kingdom, and possessed ecclesiastical establishments soon after the
conversion of the Saxons to Christianity.[3]

In the early part of the ninth century it was the frequent residence of
Egbert; and in 960, Edgar assembled here a national council to devise
the best means of repelling the Danes in the north.[4]

Arthur commanded it to be more strongly fortified by another trench and
high palisadoes.[5]

In 1086, William the Norman convened in this city the prelates, nobles,
sheriffs, and knights of his new dominions, there to receive their
homage;[6] and probably, within its walls was framed the feudal law, as
Domesday Book was commenced in the same year.

Two other national councils were held here; one by William Rufus, in
1096, and another by Henry I in 1116.[7]

Peter of Blois, an early ecclesiastical writer, described Old Sarum as
"barren, dry, and solitary, exposed to the rage of the wind; and the
church (stands) as a captive on the hill where it was built, like the
ark of God shut up in the profane house of Baal."[8]

Such are a few of the chronological data of the principal events in the
history of Old Sarum; these, however, will suffice to elucidate the
antiquity of the city, and from their historical importance cannot fail
to make the preceding engraving a subject of general as well as of local
interest, especially as it represents the old city, previous to its
reduction in 553.