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The Deeds of King Henry V, or in Latin Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
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Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia was born to Ethelric Mercia.
Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia and Eadgyth or Edith Wessex were married. She the daughter of King Æthelred II of England and Aelfgifu of York Queen Consort England.
Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia was appointed Earldorman Mercia.
In 1006 Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia instigated the killing of Aelfhelm Northumbria on behalf of King Æthelred II of England (age 40).
In 1006 Aelfhelm Northumbria was murdered by Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1009. This year were the ships ready, that we before spoke about; and there were so many of them as never were in England before, in any king (age 43) days, as books tell us. And they were all transported together to Sandwich, Kent [Map]; that they should lie there, and defend this land against any out-force. But we have not yet had the prosperity and the honour, that the naval armament should be useful to this land, any more than it often before was. It was at this same time, or a little earlier, that Brihtric, brother of Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia, betrayed Wulnoth, the South-Saxon knight, father of Earl Godwin (age 8), to the king; and he went into exile, and enticed the navy, till he had with him twenty ships; with which he plundered everywhere by the south coast, and wrought every kind of mischief. When it was told the navy that they might easily seize him, if they would look about them, then took Brihtric with him eighty ships; and thought that he should acquire for himself much reputation, by getting Wulnoth into his hands alive or dead. But, whilst they were proceeding thitherward, there came such a wind against them, as no man remembered before; which beat and tossed the ships, and drove them aground; whereupon Wulnoth soon came, and burned them. When this was known to the remaining ships, where the king was, how the others fared, it was then as if all were lost. The king went home, with the aldermen and the nobility; and thus lightly did they forsake the ships; whilst the men that were in them rowed them back to London. Thus lightly did they suffer the labour of all the people to be in vain; nor was the terror lessened, as all England hoped. When this naval expedition was thus ended, then came, soon after Lammas, the formidable army of the enemy, called Thurkill's army, to Sandwich, Kent [Map]; and soon they bent their march to Canterbury, Kent [Map]; which city they would quickly have stormed, had they not rather desired peace; and all the men of East-Kent made peace with the army, and gave them 3,000 pounds for security. The army soon after that went about till they came to the Isle of Wight; and everywhere in Sussex, and in Hampshire, and also in Berkshire, they plundered and burned, as THEIR CUSTOM IS.54 Then ordered the king to summon out all the population, that men might hold firm against them on every side; but nevertheless they marched as they pleased. On one occasion the king had begun his march before them, as they proceeded to their ships, and all the people were ready to fall upon them; but the plan was then frustrated through Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia, AS IT EVER IS STILL. Then after Martinmas they went back again to Kent, and chose their winter-quarters on the Thames; obtaining their provisions from Essex, and from the shires that were next, on both sides of the Thames. And oft they fought against the city of London; but glory be to God, that it yet standeth firm: and they ever there met with ill fare. Then after midwinter took they an excursion up through Chiltern55, and so to Oxford, Oxfordshire [Map]; which city they burned, and plundered on both sides of the Thames to their ships. Being fore-warned that there was an army gathered against them at London, they went over at Staines; and thus were they in motion all the winter, and in spring, appeared again in Kent, and repaired their ships.
Note 54. These expressions in the present tense afford a strong proof that the original records of these transactions are nearly coeval with the transactions themselves. Later MSS. use the past tense.
Note 55. i.e. the Chiltern Hills; from which the south-eastern part of Oxfordshire is called the Chiltern district.
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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1012. This year came Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia, and all the oldest counsellors of England, clerk and laity, to London before Easter, which was then on the ides of April; and there they abode, over Easter, until all the tribute was paid, which was 48,000 pounds. Then on the Saturday was the army much stirred against the bishop; because he would not promise them any fee, and forbade that any man should give anything for him. They were also much drunken; for there was wine brought them from the south. Then took they the bishop (age 59), and led him to their hustings, on the eve of the Sunday after Easter, which was the thirteenth before the calends of May; and there they then shamefully killed him. They overwhelmed him with bones and horns of oxen; and one of them smote him with an axe-iron on the head; so that he sunk downwards with the blow; and his holy blood fell on the earth, whilst his sacred soul was sent to the realm of God. The corpse in the morning was carried to London; and the bishops, Ednoth and Elfhun, and the citizens, received him with all honour, and buried him in St. Paul's minster [Map]; where God now showeth this holy martyr's miracles. When the tribute was paid, and the peace-oaths were sworn, then dispersed the army as widely as it was before collected. Then submitted to the king five and forty of the ships of the enemy; and promised him, that they would defend this land, and he should feed and clothe them.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1015. This year was the great council at Oxford, Oxfordshire [Map]; where Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia betrayed Sigferth and Morcar, the eldest thanes belonging to the Seven Towns. He allured them into his bower, where they were shamefully slain. Then the king took all their possessions, and ordered the widow of Sigferth to be secured, and brought within Malmsbury [Map]. After a little interval, Edmund Etheling (age 25) went and seized her, against the king's (age 49) will, and had her to wife. Then, before the Nativity of St. Mary, went the etheling west-north into the Five Towns58, and soon plundered all the property of Sigferth and Morcar; and all the people submitted to him. At the same time came King Knute (age 20) to Sandwich, Kent [Map], and went soon all about Kent into Wessex, until he came to the mouth of the Frome; and then plundered in Dorset, and in Wiltshire, and in Somerset. King Ethelred, meanwhile, lay sick at Corsham, Wiltshire; and Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia collected an army there, and Edmund the etheling in the north. When they came together, the alderman designed to betray Edmund the etheling, but he could not; whereupon they separated without an engagement, and sheered off from their enemies. Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia then seduced forty ships from the king, and submitted to Knute. The West-Saxons also submitted, and gave hostages, and horsed the army. And he continued there until midwinter.
Note 58. The "seven" towns mentioned above are reduced here to "five"; probably because two had already submitted to the king on the death of the two thanes, Sigferth and Morcar. These five were, as originally, Leicester, Lincoln, Stamford, Nottingham, and Derby. Vid. an. 942, 1013.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1016. This year came King Knute (age 21) with a marine force of one hundred and sixty ships, and Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia with him, over the Thames into Mercia at Cricklade, Wiltshire [Map]; whence they proceeded to Warwickshire, during the middle of the winter, and plundered therein, and burned, and slew all they met. Then began Edmund the etheling (age 26) to gather an army, which, when it was collected, could avail him nothing, unless the king (age 50) were there and they had the assistance of the citizens of London. The expedition therefore was frustrated, and each man betook himself home. After this, an army was again ordered, under full penalties, that every person, however distant, should go forth; and they sent to the king in London, and besought him to come to meet the army with the aid that he could collect. When they were all assembled, it succeeded nothing better than it often did before; and, when it was told the king, that those persons would betray him who ought to assist him, then forsook he the army, and returned again to London. Then rode Edmund the etheling to Earl Utred in Northumbria; and every man supposed that they would collect an army King Knute; but they went into Stafforddhire, and to Shrewsbury, Shropshire [Map], and to Chester, Cheshire [Map]; and they plundered on their parts, and Knute on his. He went out through Buckinghamshire to Bedfordshire; thence to Huntingdonshire, and so into Northamptonshire along the fens to Stamford [Map]. Thence into Lincolnshire. Thence to Nottinghamshire; and so into Northumbria toward York [Map]. When Utred understood this, he ceased from plundering, and hastened northward, and submitted for need, and all the Northumbrians with him; but, though he gave hostages, he was nevertheless slain by the advice of Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia, and Thurkytel, the son of Nafan, with him.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. After 23rd June 1016. The enemy fled before him with their horses into the Isle of Shepey [Map]; and the king slew as many of them as he could overtake. Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia then went to meet the king at Aylesford, Kent [Map]; than which no measure could be more ill-advised. The enemy, meanwhile, returned into Essex, and advanced into Mercia, destroying all that he overtook.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. [25th June 1016] A second battle he fought, after midsummer, at Sherston, Wiltshire [Map]; where much slaughter was made on either side, and the leaders themselves came together in the fight. Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia and Aylmer the darling were assisting the army against King Edmund. Then collected he his force the third time, and went to London, all by north of the Thames, and so out through Clayhanger, and relieved the citizens, driving the enemy to their ships.
Economium Emmae Reginae. Thus Edmund (age 26), for so was called the young man who had gathered the army, when Cnut had withdrawn, came with a host not merely great but innumerable, and entered the city with pomp and pride. Immediately all the people followed him, obeyed him, and favoured him, urging him to show himself a man of courage, saying that they would choose him rather than the prince of the Danes. The chief earl of his party was Eadric, a man abounding in counsel but full of cunning deceit, whom Edmund had set close beside his ear in all his counsels. It is said that the young man at that time challenged King Cnut, as he was departing, to single combat; but the wise king is said to have answered thus: "I will await the fitting time for battle, when, trusting not to chance but assured of victory, I shall fight. But you, who are eager for combat in the dead of winter, beware lest you fail when the season is more favorable." So the king, as has been said, spent the winter in Sheppey, which in Latin means the Isle of Sheep, as best he could. But Edmund, remaining in London, with his army dismissed, spent his last winter there.
Aedmund itaque – sic enim iuvenis qui exercitum colligerat dictus est – recedente Cnutone, cum populo non mediocri sed innumerabili veniens, civitatem pompatice ingreditur, et mox eum universi sequuntur, obtemperant et favent, et virum fortem fieri suadent, dicentes quod eum magis quam Danorum principem eligerent. Erat quoque eius partis comes primus Edricus, consiliis pollens sed tamen dolositate versipellis, quem sibi ad aurem posuerat Aedmund in omnibus negotiis. Fertur autem ipse iuvenis illo tempore domino Cnutoni recedenti singularem pugnam obtulisse; sed rex sapiens dicitur sic respondisse: Ego tempus luctae praestolabor congruae, dum non casum suspectus, certus fuero victoriae; tu vero, qui aves duellum in hieme, cave ne deficias etiam aptiori tempore. Sic rex ut dictum est Scepei, quod est dictum latine insula ovium, ut poterat hiemavit. Aedmund autem in Londonia, dimisso exercitu, ultimam hiemem duxit.
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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 18th October 1016. When the king (age 26) understood that the army was up, then collected he the fifth time all the English nation, and went behind them, and overtook them in Essex, on the down called Assingdon; where they fiercely came together. Then did Eadric Streona as he often did before-he first began the flight with the Maisevethians, and so betrayed his natural lord and all the people of England. There had Knute (age 21) the victory, though all England fought against him! There was then slain Bishop Ednoth, and Abbot Wulsy, and Alderman Elfric, and Alderman Godwin of Lindsey, and Ulfkytel of East-Anglia, and Ethelward, the son of Alderman Ethelsy59. And all the nobility of the English nation was there undone! After this fight went King Knute up with his army into Glocestershire, where he heard say that King Edmund was. Then advised Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia, and the counsellors that were there assembled, that the kings should make peace with each other, and produce hostages. Then both the kings met together at Olney, Buckinghamshire [Map], south of Deerhurst, and became allies and sworn brothers. There they confirmed their friendship both with pledges and with oaths, and settled the pay of the army. With this covenant they parted: King Edmund took to Wessex, and Knute to Mercia and the northern district. The army then went to their ships with the things they had taken; and the people of London made peace with them, and purchased their security, whereupon they brought their ships to London, and provided themselves winter-quarters therein.
Note 59. There is a marked difference respecting the name of this alderman in MSS. Some have Ethelsy, as above; others, Elfwine, and Ethelwine. The two last may be reconciled, as the name in either case would now be Elwin; but Ethelsy, and Elsy are widely different. Florence of Worcester not only supports the authority of Ethelwine, but explains it "Dei amici."
Economium Emmae Reginae. [18th October 1016] When the winter season had passed, Edmund (age 26) once more gathered his army during the whole of Lent, and soon after Easter prepared to drive the king and the Danes out of the land of the English. Coming, therefore, with an innumerable multitude, he planned suddenly to attack them. But the report did not escape the Danes, who, leaving their ships behind, took to the land, and made ready to receive whatever might come against them. For they had a banner of wondrous portent, which, though I may believe it to seem incredible to the reader, yet, because it is true, I will insert into this true account. Indeed, though it was woven of the simplest and purest silk, and bore no image or figure embroidered upon it, yet at the time of battle there was always seen upon it a raven, as if woven within the fabric, when their side was to be victorious, the raven appeared with open beak, beating its wings, and standing unsteady upon its feet; but when their side was defeated, it was seen motionless and drooping in every part. When Thorkell, the leader of their first battle, saw this, he cried out: "Let us fight manfully, comrades! There shall be no danger for us, the restless raven of our prophetic standard bears witness to our victory!" Hearing this, the Danes became more daring, and, hardened in their iron armor, they advanced to meet the English in a place called Aescenedun, which we Latins may interpret as "the Hill of the Ash Trees." And there, even before the armies joined battle, Eadric, whom we said was the chief of Edmund's earls, spoke these words to his men: "Let us flee, comrades, and withdraw our lives from the death that threatens; otherwise we shall perish at once, for I know well the hardness of the Danes." And, veiling the standard which he carried in his right hand, he turned his back on the enemy, and by his flight defrauded the army of a great part of its strength. And, as some say, he did this not from fear, but from treachery, as later became clear; for, as many assert, he had secretly promised the Danes to do so, in return for some unknown reward. Then Edmund, seeing this and pressed on every side, cried out: "O Englishmen! Either you will fight today, or all together you will go into bondage. Fight therefore for freedom and for your country, brave men! As for those who flee, being cowardly, if they had not departed, they would only have hindered our army." Saying this, he charged into the midst of the enemy, cutting down the Danes on every side, and by his example made his own men, the nobles, more eager to fight.
Then was joined a fierce battle on foot, for the Danes, though fewer in number, chose annihilation rather than the peril of flight. They stood firm like men and fought bravely, and the combat, begun at the ninth hour of the day, lasted into the evening, not that they unwillingly met the swords of others, but rather that they pressed upon others with the points of their own. On both sides armed men fell, yet more from that host which had the greater numbers. And when the time of evening drew near and the shadows of night approached, their love of victory overcame the perils of darkness; for neither did they fear the coming of night, being consumed by a greater care, nor would they yield even to the darkness, while they still burned to prevail over the enemy. And unless the bright moon had shown them where the foe was, each man might have struck down his own comrade, thinking him an enemy resisting, and none of either side would have survived except those whom flight had saved. Meanwhile, the English began to grow weary and little by little to think of flight, when they saw that the Danes were resolved either to conquer or to perish to the last man together. For the Danes now seemed to them more numerous and, in that long-continued struggle, the stronger; they truly deemed them stronger, and with good reason, for now, stung by the goads of steel and angered by the fall of their comrades, they seemed rather to rage than to fight. Then the English, turning their backs, fled here and there without delay, falling before their adversaries, and so added glory to the honour of Cnut and his victory, while Edmund their prince fled in shame. Yet though overcome, he withdrew yielding only to the stronger, still not wholly despairing, and entrusted himself to safe places, intending, when he should gather a stronger host, to try again whether by chance fortune might favour him. But the Danes pursued the fugitives not far, for being unfamiliar with the country, they were hindered by the darkness of night. The English, however, knowing the ground well, quickly escaped from their hands, leaving the enemy to the spoils of the slain, and betaking themselves to ignoble refuges.
Recedente vero brumali tempore, tota quadragesima rursus militiam adunavit, et mox post pascales dies regem et Danos a finibus Anglorum deturbare paravit, et veniens cum innumerabili multitudine, eos subito cogitavit invadere. At sermo non latuit Danos, qui puppibus postpositis petunt arida, aptantes se excipere quaeque obvia. Erat namque eis vexillum miri portenti, quod licet credam posse esse incredibile lectori, tamen, quia verum est, verae inseram lectioni. Enimvero dum esset simplissimo candidissimoque intextum serico, nulliusque figurae in eo inserta esset imago, tempore belli semper in eo videbatur corvus ac siintextus, in victoria suorum quasi hians ore excutiensque alas, instabilisque pedibus; et suis devictis quietissimus totoque corpore demissus. Quod requirens Turchil, auctor primi prelii: Pugnemus inquit viriliter, sotii, nihil nobis erit periculi; hoc denique testatur instabilis corvus presagientis vexilli. Quo audito Dani audentiores effecti, ferratisque induviis indurati, occurrunt Anglis in Aesceneduno loco, quod nos Latini montem fraxinorum possumus interpretari. Ibique nondum congressione facta, Edric, quem primum comitum Aedmundi diximus, hec suis intulit affamina: Fugiamus, o sotii, vitamque subtrahamus morti imminenti, alioquin occumbemus ilico; Danorum enim duritiam nosco. Et velato vexillo quod dextra gestabat, dans tergum hostibus magnam partem militum bello fraudabat. Et ut quidam aiunt, hoc non causa egit timoris sed dolositatis, ut postea claruit; quia hoc eum clam Danis promisisse, nescio quo pro beneficio, assertio multorum dicit. Tunc Aedmund hoc intuitus et undique angustiatus: O Angli, inquit, aut hodie bellabitis, aut omnes una in deditionem ibitis. Pugnate ergo pro libertate et patria, viri cordati; hi quippe qui fugiunt, utpote formidolosi, si non abirent, essent impedimento exercitui. Et haec dicens in medios ingreditur hostes, circumquaque caedens Danos, nobiles hoc exemplo suos reddens ad bellandum proniores.
Commissum est ergo prelium pedestre gravissimum, dum Dani, licet pauciores, nescii cedere magis eligerent internetionem quam fugae periculum. Resistunt itaque viriliter, et prelium hora diei nona ceptum ducunt in vesperam, se gladiis haud sponte opponentes, sed gladiorum aculeis voluntarius alios urgentes. Cadunt utriusque partis armati, plus tamen eius quae erat numero eminentiori. At ubi iam advesperante noctis adessent tempora, vincit amor victoriae tenebrarum incommoda, quia neque horrebant tenebras instante cura maiore, neque etiam nocti dignabantur cedere, in hostem tantum dum ardebant prevalere. Et nisi luna clarescens ipsum monstraret hostem, cederet quisque suum commilitonem, ut inimicum resistentem, nullusque utriusque partis superviveret nisi quem fuga salvasset. Interea ceperunt Angli fatigari paulatimque fugam meditari, dum intuentur Danos in hoc conspiratos, quatenus aut vincerent aut usque ad unum omnes una perirent. Videbantur enim eis tunc numerosiores et in tam diutina conflictatione fortiores. Fortiores namque eos estimabant vera suspitione, quia iam stimulis ferri commoniti casuque suorum turbati, magis videbantur sevire quam bellare. Unde Angli terga vertentes, hac et illac fugitant absque mora, semper ante adversarios cadentes, adduntque decus honori Cnutonis et victoriae, decorato Aedmundo fugiente principe. Qui licet devictus valentioribus cedens recederet, tamen adhuc non penitus desperans, tutis se commisit locis, ut demum fortiori multitudine collecta iterum experiretur, si quid forte sibi boni succedere posset. At Dani fugientes non longe sunt persecuti, quia incogniti locorum noctis obscuritate sunt retenti. Angli vero loci non inscii, cito a manibus hostium sunt elapsi, eos relinquentes ad spolia, seseque dantes ad inhonesta refugia.
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The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
Economium Emmae Reginae. Now Eadric, who earlier had withdrawn from the battle and fled, returned to his lord and to his comrades; and he was received, for he was a man considered to be of good counsel. Then, rising in the midst of the army, he addressed them all in these words: "Although I am almost hateful to you all, because I withdrew from the battle, yet if your minds were but willing to follow the advice of my counsel, you could by my plan become more victorious than if you resisted these men with all the arms in the land. For I, having well proved the victories of the Danes, know certainly that it is in vain for us to resist them any longer; and for this reason I withdrew from the battle, that I might afterward profit you by my counsel, not, as you imagine, because I was struck by fear. For when I saw that it was necessary to flee, what was the wiser choice, to withdraw wounded, or safe and sound? Without doubt, it is sometimes a sure victory to escape from a stronger enemy, when one cannot resist by arms. For indeed, alas, we who are here all have fled; but that such a misfortune may not again befall you, let us give our right hands to the Danes, that, having them as allies, we may at least avoid the perils of battle and of flight. Yet this cannot be done otherwise than by a division of our kingdom. And I judge it to be better that our king should possess half the realm in peace, than unwillingly lose the whole together."
Iam etiam Edric, qui antea a bello recessit profugus, ad dominum suum et ad socios rediit; et susceptus est, quia vir boni consilii fuit. Is surgens in medio agmine, omnes tali allocutus est sermone: Licet omnibus pene vobis sim invisus quia bello cessi, tamen si vestris sederet animis dictis parere mei consilii, victoriosiores effici meo consultu possetis, quam si totius terrae his viris resisteretis armis. Satis enim Danorum victorias expertus, frustra nos reniti omnino scio, et ob hoc me subtraxi a prelio, ut vobis postmodum prodessem consilio; non, ut vos estimatis, perculsus timore aliquo. Dum enim scirem necesse esse me fugere, quid satius fuit, aut vulneratum aut sanum recedere? Est proculdubio certa victoria, interdum ab fortiori hoste elabi fuga, cui nequit resisti per arma. Omnes enim qui adsumus proh dolor fugimus; sed ne hic casus vobis eveniat ulterius, dextras Danis demus, ut ipsos foederatos habentes fugam periculumque bellorum sic saltem declinemus. Attamen hoc aliter nequit fieri nisi divisione regni nostri. Et melius esse iudico, ut medietatem regni rex noster cum pace habeat, quam totum pariter invitus amittat.
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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1017. This year King Knute (age 22) took to the whole government of England, and divided it into four parts: Wessex for himself, East-Anglia for Thurkyll, Mercia for Edric, Northumbria for Eric. This year also was Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia slain at London, and Norman, son of Alderman Leofwin, and Ethelward, son of Ethelmar the Great, and Britric, son of Elfege of Devonshire. King Knute also banished Edwy etheling, whom he afterwards ordered to be slain, and Edwy, king of the churls; and before the calends of August the king gave an order to fetch him the widow (age 32) of the other king, Ethelred, the daughter of Richard (age 53), to wife.
Economium Emmae Reginae. [December 1017] Thus, by divine mercy, the valiant man Cnut assumed the monarchy of the realm, and he nobly appointed his dukes and earls, thenceforth maintaining the kingdom of the English in lasting peace. He was yet in the flower of his youth, but endowed with inexpressible prudence. Hence it came about that he loved those whom he had known to have served faithfully and without deceit under Edmund, and that he hated those whom he knew to have been treacherous, wavering in the time of war with fraudulent double-dealing, so much so that one day he commanded many of the nobles to be put to death for such deceit. Among them was Eadric, who had fled from the battle, and who now demanded a reward from the king for that very act, as though he had done it for Cnut's victory. But the king, with grim countenance, said: "He who has betrayed his lord by treachery, can he be faithful to me? I will indeed pay you a fitting reward, but such that deceit shall please you no more." Then, calling his duke Eric, he said: "Pay this man what we owe him, that is, lest he deceive us again, strike him down." Whereupon Eric, delaying not, lifted his battle-axe and with a mighty blow struck off his head, so that by this example the soldiers might learn to be faithful, not faithless, to their kings.
Ergo miseratione divina monarchiam regni Cnuto vir strenuus suscepit, et nobiliter duces et comites suos disposuit, et fine tenus deinceps regnum Anglorum pacifice tenuit. Erat autem adhuc primaeva aetate florens, sed tamen indicibili prudentia pollens. Unde contigit, ut eos quos antea Aedmundo sine dolo fideliter militare audierat diligeret, et eos quos subdolos scierat atque tempore belli in utraque parte fraudulenta tergiversatione pendentes odio haberet, adeo ut multos principum quadam die occidere pro huiusmodi dolo iuberet. Inter quos Edricus qui a bello fugerat, cum praemia pro hoc ipso a rege postularet, acsi hoc pro eius victoria fecisset, rex subtristis: Qui dominum inquit tuum decepisti fraude, mihine poteris fidelis esse? Rependam tibi condigna praemia, sed ea ne deinceps tibi placeat fallatia. Et Erico duce suo vocato: Huic ait quod debemus persolvito; videlicet, ne nos decipiat, occidito. Ille vero nil moratus bipennem extulit, eique ictu valido caput amputavit, ut hoc exemplo discant milites regibus suis esse fideles, non infideles.
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In December 1017 Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia was killed on the orders of King Cnut of England (age 22).
[his son] Aelfric was born to Earldorman Eadric "Streona aka Acquisitive" Mercia and Eadgyth or Edith Wessex.