Kilburn furnishes the names of fifty-three parishes in CHAP. XIII. Kent with the termination of "ton." Modern Anglo-Saxon writers (including Mr. Kemble) imagine that these original subdivisions must have been numerical, or according to the heads of families, from the circumstance of the great irregularity in their size and number throughout each Saxon Kingdom, and because as late as the tenth century we find the citizens of London distributing themselves into frith-gylds, or associations for the maintenance of the peace, each consisting of ten men, while ten such gylds were gathered into a hundred, or ten tithings; still they admit that this numerical division could not long exist, and that in process of time these divisions became territorial; indeed no division founded on numbers could long continue, especially in a wild district like the Weald, containing at this period of our history a very thin and scattered population, while we have already seen how stationary the land division can remain for ages. The object of these boroughs, gylds, or tithings Mr. Kemble thus explains :— "That each man should be in pledge or surety (borh) as well to his Vol. I., p. 251. fellow-man as to the state for the maintenance of the public peace: that he should enjoy protection for life, honour, and property himself, and be compelled to respect the life, honour, and property of others: that he should have a fixed and settled dwelling where he could be found when required, where the public dues could be levied, and the public services demanded of him: lastly, that if guilty of actions that compromised the public weal or trenched upon the rights and wellbeing of others, there might be persons especially appointed to bring him to justice; and if injured by others, supporters to pursue his claim and exact compensation for his wrong. All these points seem to have been very well secured by the establishment of the tithings [boroughs in Kent], to whom the community looked as responsible for the conduct of every individual comprised within them; and coupled with the family obligations which still remained in force in particular cases, they amply answered the purpose of a mutual guarantee between all classes of men." Thus, alike from our vills, hamlets, and towns, a population sprang up, which was cast first into boroughs in "In the north of England the word 'tenmantale,' the tale or court of ten men, was substituted for tithing."-Kemble. CHAP. XIII. Kent (tithings elsewhere), then into hundreds, next into laths (peculiar to Kent), and thus united, constituted the shire for all civil or municipal purposes; while the ecclesiastical division of Kent consisted of the metropolitan see of Canterbury and the diocese of Rochester. Sax. in Eng., It may be here mentioned that the Anglo-Saxon Archbishops were in the habit of appointing a suffragan bishop, or chorepiscopus, as their assistant, while they were in attendance on the King, &c., often with the nominal foreign title of bishop.* Eadsin and Godwin, who so acted in the eleventh century, were, however, styled bishops of St. Martin, from the Church at Canterbury. We have referred to the scírgerefa or sheriff, and the swangerefa who ruled over the shire and the forest. There were also the burhgerefa, the portgerefa, the wicgerefa, and the tungerefa, who ruled over their respective districts and acted also as stewards. In the ecclesiastical vills or precincts, there was found a bisceopes gerefa, performing such functions for the prelates as the king's gerefas exercised for him; and whether in civil or ecclesiastical matters, these gerefas or reeves were all judges in various courts of greater or less importance. The gerefa in a wic, or royal vill, says Mr. Kemble, may easily have been a person of consideration if the Ethelnoth, who in 830 was reeve at Eastry, were such an one; as we find from his will, that he had no mean amount of property to dispose of. It would be pure conjecture to say at what period, or during what intervals of Anglo-Saxon history, these different divisions and subdivisions were commenced and perfected, but if, as I imagine, there was no regular or complete civil division of Kent when St. Augustine landed, and the see of Rochester was afterwards carved out of Canter * In the reign of Henry VIII., an Act passed prohibiting the use of these foreign titles; certain English towns were substituted, including Dover; and the subsequent suffragan bishops to the see of Canterbury were styled bishops suffragan of Dover. These appointments ceased in the reign of Elizabeth. bury, it is not unreasonable to conclude that our civil and ecclesiastical divisions were more alike than we afterwards find them. In concluding this chapter, I will request the reader to bear in mind that the laws which existed in England in the tenth century were not the Saxon laws of Alfred alone. On the contrary, three distinct bodies of laws existed, namely, the Wessex law, the Mercian law, and the Dane law, each of which was supreme in one district only. Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hants, and four or five other adjoining counties, were governed by Saxon laws. The Mercian laws were observed in the central part of the realm; and wherever the Danes, as in East Anglia, had firmly established themselves, they also promulgated their own laws. "In this plight," says Lambarde, "both this shire of Kent, and all the residue of the shires of this realm, were found when William Duke of Normandy invaded the realm." CHAP. XIII. CHAP. XIV. A.D. 901 to 1066 Edward the Turner, Vol. II., p. 170. CHAPTER XIV. ANGLO-SAXON HISTORY CONTINUED.—EDWARD THE HA 66 AVING thus given an outline of the civil and ecclesiastical division of Kent at the end of the reign of Alfred, who, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle significantly says, was King over the whole English nation, except that part which was under the dominion of the Danes," we will proceed with our history, recounting the several important events connected with Kent, as they occurred, until the arrival of the Normans; with just such an outline of general history as is necessary to connect them together. Alfred's eldest son Edward, called the Elder, who had distinguished himself by his victory over Hasten in the battle of Farnham, was, by the voice of the Witan (still exercised in the selection of a sovereign) called to the vacant throne; Ethelward, son of Alfred's elder brother Ethelbert, being again passed over. Edward the Elder executed with judicious vigour the military plans of his father, and not only secured the Anglo-Saxons from a Danish sovereignty, but even prepared the way for that destruction of the Anglo-Danish power which his descendants achieved. William of Malmesbury says that he was inferior to his father in literature, but his superior in war, glory, and power. Mr. Turner, however, considers this a mere oratorical flourish, and not an historical fact. CHAP. XIV. Edward was excommunicated by Pope Formosus for neglecting to appoint bishops in the West Saxon district. William of Archbishop Plegmund was despatched to Rome to make Malmesbury, peace, and on his return he ordained seven bishops in one day at Canterbury. p. 128. A.D. 909. Edward was succeeded by Athelstan, his eldest, and pro- Athelstan. bably illegitimate son, who was elected by the Witan, "his father's will directing the choice of the approving nobles." He became a great favourite with his subjects, and Northumbria having fallen into his hands by the battle of Brunanburh, the subjugation of the Anglo-Danes was so decisive, that he has been styled by some writers the Turner, founder of the English monarchy. He also put the Britons Vol. II., p. 186. of Cornwall and Wales under tribute. The memory of Lappenberg, Athelstan is stained with the murder of his brother Edwin Vol. II., p.111. (the eldest legitimate son), whom he suspected of desiring to supplant him. It was in vain that Edwin assured his brother of his fidelity, even on oath. Athelstan commanded him and his armour-bearer to be sent out to sea in an old crazy boat without oars or rowers, when the prince in a paroxysm of despair cast himself into the ocean. Turner says the body was brought to shore between Dover and Whitsand. Lappenberg's narrative of the murder describes the armour-bearer as rescuing the corpse of his master, which, by rowing with his hands and feet, he brought to shore near Whitsand, on the coast of France. Passing over Kings Edmund the Elder, Edred, and A.D. 958-Edwy, we come to the reign of Edgar (who shared the Edgar. Kingdom with Edwy during the last three years of his reign, Edwy ruling only over the South), openly licentious, in spite of his zeal for the Church. He was "rather the King of a prosperous nation in a fortunate era, than a great prince." Archbishop Dunstan, one of the most conspicuous personages in Saxon history, flourished in his reign. Among Edgar's good qualities was his zeal for the faithful administration of the law; and he travelled · through his Kingdom, and punished such of his ealdormen |