Last of all, the Archbishop endeavored to secure greater freedom from strife.  He saw that the continued wars of the English were killing off their young men—­the real hope of the country—­and were wasting the best powers of the nation.  His influence with the reigning monarch was very great, and he was successful, for a time, in reconciling the Danes and the English (SS53, 56).  It was said that he established “peace in the kingdom such as had not been known within the memory of man.”  At the same time the Archbishop, who was himself a skillful mechanic and worker in metals,[1] endeavored to encourage inventive industry and the exportation of products to the Continent.  He did everything in his power to extend foreign trade, and it was largely through his efforts that “London rose to the commercial greatness it has held ever since."[2] Because of these things, one of the best known English historians,[3] speaking of that period, declares that Dunstan “stands forth as the leading man in both Church and State.”

[1] The common people regarded his accomplishments in this direction with superstitious awe.  Many stories of his skill were circulated, and it was even whispered that in a personal contest with the Evil One, it was the foul fiend and not the monk who got the worst of it, and fled from the saint’s workshop, howling with dismay. [2] R. Green’s “English People.” [3] E. A. Freeman’s “Norman Conquest,” I, 65.

61.  New Invasions; Danegeld (992).

With the close of Dunstan’s career, a period of decline set in.  The Northmen began to make fresh inroads (S53).  The resistance to them became feeble and faint-hearted.  At last a royal tax, called Danegeld, or Dane money (992), was levied on all landed property in England in order to buy off the invaders.  For a brief period this cowardly concession answered its purpose.  But a time came when the Danes refused to be bribed to keep away.

62.  The Northmen invade France.

The Danish invasion of England was really a part of a great European movement.  The same Northmen who had obtained so large a part of the island (S56) had, in the tenth century, established themselves in France.

There they were known as Normans, a softened form of the word “Northmen,” and the district where they settled came to be called from them Normandy.  They founded a line of dukes, or princes, who were destined, in the course of the next century, to give a new aspect to the events of English history.

63.  Sweyn conquers England; Canute[1] (1017-1035).

Early in the eleventh century Sweyn, the Dane, conquered England (1013), and “all the people,” says the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” (S99), “held him for full king.”  He was succeeded by his son Canute (1017).  He could hardly be called a foreigner, since he spoke a language and set up a government differing but little from that of the English.

[1] “Cnut,” a shortened form of Canute.