Ethelwulf ordered that the money he left behind him should be divided between his sons and the nobles for the good of his soul. Further, for the benefit of his soul, which from the first flower of his youth he had studied in all things to promote, he directed that in all his hereditary dominions one poor man for each ten hides of land, either a native or a foreigner,[2] should be provided with meat, drink, and clothing, by his successors, even to the day of judgment. And the curiously significant condition is imported, “if the country should continue to be inhabited by men and cattle, and not become deserted”: to such an extent had the ravages of the Danish pirates gone. Also, and still for the good of his soul, three hundred mancuses[3] were to go to Rome. Their destination explains to us the religious attraction which drew men in his time to the old capital of the Western world. The journey was dangerous;[4] it was also expensive.[5] King Canute spoke very strongly about this in his time. He thanked God that he had been able to visit the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. That was the aspect in which the purpose of the pilgrimage to Rome presented itself to his mind, it was to visit the tombs of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul.[6] But having thanked God for his visit, he proceeded to complain of the heavy demands upon “my archbishops” when according to custom they visited the holy see to receive the pall. “I complained in the presence of the lord Pope, and said I was much displeased on account of the immense sums of money which were demanded of them”; it was decreed that this should cease. In like manner he settled with the emperor and with the Frank king that the severity of the taxes by the way should be relaxed. In 688 and 728, two of Alfred’s predecessors, Cædwalla and Ina, kings of Wessex, wishing to visit Rome, resigned their kingdom to carry out their wish. Bede tells us precisely what their purpose was. It was that they might visit the tombs of the blessed Apostles. Ethelwulf, too, makes his object clear in his will. One hundred mancuses were to go to Rome in honour of St. Peter, specially to buy oil for filling all the lamps of his apostolic church on Easter Eve and at cock-crow; also, one hundred mancuses in honour of St. Paul, for the same purpose of providing oil for the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, to fill the lamps on Easter Eve and at cock-crow; and one hundred mancuses for the universal apostolic pontiff. William of Malmesbury states that these were to be annual gifts, but that is not supported by Asser, from whom William takes his account.