220 ROGER OF TVENDOVER. [A.D. 886. Remigius, whom the Lord has made the great apostle of the French kings and their people; and unless he shall assist and foster the feeble remains of our stock, our race will presently fail to the throne and empire ; for know that the imperial power will soon be taken from your hand, and you will live but a short time afterwards iu the world.' Louis then turned to me and said, ' The empire which you have hitherto held by hereditary right, your grandson Louis ought to receive ;' and when he had so said, it seemed as if an infant stood before me, whom his grandfather Lothaire beholding, said to me, ' Give him the imperial power by that clue of thread which you hold in your hand.' Untying then the thread from the thumb of my right hand, I granted to him the whole imperial power by that thread ; and immediately the glittering clue was gathered together in his hand like a sunbeam ; and so, after this wonderful occurrence, my spirit returned into my body, very weary and sad." Charles discharged the imperial duties for barely two years after this vision, and was succeeded by that Louis, who afterwards married the daughter of Edward, king of England; but of this hereafter. The same year Ceolmund succeeded Esna, bishop of Hereford. Hoio king Alfred obtained the monarchy of England. In the year of our Lord 886, king Alfred, after burning many cities and slaying a multitude of people, laid siege to the city of London, which was the capital of the kingdom ; and there all the nations of the English resorted to him and yielded him obedience; for before this they were scattered jn desert and woody places on account of the continual irruptions of the Danes, and wandered hither and thither without any one to protect them. Having done homage to him with all solemnity, the king, with their help, made preparations for a very fierce attack on the city, erecting engines around it and labouring to beat down the walls; but the citizens, dreading a contest, opened the city gates to the king and received him with all honour. He thereupon restored the city and repaired its walls, and committed it to the custody of Athelred, earl of Mercia, who had married Elfleda, the king's daughter, and was of the royal stock of that nation. From this time to the end of his life king Alfred remained