seems almost inconceivable, insisted on quarrelling, first with the King of Cumberland, who is said to have refused the disgraceful tribute demanded of him, though willing to serve with his forces against the Danes, and afterwards with the Normans in France. An expedition undertaken against this people with ridiculous ostentation was easily defeated. A peace was made, and hostility changed into alliance, cemented by the marriage of the King with Emma, a Norman Princess. In her train came certain followers, who obtained high office and military commands, and added a fresh element of weakness to already weakened England. But though contemptible in the field, with the craft and cruelty of a weak mind Æthelred planned the massacre of all the Danes in Wessex. Many of these were settled quietly in different parts of the country, or billeted and living on friendly terms with their landlords. On the 13th of November 1002, on the festival of St. Brice, the cruel plan was carried out. Among other victims was a sister of Swegen’s who had become a Christian; she was put to death with circumstances of unusual barbarity, it is said, at the instigation of Eadric _Streona_, or _the Gainer_. This man henceforward plays a prominent part in the history. Though of low birth, he had contrived to make himself the favourite of the King, whose daughter he subsequently married. Selfish, unscrupulous, and treacherous, his influence as the King’s adviser was most pernicious; while, if it suited his own ends, he never hesitated to betray his master. So completely is he identified with the disasters of England, that there is scarcely any criminal act of the reign that is not traced to him. But his repeated treasons do not seem to have destroyed the trust which Æthelred and his nobler son Edmund placed in him. After the massacre of St. Brice the Danes naturally sought revenge. Exeter was taken by the treachery of Hugh the Frenchman, one of Emma’s followers. Wiltshire and Salisbury were deserted by the traitor Ælfric. Again East Anglia, under Ulfcytel the Ealdorman, made the only show of resistance; but here too, treason, not of the commander but of the soldiers, themselves of Danish origin, proved fatal. Famine and civil quarrels added to the misery of the English. Again Eadric is visible, ruining rival Thegns, and advising still further use of bribes. In 1006, he had succeeded in getting made Ealdorman of the Mercians. His family rose with him, and in 1008, when at last a great national fleet was collected, the quarrels of his brother Brihtric and his nephew Wulfnoth destroyed its utility. [Sidenote: Thurkill’s invasions.] [Sidenote: Swegen’s invasion.] [Sidenote: England submits to Swegen. 1013.]