When Britain was deserted by the Romans in the early part of the century, and the ancient inhabitants were left to conduct their own affairs, London once more became a British town. Though this period of British history is very obscure, it is an acknowledged fact, that Vortigern, a British chieftain, obtained the sovereignty of the southern part of the island, and made a notable use of his authority, by adopting those measures which terminated in the subjugation of what is now called England, by the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles, piratical tribes of adventurers from Germany, who had long been formidable enemies of the provincial Britons. Hengist, leader of the of these bands of invaders, soon obtained possession of the county of Kent; and though he had been originally invited hither to assist Vortigern in repelling the attacks of the Picts and Scots, yet he, ere long, turned his arms against the Britons themselves. It appears from the Saxon Chronicle, that in , a British army having been defeated at (Crayford) in Kent, retreated to London. About years after this battle, Hengist made himself master of this city, and kept possession of it, probably, till his death, A. D. . It was then recaptured by the British king Ambrosius, the successor of Vortigern, and continued to belong to the Britons during a great part of the century.

The Saxon kingdom of Essex having been established some years: and London, though in what manner, or at what particular period, has not been ascertained, becoming subject to that state, its walls and fortifications, doubtless, preserved it from the ravages that had been inflicted in most other parts of the island, whilst its favourable situation for commerce contributed to increase its population.

After the partial conversion of the East Saxons to Christianity, in the time of king Sebert, nephew to Ethelbert, king of Kent, the latter monarch, to whom all the country south of the river Humber was feudatory, erected a cathedral church on the site of , about the year ; London having been chosen for a bishop's see by Augustine, the

Apostle of the English,

emporium of many nations, who arrived thither by land and by sea.

On the decease of Ethelbert, and Sebert, king of the East Saxons, in , their subjects relapsed into paganism; and the bishop was expelled from his see by the sons of Sebert, to whom he had refused the communion of the Sacrament, unless they would also consent to be baptised.

During the confused period of the Saxon Heptarchy, but very few notices of London seem to have been recorded. In , it was ravaged by the plague; and in , , and , it suffered greatly from fires: in that of , it was almost wholly burnt down, and numbers of the inhabitants perished in the flames.

It has been stated by Noorthouck, and other writers on the history of London, that on the dissolution of the Heptarchy, and union of the Saxon kingdom under Egbert, in , London was appointed to be the royal residence: Pennant says, that the great Alfred

made it the capital of all England;

unheard--of cruelties, sacking the city, and murdering most of the inhabitants;

This victory freed the country from its ravagers till about , when the Danes renewed their invasions, and being continually reinforced by fresh bodies from beyond sea, they were enabled to obtain a permanent settlement in England in the reign of Ethelred the ; though not till they had fought many desperate battles with that sovereign, and with the great Alfred his brother. In the year , Alfred having recently succeeded to the crown, was constrained to make a treaty with the Danes, who, retiring to London, which they had again taken in the late wars, made it a place of arms, and garrisoned it.

During the following or years, all the resources of Alfred's genius were brought into exertion by Danish perfidy and rapine; yet, after many struggles, and various successes, he at length obtained a decided superiority. This was principally accomplished by the creation of a fleet, with which he frequently chased the foe from his shores, or overwhelmed them in the deep. To this measure of the truest policy, he united the further of securing the interior of the kingdom, by building or repairing castles and walled towns; and knowing the importance of London, both from its extent and situation, he forced it to surrender, after a short siege, conducted with great bravery, about the year . Immediately afterwards, he repaired and strengthened the walled fortifications, and after erecting some additional buildings, conferred the government of the city, with extraordinary powers, on his son-in-law, Ethelred, whom he at the same time made earl of Mercia, in hopes that it would afford him a secure retreat against both his foreign and domestic enemies.

The Danes, not yet giving up their lucrative hopes of subduing England, landed in a considerable body, under their general Haesten, on the Essex shore, below Tilbury, within the mouth of the Thames; and erected a strong castle at (now South Bemfleet, near the isle of Canvey, in Essex); from which

London was now fast rising in maritime and political consequence; for we find that king Athelstan, who succeeded Edward the Elder in , had a palace in London; though the principal residence of the Saxon monarchs was still at Winchester.

Maitland says,

The city about this time, being recovered from its late sufferings by the Danes, seems to have been in as flourishing a condition as any other place in the kingdom; for, by a law of Athelstan's, which appointed a certain number of coiners to each of the principal cities of England, no less than

eight

were allowed to London, which was considerably more than was allotted to any other town, Canterbury excepted; for which the same number was appointed.

In the year , king Edmund held a wittenagemot, or parliament, in this city; wherein divers laws were passed, chiefly relating to ecclesiastical affairs.

In , a very malignant fever raged in London, which carried off a great number of people; and, in the same year, was consumed by fire. Land then sold at per acre.

In the year of king Ethelred, A. D. , this city was almost wholly destroyed by fire. In this disastrous reign, the city was several times assaulted by the Danes, but the assailants were always repulsed by the determined bravery of the inhabitants.

The Danes returning again in , Ethelred fitted out a numerous fleet at London, to prevent their landing, and gave the command thereof to the ealdermen Ealfrick and Thorod, and the bishops Elstane and Escwige; who, being almost come up with the enemy's fleet, the treacherous Ealfrick, by a private signal cautioned them to provide for their security; and in the night preceding the intended engagement, deserted with his ship, and perfidiously joined the enemy, whereby they had an opportunity of escaping. The desertion of Ealfrick was no sooner known than a signal was given to pursue; and coming up with the rear of the Danes, of their ships was taken. And after the return of their fleet, a squadron of Londoners fell in with the enemy's

years after, Anlaf and Sweyn, kings of Norway and Denmark, arrived before the city with a fleet of ships, and attacked the same with an intent to sack and burn it. But the citizens, in its defence, behaving with the greatest intrepidity, the enemy, after many sharp and desperate assaults, meeting with no success, raised the siege; but, to revenge themselves for the great loss they had sustained, they ravaged the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, committing the most unheard--of cruelties, and destroying all with fire and sword.

In the year an ox was sold at ; a cow at ; a sheep at ; and a swine at .

Ethelred, with a policy as unwise as cowardly, sought to purchase the departure of the Danes, by presenting them with large sums of money; and for this purpose, he established that oppressive pate, called This tax appears to have been imposed in a national council, or wittenagemot, assembled at London, where Ethelred usually resided.

Though this purchase cost the nation dear, yet the people imagined themselves happy, in having got rid of their cruel and merciless enemies; as they expected and hoped soon to repair by peace the damage sustained by war. But this dear-bought peace proved of no long duration; for Ethelred, by a perfidious act of cruelty, brought upon himself and the nation the resentment of Sweyn, king of Denmark, a resentment that was but too well justified; for that barbarous prince caused all the Danes in England to be massacred, without distinction of age or sex ; among whom was the princess Gunilda, Sweyn's sister, with her

Sweyn, king of Denmark, in the fell spirit of revenge for the death of his sister Gunilda, who was among the number put to death under the cruel orders of Ethelred, carried fire and desolation for successive years through almost every part of the island; and when, at length, he had partly satiated his vengeance, and returned to Denmark, the work of destruction was still continued by fresh bodies of his countrymen. The calamities spread through the land by these sanguinary invaders, were augmented by domestic treason, and by the weakness of Ethelred, who, having lost nearly the whole of his dominions except London, once more resorted to the measure of bribing the Danes to quit the kingdom; and this they agreed to do, on receiving the enormous sum, at that period, of

In the same year (), Sweyn entered the river Humber with a powerful fleet, and having overrun all the northern and midland parts of the country, invested London, where the cowardly Ethelred had taken refuge. The citizens bravely defended themselves; and Sweyn being ill-provided with necessaries for a long siege, drew off into Wessex, to pursue his accustomed ravages. Meeting with no opposition, he marched a time towards London, and whilst making preparations to re-invest it with additional vigour, he was informed, that Ethelred after having suffered his realm to be desolated by the retaliation of the Danes, had retired to Normandy, leaving his capital city and distressed country to the insatiate barbarity of the conquerors. London, thus deserted, was compelled to open her portals to her bitterest enemies; and, with her, England submitted to the Danish yoke; and, shortly afterwards, Sweyn was proclaimed king of England, no daring to dispute his assumption to that dignity.

On the death of Sweyn, and the accession of Canute, his son, in the following year (), the English resolved to attempt to free themselves from bondage; and London, as it had been the last to submit, so also was it among the to throw off the yoke of servitude. Ethelred was recalled, and Canute was compelled in his turn to quit the kingdom; though, to this step, he was partly induced by events in Denmark, where Harold, his younger brother, having been left regent, had possessed himself of the throne.

Ethelred still continued to disregard the interests of his subjects, and the general murmur emboldened Canute to hasten his preparations for a new invasion. Landing at Sandwich in , that warlike chief found his conquests facilitated by the treachery

Though his rival Canute had been crowned at Southampton, he soon taught that monarch to experience that the golden prize was not easily to be obtained; for Edmund, immediately on his accession, marched into the western provinces to consolidate the scattered remains of his royal inheritance. In his absence, Canute laid siege to the capital; which, by its intrepidity, baffled all his endeavours to reduce it, till Edmund, with the force he had collected, flew to its relief.

Canute having thus lost his aim, he used many stratagems to surprise the enemy, or draw him off from London; and this last project succeeding, he went and laid siege a time to the city. It was probably on this occasion, that Canute, after having fitted out a considerable fleet to reduce London, the chief support of his competitor, found, on his arrival, that he could not pass the bridge, the citizens having strongly fortified it; he therefore set about cutting a canal through the marshes, on the south side of the river Thames, that he might invest the city on all sides, and by preventing supplies from entering, to facilitate its reduction, By a diligent search of several days, Mr. Maitland conceived he discovered the vestiges and length of this artificial water-course; its

outflux from the river Thames was where the great wet dock below

Rotherhithe

is situate; whence, running due west by the

Seven

-houses in Rotherhithe-fields, it continues its course by a gentle winding to the drain windmill; and with a west-north-west course, passing St. Thomas a Waterings by an easy turning, it crosses the Deptford Toad a little to the southeast of the

Lock Hospital

, at the lower end of

Kent Street

; and, proceeding to

Newington Butts

, intersects the road a little south of the turnpike; whence, continuing its course by the Black Prince in

Kennington

, it runs west and by south through the Spring Garden at

Vauxhall

, to it influx into the Thames at the lower end of

Chelsea

reach.

That there might have been such a water-course, as Mr. Maitland terms it, from the wet dock at Deptford, round by St. Thomas a Watering and , quite up to , and into the Thames at Chelsea-reach, is allowed by many eminent antiquaries.

In a letter from Dr. Wallis to Mr. Pepys, in , he says,

But when the time, and expense, and needless labour such a canal must have required, to make it navigable for vessels that had been able to transport an army from the northern seas is considered, and the little time the Danes had to execute such a design in the enemy's country, there appear great obstacles against the opinion, that the water course above described was the canal by which the Danish fleet sailed or were towed to the west side of the bridge. Another author supposed, that the cut made by Canute began at the dock, near to the place called at this time , in ; and from thence, in a small semicircle by Hill, in , into the Thames again at , above bridge. But Mr. Buckmaster, an ingenious and intelligent inhabitant of , controverts both these hypotheses; observing, that in the old plans of London, the end of appears to be defended by a wall, with towers at different distances, extended, so as to take in and cover the bishop of Winchester's palace, &c.; which wall was called the south-work, or out-work to the south. Now, this work extending. so far, destroys the idea of Canute's trench ending at Saint Saviour's dock (which was made so for a ferry before the bridge was built), as Canute must have destroyed this south work before he could have made his trench. He is equally against the former; but thinks the trench begun at was continued through -foot Lane in , to the end of , where a bridge is built over it, and thence to , on the north side of the new road, into Fields, and terminated

I conceive it can be traced from the north side of the , by the Elephant and Castle inn, on the south side of the Fishmongers' almshouses; here, Mr. Maitland says, is a moorish ground, with a small water-course, denominated the river Tygris, which is part of Cnut's trench or canal already mentioned. But what supports this supposition of Maitland's is, that during the year , an extensive sewer was made along this road; in the course of which, a few feet south of the almshouses, were discovered several stakes driven into the ground several feet below the surface, and evidently intended to protect an embankment; a piece of of those stakes I have in my possession, excessively hard, and capable of a high polish, the colour black. This, certainly, corroborates Maitland so far. From here, the trench ran along at the back of the houses in the Lambeth-road, and what forms the boundary between the parishes of and Saint George's, , pursuing its course along the north side of . Here we lose it; but it most probably went into the Thames, between and ; but certainly not so low as Mr. Maitland has placed it.

Mr. Nichols conceived it went north of the palace, a little beyond the king's barge-house: and, he says, the ditches are still said to remain. (.)

Canute was again unsuccessful; for the Londoners defended themselves till Edmund advanced to their relief, and

chased the Danes to their ships.

The war between these princes was terminated by a treaty of partition. which left Edmund in possession of London and all the country south of the Thames. On the murder of the Saxon king, which immediately followed, through the base Edric's contrivance, Canute claimed the dominion of the whole kingdom, which was awarded to him in a general council held in London, in .

Canute, now sole monarch of England, resolved, by all political means, to maintain his possession of the throne; and in order to secure the hearts of his new subjects, he married Emma,

This year also was distinguished for the well-merited punishment of the traitor Edric Streon; who, at the

feast of Christmas,

for ridding him of such a formidable rival as Edmund had been.

Upon the death of Canute, a wittenagemot, or convention of wise men, was held at Oxford; where earl Leofric, and most of the Thanes on the north side of the river Thames, with the of London, chose Harold their king. Liðrmen is by the translator of the Saxon Annals rendered , i. e. Mariners. This translation seems very inconsistent with the honour of the city, to chuse only of its fraternities to represent it on so solemn an occasion: but, taking liðrmen to mean pilots, (which the directors or governors of cities may not improperly be called) I am of opinion, that the city representatives at Oxford were the magistrates, and not the mariners, of London. Be that as it will, it suffices to show, that this city then was of such distinction, grandeur, and power, that no national affair of consequence was transacted without its assent: for in this case the Saxon annals are very plain,

After the death of Harold, the nobility, assisted by the citizens of London, sent messengers to Hardacanute, (son of Canute, by Emma, relict of Ethelred) then with his mother at Bruges, in Flanders, intreating him to come over and receive the crown.

Upon the demise of Hardacanute, another general council of the clergy and people, held in this city in , Edward, surnamed the Confessor, son to Ethelred the , was chosen king through the address and influence of earl Goodwin. In another great council held in London anno , ships of war were ordered to be fitted out, to protect the coasts against the Danish piracies.

From the account given in Stow's Annals from Marianus, of the contests between earl Goodwin and king Edward, it appears that the Earl had a house in ; and that, after he had assembled a fleet and army in , he sailed through on the south side, for the purpose of attacking the royal fleet, then consisting of sail, and lying at .

His armie,

placing it selfe upon the bankes side, made shewe of a thicke and terrible battayle:

The decisive battle of Hastings was the end of the Saxon monarchy in England, which had continued for more than years. London had now attained a considerable degree of consequence, and from this period we may justly consider it the metropolis of England.

[] Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. ch. 3. Bede's words are, Londinia civitas est, super ripam praesati fluminis [Thamesis] posita, et ipsa multorum emporium populorum terra marique venientium.

[] Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 5.

[] Sim Dun. Hist. Brayley's London, i. 104.

[] Spel. Con. An 833.

[] Hist. of Eng. i. 84.

[] Asser. and Sax. Ann. page 255: Henry of Huntingdon says but 250 sail, p. 348.

[] Asser. Flor. Wor.

[] Chron. Sax. A. D. 894.

[] Brompt. Chron. A. D. 945.

[] Brompt. Chron. Leg. Adel.

[] Chron. Sax.

[] Ibid.

[] Chron. Preci, A. D. 1000.

[] For the payment of the Dane-gelt, every hide of land in the kingdom was taxed twelve-pence yearly; and as the whole number of hides was computed to be 243,600, the produce of the tax, at one shilling, was 12,100 Saxon pounds; which was equal in quantity of silver to about 36,540l. sterling, and equivalent in efficiency to about 400,000l. according to the present value of money. At different periods, Dane-gelt was raised from one up to seven shillings the hide of land, according to the exigencies of the government, or rather, to the rapacity or generosity of the reigning prince. While the Danish visits were annually repeated, the Saxon sovereign could put little into his coffers of the surplus of the tax, as the whole, and sometimes more, was expended in fighting or bribing the invaders; but when the government of the country became Danish, Dane-gelt became one of the principal sources of revenue to the crown. Edward the Confessor remitted it wholly, but it was levied again under William the Norman and William Rufus; it was once more remitted by Henry the First, and at length finally, by king Stephen, seventy years after the Conquest.-Henry's History of Great Britain, Vol. I and Rapin's Hist. Vol. I p. 119, note.

[] Chron. Sax.

[] Brayley's London, i. 109.--This is the first coronation ceremony recorded to have been performed in the metropolis.

[] Rapin's History, i. 123.

[] Maitland, ed. 1739, p. 26.

[] History of Lambeth.

[] Chron. Sax. Maitland.

[] William of Malmesbury and Matthew of Westminster affirm, that he was beheaded in the king's palace, and that his body was cast out of a window into the Thames. Brompton says, that his head was fixed on the highest gate in London by Canute's order; Henry of Huntingdon says, on the highest tower in London.-Vide Rapin.

[] Chron. Sax. A. D. 1036.

[] Flor. Wig. Chron. lib. 2. Sim. Dunelm. Hist. A. D. 1039.

[] Stow's Ann. p. 121

[] Ibid, p. 122.