nta Belgarum of Roman days, when it was connected by roads
with the other Roman cities of Andover, Silchester, Porchester, and
Salisbury. With the taking of the town by the Saxons in 495 it became
known as Wintanceastre, and here, after the final subjection of the
Britons, the capital of Wessex was established. If the claim of
Canterbury to be the "Mother City" of the Anglo-Saxon race be granted,
few will deny to Winchester the honour of being her eldest and her
fairest daughter. A royal city was this when Birinus, the apostle of
Wessex, came hither in 634, on his way to the Oxfordshire Dorchester, to
baptize the King of the West Saxons; and in 679 the episcopal see was
established, a cathedral built, and a monastic house attached to it. It
was from Wintanceastre that Egbert sent forth the decree which gave the
name of Anglia to his kingdom; and here, by the tranquil waters of the
Itchen, Alfred (with his friend, adviser, and tutor, St. Swithun),
Athelstan, and Canute held their Courts, and directed their policies.

It was during the reign of Athelstan that the redoubtable Guy, Earl of
Warwick, returning to England in the garb of a palmer from a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, found the Danes besieging Winchester in great force,
and King Athelstan unable to find a champion willing to meet the Danish
giant, Colbrand, in order to decide the issue by single combat. The
Earl, retaining his disguise as a palmer, begged the king to let him
appear as the English champion.

[Illustration: THE CITY BRIDGE]

This singular combat, which was to decide the fate of the city,
commenced by Guy breaking his spear on the giant's shield, and the Dane
cutting the head off the Earl's horse. Guy then fought on foot, and,
beating the club out of his opponent's hand, cut off his arm. So the
duel waged until night, when the Dane, faint from loss of blood, fell
to the ground, and his head was cut off by the English champion. Having
settled the affair to the honour of his country and his own
satisfaction, the Earl made himself known to the King, under an oath of
secrecy, and returned thanks in the cathedral for his victory. He then
retired to a hermitage beside the Avon, and passed the remainder of his
life in the cave which still bears his name, and probably contains his
bones.

Several modern antiquaries are very sceptical about the whole story, and
labour hard to prove that Guy was a mythical figure, and his deeds
nothing but legendary lore.