THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



But we have disgressed. The history of Win- 

 chester naturally divides itself into two main periods, 

 which occupy nearly equal halves of the book, though 

 very unequal in duration. In the former and longer 

 period Winchester was a political centre, the seat of 

 dynasties of kings, stretching from early Anglo-Saxon 

 times, if not before, till the latter part of the 

 thirteenth century. Then with the wane of its 

 political power sprang up with the brilliancy of its 

 " statesmen bishops '' its great ecclesiastical sway. 

 During the former period it was the capital of a West 

 Saxon nation, which by overcoming the rest of the 

 island made it the English metropolis. For a time 

 indeed its monarchs had an even wider sway. Under 

 Cnut it was the capital of a kingdom stretching 

 across the seas to Scandinavia, and under the 

 Normans a large part of France was in subjection to 

 it. Here kings were born, in its cathedral they 

 celebrated with great pomp their marriages, and here 

 their bones were brought to rest not always undis- 

 turbed however, as is shown by the inextricably 

 mixed condition of the royal remains in Bishop Fox's 

 chests in the cathedral. And where, too, are the 

 mortal remains of England's greatest king, the good 

 king Alfred, who first made the city a home of learn- 

 ing and here caused to be compiled the Anglo-Saxon 

 Chronicle (or "English Chronicle" as the Dean 

 prefers to call it)? 



Winchester's early history the Dean treats in the 

 laconic style of that famous chapter on "Snakes in 

 Ireland." " Winchester has no early history." Its 

 Roman days are briefly sketched, the importance of 

 the place even in that distant age being clearly indi- 

 cated. It is with the Saxon invaders that its written 

 history really begins, and then it requires a discrimi- 

 nating mind to distinguish between truth and fable. 

 The old monkish writers loved to dwell on the 

 fanciful legends which with them passed for history. 

 Many of these, as was to be expected, Dr. Kitchin 

 has to discard. The semi-mythical Lucius and his 

 ancient British church he does not name, and that 

 hero of romance, King Arthur, has for him nothing 

 to do with Winchester. The legend of St. Swithun 

 he shows to be groundless, if only because no down- 

 pour of rain could "have hindered the translation 

 from a grave at most only a few yards beyond the 

 church door." And in like msnner the story of the 

 miraculous death of the now rehabilitated Earl Godwin, 

 set on foot by the Norman detractors of this English 

 patriot, has to go. 



Dr. Kitchin is fully conscious of the charm given 

 to history by these personal details, and he brings 

 the characters before us with a few life-like touches. 

 In one chapter the incidents of the monastic revival, 

 940-975, A.D. , are grouped round the great Dunstan ; 

 the late Bishop Henry of Blois seems the central 

 figure of the great struggle between King Stephen 

 and the Empress Matilda. The master hand is shown 

 in the arrangement and headings of the chapters 

 "The growth of England, with Winchester as 



capital, A.D. 901-940," "The Monastic Revival, 

 A.D. 940-975," " Second period of Danish invasion and 

 reign of Cnut at Winchester, A.D. 975-1035," " Nor- 

 man Conquest at Winchester, A.D. 1035-1086'' 

 (these dates are suggestive), "Winchester under the 

 Norman kings, A.D. 1087-1109." Then we have a 

 graphic description of " a mediaeval city," based on 

 the " Winton Domesday," illustrated with a map of 

 Norman Winchester. Winchester, like London, was 

 excluded from the great land register of the Con- 

 queror, but some very interesting details are to be 

 gleaned from the local survey of his son Henry. It 

 was from Winchester that William sent his surveyors to 

 spy out the land, county by county, and here the Domes- 

 day record was collected and long preserved. Whilst 

 our kings ruled also Normandy, Winchester was an 

 important centre, standing on the main road to South- 

 ampton and the other southern ports. Presently, 

 however, it met with a powerful rival in the rise of 

 London, but it was not without a struggle that it 

 yielded the sceptre to the more energetic city. There 

 is something almost comical in the barren controversy 

 between the two places as to which should provide 

 the cup-bearer for King Henry III. The reality of 

 dominion had gone from Winchester, yet with con- 

 servative tenacity she strained after its shadows. 

 Doubtless this transfer of power was to some extent 

 due to the inhabitants themselves. X >t always 

 united in itself, Winchester had a tendency to support 

 the cause of the kings rather than that of the people. 

 Indeed, we are told, it " seems always to have loved 

 its worst kings best," whilst in the struggles between 

 kings and people the Londoners took the popular 

 side. As in religious affairs, so apparently in matters 

 of state " Winchester never did or suffered mue'i tkat 

 was heroic." 



The Norman Conqueror was received in Win- 

 chester with open arms, but in the time of 

 Stephen, and again during the Civil War of the 

 seventeenth century it was the scene of severe 

 fighting. In the former struggle Stephen and 

 Matilda naturally struggled for the possession of the 

 capital, and it does not enhance the reputation of the 

 prominent representative of the Church, the fighting 

 Bishop Henry of Blois, that the destruction of the 

 city should be laid at his door. It was by no means 

 an unmixed evil when the Bishops were " dis- 

 established " from their castles, and probably some 

 will see in other misguided actions of the leaders of 

 the Church arguments for still further " disestablish- 

 ment " from a position of worldly power. But, in 

 spite of much corruption, the history of the Church in 

 Winchester is the history largely of great and good 

 works. To its Bishops we owe the grand old 

 cathedral, and it was Bishop William of Wykeham, 

 " the father of the English public school S3 - stem,'' who 

 founded the colleges of St. Mary at Winchester and 

 Oxford. All are treated with a fair and impartial hand. 



Dr. Kitchin must have felt strongly tempted to 

 dwell more at length on some of those characters 



