Many other instances might be cited, as for example the entry in the Chronicle, anno 947, where it is stated that Eádred made a treaty of peace with the witan of Northumberland at Taddenes scylf, which was broken and renewed in the following year: but further evidence upon this point seems unnecessary[539]. ----- Footnote 539: See Chron. Sax. an. 1002, 1004, 1006, 1011, 1012. The solemn partition of the kingdom between Eádmund írensída and Cnut was effected by the witan, at Olney in Gloucestershire. Chron. Sax. an. 1016. ----- 4. _The witan had the power of electing the king._ The kingly dignity among the Anglosaxons was partly hereditary, partly elective: that is to say, the kings were usually taken from certain qualified families, but the witan claimed the right of choosing the person whom they would have to reign. Their history is filled with instances of occasions when the sons or direct descendants of the last king have been set aside in favour of his brother or some other prince whom the nation believed more capable of ruling: and the very rare occurrence of discontent on such occasions both proves the authority which the decision of the witan carried with it, and the great discretion with which their power was exercised. Only here and there, when the witan were themselves not unanimous, do we find any traces of dissensions arising out of a disputed succession[540]. On every fresh accession, the great compact between the king and the people was literally, as well as symbolically, renewed, and the technical expression for ascending the throne is being “gecoren and áhafen tó cyninge,” elected and raised to be king: where the _áhafen_ refers to the old Teutonic custom of what we still at election times call chairing the successful candidate; and the _gecoren_ denotes the positive and foregone conclusion of a real election. Alfred’s own accession is a familiar instance of this fact: he was chosen, to the prejudice of his elder brother’s children; but the nation required a prince capable of coping with dangers and difficulty, and Asser tells us that he was not only received as king by the unanimous assent of the people, but that, had he so pleased, he might have dethroned his brother Æðelred and reigned in his place[541]. His words are: “In the same year (871) the aforesaid Ælfred, who hitherto, during the life of his brother, had held a secondary place, immediately upon Æðelred’s death, by the grace of God, assumed the government of the whole realm, with the greatest goodwill of all the inhabitants of the kingdom; which indeed, even during his aforesaid brother’s life, he might, had he chosen, have done with the greatest ease, and by the universal consent; truly, because both in wisdom and in all good qualities he much excelled all his brothers; and moreover because he was particularly warlike, and successful in nearly all his battles[542].” Footnote 540: