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WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY'S
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KINGS OF ENGLAND.
FBOM THB BABLIB8T PERIOD TO THE BEIGN OF KING STSPHEK.
miii l^otcs anti Hlnstcatimis.
BY J. A. GILES, D.C.L.,
1.ATB FBIXOW or CORPUS CHU8TI COLLKGK, OXrOllO.
LONDON: ! HSNEY a BOHN, YORK STREET, OOVENT GARDBK.
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«. HADOON. PRUITKa, CAMttM tTEUT. FUUBOET*
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EDITOR'S PREFACE.
•* WiuJAM of Malmesburt," according to archbishop Usher, \ « ** is the chief of oar historians ;" Leland records him '* as an elegant, learned, and faithful historian ;" and Sir Henrj Saville is of opinion, that he is the only man of his time who ) has discharged his trust as an historian. His History of the [Kings of England was translated into English bj the Bey. John Sharpe, and published in quarto, in 1815.
Though the language of Mr. Sharpe's work is by no means ao smooth as the dialect of the present day would require, ' yet the care with which he examined MSS., and endeavoured to give the exact sense of his author, seemed so important a reoommendation, that the editor of the present volume has gladly availed himself of it as a ground-work for his own labours. The result of this plan is, that the public are en- abled to purchase without delay and at an insignificant expense, the valuable contemporary historian, who has hitherto been like a sealed book to the public, or only acces- sible through a bulky volume, the scarcity of which served to exclude it from aU but public libraries or the studies of the wealthy.
But the translation of Mr. Sharpe has by no means been re- printed verbatim. Within the last ten years a valuable edition of the original text, with copious collations of MSS., has been published by the English Historical Society. This edition has been compared with the translation, and numerous passages retouched and improved. Some charters, also, have been added, and a large number of additional notes appended at the foot of the pages, together with a few other improve- ments and additions calculated to render this interesting his- tory more acceptable to the reading public
J. A. G. Bampton^ June, 1847.
THE
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The author whose work is here presented to the public in Ml English dress, has, unfortunately, left few facts of a per- sonal nature to be recorded of him ; and even these can onlj be casuallj gleaned from his own writings. It is indeed much to be regretted that he who wrote so well on such a â–¼arietj of topics, should have told so little to gratify the curiosity of his readers with respect to himself. Every notice of such an ardent lover of literature as Malmesbury, must have been interesting to posterity, as a desire to be acquainted with the history of those who have contributed to our instruction or amusement seems natural to civilized man. With the exception indeed of the incidental references made by successive chroniclers, who borrowed ifrom his history, there is nothing to be learned of him from extrinsic sources till the time of Leland, who indignantly observes, that even at Malmesbury, in his own monastery, they had nearly lost all remembrance of their brightest ornament.
To himself then we are indebted for the knowledge of his being descended from both English and Norman parents Vhis father having probably comi"^lther ^t the conquest. The exact time of his birth cannot be ascertained ; though per- haps an approximation to it may be made. In the '* Com- mentary on Jeremiah,"* Malmesbury observes, that he " had long since, in his youthful days, amused himself with writing history, that he was now forty years of age ;" and, in another place, he mentions a circumstance which occurred '^ in the
* ** Olim enim cum hUtqrias /tin, Tuidioiibus annis rermnque Isetitiai coogniebat renim jocunditas. Nunc staa progreBsior, et fortune deterior, aliud dicendi geniu expostulant. Quadrojfmarint turn hodie,*^ &c. ProU in expoi. Thren. Hierem. MS. BodU 868.
translator's PRSFACE. Vli
time of king Henry ;*** apparentlj implying that Henry wbb then dead. Now, admitting the expression of " long since" to denote a period often years, this, as his ^* Histories of the Kmgs" and ** of the PrcJates" were completed in the year 1 125, mnst have heen written about 1 135, the time of Heniy's death, and would of course place his own birth about 1095
orl096.t
The next circumstance to be noticed is, that when a boy, he was placed in the monastery whence he derived his name, where in due time he became librarian, and, according to Leland, precentor ; and ultimately refused the dignity of abhat His death is generally supposed to have taken place about 1143; though it is probable that he survived this period some time : for his " Modem History^ terminates at the end of the year 1142 ; and it will appear, from a manu- script hereafter to be described, that he lived at least long enough after its publication to make many corrections, altera- tions, and insertions, in that work as well in the other por- tions of his History.
With these facts, meagre as they are, the personal account of him must close. But with regard to hiB literary bent and attainments there is ample store of information in his writings. From his earliest youth he gave his soul to study, and to the collecting of books ;} ai^d he visited many of the most celebrated monasteri^ in the kingdom, apparently in prosecution of this darling propensity. The ardour of his curiosity, and the unceasing diligence of his researches, in this respect, have perhaps been seldom surpassed. He seems to have procured every volume within his reach ; and to have carefully examined and digested its contents, whether
* ** Iits antem avis (rtnithio) membrorum grandium, peniuu quidem haben^ aed volatu carens. Qualem in Angli& yidimiu^ tempore regit ffemiei exterDomin monstronim appetentisBimi.'' Ch. iv. y. 81.
f He has afforded another notice of time, but not equally predse. Godfrey is laid to have been abbst of Malmesbury from the year 1084 till 1 105 ; and MalmeBboiy mentiona certain tranaactions which took place in Godfrey*! time as beyond his memoiy; and otbera which happened when he was a boy. Angiia Sacra, II. 45—7. If Malmesbuiy wrote the mira- eles of St Andrew, a work wUch is attributed to him, he was bom the 30th of NoTonber.
X He says he also collected many books for the monastic librazy : and nentioBis others which he had seen at Canterbury, Buiy St, Edmunds, &#. iiaJe, torn. iii« pp. 876, 298.
viii trakslatob's preface.
divinity, history, biography, poetry, or classical literature. Of his acquirements as a scholar it is indeed difficult to speak in terms of sufficient commendation. That he had accurately \ studied nearly all the Roman authors, will be readily allowed by the classical reader of his works. From these he either quotes or inserts so appositely, as to show how thoroughly he had imbibed their sense and spirit. His adapta- tions are ever ready and appropriate ; they incorporate with his narrative with such exactness that they appear only to / occupy their legitimate place. His knowledge of Greek is not equally apparent ; at least his references to the writers of Greece are not so frequent, and even these might proba- bly be obtained from translations : irom this, however, no conclusion can be drawn that he did not understand the lan- guage. With respect to writers subsequent to those deemed classics, his range was so extensive that it is no easy matter to point out many books which he had not seen, and cer- tainly he had perused several which we do not now possess.
Mahnesbury^s love of learning was copatj^utional : he de- clares m one oi nii^ piHifUUBB, lllUl had He turned to any other than literary pursuits, he should have deemed it not only disgraceful, but even detrimental to his better interest. Again, his commendations of Bede show how much he vene- rated a man of congenial inclinations and studies ; and how anxious he was to form himself on the same model of accu- rate investigation and laborious research, and to snatch every possible interval from the performance of his monastic duties, for the purposes of information and improvement.
His industry and application were truly extraordinary. Even to the moment when we reluctantly lose sight of him, he is discovered unceasingly occupied in the correction of his works.* In the MSS. of the " History of the Kings "
• Some notion of his diligence maj perhaps be afforded by the following list of hJB writingii.
1. J>e Gtatis Begum, The Higtorf of the Kmgs of England. The fint three hooks were probably written soon after the year 1 120. Malmesbnry intimates that he then hentated for a time on the expediency of continuing his history ; but at length having determined on prosecuting his design, he dedicated the fourth and fifth books to Robert earl of Gloucester ; at whose request he afterwards oompoiSed
2. HUiarim Novella. The Modem History. This appears to have been begun after the death of Henry I ; probably not long befm 1140.
translator's frefagk. ix
may be found traces of at least four several editions ; and the "HistoTy of the Prelates" supplies nearly as many varieties. And thongh it may reasonably be imagined that
3. De GesHa Pontificum. The Histoiy of the Prelates of England con- taming, in four books, an account of the bishope, and of the principal monasteriea, firom the conyeraion of the English, by St. Augustiney to 1123 : to which he added a fifth
4. be Vila Aldhehm. The Life of St. Aldhehn : which was completed in 1125. It is my reasonably conjectured that this last was published aepa- lately and some time after the others ; as, though there are many ancient MSS. of the first four books, one copy only has yet been discoTered with the fifth. The former were published by Sarille, but from very &ulty and scanty MS& The latter by H. Wharton* and by Gale ; but also very defectively.
5. De Vita S. Dumtani. The Life of S. Dunstan, in two books. MS. Bodley Rawlxnaon, 263. This was written at the request of the monks of Glastonbury, for whom, he had previously composed the following three :
6. rUa S. Pairidi. The Life of S. Patrick, in two books. Lehind, Collectanea, 3, 272, has extracts fiom it, but no MS. has hitherto oocuired.
7. Mtraeuia S. Benigm. The Miracles of S. Benignus. This has not occurred.
8. Paetio S. IndraeH, The Martyrdom of S. Indract MS. Bodley Bigby, 112. This he translated and abridged ^m the Anglo-Saxon* Abbreviated in Capgrave's Legenda Nova.
y^ De Antigtdtate OUuUmienns Eedetue, The History of Glastonbury. IVu addressed to Henry bishop of Winchester, and was of course written after 1129. Printed in Grale's Collection, t 3, and by Heame, from an interpolated MS. — , ^_ _^ — .
10. Ttta S. Wvistani Epiteopi Wigomienns, The Life of S. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester. A Translation from the Anglo-Saxon, addressed to Prior Guarin, between 1124 and 1140. The greater part of it has been printed. Anglia Sacra, t. 2.
11. Chronica, Chronicles^ in three books. Seep. 480. This work is probably lost.
>2. Miracula S. Elfg\f<B, The Miracles of Elfgifii, in metre. A spechnen of these rhymes, there printed as prose, may be seen in the De Gestis Ponti£ £ 143 : they were apparently written while he was very young ; as, before 1125, he says, *^ quondam cecinL"
13. JHnerariam Joanme AMnxiis Meldunensis versut Hamam, The Itinerary of John Abbat of Malmesbury to Rome. This was drawn up, after 1140, from, the relation of another monk of that foundation who accompanied the abbet. Leland, Collect. 3, 272, ed. 1774, mentions it as being very curious. It does not occur, but it was formerly in the possession of Bale.
14. ExposiHo Threnorum HierenUa, A Commentary on the Lamenta- tions of Jeremiah. MS. Bodley, 868. Abridged £rom Paschasius Badbert, probably about 1136.
15. De MWaculU Diva Maria Rbri mtatuor Chd. Cantorit Malmshurie, The Miracles of the Blessed Virgin, in four books. Leland^ CoU. 4. 156.
trakslator's frefacb.
a great portion of tHe alterations are merely yerbal,- and of course imperceptible in a translation, jet they contribute in an extraordinary degree to the polish and elegance of his style.* Another excellent feature of Malmesbury's literary character is, his l<ffe^of truth. He repeatedly declares that, in the remoter periods of his work, he had observed the most guarded caution in throwing all responsibility, for the facts he mentions, on the authors from whom he derived them ; and in his own times he avers, that he has recorded
^ nothing that he had not either personally witnessed, or learned from the most credible authority. Adhering closely to this principle, he seems to have been fully impressed with the difficulty of relating the transactions of the princes, hia
. contemporaries, and on this account he repeatedly apologizes for his omissions. But here is seen his dexterous management in maintaining an equipoise between their virtues and vices ; for he spares neither William the First, nor his sons who succeeded him : indeed several of his strictures in the earlier editions of this work, are so severe, that he afterwards found it necessary to modify and soften them.
His character and attainments had early acquired a high degree of reputation among his contemporaries. He was entreated by the monks of various monasteries to write either the history of their foundations, or the lives of their patron saints. He associated with persons of the highest consequence
16. />0 Serie EtxmgeRstarum, Carmine. The Order of the Evangelista, in verse. Leland, Collect. 4. 157. These two have not occurred.
17. De Miraeulis B, Andrea. The Miracles of S. Andrew. MS. Cotton. Nero, £. 1. Abridged from a very prolix work.
18. Abbreviatio Amalarii de EoclesiastUns OjffMu. Amalarius on Ecclesiastical Offices, abridged. MS. Lambeth. S80.
19. Epitome Historia Aimonis Floriaoensis. The History of Haimo of Floiy, abridged. MS. Bodley, Selden. Arch. B. 32.
Several other works are attributed to him by Tanner, on the authority of Bale and Fits.
* These remarks on the character and style of our author must be received, as they say, cum grano salts. They more justly evince the zeal of Mr. Sharpe than the merits of Malmesbury^ composition. The classical reader will probably lament with me that our early historians should have used a style so cumbersome and uninvituig. To this general censure Malmesbury is certainly no exception. His Ladnity is rude and repulsive, and the true value of his writings arises from Uie fidelity with which he has recorded facts, which he had ei^er himself witnessed or bad obtained from eye-witnesses.
traijslatob's preface. xi
and aathority ; and in one instance, at least, he took a share in the important political transactions of his own times. Robert earl of Gloucester, the natural son of Henry the First, was the acknowledged friend and patron of MsJmes-^ bury. This distinguished nobleman, who was himself a profound scholar, seems to have been the chief promoter of learning at that period. Several portions of our author's work are dedicated to him, not merely through motives of personal regard, but irom the conviction that his attainments ta a sdiolar would lead him to appreciate its value as a com- position, and the part which he bore in the transactions of his day, enable him to decide on the veracity of its relation.
Having mus stated the leading features of Malmesbur/s life^ his avocations and attainments, it may not be irrelevant to consider the form and manner which he has adopted in the history before us. A desire to be acquainted with the transactions of their ancestors seems natural to men in every stage of society, however rude or barbarous. The northern nations, more especially, had their historical traditions, and the songs of their bard^ from the remotest times. Influenced by this feeling, the Anglo-Saxons turned their attention to the composition of annab very early after their settlement in ' Britain ; and hence originated that invaluable register the Saxon Chronicle,* in which facts are briefly related as they arose ;-i— in chronolc^cal order^ indeed^ but without compient or observation. After the Norman conquest, fflHohg other objects of studious research in England, history attracted considerable attention, and the form, as wedl as the ' matter, of the Saxon Chronicle, became the prevailing standard. It might readily be supposed that Mahnesbury's' genius and attainments would with difficulty submit to the ' shackles of a mere chronological series, which afforded no field for the exercise of genius or judgment Accordingly, fbOowing the bent of his inclination, he struck into a different and freer path ; and to a judicious selection of facts gave the added chum of wisdom and experience. It may therefore be useful to advert to the exemplification of this principle in the scope and design of the work immediately before us. His
^ * This Taluable work has been published, together with Bede's £ccl»- fiatdcal Histojy, in a preceding volume of this seriei.
Xii TItAKSLATOR*S PBEFACE.
first book comprises the exploits of tHe Anglo-Saxons, from th« period of their arrival till the consolidation of the empire under the monarchy of Egbert Herein too is separately given the history of those powerful but rival kingdoms, which alternately subjugated, or bowed down to the dominion of, each other, and deluged the country with blood, as the love of conquest or the lust of ambition prompted. The second portion of the work continues the regal series till the mighty revolution of the Norman conquest. The three remaining books are occupied with the reigns of William and his sons, including a very interesting accoimt of the first Cru^de. His Modem History carries the narrative into the turbulent reign cf Stephen.
Such is the period embraced: and to show these times, *^ their form and pressure," Malmesbury collected every thing within his reach. His materials, as he often feelingly laments, were scanty and confined, more especially in the earlier annals. The Chronicles of that era afforded him but little, yet of tiiat little he has made the most, through the diligence of his research and the soundness of his judgment. His discrimination in selecting, and his skill in arranging, are equally conspicuous. His inexhaustible patience, his learning, his desire to perpetuate every thing interesting or useful, are at all times evident. Sensibly alive to the de- ficiencies of the historians who preceded him, he constantly endeavours to give a clear and connected relation of every event Indeed, nothing escaped his observation which could , tend to elucidate the manners of the times in which he wrote. History was the darling pursuit of Malmesbury, and more especially biographical history, as being, perhaps, the most pleasing mode of conveying information. He knew the pre- vailing passion of mankind for %necdote, and was a skilful master in blending amusement with instruction. Few his- torians ever possessed such power of keeping alive the reader^s attention; few so ably managed their materials, or scattered so many fiowers by the way. Of his apt delinea- tion of character, and happy mode of seizing the most promi- nent features of his personages, it is difficult to speak in terms of adequate doraimendation. He does not weary with a tedious detail, " line upon line,** nor does he complete his
tilinslaior's preface. xiii
portrait at a sitting. On the contrary, the traits are scat- tered, the proportions disunited, the body dismembered, as it were ; but in a moment some master-stroke is applied, some Yivid flash of Promethean fire animates the canvass, and the perfect figure darts into life and expression : hence we have the surly, ferocious snail of the Conqueror, and the brutal horse-laugh of Rufus. Mahnesbury's history, indeed, may be called a kind of biographical drama ; where, by a skilful gradation of character and variety of personage, the story is presetted entire, though the tediousness of continued narra- tive is aToided. Again, by saying little on uninteresting topics, and dilating on such as are important, the tale, which might else disgust from the supineness or degeneracy of some principal actor, Ls artfully relieved by the force of contrast : and the mind, which perhaps recoils with indignation firom the stupid indifTerence of an Ethelred, hangs, with fond de- light, on the enterprising spirit and exertion of an Ironside.
It may be superfluous, perhaps, aB:er enumerating qualities of this varied kind, in an author, who gives a connected his- tory of England for several centuries, to observe, that readers cf every description must derive instruction and delight from Ms labours. Historians, antiquaries, or philosophers, may drink deeply of the stream which pervades his work, and find their thirst for information gratified. The diligent investigator of the earlier annals of his own country, finds a period of seven hundredj'ears submitted to his inspection, anJT this'not merely In a dry detail of events, but in a series of attthentic historical facts, determined with acuteness, com- mitted on with deliberation, and relieved by pleasing anec- dote or interesting episode. When the narrative flags at home, the attention is roused by events transacting abroad, while foreign is so blended wi1±L domestic history, that the book is never dosed in disgust. The antiquary here finds ample field for amusement and instruction in the various notices of arts, manners, and customs, which occur. The philosopher traces the gradual progress of man towards civil- ization; watches his mental improvement, his advance from barbarism to comparative refinement ; and not of man alone, but of goTermnent^ laws, and arts, as well as of all those attainments which serve to exalt and embellish human na- toie. These are topics carefully, though perhaps only inci-
xiv translatob'8 pbefacb.
dentally, brought forward; but they are points essentially requisite in every legitimate historian. Here, however, it must be admitted, that in the volume before us, a consider- able portion of the marvellous prevails ; and though, perhaps, by many readers, these will be considered as among the most curious parts of the work, yet it may be objected, that the numerous miraculous tales, detract, in some measure, from that soundness of judgment which has been ascribed to our author. dBut it should be carefully recollected, that it became necessary to conform, in some degree, to the general taste of the readers of those days, the bulk of whom derived their principal amusement from the lives of saints, and from their miracles, in which they piously believed: besides, no one ever thouglit of impeaching the judgment of Livy, or of any other historian of credit, for insertions of a similar nature. Even in these relations, however, Malmesbuiy is careful that ^ his own veracity shall not be impeached ; constantly observ- f.ing, that the truth of the story must rest on the credit of his 'lauthors; and, indeed, they are always so completely sepa- rable fix>m the main narrative, that there is no danger of mistaking the legend for history.
Having thus noticed the multifarious topics embraced bj Malmesbuiy, it may be necessary to advert to his style: although, after what has been premised, it might seem almost superfluous to add, that it admits nearly of as much variety as his facts. This probably arises from that undeviating principle which he appears to have laid down, that his chief efforts should be exerted to give pleasure to his readers ; in imitation of the rhetoricians, whose first object was to make their audience kindly disposed, next attentive, and finally anxious to receive instruction.* Of his style, therefore, generally speaking, it may not be easy to give a perfect description. To say to which Roman author it bea^ the nearest resemblance, when he imitated almc^t every one of them, from Sallust to Eutropius, would be rash indeed. How shall we bind this classical Proteus, who occasionally assumes the semblance of Persius, Juvenal, Horace, Lucan, Virgil, Lucretius; and who never appears in his proper shape so long as he can seize the form of an ancient classic Ff
* See his prologue to the Life of Wulstan, Anglia Sacra, ii. 243. t Some of these alluaioiu are occasionally marked in the notes.
TBANSLATOB's FBEFACf. XT
Often does he dedare that he purposelj yaries his dicticmy lest the reader should be disgust^ by its sameness; anx- iously careful to avoid repetition, even in the structure of his phrases. It may be said, howeyer, that generally, in his eailier works, (for he was apparently yery young when he wrote his History of the Kings,) his style is rather laboured ; though, perhaps, eyen this may haye originated in an anxiety that his descriptions should be full ; or, to use his own ex- pression, that posterity should be wholly and perfectly in- fanned. That his diction is highly antithetical, and hiSt, sentences artfully poised, will be readily allowed; and per- hi^ps the best index to his meaning, where he may be occa- sionally obscure, is the nicely-adjusted balance of his phrase. That he gradually improved his style, and in riper years, where he describes the transactions of his own times, became terse, el^ant, and polished, no one will attempt to dispute ; and it wiU be regretted, that this interesting portion of his- tory should break off abruptly in the midst of the contest between the empress Maud and Stephen.
In this recapitulation perhaps enough has been said to make an attempt at translating such an author regarded with kindness and complacency. To prevent a work of such ac- knowledged intent and fidelity from remaining longer a sealed book to the English reader, may well justify an under- taking of this kind ; and it should be remarked that a trans- lation of Malmesbury may serve to difiiise a very different idea of the state of manners and learning in his days from that which has been too commonly entertained ; and at the same time to rescue a set of very deserving men from the unjust obloquy with which they have been pursued for ages. For without the least design of vindicating the institutions of mohachism or overlooking the abuses incident to it, we may assert that, in Malmesbiury's time, religious houses were \ the grand depositaries of knowledge, and monks the best > informed men of the age.
It remains briefly to speak of the mode in which the trans- lation has been conducted. The printed text of Malmesbury *
* A oonnderable portion of the preflent work was printed anonjmoiul/ ai a continuation of Bede, at Heideiberg, in 1587. The whole, together with the History of the Prelates, was first printed by Sir Henry S^villo, who appears to hare consulted sevend copies in the ^'Scriptores pest
xvi tbansultob's fbeface.
was found so freqaentlj j&ultj and corrupted that^ on a careful perusal, it was deemed necessary to seek for authentic manu- scripts. These were supplied by that noble institution, the British Museum; but one more especially, which, on an exact comparison with others, was found to possess indisput- able ^proofs of the author's latest corrections. This, Bib. Reg. 13, D. n, has been collated throughout with the printed copy ; the result has produced numerous important corrections, alterations, and insertions, which are constantly referred to in the notes. In addition to this, various other MSS. have been repeatedly consulted ; so that it is presumed the text, from which the translation has been made, is, by these means, completely established.
As the plan pursued by Malmesbury did not oiten require him to affix dates to the several transactions, it has been deemed necessary to remedy this omission. The chronology here supplied has been constructed on a careful examination and comparison of the Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester, which are considered the best authorities; although even these occasionally leave considerable doubt as to the precise time of certain events. The remoteness of the period described by Malmesbury makes notes also in some measure indispensable. These are derived as frequently as possible from contemporary authors. Their object is briefly to amend, to explain, and to illustrate. By some per- haps they may be thought too limited ; by others they may occasionally be considered unnecessary ; but they are such as were deemed likely to be acceptable to readers in general.
With these explanations the translator takes leave of the reader, and is induced to hope that the present work will not be deemed an unimportant accession to the stock of English literature.
Bedam/' London, 1 596, fol. Thk was reprinted, but with manj additional errors, at Frankfort, 1601, fol. Saville's divinon into chapters, in the second book more especially, has no authority ; but as it appeared sufficiently con- venient, it has been adopted : the division of the sections is nearly the same throughout all the MSS.
THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE
HOBERT, EARL OF GLOUCESTER,*
SON OF KING HENBT.
To my re$peeied Lard, the renoumed Earl Roberiy mm (^ ike King J healthy and, as far aa he iB abley his prayers, /ram WUUamj Monk of Malmesbury,
The virtue of celebrated men holds forth as its greatest
excellence, its tendencj to excite the love of persons even for
j«moYed from it : hence the lower classes make the virtues of
their enperiors their own, by venerating those great actions,
to the practice of which they cannot themselves aspire.
Moreover, it redounds altogether to the glory of exalted
characters, both that thej do good, and that they gain the
afiection of their inferiors. To you. Princes, therefore, it is
ovring, that we act well ; to yon, indeed, that we compose
anything worthy of remembrance ; your exertions incite us
to make you live for ever in our writings, in return for the
dangers you undergo to secure our tranquillity. For this
xeaeon, I have deemed it proper to dedicate the History of
the Kings of England, which I have lately published, more
especially to you, my respected and truly amiable Lord.
* Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the Mecanaa of his age, iras a natural son of Uenrx i., and a man of great talents and of un^aken fidelity. He manied Mabil, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon,b7 whom he had a numerous iMu«. He died October 31, a.d. 1 147.
2 THE author's EFISTLE.
I^one, surelj, can be a more suitable patron of the liberal arts than yourself, in whom are combined the magnanimity of your grandfather, the munificence of your uncle, the cir- cumspection of your father ; more especially as you add to the qualities of these men, whom you alike equal in industry and resemble in person, this peculiar characteristic, a devo- tion to learning. Nor is this all : you condescend to honour with your notice those literary characters who are kept in obscurity, either by the malevolence of fame, or the slender- ness of their fortune. And as our nature inclines us, not to condemn in others what we approve in ourselves, therefore men of learning find in you manners congenial to their own ; for, without the slightest indication of moroseness, you re- gard them with kindness, admit them with complacency, and dismiss them with regret. Indeed, the greatness of your fortune has made no difference in you, except that your beneficence can now almost keep pace with your inclination. Accept) then, most illustrious Sir, a work in which you may contemplate yourself as in a glass, where your High- ness's sag&city wiU discover that you have imitated the actions of the most exalted characters, even before you could have heard their names. The Preface to the first book de- clares the contents of this work ; on deigning to peruse which, you will briefly collect the whole subject-matter. Thus much I must request from your Excellency, that no blame may attach to me because my narrative often wanders wide firom the limits of our own country, since I design this as a compendium of many histories, although, with a view to the larger portion of it, I have entitled it a History of the Kings of England.
PREFACE.
The historj of the English, from their arrival in Britain to his own times, has heen written by Bede, a man of singular learning and modesty, in a clear and captivating style. After him you wiU not, in my opinion, easily find any person who has attempted to compose in Latin the history of this peopla Let others declare whether their researches in this respect have been, or are likely to be, more fortunate ; my own labour, though diligent in the extreme, has, down to this period, been without its reward. There, are, indeed, some notices of antiquity, written in the vernacular tongue after the manner of a cjironide,* and arranged according to the years of our XA>rd. By means of these alone, the times suc- ceeding this man have been rescued from oblivion : for of Elward,! ^ noble and illustrious man, who attempted to arrange these chronicles in Latin, and whose intention I oould applaud if his language did not disgust me, it is better to be silent. Nor has it escaped my knowledge, that there is also a work of my Lord Eadmer,f written with a chastened elegance of style, in which, beginning from King ^^IgBr, he has but hastiiy glanced at the ^imes down to Will]ttn*the First : and thence, taking a freer range, gives a narrative, copious, and of great utility to the studious, until the deadi of Ardibishop BalplL§ Thus frx>m the time of Bede there is a period of two hundred and twenty-three years left unnotioed in his history ; so that the regular series of time, unsupported by a connected relation, halts in the middle. This circumstance has induced me, as well out of love to my
* Tbit aliudv to thoae inTaliiable lecords, the Saxon Chronicles. These, •• orjgpnaUr oompiled, have been already published in the present Series of MoDkisfa UistoriaDS.
t Elwaid, or Ethelwerd, was a noUe Saxon, great-great-gzandson of King Ethelred, brother of Alfred. He abridged and translated the Saxon Chronicle into Latin, published in the present Series. He lived apparently io the time of Edgar, towards the close <^ the tenth century.
t Eadmer, a monk and precentor of Christ-Church, Canterbury, and pupil of Archbishop Anselm, together with a variety of other works, wrote ** His- toria Novomm," or, a history of modem times, from ▲•d. 1066 to 1122.
$ MS. Anselmi Eadmer at first brought down his histoiy to the death of Archbishop Anselm only, â–².d. 1109, but aiXerwards continued it to the deoesse of Ralph, a.d. 1122.
B 2
4 PREFACE.
country, as respect for ^e authority of those who have en- joined on me the undertaking, to fill up the chasm, and to season the crude materials with Roman art And that the work may proceed with greater regularity, I shall ouU some- what from Bede, whom 1 must often quote, glandng at a few facts, but omitting more.
The First Book, therefore, contains a 6nccin<^ aooount of the English, from the time of their descent on Britain, till that of King Egbert, who, after the different Princes had fallen by various ways, gained the monarchy of almost the whole i^and.
But as among the English arose four powerful kingdoms^ that is to say, of Kent, of the West Saxons, of tha Northum- brians, and of the Mercians, of which I purpose severaUj to treat if I hare leisure ; I shall begin with that which attained the earliest to maturity, and was also the first to deoay. This I shall do more clearly, if I place the kingdoms of the East Angles, and of the East Saxons, after the others^ as little meriting either my labours, or the regard of posterity^
The Second Book will contain the chronological series of the Kings to the coming of the Normans.
The three following Books will be employed upon the history of thre# successive kings, with the addition of wliat- ever, in their times, happened elsewhere, which^ from its ccilebrity, may demand a more particular notice. This, then, is what I purpose, if the Divine favour shall smile on my undertaking, and carry me safely by those rocks of rugged diction, on which Elwa^ in his search after sounding and far- fetched phrases, so imhappily suffered shipwreck. ** Should any one, however," to use the poet's expression,* ^* peruse thi» work with sensible delight,** I deem it necessary to aoquaint him, that I vouch nothing for the truth of long past trans- actions, but the consonance of the time ; the veracity of the relation must rest with its authors. Whatever I have re- corded of later times, I have either myself seen, or heard from credible authority. However, in either part, I pay but little respect to the judgment of my contemporaries : trust- ing that I shall gain with posterity, when love and hatred shall be no more, if not a reputation for eloquence, at least credit for diligence.
• Virgilii Ed. VI. v. 10.
THE HISTORY
or TBB
KINGS OF ENGLAND.
BOOK I. CHAPTER I.
0/ C&tf arrival <ij the Anplu, and of the Kings qf Kent. [a.d. 449.]
Li the jear of the incarnation of our Lord 449, Angles and
Saxons Arst came into Britain ; and although the cause oi
their arriTal is universallj known, it may not be improper
here to subjoin it : and, that the design of mj work may be
the more manifest, to begin even from an earlier period.
That Britain, compelled by Julius Csesar to submit to the
Roman power, was held in high estimation bj that people,
may be eoUected from their history, and be seen also in the
rains of their ancient buildings. Even their «mperors,
sovereigns of almost all the world, eagerly embraced oppor-
tonities of sailing hither, and of spending their days here.
RnaUy, Severus and Constantius, two of their greatest
princes, died upon the island, and were there interred with
the ntmost pomp. The former, to defend this province from
the incursions of the barbarians, built his celebrated and
well-known wall from sea to sea. The latter, a man, as they
report^ of courteous manners, left Constantine, his son by
Helena, a tender of cattle,* a youth of great promise, his
* Helena*! origm has been much contested : Gibbon decides that she was daughter of an innkeeper. The word ** Stabularia,** Utenlly implies an ostler-weDeh ; and it has been conjectured that it was applied to her, bj the Jews and G^tiles, on accoant of her building a church on the spot where stood the stable in which our Lord was bom.
6 WILLIAM OT MALHSSBURT. [B.I.C.].
heir. Constantine, greeted emperor hj the armj, led away, in an expedition destined to the continent, a numerous force of British soldiers ; by whose exertions, the war succeeding to his wishes, he gained in a short time the summit of power. For these veterans, when their toil was over, he founded a colony on the western coast of Guul, where, to this day, their descendants, somewhat degenerate in language and manners from our own Britons, remain with wonderful increase.*
In succeeding times, in this island, Maximus, a man well- fitted for command, had he not aspired to power in defiance of his oath, assumed the purple, as though compelled by the army, and preparing immediately to pass over into Graul, he despoiled the province of almost all its military force. Not long after also, one Constantine, who had been elected em- peror on account of his name, drained its whole remaining warlike strength ; but both being slain, the one by Theodo- sius, the other by Honorius, they became examples of the instability of human greatness. Of the forces which had followed them, part shared the fate of their leaders ; the rest^ after their defeat, fled to the continental Britons. Thus when the tyrants had left none but half-savages in the country, and, in the towns, those only who were given up to luxury, Britain, despoiled of the support of its youthful! population, and bereft of every useful art, was for a long time exposed to the ambition of neighbouring nations.
For immediately, by an excursion of the Scots and Picts, numbers of the people were slain, villages burnt, J towns de- stroyed, and everything laid waste by fire and sword. Fart of the harassed islanders, who thought anything more ad- visable than contending in battle, fled for safety to the moun- tains ; others, burying their treasures in the earth, many of which are dug up in our own times, proceeded to Rome to ask assistance. The Romans, touched with pity, and deeming it above all things important to yield succour to their oppressed allies, twice lent their aid, and defeated the enemy. But at length, wearied with the distant voyage, they declined re- turning in future ; bidding them rather themselves not
* VariouB periods have been aangned for the British settlement m Armorica, or Bretagne ; but the subject is still inrolved in great obscurity, t Some MSS. read Juvenilis, others miHtarii, t Some BISS. read tuocente.
AA 417.1 SSIGN OF YORTIOEBV. 7
degenerate from the martial energy of their ancestors, but ieani to defend their country with spirit, and with arms. They accompanied their advice with the plan of a wall, to be bnUt for their defence ; the mode of hoping watch on the ramparts ; of sallying out against the enemy, should it be necessary, together with other duties of military discipline. After giving these admonitions, they departed, accompanied by the tears of the miserable inhjAbitants ; and Fortune, smiling on their departure, restored them to their friends and country. The Scots, learning the improbability of their re- turn, immediately began to make fresh and more frequent irrupti<»i8 against the Britons ; to level their wall, to kill the few opponents they met with, and to carry off considerable booty ; while such as escaped fled to the royal residence, imploring the protection of their sovereign.
At this time Yortigem was King of Britain ; a man calcu- lated neither for the field nor the council, but wholly given up to the lusts of the flesh, the slave of every vice : a cha- racter of insatiable avarice, ungovernable pride, and polluted by his lusts. To complete the picture, as we read in the History of the Britons, he had defiled his own daughter, who was limd to the participation of such a crime by the hope of sharing his kingdom, and she had borne him a son. Regard- less of his treasures at this dreadful juncture, and wasting the resources of the kingdom in riotous living, he was awake only to the blandishments of abandoned women. Boused at length, however, by the clamours of the people, he summoned a council, to take the sense of his nobility on the state of public affairs. To be brief, it was unanimously resolved to invite over from Germany the Angles and Saxons, nations powerful in arms, but of a roving life. It was conceived that this would be a double advantage : for it was thought that, by their skill in war, these people would easily subdue their enemies ; and, as they hitherto had no certain habita- tion, would gladly accept even an unproductive soil, provided it afforded them a stationary residence. Moreover, that they could not be suspected of ever entertaining a design against the country, since the remembrance of this kindness would soften their native ferocity. This counsel was adopted, and ambassadors, men of rank, and worthy to represent the oountry, were sent into Grermany.
8 WILUAX OF MALKEfiBUST. [&e.o;1.
The GermanB, hearing llutt vdiimtarily offered, whldK they had long anxiouiBlj desired, readily obeyed the invita- tion ; their joy quickening their haste. Bidding adieu, therefore, to their native fidds and the ties of kindred, th^ spread their saibi to Fortune, and, with a favouring faraeoBe, arrived in Britain in three of those long vessels whioh they call ^ oeds.''* At this and other times came over a mixed multitude from three of the Grennan nations ; that is to say, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. For almost all the cotmtry lying to the north of the British ocean, though divided into many provinces, is justly denominated Greraany, from its germinating so many men. And tis the pruner cuts off the more luxuriant branches of the tree to impart a livelier vigour to the remainder, so the inhabitants of this country assist their common parent by the expulsion of a part ci their members, lest she should perish by giving sustenance to too numerous an o&pring ; but in order to obviate dia-* eontent, they cast lots who shall be compelled to migrate. Hence the men of this country have made a virtue of necessity, and, when driven from their native soil, they have gained foreign settlements by force of arms. The Vandals, for instance, who formerly over-ran Africa ; the Goths, who made themselves, masters of Spain ; the Lombards, who^ even at the present time, are settled in Italy ; and the Normans, who have given their own name to that part of Gaul which they subdued. From Germany, then, there first came into Britain, an inconsiderable number indeed, but well able to make up for their paucity by their courage. These were under the conduct of Hengist and Horsa, two brothers of suitable disposition, and of noble race in their own country. They were great-grandsons of the celebrated Woden, firom whom almost all the royal families of these barbarous nations deduce their origin ; and to whom the nations of the Angles, fondly deifying him, have consecrated by immemorial super- stition the fourth day of the week, as they have the Mxth to his wife Frea. Bede has related in what particular parts of
* Thete are suppoied to be long vessels, somewhat like gaUeys, and it would appear, as well from Brompton, ool. 8.97, as from so small a numb^ containing a body equal to a military enterprise like that described here and in other places, that they -vere of considerable burden.
AB.44»] ABBIYAL OF HSNOX8T. 9
Britain, the Angles, Saxons, and Jntes,* fixed their habita- tioiis : my design, however, is not to dilate, though there/ mar be abundance of materials for the purpose, but to toucW only an what is necessary. '
The Angles were eagerly met on aU sides upon thdir arrival : from the king thej received thanks, from the people expressions of good-will. Faith was plighted on either side, and the Isle of Thanet appropriated for their residence. It was agreed, moreover, that thev should exert their prowess in arms for the service of the country ; and, in return, receive a suitable reward from the people for whose safety they underwent such painful labours. Ere Icmg, the Scots advanced, as usual, secure, as they supposed, of a great booty with very little difficulty. However, the Angles assailed them, and scarcely had they engaged, before they were put to flighty whilst the cavalry pursued and destroyed the fugitives. Contests of this kind were frequent, and victory constantly siding with the Angles, as is customary in human affairs, while success inflamed the courage of one party, and dread increased the cowardice of the other, the Scots in the end avoided nothing so cautiously as an engagement with them.
In the meantime, Hengist, not less keen in perception than ardent in the field, with consent of Yortigem, sends back some of his followers to his own country, vnth the secret purpose, however, of representing the Indolence of the king and people, the opulence of the island, and the prospect of advantage to new adventurers. Having executed their commission adroitly, in a short time they return with sixteen ships, bringing with them the daughter of Hengist ; a maiden, as we have heard, who might ]ustly be called the master-piece of nature and the admiration of mankind. At an entertainment, provided for them on their return, Hen* gist commanded his daughter to assume the office of cup« bearer, that she might gratify the eyes of the king as he sat at table. Nor was the design unsuccessful : for he, ever eager after female beauty, deeply smitten with the gracefUi-
* Bede i. 15. The people of Kent and of the Isle of Wight were Jutes ; the EasI, Souths and West Saxonst were Saxons ; and of ^e Angles came the East- Angles, Mid- Angles, Mercians, and Northumbrians. For the limits of the several kingdoms of the Heptarchy, see Cluip. VI. The Cottonian MS. rClaud. ix.) reads, WtchtU.
10 WnXIAM OF ICALMESBUBT. [s.i.c.1.
ness of her form and the elegance of her motion, instantlj conceiyed a vehement desire for the possession of her person, and immediatelj proposed marriage to her father ; urging him to a measure to which he was already well inclined. Hengist, at first, kept up the artifice bj a refusal ; stating, that so humble a connection was unworthy of a king : but, at last, appearing to consent with reluctance, he gave way to his importunities, and accepted, as a reward, the whole of Kent, where aU justice had long since declined under the administration of its Gourong (or Viceroy), who, like the other princes of the island, was subject to the monarchy of Yortigern. Not satisfied with this liberality, but abusing the imprudence of the king, the barbarian persuaded him to send for his son and brother, men of warlike talents, from Germany, pretending, that he would defend the province on the east, while they might curb the Scots on the northern frontier. The king assenting, they sailed round Britain, and arriving at the Orkney Isles, the inhabitants of which they involved in the same calamity with the Picts and Scots, at this and after times, they finally settled in the northern part of the island, now called Northumbria. Still no one there assumed the royal title or insignia till the time of Ida, from whom sprang the regal line of the Northumbrians ; but of this hereafter. We will now return to the present subject
Yortimer, the son of Yortigern, thinking it unnecessary longer to dissemble that he saw himself and his Britons cir- cumvented by the craft of the Angles, turned his thoughts to their expulsion, and stimulated his father to the same attempt At his suggestion, the truce was broken seven years after their arrival ; and during the ensuing twenty, they frequently fought partial battles,* and, as the chronicle relates, four general actions. From the first conflict they parted on equal terms : one party lamenting the loss of Horsa, the brother of Hengist ; the other, that of Katigis, another of Yortigem's sons. The Angles, having the ad- vantage in all the succeeding encounters, peace was con- cluded ; Yortimer, who had been the instigator of the war,
* At Aylesford, i.d. 455 ; at Cmyfoid, 457 ; at Wippedsfleet (suppoaed, but very doubtful, Ebbefleet, in Thanet), 465 ; and the fourth, jl,d. 473, the place not mentioned. See Saxon Chronicle, aji. 465.
aJkMK] KASSAGBE of the BHITISH NOBLES. 11
and differed far fiom the indolenoe of Ins &ther, perished prematureljy or he would have governed the kingdom in a nohle manner, had God permitted. When he died, the British strength decayed, and all hope fled firom them ; and they would soon have perished altogether, had not Ambro- aius, the sole survivor of the Bomans, who became monarch after Yortigem, quelled the presumptuous barbarians by the powerful aid of warlike Artiiur. It is of this Arthur that tiie Britons fondly tell so many fables, even to the present day ; a man worthy to be celebrated, not by idle fictions, but by anthentic history. He long upheld the sinking state, and roused the broken spirit of his countrymen to war. Finally, at the siege of Mount Badon,* relying on an image of 'the Virgin, which he had affixed to his armour, he engaged nine hundred of the enemy, single-handed, and dispersed them with incredible slaughter. On the other side, the Angles, after various revolutions of fortune, filled up their thinned battalions with firesh supplies of their countrymen ; rushed with greater courage to the conflict, and extended themselves by d^rees, as the natives retreated, over the whole island : for the counsels of God, in whose hand is every change of empire, did not oppose their career. But this was eflected in process of time ; for while Yortigem lived, no new at- tempt was made against them. About this time, Hcngist, &om that bad quaHty of the human heart, which grasps after more in proportion to what it already possesses, by a pre- concerted piece of deception, invited his son-in-law, with three hundred of his followers, to an entertainment ; and when, by more than usual compotations, he had excited them to chunour, he began, purposely, to taimt them severally, with sarcastie raillery : this had the desired effect, of making them first quarrel, and then come to blows. Thus the Britons were basely murdered to a man, and breathed their last amid their cups. The king himself, made captive, purchased his liberty at the price of three provinces. After this, Hengist d^ed, in the thirty-ninth year after his arrival ; he
* Said to be Bannesdown, near Bath. Gimldiu CambrensiB says, the image of the Virgin was fixed on the inside of Arthur's shield, that he might kin it in battle. Bede erroneouslj ascribes this event to a.d. 493. (Bede*a Eodenaatical History, b. i c. 6.)
12 WILLIAM (»* MALMB8BUBT. t«- >- <^ 1^-
WB8 a man, who urging his sttcoess not less by artifice than oonri^ and giving firee scope to his natural ferodtj, pre- ferred effecting his purpose rather by cruelty tlum by kindness. He left a son named Eiisc;* who, more intent on defending, than enlarging, his dominions, never exceeded the paternal bounds. At the expiration of twenty«-four years, he had for his successors, his son Otha, and Otha's son, £r- menric, who, in their manners, resembled him, rather than their grandfather -and great grandfather. To the times of both, the Chronicles assign fifty-three years; but whether they reigned singly, or together, does not appear.
After them Ethelbert, the son of Ermenio, reigned fifty- three years according to the Chronicle ; but fifty-six accord- ing to Bede. The reader must determine how this difi^rence is to be accounted for; as I think it sufficient to have apprized him of it, I shall let the matter restf In the infancy of his reign, he was such an object of contempt to the neighbouring kings, that, defeated in two battles, he could scarcely defend his frontier ; afterwards, however, when to his riper years he had added a more perfect knowledge of war, he quickly, by successive victories, subjugated every kingdom of the Angles, with the exception of the Northumbrians. And, in order to obtain foreign connections, he entered into affinity with the king of France, by marrying his daughter Bertha. And now by this connection with the Franks, the nation, hitherto savage and wedded to its own customs, began daily to divest itself of its rustic propensities and incline to gentler manners. To this was added the very exemplary life of bishop Luid- hard, who had come over with the queen, by which, though silently, he allured the king to the knowledge of Christ our Lord* Hence it arose, that his mind, already softened, easily yielded to the preaching of the blessed Augustine ; and he was the first of all his race who renounced the errors of paganism, that he might obscure, by the glory of his faitb,
* According to Sprott, Hengist died in 488, and waa succeeded bj hit son Octa, rel Otca. Osca died 4.Di^08, and Esc, his son, ascended the thmne. In the year 622 Ermenric, Ae fiither of king Ethelbert, reigned. Ethelbert became king of Kent in 558.
f The difference seems to have arisen from carelessnese in the scribe; as the Saxon Chronicle states him to have ascended the throne a.d. 560, and to have died 616: which is exactly fifty-six years, although it asserts him to hare reignad only 5S.
I*».il80 EDBALD. 18
iboBe wbooi he snrpateed in power. Thia^ indeed^ is spotleae Doinlitj ; thia» exalted viriiie ; to exeel in worth those whom foa exceed in nmk. Bedded, extending his care to poe- teritj, he enacted Liws, in hia native tongue, in which he appointed rewards for the meritorious, and opposed severer restraints to the abandoned, leaving nothing doubtful for the fntoie.*
Ethelbert died in the twenty-first year after he had em- braced the Christian faith, leaving the diadem to his son Edbald. As soob as he was freed from the restraints of ptttemal awe, he r^ected Christianity, and overcame the virtue of his stepmother.f But the severity of the divine mercy opposed a barrier to his utter destruction: for the princes, whom his father had subjugated, immediately re- belled, he lost a part of his dominions, and was perpetually haunted by an evil spirit, whereby he paid the penalty of his unbelief. Laurentius, the successor of Augustine, was offended at these transactions, and after having sent away his companions, was meditating his own departure from the country, but having received chastisement from God, he was induced to change his resolution.^ The king conversing with 1dm on the subject, and finding his assertions confirmed by his stripes, became easily converted, accepted the grace of Christianity, and broke off his incestuous intercourse. But, that posterity might be impressed with the singular punish- ment due to apostacy, it was with difficulty he could main- tain his hereditary dominions, much less rival the eminoace of his father. For the remainder of his lifie, his faith was sound, and he did nothing to sully his reputation. The monastery also, which his father had founded without the waUa of Canterbury, § he ennobled with large estates, and sumptuous presents. The praises and merits of both these men Ofught ever to be proclaimed, and had in honour by the English ; because they allowed the Christian faith to acquire
* See Wnkins's ** Leges Anglo-Saxonic»," and the Textua Roffeniis.
•f- The Dame of the lecond queen of £tiielbert is not mentioned, pro> bably on aecount of this inoest.
X St. Peter, it is said, appeared to Laurentius at night, and reproaching him for hia cowardice, severely chastused him with a scourge; the marks of which had the effect here mentioned the next day. Bede ii. 6. According to Sprott, St Laurentius became archbishop of Canterbury, a.d. 610.
§ St. Augustine's, Cantorbury, completed, according to Sprott, a.o. 663.
14 WILLIAM OF 1CAL1QS8BUKT. [â– .Lcl.
Strength, in England, hy patioit listening and willingness to believe. Who can contemplate, without satisfaction, the jnst and amiable answer which Bede makes king £thelbert 1o haVe given to the first preaching of Augustine ? *' That he could not, thus early, embrace a new doctrine and leave the accustomed worship of his country ; but that, nevertheless, persons who had undertaken so long a journey for the pur- pose of kindly communicating to the Angles what they deemed an inestimable benefit, far from meeting with ill- treatment, ought rather to be allowed full liberty to preach, and also to receive the amplest maintenance." He fully kept his promise ; and at length the truth of Christianity beoom* ing apparent by degrees, himself and all his subjects were admitted into the number of the faithfuL And what did the other ? Though led away at first, more by the lusts of the fiesh than perverseness of heart, yet he pud respect to the virtuous conduct of the prelates, although he n^lected their faith; and lastly, as I have related, was easily converted through the sufferings of Laurentius, and became of infinite service to the propagation of Christianity. Both, then, were laudable : both deserved high encomiums ; for the good woik, 80 nobly begun by the one, was as kindly fost^ed by the other.
To him, af^er a reign of twenty-four years, succeeded Erconbert, his son, by Emma, daughter of the king of France. He reigned an equal number of years with his father, but under happier auspices; alike remarkable for piety towards Grod, and love to his country. For his grand- father, and father, indeed, adopted our faith, but neglected to destroy their idols; whilst he, thinking it derogatory to his royal zeal not to take the readiest mode of annihilating openly what they only secretly condenmed, levelled every temple of their gods to the ground, that not a trace of their paganism might be handed down to posterity. This was nobly done: for the mass of the people would be reminded of their super- stition, so long as they could see the altars of their deities. In order, also, that he might teach his subjects, who were too much given to sensual indulgence, to accustom them- selves to temperance, he enjoined the solemn fast of Lent to be observed throughout his dominions. This was an extraordinary act for the king to attempt in those times:
^
A.o.6M-«&] SQBEBT— COTHSBE. 15
bat he was a man whom no blandishments of luzorj oonld enerrate ; no anxiety for power seduce from the worship of God. Wherefore he was protected by the favour of the Afanighty; every thing, at home and abroad, succeeded to his wishes, and he grew old in uninterrupted tranquillity. B5b daughter Eroongotha, a child worthy of such a parent, tnd emulating her father in virtuous qualities, became a flhining light in the monastery of Kalas in GauL*
His son £gbert, retaining his father's throne for nine years, did nothing memorable in so short a reign; unless indeed it be ascril^ to the glory of this period, that Theo- dore'l' the archbishop, and Adrian the abbat, two consimunate scholars, came into England in his reign. Were not the sub- ject alrcaidy trite, I should willingly record what light they Bhed upon the Britons ; how on one side the Greeks, and on the other the Latins, emulously contributed their knowledge to the public stock, and made this island, once the nurse of tyrants, the constant residence of philosophy : but this and every other merit of the times of Egbert is clouded by his horrid crime, of either destroying, or permitting to be de- stroyed, Mbert and Egelbright, his nephews.]:
To Egbert succeeded his brother Lothere, who began his rdgn with unpropitious omens. For he was harassed during eleven years by Edric, the son of Egbert, and engaged in many dvil conflicts which terminated with various success, until he was ultimately pierced through the body with a dart, and died while they were applying remedies to the wound. Sotoe say, that hoih the brothers perished by a premature death as a just return for their cruelty ; because Egbert, as I have related, murdered the innocent children of his uncle ; and Lothere ridiculed the notion of holding them up as martyrs : although the former had lamented the action, and had granted a part of the Isle of Thanet to the mother of his nephews, for the purpose of building a monastery.
* Qiellei, near Paris.
t Theodore, atchbiahop of Canteilxiiy, was a natiye of Tamil in Cilida, and a piekte of gnat leaniing; but it being apprehended by Pope Vitalian that he might rather incline to the doctrines of the Ghreek Church, Adrian vas ieot inth him, as a kind of superintendent, and was appointed abbat of St AtfgufltinelB.
t See book ii. chap. 1 3, ** but this and eyeiy other," &c Some editions OQiit this passage altogether.
16 WnXIAM OF MALIOBSBURT. LP-bcL
Nor did Edrio long boast the profiperous stale of his goyemment ; for withm two jears he was despoiled both of kingdom and of lifb, and left his country to be torn in pieces hj its enemies. Immediately Csdwalla, with his brother Mull, in other respects a good and able man, but breathing an inextinguishable hatred against the people of Kent, made vigorous attempts upon the provinoe ; supposing it must easily surrender to lus yiews, as it had lately been in the eiyoyment of long continued peace, but at that time was torn with intestine war. He found, however, the inhabitants by no means unpr^mred or void of courage, as be had expected For, after many losses sustained in the towns and villages, at length they rushed with spirit to the conflict They gained the victory in the contest, and having put CsadwaDa to flighty drove his brother Mull into a litde cottage, which they set on Are. Thus, wanting courage to sally out against the enemy, the Are gained uncontrolled power, and he perished in the flames. Nevertheless Oedwalla ceased not his efforts^ nor retired from the province ; but consoled himself for his losses by repeatedly ravaging the district ; however, he left the avenging of this injury to Ina, his successor^ as will be related in its place.
In this desperate state of the afiairs of Kent^ there was a void of about six years in the royal succession. In the seventh, Withred, the son of Egbert, having repressed the malevolence of his coimtrymen by his activity, and purchased peace from his enemies by money, was chosen king by the inhabitants, who entertained great and well-founded hopes of him. He was an admirable ruler at home, invincible in war, and a truly pious follower of the Christian faith, for he extended its power to the utmost. And, to complete his felicity, after a reign of thirty-three years, he died in extreme old age, which men generally reckon to be their greatest happiness, leaving his three children his heirs. These were J^bert, Ethelbert, and Alric, and they reigned twenty-three, eleven, and thirty-four years successively, without deviation from the excellent example and institutions of their father, except that Ethelbert, by the casual burning of Canterbuiy, and Alric, by an unsuccessful battle with the Mercians, consider- ably obscured the glory of their reigns. So it is that, if any thing disgraceful occurs, it is not concealed ; if any thing
k.
ijil774^-8IS.] DOWVFAEX W XKRT. 17
fortunate, it is not Bafficiently noticed in the ChronieleB ; whether it be done designedly, or wliether it arise from thai bad quality of the hmnan mind, which makes gratitude for good transient ; whereas the recollection of evil remains for ever. After these men the noble stock of kings b^an to wither, the royal blood to flow cold. Then eyery daring adyentorer, who bad acquired riches by his eloquence, or whom faction had made formidable, aspired to the kingdom, and di^raoed the ensigns of ro^ty. Of these, ^bert otherwise called Fren, after having governed Kent two years. OTer-rating his power, was taken prisoner in a war with the Mercians, and loaded with chains. But being set at liberty hj his enemies, though not received by his own subjects, it 18 oooertain by what end he perished. Cnthred, heir to the same fiustion and calamity, reigned, in name only, eight years. Next Baldred, a mere abortion of a king, after having for eighteen years more properly possessed, than governed the kingdom, went into ^dle, on his defeat by Egbert, king of the West Saxons. Thus the kingdom of Kent^ which, from the year of our Lord 449, had continued 375 years, became annexed to another. And since by following the royal line of the first kingdom which arose among the Angles, I have elicited a spark, as it were, from the embers of antiquity, I shall now endeavour to throw light on the kingdom <^ the West Saxons, which, though after a considerable lapse of time, was the next- that sprang up. While others were neglected and wasted away, tUs flourished with uncon- querable vigour, even to the coming of the Normans ; and, if I may be permitted the expression, with greedy jaws swaOowed up the rest Wherefore, aft«r tradng this kingdom in detail down to Egbert^ I shall briefly, for fear of disgusting my readers, subjoin some notices of the two remaining ; this will be a suitable termination to the first hook, and the second will continue the history of the West
CHAP. n.
Of iht hngt ftf the Weti Sajr&m. [a.d. 495.]
The kingdom of the West Saxons, — and one more magnificent or lasting ftitain never beheld,— sprang fSrom Cerdic, and soon
c
18 WELLlAtf OF 1CALHB8BUBT. CB-Lcf.
increiifled to great importance. He was a Grerman Yiy nation, of the noblest race, being the tenth from Woden, and, having nurtured his ambition in domestic broils, determined to leave his native land and extend his fame by the sword. Having formed this daring resolution he communicated his design to Genric his son, who closely followed his father's track to glory, and with his concurrence transported his forces into Britain in five ceols. This took place in the year of our Saviour^s incarnation 495, and the eighth after the death of Hengist. Coming into action with the Britons the very day of his arrival, this experienced soldier soon defeated an tmdisciplined multitude, and compelled them to fiy. By this success he obtained perfect security in future for himself, as well as peace for the inhabitants of those parts. For they never duned after that day to attack him, but voluntarily submitted to his dominion. Nevertheless he did not waste his time in indolence ; but, on the contrary, extending his conquests on all sides, by the time he had been twenty-four years in the island, he had obtained the supremacy <^ the western part of it, called West-Saxony. He died after enjoy- ing it sixteen years, and his whole kingdom, with the exception of the isle of Wight, descended to his son. This, by the royal munificence, became subject to his nephew, Withgar ; who was as dear to his unde by the ties of kindred, for he was his sister^s son, as by his skill in war, and formed a noble principality in the island, where he was afterwards splendidly interred. Cenric moreover, who was as illustrious as his father, after twenty-six years, bequeathed the kingdom, somewhat enlarged, to his son Ceawlin.
The Chronicles extol the singular valour of this man in battle, so as to excite a d^ree of envious admiration ; for he was the astonishment of the Angles, the detestation of the Britons, and was eventually the destruction of both. I shall briefiy subjoin some extracts from them. Attacking Ethel- bert king of Kent, who was a man in other respects laudable, but at that time was endeavouring ftt)m the consciousness of his family's dignity to gain the ascendency, and, on this account, making too eager incursions on the territories of his neighbour, he routed his troops and forced him to retreat. The Britons, who, in the times of his father and grandfather, had escaped destruction either by a show of submission, or
A.D^ 577.-06.] CIKSGILS ASH OUICBBUC 19
bj the str^ngA of tiidr fortifications at Gloucester^ Ciren- cester, and Bath, he now pursued with ceaseless rancour ; ejected them from their cities, and chased them into moimtainous and woody districts, as at the present day. But about this time, as some unlucklj throw of the dice in the table of human life perpetuallj disappoints mankind, his military successes were clouded by domestic calamity : his brother Cutha met an untimely death, and he had a son of the same name taken off in battle ; both young men of great expectation, whose loss he frequently lamented as a seTere blow to his happiness. Finally, in his latter days, himself, banished from his kingdom, presented a spectacle, pitiable even to his enemies. For he had sounded, as it ^vere, the trumpet of his own detestation on all sides, and the Angles as well as the Britons conspiring against him, his forces were destroyed at Wodensdike ; * he lost his kingdom thirty-one years after he had gained it; went into exile, and shortly after died. The floating reins of government were then directed by his nephews, the sons of Cutha, that u to say, Celiic during six, Ceolwulf during fourteen years : of these the inferior with respect to age, but the more exceUent in spirit, passed all his days in war, nor ever neglected, for a moment, the protection and extension of his empire.
After him, the sons of Celric^ Cynegils and Cuichelm, jointly put on the ensigns of royalty ; both active, both contending with each other only in mutual offices of kind- neas; ins(Hnuch, that to their contemporaries they were a miracle of concord very unusual amongst princes, and to posterity a proper example. It is difficult to say whether their courage or their moderation exceeded in the numberless contests in which they engaged either against the Britons, or against Penda, king of the Mercians : a man, as will be rdated in its place, wonderfully expert in tiie subtleties of var ; and who^ overpassing the limits of his own territory, in an attempt to add Cirencester to his possessions, beis^ viable to withstand the power of these united kings, escaped with only a few followers. A considerable degree of guilt indeed attaches to Cuichelm, for attempting to take off, by the hands of an assassin, Edwin king of the Northumbrians, a
• Wanadike, in Wiltihiie. G 2
20 -WILLIAM, OF 1CALME8BUBT. Va-kcS,
man of acknowledged prudence. Yet» if the heathen maxim.
Who asks if fraud or force availed the foe ? *
be considered^ he will be readilj excused, as having done nothing uncommon, in wishing to get rid, bj whatever means, of a rival encroaching on his power. For he had formerly lopped off much from the West Saxon empire, and now receiving fresh ground of offence, and his ancient enmi^ reviving, he inflicted heavy calamities on that people. The kings, however, escaped, and were, not long after, enlightened with the heavenly doctrine, by the means of St. Birinus the biflhoR in the twenty-fifth ye" of their reign, and the fortieth after tiie coming of the blessed Augustine, the apostle of the Angles. Cynegils, veiling his princely pride, condescended to receive immediately the holy rite of baptism : Cuichelm resisted for a time, but warned, by the sicknoss of his body, not to endanger the salvation of his soul, he became a sharer in his brother's piety, and died the same year. Cynegils departed six years afterwards, in the thirty-first year of his reign, enjoying the happiness of a long-extended peace.
Kenwalk his son succeeded : in the beginning of his reign, to be compared only to the worst of princes ; but, in the succeeding and latter periods, a rival of the best. The moment the young man became possessed of power, wantoning in r^al luxury and disregarding the acts of his father, he algured Christianity and legitimate marriage ; but being attacked and defeated by Fenda, king of Merda, whose sister he had repudiated, he fled to the king of the £a8t Angles. Here, by a sense of his own calamities and by the perseverance of his host, he was once more brought back to the Christian faith ; and after three years, recovering his strength and resuming his kingdom, he exhibited to his subjects the joyful miracle of his reformation. So valiant was he, that, he who formerly was unable to defend his own territories, now extended his dominion on every side; totally defeating in two actions the Britons, furioos with the recollection of their ancient liberty, and in conse- quence perpetually meditating resistance ; first, at a place called Witgeomesburg,f and then at a mountain named
» Virgil, JSn. il 890. f Bradford on Avon. See Sax. Chron. a.i>. 652.
AA6n.1 â–².OOOUHT or OLABTCHVBUBT. 21
Pene;* and again, ayenging the iignty of hifl fiiiher on Wolfhere, the son of Penda» he deprived him of the greatest part of hia kingdom : moreover he was so reUgions, that^ first of an his race, he built, for those times, a most b^utiful diaieh at Winchester, on whkh site afterwards was founded the episcopal see with still more skilful magnificence.
BiBt since we have arrived at the times of Eenwalk, and the proper place occurs f<^ mentioning the monastery of Gteonburj,f I shall trace from its very origin the rise and progress of that church as far as I am able to discover it from the mass of evidences. It is related in annals of good credit that Lucius, king of the Britons, sent to Pope Elen- tiierin^ thirteenth in succession from St. Peter, to entreaty that ha would dispel the darkness of Britain by the splendour of Goistian instruction. This surely was the commendable deed of a magnanimous prince, eagerly to seek that faith, the meatisB of which had barely reached him, at a time when it was an object of persecution to almost every king and people to whom it was oflfered. In consequence, preachers, sent by Eleatherius, came into Britain, the effects of whose labours win remain for ever, although the rust of antiquity may have obliterated their names. By these was built the ancient church of Si Mary of Glastonbury, as faithful tradition has haaded down through decaying time. Moreover there are documents of no small credit, which have been discovered in certain places to the following effect : *^ No other hands than those of the disetpks of Christ erected the church of dastonbury." Nor is it dissonant from probability : for if PhiHp^ the Apostle, preached to the Gauls, as Freculphus males in the fourth chapter of his second book, it may be Relieved that he also planted the word on this side of the channel also. But that I may not seem to balk the expectation of my readers by vain imaginations, leaving all douMhl matter, I shall proceed to the relation d substantial tmths.
Petty in SomcnflWim* f MaJiBwIimy wrote a Hktonr of GUurtonbniy, which it printed in QiWli CStUiRtion, toL m. and by UMme^ in the Hutoiy of Glaatonbniy, ttid tan thk wait he extiacto this aecoont. Shaipe gives it [from " But â– Bce," &e. to ** character bo munificent" in page 28, line 2], in a note as a faiioBi leading of one of the MSS. The note occupies Uie greater part ^ umm pages Uron 25 to 31 in Shaipa's etiginal Tolume.
22 WILLIAM OF ICALMESBXTBT. [b-lcIL
The church of which we are speaking, from its antiqiuly called hj the Angles, hy way of distinction, " Ealde Chirche,'* that is, the ** Old Church,** of wattle-work, at firsts savoured somewhat of heavenly sanctify even from its very foundation, and exhaled it over the whole country ; claiming superior reverence, though the structure was mean. Hence, here arrived whole tribes of the lower orders, thronging every path ; here assembled the opulent divested of their pomp ; and it became the crowded residence of the religious add the literary. For, as we have heard from men of old time, here Grildas, an historian neither unlearned nor inelegant^ to whom the Britons are indebted for whatever notice they obtain among other nations, captivated by the sanctity of the place^ took up his abode for a series of years.* This ehurch, then, is certainly the oldest I am acquainted with in England, and from this drcumstance derives its name. In it are preserved the mortal remains <)f many saints, some of whom we shall notice in our progress, nor is any comer of the church destitute of the ashes of the holy. The very floor, inlaid with polished stone, and the sides of the altar, and even the altar itself above and beneath are laden with the multitude of relics. Moreover in the pavement may be remarked on every side stones designedly interlaid in triangles and squares, and figured with lead, under which if I believe some sacred enigma to be contained, I do no injustice to religion. The antiquity, and multitude of its saints, have endued the place witii so much sanctity, that» at nighty scarcely any one presumes to keep vigil there, or, during the day, to spit upon its floor : he who is conscious of pollution shudders throughout his whole frame : no one ever brought hawk or horses within the confines of the neigh- bouring cemetery, who did not depart injured either in them or in himself. Within the memory of man, all persons who, before undergoing the ordeal f of fire or water, there put up
* There is a Life of Gfldas, written not lon^ after this history, by Caiadoc of Lancarron, in which we are told, that, while he was residing at Glaston- bury, a prince of that oonntiy carried oiF Arthui's queen and lodged her there ; that Arthur immediately besieged it, but, through the mediation of the abbat, and of Gildas, consented, at length, to receive his wife again and to depart peaceably.
f The ordeal was an appeal to heayen to decide immediately on the justice of the cause. There were many modes of this whimsical trial ; as
A.s.«7e.] FBTAMID8 NKAB GLASTOlfBUBT. 23
thdr ]>etiti<Mi% exulted in their escape, one only excepted : if anj person erected a building in its vicinity, which by its shade obstructed the light of the church, it forthwith became a ruin. And it is sufficiently evident, thal^ the men of that proyince had no oath more frequent^ or more sacred, than to swear by the Old Church, fearing the swiftest vengeance on their perjury in this respect The truth of what I have asserted, if it be dubious, will be supported by testimony in the book which I have written, on the antiquity of the s^d church, according to the series of years.
In tiie meantime it is clear, that the depository .of so many saints may be^eservedly styled an heavenly sanctuary upon earth. There are numbers of documents, though I abstain &om mentioning them for fear of causing weariness, to prove how extremely venerable this place was held by the chief persons of the country, who there more especially chose to await the day of resurrection under the protection of the inother of Grod. Willingly would I declare the meaning of those pyramids, which are almost incomprehensible to all, could I but ascertain the truth. These, situated some few feet firom the church, border on the cemetery of the monks. That which is the loftiest and nearest the church, is twenty- eight feet high and has five stories : this, though threatening niin from its extreme age, possesses nevertheless some traces of autiquify, which may be clearly read though not perfectly ^derstood. In the highest story is an image in a pontifical l^t In the next a statue of regal dignity, and the letters, Her Sexi, and Blisperh. In the third, too, are the names, I^encrest, Bantomp, Finepegn. In the fourth, Bate, Pulfred, and Eanfled. In the fifth, which is the lowest, there is an unage, and the words as follow, Logor, Peslicas, and Br^- ^eD, Spelpes, Highingendes Beam. The other pyramid is twenty-six feet l^h and has four stories, in which are read, Keutwin, Hedda the bishop, and Bregored and Beorward. The meaning of these I do not hastily decide, but I shrewdly conjecture tihat within, in stone coffins, are contained the
by handling hot iron, plungmg the arm into hot water, throwing the accused into water, &c. If, after three dajrs, the party exhibited no mark of jl^nuog In the two former ; or if he did not sink in the latter experiment, of was conadered innocent. The whole was conducted with great solem- ^^ ; the ritual may be seen in Spelman, voce Oidalium.
24 ynUAAM OF UAIMESBURT. [B.T.&t.
bones of those persons whose names are inscribed withoat.* At least Logor is said to imply the person firom whom Log- peresbeorh formerly took its name, which is now called Mon- tacate; Bregden, from whom is derived Brentknolle and Brentmarsh; Bregored and Beorward were abbats c£ that place in the time of the Britons ; of whom, and of others which occur, I shall henceforward speak more drcmnstan- tially. For my history win now pnx^ed to disclose the suc- cession of abbats, and what was bestowed on each, or on the monastery, and by what particular king.
And firsts I shall briefly mention St Patrick, from whom the series of our records dawns. Wh^e the Saxons were disturbing the peace of the Britons, and the Pelagians as- saulting their faitii, St. Ge]:manus of Auxerre assisted them against both ; routhig the one by the chorus of HaUelujah,f and hurling down the other by the thunder of tilie Evan- gelists and Apostles. Thence returning to his own country, he summoned Patrick to become his inmate, and after a few years, sent him, at the instance of Pope Celestine, to preach to the Irish. Whence it is written in the Chronicles^ ** In the year of our Lord's incarnation 425, St Patrick is or- dained to Ireland by Pope Celestine." Also, ''In the year 433 Ireland is converted to the faith of Christ by the pr^ich- ing of St Patrick, accompanied by many miracles." In con- sequence executing his appointed office with diligence, and in his latter days returning to his own country, he landed in Cornwall, from his altar,f which even to this time is held in high veneration by the inhabitants for its sanctity and effi- cacy in restoring the infirm. Proceeding to Olastonboiy, and there becoming monk, and abbat, after some years he paid the debt of nature. All doubt of the truth of this
* The SazoD mode of intennent Appeait frequently to haye been under pymmids or obeliska. See Anglia Sacra, ii. 110.
t St. Germanus drew up a body of his new converts in a vallej sommnded on erery nde by mountaina, and, on the approach of Uieir ooemiei^ oidefed that on a given ngnal» all should shout '^ Halleluiah." The sudden sound, being rererberated by the surrounding mountains, struck their ibes with such a panic, that they instantly fled. See Bede, Hist. Eccl. b. i. c 20.
X Patrick is said to have floated over, fW>m Ireland, on this altar, and to have landed near Padstow in Cornwall. Cough's Camden, i. 19. Malmea- bury appears to have been misled by the Glastonbury historian, so as to con* found St. Patrick with St Petrock. From the latter, the town of Padstow de- rives its name, as is proved by Whltaker, in his Ancient Cathedral of ComwalL
A.0. 425-474.] ]>SATH OF 8T. PATSICK. 25
asaertaon is removed by the vision of a certain brother, who^ alter the saint's death, when it had frequently become a question, through decay of evidence, whether he really was mook and abbat there, had the fact confirmed by the follow- ing orade. When asleep he seemed to hear some person reading after many of his miracles, the words which follow — ''this man then was adorned by the sanctity of the metro- politan pall, but afterwards was here made monk and abbat" He added, moreover, as the brother did not give implicit credit to 1dm, that he could show what he had said inscribed in golden letters. Patrick died in the year of his age 111, of our Lord's incarnation 472, being the forty-seventh year after he was sent into Ireland. He lies on the right side of the altar in the old church : indeed the care of posterity has eoshiined his body in silver. Hence the Irish have an an- cient usage of frequenting the place to kiss the relics of their patron. Wherefore the re}>ort is extremely prevalent that both St Indract and St. Briget, no mean inhabitants of Ireland, formerly came over to this spot Whether Briget returned home or died at Glastonbury is not sufficiently ascertained, though she left here some of her ornaments; that is to say, her necklace, scrip, and implements for em- broidering, which are yet shown in memory of her sanctity, and are dficadous in curing divers diseases. In the course of my narrative it will appear that St Indract, with seven companions, was martyred near Glastonbury, and afterwards interred in the old church.*
Benignus succeeded Patrick in the government of the >bbey ; but for how long, remains in doubt. Who he was, and how called in the vernacular tongue, the verses of his epiti^h at Ferramere express, not inapdy :
Beneath this marble Beon's ashes lie^ Ozioe rev'kend abbat of this monastery : Saint Patrick's semut, as the Irish fiame The legend-tale, and Been was his name.
The wonderful works both of his former life, and since his noent translation into the greater church, proclaim the sin-
* Oa their return from a pilgrimage to Rome thejr designed Yisiting Glaitonbiirj, ont of lespeet to St Patrick; and 611ed their scrips with panisT and varioos other aseds, which thej purposed carrying to Ire- lAod, but their stares beiqg tipped with brass, wUdi was mistakea for gold, they were murdend for the supposed booty.
26 -WILLIAM OF MALMESBUBT. [B.X.C.S.
gular grace of God which he andently possessed, and which he stiU retains.
The esteem in which David, archbishop of Menevia, held this place, is too notorious to require repeating. He esta- blished the antiquity and sanctitj of the church hy a divine oracle ; for purposing to dedicate it, he came to the spot witli his seven su£Eragan bishops, and every thing being prepared for the due celebration of the solemnity, on the nighty as he purposed, preceding it, he gave way to profound repose. When all lus senses were steeped in rest, he beheld the Lord Jesus standing near, and mildly inquiring the cause of his arrival ; and on his inunediately disclosing it, the Lord di- verted him from his purpose by saying, " That the church had been already dedicated by himsdf in honour of his Mo- ther, and that the ceremony was not to be profaned by hu- man repetition." With these words he seemed to bore the palm of his hand with his finger, adding, ^' That this was a sign for him not to reiterate what himself had done before. But that, since his design savoured more of piety than of temerity, his punishment should not be prolonged: and lastly, that on the following morning, when he should repeat the words of the mass, ' With him, and by him, and in him,' his health should return to him undiminished." The prelate, awakened by thede terrific appearances, as at the moment be grew pale at the purulent matter, so afterwards he hailed the truth of the prediction. But that he might not appear to have done nothing, he quickly built and dedicated another church. Of this celebrated and incomparable man, I am at a loss to decide, whether he closed his life in this place, or at his own cathedral For they affirm that he is with St. Pa- trick ; and the Welsh, both by the frequency of their prayers to him and by various reports, without doubt confirm and establish this opinion ; openly alleging that bishop Bernard sought after him more than once, notwithstanding much opposition, but was not able to find him. But let thus much suffice of St David.
After a long lapse of time, St Augustine, at the instance of St Gregory, came into Britain in the year of our Lord's incarnation 696, and the tradition of our ancestors haa handed down, that the companion of his labours, Paulinus, who was bishop of Rochester after being archbishop of
•«*».n5-6B.i GBAsrrs to olajbtonbubt. 97
York, covered the chuieh, built, as we have before obeerred, of watde-work, -with a caaiiig of boards. The derteritj of tiiis celebrated man so artfollj managed, that nothing of its flonctitj should be lost, though much should accrue to its l»eauty : and certainly the more magnificent the ornaments of churches are, the more the j incline the brute mind to prayer, and bend the stubborn to supplication.
In tiie year of our Lord's incarnation 601, that is, the fi^ after the arriyal of St. Augustine, the king of Devonshire, on the petition of abbat Worgrez, granted to the old church iHiicfa is there situated the knd caQed Ineswitrin, containing five cassates.* ^'I, Mawom, bishop, wrote this grant. I, Worgrez, abbat of the same place, signed it"
Who this king might be, the antiquity of the instrument prevents our knowing. But that he was a Briton cannot be doubted, because he called GListonbury, Ineswitrin, in his vernacular tongue ; and that, in the British, it is so called, is well known. Moreover it is proper to remark the extreme antiquity of a church, which, even then, was called ^ the old church.'' In addition to Worgrez, Lademund and Bregored, whoee very names imply British barbarism, were abbats of Hob place. The periods of their presiding are uncertain, but their names and dignities are indicated by a painting in the larger church, near the altar. Blessed, therefore, are the inhabitants of this place, allured to uprightness of life, by reverence for such a sanctuary. I cannot suppose that any of these, when dead, can fail of heaven, when assisted by the virtues and intercession of so many patrons. In the year of our Lord's incarnation 670,' and the 29th of his rdgn, Kenwalk gave to Berthwald, abbat of Glastonbury, Femunere, two hides, at the request of archbishop Theo- dore. The same Berthwald, against the will of the king and of the bishop of the diocese, relinquishing Glastonbury, went to govern the monastery of Reculver. Li consequence, Berthwald equally renowned for piety and high birth, being n^hew to Ethehned, king of the Mercians, and residing in the vicinity of Canterbury, on the demise of archbishop Theodore, succeeded to his see. This may be sufficient for me to have inserted on the antiquity of the church of Glas-
« It Is understood at vyuuujiiioiu with hide* or as much land as one ploni^ oonld tUL
28 "wiuiAic OF kalhesbhst. [>.x.&s.
tonlmiT. Now I shall retam in course to Kenwalk, wlio was of a character so munificent that he never refused to give any part of his patrimony to his rehttions; but with noble-minded generosity conferred nearly the third of his kingdom on his nephew.* These qualities of the royal mind, were stimulated by the admonitions of those holy bishops of his proYince, A gilbert, of whom Bede relates many commendable things in his bistory of the Angles, and his nephew Leutherius, who, after him, was> for seven years, bish<^ of the West Saxons. This circumstance I have thought proper to mention, because Bede has left no aoooont of the duration of his episcopacy, and to disguise a hict which I leam inm the Chrexiioles, would be against my conscience; besides, it affords an importunity for making mention of a distinguished man, who by a mind, dear, and almost divinely inspired, advanced the monastery of Mahnea- bury, where I carry on my earthly warfare^ to the highest pitch. This monastery was so slenderly endowed by Mail- dulph, a Scot, as they say, by nation, a philosopher by em- dition, and a monk by profession, that its members coold scarcely procure their daily subsistence; but Leutherios, after long and due deliberation, gave it to Aldhelm,! a monk of the same place, to be by him governed with the authority tiien possessed by bishops. Of which matter, that my rela- tion may obviate every doubt, I shall subjmn his own words. ** 1, Leutherius, by divine permission, bishop supreme of the Saxon see, am requested by the abbats who, within the jurisdiction of our diocese^ preside over the conventual aa- semblies of monks with pastoral anxiety, to give and to grant that portion of land called MaiHulfesburgh, to Aid- helm the priest^ for the purpose of leading a life according to strict rule ; in which place, indeed, from his earliest in- fancy and first initialion in the study <^ learning, he has been instructed in the liberal arts, and passed his days, nur- tured in the bosom of the holy mother diurch ; and on which accoimt fraternal love appears principally to have conceived this request. Wherefore assenting to the petition of tiie aforesaid abbats, I willingly grant that place to him and his successors^ who shall sedulously follow the laws of the holy
* Cutbred. Aooofding to the Sucob Cbranide, be botowed oa Mm 8000 hidM of land* f Bade^ in '^ Chnmicles of tbe Anglo^SaziMH^*' p. 967*.
AAfTOi] FERT OF ATJ>lfltT.lf. 29
liwtitiiticML Done publicly near the river Bladon;* this eighth before the kalends of September, in the year of our LoErd's incarnation 672.''
But when the industry ci the abbat was superadded to the kjndneas of the bishop, then the affiurs of the monastery hegui to flourish exceedingly ; then monks assembled on aH sides; there was a general concourse to Aldhelm ; some ad- miring the sanctity of his life, others the depth of his learn- ing. For he was a man as unsophisticated in religion as multifarious in knowledge ; whose piety surpassed eyen his lepotatian ; and he had so fully imbibed the liberal arts, that he was wonderful in each of them, and unrivalled in all. I great^ err, if his works written on the subject of virginity,f than which, in my opinion, nothing can be more pleasing or more splendid, are not proofs of his immortal genius : al- thd^hy such is the slothfulness of our times, they may excite disgust in some persons, not duly considering how modes of expression di£5er according to the customs of nations. The Greeks, for instance, express themselves im- l^iedly, the Bomans clearly, the Grauls gorgeously, the Angles turgidly. And truly, as it is pleasant to dwell on the graces of our ancestors and to animate our minds by their example, I would here, most willingly, unfold what painful labours this holy man encountered for the privileges of our church, and with what miracles he signalized his life, did not my avocations lead me elsewhere ; and his noble acts ^pear clearer even to the eye of the purblind, than they can possibly be sketched by my pencil. The innumerable miwJ»lA« which now take* place at his tomb, manifest to the joesent race the sanctity of the life he passed. He has therefore his proper praise; he has the fkme acquired by his merits.} We proceed with the history.
* Whoe tfaif river vw is not known: it hai been conjectored it ihoold be ATcm. Malmeebuiy is alw leid to bate been originaUy called Bladon.
f De lAudlbos Viiginitatis. His ^^ Commendation d Yixginity," was lint written in proso: <nd was printed by H. Wbarton, 4to. 1693. He afterwaidB venined it with occanonai amplifications or omisrions. Some MSS. gire the date as 671 : otbeis 672; and otheis again 675. See Cani- siosy Antiquae Lectiones, t i. 713. Ed. BasnagiL The whole works of Aldbelm btTO been collected ibr the first time l^ the present editor, and fttrn ToL L of Paxrbb Eoclkiji Awoucaha
X Kalmcsbuxy afterwards wrote the life of Aldhelm. It ought to form
80 WnXXAH OF. XAJUCESBITBT. [â– .i.cl.
After thirfy-one years, Kenwalk dying, bequeathed the administration of the government to his wife Sc^burga ; nor did this woman want spirit for discharging the duties of the station. She levied new forces, preserved the old in their duty ; ruled her subjects with moderation, and overawed her enemies : in short, she conducted all things in such a manner, that no difference was discernible except that of her sex. But, breathing more than female spirit, she died, having scarcely reigned a year.
Escwin passed the next two years in the government; a near relation to the royal family, being grand-nephew to Cynegils, by his brother Cuthgist. At his death, either natural or violent, for I cannot exactly find which, Kentwin, the son of Cynegils, filled the vacant throne in legitimate succession. Both were men of noted experience in war ; as the one routed the Mercians, the other the Britons, with dreadful slaughter: but they were to be pitied for the short- ness of their career ; the reign of the latter not extending beyond nine, that of the former, more than two years, as I have already related. This is on the credit of the ChronideB. However, Bede records that they did not reign successively, but divided the kingdom between them.
Next sprang forth a noble branch of the royal stock, Casd- walla, grand-nephew of Ceawlin, by his brother Gutha : a youth of unbounded promise, who allowed no opportunity of exercising his valour to escape him. He, having long sinoe^ by his active exertions, excited the animosity of the princes of his country, was, by a conspiracy, driven into exile. Yielding to this outrage, as the means of depriving the province of its warlike force, he led away all the m&tary population with him ; for, whether out of pity to his broken fortunes, or regard for his valour, the whole of the youth accompanied him into exile. Ethelwalch, king of the South Saxons, hazarding an engagement with him, felt the first effects of his fury : for he was routed with all the forces he had collected, and too late repented his rash design.* The spirits of his followers being tjius elated, CsBdwalla, by a sudden and unexpected return, drove the rivals of his power fitun
the fifth book "de CfenHs Pontifieum,'* but has never yet been printed in the nme rolume with the four preceding booka. * See Bede, b. !â–¼. .c 15,
694.] INA. 81
lite kingdoDL Enjojing Lis govemment for the space of two years, he performed manj signal exploits. His hatred and hoetOity toiwards the South Saxons were inextinguish- able, and he totally destroyed Edric, the successor of Ethel- walch, who opposed him with renovated boldness : he nearly depopulated the Isle. of Wight^ which had rebelled in con- federacy with the Mercians : he also gained repeated victories over the people of Kent, as I have mentioned before in their history. Finally, as is observed above, he retired from that province, on the death of his brother, compensating his loss by the blood of many of its inhabitants. It is difficult to relate, how extremely pious he was evei^ before his baptism, insQipuch that he dedicated to God the tenth of all the spoils whic^ he had acquired in war. In which, though we ap- prove the intention, we condemn the example ; according to the saying : ^ He who offers sacrifice from the substance of a poor man, is Uke him who immolates the son in the sight of the father." That he went to Rome to be baptized by Pope Seigius, and was called Peter; and that he yielded joyfully to the will of heaven, while yet in his initiatory robes, are matters too well known to require our illustration. After his departure to Rome, the government was assumed by Ina, grand-nephew of Cynegils by his brother Cuthbald, who ascended the throne, more from the innate activity of his spirit, than any legitimate right of succession. He was a rare example of fortitude ; a mirror of prudence ; un- equalled in piety. Thus regulating his life, he gained favour at home and respect abroad. Safe from any apprehensions of treachery, he grew old in the discharge of his duties for fifty-eight years, the pious conciliator of general esteem. His first expedition was against the people of Kent, as the indignation at their burning Moll hsA not yet subsided. The inhabitants resisted awhile : but soon finding all their attempts and endeavours fail, and seeing nothing in the dis- position of Ina which could lead them to suppose he would remit his exertions, they were induced, by the contemplation of their losses, to treat of a surrender. They tempt the royal mind with presents, lure him with promises, and bu^in for a peace for thirty thousand marks of gold, that, sofloied by so high a price, he should put an end to the war, and, boimd in golden chains^ sound a retreat. Accept-
32 WHJJAX OF MAT.MKSBPKY. [B-i.c!.
ing the money, as a snfficient atonement for their offence^ he returned into hifl kingdom. And not only the people of Kent, bat the East Aisles* also felt the effects of his here- ditary anger; all their nolnlity being first expelled, and afterwards routed in battle. But let the relation of his mili- tary successes here find a termination. Moreover how sedu- lous he was in religious matters, the laws he enacted to re- form the manners of the people, are proof sufficient ;t in which the image of his purity is reflected even upon the present times. Another proof are the monasteries nobly founded at the king's expense. Butf more especially Glaa- tonbury, whither he ordered the bodies of the blessed martyr, Indract, and of his associates, to be takei firom the place of their martyrdom and to be conveyed into the church. The body of St. Indract he deposited in* the stone pyramid on the left side of the altar, where the zeal of posterity after- wards also placed St. Hilda : the others were distributed beneath the pavement as chance directed or regard might suggest Here, too, he erected a church, dedicated to the holy apostles, as an appendage to the ancient church, of which we are speaking, enriched it with vast possessions, and granted it a privil^e to the following effect :
'^ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ : I, Ina, sup- ported in my royal dignity by Grod, with the advice of my queen, Sexburga, and the permission of Berthwald, archbishop of Canterbury, and of all his sufiragans ; and also at tiie in- stance of the princes Baltred and Athelard, to the ancient church, situate in the place called Glastonbury (which church the great high-priest and chiefest minister formerly through his own ministry, and that of angels, sanctified by many and unheard-of miracles to himself and the eternal Virgin Mary, as was formerly revealed to St David,) do grant out of those
* The Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester mention hia attacks on the South Saxons, but do not notice the East Angles.
f See Wilkins'k Leges Anglo-Saxonicc.
t Some manuscripts omit all that follows to '^ Berthwald, archbiahop of Canterbury,'* p. 35, and insert in place of it *' More especial! j that at Glaa- tonbury most celebrated in our days, which he erected in a low retired ntuation, in order that the monks might more eagerly thirst after hearenly, in proportion as they were less affected by earthly things." Sharpe in- serts the shorter passage in his text, and gives the longer in a note.
pbees, wliich I possess bj patemtd inheritaniee, and lioUl in jDj demesne, the^ being adjacent and fitting for the pur- pose, for the maintenance of the monastic institution, and the use of the monks, Brente ten hides, Sowj ten hides, Pilton twenty hides, Dnlting twenty hid^ Bledenhida one hide, together with whateyer mj predecessors haye contributed to the same church :* to wit, Kenwalk, who, at the instance of archbishop Theodore, gave Ferramere, Bregarai, Goneneie, Martineseie, £theredsde ; Kentwin, who used to call Glaston- bury, ^ the mother of saints," and liberated it from every seenlAT and ecdesiaslical service, and granted it this dignified privilege, that the brethren of that place should have the power of electing and appointing their nder according to the rule of St. Benedict : Hedda the bishop, with permission of Ca^walla, who^ though a heathen, confirmed it with his own hand, gave Lontokay : Baltred, who gave Pennard, six hides : Athelard who contributed Poelt, sixty hides'; I, Ina, permitting and confirming it. To the piety and affectionate entreaty of these people I assent, and I guard by the security of my royal grant against the designs of malignant men and snarling curs, in order that the church of our Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal Virgin Mary, as it is the first in the kingdom of Britain and the source and the fountain of all religion, may obtain sur- passing dignity and privilege, and, as she rules over choirs of angels in heaven, it may never pay servile obedience to men on earth. Wherefore the chief pontifi*, Gregory, assenting, and taking the mother of his Lord, and me, however un- worthy, together with her, into the bosom and protection of the holy Roman church ; and all the princes, archbishops, Irishops, dukes, and abbats of Britain consenting, I appoint and establish, that, all lands, places, and possessions of St Mary of Glastonbury be free, quiet, and undisturbed, from all royal taxes and works, which are wont to be appointed, that is to say, expeditions, the building of bridges or forts, and from the edicts or molestations of all archbishops or bishops, as is found to be confirmed and granted by my predecessors, Kenwalk, Kentwin, Csedwalla, Baltred, in the ancient charters of the same church. And whatsoever questions shall arise, whether of homicide, sacrilege, poison, theft, rapine, the dis-
* See Kemble'B Charters, vol. i p. 85.
84 WHXIAH OF ICALMESBUBT. [a.i.c.S.
posal and limits of churches, the ordination of clerks, eccle- siastical synods, and all judicial inquiries, they shall be deter- mined by the decision of the abbat and convent, without the interference of any person whatsoever. Moreover, I command aU princes, archbishops, bishops, dukes, and governors of my kingdom, as they tender my honour and regard, and all de- pendants, mine as well as theirs, as they value their personal safety, never to dare enter the island of our Loi^ Jesus Christ and of the eternal Virgin, at Glastonbury, nor the possessions of the said church, for the purpose of holding courts, making inquiry, or seizing, or doing anything what- ever to the offence of the servants of God there residing : moreover I particularly inhibit, by the curse of Almighty God, of the eternal Virgin Mary, and of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and of the rest of the saints, any bishop on any account whatever from presuming to take his episcopal seat or celebrate divine service or consecrate altars, or dedi- cate churches, or ordain, or do any thing whatever, either in the church of Glastonbury itself, or its dependent churches, that is to say — Sowy, Brente, Merlinch, Sapewic, Stret Sbudeclalech, Pilton, or in their chapels, or islands, unless he be specially invited by the abbat or brethren of that place. But if he come upon such invitation, he shall take nothing to himself of the things of the church, nor of the offerings ; knowing that he has two mansions appointed him in two several places out of this church's possessions, one in Pilton, the other in the village called Poelt, that, when coming or going, he may have a place of entertainment. Nor even shall it be lawful for him to pass the night here unless he shall be detained by stress of weather or bodily sickness^ or invited by the abbat or monks, and then with not more than three or four clerks. Moreover let the aforesaid bishop be mindful every year, with his clerks that are at Wells, to acknowledge his mother church of Glastonbury with litanies on the second day after our Lord's ascension ; and should he haughtily defer it, or fail in the things which are above re- cited and confirmed, he shall forfeit his mansions above men- tioned. The abbat or monks shall direct whom they please, celebrating Easter canonicaUy, to perform service in the church of Glastonbury, its dependent churches, and in their chapels. Whosoever, be he of what dignity, profession, or
^•■^TNLi -jamomaaxT of olastovbubt. - 35
degree, he maj, shall hereafter, on any occasion whatsoever, tttempt to penrert, or nalUfj this, the witness of my munifi- ceaoe and liberality, let him be aware that^ with the traitor Jadas, he shall perish, to his eternal confusion, in the de- Touring flames of unspeakable torments. The charter of this donation was written in the year of our Lord's incarna- tion 725, the foorteenth of the indiction, in the presence of the king Ina, and of Berthwald, archbishop of Canterbury." What splendour he [Ina] added to the monastery, may be collected from the short treatise which I have written about its antiquities.* Father Aldhelm assisted the design, and his precepts were heard with humility, nobly adopted, and joyfully carried into effect. Lastly, the king readily con- finned the privilege which Aldhelm had obtained from pope Sergios, for the immunity of his monasteries ; gave much to the servants of Grod by his advice, and finally honoured him, though constantly refusing, with a bishopric ; but an early death malignantly cut off this great man from the world. For scarcely had he discharged the offices of his bishopric four years, ere he made his soul an offering to heaven, in the year of our Lord's incarnation 709, on the vigil of St. Augustine the apostle of the Angles, namely the eighth be- fore the Kalends of June.f Some say, that he was the nephew ci the king, by his brother Kenten ; but I do not choose to assert for truth any thing which savours more of â–¼ague opinion, than of historic credibility ; especially as I can find no ancient record of it, and the Chronicle clearly de- clares, that Lia had no other brother than Ingild, who died same few years before him. . Aldhelm needs no support from fiction : suchi great things are there concerning him of indis- putable truth, so many which are beyond the reach of doubt. The sisters, indeed, of Lia were Cuthburga and Cwenburga. Cuthbnrga was given in marriage to Alfrid, king of the Northumbrians, but the contract being soon after dissolved, she led a life dedicated to God, first at Barking,} under the abbess Hildelitha, and afterwards as superior of the convent at Wimbome ; now a mean village, but formerly celebrated
* The Antiquities of Glastonbuiy were published about the same tiin« hj Crale, Tol. iii. and by Hearne. t The 25th of Majr. | Bede, Eccl. Hist. b. ir. c. 7—10.
d6 WIZiLXAM OF MALMBSBIWr* (a.L«.l.
for contauung a full company of virgins, dead to euthly desires, and breathing only aspirations towards heaven. She embraced the profession of holy celibacy from the peru- sal of Aldhelm's books on virginity, dedicated indeed to the sisterhood of Barking, but profitable to all, who aspire to that state. Ina's queen was Ethelburga, a woman of royal race and disposition : who perpetually urging the necessity of bidding adieu to earthly things, at least in the close of life, and the king as constantly deferring the execution of her advice, at last endeavoured to overcome him by strata- gem. For, on a certain occasion, when they had been revelling at a country seat with more than usual riot and luxury, the next day, after their departure, an attendant, with die privity of the queen, defiled the palace in every possible manner, both with the excrement of cattle and heaps of filth ; and lastly he put a sow, which had recently far- rowed, in the very bed where they had lain. They had hardly proceeded a mile, ere she attacked her husband witii the fondest conjugal endearments, entreating that they might immediately return thither, whence they had departed, say- ing, that his denial would be attended with dangerous con- sequences. Her petition being readily granted, the king was astonished at seeing a place, which yesterday might have vied with Assyrian luxury, now filthily disgusting and deso- late : and silently pondering on the sight, his eyes at length turned upon the queen. Seizing the opportunity, and plea- santly smiling, she said, " My noble spouse, where are the reveUings of yesterday ? Where the tapestries dipped in Sidonian dyes ? Where the ceaseless impertinence of para- sites ? Where the sculptured vessels, overwhelming the very tables with their weight of gold ? Where are the delicacies so anxiously sought throughout sea and land, to pamper the appetite ? Are not all these things smoke and vapour ? Have they not all passed away ? Woe be to those who attach themselves to such, for they in like manner shall consume away. Are not aU these like a rapid river hastening to the sea ? And woe to those who are attached to them, for thev shall be carried away by the current. Reflect, I entreat you, how wretchedly will these bodies decay, which we pamper with such unbounded luxury. Must not we, who gorge so constantly, become more disgustingly putrid ? The mighty
M,7U^941.] BTHMT.AWP CUTHBBP. 87
most imdei^ mighfier torments, and a seyerer trial awaits the strong.'* Without saying more, bj this striking example, she gained over her husband to those sentiments, which she had in Tain attempted for years bj persuasion.*
For after bis triumphal spoils in war ; after many succes- siTe d^ees in virtue, he aspired to the highest perfection, and went to Borne. There, not to make the glory of his cooyeraion public, but that he might be acceptable in the sight of Grod alone, he was shorn in secret ; and, clad in homely garb, grew old in priyacy. Nor did his queen, the author of this noble deed, desert him ; but as she had before incited him to imdertake it, so, afterwards, she made it her constant care to soothe his sorrows by her conyersation, to .stimulate him, when wayering, by her example ; in short, to omit nothing that could be conduciye to his salyation. Thus united in mutual affection, in due time they trod the common path of all mankind. This was attended, as we have heard, with singular miracles, such as God often deigns to bestow on ihe.yirtues of happy couples.
To the goyemment succeeded Ethelard, the cousin of Ina ; though Oswald, a youth of royal extraction, often obscured his opening prospects. Exciting his countrymen to rebellion, he attempted to make war on the king, but soon after perish- ing by some unhappy doom, Ethelard kept quiet possession of the kingdom for fourteen years, and then left it to his kinsman, Cuthred, who for an equal space of time, and with similar courage, was ever actiyely employed : —
** In the name of our Lord Jesus Chnst, I, Cuthred, king of the West Saxons^ do hereby declare that all the gifts of fonner kings — ^Eentwin, Baldred, KedwaU, Ina, Ethelard, and Ethbald king of the Mercians, in country houses, and in tillages and lands, and farms, and mansions, according to the confirmations made to the ancient city of Glastonbury, and confirmed by autograph and by the sign of the cross, I do, as was before said, hereby decree that this grant of former kings shall remain firm and inyiolate, as long as the reyolution of the pole shall carry the lands and seas with r^ular moye-
* All this passage, from ^ What splendour, p. 85, to penuadon," is omit- ted in some MSS., and is given in a note bj Hairdy and Sharpe ; but it seems almost necessaiy ta tiie context.
38 WILUiLM OF MALMESBUBT. [•!.<!.<.
ment round the stany heavens. But if any one, confiding in tjrannical pride shall endeavour on any occasion to dis- turb and nullify this my testamentary grant, may he be sepa- rated by the fan of the last judgment from the congregation of the righteous, and joined to the assembly of the wicked for ever, paying the penalty of his violence. But whoever with benevolent intention shall strive to approve, confirm, and defend this my grant, may he be allowed to enjoy un- failing immortality before the glory of Him that sitteth on the throne, together with the happy companies of angels and of all the saints. A copy of this grant was set forth in presence of king Cuthred, in the aforesaid monastery, and dedicated to the holy altar by the munificence of his own hand, in the wooden church, where the brethren placed the coffin of abbat Hemgils, the 30th of April, in the year of our Lord 745.*'
The same Cuthred, after much toil, made a successful cam- paign against Ethelbald, king of Mercia, and the Britons, and gave up the sovereignty after he had held it fourteen years.
Sigebert then seized on the kingdom ; a man d inhuman cruelty among his own subjects, and noted for cowardice abroad ; but the common detestation of all conspiring against him, he was within a year driven from the throne, and gave place to one more worthy. Yet, as commonly happens in similar cases, the severity of his misfortunes brought back some persons to his cause, and the province which is called Hampshire, was, by their exertions, retained in subjection to him. . Still, however, unable to quit his former habits, and exciting the enmity of all against him by the murder of one Cumbran, who had adhered to him with unshaken fidelity, he fied to the recesses of wild beasts. Misfortune still attending him thither also, he was stabbed by a swineherd. Thus the cruelty of a king, which had almost desolated the higher ranks, was put an end to by a man of the lowest condition.
Cynewolf next undertook the guidance of the state ; illus- trious for the regulation of his conduct and his deeds in arms : but suffering extremely from the loss of a single battle, in the the twenty-fourth year of his reign, against Offa, king of the Mercians, near Bensington, he was also finally doomed to a di/^graceful death. For after he had reigned thirty-one
AJ>.77»-784.] . DBATH OF CTKEWOLF. 89
jearsy* ndther indolentlj nor oppressiyelj, either elated with saocess, because he imagined nothing could oppose him, or alarmed for his posterity, from the increasing power of Eineard, the brother of Sigebert, he compelled him to quit the kingdom. Elneard, deeming it necessary to yield to the onergency of the times, departed as if voluntarily ; but soon after, when by secret meetings he had assembled a desperate band of wretches, watching when the king might be alone, for he had gone into the country for the sake of recreation, he followed him thither with his party. And learning that he was there giving loose to improper desires, he beset the honse on all sides. The king struck with his perilous situa- tion, and holding a conference with the persons present, shut fast the doors, expecting either to appease the desperadoes by fair language, or to terrify them by threats. When neither succeeded, he rushed furiously on Eineard, find had nearly killed him ; but, surrounded by the multitude, and thinking it derogatory to his courage to give way, he fell, selling his life nobly. Some few of his attendants, who, in- stead of yielding, attempted to take vengeance for the loss of their lord, were slain. The report of this dreadful outrage soon reached the ears of the nobles, who were waiting near at hand. Of these Esric, the chief in age and prudence, conjuring the rest not to leave nnrevenged the death of their sovereign to their own signal and eternal ignominy, rushed with d^wn sword upon the conspirators. At first Kineard attempted to ai^e his case ; to make tempting offers ; to hold forth their relationship ; but when this availed nothing, he stimulated his party to resistance. Doubtful was the con- flict, where one side contended with all its powers for life, the other for glory. And victory, wavering for a long time, at last decided for the juster cause. Thus, fruitlessly valiant, this unhappy man lost his life, unable long to boast the suc- cess of his treachery. The king's body was buried at Win- chester, and the prince's at Repton ; at that time a noble monastery, but at present, as I have heard, with few, or scarcely any inmates.
* Malmesbury' here perpetuates the error of the treiucriber of the Saxon Chronicle, in aangning thirty-one years to Cynewolf, for as he came to the throne in 756, and was killed in 784, consequently he reigned about twenty-nine yean. Perhaps he wrote, correctly, *< uno de triffinta annia" coBJectum Mr. Hazdy.
4f^ WILLIAM or BCALKESBUIir. (B.f.c.jL.
After famiy for sixteen jeais^ reigned Beriric: more studious oi peace than of war. Skilful in oonciliatang friendship, affable with foreigners^ and giving great allow- ances to his subjectSy in thoee matters at least which could not impair the strength of the government. To acquire still greater estimation with his neighbours^ he married the daughter of Offa, king of Merda, at that time all-powerful ; bj whom, as far as I am acquainted, he had no issoe. Supported hy this alliance he compelled Egbert, the sole survivor of the royal stock, and whom he feared as the most effectual obstacle to his power, to fly into France. In fi^et Bertric himself and the other kings, after ina, though glorying in the splendour of their parentage, as deriving their origin from Cerdic> had considerably deviated from tke direct line of the royal race. On Egbert's expulsion, then, he had already begun to indulge in indolent security, when a piratical tribe of the Danes^ accustomed to live by plunder, clandestinely arriving in three ships, disturbed the tran* quillity of the kingdom. This band came ov^ expressly to ascertain the fruitfulness of the soil, and the courage of the inhabitants, as was afterwards discovered by the arrival of that multitude, which over-ran almost the whole of Britain. Landing then, unexpectedly, when the kingdom was in a state of profound peace, they seized upon a royal village, which was nearest them, and killed the superintendent, who had advanced with succours ; but losing their booty, through fear of the people, who hastened to attack them, they retired to their ships. After Bertric, who was buried at Warham, Egbert ascended the throne of his ancestors ; justly to be preferred to all the kings who preceded him. Thus having brought down our narrative to his times, we must, as we have promised, next give our attention to the Northumbrians.
CHAP. HL
Of the kinffs qf the Northumbriam. [a.d. 450.]
We have before related briefly, and now necessarily repeal that Hengist, having settled lus own government in Kent, had sent his brother Otha, and his son Ebusa, men of activity and tried experience, to seize on the northern parts of Britain. Sedulous in executing the command, affiurs
490-MO.l IDA— AZXJL 41
sncoeeded to dieir wishes. For finequentiy coming into actioQ with the inhabitants^ and dispersing those who attempted reaistanoe, thej conciliated with uninterrapted quiet such as sabmitted. Thus, though through their own address and the good will of their followers, they had established a certain degree of power, jet never entertaining an idea of asamning the rojal title, thej left an example of similar moderation to their immediate posterity. For during the space of ninety-nine years, the Northumbrian leaders^ contented with subordinate power, lived in subjection to the kings of Kent. Afterwards, however, this forbearance ceased ; either because the human mind is ever prone to degeneracy, or because that race of people was naturally ambitious. In the year, therefore, of our Lord's incarnation 547, the sixtieth alter Hengist's death, the principality was converted into a kingdom. The most noble Ida, in the full vigour of life and of strength, first reigned there. But whether he himself seized the chief authority, or received it by the consent of others, I by no means venture to determine, because the truth is unrev^ed. However, it is sufficiently evident, that, sprung from a great and ancient lineage, he reflected much splendour on his illustrious descent, by his pure and unsullied manners. Unconquerable abroad, at home he tempered his kingly power with peculiar affability. Of this man, and of others, in their respective places, I could lineally trace the descent, were it not that the very names, of uncouth sound, would be less agreeable to my readers than I wish. It may be proper though to remark, that Woden had three sons ; Weldeg, Withleg, and Beldeg ; from the first, the kings of Kent derived their origin ; from the second, the kings of Mercia ; and from the third, the kings of the West- Saxons and Northumbrians, with the exception of the two I am going to particularize. This Ida, then, the ninth from Beldeg, and the tenth from Woden, as I find positively declared, continued in the government fourteen years.
His successor Alia, originating from the same stock, but descending from Woden by a different branch, conducted the government, extended by his exertions considerably beyond its former bounds, for thirty years. In his time, youths from Northumbria were exposed for sale, after the common and
42 WILLIAK OF MALMESBUBT. [b. i. c 3.
almost native custom of this people ; so that, even as our days have witnessed, thej would make no scruple of separating the nearest ties of relationship through the temptation of the slightest advantage. Some of these youths then, carried from England for sale to Rome, hecame the means of salvation to all their countrymen. For exciting the attention of that city, by the beauty of their countenances and the elegance of their features, it happened that, among others, the blessed Gregory, at that time archdeacon of the apostolical see, was present. Admiring such an assemblage of grace in mortals, and, at the same time, pitying their abject condition, as captives, he asked the standers-by, ''of what race are these ? Whence come they ? " They reply, " by birth they are Angles ; by country are Deiri ; (Deira being a province of Northumbria,) subjects of Eling Alia, and Pagans.** Their concluding characteristic he accompanied with heartfelt sighs : to the others he elegantiy alluded, saying, ''that these Angles, a^^^eZ-like, should be delivered from CdeJ iroy and taught to sing AUe-hda,^ Obtaining permission without delay from pope Benedict, the industry of this excellent man was all alive to enter on the journey to convert them ; and certainly his zeal would have completed this intended labour, had not the mutinous love of his fellow citizens recalled him, already on his progress. He was a man as celebrated for his virtues, as beloved by his countrymen ; for by his matchless worth, he had even exceeded the expectations they had formed of him from his youth. His good intention, though frustrated at this time, received afterwards, during his pontificate, an honourable termination, as the reader will find in its proper place. I have made this insertion with pleasure, that my readers might not lose this notice of Alia, mention of whom is slightly made in the life of Pope Gregory, who, although he was the primary cause of introducing Christianity among the Angles, yet, either by the counsel of God, or some mischance, was never himself permitted to know it The calling, indeed, descended to his son.
On the death of Alia, Ethelric, the son of Ida, advanced to extreme old age, after a life consumed in penury, obtained the kingdom, and after five years, was taken off by a sudden death. He was a pitiable prince, whom fame would have
48
hidden in obscarity, had not the conspicuoas energy of the son lifted up the father to notice.
When, therefore, by a long old age, he had satisfied the desire of life, Ethc^rid, the elder of his sons, ascended the throne, and compensated the greenness of his years by the matority of his conduct. His transactions have been so dis- played by graceful composition, that they want no assistance of mine^ except as order is concerned. Bede has eagerly dwelt on the praises of this man and his successors ; and has dilated on the Northumbrians at greater length, because they were his near neighbours : our history, therefore, will select and compile from his relation. In order, however, that no one may blame me for contracting so diffuse a narrative, I most t^ him that I have done it purposely, that they who have been satiated with such high-seasoned delicacies, may respire a little on these humble remnants : for it is a saying trite by use and venerable for its age, *^ that the meats which doy the least are eaten with keenest appetite." Ethelfrid then, as I was relating, having obtained the kingdom, began at first vigorously to defend his own territories, afterwards eagerly to invade his neighbours, and to seek occasion for signalizing himself on all sides. Many wars were begun by him with foresight, and terminated with success ; as he was ndther restrained from duty by indolence, nor precipitated into rashness by courage* An evidence of these things is Degstan,* a noted place in those parts, where Edan, king of the Scots, envying Ethelfrid's successes, had constrained him, though averse, to give battle ; but, being overcome, he took to fiight, though the triumph was not obtained without considerable hazard to the victor. For Tedbald, the brother of Ethelfrid, opposing himself to the most inmiinent dangers that he might <&splay his zeal in his brother's cause, left a mournful victory indeed, being cut off with his whole party. Another proof of his success is afforded by the city of Car- legion, now commonly called Chester, which, till that period possessed by the Britons, fostered the pride of a people hos- tile to the king. When he bent his exertions to subdue this city, the townsmen preferring any extremity to a siege, and at the same confiding in their numbers, rushed out in multi- tudes to battle. But deceived by a stratagem, they were
* Soppond DalsUni near Carlisle, or Damton new Ichborough
44 WILLIAH OF MAXJNDSSBURT. [&!.&%
oreroome and put to flight ; his fury being first rented od the monks, who came out in numbers to praj for the safety ef the army. That their number was incredible to these times is apparent from so many half-destroyed walls of churches in the neighbouring monastery, so many winding porticoes, such masses of ruins as can scarcely be seen else- where. The place is called Bangor ; at that day a noted monastery, but now changed into a cathedral.* Ethelfrid, thus, while circumstances proceeded to his wishes almMid, being desirous of warding off domestic apprehensions and intestine danger, banished Edwin, the son of Alia, a youth of no mean worth, from his kingdom and country. He^ wandering for a long time without any settled habitation, found many of his former friends more inclined to his enemy than to the observance of their engagements ; for as it is said,
'^ If joy be thine, 'tii then thj friends aboond : Mikbrtime eomes^ and thou alone art found." f
At last he came to Bedwald, king of the East Angles, and bewailing his misfortunes, was received into his protection. Shortly after there came messengers firom Ethelfrid, either demanding the surrender of the fugitive, or denouncing hos- tilities. Determined by the advice of hiS wife not to violate, through intimidation, the laws of friendship, Bedwald col- lected a body of troops, rushed against Ethelfrid, and at- tacked him suddenly, wMlst suspecting nothing less than an assault. The only remedy that courage, thus taken by sur- prise, could suggest, there being no time to escape, he availed himself of. Wherefore, though almost totally unprepared, though beset with fearful danger on every side, he fell not till he had avenged his own death by the destruction of Begnhere, the son of Redwald. Such an end had EthelMd, after a reign of twenty-four years : a man second to none in martial experience, but entirely ignorant of the holy faith. He had two sons by Acca, the daughter of Alia, sister of Edwin, Oswald aged twelve, and Oswy four years ; who, upon the death of their father, fied through the management of their governors, and escaped into Scotland.
* Malmesbuiy here confounds the ancient monastery of Banchor, near Chester, with the more modem see of Bangor in Camarvonshiro. t Odd. Tiist 1. 9, T. £.
<i7— «3a.] tamrth 45
In tMs manner^ all his iiteIs beong filam or baniishedy Edwin, trained by many adTersitieB, ascended, nol meanly qualified, the sanunit of power. When the haughtiness of Uie Northumbrians had bent to his dominion, his felicity was crowned by the timely death of Bedwald, whose subjects, during Edwin's eadie among them, having formerly experi- enced his ready courage and ardent disposition, now willingly swore obedience to Um. Granting to the son of Bedwald the empty ^title <^ long, himself managed all things as he thought fit. At this junctture, the hopes and the resources of the Angles centred totally in him ; nor was there a single province of Britain whidi did not regard his will, and prepare to obey it, except Kent : for he had left the Kentish people free from his incursions, because he had long meditated a marriage with Ethelburga, sister of their king. When she was granted to him, after a courtship long protracted, to the intent that he should not despise that woman when pos- sessed whom he so ardently desired when withheld, these two kingdoms became so united by the ties of kindred, that, there was no rivaliy in their powers, no difference in their manners. Moreover, on this occasion, the faith of Christ our Lord, infused into those parts by the preaching of Fau- linus, reached first the king himself, whom the queen, among other proofs of conjugal affection, was perpetually instruc- ting ; nor was the admonition of bishop Paulinus wanting in its place. For a long time, he was wavering and doubtful ; but once received, he imbibed it altogether. Then he invited neighbouring kings to the faith ; then he erected churches, and neglected nothing for its propagation. In the mean- while, the merciful grace of God smiled on the devotion of the king; insomuch, that not only the nations of Britain, that is to say, the Angles, Scots, and Picts, but even the Orkney and Mevanian isles, which we now call Anglesey, that is, islands of the Angles, both feared his arms, and venerated his power. At that time, there was no public robber; no domestic thief; the tempter of conjugal fidelity was far distant ; the plunderer of another man's inheritance was in exile : a state of things redounding to his praise, and worthy of celebration in our times. In short, such was the increase of his power, that justice and peace willingly met and kissed each other, imparting mutual acts of kindness.
46 WILLIAK OF XALMSSBUBT. [b.lc3.
And DOW indeed' would the government of the Angles have held a prosperous course, had not fui untimelj death, the stepmother of all earthly felicity, hy a lamentable turn of fortune, snatched this man from his country. For in the forty-eighth year of his age, and the seventeenth of his reign, being killed, together with his son, by the princes whom he had formerly subjugated, Cadwalla of the Britons and Penda of the Mercians, rising up against him, he became a melancholy example of human vicissitude. He was inferior to none in prudence : for he would not embrace even the Christian faith till he had examined it most carefully; but when once adopted, he esteemed nothing worthy to be com- pared to it.
Edwin thus slain, the sons of Ethelfrid, who were alao the nephews of Edwin, Oswald, and Oswy, now grown up, and in the budding prime of youth, re-sought their country, together with Eanfrid, their elder brother, whom I forgot b^ore to mention. The kingdom, therefore, was now divided into two. Indeed, Northumbria, long since separated into two provinces, had elected Alia, king of the Deirans, and Ida, of the Bemicians. Wherefore Osric, the cousin of Ed- win, succeeding to Deira, and Eanfrid, the son of Ethelfrid, to Bernicia, they exulted in the recovery of thdr hereditary right. They had both been baptized in Scotland, though they Were scarcely settled in their authority, ere they re- nounced their faith : but shortly after they suffered the just penalty of their apostacy through the hostility of Cadwalla. The space of a year, passed in these transactiops, improved Oswald, a young man of great hope, in the science of govern- ment. Anned rather by his faith, for he had been admitted to baptism while in exile with many nobles among the Scots, than by his military preparations, on the first onset he drove Cadwalla,* a man elated with the recollection of his former deeds, and, as he used himself to say, '* bom for the exter- mination of the Angles," from his camp, and afterwards de- stroyed him with all his forces. For when he had collected the little army which he was able to muster, he excited them to the conflict, in which, la3ring aside all thought of flight, they must determine either to conquer or die, by suggestiii^
Cadwalla, king of the Britons, haring slain Eanfiid and Osric, AJft« 634, had usurped the government of Northumbiia.
AJ>. eis.] OSWALD. 47
''that it must be a circumstance highlj diBgraceful for the Angles to meet the Britons on sach unequal terms, as to fight against those persons for safety, whom they had been used Yolontarily to attack for glory only ; that therefore they sboold maintain their liberty with dauntless courage, and the most strenuous exertions; but, that of the impulse to flight no feeling whatever should be indulged." In conse- quence they met with such fury on both sides, that, it may be truly said, no 'day was ever more disastrous for the Bri- tons, or more joyful for the Angles : so completely was one party routed with all its forces, as never to have hope of leoovering again; so exceedingly powerful di3 the other become, through the effects of faith and the accompanying courage of the king. From this time, the worship of idols fell prostrate in the dust; and he governed the kingdom, extended beyond Edwin's boundaries, for eight years, peace- ably and without the loss of any of his people. Bede, in his History, sets forth the praises of this king in a high style of panegyric, of which I shall extract such portions as may be necessary, by way of conclusion. With what fervent faith his breast was inspired, may easily be learned from this cir- cumstance. K at any time Aidan the priest addressed his auditors on the subject of their duty, in the Scottish tongue, and no interpreter was present, the king himself would di- rectly, though habited in the royal robe, glittering with gold, or glowing with Tyrian purple, graciously assume that office, and explain the foreign idiom in his native language. It is well known too, that frequently at entertainments, when the guests had whetted their appetites and bent their inclinations on the feast^ he would forego his own gratification ;* procur- ing, by his abstinence, comfort for the poor. So that I think the truth of that heavenly sentence was fulfilled even on earth, where the celestial oracle hath said, "He that dis- persed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth for ever." And moreover, what the hearer must wonder at^ and cannot deny, that identical royal right hand,
* When he was seated at table and jost about to commence dinner, the royal almoner informed the king that a great number of poor were aesem- bled in the street, asking relief; on which he immediately ordered the whole of the provisions to be distributed, and the silver dish also to be cui into pieoo^ and divided amongst them. See Bede, b. iii. c. 6.
48- WILLIAX or tULMBSBUBT. [«^i.cS.
the dispenaer of so many akms, remains to this day perfect^ with the arm, the skin aad nerves, though the remainder of the body, with the exception of the bones, mouldering into dust, has not escaped the common lot of mortality. It is true the corporeal remains of some of the saints are uncon- scious altogether of decay. Wherefore let others determine by what standard they will fix their judgment; I pronounce this still more gracious and divine on account of its singular manifestation ; because things ever so precicAis degenerate by frequency, and whatever is more unusual, is celebrated more generally. I should indeed be thought prolix were I to re- late how diligent he was to address his prayers on high, and to fill the heavens with vows. This virtue of Oswald is too well known to require the support of our narrative. For at what time would that man neglect his supplications, who, in the insurrection excited by Penda king of the Mercians^ his guards being put to flight and himse& actually carrying a forest of darts in his breast, could not be prevented 1)y the pain of his wounds or the approach of death, from praying for the souls of his faithful companions ? In such manner this personage, of surpassing celebrity in this world, and highly in favour with GU>d9 ending a valuable life, trans- mitted his memory to posterity by a frequency of miracles ; and indeed most deservedly. For it is not common, but even more rare than a white crow, for men to abound in riches, and not give indulgence to their vices.*
When he was slain, his arms with the hands and his head were cut off by the insatiable rage of his conqueror, and fixed on a stake. The dead trunk indeed, as I have men- tioned, being laid to rest in the calm bosom of the earth, turned to its native dust ; but the arms and hands, through the power of God, remain, according to the testimony of an author of veracity, without corruption. These being placed by his brother Oswy in a shrine, at the city of Bebbanburg,t so the Angled call it, and shown for a miracle, bear testimony to the fact Whether they remain at that place at the pre- sent day, I venture not rashly to affirm, because I waver in my opinion. If other historians have precipitately recorded any matter, let them be accountable : I hold common report
• Jut. Sat. vii. 202.
t Bambrougb in Northumberland. Bede iii. 6, p. 118.
Mi.] OSWALP. 49
aX a cheaper rate, and affinn notiung Init what is deserving of entire credit. The head was then bnried by his before- mentioned brother at Lindisfame ; but it is said now to be preserved at Durham in the arms of the blessed Cuthbert* When Ostritha, the wife of Ethehred, king of the Mercians, daughter of king Oswy, through regard to her uncle, was anxious to take the bones of the trunk to her monastery of Bardnej, which is in the country of the Mercians not far ircHn the city of Lincoln, the monks refused her request at first ; denying repose even to the bones of that man when dead whom they had hated whilst living, because he had ob- tained their country by right of arms. But at midnight being taught, by a miraculous light from heaven shining on the r^cs, to abate their haughty pride, they became con- verts to reason, and even entreated as a favour, what before they had rejected. Virtues from on high became resident in thid place: every sick person who implored this most excellent martyr's asmstance, immediatdy received it. The withering turf grew greener from his blood, and recovered a horse :| and some of it being himg up against a post, the devouring flames fled from it in ^eir turn. Some dust, moistened frt>m his relics, was equally efficacious in restoring a lunatic to his proper senses. The washings of the stake which had imbibed the blood fr^h streaming from his head, restored health to one despairing of recovery. For a long time this monastery, possessing so great a treasure, flourished in the sanctity of its members and the abundance of its friends, more especially after king Ethelred received the tonsure there, where also his tomb is seen even to the pre- sent day. After many years indeed, when the barbarians infested these parts, the bones of the most holy Oswald were remoTed to Gloucester. This place, at that period inhabited by monks, but at the present time by canons, contains but few inmates. Oswald, therefore, was the man who yielded the first fruits of hoHness to his nation ; since no Angle be-
* St. Cuthbert is represented as holding the head of Oswald in his arms. Bede's bones were afterwards laid m the same coffin.
+ The hone laj down under his rider in great agonj ; but recovered hy lolliog on the spot and cropping the grass. A person carried away some of the earth, which he hung up against a post m the wall : the house caught fire and was burnt with the exception of the timber to which the bag was tied. See Bede, b. lii. c. ^ 10 ; and for the other stories, c. 18.
50 WILJLIAK OF ICALMBSBUBT. [b-lcS.
fore him, to my knowledge, was celebrated for mirades. For after a life spent in sanctitj, in liberallj giving alms, in fre- quent watchings and prajer, and lastly, through zeal for the church of Grod, in waging war with an heathen, he poured out his spirit, according to his wishes, before he could behold, what was his greatest object of apprehension, the decline of Christianitj. Nor indeed shall he be denied the praise of the martyrs, who^ first aspiring after a holy life, and next opposing his body to a glorious death, certainly trod in their steps : in a manner he deserves higher conmiendation, since they barely consecrated themselves to God ; but Oswald not only himself but all the Northumbrians with him.
On his removal from this world, Oswy his brother assumed the dominion over the Bemidans, as did Oswin, the son of Osric, whom I have before mentioned, over the Deirans. After meeting temperately at first on the subject of the division of the provinces, under a doubtful truce, they each retired peaceably to their territories ; bat not long after, by means of persons who delighted in sowing the sec^ of discord, the peace, of which they had so often made a mockery by ambiguous treaties, was finally broken, and vanished into air. Horrid crime ! that there should be men who could envy these kings their friendly intimacy, nor abstain from using their utmost efforts to precipitate them into battle. Here then fortune, who had before so frequently caressed Oswin with her blandishments, now wounded him with her scorpionnsting. For thinking it prudent to abstain from fighting, on account of the smallness of his force, he had secretly withdrawn to a country-seat, where he was immediately betrayed by his own people, and killed by Oswy. He was a man admirably calculated to gain the favour of his subjects by his pecuniary liberality; and, as they relate, demonstrated his care for his soul by his fervent devotion. Oswy, thus sovereign of the entire kingdom, did every thing to wipe out thb foul stain, and to increase his dignity, ex- tenuating the enormity of that atrocious deed by the recti- tude of his future conduct Indeed the first and highest point of his glory is, that he nobly avenged his brother and his uncle, and gave to perdition Penda l^ig of the Mercians, that destroyer of his neighbours, and fomenter of hostility. From this period he either governed the Mercians, as well as
A^ MS-470.] 06WT. EGFBIIX 51
almost an the Angles^ himself, or was supreme oyer those who did. Taming from this time altogether to offices of fietjj that he might he trulj grateful for the favours of God perpetoallj flowing down upon him, he proceeded to raise up and animate, with all his power, the infancy of the Christian fiuthy which of late was fainting through his brother's deatL This fiuth, brought shortly after to maturity by the learning of the Soots, but wavering in many ecclesiastical observances, was now settled on canonical foundations:* first by Agilbert and Wilfrid, and next by archbishop Theodore : for whose arrival in Britain, although Egbert, king of Kent, as far as hifl province is concerned, takes much from his glory, the chief thanks are due to Oswy.f Moreover he built numer- ous habitations for the servants of €rod, and so left not his country destitute of this advantage also. The principal of these monasteries, at that time for females, but now for males, was situate about thirty miles north of York, and was anciently called Streaneshalch, but latterly Whitby. Begun by EQlda, a woman of singular piety, it was augmented with large revenues by Elfled, daughter of this king, who suc- ceeded her in the government of it ; in which place also she buried her father with all due solemnity, after he had reigned twenty-eight years. This monastery, like all others of the same order, was destroyed in the times of the Danish inva- sion, which will be related hereafter, and bereaved of the bodies of many saints. For the bones of St Aidan the bishop, of Geolfnd the abbat, and of that truly holy virgin Hilda, together with those of many others, were, as I have related in the book which I lately published on the Antiquity of the Church of Glastonbury, at that time removed to Glas- tonbury ; and those of other saints to different places. Now the monast^, under another name, and somewhat restored as drcumstances permitted, hardly presents a vestige of its finmer opulence.
To Oswy, who had two sons, the elder who was illegiti- mate being rejected, succeeded the younger, Egfnd, legiti- mately bom, more valued on account of the good qusJities of hia most pious wife Etheldrida, than for Ms own ; yet he
* The principal points in dispute were, the time of celebrating Easter «pd the form of the tonsure. See Bede, Eccl. Hist iii. 25. t See Bede, Hist. Eccl. iii. 29.
e2
52 WILLIAM OF KALMESBI7BT. [b.e.c.3.
-vyas certainly to be commended for two things which I have read in the history of the Angles, his allowing his wife to dedicate herself to God, and his promoting the blessed Cath- bert to a bishopric, whose tears at the same time burst out with pious assent* But my mind shudders at the bare re- collection of his outrage against the holy Wilfirid, when, loathing his virtues, he deprived the country of this shining character. Overbearing towards the suppliant, a malady incident to tyrants, he overwhelmed the Irish, a race of men harmless in genuine simplicity and guiltless of every dime, with incredible slaughter. On the other hand, inactive towards the rebellious, and not following up the triumphs of his father, he lost the dominion of the Mercians, and more- over, defeated in battle by Ethelred the son of Penda, their king, he lost his brother also. Perhaps these last dream- stances may be truly attributed to the unsteadiness of youth, but his conduct towards Wil&id, to the instigation of his wife,t and of the bishops ; more espedaUy as Bede, a man who knew not how to flatter, calls him, in his book of the Lives of his Abbats, the most pious man, the most be- loved by God. At length, in the fifteenth year of his reign, as he was leading an expedition against the Picts, and eagerly pursuing them as they purposely retired to some secluded mountains, he perished with almost all his forces ; the few who escaped by flight carried home news of the event ; and yet the divine Cuthbert, from his knowledge of future events, had both attempted to keep him back, when departing, and at the very moment of his death, enlightened by heavenly influence, declared, though at a Stance, that he was slain.
While a more than common report every where noised the death of Egfrid, an intimation of it, ** borne on the wings of haste," reached the ears of his brother AlMd. Though the elder brother, he had been deemed, by the nobility, unwor-
• Bede's Life of St Cuthbert, c. 24.
f Ermenburga, the second wife of Egfnd. The fint, Etbeldiida, vas divorced from him, on account of her love of odibacy, and became a nan. Wilind, bishop of Hexham, was several times expelled his see. Elected biihop of York, a.d. 664, he was expelled in 678. He was recalled to Northumbria in 687, and again expelled 692. He died a. d. 709, having been reinstated by the pope. See Bede v. 1 9. and Sax. Chron.
A.».68S>-7S0.] OSRED.— <;SOLWnLF. 53
thj of tibe government^ from his illegitimacy, as I have ob- serred, and had retired to Ireland, either through compulsion or indignation. In this place, safe from the persecution of his brother, he had, from his ample leisure, become deeply Tersed in literature, and had enriched his mind with every kiiid of learning. On which account the very persons who had formerly banished him, esteeming him the better quali- fied to manage the reins of government, now sent for him of their own accord. Fate rendered efficacious their entreaties ; neither did he disappoint their expectations. For during the space of nineteen years, he presided over the kingdom in the ntmoBt tranquillity and joy ; doing nothing that even greedy calumny itself could justly carp at, except the perse- cution of that great man Wilfrid. However he held not the same extent of territory as his father and brother, because the Ficts, proudly profiting by their recent victory, and attacking the Angles, who were become indolent through a lengthened peaoe^ had curtuled his boundaries on the north. He had for successor his son, Osred, a boy of eight years old ; who disgracing the throne for eleven years, and spending an ignominious life in the seduction of nuns, was tdtimatdly taken off by the hostility of his relations. Yet he poured out to them a draught from the same cup ; for Kenred aflter reigning two, and Osric eleven years, left only this to be recorded of them ; that they expiated by a violent death, the blood of their master, whom they supposed they bad rightfully slain. Osric indeed deserved a happier end, for, as a heathen* says, he was more dignified than other shades, because, while yet Uving he had adopted Ceolwulf, Kenred's brother, as his successor. Then Ceolwulf ascended the giddy height of empire, seventh in descent from Ida : a man competent in other respects, and withal possessed of a depth of literature, acquired by good abilities and indefati- gable attention. Bede vouches for the truth of my assertion, who, at the very juncture when Britain most abounded with scholars, offered his Histoiy of the Angles, for correction, to this prince more especially ; making choice of his authority, to confirm by his high station what had been well written ; and of his learning, to rectify by his talents what might be carelessly expressed.
• Viig. -fin. Yi. 815.
64 WILLIAII OF ICALMBSBITinr. [b.lc.3l
In the fourth year of his reign, Bede, the historian, afl«r having written many books for the holy church, entered the heavenly kingdom, for which he had so long languished, in the year of our Lord's incarnation 734 ; of his age the fifty-ninth. A man whom it is easier to admire than worthily to extol : who, though bom in a remote corner of the world, was able to dazzle the whole earth with the brilliancy of his learning. For even Britain, which by some is called another world, since, surrounded by the ocean, it was not thoroughly known by many geographers, possesses, in its remotest region, bordering on Scotland, the place of his birth and education. This region, formerly exhaling the grateful odour of monasteries, or glittering with a multitude of cities built by the Romans, now desolate through the ancient devastations of the Danes, or those more recent of the Normans,* presents but little to allure the mind. Here is the river Wear, of considerable breadth and rapid tide ; which running into the sea, receives the vessels, borne by gentle gales, on the calm bosom of its haven. Both its banks f have been made conspicuous by one Benedict, j: who there built churches and monasteries ; one dedicated to Peter, and the other to Paul, united in the bond of brotherly love and of monastic rule. The industry and forbearance of this man, any one will admire who reads the book which Bede composed concerning his life and those of the succeeding abbats : his industry, in bringing over a multitude of books, and being the first person who introduced in England constructors of stone edifices, as well as makers of glass windows ; in which pursuits he spent almost his whole life abroad : the love of his country and his taste for elegance beguiling his painful labours, in the
* The cotintiy was laid waste by the Danes, a.d. 793, and contmned to he disturbed by them throughout the reigns of Alfred and EtheJied, The great devastation was made by William the Conqueror a.d. 1069.
t This is not quite correct : Jarrow, one of Benedict's monasteries, is on the river Tvne.
f Benedict sumamed Biscop, a noble Northumbrian, quitted the service of king Oswy, when he had attained his twenty-fifth year, and travelled to Rome five several times ; occupying himself while there, either in leanung the Roman ritual, or in collecting books, pictures, and ornaments of various descriptions for the monasteries he had founded at Wearmouth : he also brought over masons from France to build a church after the Roman manner ; as well aa'artificers in glass. See Bede's Lives of the Abbata of Wearmouth and Janrow.
A. A. ADO.] CBOLFBID. 55
eaniest desire of canvejiiig something to his coantrjmen oat of llie common way ; for very rarely before the time of Benedict were buildings of stone * seen in Britain, nor did the solar ray cast its light through the transparent glass. Again, his forbearance: for when in possession of the monastery of St Augustine at Canterbury, he cheerfully resigned it to Adrian, when he arrived, not as fearing the aeyerity of St. Theodore the archbishop, but bowing to his aulhority. And farther, while long absent abroad, he endured not only with temper, but^ I may say, with magnanimity, the substitution of another abbat, without his knowledge, by the monks of Wearmouth ; and on his return, admitted him to equal honour with himself, in rank and power. Moreover, when stricken so severely with the palsy that he could move none of his limbs, he appointed a third abbat, because the other, of whom we have spoken, was not less affected by the same disease. And when the disorder, increasing, was just about to seize his vitals, he bade adieu to his companion, who was brought into his presence, with an inclination of the head only ; nor was he better able to return the salutation, for he was hastening to a still nearer exit, and actually died before Benedict
Ceolfirid succeeded, under whom the affairs of the monasteiy flourished beyond measure. When, through eztrane old age, life ceased to be desirable, he purposed going to Rome, that he might pour out^ as he hoped, his aged soul an offering to the apostles his masters. But failing of the object of his desires, he paid the debt of nature at the city of Langres. The relics of his bones were in after time conveyed to his monastery ; and at the period of the Danish devastation, with those of St Hilda, were taken to Glaston- bury.f The merits of these abbats, sufficiently eminent in
• ' . . • lapidei tabnlatiu,*' thia seems mtended to designate buildings intfa courses of stone in a regular manner, which is also implied by >iin>, De Gestis Pontif. lib. iii. f. 148. Bede, whom he here follows, affoids no ■Mistenoe as to the precise meaning : he merely states, that Benedict caused a efaufch to be erected after the Roman model.
t The monks of Glastonbuiy used all poesible means to obtain relics of saints. See the curious account of a contention concerning the body of St Danatan, which those monks asserted they had stolen ftom Canterbury, after it had been burnt by the Danes, in the time of Ethelrcd, in Wharton! Aniglia Saoiy toI. iL p. 222.
56* WILLIAM or ICAUCESBUBT. [B.r.e.V
themselves, their celebrated pupil, Bede, cnrvrns with superior splendour. It is written indeed, *' A wise son is the gloiy of his father : " for one of them made him a monk, the other educated him. And since Bede himself has given some slight notices of these facts, comprising his whole life in a kind of summary, it may be allowed to turn to his words, which the reader will recognize, lest any variation of the style should affect the relation. At the end then of ^e Ecclesiastical Histoiy of the English * this man, as praise- worthy in other respects as in this, that he withheld nothing from posterity, though it might be only a trifling knowledge of himself, says thus :
" I, Bede, the servant of Christ, and priest of the monas- tery of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, which is at Wear- mouth, have, by Gknl's assistance, arranged these materiala . for the history of Britain. I was bom within the poeses- sions of this monastery, and at seven years of age, was com- mitted, by the care of my relations, to the most reverend abbat Benedict, to be educated, and, after, to Ceolfrid ; pass- ing the remainder of my life from that period in residence at the said monastery, I have given up my whole attention to the study of the Scriptures, and amid the observance of my regular discipline and my daily duty of singing in the church, have ever delighted to learn, to teach, or to writer In the nineteenth year of my life, I took deacon's, in the thirtieth, priest's orders ; both, at the instance of abbat Ceolfrid, by the ministry of the most reverend bishop John :f from which time of receiving the priesthood tiU the fifty- ninth year of my age,. I have been employed for the benefit of myself or of my friends, in making these extracts from the works of the venerable fathers, or in making additions, according to the form of their sense or interpretation." Then enumerating thirty-six volumes which he published in seventy-eight books, he proceeds, " And I pray most earnestly, O merciful Jesus, that thou wouldst grant me, to whom thou hast abeady given the knowledge of th3rself, finally to come to thee, the fountain of all wisdom, and to appear for ever in thy presence. Moreover I humbly entreat all persons^
* Eccles. Hist., book y. ch. 24.
t John of Beverley, Ufthop of Hexham, a.d. 686. He iras made bkibop of York, k.D, 705, and died 7th of Maj, 722. See Bede^ b. t. c ^—4.
A^TDL] gKBGIUS'fl EFI8TLB. 57
wbether readers or hearers, whom this history of our nation shall reach, that they he mindful to intercede with the divine <^mency for my infirmities both of mind and of body, and that, in their several provinces^ they make me this grateful return ; that I^ who have diligently laboured to record, of every province, or of more exalted places, what appeared worthy of preservation or agreeable to the inhabitants, may receive, firom all, the benefit of their pious intercessions."
Here my abilities &i], here my eloquence falls short : ignorant which to praise most, the number of his writings, or the gravity of his style. No doubt he had imbibed a large portion of heavenly wisdom, to be able to compose so many volumes within the limits of so short a life. Nay, they even report, that he went to Rome for the purpose either of personally asserting that his writings were oon- ^stexxt with the doctrines of the church ; or of correcting them by apostolical authority, should they be found repug- nant thereto. That he went to Rome I do not however affirm for fact : but I have no doubt in declaring that he was invited thither, as the following epistle will certify ; as well as that the see of Rome so highly esteemed him as greatly to desire his presence.
^ Serghts the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Ceoifrid the holy abbot sendeth greeting : —
** With what words, and in what manner, can we declare the kindness and unspeakable providence of our God, and return fit thanks for his boundless benefits, who leads us, when placed in darkness, and the shadow of death, to the light of knowledge T* And below, " Know, that we received the fkvoor of the offering which your devout piety hath sent by the present bearer, with the same joy and goodwill with which it was transmitted. We assent to the timely and be- coming prayers of your laudable anxiety with deepest regard, and entreat of your pious goodness, so acceptable to God, that, since there have occurred certain points of ecclesiastical discipline, not to be promulgated without farther examina- tion, which have made it necessary for us to confer with a person skilled in literature, as becomes an assistant of Grod's holy universal mother-church, you would not delay paying ready obedience to this, our admonition ; but would send without loss of time, to our lowly presence, at the church of
•58 WnXIAK OF XALMESBmnr. [b.i. cS.
the chief apostles, my lords Peter and Paul, your Mends and protectors, that religious servant of Grod, Bede, the venerable priest of your monastery ; whom, God willing, you may expect to return in safety, when the necessary discussion of the above- mentioned points shall be, by God's assistance, solemnly completed : for whatever may be added to the church at large, by his assistance, will, we trust, be profitable to the things conmiitted to your immediate care."
So extensive was his fame then, that even the majesty of Rome itself solicited his assistance in solving abstruse ques- tions, nor did Gallic conceit ever find in this Angle any thing justly to blame. All the western world yielded the palm to his faith and authority ; for indeed he was of ^und faith, and of artless, yet pleasing eloquence : in all elucida- tions of the holy scriptures, discussing those points from which the reader might imbibe the love of God, and of his neighbour, rather than those which might charm by their wit^ or polish a rugged style. Moreover the irrefragable truth of that sentence, which the majesty of divine wisdom proclaimed to the world forbids any one to doubt the sanctity of his life, " Wisdom will not enter the malevolent soul, nor dwell in the person of the sinful ;** which indeed is said not of earthly wisdom, which is infused promiscuously into the hearts of men, and in which, even the wicked, who continue their crimes until their last day, seem often to excel, accord- ing to the divine expression, *' The sons of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light }" but it rather describes that wisdom which needs not the assistance of learning, and which dismisses from its cogitations those things which are void of understanding, that is to say, of the understanding of acting and speaking properly. Hence Seneca in his book, " De Causis,"* appositely relates that Oato, defining the duty of an orator, said, '^ An orator is a good man, skilled in speaking." This ecclesiastical orator, then, used to purify his knowledge, that so he might, as far as possible, unveil the meaning of mystic writings. How indeed could that man be enslaved to vice who gave his whole soul and spirit to elucidate the scriptures ? For, as he confesses in his third book on Samuel, if his expositions were produc- tive of no advantage to his readers, yet were they of con-
• Seneca» CoDtroyen. lib. 1.
A.V. 735.] DEATH OF BEDK. 59
importance to himself, inasmuch as, while fully in- tent upon them, he escaped the vanitj and empty imagina- tions of the times. Purified from vice, therefore, he entered within the inner veU, divulging in pure diction the senti- ments of his mind.
Bat the unspotted sanctity and holy purity of his heart were chiefly conspicuous on the approach of death. Although for seven weeks successively, from the indisposition of his stomach, he nauseated all food, and was troubled with such a difficulty of breathing that his disorder confined him to his bed, yet he by no means abandoned his literary avocations. Daring whole days he endeavoured to mitigate the pressure of bis disorder and to lose the recollection of^ it by constant lectures to his pupils, and by examining and solving abstruse qne8ti<»is^ in addition to his usual task of psalmody. More- over the gospel of St. John, which from its difficulty exer- cises the talents of its readers even to the present day, was translated by him into the English language, and accommo- dated to those who did not understand Latin. Occasionally, also, would he admonish his disciples, saying, ^' Learn, my children, while I am with you, for I know not how long I shall continue ; and although my Maker should very shortly take me hence, and my spirit should return to him that sent and granted it to come into this life, yet have I lived long, God hath rightly appointed my portion of days, I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ."
Often too when the balance was poised between hope and fear, he would remark ^' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.* I have not passed my life among yoa in such manner as to be ashamed to live, neither do I fear to die, because we have a kind Master ;** thus borrowing the expression of St. Ambrose when dying. Happy man ! who could speak with so quiet a coniscience as neither being ashamed to Hve, nor afraid to die ; on the one hand not fear- ing the judgment of men, on the other waiting with com- posure the hidden will of Grod. Of^n, when urged by ex- tremity of pain, he comforted himself with these remarks, ^ The furnace tries the gold, and the fire of temptation the just man : the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
* HebrevB x. 31.
60. WILLIAK OF ICALMSaBUBT. Cb.i.c.3.
to be compared to the future glory which shall be revealed in us."* Tears and a difficulty of breathing accompanied his words. At night, when there were none to be instructed or to note down his remarks, he passed the whole season in giving thanks and singing psabns, fulfilling the saying of that very wise man,f '^ that he was never less alone than when alone." If at any time a short and disturbed sle^ stole upon his eye-lids, he immediately shook it oft, and showed that his affections were always intent on God, by exclaiming " Lift me up, O Lord, that the proud calumniate me not Do with thy servant according to thy mercy." These and similar ex- pressions which his shattered memory suggested, flowed spontaneously from his lips whenever the pain of his agonis- ing disorder became mitigated. But on the Tuesday before our Lord's ascension his disease rapidly increased^ and there appeared a small swelling in his feet, the sure and certain indication of approaching death. Then the congregation being called togetiier, he was anointed and reoelTed die sacra- ment Kissing them all, and requesting from each that they would bear him in remembrance, he gave a small present^ which he had privately reserved, to some with whom he had been in closer bonds of friendship. On Ascension day, when his soul, tired of the frail occupation of the body, panted to be free, lying down on a hair-cloth near the oratory, where he used to pray, with sense unimpaired and joyful counte- nance, he invited the grace of the Holy Spirit, saying, *' 0 King of glory, Lord of virtue, who ascendedst this day trium- phant into the heavens, leave us not destitute, but send upon us the promise of the Father, the Spirit of truth." This prayer ended, he breathed his last, and immediately the senses of all were pervaded by an odour such as neither cinnamon nor balm could give, but coming, as it were, from paradise, and fraught with all the joyous exhalations of spring. At that time he was buried in the same monastery, but at pre- sent, report asserts that he lies at Durham with St Cuthbert With this man was buried almost all knowledge of history down to our times, inasmuch as there has been no English-
* Romans viii. 18.
t Scipio Africanus was accustomed to obsenre, '* that ha wm newer less idle than when unoccupied, nor never less alone than when by himseUL" Cicero de Offie* 1. 8.
A.ik 717. 738.] KING EADBEBT. 61
man either emulous of his pursuits, or a follower of his graces, who could continue the thread of his discourse, now brc^en short. Some few indeed, '^whom the mild Jesus loved," though well skilled in literature, have jet observed an ungracious silence throughout their lives ; others, scarcely tasting of the stream, have fostered a criminal indolence. Thus to the slothful succeeded others more slothful stiU, and the warmth of sdence for a long time decreased throughout the island. The verses of his epitaph will afford sufficient specimen of this indolence ; they are indeed contemptible, and unworthy the tomb of so great a man :
" Pieflbyter hie Beda, requieBcit came sepultus ; Dona, Christe, animam in coelis gaud^re per mram : Daque illi sophis debriari fonte, cui jam Stupiiayit ovana, intento semper amore."*
Can this disgrace be extenuated by any excuse^ that there was not to be found even in that monastery, where during his lifetime the school of all learning had flourished, a single person who could write his epitaph, except in this mean and paltry style ? But enough of this : I wiU return to my subject.
Ceolwulf thinking it beneath the dignity of a Christian 'to b^ immersed in earthly things, abdicated the throne after a reign of eight years, and assumed the monastic habit at Lin- dis&me, in which place how meritoriously he lived, is amply testified by his being honourably interred near St. Cuthbcrt, and by many miracles vouchsafed from on high.
He had made provision against the state's being endan- gered, by placing his cousin, Eadbert, f on the throne, which he filled for twenty years with singular moderation and virtue. Eadbert had a brother of the same name, archbishop of York, who, by his own prudence and the power of the king, restored that see to its original state. For, as is well known to any one conversant in the history of the Angles, J
* These lines are thus rendered into English :
''Beneath this stone Bede's mortal body lies ; God grant his soul may rest amid the skies. May he drink deeply, in the realms above, Of wisdom's fomit, which he on earth did love !"
ir Galled Egbert by some writen. t Paulinus had departed from
Northumbria, in consequence of the confusion which prevailed on the death of Edwin. Bede, b. ii. c. 20. He died Oct. 10, 644.
62 "WTLLIAK OF MALKBSBUBT. (b.i.c.SL
PaulinuAy the first prelate of the church of York, had been forcibly driven awaj, and died at Rochester, where he left that honourable distinction of the pall which he had received from pope Honorius. After him, manjr prelates of this august city, satisfied with the name of a simple bishopric, aspired to nothing higher : but when Eadbert was seated on the throne, a man of loftier spirit, and one who thought, that, " as it is over-reaching to require what is not our due, so is it ignoble to neglect our right,** he reclaimed the pall by frequent appeals to the pope. This personage, if I may be allowed the expression, was the depository and receptacle of every liberal art ; and founded a most noble library at York. For this I cite Alcuin,* as competent witness ; who was sent from the kings of England to ihe emperor Charles the Great, to treat of peace, and being hospitably entertained by him, observes, in a letter to Eanbald, third in succession from Eadbert, " Praise and glory be to Grod, who hath pre- served my days in full prosperity, that I should rejoice in the exaltation of my dearest son, who laboured in my stead, in the church where I had been brought up and educated, and presided over the treasures of wisdom, to which my beloved master, archbishop Egbert, left me heir." Thus too to Charles Augustus :f ^^ Give me the more polished vo- lumes of scholastic learning, such as I used to have in my own country, through the laudable and ardent industry it my master, archbishop Egbert. And, if it please your wis- dom, I will send some of our youths, who may obtain thence whatever is necessary, and bring back into France the flow- ers of Britain ; that the garden of Paradise may not be con- fined to York, but that some of its scions may be transplanted to Tours."
This is the same Alcuin, who, as I have said, was sent into France to treat of peace, and during his abode with Charles, captivated either by the pleasantness of the country or the kindness of the king, settled there ; and being held in high estimation, he taught the king, during his leisure from
* Alcuin, a natiye of Noithumbiia, and educated at York, through his learning and talents became the intimate friend and favourite of %ario* magne, for whom he transcribed, with his own hand, the H0I7 Scriptorea. This relic is now preserved in the British Museum.
f See this epistle at length in Alcuini Op. voU i. p. 52. Epist. 38).
A.A.73&] KINOS OF FBAHOS. 68
the cares of state, « thorough knowledge of logic, rhetoric^ and astronomj. Alcum was, of all the Angles, of whom I have read, next to St Aldhekn and Bede, certainlj the most learned, and has given proof of his talents in a varietj of compositions. He lies buried in France, at the church of St Paul, of Cormaric,* which monastery Charles the Great built at his suggestion : on which account, eyen at the pre- sent daj, the subsistence of four monks is distributed in ahns, for the soul of our Alcuin, in that church.
But since I am arriyed at that point where the mention of Charles the Great naturally presents itself I shall subjoin a true statement of the descent of the kings of France, of which antiquity has said much : nor shall I depart widely from my design ; because to be unacquainted with their noe^ I hold as a defect in information ; seeing that they are oar near neighbours, and to them the Christian world chiefly looks up : and, perhaps, to glance over this compendium may giye pleasure to many who have not leisure to wade through Tolnminous works.
The Franks were so called, by a Greek appellative, from the ferocity of their manners, when, by order of the emperor Valentinian the First, they ejected the Alani, who had i^etreated to the Madotian marshes. It is scarcely possible to helieve how much this people, few and mean at first, became increased by a ten years' exemption from taxes : such, before the war, being the condition on which they engaged in it Thus augmenting wonderfully by the acquisition of freedom, and first seizing the greatest part of Germany, and next the whde of Gaul, they tximpelled the inhabitants to Ust under their banners. Hence the Lotharingi and Allamanni, and other nations beyond the Rhine, who are subject to the emperor of Grermany, will have themselves more properly to he called Franks ; and those whom we suppose Franks, they ^ by an ancient appellative Galwalae^ that is to say, Gauls. To this opinion I assent ; knowing that Charles the Great, whom none can deny to have b^ king of the Franks, always used the same vernacular language with the Franks on the other side of the Rhine. Any one who shall read the
* Othen aaj he wai buried at St Martin's, at Toun, where he died, April 18, 804. His worin will be included in Patbbs Eoclesim An«u-
CAHM,
64 WILLIAM or KALMESBUST. [B.i.e.S.
life of Cliarles wOl readily admit the truth of my assertion.* in the year then of the Incarnate Word 425 the Franks were governed by Faramnnd, their first king. The grand- son of Faramund was Meroyeus, from whom all the suc- ceeding kings of the Franks, to the time of Pepin, were called Merovingians. In like manner the sons of the kings of the Angles took patronymical appellations from their fathers. For instance ; Ea^aring the son of Edgar ; Ead- munding the son of Edmund, and the rest in like manner ; commoidy, however, they are called ethelings. The native ^ language of the Franks, therefore, partakes of that of the Angles, by reason of both nations originating from Germany. The Merovingians reigned successfully and powerfully till the year of our Lord's incarnation, 687. At that period Pepin, son of Ansegise, was made mayor of the palace | among the Franks, on the other side of the Rhine. Seizing opportunities for veiling his ambitious views, he completely subjugated his master Theodoric, the dregs as it were of the Merovingians, and to lessen the obloquy excited by the transaction, he indulged him with the empty title of king, while himself managed every thing, at home and abroad, according to his own pleasure. The genealogy of this Pepin, both to and from him, is thus traced : Ausbert, the senator, on Blithilde, the daughter of Lothaire, the father of Dago- bert, begot Arnold : Arnold begot St. Amulph, bishop of Metz : Amulph begot Flodulph, Walcthise, Aiischise : Flo- dulph begot duke Martin, whom Ebroin slew : Walcthise begot the most holy Wandregesil the abbat : duke Anschise begot Ansegise : Ansegise b^ot Pepin. The son of Pepin « was Carolus Tudites, whom they also call Martel, because he beat down the tyrants who were raising up in every part of France, and nobly defeated the Saracens, at that time infest- ing Gaul. Following the practice of his father, whilst he was himself satisfied with the title of earl, he kept the kings
* The Life of Charlemagne, by Eginhard, who was lecretaiy to that monarch. Du Chesne Script. Franc, torn. ii. It is one of the most amiu- ing books of the period.
f The mayors of the palace seem originally to have tnerely regulated the -king's household, hut by degrees they acquired so much power, that Pepin the elder, maternal grand&ther of him here mentioned, had abcadr become in effect, king of France. They first appear to hare usurped the regal power under Clovis II. â–². d. 638.
747-937.3 GABOLOHAK — CHART.KMAGKB — GLOTTIS. 65
in a state of pupilage. He left two sons, Pepin and Carolo- man. Caroloman, from some unknown cause, relinquishing the world, took his religious vows at Mount Cassin. Pepin was crowned king of the Franks, and patrician of the Ro- mans^ in the church of St. Denys, by pope Stephen, the suc- cessor of Zachary. For the Constantinopolitan emperor^ alreadj much degenerated from their ancient valour, giving no assistance either to Italy or the church of Rome, which had long groaned, under the tyranny of the Lombards, this pope bewailed the injuries to which they were exposed from them to the ruler of the Franks ; wherefore Pepin passing the Alps, reduced Desiderius, king of the Lombards, to such difEiculties, that he restored what he had plundered to the chnrch of Rome, and gave surety by oath that he would not attempt to resume it. Pepin returning to France after some years, died, leaving his surviving children, Charles and Carol<Hnan, his heirs. In two years Caroloman departed tkiii life. Charles obtaining the name of '' Great" from his exploits, enlarged the kingdom to twice the limits which it possessed in his father's time, and being contented for more than thirty years with the simple title of king, abstained from the appellation of emperor, though repeatedly invited to assume it by pope Adrian. But when, after the death of this pontiff his relations maimed the holy Leo, his successors in the church of St. Peter, so as to cut out his tongue, and put out his eyes, Charles hastily proceeded to Rome to settle the state of the church. Justly punishing these abandoned wretches, he stayed there the whole winter, and restored the pontiff now speaking plainly and seeing clearly, by the miraculous interposition of God, to his customary power. At that time the Roman people, with the privity of the pon- liS, on the day of our Lord's nativity, unexpectedly hailed him with the title of Augustus ; which title, though, from its being unusual, he reluctantly admitted, yet afterwards he defended with proper spirit against the Constantinopolitan emperors, and left it, as hereditary, to his son Louis. His descendants reigned in that country, which is now properly called France, till the time of Hugh, sumamed Capet, from whom is descended the present Louis. From the same stock oame the sovereigns of Germany and Italy, till the year of our Lord 912, when Conrad, king of the Teutonians, seized
9
66 WILLIAM OF MALMESBUBT. I&r. c5.
that empire. The grandson of this personage was Otho the Great, equal in every estimable quality to any of the em- perors who preceded him. Thus admirable for his valour and goodness, he left the empire hereditary to his posterity ; for the present Henry, son-in-law of Henry, king of Eng- land, derives his lineage from his blood.
To return to my narrative: Alcuin, though promoted by Charles the Great to the monastery of St. Martin in France, was not unmindful of his countrymen, but exerted himself to retain the emperor in amity with them, and stimulated them to virtue by frequent epistles. I shall here sul^oin many of his observations, from which it will appear clearly how soon after the death of Bede the love of learning de- clined even in his own monastery: and how quickly after the decease of Eadbert the kingdom of the Northumbrians came to ruin, through the prevalence of degenerate manners.
He says thus to the monks of Wearmouth, among whom Bede had both lived and died, obliquely accusing them of having done the very thing which he begs them not to do, '^ Let the youths be accustomed to attend the praises of our heavenly King, not to dig up the burrows of foxes, or pursue the winding mazes of hares ; let them now learn the Holy Scriptures, that, when grown up, they may be able to in- struct others. Remember the most noble teacher of our times, Bede, the priest, what thirst for learning he had in his youth, what praise he now has among men, and what a far greater reward of glory with Grod.** Again, to those of York he says, " The Searcher of my heart is witness that it was not for lust of gold that I came to France or continued there, but for the necessities of the church.'' And thus to OfFa, king of the Mercians, " I was prepared to come to you with the presents of king Charles and to return to my coun- try, but it seemed more advisable to me, for the peace of my nation, to remain abroad, not knowing what I could have done among those persons, with whom no one can be secure, or able to proceed in any laudable pursuit. Behold every holy place is laid desolate by Pagans, the altars are polluted by perjury, the monasteries dishonoured by adultery, the earth itseff stained with the blood of rulers and of princes." Again, to king Ethelred, third in the sovereignty after Ead- bert, " Behold the church of St Cuthbert is sprinkled with
rS8.J 08WULPH. 67
the blood of God's priests, despoiled of all its ornaments, and the holiest spot in Britain given up to Pagan nations to be plundered ; and where, after the departure of St. Paulinus from York, the Christian religion first took its rise in our own nation, there nusery and calamity took their rise also. What portends that shower of blood which in the time oi Lent, in the city of York, the capital of the whole kingdom, in the chorch of St Peter, the chief of the apostles, we saw tremendously falling on the northern side of the building fnnn the summit of the roof^ though the weather was fair ? Must not blood be expected to come upon the land from the northern r^ons?" Again, to Osbert, prince of the Mer- dans, '^Our kingdom of the Northumbrians has almost perished through internal dissensions and perjury." So also to Athelard, archbishop of Canterbury, ^^I speak this on account of the scourge which has lately fallen on that part of our island which has beeii inhabited by our fore&thers for nearly three hundred and forty years. It is recorded in the writings of Gildas, the wisest of the Britons, that those â–¼erj Britons ruined their country through the avarice and rapine of their princes, the iniquity and injustice of their judges, their bishops' neglect of preaching, the luxury and abandoned manners of the people. Let us be cautious that such vices become not prevalent in our times, in order that the divine favour may preserve our country to us in that happy prosperity for the future which it has hitherto in its most merdfol kindness vouchsafed us."
It has been made evident, I think, what disgrace and what destruction the neglect of learning and the immoral manners of degenerate men brought upon England 1 These remarks obtain this place in my history merely for the purpose of cautioning my readers.
Eadbert, then, rivalling his brother in piety, assumed the monastic habit, and gave place to Oswulph, his son, who being, without any cause on his part, slain by his subjects, was, after a twelvemonth's reign, succeeded by MolL Moll carried on the government with commendable diHgence for eleven years,* and then fell a victim to the treachery of
* Malmeibuxy dlffen ftt>m all the best authorities, who assign only six jeara to his reign. He ascended the throne a.d. 759, and was expelled Aj>. 765.
F 2
68 WILLIAM OF MALMESBUBT. CB.i.c.a
Alcred. Alcred in his tenth year was compelled by his countrymen to retire from the government which he had usurped. Ethelred too, the son of Moll, being elected king, was expelled by them at the end of five years. Alfwold was next hailed sovereign ; but he also^ at the end of eleven years, experienced the perfidy of the inhabitants, for he was cut off by assassination, though guiltless, as his distinguished interment at Hexham and divine miracles sufficiently declare. His nephew, Osred,* the son of Alcred, succeeding him, was expelled after the space of a year, and gave place to Ethel- red, who was also called Ethelbert. He was the son of Moll, also called Ethelwald, and, obtaining the kingdom after twelve years of exile, held it during four, at the end of which time, unable to escape the fate of his predecessora, he was cruelly murdered. At this, many of the bishops and nobles greatly shocked, fled from the country. Some indeed affirm that he was punished deservedly, because he had as- sented to the unjust murder of Osred, whereas he had it in his power to quit the sovereignty and restore him to his throne. Of the beginning of this reign Alcuin thus speaks : "Blessed be God, the only worker of miracles, Ethelred, the son of Ethelwald, went lately from the dungeon to the throne, from misery to grandeur; by the infancy of whose reign we are detained from coming to you.**! Of his death he writes t thus to Ofl& king of the Mercians: "Your es- teemed kindness is to understand that my lord, king Charles, often speaks to me of you with affection and sincerity, and in him you have the firmest friend. He therefore sends becoming presents to your love, and to the several sees of your kingdom. In like manner he had appointed presents for king Ethelred, and for the sees of his bishops, but» oh, dreadful to think, at the very moment of despatching these gifts and letters there came a sorrowful account, hf the
* Otred, through a conspiracy of his nobles, had been deposed, and, after receiving the tonsure, was compelled to go into exile. Two jean after, induced by the promises and oaths of certain of the Northnmbrian chieft, he returned, but being deserted by his fbrces, he was made priaoaer and put to death by the oi^er of Ethelred. Sim. Dunelm. a.i>, 790 — 2. Osred was expelled from his kingdom, a.d. 790, and Ethelred waa lotored after an exile of twelve years. — Hardy,
t This letter is not yet published in Alcuini Opera.
X Epist. xlii. Op. torn. i. p. 57.
A.1K 796-07] KINO EGBERT. % 69
ambassadors who returned out of Scotland through your ooimtrj, of the faithlessness of the people, and the death of the king. So that Charles, withholding his liberal gifts, is so highly incensed against that nation as to call it per- fidious and perverse, and the murderer of its sovereignsi esteeming it worse than pagan; and had I not interceded be would haye already deprived them of every advantage within his reach, and have done them all the ii^ury in his power."
After Ethelred no one durst ascend the throne;* each dreading the fate of his predecessor, and preferring a life of safety in inglorious ease^ to a tottering reign in anxious suspense: for most of the Northumbrian kings had ended their reigns by a death which was now become almost habituaL Thus being without a sovereign for thirty-three jearsy that province became an object of plunder and con- tempi to its neighbours. For when the Danes, who, as I have before related from the words of Alcuin, laid waste the holy places, on their return home represented to their countrymen the fruitfulness of the island, and the indolence of its inhabitants; these barbarians came over hastily, in great numbers, and obtained forcible possession of that part of the country, till the time we are speaking of : indeed they had a king of their own for many years, though he was sub- ordinate to the authority of the king of the West Saxons. However, after the lapse of these thirty-three years, king Egbert obtained the sovereignty of this province, as well as of the others, in the year of our Lord's incarnation 827, and the twentj-dghth of his reign. And since we have reached his timeSy mindful of our engagement, we shall speak briefly of the kingdom of the Mercians ; and this, as well because we admire brevity in relation, as that there is no great abundance of materials.
* Tbit is not quite correct : Osbald was elected by a party to succeed bim; but after a very short period he was deposed, and the government devolved on Eaidulf. Eardulf after a few years was driven into exile; vcDt to Rome, and, it would seem, was restored to his kingdom, by the influcoce of Charlemagne, a.d. 808. Y. Sim. Dunelm. coL 117, and ^giDhaidi Annalei^ Dudiesne, 2, 266.
70 WILLIAM. OF KALMBflBUBT. [b. i c. I.
CHAPTER IV.
Of the kings qf the Mercians. [ a.d. 626—674.}
In the year of our Lord's incamation 626, and the hundred and thirty-ninth after the death of Hengist, Penda the son of Pybba, tenth in descent of Woden, of noble lines^e, ex- pert in war, but at the same time an irreligious heathen, at the age of fifty assumed the title* of king of the Mercians, after he had already fostered his presumption by frequent incursions on his neighbours. Seizing the sovereignty, therefore, with a mind loathing quiet and unconscious how great an enormity it was even to be victorious in a contest against his own countrymen, he began to attack the neigh- bouring cities, to invade the confines of the surrounding kings, and to fill everything with terror and confusion. For what would not that man attempt, who, by his lawless dar- ing, had extinguished those luminaries of Britain, Edwin and Oswald, kings of the Northumbrians, Sigebert, £<^ric, and Anna, kings of the East Angles ; men, in whom nobility of race was equalled by sanctity of life ? Kenwalk also, king of the West Saxons, after being frequently harassed by him, was driven into exile; though, perhaps, he deser- vedly paid the penalty of his perfidy towards God, in deny- ing his faith ; and towards Penda himself, in repudiating his sister. It is irksome to relate, how eagerly he watched op- portunities of slaughter, and as a raven flies greedily at the scent, of a carcase, so he joined Cadwalla,! and was of in- finite service to him, in recovering his dominions. In this manner, for thirty years, he attacked his countrymen, but did nothing worthy of record against strangers. His insa- tiable desires, however, at last found an end suitable to their deserts ; for being routed, with his allies, by Oswy, who had succeeded his brother Oswald, more through the assistance
* It would appear that Penda was not the fint king, but the BnA of any note. Hen. Huntingdon assigns the origin of the kingdom to about the year 584 under Grida, who was succeeded, in the year 600, by Pybba; Ceorl came to the throne in 610, and Penda in 626. See H. Hast, f. 181, 184— b.
t King of the Britons, see Bede, b. ii. ch. 20. It was by his aanstapoe tfiat CadwaUa defeated Edwin, king of Northumbzia, at Hatfield, OcL 12, A.D. 633.
A A <5»~eei.l PBADA — ^WULFHEBfi. 7 J
of God than bis military powers, Fenda increased the num- ber of infernal spirits. By bis queen Kyneswitb bis sons were Peada, Wulfbere, Etbelred, Merwal, and Mercelin; bis daughters, Kyneburg, and Kyneswith ; both distinguished for inviolable chastity. Thus the parent, though ever re- bellious towards Grod, produced a most holy offspring for Heaven.
His son Peada succeeded him in a portion of the kingdom, by the permission of Oswy, advanced to the government of the South Mercians ; a young man of talents, and even in his father's lifetime son-in-law to Oswy. For he had re- ceived his daughter, on condition of renouncing paganism and embracing Christianitj; in which faith he would soon have caused Uie province of participate, the peaceful state of the kingdom and his father-in-law's consent tending to such a purpose, had not bis death, hastened, as they say, by the intrigues of bis wife, intercepted these joyful prospects. Then Oswy resumed the government, which seemed rightly to appertain to him from bis victory over the father, and from his affinity to the son. The spirit, however, of tne inhabitants could not brook his authority more than three years; for they expeUed his generals, and Wulfbere, the son of Fenda, being hailed as his successor, the province recovered its liberty.
Wulfbere, that he might not disappoint the hopes of the nation, began to act with energy, to show himself an efficient prince by great exertions both mental and personal, and finally to afford Christianity, introduced by his brother and yet hardly breathing in his kingdom, every possible assist- ance. In the early years of his reign he was heavily op- pressed by the king of the West Saxons, but in succeeding times, repelling the injury by the energy of his measures, he deprived him of the sovereignty of the Isle of Wight ; and leading it, yet panting after heathen rites, into the proper path, he soon after bestowed it on his godson, Ethelwalch, king of the South Saxons, as a recompence for his faith. But these and all his other good qualities ar^ stained and deteriorated by the dreadful brand of simony ; because he, first of the kings of the Angles, sold the sacred bishopric of London to one Wini, an ambitious man. His wife was Ermenbilda, the daughter of Eroonbert, king of Kent, of
72 WILLIAM OV UALMESBUBT. [B.f.c.4.
whom lie begat Kinred, aad Wereburga, a most holj yiigin who lies buried at Chester. His brother Merewald married Ermenburga, the daughter of Ermenred, brother of the same Erconbert ; bj her he had issue, three daughters ; Milbui^ who lies at Weneloch ; Mildritha in Kent, in the monastery of St. Augustine ; and Milgitha : and one son, Merefin. Al- frid king of th^ Northumbrians married Kjneburg, daoghter of Penda: who, after a time, disgusted with w^ock, took the habit of a nun in the monastery which her brothers^ Wulfhere and Ethelred, had founded.
Wulf here died at the end of nineteen years, and his bro- ther Ethelred ascended the throne ; more famed for his pious disposition than his skill in war. Moreover he was satisfied with displaying his valour in a single but illustrious expe- dition into Kent, and passed the remainder of his life in quiet, except that attacking Egfirid, king of the Northnm- brians, who had passed beyond the limits of his kingdono, he admonished him to return home, by the murder of his brother Elfwin. He atoned however for this slaughter, after due deliberation, at the instance of St. Theodore, the archbishop, by giving Egfrid a large sum of money.* Sub* sequently to this, in