeared to him neither by her blameless modesty nor her fruitfulness; for she had borne him two children, Elfred and Edward. She was the daughter of Richard, earl of Normandy, the son of William, who, after his father, presided over that earldom for fifty-two years, and died in the twenty-eighth year of this king. He lies at the monastery of Fescamp, which he augmented with certain revenues, and which he adorned with a monastic order, by means of William, formerly abbot of Dijon. Richard was a distinguished character, and had also often harassed Ethelred: which, when it became known at Rome, the holy see, not enduring that two Christians should be at enmity, sent Leo, bishop of Treves, into England, to restore peace: the epistle describing this legation was as follows:- "John the fifteenth, pope of the holy Roman church, to all faithful people, health. Be it known to all the faithful of the holy mother church, and our children spiritual and secular, dispersed through the several climates of the world, that inasmuch as we had been informed by many of the enmity between Ethelred, king of the West-Saxons, and Richard the marquis, and were grieved sorely at this, on account of our spiritual children; taking, therefore, wholesome counsel, we summoned one of our legates, Leo, bishop of the holy church of Treves, and sent him with our letters, admonishing them, that they should return from their ungodliness. He, passing vast spaces, at length crossed the sea, and, on the day of the Lord's nativity, came into the presence of the said king; whom, having saluted on our part, he delivered to him the letters we had sent. And all the faithful people of his kingdom, and senators of either order, being summoned, he granted, for love and fear of God Almighty, and of St. Peter, the chief of the apostles, and on account of our paternal admonition, the firmest peace for all his sons and daughters, present and future, and all his faithful people, without deceit. On which account he sent Edelsin, prelate of the holy church of Sherborne, and Leofstan, son of Alfwold, and Edelnoth, son of Wulstan, who passed the maritime boundaries, and came to Richard, the said marquis. He, peaceably receiving our admonitions, and hearing the determination of the said king, readily confirmed the peace for his sons and daughters, present and future, and for all his faithful people, with this reasonable condition, that if any of their subjects, or they themselves, should commit any injustice against each other, it should be duly redressed; and that peace should remain for ever unshaken and confirmed by the oath of both parties: on the part of king Ethelred, to wit, Edelsin, prelate of the holy church of Sherborne; Leofstan, the son of Alfwold; Edelnoth, the son of Wulstan. On the part of Richard, Roger, the bishop; Rodolph, son of Hugh; Truteno, the son of Thurgis. "Done at Rouen, on the kalends of March, in the year of our Lord 991, the fourth of the indiction. Moreover, of the king's subjects, or of his enemies, let Richard receive none, nor the king of his, without their respective seals".

History of the Dukes of Normandy by William of Jumieges. Chapter 5.6. On the cruelty of King Æthelred of the English against the Danes who were living peacefully with him in England; and concerning certain young men of that same nation, who escaping, reported to Sweyn, king of Denmark, the death of their kinsmen.

While, in the condition described above, the prosperity of Normandy flourished under so noble a ruler, King Æthelred of the English stained the kingdom, which had long flourished in the great glory of most powerful kings, with such a wicked act of treacherous cruelty during his reign, that even pagans judged so detestable a crime to be horrific. For the Danes, who dwelt throughout the whole kingdom in peaceful agreement with him, suspecting no danger of death, he suddenly ordered to be killed in one day in a burst of fury; and he commanded that the women should be buried up to their waists in the earth, and that the fiercest dogs, being set upon them, should cruelly tear the breasts from their chests; and that the suckling infants should be dashed against the doorposts of houses so that their brains were shattered, although no crimes had been charged against them. While, therefore, in London on that appointed day [13th November 1002], this great heap of massacred victims was being increased beyond measure by the cruelty of the executioners, certain young men, swift in their agility, fled to a ship and sought safety in flight, making for the open sea by rapid rowing along the channel of the Thames. Having crossed the long expanse of the deep, at last they landed at the desired harbor of Denmark, and reported to King Sweyn the bloody destruction of their people. Then the king, deeply grieved within, summoned all the chiefs of his realm, and laid the whole matter before them, inquiring earnestly what should be done. And they, moved by the suffering and grief of their friends and kinsmen, all declared with one voice that their blood must be avenged with all their strength.

CAPUT VI. De crudelitate Eldredi regis Anglorum in Danos, qui pacifice secum in Anglia commanebant; et de quibusdam juvenibus ejusdem gentis, qui evadentes regi Danamarche Sueno mortem propinquorum nuntiaverunt.

Dum in statu supra intellecto sub tam præclaro rectore Northmanniæ felicitas polleret, Eldredus Anglorum rex regnum quod sub magna potentissimorum regum gloria diu floruerat, tanto nefariæ proditionis scelere regiminis sui tempore polluit, ut et pagani tam exsecrabile nefas horrendum judicarent. Nam Danos per omne regnum unanimi concordia suum cohabitantes, mortis periculum minime suspicanles, subito furore sub una die perimi, mulieres quoque alvo tenus terræ csse defossas, et ferocissimis canibus concitatis mamillas ab earum pectoribus crudeliter extorqueri, lactentes vero pueros ad domorum postes allisos excerebrari, jussit, nullis criminum existentibus culpis. Dum igitur apud Lundoniam sub hujus decretis die hæc congeries peremptorum lictorum sævitia in immensum cumularetur, quidam juvenes agilitate pernices ad quamdam navim se contulerunt, et fugæ præsidium per Thamisæ alveum celeri remigio maris sinum petierunt. Permenso autem prolixi ponti spatio, novissime cupitum Danamarchæ portum applicant, regique Sueno cruenta gentis suæ exitia nuntiant. Tunc rex nimio dolore tactus intrinsecus, totius regni sui ascitis principibus, cunctam ei seriem illis deponit, quidque agendum consulerent, diligenter inquirit. Qui amicorum et propinquorum ærumnis et luctu moti, quasi ex uno ore omnes eorum sanguinem decreverunt debere totis viribus ulcisci.

Charter S909 King Æthelstan to St Frideswide’s, Oxford. In the thousand and fourth year of the Lord’s Incarnation, in the second indiction, and in the twenty-fifth year of my reign, I, Æthelred, by God’s governing providence ruling the monarchy of all Albion, established with royal authority a privilege of liberty for a certain monastery [St Frideswide's Priory Oxford] situated in the city called Oxford, where blessed Frideswide rests. I restored to the service of Christ the lands adjacent to it by issuing a new charter, and I now explain in a few words, for all who read this page, the reason for what has been done. For it is well known to everyone living in this country that a decree was issued by me, with the advice of my nobles and nobles of my household, that all the Danes who had sprung up in this island like tares¹ among wheat were to be lawfully put to death, and that this decree was to be carried through to completion. Those Danes who were living in the aforesaid city, seeking to escape death, forced their way into this church of Christ, breaking the doors and bolts, and determined to make it a refuge and a fortress for themselves against both the townsmen and the people from the surrounding countryside. But when all the populace, compelled by necessity, strove to drive them out and could not, they set fire to the wooden timbers, and this church, as is evident, together with its furnishings and books, was burned. Afterwards, with the help of God, it was rebuilt by me and my men. And, as I have said, it was restored in the name of Christ and confirmed with the dignity of privilege, along with the lands adjacent to it, and granted full liberty, both from royal exactions and ecclesiastical customs of every kind. If at any time in the future someone, God forbid, should fall into madness of mind and, ensnared by negligence and incited by the devil, should attempt to defraud this gift of ours, let him incur the eternal anathema of God’s holy Church, unless before his death he bring such malicious wrongdoing to a desirable satisfaction.

The ten hides at Wincandun. First from Æsculf’s spring to the birch-ditch; from that ditch to the hound-tree; from that tree to the two marshes; from the marsh to the headland; from the headland to Toen’s spring-ridge; from that ridge to Beacon Brook; from that brook to the Thames and along the Thames to Ebbs Slade; from the slade to Mere-Spring; from Mere-Spring to Rugan’s Barrow; from the barrow to the foul pit; from the pit to Rush-Brook; from Rush-Brook to Wootes-Brook; from Wootes-Brook back again to Æsculf’s spring.

The three hides at Wighthill. These are the boundaries of the three hides at Wighthill: From the old Hensing path over the cliff to the stone-paved road; from that road to the Long Barrow; from the barrow to the Port Street; from that street to the stream at Cherry-Spring; and following the stream until it returns to Hensing path.

The three hides at Cowley. From Cherry-Spring bridge and along the stream to the ridge, by Haceling’s croft; along the ridge eastward until it comes to Ofranfurlang; that goes northward to Wheat-Furlong’s head; from that head along the ridge eastward to Mere-Hill; from the hill into the brook; from the brook to Dane Acre; from the acres to Hocca boundary; from the boundary to Gifeteleah; from Gifeteleah to the brook; and from the brook back to Cherry-Spring..

The three hides at Cuddeslow. First from the Port Street to Trill-Spring; from the spring to the ridge; from the ridge to the Bishop’s boundary-marks; from the boundary into Wifel’s Slade; from the slade to Wifel’s Hill; from the hill to the boundary.

Note 1. 'tares'. A weed plant that looks very similar to wheat when young.

Chronicle of William of Malmesbury Book 2 Chapter 9. 1013. Sweyn²¹² was naturally cruel, nor did he require much persuasion; preparing his ships, therefore, he hastened his voyage. Sandwich was the port he made, principally designing to avenge his sister Gunhilda. This woman, who possessed considerable beauty, had come over to England with her husband Palling, a powerful nobleman, and by embracing Christianity, had made herself a pledge of the Danish peace. In his ill-fated fury, Edric had commanded her, though proclaiming that the shedding her blood would bring great evil on the whole kingdom, to be beheaded with the other Danes. She bore her death with fortitude; and she neither turned pale at the moment, nor, when dead, and her blood exhausted, did she lose her beauty; her husband was murdered before her face, and her son, a youth of amiable disposition, was transfixed with four spears. Sweyn then proceeding through East Anglia against the Northumbrians, received their submission without resistance: not indeed, that the native ardour of their minds, which brooked no master, had grown cool, but because Utred, their prince, was the first to give example of desertion. On their submission all the other people who inhabit England on the north, gave him tribute and hostages. Coming southward, he compelled those of Oxford and Winchester, to obey his commands; the Londoners alone, protecting their lawful sovereign within their walls, shut their186 gates against him. The Danes, on the other hand, assailing with greater ferocity, nurtured their fortitude with the hope of fame; the townsmen were ready to rush on death for freedom, thinking they ought never to be forgiven, should they desert their king, who had committed his life to their charge. While the conflict was raging fiercely on either side, victory befriended the juster cause; for the citizens made wonderful exertions, every one esteeming it glorious to show his unwearied alacrity to his prince, or even to die for him. Part of the enemy were destroyed, and part drowned in the river Thames, because in their headlong fury, they had not sought a bridge. With his shattered army Sweyn retreated to Bath, where Ethelmer, governor of the western district, with his followers, submitted to him. And, although all England was already bending to his dominion, yet not even now would the Londoners have yielded, had not Ethelred withdrawn his presence from among them. For being a man given up to indolence, and, through consciousness of his own misdeeds, supposing none could be faithful to him, and at the same time wishing to escape the difficulties of a battle and a siege, he by his departure left them to their own exertions. However, they applied the best remedy they could to their exigencies, and surrendered after the example of their countrymen. They were men laudable in the extreme, and such as Mars himself would not have disdained to encounter, had they possessed a competent leader. Even while they were supported by the mere shadow of one, they risked every chance of battle, nay even a siege of several months’ continuance. He in the meantime giving fresh instance of his constitutional indolence, fled from the city, and by secret journeys came to Southampton, whence he passed over to the Isle of Wight. Here he addressed those abbats and bishops who, even in such difficulties, could not bring themselves to desert their master, to the following effect: “That they must perceive in what dreadful state his affairs, and those of his family were; that he was banished from his paternal throne by the treachery of his generals, and that he, in whose hands their safety was formerly vested, now required the assistance of others; that though lately a monarch and a potentate, he was now an outcast and a fugitive; a melancholy change for him, because it certainly is more tolerable187 never to have had power, than to have lost it when possessed; and more especially disgraceful to the English, as this instance of deserting their prince would be noised throughout the world; that through mere regard to him they had exposed their houses and property to plunderers, and, unprovided, taken to a voluntary flight; food was matter of difficulty to all; many had not even clothing; he commended their fidelity indeed, but still could find no security from it; the country was now so completely subdued, the coast so narrowly watched, that there was no escape unattended with danger: that they should, therefore, confer together, what was to be done: were they to remain, greater peril was to be apprehended from their countrymen, than from their enemies, for perhaps they might purchase the favour of their new master by joining to distress them; and certainly to be killed by an enemy was to be ascribed to fortune, to be betrayed by a fellow citizen was to be attributed to want of exertion; were they to fly to distant nations, it would be with the loss of honour; if to those who knew them, the dread would be, lest their dispositions should take a tinge from their reverse of fortune; for many great and illustrious men had been killed on similar occasions; but, however, he must make the experiment, and sound the inclinations of Richard, duke of Normandy, who, if he should kindly receive his sister and nephews, might probably not unwillingly afford him his protection. His favour shown to my wife and children,” continued he, “will be the pledge of my own security. Should he oppose me, I am confident, nay fully confident, I shall not want spirit to die here with honour, in preference to living there with ignominy. Wherefore this very month of August, while milder gales are soothing the ocean, let Emma make a voyage to her brother, and take our children, our common pledges, to be deposited with him. Let their companions be the bishop of Durham and the abbat of Peterborough; I myself will remain here till Christmas, and should he send back a favourable answer, I will follow directly.”

Note 212. Malmesbury seems to have fallen into some confusion here. The murder of the Danes [St Brice's Day Massacre] took place on St. Brice’s day, A.D. 1002, and accordingly we find Sweyn infesting England in 1003 and the following year (see Saxon Chronicle): but this his second arrival took place, A.D. 1013: so that the avenging the murder of his sister Gunhilda could hardly be the object of his present attack.