The Project Gutenberg eBook, Cassell's History of England, Vol. I (of 8), by Anonymous

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Title: Cassell's History of England, Vol. I (of 8)

From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses

Author: Anonymous

Release Date: March 10, 2015 [eBook #48451]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASSELL'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, VOL. I (OF 8)***

E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Jane Robins,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)
from page images generously made available by
Internet Archive
(https://archive.org)

From the painting by W. H. Margetson.

HIS MAJESTY KING EDWARD VII.

CASSELL'S

History of England

FROM THE ROMAN INVASION
TO THE WARS OF THE ROSES

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS,
INCLUDING COLOURED
AND REMBRANDT PLATES

VOL. I

THE KING'S EDITION

CASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED

LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
MCMIX

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

THE ROMAN RULE IN BRITAIN. PAGE

Earliest Notices of the British Isles—The Celts—Their Settlement in Britain—Their Character and Customs—Druidism—Its Organisation and Authority—Its Tenets—Stonehenge and other Remains—Cæsar's Preparations—The First Invasion—Peril of the Romans and their Retirement—The Second Invasion—Cæsar's Battles with Cassivelaunus—Claudius in Britain—The Resistance of Caractacus—His Defeat and Capture—His Speech before Claudius—The Conquest of Anglesea—Boadicea's Rebellion—The Capture of Camulodunum and London—Her Defeat and Death—Agricola in Britain—His Campaigns and Administration—His Campaign against the Caledonians—His Recall—The Walls of Hadrian and Severus—Rivals to the Emperor—Constantine's Accession—Christianity in Britain—Invasions of the Picts and Scots—Dismemberment of the Roman Empire and Departure of the Romans—Divisions and Administration of Britain under the Romans 2

CHAPTER II.

ROMAN REMAINS IN BRITAIN.

Two Varieties of Masonry—Dover Castle—Richborough Castle—Newport Gate, Lincoln—Hadrian's Wall—Its Direction and Construction—Outworks—Ornamental Detail—Roman Roads and Camps 19

CHAPTER III.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS AND THEIR CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY.

The Jutes, Angles, and Saxons—Their Village Communities—Larger Combinations, Gradations of Rank—Morality and Religion—Hengist and Horsa found the Kingdom of Kent—The Kingdoms of Sussex, Wessex, and Essex—The Anglian Kingdoms—Mercia—The Welsh—Gregory and St. Augustine—Augustine and Kent—Conversion of Northumbria—England becomes Christian—The Greatness of Mercia—King Offa 25

CHAPTER IV.

RISE OF WESSEX AND OF THE SOCIAL SYSTEM OF ENGLAND.

Ceawlin and his Successors—Cedwalla—Ina—Subjection to Mercia—Accession of Egbert—He subdues his Rivals—His Wars with the Welsh and Danes—Land-owning System—Local Assemblies—The Hundred Moot—The Shire Moot and its Business—Methods of Trial and Punishments—The Wergild—The Witena-gemot—Its Powers—The King—Class Distinctions—The Church 31

CHAPTER V.

THE DANISH INVASIONS AND THE REIGN OF ALFRED.

Character of the Invaders—Reign of Ethelwulf—Reigns of Ethelbald and Ethelbert—The Conquest of East Anglia—Battles near Reading—The Accession of Alfred—The Extinction of the Kingdom of Mercia—The Invasion of Wessex—The Year 878—Alfred at Athelney—Death of Hubba—Victory of Alfred and the Treaty of Wedmore—Renewal of the War—Alfred's fleet—Expeditions of Hastings—Remainder of the Reign—Character of Alfred—His Rules of Life—His Legislation—Encouragement of Learning 38

CHAPTER VI.

EDWARD THE ELDER AND DUNSTAN.

Settlement of the Danes—Edward the Elder and his Cousin—Reconquest of the Danelagh—Edward becomes King of all England—Conspiracy of Alfred against Athelstan—Wars in Northumbria—The Death of Edwin—The Battle of Brunanburgh—The Power of Athelstan—Edmund's Wars with the Danes—Their Submission to Edmund—Rebellion and Reconquest—The Conquest of Cumberland—Death of Edmund—Final Conquest of Northumberland—The Rise of Dunstan—His Banishment—Edgar's Rebellion—His Accession to the Throne—Wars with the Welsh—Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury—His Ecclesiastical Policy—The Reign of Edward the Martyr—Dunstan's Struggles with the Opposition—Death of the King 46

CHAPTER VII.

ETHELRED THE UNREADY.

The Retirement of Dunstan—Character of