959. Death of Edwin. Accession of his brother Edgar. 960. =Dunstan became archbishop of Canterbury=: he exercised great influence in Church and State. 973. Edgar crowned at Bath. Eight kings did homage to him at Chester, and rowed him down the Dee. 975. Death of Edgar. Accession of his son Edward II. 978. Edward slain at Corfe Castle by order of his stepmother. Accession of his brother Ethelred II. 991. Ravages of the Danes. =£10,000 paid in order to buy off their hostility.= 1002. All the Danes, who were in that part of England under Ethelred's authority, put to death by his order. One of the victims was Gunhilda, sister of Sweyn, king of Denmark. 1008. An assessment, _said to be the origin of ship-money_, levied for the equipment of a large fleet. 1012. The English paid the Danes £48,000 as tribute. 1013. =Sweyn, of Denmark, conquered the country.= King Ethelred fled to Normandy. 1014. Death of Sweyn. His son, Canute, chosen by the Danes. Ethelred returned, and the Saxons promised to obey him, if he would govern them better than before. 1016. Death of Ethelred. Accession of his son Edmund Ironside. After several battles between the Saxons and Danes, it was agreed that the country should be divided. Canute had Northumbria and Mercia; Edmund the rest of England. Death of Edmund. Canute became king of the whole country. 1017. Canute married Emma, the widow of Ethelred. 1028. Canute conquered Norway. 1031. Canute invaded Scotland, and compelled Malcolm II. to do homage. 1035. Death of Canute. Accession of his son Harold. 1040. Death of Harold. Accession of his brother Hardicanute. 1041. Hardicanute caused all Worcestershire to be ravaged, because two of his officers, employed in collecting the Danegelt, were killed at Worcester. 1042. Death of Hardicanute. Accession of Edward the Confessor, son of Ethelred. 1044. Edward married Editha, daughter of Godwin, earl of Kent, the most powerful nobleman in the country. 1051. Eustace, count of Boulogne, the king's brother-in-law, had a conflict with the people of Dover. Godwin refused to punish them, and was soon after banished. William, duke of Normandy, visited England. 1052. Godwin returned, and recovered his power. 1053. Death of Godwin. His son Harold succeeded to his possessions and authority. 1054. Siward, earl of Northumbria, invaded Scotland in behalf of his nephew Malcolm, and defeated the usurper Macbeth. 1066. Death of Edward the Confessor. Harold mounted the throne. His brother Tostig, who had shortly before been expelled from his earldom of Northumbria (granted to him on the death of Siward), allied himself with Harold Hardrada, king of Norway; and the allies invaded England. They were defeated at STAMFORD BRIDGE, near York (Sept. 25). William, Duke of Normandy, claimed the crown, on the pretext that Edward had bequeathed it to him, and landed with an army at Pevensey to assert his claim. =HAROLD DEFEATED AND SLAIN AT HASTINGS= (Oct. 14).