866] On his death, his son Ethelred still held the crown, which he had preoccupied by his rebellion, and which he polluted with a new stain.

He married his father's widow.

The confused history of these times furnishes no clear account either of the successions of the kings or of their actions.

During the reign of this prince and his successors Ethelbert and Ethelred, the people in several parts of England seem to have withdrawn from the kingdom of Wessex, and to have revived their former independency.

This, added to the weakness of the government, made way for new swarms of Danes, who burst in upon this ill-governed and divided people, ravaging the whole country in a terrible manner, but principally directing their fury against every monument of civility or piety.