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Article ANTIQUARIES AND ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 6 of 18 →
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Antiquaries And Antiquities.
and the reverse of a Saxon coin , bearing figures Avhich correspond Avith the motto , VICTORIA AUGG . The coinage of East-Anglia , in like manner , presents us , in its first knoAvn example , Avith the well-known type of the Avolf ancl twins , palpably copied from a coin of the era of Constantine . But the coins of these same East-Anglian kings give us the only means of ascertaining
Avho they were , and in what order they reigned ; and as we owe to Mr . Lindsay the best history of Parthia , ancl to Professor Wilson the best history of Bactria and Sogdiana , read solely in their numismatic annals ; so do Ave owe almost all that is known of East-Anglia and its princes , to the researches of Mr . Haih into the coins which they struck .
g Let us examine a little fragment of this numismatic history . There are a considerable series of East-Anglian coins , bearing the name of Athelstan . Previous to numismatic eA'idence , there are said to have reigned in East-Anglia fifteen kings . But it must be admitted that we have no authentic records of their
acts , nor much , even , of their existence . Then we have tAvelve more , ancl of these , nine have left coins . After reciting a few of these names , Hume puts the question—Avhat instruction or entertainment can the reader derive from any further account of these successive murders and depositions ? — ancl he then coolly closes the chapter of East-Anglian history . We shall HOAV
take up the evidence of numismatitis , and read by its light the annals of one of these neglected princes . It appears that when Egbert ( sometimes called the Great ) conquered ancl amalgamated Avith his own kingdom of Wessex , those of Kent , Sussex , and Essex—taking , therefore , four of the seven kingdoms under his OAVU undivided rule—that he exacted tribute from the sovereigns
of Mercia and Northumbria , but - protected , the kingdom of the East-Angles . NOAV all that concerns the reign and character of Egbert or Ecgbeorht ( as he chose to spell his name ) must be of the deepest intei * est to the student of English history . We are in the habit of calling him the first of the sole monarchs , and though this Avas not strictly the case , yet his decided supremacy
may be said to have made the Heptarchy only a magni nominis umbra . NOAA * , there must have been some close connection betAveen the royal families of Wessex and East-Anglia , at this period — and the solution of the matter appears to be this : EadAvald , king of East-Anglia , Avas , it appears , a son of Alkmund , king of Kentancl therefore a brother of Ecgbeorhtancl laced
, , p on the throne of East-Anglia by that prince . Athelstan was a natural son or grandson of Ecgbeorht , and therefore , either a son or brother of Ethelwulf . In 838 he was made king of Kent , Essex , and Sussex , either by the will of Ecgbeorht , or the act of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Antiquaries And Antiquities.
and the reverse of a Saxon coin , bearing figures Avhich correspond Avith the motto , VICTORIA AUGG . The coinage of East-Anglia , in like manner , presents us , in its first knoAvn example , Avith the well-known type of the Avolf ancl twins , palpably copied from a coin of the era of Constantine . But the coins of these same East-Anglian kings give us the only means of ascertaining
Avho they were , and in what order they reigned ; and as we owe to Mr . Lindsay the best history of Parthia , ancl to Professor Wilson the best history of Bactria and Sogdiana , read solely in their numismatic annals ; so do Ave owe almost all that is known of East-Anglia and its princes , to the researches of Mr . Haih into the coins which they struck .
g Let us examine a little fragment of this numismatic history . There are a considerable series of East-Anglian coins , bearing the name of Athelstan . Previous to numismatic eA'idence , there are said to have reigned in East-Anglia fifteen kings . But it must be admitted that we have no authentic records of their
acts , nor much , even , of their existence . Then we have tAvelve more , ancl of these , nine have left coins . After reciting a few of these names , Hume puts the question—Avhat instruction or entertainment can the reader derive from any further account of these successive murders and depositions ? — ancl he then coolly closes the chapter of East-Anglian history . We shall HOAV
take up the evidence of numismatitis , and read by its light the annals of one of these neglected princes . It appears that when Egbert ( sometimes called the Great ) conquered ancl amalgamated Avith his own kingdom of Wessex , those of Kent , Sussex , and Essex—taking , therefore , four of the seven kingdoms under his OAVU undivided rule—that he exacted tribute from the sovereigns
of Mercia and Northumbria , but - protected , the kingdom of the East-Angles . NOAV all that concerns the reign and character of Egbert or Ecgbeorht ( as he chose to spell his name ) must be of the deepest intei * est to the student of English history . We are in the habit of calling him the first of the sole monarchs , and though this Avas not strictly the case , yet his decided supremacy
may be said to have made the Heptarchy only a magni nominis umbra . NOAA * , there must have been some close connection betAveen the royal families of Wessex and East-Anglia , at this period — and the solution of the matter appears to be this : EadAvald , king of East-Anglia , Avas , it appears , a son of Alkmund , king of Kentancl therefore a brother of Ecgbeorhtancl laced
, , p on the throne of East-Anglia by that prince . Athelstan was a natural son or grandson of Ecgbeorht , and therefore , either a son or brother of Ethelwulf . In 838 he was made king of Kent , Essex , and Sussex , either by the will of Ecgbeorht , or the act of