He was succeeded at once by his brother Alfred. Another victory of the Danes at Wilton compelled Alfred to make peace. For a time the Danes withdrew from Wessex, and employed their energy in subjugating Mercia. Burhred, who had married Alfred’s sister, was driven from the throne, and retired to Rome to die. A Danish agent, named Ceolwulf, was put in his place, and the country laid under heavy contribution. But Ceolwulf in his turn was displaced, and the Danes took possession of much of the country themselves, conquering among other places the five great towns, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and Stamford, known as the five Danish Burghs, or, with the addition of York and Chester, the seven Burghs. They also carried their invasions northward, and Cumberland and part of Strathclyde were overrun and peopled by them, under the command of Halfdene. Nor was the treaty with the East Anglian Danes permanent. Guthrum sailed round the coast and captured Wareham and Exeter. To oppose them on their own element, Alfred introduced a new form of ship, of greater size and length than had hitherto been used, and succeeded in winning a great naval victory in Swanage Bay. But the Danish forces were gradually closing round him. London and Essex had been taken, and a colony of Danes had conquered South Wales. At length, attacked in all directions, his kingdom of Wessex was practically limited to the country of the Somersœtas; and, unable to make head against his enemies, the King took refuge among the impassable morasses of the river Parret. It is during this time of his exile that the well-known story of the burnt cakes is told. But while apparently completely beaten, Alfred succeeded in gathering a new army, issued from his seclusion, and attacking the Danes at Edington (878), near Westbury, completely defeated them. The consequence of this battle was the Treaty of Wedmore. By this treaty the kingdom of East Anglia was surrendered to the Danes, and a line was drawn to separate their kingdom from that of Wessex. This line from the Thames ran along the Lea to Bedford, then along the Ouse till it struck Watling Street, and then followed Watling Street to the Welsh Border. The greater part of Mercia was thus restored to Wessex. In exchange, Anglia and Mercia beyond this line were ceded to the Danes, who were to hold them as vassals of the West Saxon king, and who were to become Christians. The limits of their occupation are still to be traced by the occurrence of the termination “by” in the names of the towns; it was in many instances appended to the name of the Danish holder of the manor. Guthrum, on his baptism, took the name of Æthelstan, and many difficulties in the chronology of the legends of the time may be solved by supposing that the Æthelstan mentioned in them is Guthrum, and not the Æthelstan who reigned in the year 925. This treaty, although it curtailed the supremacy of Wessex, made the