on both sides and at last they came to a battell which was fought saith Ethelwerd in the feild of Egelestirpe now call'd Alesford a town in Kent wash'd by the River Medway On the Brittains side were three Cheif Captains who lead each a third part of the Army Ambrosius Aurelianus lead the first division Vortimer the second and Catigern a younger Brother of Vortimer lead the third The Saxon army was conducted by the two Brethren Hengist and Horsa 3. The order and successe of this battell is thus describ'd by Huntingdon In the seaventh year after the arrivall of the Saxons in Brittany a Battell was fought at Alestrew At the beginning whereof Horsa set upon the army of Catigern with such Vigour that it was dispers'd like dust before the wind and Catigern the Kings son was slain But his Brother Vortimer a Prince of admirable courage falling in sidewayes into Horsa's squadrons routed them and kill'd Horsa the most valorous of the Saxons the remainder of his forces fled to Hengist who then was fighting with invincible courage against Ambrosius By this means the whole Weight of the combat lay upon Hengist who being assalted and brought into great straits by the accession of Vortimers forces after he had a good while sustain'd the impression of the whole Brittish army was at last overcome and compell'd to fly which he had never done before Yet this victory cost the Brittains very deare for great numbers of them were slain 4. With this account given by Huntingdon agrees likewise Mathew of Westminster Yet Wigorniensis expressly affirms that Hengist after the death of his Brother Horsa obtained the Victory And with him Ethelwerd seems to agree 5. Horsa's body was buried in a place not much distant from that of the battell which to this day continues a Monument of his Memory being from him called Hâ—rsted As for Catigern the Son of Vertigern his body is suppos'd to have been buried at Aylsford by the Saxons call'd Eglesford by Henry of Huntingdom Ellestre and by the Brittains Saissenaeg-haibail because the Saxons were over come there To testify which victory there still remain four great stones standing upright over which others are crossewise layd after the manner of Stone-heng in Wiltshire which from Catigern are vulgarly and imperfectly call'd Keith-coty-house Thus writes Camden 6. Horsa being dead the Saxons exalted Hengist to the Title of King of Kent saith Mathew of Westminster And the same year he is reported to have fought three battells against the Brittains But being unable to resist the valour of Vortimer he was forced to retire himself into the Isle of Thanet where likewise he was dayly assalted by the Brittish ships At last the Saxons leaving their wives and children in that Island returned into Germany to call in new and greater forces 7. The year after Hengists return into Germany dyed the glorious King Vortimer in the fourth yeare after he was assumed to a participation of the regall authority Some Writers affirm that he dyed a naturall death by a disease Others say he dyed by poyson administred to him by the fraud of his late Mother-in-law Rowena to which effect thus writes Sigebert with whom agree Geffrey of Monmouth Mathew Westminster Richard White c. The Devill envying the goodnes of Vortimer suggested to the mind of his Step-mother to cause poyson to be given him by one of his servants Which he having drunk and perceiving that death approach'd he divided his treasures among his soldiers earnestly exhorting them to fight courageously for their countrey Moreover he commanded a Pyramid of brasse to be made and placed in the Haven where the Saxons usually landed Vpon which Pyramid his body was to be layd to the end that the Enemies seeing the Monument of so great and valorous a Prince might be frighted back into their own countrey 8. But it is more probable that it was only his statue which he intended should be so placed on the Pyramid For being a Christian Prince he was no doubt buried after the Christian manner with decent solemnity Moreover the same Sigebert acknowledges that he was buried in the Citty of the Trinobantes now called London And with him saith Henry Huntingdon was buried the flower and glory of the Brittish Nation 9. Besides Vortimers courage he is celebrated by ancient Writers for his Piety and other Vertues Chamber a Writer formerly cited by Richard White affirms that in his war against the Saxons be bore in his Ensign the Image of our Lord Iesus Christ to which devotion of his we may impute his Victories In like manner a few years after the famous King Arthur yet more prosperously bore against the same Enemies the Image of our Blessed Lady Sigebert likewise testifies of the same King Vortimer that he restored the Churches destroyed by the Saxons and possessions wrested by them from his Subjects 10. The same year after Vortimers death Hengist return'd out of Germany with greater forces and took a firmer possession of his Kingdom of Kent and for the better establishment of his family therein he joyn'd in his regall power his son Aescae To oppose him therin the Brittains invaded the countrey with a great army the successe of which invasion is thus related by Henry of Huntingdon Hengist and his son Aesca having received auxiliary forces from their own countrey and being more confident of victory by reason of the death of the Young Prince Vortimer prepar'd themselves for war at Creganford The Brittains army consisted of four great Bodies conducted by four valiant Captains But when the conflict was begun they found themselves too weak for the Saxons whose numbers were much more encreas'd then formerly For those that came last were chosen robustious soldiers who with their swords and battle-axes did horribly cleave asunder the bodies of the Brittains Yet did they not give ground till they saw their four Captains slain But after that they were so incredibly terrified that they fled from the feild of battell as far as London and from that time never had the courage to bring an army into Kent again So that Hengist and his son Aesca quietly enjoy'd that Kingdom having their Palace fixed at Canterbury Thus began this new Kingdom of Kent in the eighth year after the coming of the Saxons into Brittany VI. CHAP. 1.2 Hengist persecutes Christians 3 4 c. The Martyrdom of Voadinus Arch-bishop of London 1. IT is not probable that when Vortimer was rais'd to the throne of Brittany this was done by the deposition of his Father Vortigern for we find that when Vortimer was dead his Father afterward continued King for some years and for a while gave proofs of his courage in endeavouring to represse the ambition and violence of his Father in-law Hengist though afterward he returnd to his former slouthfull licentious manner of living 2. Now during the warrs between the Brittains and Saxons in the third year of Vortimers
there to celebrate the Feast of Easter then at hand His first acquaintance and familiarity in that Province was with a certain man who having heard his Doctrin presently beleived and receiving the Sacrament of Baptism was chang'd into a new man With him S. Patrick lodged This man had a young child call'd Beonna who bâ—re a tender affection to S. Patrick so that he would oft play with him and embrace him sometimes kissing his foote which he would presse to his breast When the holy man retir'd to rest the child would weep and say he would not sleep unles he might lye with him Whereupon S. Patrick with a Propheticall eye perceiving the great Graces which the Divine bounty would conferr upon the Child vouchsaf'd to take him to his bed and gave him the name Benignus A while after when the Holy Bishop was ready to take his iourney the child with pittifull cryes begd that he would not forsake him saying that if he forsook him he would dye He was therfore forc'd to receive him into his waggon and withall prophecied that he should be his heyr and successour in the Bishoprick which accordingly came to passe 3. This was the first solemnity of Easter which the Holy Bishop celebrated in Ireland saith Probus And he celebrated it by imitating the Son of God who at his last supper with his Disciples consecrated his Body and Blood for the redemption of mankind 4. The day before this great Feast of our Lords Resurrection S. Patrick observing the Ecclesiasticall Rite still in use kindled the Holy Fire the flame whereof shone brightly about the place Now according to the custom of that countrey it was unlawfull for any one to light a fire before it was kindled in the Kings palace Hereupon the King whose name was Logorius perceiving the brightnes of the flame in great indignation threatned death to whosoever he was that had presumed to infringe that custom in his kingdom The Magicians who were present said to the King O King live for ever And know for a certain that this fire which against Law has been thus kindled unlesse it be presently extinguish'd will never cease to the worlds end Moreover it will obscure all the fires which according to our customs we kindle and the man who lighted it will be the destruction of thy Kingdom X. CHAP. 1.2 c. Of S. Winwaloc his Gests and death 6. c. Of his Deacon S. Ethbin â— WHilst S. Patrick laboured in the Gospell with so great successe Brittany was illustrated with the glory of another great Saint who notwithstanding by reason of the calamities afterward hapning was forc'd to leave his Native countrey and passe over into Armorica in Gaule This was S. Winwaloc the son of a certain Noble person call'd Fracan cousin german to a Brittish Prince nam'd Coton as wee read in the Gallican Martyrologe 2. Malbranc a French Antiquary affirms that his Mothers name was Alba and sirname Trimavis citing for his authority the ancient Manuscript Monuments of Monstrueil And the said Martyrologe gives this Character of him Winwaloc from his childhood was inflam'd with an earnest desire of celestial things to despise worldly allurements and live to God only Wherfore he earnestly begg'd of his parents that â—e might be commended to the care of a certain Religious man to be imbued by him in the knowledge of Holy Scripture and the documents of piety Having obtain'd his request he made wonderfull progres in Holines and vertue under his discipline insomuch that when he was but seaven years old he became an example of all piety and goodnes In processe of time having undertaken a Monasticall Profession Divine Graces shone more brightly in him being withall enrich'd with the Gift of Prophecy Many miracles almighty God wrought by him in performing which having a firm Faith he made use only of the Sign of the Crosse and oyle which had been bless'd Among which miracles the most stupendious was his raising a young man to life 3. At the same time saith Haraeus from Surius the most holy Prelat S. Patricks glory was famous in Gods Church who like a bright starr illustrated Ireland The report of whose admirable vertues kindled so great an affection to him in S. Winwaloc that he us'd all endeavours to goe to him and be subject to his direction in piety But whilst he busied his thoughts with this design S. Patrick in a vision presented himself to him with an Angelicall brightnes and having a golden Diadem on his head he thus spoke to him Behold I am the same Patrick whom thou so earnestly desirest to visit But to prevent so tedious a iourney by sea and land our Lord hath sent mee to thee to fullfill thy desire and that thou maist enjoy both my sight and conversation Besides this he foretold him that he should be a Guide and Directour of many in spirituall warfare for which end he gave him many wholesom instructions Exhorting him withall to desire from his Master some companions and that with them he should remove to another place Assoon as this Vision vanish'd S. Winwaloc went to the Cell in which the Father of the Monastery was attending to Divine Meditation and contemplation To whom assoon as he had declar'd his Vision he with a joyfull countenance said to him My son thou hast been honour'd with a Divine visitation and revelation And without delay as if he had receiv'd a precept from heaven he assign'd to him eleaven Disciples such as were most fervent in Gods service c. 4. The same Authour adds that with these companions he pass'd over into a certain Island where for the space of three years they lead an Heremiticall life But the place being both expos'd to violent tempests and also incommodious by reason of its barrennes S. Winwaloc humbly begg'd of God that he would direct them to a more convenient habitation Our Lord heard his servants prayers and shewd him a place further remov'd in the Sea But wanting a ship he renewd his Prayers to God and having done this he said to his Brethren Be courageous and firm in a strong Faith and as you see mee leade this Brother by the hand so doe every one of you take his next fellows hand and follow one another Then invoking the name of our Lord with his Pastorall Staff he strook the Sea upon which God renewd once more the ancient Miracle of the Red sea for it opened a passage for them so that taking one another by the hand and himself marching in the front they walk'd securely over the dry sands the waters on both sides standing like walls and as they went they sang to our Lord a Hymne of praise and joyfulnes 5. Concerning his austerities wee read thus in Capgrave From the twentieth year of his age to his death S. winwaloc was never seen to sitt in the Church He never exceeded moderation in any thing Never was he deiected with
mutuall charity and Humility After which she happily departed to our Lord on the third day before the Ideâ— of Iuly and was both durâ—ng her life and after her death powerfull in Miracles 5. Her Body was with great honour enterred in the said Monastery of Menstrey where it reposed near four hundred years illustrious by the Veneration of pious Christians and the glory of frequent Miracles From thence about the year of Grace one thousand and thirty it was translated to Canterbury Alstan being Abbot there as shall be declared Concerning which Translation William of Malmsbury thus writes In following time the Sacred Body of Saint Mildred was translated to the Monastery of Saint Augustin in Canterbury where it is with great devotion venerated by the Monks and for the fame of her piety and sweetnes answerable to her Name honoured by all And although all the corners of the said Monastery are full of Saint Bodies eminent for their Sanctity and Merits insomuch as any one of them might suffise to give a luster to the whole Kingdom yet the Relicks of none are with more affectionate honour venerated then hers She is present to all that love her and ready to hear and fullfill the requests of every one c. At London likewise there remains to this day a Church dedicated to her honour 6. Moreover her Memory is celebrated in the Belgick Provinces For as Aubert Miraeus testifies part of her Relicks was transported to Daventry and reposed there in the Cathedral Church Mention is also made of the same Relicks in the Gallican Martyrologe on the thirteenth of Iuly in these words At Daventry in Belgium is the Veneration of the Relicks of S. Mildreda an English Virgin consecrated to God in the Monastery of Chelles in the Territory of Paris which are reposed in the Cathedral Church of S. Lebuin together with the Bodies of the same Saint Lebuin and also of S. Marcellinus Her departure out of the world have given luster to this day Saint Mildreda was conveniently associated to these two Saints Lebuin and Marcellinus for her agreement with them both in her faith and countrey For they were English-Saxons likewise who together with Saint Willebrord preached the Faith to the inhabitants of Friseland and Geldres of whom we shal treat hereafter 7. The determinate year of the death of these two Holy Virgins Saint Milburga and Saint Mildreda is uncertain Certain only it is that it is wrongfully ascribed by some Writers to the year of Grace six hundred sixty four For since the same Authours affirm that they were consecrated by Saint Theodore Arch-bishop of Canterbury who came not into Brittany till after that year it is evident that in their computation there is an Antichronism 8. We may therefore more commodiously ascribe it to this year of our Lords Incarnation six hundred seaventy six In which year on the six and twentieth of February our Martyrologe commemorates the Deposition of their youngest Sister Saint Milgitha or Saint Milwida Concerning whom a very shhort account is given by our ancient Authours For of her wee read only that she entred into the Monastery of Estrey built by the Penitent King Egbert in Kent where she so well imitated the Sanctity of her Sisters that she likewise deserved a place in the Catalogue of our Saints 6. From these we must not separate a young Brother of theirs called Mereâ—in Concerning whom Mathew of Westminster and Florentius testify this only that he was a child of eminent Sanctity XX. CHAP. 1. 2. c. The death and Miracles of Saint Ethelburga daughter of Anna King of the East angles 5. 6 Of S. Thoritgitha 7. Of S. Hildelida 1. TO the same year is referred likewise the death of Saint Ethelburga daughter to Anna the pious King of the East-angles and Sister to Saint Erconwald She was as hath been said Abbesse of the Monastery of Berking founded by her Brother 2. Concerning her death hapning the fifth day before the Ides of October thus writes Saint Beda When Edilburga the proâ—â— Mother of that devoâ—â— Congregation was to be taken out of the world a wonderfull vision appeared to one of the Religious Sisters named Theorethid who had lived many years in the Monastery serving our â—ord with all humility and sincerity and had been an assistant to the Holy Abbesse in promoting the observance of Regular Disciplin her charge being to instruct and correct the younger Sisters Moreover to the end that her spirituall strength might be perfected by infirmity as the Apostle saith she was suddenly assaulted by a most sharp disease and for the space of nine years greivously tormented with it This hapned to her by the mercifull Providence of her Saviour to the end that by this furnace of divine tribulation whatsoever defects or impurities through ignorance or negligence had insinuated themselves into her soule might be cleansed away and consumed 3. Now on a certain night towards the dawn of the morning this Religious Virgin upon some occasion going out of her chamber saw manifestly as it were a human body more bright then the Sun enwrapped in linnen which being transported out of the Dormitory of the Religious Virgins was caried up to heaven And whilst she observed diligently by what force the said body should be raised upwards she saw that it was so lifted up by certain ropes more resplendent then gold by which it was drawn higher and higher till at last the heavens opening it was received in after which she could see it no longer 4. Considering this Vision she did not at all doubt but that it imported that some one of that devout Congregation should shortly dye whose soule by good works formerly done should as by certains cords be raised up to heaven And indeed so it fell out For a few days after Saint Edilburga the devout Mother of the said Congregation was freed from the prison of her body who had lead her life in such perfection that none who knew her could doubt but when she left this world the entrance into her heavenly countrey would be opened to her 5. S. Ethelburga was buried in the same Monastery and after her death likewise was not wanting to procure comforts and blessings to her Religious Sisters For as the same S. Beda relates There was in the same Monastery a Devout Virgin of Noble descent but more ennobled by her Piety called Thorithgida who for many years had been so utterly deprived of the use of her limbs that she could not stirr any one of them She being informed that the Body of the Venerable Abbesse was caried to the Church where it was exposed some time before the buriall desired she might be transported thither and placed leaning toward it in the posture of one that prayes This being done she addressed her petition to her as if she had been alive beseeching her to obtain from her mercifull Creatour that she might at length be freed from her
forthwith acquainted with all these things by a message from his Officer who with much greif beseeched him that he would not sacrifice him to the Devill by making him any longer guilty of cruelty to the holy and innocent Bishop But nothing could alter or mollify the Kings rigour therefore he commanded that he should be taken from the custody of Offrith so was the said Officer called as being a faint-hearted coward and delivered to another named Tumber a Sergeant of a far more fell and savage disposition 7. But as the Kings cruelty encreased so likewise did Almighty God more miraculously declare his goodnes to his servant For when this new â—aylour commanded him to be layd in chains the chains applied by his servants to the Holy Bishops limbs were found either so streit that his leggs would not enter or so large that they took no hold and if at any time they proved fitt hey were no sooner putt about his limbs but they presently fell off At last thereâ—ore the laylours obstinate malice was forced to yeild to the Divine power and the Holy Bishop suffred no other incommodity but only a confinement 8. As for King Egfrid the report of these things wrought no good effect upon him yea when any one mentioned them he could not abstain from casting reviling scoffs against the Saint Yet frequent Messengers passed between him and the Bishop with commands that he should acknowledg the invalidity of the Roman Decrees and that they were illegally extorted with bribes This if he would yeild to then perhaps by the Kings indulgence he might recover the things taken from him and a part of his Bishoprick But if he refused he might thank himself for his losses as being the only cause of the present quarrell and variance But such threatnings as these had small effect on the holy Bishops mind on the contrary he protested to the King that to save his own life he would not doe any thing that might cast an infamy or disparagement on the authority of the See Apostolick 9. But how does Queen Ermenburga behave her self all this while she who was the first cause of all this mischeif and continually fomented it She passed her whole time days and nights in banquets and entertainments and whither soever she went she caried with her either on her neck or in her chariot as in triumph Chrismarium the precious Box of Sacred Oyles or as we read in Capgrave a costly Reliquary which had been violently extorted from the holy Bishop This she were not out of a sence of piety or devotion but to testify her envy and pride in enioying the spoyles of her enemy 10. But this her ioy did not last long For as the same Authour in pursuance of the story relates On a certain night in which she lodged with the Holy Abbesse Ebba her husbands Aunt by Gods permission the Devill entred into her which put her besides her senses insomuch as she began to be outrageous and frantick in her talk The Abbesse being awaked with the noyse she made arose and in great hast ran to her asking her mildly what she ayled The Queen answered her nothing to the purpose for by the extremity she was in her speech was taken from her But the good Abbesse having been informed ly others of the true cause earnestly solicited the King her Nephew that the Holy Bishops Reliquary might be restored and himself according to the Popes sentence re-invested in his rights This she told him was to be done if he would have his Queen restored to her health But if through animosity he would not yeild so far at least let restitution be made of the things wrongfully extorted from the Holy Prelat and permission given him to quitt the countrey To this the King yeilded and presently the Queen recovered her senses and health and after the death of her husband the forsook the world and undertook a Religious Profession shewing great sorrow and remorse for the iniuries done to the Holy Bishop 11. Hence we may be informed of the true cause of S. Wilfrids suffrings and banishment The pretence was piety in committing the care of so large a Province and the revenews of it to severall persons as being too exorbitant for one but under this pretence was shrowded the envy and avarice of Queen Ermenburga who earnestly thirsted after Church goods and by this division expected a good share in those sacred spoyles Therefore the partiality of the Centuriators of Magdeburg is evident who against the testimony of all Antiquity affirm that Wilfrid was therefore driven into banishment because he had perswaded Ethelreda the former wife of King Egfrid to forsake her husband and under pretence of a vow to retire into a Monastery as Bale sheweth Whereas in all the debates of S. Wilfrids cause in his own countrey at Rome and in severall Synods both before and after this not any scruple was moved about S. Ethelreda But it concernd such Writers as these to invent any fictions for iustifying the sacrilegious mariage of Luther But who can suffer himself to be perswaded that Queen Ermenburga who is stiled by William of Malmsbury the cause and nourisher of this long debate should fill all Europe with the noyse of this Controversy in which if proof had been made that S. Ethelreda had done ill in retiring from the world and S. Wilfrid in advising her thereto it would have followed that Ermenburga was no lawfull Queen but an Adulteresse VIII CAAP. 1.2 The Death of S. Hilda one of S. Wilfrids adversaries 3. The death of S. Ermenburga Mother to S. Milburga c. 4. S. Erection of two New Bishopricks at Worcester and Hereford A succession of the Bishops in Hereford 1. IT is an usefull admonition which William of Malmsbury affords us from this debate between S. Wilfrid and his adversaries For says he we may thence observe the miserable condition in which human nature is involved when as those persons which by Antiquity are celebrated for eminent Saints and were such indeed as Theodore Brithwald Iohn Bosa as likewise the famous Abbesse Hilda should ioyn themselves with those impious persons who with an irreconciliable hatred persecuted a Bishop of such eminent Sanctity as was S. Wilfrid 2. As for the glorious Abbesse S. Hilda of whom we have already treated this same year of S. Wilfrids banishment she received the reward of so many heavenly works performed by her on earth And we can not doubt but that this fault of persecuting S. Wilfrid proceeding from misinformation of others and not premeditated malice in her own heart was expiated by her former merits for thirty three years together and a sharp sicknes which continued sixe years before her death all which time she ceased not from praising God for her suffrings and dayly instructing the innocent flock committed to her charge What testimonies at and after her death God was pleased to shew of her Sanctity hath been already declared
and the feilds with a pleasant verdure brought forth fruits of all kinds in great plenty Thus abandoning their Idolatry the hearts and flesh of all the inhabitants exalted in the living God perceiving that he was indeed the only true God who in mercy had enriched them with goods of all kinds both for their soules and bodies 8 The same Authour in another place relates how Saint Wilfrid taught the people another remedy against the famine For says he the Sea and rivers in that countrey abounded with fish but the inhabitants had no skill at all in fishing except only for Eeles But by his command a great number of such Netts as were used for Eeles being gathered together they cast them into the Sea and by Gods providence took of severall sorts of fishes to the number of three hundred Which being divided into three parts one hundred was given to the poore anotheâ— to those which laboured and the third he reserved for the use of him and his attendants By such benefits as these he gott a cordiall affection of them all by which means they were the more easily induced to expect heavenly blessings promised them in his Sermons since by his assistance they had already obtained temporall 9 Great numbers therefore having been converted the next care was to appoint a Mansion for Saint Wilfrid and his companions This care was not wanting for as the same Authour says At that time King Edilwalch gave to the most Reverend Bishop a possession of eighty seaven families for the entertainment of himself and those who would not forsake him in his banishment The place was called Seolesea or the Island of Seales It was encompassed by the Sea on all sides except toward the West where the entrance into it is in breadth about a bow-shoot Assâ—on as the Holy Bishop had the possession of this place he founded there a Monasâ—ery placing therein for the most part â—uch as he had brought with him whom he instituted in a Regular conversation and this Monastery is to this day governed by such as have succeeded him For he remained in those parts the space of five years that is to the death of King Egfrid and worthily exercised his Episcopall Office both by word and deed And whereas the King together with the said land had bestowed on him all the goods and persons upon it he instructed them all in the Christian Faith and purified them with the Sacrament of Baptism among whom were men and mayd-serâ—ants two hundred and fifty all which were not only by baptism rescued from the slavery of the Devill but had likewise bestowed on them a freedom from human servitude 10. Severall Bishops anciently have had their Episcopall See in this Half-Island and were called Bishops of Selsey but none succeeded S. Wilfrid there till the year of Grace seaven hundred and eleaven Afterward about the year one thousand and seaventy the Episcopall See was translated thence to Cissancester now called Chichester where it remains to this day As for the ancient small Citty in which those Bishops resided there remains only the caâ—keyse of it which in high tides is quite covered with the Sea but at low water is open and conspicuous saith Camden 11. Over the Monks in this new founded Monastery S. Wilfrid appointed Abbot a devout Preist named Eappa of whom we have already treated And a little after hapned a terrible plague which swept away great numbers both of Religious persons there and in the countrey about By occasion of which the Monks appointed a solemn Fast three days together with prayers and Sacrifices for the asswaging of it And on the second day of the said Fasâ— hapned that Miracle which we mention'd â—â—fore at the Death of the Holy King Martyr S. Osâ—ald how a young child in the said Monastery lying alone sick of the infection whilst the Monks were at Prayers in the Church there appeared to him the Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul bidding him not to be afraid of death for the same day he should be caried by them into heaven but he was to expect till the Masses were finished after which he should receive the precious body and blood of our Lord for his Viaticum They commanded him likewise that he should call for the Preist and Abbot Eappa to whom he should declare that God had heard and accepted their prayers and excepting the young child himself not any one of the Monastery or possessions adioyning should dye of that sicknes And that this mercy to them was obtained by the intercession of the glorious King and Martyr Saint Oswald who the very same day had been slain by Infidels This the child declared accordingly to the Preist Eappa and the event confirmed the truth for he dyed the same day and not any one after him all that were sick recovered and the infection ceased X. CHAP. 1.2 Three Bishopricks among the Northumbers 3.4 c. Trumwin ordained Bishop of the Picts and afterward expelled 1. WEE will leave S. Wilfrid among the South-Saxons awhile busy in his Apostolick employment among his new Converts and return to take a view what passed in the mean time in the Northern parts of Brittany We have already declared how S. Theodore Arch-bishop of Canterbury partly in compliance with King Egfrids passion against S. Wilfrid and partly in conformity to a Canon of the Council of Hertford divided the single Diocese of the Northumbers into two that of York and another of the more Northern Provinces the Episcopall See whereof was placed indifferently at Lindesfarn and Hagulstad This was done in the year of Grace six hundred seaventy eight And two years after he again added a third Bishoprick in the same Province For wheras Eata had been consecrated Bishop both of Lindesfarn and Hagulstad he then divided that Diocese leaving that of Lindesfarn to Eata and ordaining Tumbert or Cumbert over that of Hagulstad now called Hexham 2. He instituted likewise at the same time a New Bishoprick among the Viccians or inhabitants of Worcester-shire consecrating Boselus their first Bishop For he who had been formerly designed thereto named Tatfrith a man of great courage and learning and of an excellent iudgment saith S Beda quote by B. Godwin had immaturely been snatchâ—â— away by death before he could be consecrated 3. At this time the Nation of the Pictâ— though they had embraced the Christia Faith many years before yet by reason oâ— the great vicissitudes hapning among them wanted a Bishop In the year six hundred forty two they were subdued by King Oswald and made tributary After the death of the next King Oswi and in the first year of the raign of Egfrid the same Picts saith William of Malmsbury contemning the infancy of this young King withdrew themselves from his obedience and boldly invaded his Kingdom under the conduct of a Noble man named Berney The young King courageously mett them and with an army much inferiour
apprehend to be indissolubly bound them mercifully absolved from his sins 12. But it may be some nice Disputer presuming on his skill in Scripture and other learning will fancy that he can excuse and defend himself under the sheild of such an Apology as this saying I doe sincerely venerate the Precepts of both the Old and New Testament and with my heart and tongue I doe confesse in God an Vnity of Essence and Trinity of Persons I doe freely preach to the people the Mystery of our Lords Incarnation the Crosse of his Passion and the Victorious Trophey of his Resurrection I doe diligently denounce to my hearers the last Iudgment of the living and dead in which with a most equall ballance every one according to their different merits shall receive a different retribution of happines or misery This I beleive and professe and by the priviledge of this Faith I doe not doubt but I shall be reckoned and rewarded with the lott of true Orthodox Catholicks 13. But alas this seeming Fortresse under which they hope to lurk securely I will endeavour to batter to the ground with the Engin of the Apostles reproof For S. Iames who is called the Brother of our Lord saith Thou beleivest that there is one God and immediatly he adioyns directing his speech by an Irony to the twelve Tribes in the dispersion Thou doest well But take notice of this The Devills likewise beleive this and tremble For Faith without Works is dead His meaning is that Catholick and Brotherly Charity must inseparably walk together in the same path as that glorious Preacher and Vessell of Election S. Paul testifies saying If I knew all Prophecy and all Mysteries if I had Faith so that I could remove mountains and if I should give my body to be burnt and had not Charity all this would proffit mee nothing at all I will summ up all in one short sentence That man does in vain boast of the Catholick Faith who does not follow the Dogme and Rule of S. Peter For the foundation of the Church and stability of Faith which can be shaken by no winds or tempests rests principally on Christ and after him consequently on S. Peter Hence the Apostle saith Other foundation can no man lay besides that which is layd which is Iesus Christ. And Divine Truth it self hath thus established the Priviledge of the Church to S. Peter Thou art Peter and on this Rock I will build my Church 14. This is the tenour of Saint Aldelm's Epistle to Geruntius King of Cornwall and to the Brittish Preists his Subjects in which may be observed what extreme bitternes and malice still possessed their minds against the Saxons insomuch as they chose rather to be separated from the Communion of the Catholick Church then to conform to them by relinquishing any of their old irregular Rites And here likewise may be observed how vainly our Protestant Writers endeavour to fly to the Brittains for defence of their deserting Catholick Doctrines Hence the Centuriators of Magdeburg and others imitating them taking advantage from an errour in the printed Copy of S Beda's history where Castitatem is read for Caritatem doe affirm That there was a sharp debate between Aldelm and the Brittains against whom he earnestly inveighs because they would not approve Celibacy of Preists and other new invented Rites as Beda testifies in the fifth Book of his History and nineteenth Chapter The same likewise is manifest out of Aldelms Epistle to Geruntius King of the English Whereas it is manifest that not a word is spoken in this Epistle touching Celibacy 15. This Epistle was not written in vain for as S. Beda testifies By the reading of it many Brittains subject to the West-Saxons were brought to the Catholick Rite of celebrating our Lords Paschall solemnity Whence we may likewise observe that these Brittains though they were immediatly governed by a King of their own nation yet both he and they were subordinatly dependent on Inas King of the West-Saxons Notwithstanding which dependence and subjection the Saxons did not seek by violence and terrour to force their consciences but with all meeknes and tendernes to invite them to Catholick Vnity XVIII CHAP. 1.2 Withred after six years interregnum is made King of Kent 3.4 He redeems with money an invasion of his Countrey by King Inas And builds S. Martins Church in Dover 1. IN the year of Grace six hundred ninety three the Kingdom of Kent began to take breath after six years agitation both by civill and extern commotions For after Edrick had deposed his usurping Vncle Lothere and obtained the throne by right of blood due to him by his Tyranny and injustice he incurred the hatred of his Subjects and after two years raign lost both his government and life His death notwithstanding rather encreased then ended the troubles of that Province for whether it was that many pretending to the succession factions and civill debates divided the nation or whatsoever was the cause for Historians afford us little Light to discover those affairs distinctly during the space of six years there was not any King there 2. To these civill broyles was added an invasion of that Kingdom by Cedwalla King of the West-Saxons as hath been declared Which invasion notwithstanding for the time united their dissentions so that after much hurt received the inhabitants of Kent repulsed Cedwella and driving his Brother Mul or Mollo into a Cottage sett it on fire and consumed him in it Cedwalla after this being converted to Christianity and relinquishing his kingdom to perform a pilgrimage to Rome where he desired to receive Baptism recommended the revenge of the death of his Brother Mul to his Successour Inas Who having prudently employed the five first years of his raign in settling his own kingdom the Churches in it by wholesom Lawes and constitutions at last this year he made a terrible impression into Kent 3. At this time the principall Pretender to that Kingdom was Withred the Son of Egbert who by his courage and industry had repressed the envy of his opponents and gained the generall affection of the people so that he was unanimously chosen and acknowledged King When King Inaâ— therefore in revenge of the death of Mul brought a formidable army into Kent for a while a vigorous resistance was made But King Inas having great advantage by his martiall skill and courage assisted with a far greater power King Withred was at last forced to redeem the safety and peace of his countrey with money So that a Treaty was begun and King Inas being mollified with the summ of thirty thousand marks of gold pardoned them the death of Mul and drew back his army into his own countrey 4. Bishop Parker from S. Beda gives to Withred an associate in the throne his Brother Swinfard who ioyntly administred the kingdom with great justice and piety They built saith he the Church of S.
the eyes of God and is with devotion celebrated by his Church being commemorated both in our English and also the Roman Martyrologe on the twentieth day of August But the Centuriators of Magdeburg reading all these things are moved to choler both against S. Beda Sebbe and all Monks in generall which choler suggested this profane censure to their pens A Monasticall course of life not having any ground in Gods word stood in need to be recommended by vain dreams and Visions And again In this seaventh age say they Kings began to relinquish their authority and to addict themselves to a Monasticall life Which impiety must be adorned with lying miracles Hence Beda writes concerning King Sebbe that in a Vision three men appeard to him as he lay sick in his bed and foretold to him both the day of his death and that it should be without pain So that to forsake all worldly pleasures and contentments purely for the Love of God is not only not warranted by Gods word but is an impiety excluding men from the enioying of God in the judgment of these new sensuall Evangelists 7. But how after this holy Kings death God was pleased to declare how far different a judgment he gave of his servant the same learned and devout Historian thus further relates A Coffin of Stone saith he was prepared for entombing the Body of this holy King But when they endeavoured to putt the Body into it they found that it was a hands-breadth too long for the Coffin Whereupon paring away as much of the stone at each end as they could they thereby lengthned it about the measure of two fingers breadth Yet after all it would not receive the body Whereupon finding so great a difficulty to enteire him they intended either to seek out a new Coffin or to endeavour by hewing the body to shorten it so much as to make it enter into the Coffin But by a wonderfull accident which could proceed from no lesse then a heavenly power both these designs of theirs were prevented for presently in the sight of the Bishop and Sighard son to the said King and Monk who together with his Brother Seofrid raignd after him a great multitude likewise of others being present the Coffin was found of a convenient length insomuch as there was room enough to place a cushion under his head and yet at the feet there remaind four fingers breadth beyond the body He was buried in the Church of Saint Paul the Doctour of the Gentiles by whose teaching he had learnt to aspire to heavenly things onely 8. To this day his Sepulcher is seen in the same Church adioyning to the Wall on the North side and encompassed with railes But the present Monument being of marble and not ordinary stone as at first shews that in ages following through some mens devotion it was changed and more honourably entombed So that a late malignant Historians skoffe does little prejudice S. Beda's narration saying that the Coffin which in the beginning was miraculously lengthned hath been since by a new Miracle again contracted 9. The Holy Bishop of Worcester Ostfor consecrated the year before by Saint Wilfrid this year dyed in whose place succeeded a Religious person named Egwin born of Princely blood but one who aspiring to a higher kingdom for Christs sake became poor Concerning whom we shall treat more largely hereafter for great examples of patience and equanimity in suffrings he will afford us insomuch as being tryed in the furnace of many tribulations his sanctity became illustrious not in Brittany onely but forrain regions also THE TWENTIETH BOOK OF THE CHVRCH-HISTORY OF BRITTANY I. CHAPTER 1.2 Of English Missioners sent to convert the Germans 3.4 c. S. Egbert the First Mover in that work He is desirous to goe himself but is hindred by God and employed to bring the Scotts to the Vnity of the Church 8.9 Wibert preaches without Successe to the Frisons 10.11 S Willebrord with eleaven others undertake the Mission 1. THE same year of Grace six hundred ninety three was made illustrious by the death and Martyrdom of two Apostolicall Brethren of the English Nation both of them called by the same name Ewald whose zeale for the enlarging of Christs kingdom compelled them to become strangers to their own countrey and in the company of severall other devout Preists to passe over into Germany exposing themselves to all incommodities and dangers yea death it selfe for the rescuing of a world of soules from ignorance and Idolatry in which hitherto the Devill had held them captive 2. But before we apply our selves to the relating of the particular Gests of these two Apostolick Martyrs it will be requisite that we return three years back to the year six hundred and ninety in which the Mission for the conversion of severall German nations began We deferd it to this year because now are seen the first fruits of the labours of those Apostolicall Missioners It will now therefore be seasonable to relate the occasion and first execution of this Mission the names of the devout persons who undertook it their first attempt and succeeding progresse hitherto Which having done we will in due place declare the wonderfull and happy successe of it 3. The First Mover in this holy Work and cheif Architect of so glorious a design was S. Egbert of the rudiments of whose Sanctity this our History has from S. Beda treated in the year six hundred sixty four where we declared how he together with his companion Edelhum in the time when Finan and Coleman were Bishops went out of this their native countrey into Ireland together with many other associats both of Noble and meane condition Not long after the great plague which had almost wasted Brittany passed over into Ireland and among many others seised on this S. Egbert then living in an Irish Monastery called Rathmelsige Who expecting death with great compunction examined his former life and with many teares besought almighty God not to take him out of the world till he had performed due pennance for his sins He adioynd to his Prayers a Vow never to return to his native countrey to recite the whole Psalter dayly to fast every seaventh day c. After which God restored him to his health and he lived many years in great perfection of humility meeknes continence and simplicity and both by his example and teaching was very beneficiall to the Irish. 4. After he had spent twenty six years thus devoutly in Ireland in the year of Grace six hundred ninety saith S. Beda and out of him Baronius he took a resolution to extend his charity to forrain Nations and for that purpose to undertake the Apostolicall Office of preaching the Gospell to such as had yet never heard of it Particularly he knew that in Germany there were many Nations as yet in darknes from whom the English and Saxons now inhabiting Brittany drew their Originall such were the
Marish plain From whence they could not in lesse then three dayes space return to the Town But being thither arrived they found the King dead without Baptism and related to the Blessed Bishop how strangely they had been deluded by the Devill 8. As for the Frison he presently professed his beleif in Christ and was baptised his Name was Ingamar and afterward attended the Bishop to our Monastery of Fontanell But the unhappy King was not permitted to be undeceived because he did not pertain to Christs flock And this Miracle was spread through the countrey whereupon a great multitude was converted to our Lord. Now the death of the foresaid miserable King Radbode hapned in the year of our Saviour seaven hundred and nineteen which was the seaventh of the illustrious Prince Charles Martel VIII CHAP. 1.2 c. Severall Epistles of Saint Boniface 1. BVT to leave this not impertinent digression and return to S. Boniface He says Baronâ—us though he was by Apostolick delegation empowred to preach the Word of God independently yet even in this he shewd the marks of Apostleship in asmuch as embracing Christian humility he thought fist to exercise the apprentiship of his Apostolick Office under another For during the space of three years he adioynd himself a Coadiutour to S. Willebrord named by the Pope Clement in the conversion of the Frisons And being earnestly pressed by him to accept of his Arch-bishoprick of Vtrecht he constantly refused and begging licence departed from him to work alone in that heavenly Office 2. And moreover distrusting his own forces he humbly begged the Prayers of others for the Divine assistance in so sublime a work Among his Epistles there is still extant one to the same effect directed to Leodbata a kinswoman of his to Bedda Chunigildis and other Religious Virgins to continue their earnest Prayers to Almighty God that he might be delivered from many pressures which he suffred from importune and wicked men and that he might not be discouraged from defending Christs Faith and Church from many Hereticks Schismatiks and Hypocrites which used all their endeavours to make a prey of the new converted Lambs with their Mothers and did more encomber him then the professed enemies of our Faith the Pagan Idolaters 3. There is likewise found another Epistle to him from a Holy Virgin named Buggan an Abbesse then in Brittany of a Royall family as is witnessed in other Letters of a following date written to him by Hildebert King of Kent This devout Virgin he had found at Rome when he repaired thither to Pope Gregory and being returned into Brittany she in an Epistle congratulated with him the sublime Office imposed on him by that Holy Pope as likewise a vision which he had received from God who revealed to him the great successe of his preaching and moreover had cast down before him that great Enemy of his Holy Faith King Radbode Moreover she informed him that whereas he had desired her to send him the Passions of Martyrs she could not as then procure them but would use all her endeavours for his satisfaction Consequently she begged of him to send her certain Collections out of Holy Scriptures for her consolation as he had promised her and that he would offer to God the Sacrifices of his Holy Masses for the soule of a dear kinsman of hers lately dead In conclusion she told him that by the same messenger she had sent him for his present supply fifty shillings Solidos and a Pall for the Altar the smallnes of which presents she excused by her poverty and earnestly begged his Prayers in which she had great confidence 4. Another Epistle himself also about this time wrote to Tatwin and Wigbert Preists and to Bernard Hiedde Hunfrith and Stirme Monks of the Monastery of Nutscelle from whence he came earnestly exhorting them to conserve the Regular Discipline taught them by their late Venerable Father Wigbert He ordained likewise that they should observe the directions of the other Wigbert Preist and Mengingord Deacon touching the howers and order of the Ecclesiasticall Office That Hiedde should be the Superiour over the servants and Hunfrid his assistant that Stirme should be in the Kitchin and Bernard have care of building lastly that in all things they should be obedient to Tatwin their Abbot Now this Tatwin Abbot was a person of great esteem for after the death of Brithwald Arch-bishop of Canterbury he was chosen to succeed in that See Notwithstanding Bishop Parker affirms that Tatwin the Successour of Brithwald was taken out of a Monastery called Brinton and S. Beda calls it Bruidum which whether it was the same or a distinct Monastery from Nutscelle in the Province of the Mercians it is hard to determine IX CHAP. 1.2 c. Severall Bishops ordained c. 6. The Gests of Saint Pega sister to Saint Guthlac 1. BVT we must for some time leave Saint Boniface busy in his Apostolick Office in Germany and return into Brittany where according to our Ecclesiasticall Monuments Eadbert who eight years before had been consecrated Bishop of the South-Saxons by the Arch-bishop Brithwald dying there succeeded in his place Eolla Who governed that See a very short time for Saint Beda ending his History in the year seaven hundred thirty one there expressly affirms that the said Church of the South-Saxons having remained some years without a Bishop was obliged to have recourse to the Bishop of the West-Saxons for the performing of such rights as required an Episcopall iurisdiction 2. And the year following the See of Dumwich in the Kingdom of the East Angles becoming voyd by the death of Astwolf or Aesculf there succeeded in it Aldbert And likewise the other Episcopall See of Helmham being vacant by the death of Norbert Hadulac succeeded him which two Bishops are by the same S. Beda affirmed to be alive at the end of his History 3. The same year also Aedgar Bishop of the Lindesfart now called Lincoln dying his successour was Kinebert a man learned in the Ecclesiasticall History and from whom S. Beda professes that he received help in the writing of his Concerning all these Bishops little more besides their Names has been transmitted to posterity 4. In the Kingdom also of the East-Saxons at this time dyed King Beorna who left the throne to be possessed by Alfwald for so we shall find that he calls himself in Letters written by him to S. Boniface of which hereafter 5. But the person whose death gave the greatest loster to this year was Pega Sister to S. Guthlac mentioned before for so we read in our Martyrologe on the third of Iune And hereto agrees our Historian Ingulphus Abbot of Croyland who describing the state of that Island made famous by the Sanctity of Saint Guthlac records the names of severall holy Hermites which imitated the said Saint in a solitary life of Contemplation among the rest he makes expresse mention of
into the Church where having received the Body of our Lord he gave up his spirit to him looking towards the Altar His Memory is celebrated on the twenty fifth of August 5. As touching his Successour Albericus he was by birth an Englishman and is named in the Gallican Martyrologe with this elogy On the one and twentieth of August is celebrated at Vtrecht the deposiâ—ion of S Albertâ— Biâ—hop of the same Citty anâ— Confessour He was born in Brittany in the Diocese of York from whence he came into Germany to preach the Gospell and for his excellent endoâ—ments in piety and eminent learning he was made Canon of the Church of Vtrecht Afterward when S. Gregory through weaknes and old age was disabled to administer the same See S. Alberic was appointed a diâ—â—enser of the whole Diocese to govern both the Clergy and people and S. Gregory himself by inspiration of the Holy Ghost foretold that he should â—ucceeâ—â—im in the Bishoprick Therefore after the Holy Bishop was freed from the chains of his flesh S. Aâ—â—eric was according to the desires of all exalted to his Epiâ—â—copall throne After which not contentinâ— himself with the solicitudes of his particular Diocese and Province he extended his care to the adiacent regions and sent S. Ludger who was afterward Bishop of Munster into the countrey of the Frisons there to spread the Gospell aâ—d root out Idolatrous superstitions At lâ—nâ—th after he had governed the Church of Vtrecht many years with admirable Sanctity this blessed servant of God who was wholly celestiall forsook the earth to which his heart never had been fixed and departed to his heavenly countrey He was honourablâ— buâ—ied near to his holy Predecessour accompany 〈◊〉 him 〈◊〉 in his Tomb and reward whom he has always fâ—llowed in order and merit XX. CHAP. 1.2 Succession of Bishops in England 3.4 c. The unhappy death of Kenulphus King of the West Saxons 6. Brithric succeeds him 7. Of Rictritha a Holy Queen and Abbesse 1. AT the same time in Brittany the Episcopall See of London being vacant by the voluntary resignation of Kenwalch as it is sayd it was supplied by Eanbald or Eadberch And after the death of Edbert Bishop of Leicester Vnwona was ordaind in his place 2. The year next following the two Bishops of the East-Angles dye again together and to Eadred Bishop of Dumwich succeeded Alphun to Hunfert Bishop of Helmham Bibba And within two years both these agree to dye together and to leave their Sees to new Bishops 3. This was the last year of the Raign of Kenulf King of the West-Saxons a Prince who had given many examples of vertue and piety but yet ended his life unhappily The length of his raign and circumstances of his death are thus declared by William of Malmsbury Kenulf says he was a Prince illustrious both for his vertues and warlick exploits In one only battell which in the four and twentieth year of his raign he fought against Offa King of the Mercians he was overcome And after that he was afflicted with many calamities and in conclusion came to a dishonourable and unhappy end For after he had governed the kingdom of the West-Saxons the space of one and thirty years neither cowardly nor immodestly at last whether it was out of a proud confidence that none durst resist him or out of a provident care of the security of his Successour he commanded Kineard the Brother of the Tyrant Sigebert whom he saw to encrease dayly in power and wealth to depart his kingdom Kineard iudging it best to yeild to the tempest went away with a shew of willingnes But presently after by private meetings and unsinuations he assembled a body of men given to all manner of villany with which he watched an opportunity against the King And having been informed that he was for his recreation and lustfull pleasure retired with a small retinue into a certain countrey dwelling he came suddenly upon him with some light armed soldiers and encompassed the house where the King was securely attending to his unlawfull luxury Who perceiving the danger he was in advised with his servants what he should doe At first he barricadoed the dores hoping either by fair speches to winn or by threatnings to terrify the soldiers without But finding neither way to succeed in a furious rage he suddenly leaps forth upon Kineard and wanted very little of killing him But being compassed by the multitude and thinking it inglorious to fly after he had well avenged himself by the death of many of the Traytours he was slain And those few servants with attended him scorning to yeild and earnest to avenge their Lord were killd likewise 4. Presently the fame of so execrable a Tragedy was spread abroad and came to the knowledge of certain Noble men not far distant with the Kings Guards Among whom Osric who was most eminent both for age and prudence encouraged the rest not to suffer the death of their Prince to passe unrevenged to their perpetuall infamy Whereupon they all drew their swords and rushed upon the trayterous murderers Kineard at first endeavoured to iustify his cause to promise great matters and to challenge kinred But when all this proffited nothing then he inflam'd the minds of his companions and fellow soldiers to resist boldly A good while the combat was doubtfull one side fighting for their lives and the other for glory At last victory having a good space hovered uncertainly turned her self to the iuster cause So that wretched Traytour after a courageous but vain resistance left his life having enioyed the successe of his treachery a very short time The Kings body was caried to Winchester where it was buried in a Monastery in those times very magnificent but in this age almost desolate 5. Other Historians mention the name of the village where King Kenulf was thus unfortunatly slain Thus Florentius writes It hapned saith he that Kenulf at that time went to a certain village which in the English tongue is called Meretum for a certain wanton womans sake c. This village is in the Province of Surrey and is now called Merton of old saith Camden famous for the fatall end of the West-Saxons 6. There remaind in that Kingdom two Princes of the Royall family which might pretend to the succession Brithric and Egbert Brithric was preferred perhaps for his mild and modest disposition For he was a man more studious of peace then war he was skilfull in reconciling freinds when dissenting forraign Princes he civilly courted and was indulgent to his own servants yet so as not to prejudice the vigour of his government 7. As for Egbert he was to attend sixteen years before the scepter would fall to his lott Which having once gott he managed it gloriously for he it was who dissolved all the petty governments and reduced the whole kingdome into a Monarchy as it has ever since continued and moreover obliged all
thinking himself as yet secure to confirm his kingdom yet more strongly sought the freindship and association of Offa King of the Mercians the most powerfull of all the English Saxon Princes at this time And to knitt more strictly the league between them he demanded his daughter named Elfleda for his wife which he likewise obtained having cast off his former wife But that which he contrived for his security was the occasion of his ruine for his Subiects abhorting such impiety deprived him of his kingdom and afterwards of his life And with him ended the Nortumbrian Kingdom though the Name of King was given to some few others Notwithstanding by the invasion and horrible depopulation made by the barbarous Danes those Titular Kings of the English blood were scarce taken notice of by any III. CHAP. 1.2 c. The Gests and happy death of Saint Burchard Bishop of Wirtzburg 10.11 c. Likewise of his Suceessour Saint Megingand 1. THE same year in which Ethelard was assumed to the Archiepiscopall See of Canterbury is marked with the death of two English Apostolick Bishops in Germany S. Burchard and S. Willehade the former Bishop of Wirtzburg and the other of Bremen 2. The Life of S. Burchard has been written by Egilward a Monk of his own Monastery near Wirtzburg as Trithemius testifies Some affirm saith that Authour that S. Burchard and S. Swithun concerning whom we will treat in the next Century were brethren born of Noble parents in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons in Brittany and that they were kinsmen to S. Boniface Certain it is that S. Burchard was one of those who were called out of Brittany in the year of Christ seaven hundred twenty five to assist S. Boniface in his Apostolick Office in Germany 3. Assoon as S. Burchard was arrived there S. Boniface destined to him in a propheticall manner the flock of Christ which had been gathered by S. Kilian and his companions and for which they had suffred Martyrdom But to fitt him for so high an employment he lived some years in the society of severall devout and learned Preists under the Conduct of S. Boniface After which S. Boniface ioyning to his own Letters also written by King Pipin to Pope Zacharias requested that the Citty of Wirtzburg might be erected to an Episcopall See To which request the Pope easily condescended after he had been informed that the said Church was endowd by S. Boniface himself with sufficient revenews to sustain the necessities of the poor as well as of the Clergy And upon the testimony given by S. Boniface S. Burchard his Disciple was consecrated the first Bishop of that Episcopall See 4. These things being happily effected at Rome Saint Boniface conducting his now fellow Bishop to Wirtzburg recommended him to his flock by whom he was most ioyfully received At which time the bounds of the said Diocese were limitted And S. Burchard being left in his New See omitted no duty of a worthy Prelat being assiduous in reading affable in conversation powerfull in preaching exemplary in life liberall in almes-giving tenderly loving and beloved by his flock 5. In the second year after he was consecrated Bishop by the advice and with the assistance of S. Boniface he made diligent search for the Sacred Bodies of S. Kilian and his companions the holy Apostolick Martyrs of Christ which having found he with great devotion took them out of the place into which they had been ignominiously cast by their murderers the Idolatrous Pagans Assoon as the earth was opened a celestiall fragrancy was breathed from thence and though their flesh was already resolved into dust yet the vestments and books which had been cast with them into the pitt were found entire nothing at all defaced They were in a most solemne Procession caried to the Church of Wirtzburg where by a world of miracles they so encreased mens devotion that by means thereof the Church became enriched with great possessions S Burchard himself gave a village called Michelnstat which Prince Caroloman had formerly bestowed on him King Pipin afterwards gave a certain Castle called Karelburg with severall other ample possessions 9. Near the said Castle there was a small Monastery which had been built by a Holy Virgin named Gertrudis This Monastery being much retired did another devout Virgin called Immina begg of Saint Burchard and in exchange gave him a place called The Mount of Saint Mary or Old Wirtzburg of far greater valew To this place were the Sacred Bodies of Saint Kilian and his companions translated There likewise did Saint Burchard build a magnificent Monastery and placed there his Episcopall See And thither did he oft retire whensoever he could obtain any vacancy from the solicitudes of his charge and conversation of men and there did he attend to God and celestiall things only 7. Forty years did this Holy Bishop spend in the exercises of perfect Charity either to God in Prayer and contemplation or to men in advancing their soules in the same Divine Charity And after such incessant labours in our Lords Vineyard his corporall strength diminishing he called his Clergy together to whom he declared his desire to see his Episcopall See provided of a person able to sustain the weighty employments of it for which purpose he proposed to them his Disciple and companion Megingand well known to them for his eminent vertues and piety who was immediately by common consent elected to be after his death his Successour and during his life his assistant A confirmation of this Election he easily obtained from his Metropolitan the Arch-bishop of Mentz Charles the Great King of France consenting thereto 8. Having discharged his mind of so great a care he took with him only six of his Disciples and by boat descended to a certain Castle called Hohenburg where he employed the remainder of his dayes in great austerities in watching fasting and incessant Prayer He had a desire to have continued his iourney to Michelnstat where his purpose was to build another Monastery But his infirmity encreasing upon him would not permitt him to accomplish his desire For within a few days after his coming to Hohenburg he gave up his soule into his Redeemers hands having before secured his last passage by the Sacraments of Holy Church which he received with admirable fervour and Spirituall ioy 9. His Sacred body was by the affectionate care of his Disciple and Successour Mengingand transported to his Cathedrall Church of Wirtzenburg where it was reposed near to the Sacred Relicks of Saint Kilian all the Nobility and in a manner all the inhabitants of the Countrey being assembled to honour the funeralls of their beloved Pastour Who as in his life time he had been an instrument of great benedictions to them so after his death likewise they experienced many effects of his Love by frequent deliverances and consolations obtained by his intercession The day of his death is marked oâ— the fourth day before the Nones
Alban but likewise to conferre spirituall Priviledges exemptions on it To which request the Pope willingly condescended for he adopted that Monastery to be a Speciall Daughter of the Roman Church exempted from all Iurisdiction Episcopall and Archiepiscopall as immediatly subiect to the See Apostolick He granted likewise that the Territory belonging to that Monastery should be the only place in his Dominions free from the generall contribution of Peter-pence Yea moreover that the Monks of S. Alban should be the Collectours of the same Contribution through the whole Province of Hertford which having collected they should reserve it to their own use for keeping hospitality To these he added this generall Grace that he enioyned King Offa for the remission of his sins at his returning home to call a Synod of his Bishops and Nobles and whatsoever possessions or Priviledges he with their advice should bestow on the said Monastery he promised that he would himself confirm such his Charter by his own authority And lastly in testimony of his great esteem of King Offa's piety he gave this generall Priviledge to all the subiects of his Kingdom That no publick Penitent should be obliged in execution of his Pennance enioyned to goe out of the kingdom that is Whereas in severall cases of enormous crimes men were obliged to seek Absolution at Rome he gave a generall Indulgence that for all sins men might be absolved at home 5. Thus did King Offa omitt no expedient wherby to expiate his crime touching the murder of the blessed Martyr King Ethelbert He returned not into his kingdom till the year following In the mean time severall occurrents hapning in Brittany require a place here As for his impious Queen Quendreda shee enioyd but a very short time the fruits of her cruelty for in the space of three months after she suffred a miserable death but well beseeming her wicked life And her Son Egfrid a vertuous and pious Prince for whose advantage especially she executed that horrible murder he was taken away by an untimely death after a few months raign by which means the Mercian Crown was translated from the family of King Offa to the posterity of King Penda And lastly her Daughter Alfreda designed to be the Spouse of the Holy Martyr she had such a horrour of her parents crime that out of a generall distast of the world she retired herself to a solitary devout life among the fenns of Croyland where she spent many years in aspiring to the embraces of a yet more glorious Bridegroom Concerning her wee shall treat further when we arrive to the year of her death IX CHAP. 1. The decay of Kentish Kings 2.3 c. The Scandalous Rebellions and Treasons of the Northumbers iustly punished by God Their miseries bewayled by Alcuin 1. THE same year which King Offa spent at Rome in his Devotions and Charities Alric King of Kent who was Tributary to King Offa ended his life after a raign of thirty four years He was the third and last of King Withreds children who succeeded him in that kingdom not any of them leaving heyrs behind them And afâ—er them saith William of Malmsbury the Noble stock of the Kentish Kings withred away and their generous blood lost all its vigour and Spirits Then any one who had impudence enough who either by fraud could make himself rich and popular or by faction terrible aspired to Tyranny there and unworthily adorned his head with the Regall Diadem Such an one was Edilbert sirnamed Pren who after Alric invaded the Kentish throne and after he had the space of two years tyrannised in that kingdom he had the foolish boldnes to provoke the Mercians by whom he was taken prisoner and forced to submitt his hands to chains and his body to captivity 2. The same decay likewise at this time befell the kingdom of the Northumbers for this being the fifth year after King Ethelred had been recalled from banishment to govern that Kingdom he was also slain by his Subiects And his death gave an end to the Kingdom of the Northumbers and after thirty three years vacancy and want of a Lawfull King it was seised upon and possessed by Egbert King of the West-Saxons Yet in the mean time there are named some few petty Kings there during the time of the Danish incursions Thus we read in the Books of the Succession of Saxon Kings The first who after the death of Ethelred usurped the place and title of King was Oswald and he after a short shew upon the stage for twenty eight dayes was compelled by the Northumbrians to flye to the King of the Picts so leaving place for Ardulf But the memory of these and some other like Kings following hath been in a sort obliterated by the tempestuous rage of the Danes wasting those parts at this time and putting all things in confusion 3. A most iust punishment that was sent by God to plague that rebellious Province the inhabitants whereof had no regard to the Maiesty of their Princes but freely defiled their hands with their blood by which they became odious both to God and man Yea the infamous scandall of their rebellions passed into forrein countreyes likewise as appears by a letter of Alcuin who at this time lived in France into which he was invited by King Charles the Great to assist by his learning the Church now combatted by New Heresies That Letter was written by him to Offa King of the Mercians the tenour whereof is as followeth 4. Your Maiesty may please to know that King Charles does oftimes speak to mee of you with much affection and sincerity and you have in him a most faithfull freind And to expresse his kindnes he has given order that presents should be sent to your Maiesty and your Bishops as likewise to King Ethelred and the Episcopall Churches in his Dominions But alas alas These presents together with letters were no sooner delivered into the Messengers hands but certain men out of Scotland which passed through your Countrey brought us a most sad Message concerning the unhappy death of that King of the Northumbers by the infidelity of his own subiects Hereupon King Charles presently in great anger drew back his presents intended thither calling them a perfidious perverse and rebellious Nation which so often murdered their own Kings esteeming them therefore worse then Pagans And if I had not interceded for them he would not only before this have hindred them from any good but likewise have done them all the micheif which lay in his power 5. Notwithstanding though Alcuin by his intercession with King Charles could avert the effects of his displeasure against the treacherous Northumbers he could not suspend the indignation and severity of Gods iudgments upon them For the same year a navall army from the Northern coasts like sharp stinging hornets invaded the kingdom of the Northumbers and the barbarous soldiers like dire half-famished Wolves ran up and down the
among the Romans c. they deserve not to be taken notice of 14. Yet probable it is that which the same Authour relates that Caractacus having been restored by Claudius both to his liberty and Kingdome spent the remainder of his life in peace shewing much love and respect to the Roman Empire and exercising great justice and liberality to others by which his glory was encreased through all Europe Now what were the names and fortunes of his Brethren is uncertain Probable it is that one of them was that Cogidunus mentioned by Tacitus to whom the Roman Emperour gave severall Cities with the Title of King who saith that Authour remained even to the dayes of Vespasian entirely faithfull to the Romans and induced others to the like fidelity Such being the received ancient coustome of that Empire to make use of Kings as instruments of servitude 15. During the absence of Caractacus the Silures began new tumults and with great multitudes encompassed the Roman Cohorts busie in building forts for Garrisons in their Countrey In that combat the Prefecâ— of the Campe eight Centurions and severall Companies fell and had not the rest been releived by neighbouring Garrisons and quarters they had all been destroyed And afterward when the Romans went to forrage they were again set upon by the Brittains they together with severall troops and such Cohorts as were ready were put to flight But Ostorius opposing his Legions to the flyers and pursuers turn'd the fortune of the day and defeated the Brittains 16. Ostorius dying presently after Claudius sent in his place Aulus Didius who arriving in Brittany found that since Ostorius his death the Legion under the command of Maâ—lius Valens had received a losse in a battell against the Silures whose insultings he repressed But presently after in the Northern parts of the Isle a discord hapning between a Queen and her husband occasion'd a meeting of severall States adjoyning call'd severally to assist each party and opened a way to the Romans to enlarge their DominioÌ„ 17. For artismandua Queen of the Brigantes Yorkshire having married Venusius a Nobleman of the same Province after she had obliged the Romans by giving up to them Caractacus and by that correspondence encreas'd her wealth and luxury began to despise her husband and took into the society of her bed and throne his servant and Armour-bearer Armigerum Vellocatus This caused great seditions in the Kingdome the greatest part of the Province assisting Venusius by whose help the Queen was brought into great straits and forced to demand assistance from the Romans who sent severall Cohorts and Wings of Horses which after severall combats at last freed the Queen from danger but withall restored Venusius to the Kingdome again 18. Didius afterwards dying in the fourth yeare of Nero the Successour of Claudius in the Empire Verannius was next sent Praetoâ— into Brittany who made a few excursions into the woods wasting the enemies Countrey but was hindred from making any progresse by death hapning to him within one years space 19. In his place was sent Suetonius Paulinus who pass'd the two first years of his Government very prosperously subduing severall Provinces and strengthning the Roman Garrisons And afterwards having a design to take from the Brittains the Isle of Mona or Anglesey which was a refuge for fugitives he pass'd over his Army thither which was astonish'd to see the horrible aspect of the Enemies forces among which woemen ran up and down with torches in their hands having their haire dischevelled and garments fashion'd on purpose to excite horrour The Druids likewise whose principall â—eat that Island was made processions with their hands lift up and their tongues uttring dire curses and prayers But the Romans encouraged by their Generall changing their astonishment into contempt of such a fanatick multitude charging among them quickly dispersed them and afterwards settling Garrisons cut down their Groves consecrated to most savage and execrable Superstitions 20. But whilst Paulinus was exulting for the Conquest made by him in the Western parts of the Island the Iceni inhabiting in Norfolk c. the Eastern Provinces rebelling against the Romans brought a terrible destruction upon them fore-signified by wonderfull Prodigies For saith Dio and Tacitus likewise there were heard in the Counsell-Chamber of the Romans a noyse and murmur as of barbarous people laughing and rejoycing and in the Theater a houling and weeping of multitudes Moreover there were seen houses floating on the Thames and the Sea between Gaule and Brittany had the resemblance of Blood c. 21. The causes of that insurrection and rebellion Dio ascribes to the oppression and covetousnes of the Emperours Procurator Decianus Catus who would renew the forfeytures of Estates though formerly remitted by Claudius But Tacitus relates a more likely and far more incensing provocation which was this Prasutagus King of the Iceni dying very rich in his last Testament made the Emperour joynt-heire with his two daughters thinking therby to secure his Kingdome and family fsom all injuries But it fell out quite contrary insomuch as his Kingdome was invaded and wasted by the Officers of the Army and his family by the Emperours servants Yea the Widdow Queen could not secure her self from stripes nor her daughters from ravishment the Nobility was spoyled of their estates the Princes of blood were used like slaves and the whole Kingdome reduced into the form of a Roman Province Hereupon they take arms sollicite the Trinobantes and other States not yet accustomed to slavery being hereto chiefly encouraged by the absence of Paulinus the Roman Generall 22. An army being suddenly rais'd consisting of about one hundred thousand Queen Boudicea a Lady of high courage would her self be the Generall and lead them so courageously and prosperously that she beseiged and took two of the firmest Colonies that the Romans had Camulodonum and Verulamium destroying all and exercising most barbarous cruelties even upon the women hanging them on gallowses naked with their breasts cut off and sow'd to their mouthes c. There are reckoned no fewer then fourscore thousand Romans destroyed in this insurrection 23. Newes of so fearfull a Tragedy being brought to Paulinus in Anglesey he presently march'd confidently through the midst of the Enemies till he came to London a colony rather rich with marchandise then fortified against a Seige Therefore notwithstanding the supplications and teares of the inhabitants he quits it chusing to secure the whole Roman State with the losse of one Town which was presently destroyed by the Enemy He had with him not above ten thousand souldiers notwithstanding making choice of a convenient place back'd with a wood and having a narrow entrance which freed him from danger of surprise he resolved to fight the Brittains camped in a plaine before him And so much had a desire of revenge inflam'd the courage of the Romans that marching in a close order after they had spent their darts and
ancient Ecclesiasticall Monuments a wife of another name assign'd to him namely Priscilla Notwithstanding this being the name of Pudens his Mother it is not unprobable that Claudia in succeeding times might for her husbands sake assume his Mothers name However matters in this point stood it can not be denyed that our Countrey has a great Obligation to a late Noble and Learned Writer Francis Moncaeus Lord of a Signory call'd the Cold Valley who has published a Discourse full of ancient literature entitled Ecclesiae Christianae veteris Britannicae incunabula Regia in which he confidently pretends out of Antiquity to demonstrate this our Claudia Ruffina to have descended from the Royall blood of Brittany and to have been the Wife and Mother of Saints far more glorious And moreover this one proof hereto may be added that our Ancient Histories report that Timotheus the eldest son of Pudens came into Brittany where he converâ—ted very many to the Faith and at least disposed King Lucius to his succeeding Conversion Now it is very likely that it was out of regard to his Mother a Brittish Lady that this Apostolicall Saint made so particular a choice of Brittany to be the Province in which he desired to exercise his Christian zeale and charity 10. It only remains to be spoken of this Claudia Ruffina what we find in the Martyrologe of England upon the seaventh of August where we read these words A Commemoration of S. Claudia 11. It is an ambition scarce excusable upon groundlesse suspicions to lay claim to Saints and Patrons as some modern writers would entitle the Wife of Plautius who in Claudius his time as hath been sayd triumphed for Victories over Brittany to an Apostolicall office of converting many in this Island when she was here with her Husband Her name was Pomponia Graecina and according to Tacitus his relation â—he was accused of a strange Religion externae Superstitionis forbidden by the Roman Laws the cognizance of which pretended crime was by the Senat permitted to her husband who according to an ancient Institut in force at Rome in the presence of her kindred sate as Iudge of the fame and life of his Lady and in conclusion pronounced her innocent This Account given of her by Tacitus has induced learned Writers to beleive that this extern Superstition layd to Pomponia Graecina's Charge was no other then the Profession of the Christian Faith the fruits of which in her practise being perfect humility obedience chastity and all other celestiall vertues it is no wonder that her husband should so easily absolve her But that she should be a companion of Plautius when he was sent General into Brittany was against the Roman Laws and Custome as the same Tacitus elsewhere declares Probable it is that staying at Rome in regard of her husbands authority in Brittany she might be visited by Claudia Ruffina and other new converted Brittains and by such means be made partaker of Evangelicall light and become a Disciple of S. Peter 12. But a more unquestionable Disciple of S. Peter we find in ancient Ecclesiasticall Monuments by birth a Brittain by name Mansuetus and by office an Apostolicall converter and Patron to the Citty of Toul in Lorrain being the Metropolis of a people called Leuci. Concerning whom Isengrenius as likewise Arnoldus Mirmannus out of old Records gives this Testimony that he was by Nation a Scot born of a Noble family a Disciple of Simon Bariona that is S. Peter Cheif of the Apostles companion of S. Clement Bishop of Metz and consecrated by S. Peter the first Bishop of Toul a Citty of the Leuci in the forty ninth yeare of Christ and in the raign of Tiberius Claudius Caesar. 13. Now wheras he is called a Scot this is to be understood as King Lucius in Ancient Records is called a King of England that is of that Countrey which was afterward call'd England For as Mr. Cambden well observes after most diligent disquisition the name of Scots is not to be found in any Ancient Writer till the Age of Constantin the Great about which time they are supposed to have settled themselves in the Northern parts of Brittany So that it may confidently be affirmed that S. Mansuetus was a Northern Caledonian Brittain who either in the company of Adminius a Brittish Prince or Bericus a Noble man of the same Countrey or as an Attendant of Caractacus went to Rome where he was converted by S. Peter and as hath been sayd design'd by him the Apostolicall Bishop of Toul probably at the request of some Proselytes of that Countrey 14. A yet more authentick Testimony both of the life and death of this Holy Bishop is extant in the ancient Gallican Martyrologe on the third of September where we read this passage At Toul a Citty of the Leuci there is on this day a commemoration of S. Mansuetus a Bishop who was of Noble birth by Originall a Scot and one of the first Disciples of S. Peter by whom being baptized he devested himself of his former Heathenish name and assumed the Title of Mansuetus or Meek from the Meeknes of the Lamb of God which he imitated He by the same S. Peter was sent to enlighten this Citty with Evangelicall verities At his first entrance whereinto he found it so wholly given up to abominable Idolatry that his preaching and exhortations would have produced little fruit had not Divine power promoted his endeaâ—vours by a wonderfull Miracle by whose assistance this Preacher of salvation restored to life and health a son of the Governour of this Citty who from a high Tower beholding certain horse-troops exercising themselves fell down to the ground all bruised and torn Vpon occasion of this Miracle the Governour with his whole family and a great number of the Cittizens joyn'd themselves to the flock of Christ and were signed with the saving Character of Baptisme After which the word of God had a free course and great multitudes not only of the Inhabitants of this Citty but also of the Countrey adioyning were established in the knowledge of salvation Thus S. Mansuetus enioying a firm peace erected and consecrated a Church to the Holy Trinity under the Patronage of S. Steven the first Martyr He likewise ordained here Ecclesiasticall Ministers and having instructed the people generally in the knowledge and practise of all manner of Piety in the fortieth yeare after he had begun the exercise of his Apostolicall Office he quietly closed his eyes in the sleep of death and so attained to the fruition of eternall rewards with Christ whom he always only thirsted after 15. A third holy Brittish Disciple though not Convert of S. Peter's Antiquity records to wit one both in Title and reality Beatus or Blessed Of this Saint mention is made by severall Writers some of them averse from Catholick Religion Yet none of them speak of him without admiration The summe of his Acts recorded by them is
veighing sharply against the dissolutnes of the Brittish Clergy in his time sayth that many of them did usurp the Chaire of S. Peter with defiled feet thereby shewing that the whole Ecclesiasticall Order here did receive their Originall and Preist hood with a right of succession from S. Peter the Ordinary Supreme Pastour in a speciall regard of the Western parts of the world and who likewise prevented S. Pauls coming hither severall years 4. Particular Witnesses in Antiquity of S. Pauls preaching the Gospell in this Island are Theodoret S. Hierome and others The former of these Writing on the hundred and sixteenth Psalm saith Blessed S. Paul breifly teaches us to what Nations he had preached saving Truth saying From Ierusalem round about unto Illyricum he fill'd all nations with the Gospell of Christ. And after this he came into Italy and continued his iourney even to Spaine Moreover he brought salvation to the Islands also lying in the Sea S. Hierom likewise mentioning the travells of S. Paul saith He went out of the East as far as Spain and from the Red sea that is the Southern Ocean to the Western Ocean But more expressly Venantius Fortunatus in his Poem of the life of S. Martin speaking of S. Paul saith He pass'd the Ocean and through all Regions and accessible Islands those which are inhabited by the Brittains and the utmost Thule his Trumpet proclaimed the Gospell 5. For this reason our English Martyrologe doth deservedly reckon S. Paul among the Apostles of Brittany in that regard professing a particular acknowledgment and veneration to him VIII CHAP. 1.2 c. Testimonies of the Acts of S. Aristobulus a Disciple of S. Peter and an Apostle to the Brittains 1. THere is moreover still extant in Ecclesiasticall Records the Memory of an illustrious Disciple of S. Peter or S. Paul who probably accompanied one of them into Brittany who after many years labour in our Lords vineyard was consummated here and that is the Blessed Apostolicall Saint Aristobulus Concerning whom we read this passage in the Greek Menology Aristobulus was one of the Seaventy Disciples who was a follower of S. Paul preaching the Gospell and ministring to him in all places where he travelled By whom likewise he was ordaind a Bishop for the Region of the Brittains But in another Edition of the same Menology translated formerly by one William a Cardinal and inserted by Canisius in his second Volume of Antiquities we read that this S. Aristobulus was ordained not by S. Paul but S. Barnabas for this is the tenour of that Passage The commemoration of S. Aristobulus a Bishop of Brittany and Brother of the Blessed Apostle S. Barnabas by whom being ordained a Bishop he was sent into Brittany and there preaching the Faith of Christ and constituting a Church he attaind the glory of Martyrdome 2. Moreover a Fragment published lately by B. Vsher under the name of Haleca B. of Caesar Augusta Sarragoçe S. Aristobulus is declared to be the Disciple of S. Peter These are the words Among the Brittains is celebrated the Memory of many Martyrs and principally of S. Aristobulus one of the seaventy Disciples who was also call'd Zebedaeus the Father of Iames and Iohn Husband of Maria Salome who together with S. Peter went to Rome And there leaving his family he was sent a Bishop into England where he dyed a Martyr in the second yeare of the raign of the most cruell Emperour Nero. 3. Now wheras S. Aristobulus is every where named Bishop of the Brittains without any particular Citty assigned for his Seaâ— this doth argue that in those times of zeale and simplicity Apostolicall men did not confine theÌ„selves to any determinate place but like clouds hoverd up and down being in a sort present to all and dispensing showres seasonably every where Thus S. Augustin our Apostle at first was ordaind Bishop of the English Nation as Bede calls him till more Provinces being converted he confind himselfe to a particular Seat 4. Arnoldus Mirmannus with other Authours likewise extend the life of this Brittish Apostle to the ninety ninth yeare of our Lord affirming that he dyed in Brittany And wheras both in the Greek Menology and the Fragment of Haleca as likewise in the Roman Martyrologe he is sayd after performing the course of his preaching to have been consummated by Martyrdome this is to be interpreted according to the expression of the Primitive times in which those were called Martyrs who for the propagation of the Gospell went into forraign parts there expâ—â—â—ng themselves to all dangers and dying in such an Employment though their death was not violent 5. And such was the condition of S. Aristobulus concerning whom this is further added in the Greek Menology Aristobulus having been ordained Bishop by S. Paul was sent into Brittany a region of most cruell and savage men By whom he was sometimes tormented with stripes and sometimes also dragg'd up and down the common Market-place He perswaded many to adioyn themselves to Christ. And having constituted Churches and ordaind Preists and Deacons there he happily ended his life 6. In the English Martyrologe this is added That he dyed at Glastonbury a place far enough removed from the Trinobantes where the Romans exercised their power Probable it is that having spent so many years in the laborious exercise of his Apostolick Office he in his old age retired himself into that place of solitude and Recollection there quietly disposing himself for his leaving the world This was indeed a practise very familiar to like Saints For thus in the following Age Fugatius and Damianus sent hither by Pope Eleutherius to convert King Lucius and his subjects retired at last to the same place And afterward the like was done by S. Patrick who being a Native of Brittany after having spent many years in propagating the Gospell in Ireland at last returned back and took up his finall rest at Glastenbury 7. This is that Aristobulus mention'd by S. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans saying Salute those which are of the household of Aristobulus And the reason why he did not salute him by name doubtles was the same for which he omitted the saluting of S. Peter because he was at this time departed from Rome into or towards Brittany 8. Thus far did the Gospell make a progresse in Brittany in the very infancy of Christianity before the death of S. Peter and S. Paul as may be gathered out of the few Relicks of Ecclesiasticall Records not wholly extinguish'd A great accesse to which felicity of this Island accrew'd by the coming hither of S. Ioseph of Arimathea and his companions which though hapning toward the end of Nero's raign yet because most of the occurents pertaining to their Gests belong to the times of severall Emperours succeeding we will refer them to the following Book And for the present it will suffise that we have
who call'd himself Ioseph of Arimathea and sayd that he was clos'd up there by the Iews because he had buried Christ and that till that time he had been nourished with heavenly food 8. But common reason will shew how little force such a particular ungrounded story ought to have against the Tradition of a whole Nation Therefore the English Oratours in opposition hereto gave full assurance that in our most Ancient Books and Archives especially in the Records of the most famous Abbey of Glastonbury it is expressly declared that Ioseph with his companions being persecuted either by Herod or the Roman President were brought into this Island where he preached the things which he had seen and heard of Christ and by his preaching converted many who being converted bestowed on him a world of rich gifts all which he left to the Church erected by him in the honour of Christ. The which Church built by S. Ioseph was afterward transfer'd into a Religious Monastery and Abbatiall dignity and by that famous Monastery the praises of our Lord have been continued to that present day 9. Thus publickly and with so great Authority was this Tradition concerning S. Ioseph's preaching and converting the Brittains confirm'd in severall Generall Councils And more particularly as touching the Ancient Records testifying the Truth of this story we find them with great advantage mention'd in an illustrious Charter extant to this day which was given by our King Henry the second at westminster to the Abbay of Glastonbury In which Charter the sayd King signifying his intention to rebuild that Monastery not long before consum'd by fire And to renew all the Priviledges confer'd on it by his Predecessours King william the first and second and his Grandfather King Henry the first as likewise by more Ancient Kings S. Edgar the Father of S. Edward King Edmond and his Father Edward and his Grandfather King Alfred King Bringwalth Hentwyn Baldred Ina the famous King Arthur Candred and many other Christian Kings yea moreover by Kenewalla in former times a Pagan King of Brittany For this purpose he affirms that he caused a diligent inquisition to be made of the sayd Priviledges and Charters which were presented and read in his presence all which he confirmed and rene'wd to the same Church anciently call'd by some the Mother of Saints and by others the Tomb of Saints because it had been built by the very immediat Disciples of our Lord and in the beginning dedicated by our Lord himselfe as Venerable Antiquity doth testify This testimony is given by King Henry the Second in his sayd Charter All which considered to deny so great a blessing conferd on our Nation as the arrivall here of S. Ioseph can only be an act of passion and unexcusable partiality II. CHAP. 1.2.3 The time and occasion of S. Iosephs coming into Brittany not cleared by ancient Writers 4.5.6 Bishop Godwins mistake wrongfully grounded on Freculphus 7. The Holy Graal an old senceles Legend 1. HAd it not been for that visible lasting Monument of Glastonbury perhaps posterity had never been acquainted with the name of so illustrious a Patron of our Nation as S. Ioseph since no Books of that Age if any were written are now extant and the wonderfull changes in the very constitution of this Island by a succession of severall new Nations would problably extinguish all ancient Traditions 2. These things considered it will be difficult to give any rationall or satisfactory Account of the precise time and occasion of S. Iosephs arrivall in Brittany and much lesse of the particular Acts of himselfe and his companions during the space of so many years as interven'd between their first coming and deaths 3. Those Modern Writers which have most studiously searchd into Antiquity and with greatest candour and sincerity reiected severall fabulous inventions of some of our Authours who wrote not many Ages since doe agree that S. Ioseph first entred Brittany in the raign of Nero when Suctonius Paulinus was Pretâ—r here at which time great opportunity was afforded for such a Voyage by reason of severall Troops and companies of soldiers sent out of Gaule to re-inforce the Roman Army as likewise the coming hither of Nero's freed servant and favourite Policletus with a great retinue c. 4. But what particular occasion or Motive might induce S. Ioseph to undertake such a journey and employment is altogether uncertain Our late Protestant Historians to exclude any relation dependence or obligation that our Countrey might have to S. Peter are willing it should be beleiv'd that he was commissiond from S. Philip the Apostle then preaching in Gaule To this effect Doctour Godwin late Bishop of Hereford writes thus Freculphus Lexoviensis saith he gives the reason why S. Ioseph pass'd ouer into Brittany For when S. Philip the Apostle or as others rather thinke the Evangelist for the Acts of these two are much confounded and mingled in history preach'd the Gospell in Gaule he had much conâ—estat on with the Druids the cheif Doctours of whose superstition lived in Brittany Therfore being inform'd that our Island was by a very narrow sea divided from the continent of Gaule he thought it very expedient to send hither twelve Preachers the Cheif and President of which was S. Ioseph who in the sixty third yeare of Christ began their employment of converting the Brittains Thus writes the Bishop pretending Freculphus for his warrant 5. Wher as Freculphus treating of S. Philip neither mentions S. Ioseph nor the Druid's nor Brittany all that he writes being onely this S. Philip preach'd Christ to the Gaules and moreover brought to the light of knowledge and secure Haven of Faith certain barbarous Nations neighbouring to darknes and ioynd to them by the swelling Ocean Afterwards in Hierapolis a Citty of Phrygia he suffred death by crucifying and stoning This passage Freculpus extraited out of Isidor and consequently it is to be interpreted according to Isidors mind who by the Gaules or Galatae understood that Nation then inhabiting Asia not Europe and by the barbarous Nations neighbouring to Northern darknes the Scythians divided from the Galatians by the Euxin Sea Besides according to the coÌ„sent of Antiquity S. Philips Martyrdom hapned many years before the time mention'd by the Bishop 6. Let the Apostles name therfore who sent S. Ioseph and his companions into Brittany remain in obscurity to Protestants though the forecited Text of S. Innocent first Pope of that name expressly affims that none converted any of these Western and Northern Nations but only S. Peter or his Successours or such as were delegated by them His coming cannot be questiond nor that he came with the authority of a Spirituall Pastour and Apostolick Preacher 7. As for his six hundred companions which a senceles Legend upon the authority of a more senceles old Book call'd the Holy Graal says came along with him some men and some women as lâ—kewise the arrivall of a certain Prince
of Media call'd Nacianus whom S. Ioseph had formerly baptis'd in a Citty call'd Saram and who was sent by our Lord with an army to deliver S. Ioseph out of prison into which a wicked King of Northwales had cast him which King is sayd to be mentiond in a Book found by the Emperour Theodosius in Pilats palace at Ierusalem Such foolish dreames as these as they are not with out scorn to be recited so neither ought they to be made use of for the disgracing or discrediting sober History prudently grounded on Tradition III. CHAP. 1. S. Ioseph first addresses himself to the Brittish King 2.3 c. The Kings name was Arviragus whether he and Caractacus were the same person 7. He is sayd to be the Founder of the Vniversity of Oxford by the advice of Olenus Calenus an Hetrurian Augur 1. THis Tradition informs us that S. Ioseph at his first abord in the Western parts of this Island with his companions assumed the confidence to repaire to the Brittish Kings presence raigning there to whom he gave an account of the design of his journey which was to bring the happy newes and to offer the only assured means of eternall happines to all that would embrace it It is not to be doubted but this Message gravely and modestly delivered by one filled with the spirit of God and also of a venerable presence one that renounced all worldly designs of power or riches Professour of a Religion sufficiently recommended in that it deserved the hatred of Nero a Prince then infamous beyond any ever mention'd in former Histories such a message I say could not but at least be hearkned to without displeasure if not with favour at least by such a King as this is described by our ancient Annals 2. His name was Arviragus the same no doubt who in an ancient coyn is called Arivog but from what Ancestours he was descended is not clearly enough reported in History Certain Modern Writers will needs make him the same with Caractacus before spoken of suppos'd likewise by them to be the same with Cogidunus the youngest son of Cunobelin from whom also they are willing to deduce King Lucius in a direct line who raigned in the following Age By which art they indeed give some grace to their Histories by a distinct sorting of actions and occurrents to the precise years of Kings then suppos'd to raign in this Island 3. It cannot truly be denied but that the Character given by Historians to Caractacus and Arviragus is very much agreeing in resemblance For as Caractacus is described by Tacitus and Dio to be a Prince of great courage magnanimity and Beneficence and moreover a freind to the Romans so likewise is Arviragus represented by others For thus doth a Writer learned in Antiquity describe him Arviragus saith he was well acquainted with those arts which adorn and dispose the mind to humanity Neither did he alone himselfe love learning but was also a singular favourer of those who were learned c. He was valiant and couragious in warre mild and clement in peace He was in his conversation affable and chearfully pleasant liberall in bestowing gifts and always most deare to his subiects 4. But the resemblance of their Characters is not a proof sufficient to render their persons one and the same unlesse we must be obliged to beleive that Brittany was a soyle too barren to produce more then one brave and commendable Prince And there are in ancient Records severall grounds of more then a suspicion that they were distinct Kings raigning in severall parts of this Island and in severall times also 5. It cannot be denyed that in Brittany there were very many petty Kings and Princes independent of one another some of them subject to the Romans and others free In Caesars time there were in Kent no fewer then three As for Cynobelin and his family their Dominions for ought appears were confind to the Trinobantes that is Essex and Middlesex whereas Arviragus raigned in the Western parts upon the Confines of the Belgae in the Provinces of Dorsetshire and Somersetshire Which argues that he was of a different race 6. But moreover this King Arviragus seems to have raigned much later then Caractacus who after his captivity by the Emperour Claudius is suppos'd to have been sent back to his Kingdom though no Roman Writers speak of his restitution Wheras the Roman Satyrist mentions Arviragus as a Prince of great renown in the dayes of Domitian the seaventh Emperour after Claudius and as an enemy very formidable to the Romans which certainly Caractacus never was For upon occasion of an enormously great fish a Mullet presented to Domitian he brings in a flatterer making that Present an Omen of some great conquest to follow Thou shalt take captive some great King says he or the famous Arviragus shall be â—umbled down from his Brittish chariot c. By which expression it seems more then probable that Arviragus though bred up in the Roman civility and literature yet upon advantage of the great factions succeeding in the Empire after Nero's death shook off his chains and renounced his dependance on the Romans Certain it is so great and famous a King he was that without any wrong to Caractacus he might be mistaken for him 7. Among other illustrious Monuments of his affection to literature and munificence for promoting it this is recorded that he was the Founder of the famous Vniversity of Oxford For thus writeth a modern learned Authour It is the opinion of some that in the seaventieth yeare after the Nativity of our Lord the Citty of Oxford was built during the raign of King Arviragus And that then there came into Brittany a certain Hetrurian Prophet or Augur named Olenus Calenus concerning whom Pliny in his naturall History Writes and that this man layd the foundations yea and perfected the building of it from his own name calling it Calena which name was continued to it till the entrance of the Saxons into Brittany after which is was called Oxenford IV. CHAP. 1. c. Arviragus though not converted affords to S. Ioseph c the Isle of Glastonbury for a place of retreat and twelve Hydes of Land for their nourishment 1. TO this renowned King Arviragus S. Ioseph and his Companions addressed themselves and expounded their Message The successe hereof was though not a Conversion of the King himselfe yet a free leave to publish their Doctrin among his Subjects And herein we ought withtrembling to adore the most holy but with all most secret judgments of God It is probable that there could not be found a mind in all this Island at that time better dispos'd as far as nature and human education could dispose a soule for the entertaining of Saving Truch then in King Arviragus Yet though by his kindnes to the Professours of it he tacitly shewd his approbation therof he did not receive from heaven the Gift of
Timotheus to his Brother and fellow preist Pastor and to his most holy Sister Praxedes health We being desirous in all things without delay to expresse our service beseech your holines to recommend us to the Memory and intercession of the Holy Apostles the holy Bishop Pius Prelat of the holy Apostolick See and all the saints I your humble servant perusing the letter you were pleased to direct to mee am more abundantly filled with ioy For my soule always was and still continues resigned to yours Wherfore your Holines may take notice that the same is pleasing to us your servant which was agreable to our Brother Novatus namely that what he bequeathed to mee should be at the disposition of the holy Virgin Praxedes and therefore hereby you have full power to employ the said legacy which way soever shall be thought good by you and the said holy Virgin 4. Now what was the successe of this holy negotiation appears in the ancient Acts of the same Pastor in these words Having therfore received this Epistle we were filled with ioy and presented it to the Holy Bishop Pius to be read by him Then the blessed Bishop Pius gave thanks to God the Father Almighty At the same time the holy Virgin of our Lord Praxedes having received such power from her Brother Timotheus humbly besought the Blessed Bishop Pius that he would dedicate a Church in the Baths of Novatus at that time not frequented because in them there was a large and spacious Edifice To this request Bishop Pius willingly yeilded and dedicated a Church in the Baths of Novatus at Rome in the street calld The Bricklayers street where likewise he constituted a Roman Title and consecrated a Font for Baptism on the fourth of the Ides of May. 5. These Bathes here named from Novatus have elsewhere their title from S. Timotheus being situated on the Mountain at Rome call'd Viminal To this place it was before a Church was solemnly consecrated that Christians usually repaired but privately for the celebration of holy Christian Mysteries as we find in the Acts of S. Iustin the Philosopher and Martyr For being examined by the Prefect of Rome concerning the place in which the Christians made their Assemblies his answer was I have hitherto had my abode near the house of one Martius at the Bath named The Timothin-bath For which Assemblies having been forbid by the Emperour the same Iustin four years after suffred Martyrdom 6. Now Wheras in this relation made by the holy Preist Pastor there is mention of a Roman Title constituted by Pope Pius we may observe that in the first infancy of the Church those who were ordained Preists to celebrate Divine Mysteries were not confined to any fixed residence but exercised their function in severall places as occasion presented it selfe But about the year of our Lord one hundred and twelve S. Evaristus Pope assign'd to each Preist a peculiar Cure and Parish in Rome which were called Tituli or Titles so named from the Ensigns or Marks set on the places where they assembled which in the ancient Churches were Crosses erected to signify that such buildings were appropriated to Christian Worship XIV CHAP. 1. The death of Antoninus Emperour to whom succeed Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus 2. The death of S. Praxedes 3. Persecution rais'd by M. Aurelius at the instigation of Philosophers 1. THE same yeare with S. Novatus did the Emperour Antoninus likewise end his life to whom succeeded Marcus Aurelius call'd the Philosopher and Lucius Verus so that the Roman Empire was joyntly governed by two persons with equall authority 2. In the second year of the raign of these Emperours dyed the holy Virgin Praxedes Concerning whom thus the Holy Priest Pastor continues to write Two years and eighteen days after this Church was dedicated there was a great persecution rais'd against Christians to the end to force them to worship Idols and many were crown'd with Martyrdom Now the holy Virgin of our Lord Praxedes being fervent in the Holy Ghost secretly conceal'd many Christians in the sayd Title or Church whose bodies she strengthned with food and their minds with exhortations proceeding from Gods spirit Then information was given to Antoninus that is M. Aurelius that Christian assemblies were made in the house of Praxedes Who sent Officers and layd hold on many among which was Symitrius a Priest with twenty two more All which he commanded to be put to death in the same Title without any examination Whose bodies the blessed Virgin Praxedes took by night and buried them in the Coemitery of Priscilla on the seaventh day of the Ides of Iune After this the Holy Virgin became much afflicted in mind and with many groans prayd unto our Lord that she might passe out of this life whose prayers and teares found accesse unto our Lord Iesus Christ. For on the thirty fourth day after the Martyrdom of the foresaid Saints the consecrated Virgin went unto our Lord on the twelfth of the Calends of August Whose body I Pastor a Priest buried next to her Father in the Coemitery of Priscilla in the Salarian way where at this day the Prayers and devotions of Saints are frequently exercised 3. This persecution was begun cheifly at the instigation of Heathen Philosophers especially the inhuman beastly Sect of the Cynicks For by reason of the Emperours studiousnes and profession of Stoicall Philosophy such persons had easy admittance to him Among whom Tatianus a learned Christian in that time takes notice of one infamous Cynick called Crescens whose vanity luxury cruelty and profanenes is well described by him and S. Iustin Martyr in his Oration publickly pronounc'd before the Senat mentions the same Cynick with contempt and indignation as it were prophecying his Martyrdom following and procured by those Sycophants XV. CHAP. 1.2 Of S. Timotheus his death by Martyrdom at Rome 3. A Letter of Pope Pius signifying this c. 4. His universall care over the Church 5.6 A second Letter of the same Holy Pope 7. Great care of Christians touching the Sacred bodies of Martyrs 1. THus we have the summe of what is in Ecclesiasticall Monuments delivered touching three holy children of Pudens a Roman Senatour and his wife Claudia Priscilla in the Acts of whom our Nation has an interest partly in regard of their Mother a Brittish Lady as likewise their Brother S. Timotheus who besides his generall Apostolicall Office exercised in this Island had no doubt a great influence in disposing King Lucius to the embracing of our Christian Faith 2. Now besides this generall Character of this our Saint there is little extant touching S. Timotheus but only that the year after his devout Sister Praxedes death he return'd to Rome where also he became a happy prey to those sensuall savage Philosophers and in the following year gloriously ended his life by Martyrdom together with another worthy companion called Marcus This appears both in the ancient Roman
Gests of S. Lucius in his Apostolick Office 4.5 His death and buriall in the Citty of Curia or Chur. 6. Of S. Emerita a sister of King Lucius who accompanied him her Martyrdom 7. Dempsâ—ers ridiculous pretention that King Lucius as buried in Scotland 1. HAving from authorities of great weight asserted the Apostleship of this our Pious King in pursuance therof we will collect out of ancient Writers some of his particular Gests and suffrings in the discharge of the said Office 2. He having resolved to consecrate the remainder of his old age to the service of Christ pass'd first into France landing at Bolâ—ign a Citty of the Mâ—rini where saith Malbranque he first began his office of preaching the Faith of Christ and from thence made his progresse through the Region of the Nervians the Countrey of Liege to Triers in Germany After which the next place bless'd by his presence and Charity was Ausburg Augusta Vindelicorum where he converted to the Faith a Noble Cittizen call'd Campestrius with his whole family But there the Devill rais'd against him a great persecution for saith Nauelerus the people out of a hatred to a Religion formerly unknown by them pursued the preacher of it with stones and afterward cast him into a pit Out of which he was secretly drawn by some Christians there and conducted to the Citty of Curia where he ended his life by Martyrdom 3. From Ausburg S. Lucius went to Reginoburgum or Ratisbon where he efficaciously spread the seed of the Gospell And having spent almost all his strength in such works of Charity to others he desired to end his life in solitude quietnes and prayer For which purpose he retired himself into the mountainous countrey of Rhetia and saith Tscudus having pass'd over the hill under which is situated the Castle called Gutenberg which to this day retains the name of S. Lucius his Cliff he came into the Region where now the Citty Curia or Chur is placed together with his devout sister S. Emerita who presently after for preaching the Christian Faith suffred Martyrdom at Trimas or Trimontium distant from Curia the space of two or three miles But S. Lucius repos'd himselfe in a certain Grot in the Mountain above the Citty Curia where he taught the Faith of Christ. The place where he built a little Oratory doth still testify his Sanctity and abode there for in memory thereof there was afterward founded a Monastery of Norbertins Praemonstratenses which took its name from S. Lucius as Aubertus Miraeus and Raderus doe affirm 4. As touching the manner of S. Lucius his death the same Aegidius Tscudus writes thus At last Lucius was slain neer to Curia in the Castle call'd Martiola by the infidell inhabitants and the Prefect of that Region Notwithstanding other Authours affirm that he died in peace though the honour and Title of a Martyr cannot be denyed him since anciently as Baronius saith it was communicated not only to such as by a violent death for Christs honour were snatchd out of this world but likewise to those who for the confession of the Faith suffred any torments though they did not consummate Martyrdom by death 5. The precise year of the death of this glorious King is by Florilegus determin'd to be the year of Christ two hundred and one which was the seaventy eighth year of his Raign and the eighty eighth of his life Wherto the learned Chronologist Bishop Vsher likewise accords His words are these In so great a debate among Writers my iudgment doth incline to beleive that King Lucius ended his life in the first year of the third Century after Christ. And the grounds of this perswasion are because I observe that not only the Annals of the Church of Salisbury and the Chronicle of the Brittains abbreviated as likewise the London Tables but also Roger Wendover Mathew Paris and Mathew of Westminster together with the History of Rochester doe agree that he dyed in the year of our Lord two hundred and one 6. His sacred Relicks have been dispersed in severall places of Germany and to this day saith Raderus are venerated in a Church of the Franciscans and another of the Iesuits at Ausburg Which argues that he dyed not in Brittany but Germany Therfore although our Citties of Glocester and Winchester have boasted themselves to have been the Repositories of some parts of the body of this Pious King it is more likely that considering their near relation to him they should procure them from the Church of Curia then that the German Churches should obtain them out of Brittany 7. Now wheras in the Passage cited out of Aegidius Tscudus mention was made of Saint Emerita the devout Sister of King Lucius and companion of all his travails and dangers and how in the Countrey of the Helvetians she added the Crown of Martyrdom to the garland of Virginity our Brittish Martyrologe thus commemorats her At Trimas in the territory of Curia this day being the fourth of December is celebrated the Feast of S. Emerita Virgin and Martyr the Sister of Lucius King of the Brittains who together with her Brother went into Germany and for confession of the Christian Faith being persecuted by the infidells of that countrey consummated her glorious Martyrdom by fire about the year of our Lord one hundred ninety three The entire history of her life may be read in the Breviary of the Church of Curia Mention is made of this holy Virgin and Martyr by Isengrenius and Hermannus Schedelius in his Chronicle 8. But Philippus Ferrarius in his Catalogue of Saints omitted in the Roman Martyrologe being mislead by Dempster a Writer most ridiculously partiall for his Scottish Nation as Bishop Vscher observes assigns a place in the Western parts of Scotland call'd Trimontium and now Attetish for the place of this Virgins Martyrdom and in the Scottish Calander her commemoration is appointed on the twenty sixth of May. Which assertion is so evidently contradicted by many authentick Records of severall Churches and by Authours of such unquestion'd integrity that it deserves not a serious confutation XVII CHAP. 1.2 S. Fugatius and Damianus preach the the Gospell in Brittany 3.4.5 They retire to Glastonbury and rebuild it establishing a succession of Monks They find there the Holy Crosse c. 6. The place of their buriall uncertain 1. HAving thas largely set down the Gests of our Holy King Lucius the first among all Christian Kings we will adioyn hereto such particulars as our ancient Monuments furnish us with all touching the two Holy Legats Fugatius or Phaganus and Damianus or Diruvianus sent by the Venerable Pope Eleutherius to baptise the sayd King and to settle the affaires of the New Brittish Church 2. Now concerning these two glorious Saints thus writes Malmsburiensis out of the Ancient Records of Glastonbury Phaganus and Dervianus came into Brittany to preach the Gospell
wall separated from those which were under the Romans dominion Dio an Historian of these times though he curiously prosecutes the progresse of the Emperour Severus through these countreys finds only two Nations in these parts against whom he fought the Maeares and the Caledonians to which saith he all other names are refer'd as the Vecturiones and Deucalidonians c. the former neighbouring to that wall and the other possessing the remainder of the Island to the Northern Sea As for the name of Scots there is as yet no mention of them either in him or any other ancient Writer Where as if there had been any such distinct Nation here Severus who was most ambitious to multiply his Titles would not have faild to have inserted Scoticus among them We shall ere long determine when that Nation entred those parts and when they changed the Name of those Provinces 3. It is without question true that such a Prince there was in those times as Donaldus who by Rosierius is sayd to be the Brother of Ethodius but whether he was a King of that whole Countrey of Brittany not yet conquered by the Romans or only a Prince of some one Province there cannot certainly be determin'd A Tradition likewise sufficiently grounded approves the Conversion of that Prince with his Family and subjects about two years after the Death of King Lucius Which is evidently confirmed by the forecited testimony of Tertullian in a Book written not above seaven years after it happned 4. As for Fulgentius or as the Brittains call'd him Fulgenius he was a Southern Brittain not only a Subject of King Lucius but of the same Royall family descended saith Boethius from the ancient blood of the Brittish Kings and who together with his King and kinsman embraced the Christian Faith He was not a Writer of Books as Dempster fains but a Prince of high Spirits and courage And being such an one no marvell if after so great an injury done to his family which was excluded from the Succession by the Romans he refused to continue their subject and fled to their profess'd Enemies the Caledonian Brittains beyond the wall 5. Fulgenius therfore was doubtles the first who instill'd into the mind of Donaldus a love of Christian verities and suggested to him the same way and meanes to obtain a more perfect instruction which his Kinsman King Lucius had lately made use of which was to direct Messengers to the Bishop of Rome Pope Victor with a request that he would send authoris'd Teachers to instruct that Nation and establish a Church there This the King perform'd and accordingly Paschasius with other his companions were sent into those Northern Provinces who by the Divine assistance converted to the Faith such infinite numbers of the Inhabitants that there were not Preists enow to baptise them 6. It seems the reputation of Fulgenius his courage and conduit was so great that King Donaldus made him Generall of the forces with which he broke into the Roman Provinces causing a terrible desolation there And being opposed by the Roman Generall he defeated his Army and kill'd both him and in a manner all that follow'd him So great a calamity hence follow'd through all the Southern paâ—ts of the Island that the Emperour Severus himselfe thought his own presence and authority necessary to secure the Province Hereupon he brought with him an Army so formidable that the Maeates and Caledonians made an offer to surrender themselves But the Emperour ambitious of fame by a conquest of them entred their countrey where his cheif difficulty was to find his enemies for by reason of the vast mountains woods and marishes all the passages wherof were known to the Brittains the Romans became oft entangled in their march and sometimes received considerable defeats Notwithstanding by their constancy and advantage in numbers the Roman Army did not interrupt their progresse till they had peirced to the utmost bounds of the Island confining on the Northern Sea There was no decisive battell at all fought between them Notwithstanding the Emperour esteem'd his exploit of marching through the whole countrey which never any Enemy before had done to be so illustrious that he therfore assum'd among his other Titles that of Britannicus Which likewise was communicated to his two Sons Bassianus and Geta his Successours in the Empire though only Bassianus accompanied him in the invasion Geta being left in the Southern parts to compose Civil affaires 7. As for the Noble and pious Brittain Fulgenius he is sayd shortly after to have ended his life at York then the Imperiall Citty It is doubtfull whether he returned thither as a Prisoner or upon composition For some of the Princes and Provinces yeilded themselves to the Emperour though the greatest part avoyding any encounter with the Romans remain'd still in their former hostility That therfore which is related by a Modern Writer touching Fulgenius is very uncertain namely that in a battell against Septimius Severus he was mortally wounded and died at York in the year of Grace two hundred and twelve being the eighteenth and last year of Severus his Raign And other stories of him though confidently reported by some as that he was the Brother of Martia the first wife of Severus and that by him Severus him selfe was slain are meer inventions contriv'd to adorn a Fable rather then a History III. CHAP. 1.2 How far Severus the Emperour subdued the Caledonian Brittains And of the wall built by him 3.4 Severus his ominous retreat to York and his death there And Consecration by the Romans 5. His Sons left Successours in the Empire but Bassianus the Elder murders his Brother Geta. 6. A sharp reply of a Brittish Lady to the Empresse Iulia. 7. A Description of the Caledonian Picts by Herodian 1. SEverus though he took the Title of Britannicus and coyned Medalls inscrib'd with Britannica Victoria was far from subduing those Northern Brittains He wrote indeed to Rome that the Caledonians by covenant had yeilded up a part of the countrey formerly possess'd by them Notwithstanding if we consider the situation of the Wall or Rampire renewd by him to exclude those Nations from commerce with the civiliz'd Provinces we shall find that the Romans rather yeilded to the Brittains a considerable space of ground which had formerly been subdued and gaind by Iulius Agricola and Lollius Vrbicus 2. Our famous Historian S. Beda indeed is of opinion that this Wall or rather Rampire of earth was rais'd by Severus in the same place where Agricola in the former Age had made his enclosure to wit between the two bayes of Edinborough and Dunbritton But certain it is that this Rampire was placed much more to the Southward where the Emperour Hadrian afterward had rais'd his Wall now utterly demolish'd between the Mouth of the River Tine and the bay of Eden Ituna in Cumberland The length of which Rampire was not as Orosius relates as likewise S. Hierom and
Cassiodorus one hundred thirty two miles but onely fourscore as Spartianus truly measures it calling this work the greatest ornament of his Empire from whence he took the Title of Britannicus 3. Having finish'd this vast work with frequent towrs and a most deep and spacious Trench Severus retir'd with his Army to York and being superstitious he busied his thoughts in the way with an expectation of some good omen that might portend an establishment of his future happines But was much daunted seeing an Aethiopan souldier coale black and crown'd with Cypresse who came to meet him And when he commanded him to be taken away he being a noted Ieaster sayd thus to him Thou hast been all thou hast overcome all Now be a God The apprehension which so portentous a sign wrought in his mind was much encreas'd when entring into York he was by a rusticall Sâ—â—thsayer conducted to the Temple of Bellona and afterwards when the beasts brought for sacrifice were all black and through the negligence of his servants followd him all the way to the entrance into his Palace These saith Spartianus were the presages of his death which followd presently after in the same Citty His last words were these When I receiv'd the Government I found the common-wealth every where in troubles I leave it peaceable even to the Brittains Though I be an old man unable to walk I leave to my children Antoninâ— if they be good an Empire firm and secure but if they be ill they will find it weak and tottring 4. Being dead he was with all most exquisite solemnity consecrated and made a God the Ceremonies wherof are exactly described by Herodian His ashes were gathered into a precious boxe with costly odours and by his two sons with great veneration caried to Rome to be layd up in the sacred Monuments of their Princes 5. Now though these two sons Bassianus or Antoninus and Geta were left by their Father with equall power Governours of the Empire yet presently after their coming to Rome the Elder son Bassianus most barbarously murdred the Younger together with all that had adhered to him and after his death raigned alone fower yeares 6. Before we quit this subject in hand it will not be impertinent to relate from Dio a story touching a quarrell between Severus his Empresse Iulia and a Brittish Lady by which we may observe the sprightfullnes of the Brittains When the Emperour had entred into a league with the Caledonian Brittains whilst he was sitting on his Tribunal his wife Iulia intending an affront to the Brittish woemen sayd publickly that they conversed impudently with men Whereto the Wife of Argentocoxâ—s a Caledonian Prince thus pleasantly answer'd We doe much more honourably satisfy out naturall passions then you Roman Ladies For we converse indeed freely with men but they are such as are of the best and Noblest rank Wheras you Roman woemen prestitute your selves secretly to the basest of men This Reply proved the more sharp because Iulia was infamous for her adulteries which it seems the Brittish Lady was not ignorant of and had courage enough to let her know it Shortly after the Empresse became the object of the utmost infamy by marying publickly her own son Bassianus to whose lusts she most impudently offred her selfe 7. We will conclude the present argument with an observation out of Herodian an Historian living in these times who describing the fashions of those Northern Brittains says That they used no garments at all that about their Necks and breasts they wâ—re swords esteeming that to be a principall ornament and argument of their wealth Moreover that they in severall colours mark'd their bodies with the pictures and figures of all sorts of beasts and this being their cheif bravery they therfore refused to weare any garments because they would have those pictures exposed to mens eyes Hence it is that in Roman Authours of this and the succeeding ages we find not the Brittains in generall but only these Northern Caledonian Brittains stiled Sky-colourd Brittains and sky-colourd Brigantes Ausâ—nius the Poet particularly ascribes such painting to the Caledonian Brittains So that no doubt it was from hence that those utmost northern Brittains came to be called Picts or a Painted people IV. CHAP. 1. Of the Actions and death of Donaldus the first Christian King of the Caledonians 2. The Ancient Scottish Christianity how different from the Modern 3. Of a Monument erected to the Dui or God of the Brigantes 1. IN the fourth year of Antoninus Bassianus his Raign dyed Donaldus the first Christian Prince among the Caledonians Concerning whom thus writes Hector Boethius Donaldus was the first of all the Scottish Kings as our ancient Annals inform us which coyned silver and gold marking it on one side with the figure of the Saving Crosse and on the other with his own face Which coyns may propagate to posterity the Memory of the Christian Faith being first embraced by him among all the Kings of that Nation He at last dyed in the one and twentieth year of his raign famous both for his religious and Civill actions Being dead he by the perswasion of such Preists as among the Scots administred the sacred Mysteries of Christianity was with Christian ceremonies and solemnity buried in a feild which with many pious accustomed Prayers had been consecrated for the buriall of Christians 2. In this relation made by Boethius extracted out of ancient Records the present inhabitants of Scotland may observe how great the difference is between the Christianity of the first King who profess'd it in their countrey and that which they have lately chosen in stead of it This King refus'd to be buried among his heathen Ancestours chusing rather to mingle his bones with those of common beleivers then to have them proudly entomb'd with Heathen Princes He would not rest after death but in a place consecrated by the Devotions of holy Preists who likewise celebrated his Obsequies according to the Primitive Christian manner by making oblations for him and offring the most Holy Sacrifice for the refreshment of his soule as S. Cyprian who liv'd not long after describes the manner of ancient Christian buriall The same holy Father likewise as if he intended not only to justify but commend this last act of King Donaldus his devotion among other crimes with which he charges one of his Bishops call'd Marâ—ialis adds this that he buried his children in the profane Sepulchers of the Heathen Among other ceremonies peculiar to Christian burialls in those ancient times this was one that a Crosse was raised upon their Monuments as shall be shew'd hereafter 3. Having thus related the actions and death of this second Christian Prince Donaldus as fully as ancient Records inform us it will not be amisse to add here a Monument yet remaining which in those very days was erected nere the River Calder in Yorkshire by Titus Aurelius a Roman officer
whom succeeds Carus and after him his Sons Carinus and Numerianus To whom being slain Diocletian succeds in the Empire 1. THE mariage of the Senatour Constantius with a pious Christian Lady and the birth of Constantin though they were the seeds of infinit blessings to Gods Church yet they were seeds as yet hid in the earth for Christian Religion and the Professours of it were never more cruelly persecuted then during the time between Constantins birth and the beginning of his raign 2. The Emperour Aurelianus who sent Constantius into Brittany was one of the most inhuman adversaries of Gods truth as the Churches Martyrologe in a world of places does witnes And this Constantin when he had obtain'd the Empire exprobrated to his Memory in an Oration which he made to an Assembly of Bishops Thou likewise O Aurelianus saies he wert the incentive of all mischeif But when thou with horrible fury marched'st through Thrace thou wast slain in the midst of thy iourney and filled'st the tracts of the high way with thy impious blood He was the Authour of the Ninth Persecution and both the Eastern and Western Church groaned under his cruelty Only Brittany was free from violence enioying great tranquillity by the moderate government of Constantius now become not averse from Christianity 3. But after seaven years raign God revenged his own cause upon Aurelian who was slain by his own soldiers between Byzantium and Heracléa In whose place the Roman Senat chose Tacitus famous for nothing more then his moderation and refusing to continue the Empire hereditary in his family 4. Tacitus after six months concluded both his Empire and life to whom succeeded Probus a person of so great renown for his military vertues saith Vopiscus that the Senat wish'd him the Army chose him and the people with acclamations approv'd the Election 5. In the third year of Probus his raign after an admirable Victory gain'd by him in Gaule where he slew four hundred thousand of his Enemies by his own testimony in a letter to the Senat a certain man call'd Bonosus by originall a Brittain whom the Emperour had left Admirall of the Roman fleet upon the Rhene fearing his anger because most of the ships by some casualty had been set on fire in his absence took on him the Purple and Title of Emperour and continued his dominion over Brittany Spain and a part of Gaule a longer time then he deserved saith Vopiscus But in the end his army with great difficulty being defeated by the Emperour he was forced to hang himselfe 6. This mans rebellion no doubt caused great disquiet in Brittany from the government of which Constantius had been removed and returning to Rome had been made Prefect of Dalmatia 7. After Bonosus his death troubles were renew'd in Brittany by him who administred that Province suppos'd by M. Camden to be Cl. Cornelius Laelianus recommended to that Government by a frein'd of the Emperours call'd Victorinus of Mauritania For Laelianus invaded the Tyranny upon which Victorinus fearing the Emperours indignation went presently into Brittany and by subtilty procured the death of the Vsurper which restored peace to the Province The security of which saith Zosimus was much confirmed by the sending thither great numbers Franks then of taken prisoners in a battell by Probus which in following seditions were proffitable to the Emperour 8. After five years raign Probus was also slain by his own army and in his place Carus Manlius Aurelius was chosen Emperour who created his two sons Carinus and Numerianus Caesars But Carus the next year being kill'd by lightning and Numerianus by the treason of his father in law Aper and Carinus by one of his Tribuns whose Wife he had abused Diocletian was by the generall acclamation of the Army pronounced Emperour Diocletian the Authour of the last most dire and most prolonged persecution that ever the Church of God suffred VII CHAP. 1. Diocletian stiled Britannicus 2. He makes Maximianus his partner in the Empire 3 4 5. A most furious Persecution rais'd by them against the Christian Church Brittish Martyrs 1. THere is extant an ancient Inscription recited by Baronius and dated the second year of Diocletians raign wherin among other Titles he is stiled Britannicus which imports some victory gained by him or his Lieutenant in the Island Certain it is that though Carinus was not slain till the year following yet at this time Brittany and the Western regions of the Empire following the example of Rome had submitted to Diocletian deserting Carinus 2. Who being slain the year following at Murgum Diocletian assum'd as Companion to himself in the Empire M. Valerius Maximianus committing to him the government of Gaule Brittany c. These two Emperours of which Diocletian from Iupiter took the Sirname of Ioviuâ— as Maximianus from Hercules did that of Herculius at the beginning of their raign conspired in a resolution to be the Defendeâ—s of their Pagan Gods and profes'd enemies of Christ whose Religion they intended wholly to extirpate out of the World 3. Certainly there was never given a stronger proof that Gods Church is built upon a Rock impossible to be shaken by human force then the unsuccesfullnes of the rage of these two Emperours against it They had the whole power of the world in their hands they were Princes of eminent valour wisedom and policy above twenty years they governed the Empire and employed all that time without any relaxation in executing their rage against Christ and his truth they omitted no manner of tentations by favours and terrours to withdraw his servants from their Worship of him all mens witts were exercised in devising the most exquisite torments against them not only magistrates but private persons were arm'd to destroy them they were not only executed and tortur'd singly one by one but whole armies of them were butcher'd together and the most effectuall means to obtain the Emperours favour or pardon for the greatest crimes was the heaping of all disgraces and unjust violences upon poor Christians Yet with all this Christian Religion was so far from being destroyed that the Emperours cruelty and injustice gain'd more soules to Christ then the Sermons and exhortations of devout Preachers could doe in time of peace insomuch as these two Princes though vainglorious and ambitious beyond any of their predecessours seeing all their endeavours against Christ to prove fruitles out of rage and despair voluntarily depos'd themselves from the government of the world which they had undertaken principally in design against Christ. 5. One notable proof of the supereminent cruelty of these two Emperours against the Professours of the name of Christ was this that the Isle of Brittany divided from the Roman world which in former persecuting Emperours times had been exempted from participating with the suffrings of other Nations was now made a scene of blood Yea it may truly be affirmed that Brittany was the first Province dignified
not sacrifise to your Gods Neither doe I fear your threatnings or torments being secure under the protection of my God 9. When he had said this the throng of Officers which stood about him at the Iudges command began cruelly to scourge him for refusing to sacrifice and during that torment lifting up his eyes to our Lord he with a chearfull countenance said O Lord Iesus Christ I beseech thee keep this mind and good resolution which thou hast given mee firm and stable My desire is O my God to offer my soule a whole burnt sacrifice to thy glory and with my blood to seale thy truth Now when the Officers hands were become weary with tormenting him the holy man was thrust into a deep dungeon where he continued the space of six months 10. But presently after all the elements gave testimony of the injury and injustice done to him For from the time of his apprehending to his death neither rain nor dew refresh'd the earth the winds were silent and the region thereabout was continually parch'd with excessive heat of the Sun in the night time likewise the â—â—â—fling heat was intolerable Neither feilds nor trees produced any fruit so that the world it self fought in the just mans quarrell against his impious enemies 11. That which this devout Authour writes of the excessive heat and drought which God sent on Brittany as a just judgment for their cruelty against this holy Martyr impiety against God is taken notice of by the Heathen Oratour in a Panegyrick which this very year he pronounced before the Emperour Maximian then preparing an Expedition against the Tyrant Carausius who had possess'd himself of Brittany but as became an impudent flatterer he ascrib'd the intolerable heat and want of raine to the favour of their false Gods to the Emperour saying During the space of that whole year almost in which a clear untempestuâ—s season was necessary for thy design of building ships hewing of timber and beams encouraging the minds of thy soldiers to labour there was scarce one foule rainy day The winter it self imitated the warm temper of the spring We thought now that we were not in a cold Northern Climat but as if there had been a translation both of heaven and earth we felt the heat of the Southern Sun c. Of this expedition of Maximian against Carausius we shall treat assoon as we shall have finish'd the glorious Martyrdom of S. Albanus XII CHAP. 1.2 S Albanus his devotion and Prayer against Idolatry 3 Yet he venerates the Holy Crosse. 4.5 S. Albanus restores a Sick man to health 6.7 Being condemn'd and lead to his death he converts his Executioner 8. By his prayer he obtains a fountain of water 9. Another Executioner having cut off the Martyrs head looses his eyes 1. THE Infidel Iudge expected that by a tedious and painfull prison the Holy Martyrs Constancy should be broken and spent but on the contrary having an opportunity in that solitude to unite himself to God by Prayer his courage and strength was much encreased The ordinary subject of his dayly Spirituall meditations and entertainment with God and the effect they had is by the devout Writer of his life comprehended in this Prayer c. 2. O Lord Iesus Christ doe not permit the Devills malice so much to prevaile as by his cunning machinations and this peoples relenting my suffring for thee may be hindred And being come out of prison to suffer addressing his speech to the unbeleiving people which flock'd to see him Know all of you for a truth said he that I am an irreconciliable enemy of your false Gods Can any one iudge them to be worthy of any honour which manifestly have no divinity in them being the work of mens hands You your selves can testify that they neither see heare nor understand any thing O detestable vanity to expect life from them which have no life themselves to offer up prayers to those who never could heare to expect safety or happines from those which are not sensible of the least good to themselves Therfore I confidently protest that whosoever exhibits any honour to such dead Idolls is utterly voyd of all reason For tell mee I pray you what can be more desperatly miserable then that man who suffers himselfe to be enslaved by puppets of his own fashioning We therfore to Idolls and a greater 〈◊〉 to those who adore them 3. Here the discreet Reader may observe with how vehement a sharpnes this holy man contends against Idolatry whilst himself at the same time with great fervour and devotion venerates the Crosse of our Lord. From whence will necessarily follow that those who in our times impute Idolatry to Catholicks who give due honour to Sacred things are meer strangers to S. Albanus his Religion In those ancient times the Pagans usually called Christians Crucicolas Worshippers of the Crosse and the Centuriators of Magdeburg though Protestants acknowledge that Tertullian in his Apology testifies how the Christians at that time had all Idolls and the ornaments about them in horrible detestation Whence proceeded their vehement and bitter invectives against them Yet the same Authour in the same book seems to declare that those Christians usually had the Image of the Crosse which they sett up either in the places of their publick meetings or in their privat houses For which reason the Heathens oftimes objected to them that they religiously adored the Crosse. Thus were Christians from the beginning treated by Pagans and in the very same manner are Catholicks at this day treated by Sectaries Whence evidently appears that Modern Sectaries are in their hatred to the Church and the Venerable Crosse of Christ the Successours of Pagans as Catholicks are of the Primitive Christians But we will proceed in the Acts of S. Albanus 4. When these words spoken by S. Albanus in detestation of Pagan Idolatry were heard by the Iudge and the rest who were present with unanimous consent they pronounced sentence of death against him and lead him to execution to a certain place call'd Holmhirst Which place is described by S. Beda to be a very agreeable plain cloath'd with all sorts of flowers and about five hundred paces broad a fit Theater for so glorious a Martyr The same Authour adds that S. Albanus being lead to his death came to the river which with a swift torrent ran between a wall on one side and a sandy shore on the other where the holy Martyr was to be beheaded where he saw great multitudes of all conditions ages and sexes which no doubt by divine instinct were assembled to honour his death and they so choaked the passage of the bridge that before night they could not all have passed over As for the Iudge he had no intention to shew any respect to the Martyr but staid behind in the Citty S. Albanus therfore inflamed with a devout desire of a speedy Martyrdom approached neer the river
not stirring any way from the place where he stood 8. But when at last the hower was come in which he was to surrender to God his victorious spirit lifting up his eyes to heaven he saw our Lord Iesus standing at the right hand of the Father and heard an harmonious coÌ„cert of Angells in heaven amongst whom he saw his beloved Disciple S. Albanus whom he presently invoked to his help saying O Holy Albanus pray to our Lord that he would send his good Angell to meet and protect mee that the accursed fiend and his associats may not binder my passage into life Immediatly after which Prayer there appeared two Angells gloriously shining with celestiall splendour which came to him And a voyce from heaven was heard saying Verily I say unto thee thou shalt presently be in Paradise with thy Disciple 9. When the Pagans heard this celestiall voyce they stood amazed But the holy Angells took with them the Blessed mans soule shining with a brightnes white as snow and with hymnes and praises carried it into heaven In the mean time the Pagans ceased not to overwhelm with stones the livelesse body bound as it was with cords But afterwards a certain Christian privily took away the Body and with a diligent care buried it This is the summ of the Life and Martyrdom of S. Amphibalus recorded by an ancient Briâ—tish Authour who saith Harpsfeild lived before the time of S. Beda XXIII CHAP. 1.2 S. Amphibalus martyrd or buried at Rudburn near Verolam his Sepulcher miraculously discovered by S. Albanus 3. His Body translated to S Albons 4 The day of his Translation 5. His Tomb venerated for miracles c. 1. IN the foregoing relation there is no particular mention either of the precise time or place where S. Amphibalus was martyrd But touching the place Harpsfeild saith that the Holy man of God was putt to death in a village call'd Rudburn distant from Verolam three miles where as Thomas Rudburn relates there were reserved to his time two great knives with which he was killd Which Thomas liv'd about the year one thousand four hundred and eighty And indeed in the same village there seem to remain to this day some marks of his Martyrdom for in the way between Rudburn and Verolam there is shown a certain Tree of late enclosd within walls where it is beleiod was fixd the post to which the holy Martyr was tyed and where his bowells were forn out 2. Or rather probably there was the place of his buriall which was perform'd with such secrecy as hath been said that till the year of Grace one thousand one hundred seaventy and eight the sacred Body could never be discovered But in that yeare saith Mathew of Westminster the Blessed Martyr S. Albanus was seen visibly to goe out of the Church dedicated to him and to come to a certain man inhabiting in the town of S. Albons to whom he said Follow mee Who seeing him shining gloriously like the Sun was affraid yet in obedience followd him Northward and the high way shone with his brightnes As they walked the man said to the Holy man Sir who are you Who answered I am Albanus the first Martyr of Brittany and I now lead thee to the Sepulcher of S. Amphibalus by whose preaching I was converted to our Lord and became a Martyr that his bones may be discovered and reverently removed to a more decent place Thus they talked together familiarly like two freinds and in the end he shewd him the place which the man diligently observed setting certain stones in order there to be a mark for the finding it againe Thus writes that Authour and the same is related more diffusedly by Mathew Paris 3. Then it was that the Sacred Body was translated to the Church of S. Albans where 〈◊〉 â—any Miracles were wrought by his intercession that the year following Lewis King of France who came into England in devotion to visit the Shrine of S. Thomas of Canterbury was desirous to continue his voyage likewise to S. Albans but was disswaded by his Nobles accompanying him as the same Authour reports 4. As touching the time time of this Holy Martyrs death though the year be well-enough known to witt the two hundred eighty seaventh year of our Lord yet for the day it is not particularly design'd in any History or Monument For wheras in the English Martyrologe his passion is celebrated on the twenty-fifth of Iune three days after that of S. Albanus yet surely then was commemorated not his death but the Translation of his sacred ashes to Verolam where they were repos'd in the Church of S. Albanus built by King Offa. This day it is which Harpsfeild meant when he wrote thus Verolam never saw any day more joyfull and beneficiall A Martyr meets a Martyr the scholler meets his Master the Host meets his Guest and one Cittizen of heaven meets another Albanus now openly and honourably entertains that guest at his return whom before he had secretly dismis'd least he should fall into his Enemies hands He now leads him into a magnificent Temple to whom before he could give no security in a cottage These things happned in the year one thousand one hundred seaventy eight on the five and twentieth day of Iune 5. But though the Brittains had been formerly ignorant of the place where S. Amphibalus his Body lay yet that was no hindrance to their Veneration of him from the beginning For as may be gathered out of a forecited passage of Gildas within ten years after his Martyrdom a Church was erected to his honour And in the year of our Lord three hundred and nine another Church at Winchester was consecrated to S. Amphibalus which the Saxons afterward rebuilding dedicated to S. Peter XIX CHAP. 1. Severall companions with S. Amphibalus in his Martyrdom whose names are not known 2.3.4 Martyrdon of S. Iulius and S. Aaron at Caer-leon 5 6 Churches built to their memory long before the Saxons entrance 7. S Stephanus and S. Socrates Brittish Martyrs 1. BEsides S. Albanus and S. Amphibalus Brittany at this time was glorified with severall other Martyrs Capgrave writes that when S. Amphibalus his Body was found there were discovered likewise with it two other Bodies of Martyrs A namelesse Authour quoted by Bishop Vâ—her reckons three to which Mathew Paris adds five more so that saith he Blessed Amphibalus was reckoned the tenth And Thomas Rudburn as also the breif History of the Church of Winchester affirm that the bodies of S. Amphibalus and eight of his companions were discovered Which in all probability were the Relicks of these Martyrs which together with him suffred for the profession of the Christian Faith their names are only known in heaven 2. But that part of Brittany from whence S. Amphibalus drew his originall hath more carefully preserved the Memory of their fellow cittizens and Martyrs which suffred there Among whom the
Menapia a Belgick Province in Gaule confining on the Rhine He is describ'd by the Roman Historians to have been a man vigilant and active both in counsell and execution and was employ'd by the Emperour at Boloign in Gaule to have care of the Navy appointed to free the Seas on the coasts of Gaule and Brittany from the infestation of the Franks and Saxons who most violently exercised Piracy in those quarters 2. This Employment Carausius discharged more to the destruction then advancemeÌ„t of the Roman Commonwealth For though he often vanquish'd and took prisoners many of those barbarous Pirates yet all the spoyle he kep'd to himself neither restoring it to its former owners nor consigning it the Emperours treasure 3. Such behaviour rendred Carausius suspected of some ill design against the Empire as if he had on purpose permitted the said Pirates to range freely to the end he might either partake or intercept them returning with their spoyles with which he had rais'd to himself an immense wealth Hereupon the Emperour Maximianus gave command that he should be put to death Which to avoyd he assum'd the Emperiall purple and possess'd himself of Brittany A great encouragement and help to which design was afforded by a sedition and rebellion at the same time rais'd in Gaule by Amandus and Aelianus two Roman Generalls Who notwithstanding were quickly subdued by Maximianus but after their defeat he was called by Diocletian into Italy because another rebellion was then â—egan in Africk 4. But Maximianus was presently after recalled into the West to oppose Carausius For which purpose he made great preparation especially of Shipping to pursue the Tyrant into Brittany Which gave occasion to the foremention'd Oratâ—ur Mamertinuâ— to procounce before him his Panegyrick wherein whith many flowers of Rhetorick he magnifies both the greatnes of the preparation and the wonderfull favour of their heathenish Gods in affording the Emperour so miraculous a calmnes and warmth of weather unusuall in so Northern a climat 5. And though the Oratours flattery promis'd a happy successe to that expedition yet it seems it fell out otherwise For Eutropius expressly declares that severall attempts by war had been in vain undertaken against Carausius a man very skillfull in military affaires so that in the end they were forced to make a peace leaving him the possession of Brittany A proof wherof is afforded us by Camden who produces a Coyn in the one side wherof was this Inscription C. Carausius Emperour and on the other The peace of Augustus 6. It seems Carausius being left in quiet possession of the Island employ'd well the power allow'd him for he drove the Northern Caledonian Brittains beyond the wall rais'd by the Emperours Hadrianus and Severus and rais'd a new rampire to enclose them more Northward then any had been before For thus writes Nennius the Disciple of Elvodugus Carausius saith he built a wall between the mouthes of the two rivers Cladus and Carunus and fortified it with seaven Castles adding withall a round house built of polish'd stones upon the bank of the River Carun he likewise erected an Arch triumphall on which he impos'd his own Name in memory of his Victory This building remaines to this day vulgarly call'd Iulius Hof as if Iulius Agricola had been the Authour of it XXI CHAP. 1. Carausius his Tyranny lasted seaven years 2. Persecution ceases in Brittany 3. Yet Monasteries and Churches are demolish'd particularly Winchester 4 The Church of Westminster converted into a Temple of Apollo 5. Helena not in Brittany at this time 1. THE Tyranny of Carausius continued the space of seven years for he began his piracy in the year of Christ two hundred eighty six and about two years after assum'd the Title of Emperour invading and possessing Brittany which he quietly governed till the year two hundred ninety three when Constantius made his expedition against him So that during the said two first years Brittany was under the government of Diocletian and Maximianus to whom must be attributed the Martyrdom of S. Albanus Amphibalus c. 2. Now though by Carausius his invasion of the Government the persecution ceased at least so far as that no Edicts were published against them nor any search after them ordained nor Tribunalls erected Notwithstanding the soldiers of Carausius having been bred up in rapines spoyled and destroyed all Churches and Monasteries remaining 3. Among other places the ruins of the Monasteries of Winchester and Westminster are by Historians celebrated both which had just a hundred years before been built by King Lucius Concerning the former thus we read in an ancieÌ„t Manuscript of the Church of Winchester Christian Religion remained the space of a hundred years from the first year of King Lucius the first Christian King of the Brittains And so long did the Monks quietly serve God in that ancient Monastery But they were all slain in the Church of Winchester which was also destroyd by the Ministers of the persecuting Emperour Diocletian in the second year of his raign To which year also we before refer'd the killing of the Monks as we doe the ruining of the Monastery to this present year two hundred eighty nine 4. As for the Church of Westminster how it was at this time profan'd and converted to a Temple of Apollo thus Iohn Fleet an ancient Historian declares Whilst the most greivous persecution rais'd by the Emperour Diocletian raged in Brittany among other Churches this of Westminster was destroy'd and afterward by the sacrilegious power of Magistrates chang'd into a profane temple of Apollo in which were exercis'd the superstitious Rites of the Gentiles By which it came to passe that in the same place where God had been devoutly worshipped in his own Church there Idolatrous abominations were afterward perform'd That place loosing the memory of its former Christian inhabitants became the Head and principall seat where Pagans exercised their execrable Superstitions 5. During all these cruelties against Christians and devastation of Churches there is no mention of S. Helena the Wife of Constantius Most probable it is therfore that she was before this time departed out of Brittany with her husband who now governed Dalmatia or Illyricum and with them both lived likewise their Son Constantin now fifteen years old who from his child hood saith Victor shewd an aspiring mind inflam'd with a desire of rule XXII CHAP. 1.2 By reason of distractions in the Empire two new Caesars elected Galerius and Constantius 3. Constantius marries Theodora daughter in law to Maximianus 4 5. Helena divorced and seated at Triers Of which many proofs 6 Constantin left in Diocletians Court as a pledge 1. IN these days there was a great concussion of the Roman Empire on all sides both by open invasions and civill dissentions For the Persians in the East and the Sarmatians in the North made furious irruptions into the Provinces adioyning likewise besides Brittany possess'd by Carausius Achilleas vexed
condemnation of Donatus Bishop of Casaenigrae by the Sentence of all the Iudges for by his own Confession he had rebaptised some who ioynd in Communion with him and impos'd his hands on Bishops who in persecution had renounced the Faith On the other side Caecilianus was pronounced innocent because the witnesses brought to accuse him protested that they could say no crime at all to his charge 11. But notwithstanding this Iudgment the Donatists without any consideration of justice or truth most impudently appeald from these Iudges to the Emperour himself who upon the first hearing mention of such an Appeale cryed out O the rabide impudence of these mens fury They have presumed to interpose an Appeale as the custom is among Heathens in secular causes Yet after all this the Donatists were so shameles as to boast that Constantin had adjuged the cause to Donatus and condemn'd Caecilianus And moreover to extenuate the iudgmeÌ„t of Pope Melchiades against them they endeavour'd to defame his memory by imputing to him that he had been a Traditor 12. The Donatists still continuing their tumults in Africa and directing their malice principally against Felix Bishop of Aptungis the Ordainer of Caecilianus whom they accused to have been a Traditor Constantin gave commission to Aelianus Proconsul of Africa to determin that cause who in the examination detecting many lyes and frauds of the Donatists pronounced in a legall manner the innocence of Felix But once more they appealed from his iudgment to the Emperour to whose Court likewise many of their Bishops repaired protesting that many of their allegations of greatest weight had not been taken into coÌ„sideration in the former iudgments Whereupon Constantin not daring as S. Augustin saith to become a Iudge of the iudgment given by Bishops at Rome refer'd the matter to a Synod of all the Western Bishops appointed to meet in the Citty of Arles because his abode was then in Gaule And for that purpose he directed his letters to the Metropolitans to send their Bishops and to the Proconsull of Africa Ablavius and other Magistrats to defray the charges of such Bishops of both parties as took their iourneys to the Councill Examples of which letters are still extant in Eusebius c. X. CHAP. 1.2 Councill of Arles condemns the Donatists 3 4.5 Severall Canons there of 6. The names of Brittish Bishops in it 1. IN the Councill of Arles there metâ— above two hundred Bishops from all parts of the Western Provinces as far as Brittany who in the first place examining again the cause of Felix Bishop of Aptungis the Ordainer of Caecilianus declared him innocent of the crime of Tradition impos'd on him by the Donatists so confirming the iudgment formerly given in Africa 2. This cause being concluded it seem'd good to the Fathers to frame certain Canons touching Ecclesiasticall Discipline to be uniformly observed through the whole Church And first they ordained that the solemn Feast of Easter should be celebrated the same day through all Churches This they did in opposition to the Quartadecimani who observed it according to the Iewish custom on the fourteenth day of the first Moon in March which practise began now more and more to prevayl in the East To this Canon the Brittish Bishops in this Councill subscribed so that the controversy afterward arising about its observation in Brittany was not whether the Eastern practise should be kept here but only whether in case the fourteenth day of the first Moon should fall on a Sunday Easter should then be observed or no The Scottish Prelats affirming and the others denying 3. Another Canon of this Councill which is the thirteenth deserves our particular consideration in which it is ordain'd that all those should be removed from the Order of the Clergy who in time of persecution had delivered up to Pagans the holy Scriptures or Vasa Dominica our Lords Vessells which Vessells that they were deputed for the Christian Sacrifice appears in the twentieth Canon which commands that a place to offer Sacrifice should be afforded to a stranger Bishop Restitutus therfore our then Brittish Bishop subscribing to this Councill did offer Sacrifice and could not be denyed that priviledge in a strange countrey which now would be refused him in his own with death if he perform'd it 4. Some Protestants doe much boast of a pretended Canon in this Councill prescribing that if Deacons at their Ordination shall protest their resolution to marry it might be lawfull for them to doe so and yet remain in the Ministery But Sir Henry Spelman ingenuously observes that in ancient Copies he could not find this Canon among the rest And however if such a Priviledge had then been allowed to Deacons since Preists are not mention'd it argues that they were forbidden mariage 5. At the conclusion of the Synod Marinus Bishop of Arles in the name of the whole Assembly wrote a letter yet extant to Pope Silvester wherto he annexed a Copy of the Canons ordain'd there desiring that by his care and diligence the said Decrees should be observed in all Churches Here wee find likewise among the rest our Brittish Bishop Restitutus professing the Vnity of our Holy Mother the Catholik Church with the most Religion Pope Silvester whom with due reverence they all salute They iudge likewise all those who reiect Tradition to be persons of an unbrideled mind burdensom and perniciâ—us to our Christian Law Lastly they professe their acknowledgment that the Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul nâ—t only sate Bishops at Rome but likewise doe without intermission still glorify God by their blood shed there Such Professions as these made by our Primitive Brittish Bishops doe much vary from the modern stile Let the Readers conscience iudge to whether party it is most safe to adioyn himselfe 6. It is observed by persons learned in Ecclesiasticall Antiquities that through the negligence or mistake of Transcribers the Names of the Bishops present and subscribing to this Council are wrongfully transfer'd to the End of the Second Synod assembled some years after at the same Citty of Arles Among whom those Bishops which came from Brittany and for whose sake it was our obligation to insist on this Synod were according to the most corrected Copies these which follow and according to this Order The first among the Brittish Subscribers was Eborius Bishop of the Citty of York in the Province of Brittany The Second was Restitutus Bishop of the Citty of London in the same Province Concerning whom the Protestant Centurists of Magdeburg give this testimony that he was a man considering the age wherin he liv'd many wayes learned and most modest in his conversation who among other things wrote one Book to his own Countreymen touching this Council of Arles and severall Epistles to Hilary Bishop of Poiâ—tiers He was famous in the year of Grace three hundred and fifty The third Brittish Bishop was Adelfius stiled Bishop of the Citty call'd The Colony of the
greater alacrity then ever before she went up and down her house glorifying the Power of God Thus was the Empresse satisfied in that which she so earnestly desired 6. The substance of this relation given by Ruffinus is attested by the consent of severall other ancient Ecclesiasticall writers so that to doubt of it or impudently to deny the truth of it as the Lutheran Centuriators doe can be no other but an undeniable effect of malice against the Truth testified hereby to their confusion 7. The Pious Lady to declare her thankfullnes to God for so signall a favour was not content to build a magnificent Church to the Memory of our Saviours Passion but added another which was dedicated to the saving sign of the Crosse as Eusebius writes 8. And as touching the Crosse it self she took care that part of it should be sent to the Emperour and honourably layd up in his Palace the remainder she enclosed in a Boxe of silver and gave it to the Bishop of Ierusalem exhorting him that it might be there reserved as a Monument of our Salvation Thus Theodoret To which S. Paulinus adds That every year on the day of our Lords Resurrection it is produced by the Bishop and exposed to the peoples veneration the Bishop himself first performing that honour to it 9. Socrates further relates that Constantin assoon as he had received part of the Crosse beleiving that the Citty in which it was kept should be preserved in safety from all danger inclos'd it in a statue of his own which was placed in the Market place of Constantinople on a mighty Pillar of Porphyry This saith Eusebius seem'd to the most holy Emperour a firm bulwark of his Kingdom 10. Besides the Crosse there were found other Ensigns of our Saviours Passion which were not neglected by Helena to witt the Nailes which had not only touched our Lords Body as the Crosse did but peirced into his sacred flesh and sinews being bathed in his blood Part of which nayles saith Theodoret and S. Ambrose she took care should be artificially enclos'd within the Emperours helmet that therby his head might be preserved safe from his enemies weapons and part she mingled with the Iron of his horses bitt therby both to give a safe protection to him and likewise to fullfill an ancient Prophecy of Zacharias saying That which is on the horses bitt shall be holy to the Lord Omnipotent And a third nayle she cast into the Adriatick Sea during a horrible tempest by which meanes she saved her self and company from shipwrack Thus writes Gregory Bishop of Tours XVI CHAP. 1.2 Of S. Helenas piety to Religious Virgins 3. c. To Martyrs S. Lucianus the Magi c. 7.8 c. Place of her death Rome where a Church is built to the H. Crosse. 12.13 c. Constantins piety to his Mother Augusta 15.16 c. Her Memory celebrated in severall places Churches built to her honour in England 1. WITH such Acts of Piety devotion and liberality did Helena adorn her latter dayes a particular account of which belongs to the design of this History she being a Brittish Princesse For which reason we will prosecute the course of her life which seems to have ended the same year or in the beginning of the following 2. An example of her humility and devout respect to Virgins consecrated to Gods service by a profession of Chastity is related by Ruffinus in this manner The holy Virgins saith he which she found at Ierusalem she invited to dinner and entertain'd them with so great devotion and respect that she thought it a misbecoming thing that her Maids should attend on theÌ„ Therfore she herself being girt after the manner of a wayting maid sett meat on the Table gave them cupps to drink and powred water on their hands Thus she who was Empresse of the world and Mother of the Emperour esteem'd her self no better then a servant of the hand maids of Christ. 3. Eusebius likewise celebrates her wonderfull manificence shew'd through all her progresse in the Eastern Provinces For whither so ever she came she gave innumerable gifts both to whole citties and particular persons of all professions The poor she munificently supplied with all necessaries those who were condemn'd to working in mines or perpetuall imprisonment she sett at liberty the oppress'd she delivered from fraud and iniury and those which were banish'd she restored to their own countrey 4. At her return out of Palestina into Greece she passed by Drepanum a Town of Bithynia where reposed the Body of the glorious Martyr S. Lucianus Assoon as shee saw these holy Relicks lying so neglected without any mark of honour or reverence she in zeale to the honour of God and his Martyr caused a sumptuous Church to be built over them moreover enlarged the same place into a Citty which she compass'd with walls and bullwarks Which Citty her Son afterward call'd by his Mothers name Helenopolis and to make her name yet more celebrated by posterity the Sea there adioyning was called Helenopontus not because she was born there but because by her care and liberality the region there about formerly obscure became illustrious 5. We read moreover in severall ancient Monuments how this holy Empresse in her progresse through the East having been informed of the place where the Bodies of the three Magi or Wisemen which came to Bethlehem to adore our Saviour new born reposed brought them with her to her Son Constantin who reverently layd them in a Church of his new Citty from whence they were â—ranslated to Milan and afterward to Colen where now they are with great veneration celebrated 6. A more particular relation hereof we read in the Supplement of the Gallican Martyrologe made by Andrew de Saussay in these words At Colonia Agrippina in the Gallick Soyle is celebrated the Memory of the three holy Kings who on this day the Sixth of Ianuary adored our Lord in his cradle at Bethlehem The Bodies of these Saints were by the care and devotion of the Holy Empresse Helena brought out of the East to Constantinople where in the Temple of S. Sophia afterward more magnificently repaired by Iustinian they remained to the times of the Emperour Emanuël who bearing a great affection to Eustorgius Bishop of Milan by birth a Grecian at his earnest prayers bestowd on him those Sacred pledges Eustorgius presently conveyed them to Milan placing them in a Church of Religious Virgins But in the yeare eleaven hundred Sixty and fâ—wer the Emperour Frederick having by force reduced Milan to his obedience granted to his Chancellour Reynaldus Archbishop of Colen at his most earnest suit the same three Sacred Bodies which he transfer'd to Colen were he reposed them in the principall Church in which place they are to this day celebrated with great veneration 7. In such pious works did the Holy Empresse conclude her worldly pilgrimage The place of her death
is thus obscurely described by Eusebius The Tabernacle of her Body saith he was honourd with splendid funeralls For it was conducted with a great train of Guards to the principall place of the Empire and there buried in a Royall Sepulcher From which expression some collect that she was entomb'd at Constantinople Thus writes Socrates But Nicephorus better understood the sence of Eusebius writing thus when the end of Helenas life approached she deceased at Rome being fourscore years old wanting one where her Memory is most celebrious 8. Most probable therfore it is that after her Eastern pilgrimage she stayd not in Greece but with her Son or before him took her iourney to Rome to visit the Sepulchers of the two Cheif Apostles a devout practise frequented by former Christians but much more afterward and particularly by many of our Princes as will hereafter appeare 9. In which last voyage of hers that seems to have hapned which was related out of Gregory of Tours concerning her casting away into the Sea one of the Sacred Nayles belonging to the Holy Crosse by which means she was delivered from imminent danger of Shipwrack by a Tempest 10. We read in her life anciently written and conserved by Capgrave that she brought with her to Rome a part of the Holy Crosse which with great honour and veneration was placed in a Church at her request built by her Son and dedicated to the honour and called by the Title of the Holy Crosse. 11. There likewise is related with what fervour and devotion she spent her last dayes and how approaching to her death after receiving the Sacraments of the Church she was comforted with a vision of our Lord Iesus encompassed with a multitude of Angells and holding his Crosse shining with inexpressible brightnes 12. Eusebius moreover testifies how her Son Constantin was present at her death and with a diligent and humble respect attended and ministred to her in her sicknes in whose presence accompanied with his Sons and Grandchildren she declared her last will And Theodoret adds That she gave him many exhortations to Piety and bestowing on him such Benedictions as Parents usually at their death give to their children she departed this world to eternall Happines 13. The same Eusebius worthily extolls Constantin for his wonderfull piety and respect to his Holy Mother which was so great that he made her partner of the Empire giving her the Title of Empresse or Augusta and causing golden Coyns to be made and stamped with her Image An Example of one such is afforded by Baronius and another by Camden in one side of which is written Fl. Helena Augusta and on the other Securitas Provinciae S.T.R. Whereby it appears that she was transferred by Adoption into the Flavian family And hence we find that Sulpitius Severus wrote with truth that Helena Mother of the Emperour Constantin raign'd as Empresse together with her Son 14. After her death Constantin as Anastasius relates built unto her honour a magnificent Sepulcher Mausolaeum where in a Tomb of Porphyry he layd the Body of the most blessed Empresse his Mother Which Mausolaeum was situated in the High Way called Lavicana between the two Laurell trees Nicephorus affirms that after two years he caried her Body to Constantinople But constant Tradition assures us that at least the greatest part of it remained in the west Concerning the translation and veneraâ—ion of which together with a breif recapitulation of her whole story we read thus in the Gallican Martyrologe 15. At Rhemes and Orleans this day the eighteenth of August is celebrated the Memory of Saint Helena Empresse Mother of Constantin who having been confirm'd in the Faith by the Holy Pope Silvester enioyed so great a happines that by a singular Grace of God she saw her Son enlightned with true Piety to become the first Emperour who openly profess'd and courageously maintain'd our most Holy Religion By his assistance and wonderfull munificence she performed illustrious works to promote the Worship of Christ. For incited by piety she took a journey to Ierusalem where miraculously she found the Crosse of our Lord together with the nayles She cleansed the sacred places from the filth of Heathenish and Iewish superstitions and adorn'd them with splendid buildings and Gifts Moreover out of a zeale to emulate the vertue of Humility so acceptable to Christ she would needs her self attend serve and minister to the Sacred Virgins whom she intertain'd at a Feast Afterwards at Rome she built the Church of the Holy Crosse which she enrich'd with a portion of the said saving Crosse. And out of the same religious propension to adorn Gaule also she built at Orleans the principall Church in veneration of Christ crucified Whose seamlesse Garment likewise together with many other monuments of our Redemption she sent to Triers there to be devoutly venerated At last after so many illustrious works of Piety perform'd all the world over she quietly slep'd in Christ whose glory she had with such fervent zeale exalted and was buried in a sepulcher of Porphyry at Rome under the patronage of S. Peter and S. Marcellinus In after times being illustrious by many Miracles and some of which she had performed in her life time her Sacred Body was translated into France by Theogisus a Monk and placed in the Monastery call'd Hauteville where it has been illustrated by great numbers of Miracles and there it still continues in great veneration Excepting some particles therof which were sent to the principall Church at Orleans a great ornament and safeguard thereto where they are kep'd with becoming honour 16. There is extant at Rome in the Church of the Holy Crosse which was anciently call'd also the Church of S. Helena an illustrious Memoriall of her For at the Basis of her statue there is this Inscription To our Lady Flavia Iulia Helena the most pious Empresse Mother of our Lord Constantin the Great most clement Victor and always Augustus and Grand-mother of Constantin and Constans most blessed and flourishing Caesars Iulius Maximianus Count and Senatour always most devoted to her Piety hath made this monument And another Inscription almost paralell is to be seen at Naples erected anciently by the Senate and people there 17. It is not to be doubted but that our Island of Brittany was at least as much devoted to her honour and memory as any other countreys But all Monuments rais'd in the times of the ancient Brittains have been consumed by age and miserable vicissitudes succeeding However in following ages the Saxons assoon as they became Converts to Christianity in severall places express'd their devotion to this most Pious Empresse For both among the Trinobantes and in the North and likewise in Berkshire there is a Town call'd Helenstow from a Church there dedicated to her Memory And at Bedford an illustrious Lady call'd Iudith built a Monastery for Religious Virgins which she consecrated to S. Helena
necessary or expedient for humane life Now this one particular is worthy of eternall memory that immediatly before his last day he recited a funerall Oration in the place accustomed wherin by a continued discourse he spoke of the immortality of soules of the rewards which God had prepared for those who lived piously in this world and on the contrary of the miserable end of those who lead ungodly lives Which discourses pronounced with gravity and constancy aâ—d so affect some of his domesticall servants that one of them a Pagan Idolater who pretended to wisedom being ask'd What his opinion was of the Emperours Oration answered though with some unwillingnes that the things spoken by him seem'd to him to be true and particularly that he could not but highly commend his discourse against a multitude of Gods Such entertainments as those the pious Emperour had among his familiar freinds a little before his death by which he seem'd to make the way to a better life more easy and eaven 5. Eutropius relates that there appeared in heaven at that time a Comet of an unusuall biggnes portending his death After which he fell into some distemper which encreasing forced him to make use of hott bathes in the Citty From whence saith Eusebius he was removed to his Mothers Citty Helenopolis in Bithynia where for a long time continuing in the Church consecrated to the Holy Martyr S. Lucianus he offred his Prayers and publick vowes to God 6. The same Authour in another place pretends that Constantin was at this time baptis'd by the Arian Bishop of Nicomedia neer that Citty But the generall Tradition of the Western Church refutes him as hath been shew'd Therfore what was done by Constantin was not receiving Baptism but Pennance which the same Eusebius relating it calls an imitation of saving Baptism For thus he writes when the consideration of his last day came into Constantins mind he iudging this an opportune time for him to be cleansed of his sins which as a mortall man he had committed and beleiving that by the efficacy of Divine Mysteries and an imitation of the saving laver of Baptism his soule would be purged he I say considering these things fell humbly on his knees in the Church of Martyrs at Helenopolis and there confessing his sins he offred himself a suppliant to God for the pardon of them And then it was that he first became worthy to receive absolution by imposition of hands and prayer 7. In the last place touching his death the same Authour thus prosecutes his Narration Assoon as all holy Mysteries were perform'd he was cloathed with Kingly robes shining brighter then light and was layd in a bed of a most pure whitenesse for his Imperiall Purple he rejected and would never make use of it afterward Then with a clear distinct voyce he prayd and gave thanks to God adding words to this purpose Now I am assured of happines and immortall life now I am made partaker of Divine light Withall he with detestation bewayld the state of miserable Pagans whom be affirm'd most unhappy in that they were deprived of such divine blessings 8. And when the Centurions and other Superiour Officers were admitted and deplored with mournfull voyces their unhappines in the losse of such an Emperour wishing him a longer life To these he answered that now he had attain'd true life indeed and that himself only understood his own happines for which reason his desire was to hasten his departure to God After this he disposed his will in which he gave honourable pensions to such Romans as inhabited the Royall Citty new built by him As for his Empire he left it as a Patrimony to his children Thus dyed Constantin during the solemnity of Pentecost 9. As for the Vniversall mourning the clamours of the people the tearing of garments and prostration of bodies on the ground practised by the Soldiers to testify their inconsolable sorrow for so great a losse together with the glorious solemnization of his funeralls at which was only of all his Sons Constantius present all these things may be read at large in the same Authour This one passage in him must not be omitted where he writes thus Great multitudes of people together with the Preists did not cease with teares and much groaning to powre forth Prayers unto God for the soule of the Emperour wherin they performed an Office very acceptable and desired by the pious Prince himself And likewise God therby shew'd his singular goodnes to his servant both in that after his death his Empire descended to his own dear children and that himself obtain'd repose in the place so affected by him wherin the Memory of the Apostles was ioyâ—tly celebrated 10. That the Church did not doubt of the happines and glory of this pious Emperour after his death the Martyrologes of the Greek the Gallican and Brittish Churches are assured testimonies in which on the one and twentieth of May his Memory is anniversarily solemnised And particularly in Brittany Temples were built and dedicated to his honour One of which still remaines in the Province of the Ordovices or Northwales call'd at this day by his name which was erected by the Brittains when they Were driven by the Saxons into those quarters THE EIGHTH BOOK OF THE CHVRCH-HISTORY OF BRITTANY I. CHAP. 1.2 Constantin divides the Empire among his three Sons 3. Brittany under Constantin the younger 4. His kindnes to S. Athanasius 5. He is slain by his Brothers soldiers 1. THE Emperour Constantin at his death divided the Roman Empire among his three Sons so as that his eldest Son Constantin enioy'd for his portion the Provinces of Gaule Spain Brittany and all other conquer'd countreyes on this side the Alpes Constantius the Second Son being only present at his Fathers death took possession of the Eastern Regions together with Egypt and the youngest son Constans had the government of Italy and Africk 2. Now the Gests of these and severall succeeding Emperours we will leave to such Historians as have written of the generall affaires of the Church and Empire For having confin'd our selves to matters which concern the Ecclesiasticall state of Brittany our purpose is to treat no further of such Emperours then as they are necessary for Chronology or shall concern our own countrey 3. As touching therfore the Second Constantin within whose Iurisdiction Brittany was comprised his Raign was short not lasting entirely four years And all that we can record of him is that he was constant in the Profession of the Catholick Faith establish'd in the Great Council of Nicaea wherin he was imitated likewise by his Youngest Brother Constans So that by these two Emperours means all the Western Churches were secured from the infection of Heresy which miserably defaced the Eastern parts by reason that Constantius raigning there suffred himself to be perverted by Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia and other Arian Hereticks 4. Now an illustrious proof
there is not express'd by the Writers of his life Yet our Martyrologe relates on the sixth of Iune that he rested in our Lord with great Sanctity about the year of Christ four hundred and three and the visions and wonders preceding his death are thus related by those who have written his life 8. An Angel of our Lord from heaven appear'd to him with a pleasant countenance saying O worthy soldier of God may the joy of our Lord always encrease in thee and his peace continually remain with thee Be ready prepar'd for e're long God will call thee out of this world and thou shalt meet thy heavenly King with a palm of Victory This celestiall Messenger of God stay'd with him a good space and fill'd his soule with a spirituall sweetnes known only to God A second time another Angell appear'd unto him and sayd I am Michael the Archangel sent to thee from our Lord by whose command I am to acquaint thee with what shall shortly befall Behold I declare unto thee the hour of thy departure for after ten dayes thou shalt ioyfully issue out of thy prison of flesh and escape out of the dungeon of this world With inestimable gladnes thou shalt meet thy heavenly King into whose presence we will beare thee and he will receive thee with glory enrolling thee among the Cittizens and Courtiers of his kingdom 9. It is said that his Mother and sisters were present and assisting at his death being invited thither by the fame of his miracles And after his departure it seems they caried his body back with them into Brittany But afterward when the Pagan Saxons demolish'd the Christian Sepulchers in our Island it was transported again into Flanders for thus we read in his life 10. The Holy man dyed the eighth day before the Ides of Iune and his Body was buried in the Isle of Plet or Plecit where it remained many years illustrious by many miracles But barbarous people afterwards invading the Countrey forced the Brittains to fly into forrain regions at which time the Brethren of the foresaid Monastery took up the sacred Body and carried it with them over the Sea which divides Brittany from Gaule And travelling with this sacred pledge at last they arrived at his own Monastery where they repos'd it Where because it was not entertained with due honour a certain Noble Marques call'd Arnulphus appointed by God to be the instrument of the safety of many men removed it to the Monastery of Blandinium in Gaunt together with the precious Relicks of the famous Confessour Bertulpus Which Translation was made on the third day before the Nones of December when Clotharius raigned in France On which day yearly to this time the sacred Body is caried in a solemne Procession And what miracles were wrought severall times during such Processions Cap-grave relates III. CHAP. 1. Constans quiets Gaule and comes into Brittany 2 3. A Synod at Sardica where Brittish Bishops come 4. Gests of the Synod 5.6 c. Of Appeales to Rome c. 12.13 c. S. Athanasius restor'd and again banish'd 15.16 Constans his death 1. IN the yeare three hundred forty two as Paulus Diaconus writes great commotions began in the Roman Empire For the Nation of the Franks setling themselves in Gaule used all hostility against the Romans But this trouble was quickly appeas'd by the Emperour Constans who coming out of Illyricum â—ought with and subdued them After which he pass'd over into Brittany which usually follow'd the motions of Gaule This appears from Iulius Firmicus who in a Book dedicated to the same Emperour recounts this journey performed during the tempestuous season of Winter telling him that the Brittains at the unlook'd for sight of him were affrighted into obedience 2. Four yearts after this upon occasion of great combustions especially in the Eastern Empire the two Emperours ioyn'd to call a Council intended to be Oecumenicall For the Eastern Bishops of the faction of Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia Cheif-Pillar of the Arians had condemned S. Athanasius in two Synods at Tyre and Antioch On the contrary Iulius Bishop of Rome in a Synod of Italian Bishops received him into his Communion notwithstanding the intercession of the Orientals who sent to Rome their Decree of the condemnation of S. Athanasius Wherupon a Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches being likely to break forth to prevent it the Orthodox Emperour Constans earnestly solicited his brother Constantius ro joyn with him in calling a Generall Councill therby to preserve inviolate the heritage of their Fathers piety by which he had establish'd the Empire destroyed Tyrants and reduced to his obedience many barbarous Nations 3. Hereupon a Synod was assembled the year following at Sardica in Illyrium to which there came out of the Western Empire about three hundred Bishops and out of the East onely seaventy sixe Now among the Western Bishops some there were who came out of Brittany as S. Athanasius in whose cause especially the Synod met expressly affirms naming one of them to wit Restitutus Bishop of London who twenty years before had been at the Councill of Nicea to establish the Faith of the Consubstantiality of the Son of God In which regard to treat more particularly of this Synods affairs appertains to our present History for therby will appeare the conformity of the Brittish Churches in those dayes to the Faith and Discipline of the Catholick Church 4. For as much therfore as concerns the Acts of this Synod the principall was a confirmation of Faith establish'd in the Council of Nicéa Next the declaring the innocence of S. Athanasius Marcellus Asclepas and other Orthodox Bishops persecuted and chased from their Sees by the Arian faction together with the deposition and excommunication of their adversaries Then succeeded a condemnation of those Eastern Bishops which deserted the Synod and made a Schismaticall Assembly at Philippopolis neer Sardica where they likewise publish'd Decrees and Canons in contradiction to the lawfull Synod 5. Then touching matters of Disciplin establish'd in this holy Synod the most considerable was the confirming by an expresse Canon the lawfullnes of Appeales that is Petitions for Revisions of Episcopall causes From all other Churches both Eastern and Western to the See Apostolick of Rome The form of which Canon is as followeth 6. Osius Bishop said This must likewise necessarily be added That it may not be lawfull for Bishops to passe out of their own Province into another Province in which there are Bishops unlesse peradventure they be invited by their Brethren least they should seem to shut the dore of Charity But if it happen that in any Province a Bishop have a contention against his Brother Bishop one of the two may call out of another Province a Bishop to judge the cause But if any Bishop shall be judged and condemned in any cause yet thinks his cause to be good In this case to
Faith of the Brittish Church was S. Kebius sirnamd Corâ—nius Son of Salomon Duke of Cornwal who is reported to have undertaken a iourney into Gaule to S. Hilary newly return'd from Exile to be more perfectly instructed by him in the Catholick Faith Which iourney Pitseus says was occasion'd by the unhappy springing upp of the Arian Heresy in Brittany 2. Capgrave in the Life of S. Kebius says that he abode severall years with S. Hilary improving himself in learning and Sanctity whereto God gave testimony by conferring on him the Grace of Miracles so that he gave sight to the blind cleansed the Leprous and healed those who were dumb sick of the palsey and possess'd with Devills 3. The same Authour together with our other Historians Leland Pitsaeus Spelman c. affirm that after some years the Holy man was admonish'd by an Angell to return into his own countrey whereupon being coÌ„secrated a Bishop by S. Hilary he placed his See in the Isle of Anglesey or Mona and by his holy example and sound Doctrin instructed the Venedotae and Monudes northern people of Wales It is said likewise that being arriv'd in Brittany he was requested to come and undertake the Principality of Cornwall but utterly refused to accept any worldly authority or power 4. After these things saith Capgrave Kebius with ten of his Disciples who were Monks descended into the meadow of King Ethelic pitching his tent there Whereupon the King sent to enquire who they were that durst presume to enter into his meadow The Messenger returning told him that they were Monks Wherupon the King presently arose with all his family intending to cast those Monks out of his countrey but in the way he fell from his horse which dyed and the King with all his followers were struck with blindnes Then did the King prostrate himself on his face before S. Kebius devoting himself entirely to God and his servant Kebius and immediatly by the holy mans prayer they were all healed After this the King gave to the man of God two Churches who having given the King his benediction retired to Menevia afterward calld S. Davids from whence he sailed over into Ireland where having built a Church in a certain Island he remained there four years 5. Very probable it is that this S. Kebius was the fame Brittish Preist who baptis'd the Irish S. Albeus For in the Life of that Saint recorded by Bishop Vsher we read this passage Lachanus gave the Holy Child to certain Brittains who brought him upp with great cure giving him the Name of Albeus because he was found alive under a rock and the Grace of God was with him After these things there came thither a certain Brittish Preist sent by the See Apostolick into Ireland many years before S. Patrick to sow the Faith of Christ there But the Irishmen being Pagans would not receive him nor beleive his Doctrin except a very few He came then to the Inhabitants of Munster where he found the Holy child Albeus praying in the open aire with his eyes rais'd up to heaven that the true Faith might be reveal'd to him and saying My desire is to know the Creatour of all things and to beleive in him who made heaven and earth and all creatures in them For I know that the Elements were not made without a skillfull Workman neither could any man produce these things When the holy child had thus prayd the said Preist who over-heard him saluted him and according to his hearts desire instructed him in all things which having done he baptis'd him continuing the same name of Albeus to him 6. Besides S. Albeus the Ecclesiasticall Monuments of Ireland record severall other persons converted and baptis'd by the same Holy Brittish Preist as Meclarus and Kiaxanus persons eminent in Sanctity and illustrious for the number of their Disciples All which moreover were exalted to Episcopall dignity before S. Patricks arrivall there Which they esteeme no disparagement to his Apostleship which began in the year four hundred and thirty 7. After some years abode in Ireland the Holy Bishop Kebius returned to his See in Anglesey where he dyed in the year of Grace three hundred and seaventy The place of his buriall seems to have been among the Ordovices in Denbighshire For in the Story of S. Winefred written by Robert Abbot of Shrewsbury we read that the Holy Virgin was buried neer to the Sepulchers of Chebaeus and Senanus at a place call'd Gwethern Witheriacum in the western part of Denbigh-shire Which S. Chebaus was no doubt the same with this our S. Kebius An illustrious Monument of whose Memory is still remaning in Anglesey where saith Camden the Holy Promontory looking towards Ireland Vulgarly call'd Holy-head is by the Natives nam'd Caër-Gubi from Kebius à Holy man and Disciple of S. Hilary Bishop of Poictiers Neither is S. Hilary himself forgotten there his memory being preserved by another Promontory call'd Hilary-point IX CHAP. 1.2 c. Of S. Patrick the place and time of his Birth His Parents c. 1. THE same year in which S. Hylary retun'd into Gaule from banishment at which time S. Kebius repair'd to him was illustrious likewise for the Birth of the great Apostle of Ireland S. Patrick True it is that among our Ecclesiasticall Historians there is great Variety as in the number of the years of his life so consequently in fixing the year of his Nativity But the series of his Life and Gests seems to be more exactly computed by William of Malmsbury Adam of Domerham and Iohn a Monk who have written his life more accuratly then any out of the Ancient Records of Glastenbury and Probus who wrote the same presently after his death And by their account ascribing to S. Patricks life one hundred and eleaven years and fixing his death in the year of our Lord four hundred seaventy two his birth must fall on this year three hundred sixty one 2. Now though some Historians and among the rest Mathew of Westminster and Baronius likewise doe affirm that he was born in Ireland yet the greater number and those externs also doe acknowledge him a Brittain neither is this denyed even by the Irish Writers themselves 3. But there seems some difficulty in assigning the particular Province in Brittany where he was born Bishop Vsher is of opinion that the place of his Nativity was a Town call'd Kirck-patrick situated between the Castle of Dunbritton and Glasco where the Romans anciently cast up a rampire to exclude the barbarous Caledonians and Picts And hereto he adds this observation At this day saith he the ancient limits of the Provinces being chang'd so as that the Castle of Dunbritton does not now as formerly belong to the region of the Brittains but Scotts hence probably it has hapned that some have affirm'd S. Patrick to have been a Scott 4. This conjecture of so learned a Writer though it confirms our position
a Coppy of the Processe 6. Now the Emperour Theodosius solicited by Valentiniam whose Sister Galla he had maried came with an Army into the West To which warr he prepared himself by earnest prayer and fasting And having understood saith S. Augustin that in the Desart of Egypt there was a certain Monk a great servant of God who had the Spirit of prophecy Theodosius sent to him and receiv'd a most certain message of Victory 7. Thus arm'd he readily and quickly obtain'd a Victory against Maximus who only wanted a good cause After the discomfiture of his Army Maximus being taken prisoner was brought before Theodosius who was inclin'd to take pitty of him At which his soldiers conceiving great indignation remov'd him from his presence and kill'd him Our Historian Gildas mentions both his death and the place of it saying At Aquileia a Citty of Italy that abominable head was cutt off Which had almost cast out of the throne the most illustrious heads of the world And thus was the blood of the innocent Emperour Gratian expiated After his death followd likewise that of his Son Victor who saith Zosimus had been made Caesar or rather Emperour as Paulus Diaconus and some ancient coynes declare XVIII CHAP. 1.2 c. The Relicks of S. Gervasius c. miraculously discover'd to S. Ambrose The miracles wrought by them The Veneration of them attested 1. IT will not be amisse though it pertain not to our History of Brittany yet because it will afford us a prospect of the iudgment and practise of the ancient Church to declare the almost visible assistance which Almighty God afforded to his servant S. Ambrose at the time when the Arian Empresse Iustina used her son Valentinians power to persecute him For then it was to use the words of S. Augustin directed to God in a prayer that by a vision thou O God didst discover to thy Bishop Ambrose the place wherin the Bodies of thy Martyrs Protasius and Gervasius reposed which thou for so many years hadst preserved incorrupt in thy secret treasure from whence thy intention was to bring them forth for the restraining the rage of a woman yet no ordinary woman being an Empresse For when being discovered and digg'd up they were translated with due honour to the Ambrosian Church not only those who were vexed with unclean Spirits the same Devills confessing were healed but a certain Cittizen of Milan who had been blind many years well known in the town when he had enquir'd and was inform'd of the occasion of so great a noyse and assembly of the people he leap'd up and desir'd one present to guide him to the said Church Whither being come he obtain'd leave with his hand kercheif to touch the Coffin of those Martyrs whose death was pretious in thy sight Which having done and applying it to his eyes they were immediatly opened so that he saw clearly The fame hereof presently was spread abroad and praises given to thee with great fervour insomuch as the mind of thy Enemy the Empresse Iustina though it was not heald of her Spirituall blindnes yet it was repress'd from the fury of persecuting the Holy Bishop 2. The same holy Father repeats the substance of the same narration in severall other places in one wherof he professes himself to have been an eye-witnes of these Miracles saying my self was a witnes of the great glory of these Martyrs for being then at Milan I had certain knowledge of the miracles wrought c. This hapned two years before S. Augustin having been converted and baptis'd by S. Ambrose return'd from thence towards his own countrey Africk and by the way at Ostia lost his Blessed Mother Monica concerning whom in his Confessions he thus Writes When the day of her dissolution was at hand she did not busy her thoughts about a Sumptuous buriall c. but made this her only request that a commemoration of her should be made at thy Altar at which every day she had not failed to attend and from whence she knew that holy Sacrifice and Victime was dispensed by which the Handwriting which was contrary to uâ— was blotted out by which our Enemy the Devill was triumphed over c. 3. So authentick a Testimony of the Veneration of the Relicks of holy Martyrs performed by the ancient Church of God approv'd by unquestion'd divine Miracles as likewise of Prayers for the Dead at the most holy Sacrifice needs not be further confirm'd Therefore we will omitt the transcribing a large Narration of the foresaid Miracles compos'd by S. Ambrose himself and sent in an Epistle to his devout sister wherin he repeats the miracle of the blind man restor'd to sight and how very many had been dispossess'd of Devills and by only touching with their hands the Vestment of the Saints many others were healed of diverse infirmities How many hand kercheifs saith he were cast how many garments sent to be layd on the most holy Relicks to the end that by touching of them they might receive a medicinall vertue 4. There were notwithstanding in those times some who denyed that those were bodies of Martyrs that they could torment the Devill or free any one possess'd by him But these saith S. Ambrose were the blasphemies of Arian Hereticks refuted by the confessions of the Devills themselves who with loud clamours acknowledg'd their torments and the great benefitts proceeding from the Martyrs intercession were publickly testified by the blind and other sick people cured of their infirmities The blind mans name was Severus by trade a butcher well known to all the Citty who was forc'd to give over his profession assoon as that incommodity of blindnes befell him This man saies he calls for witnesses of the miracle all his former customers by whom he had been maintain'd in his trade He is desirous those should now testify the recovery of his sight who formerly had seen that he was blind XIX CHAP. 1. Valentinian the second Emperour 2.3 c. The Heresy of Iovinian against Virginity c. Condemn'd by Pope Siricius and the H. Fathers 1. AFter Maximus his death Theodosius left Valentinian Emperour of the West adding to his Government Gaule Brittany and Spain possess'd by the Tyrant But before he was entrusted with this great charge the pious Emperour Theodosius instructed him in the Orthodox Faith earnestly exhorting him to persevere in it These Instructions wanted not a good effect the rather because his Mother Iustina the great Patronesse of Artanism was lately dead 2. The year following broke forth a Heresy which in our last age taught Luther to renounce his Monasticall Profession to allow scope to his carnall appetites and to draw out of her Cloyster a Consecrated Nunne to his incestuous embraces The Authour of it was Iovinianus formerly a Monk but weary of his vowd austerities who this year was publickly declared a Heretick by Pope Siricius Whereupon most of
esteemd him as a Prophet Then began he with great diligence to root up their ill planted superstitions to disperse their long gathered wicked customes and to demolish their impious Idolatries Having thus purged their minds from errours he instructed them in all duties belonging to good Christians and by his works and example shewd them a pattern of all vertues and piety all which he confirm'd by frequent miracles 6. He chose for his place of Episcopall residence an habitation afterward call'd Wite-hern seated neer the Sea by which it is almost encompassed to which there was onely one passage toward the North. This place is seated saith Camden in the Province of the Novantes now call'd Galloway By the Latin Writers it is nam'd Candida casa from the colour of it and by the Saxons Wite-hern or white house Here it was that in the dayes of the younger Theodosius Ninianus erected his Episcopall See And here it is that Ptolomy places the Promontory call'd by him Leucopibia which seems to have been an erroneous transcribing of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or white houses 7. The summ of what hath been written is thus delivered by S. Beda The Southern Picts saith he forsaking the Errour of their Idolatry receiv'd the true Faith by the preaching 〈◊〉 most holy man and most reverend Bishop Ninias Ninianus who was by Nation a Brittain and had been regularly instructed in the Mysteries of the true Faith at Rome 8. Many years he spent in his Apostolicall Office for his death ensued not till thirty eight years after his first entrance He consecrated Bishops ordained Preists and divided the the whole countrey into certain Parishes as the Authour of his Life declares There remains more to be written of him which we will reserve till the time of his death And whereas his See was establish'd in the Province of Galloway which may seem to imply that he was a Scott we shall in due place demonstrate that in those dayes that Province was belonging to the Iurisdiction of the Brittains not Scotts XXII CHAP. 1. c. S. Regulus comes into the Pictish kingdom out of Greece with the Relicks of S. Andrew c. 6. c. Of the Culdei or Coli-Dei 1. THE Labours of S. Ninianus were no doubt much lightned by the arrivall thither of another Saint to wit S. Regulus who the year following by divine Inspiration came out of Achaia into the same countrey bringing with him the precious Relicks of the Apostle S. Andrew Whose story is thus sett down by Hector Boctius out of ancient Monuments 2. The holy man Regulus saith he as one night he watched at the Sacred monument of S. Andrew was admonished from heaven to take the bone of the holy Apostles arme three fingers and as many ioints of one of his feet and laying them up decently in a vessell to carry them to the Island Albion or Brittany seated in the utmost confines of the world because that in future times there would live a people which should give great veneration to the Apostle S. Andrew and by his intercession receive great graces and benefitts both earthly and heavenly through the Divine goodnes 3. In complyance with which admonition the holy man undertook that tedious iourney and was ioyfully received there for as it follows in the Narration The report of his arrivall with that sacred Treasure being spread through the Regions of the Picts inflamed the minds of many to see and venerate the holy Relicks of the glorious Apostle The people therfore flowd together from all quarters bringing gifts and Offrings to the holy Apostle There came likewise Hirgustus others call him Hungus their King being invited by the same of these things The Holy man Regulus receiv'd him with a Soline Procession in which Preists and Monks sung Hymns and praises to God The King falling prostrate on the ground with great veneration kiss'd the Sacred Relicks And when all Holy Rites were performed after the Christian manner of which the King was very observant he freely bestowd his Royall Palace to the honour of S. Andrew on Regulus and the Preists who were there to perform Divine service and not farr from them built another Church dedicated to the same Apostle 4. This is the place where in following ages the Scottish Arch-Bishops and Primats establish'd their Archiepiscopall See Which place saith Camden the Ancients call'd Regimont or Regulus his Mount where Vngus King of the Picts erected the principall Church of his Kingdom to this day call'd S. Andrews 5. Some modern Writers perhaps out of an aversion to Sacred Relicks doe professe a doubt of this Narration Yet it is certain that Pope Boniface the Eighth in an Epistle of his to King Edward the first writes in this manner Your Royall Highnes may please to understand that the Kingdom of Scotland was converted to the Vnity of the Catholick Faith by the Venerable Relicks of S. Andrew the Apostle such was the great goodnes of Almighty God 6. The forecited Hector Boetius describing the ornaments with which the pious King Hirgustus enrich'd his New built Church saith he adorned it with munificent gifts Patens Copes Chalices Basons Lavers c. framed of silver and gold and likewise with other precious furniture proper for Sacreduses placing in the same Preists to perform Divine service there 7. These Preists dedicated to Gods worship are the same which the Picts call'd Culdei or Colidei that is worshippers of God Some of these came with S. Regulus into Brittany For he living in Achaia was a Father and Teacher of many who were addicted to true piety And to those others from among the Picts and Brittains ioynd themselves leading a solitary life with such a fame of their Sanctity saith Buchanan that being dead their Cells were converted into Churches And from hence was derived the succeeding custom among the Scotts to call Temples Cells This sort of Monks was anciently call'd Culde◠and their Name and Institut remain'd till a later kind of Monks expell'd them But this last clause he writes with the spirit of a factious Presbyterian For not a later sort of Monks but such Apostats as himself enemies to the Divine Sacrifice celebrated by these contemners of Gods Saints were those who out of Scottland expell'd the Culdees or Religious servants of God 8. Notwithstanding if we speak of the prime originall of these Culdei we have already shewd that they began long before when by reason of the furious persecution rais'd by Diocletian a world of Christians retir'd themselves into desarts there with safety and vacancy to attend to God by Prayer and Religious austerities who therfore were call'd Colidei and corruptly Culdei 9. This digression we make upon occasion of the Gests of S. Regulus whom the English Martyrologe celebrates among the Saints on the twenty eighth of August where notwithstanding there is a mistake in placing his death in the year of Christ three
c. And the Romans take their last leave of Brittany 1. WHilst Brittany was thus infested with suggestions of Hereticks the Scotts Picts and Norvegians saith Florilegus miserably vex'd it with their incursions In which necessity as Gildas writes the Brittains sent messengers to Rome with humble and earnest Petitions for assistance vowing their eternall subjection to the Roman Empire in case their cruell enemies might be repell'd 2. In complyance with which request saith the same Authour a Legion was sent into the Island sufficiently furnish'd with arms which had not been partaker of the former defeat given to the Romans This army coming to a conflict with those barbarous Nations slew great multitudes of them and drove all the rest out of the borders so freeing the poore Brittains from horrible vexations and imminent slavery 3. Who the Roman Generall was under whose conduct this Victory was obtained is not mention'd in story Probable it is that it was Chrysanthus the Son of Marcianus who afterward was chosen Bishop of Constantinople For concerning him Socrates thus writes In the raign of the Great Theodosius this Chrysanthus was by him design'd Prefect of Italy Afterward he was constituted the Emperours Vice-gerent in Brittany in the administration whereof he attained great commendation 4. Who ever was the Generall he together with his Legion was presently sent for back But before their departure saith Gildas they gave order to the Brittains once more to raise a wall between the two Seas Glotta and Bodotria to restrain the Enemies and be a defence to the Brittains But this wall being made by a rude multitude destitute of a Governour and framed for the most part of turfes availed little or nothing at all The bounds of this wall S. Beda thus describes It began toward the West about two miles distance from a Monastery call'd Aebercurnig in a place nam'd in the Picts language Penvahel but in English Penveltun and going Eastward it ended neer the Citty Acluith Now from the Name in the Pictish tongue Penvahel a Brittish word M. Camden iudiciously infers that the Picts were a Brittish Northern Nation for in Welsh at this day Pengual signifies the Head of a Rampire caput valli 5. So useles was this ill-built wall that it was scarce finished but the Scotts and Picts again broke in for according to Gildas his relation Assoon as the Legion with great triumph and joy was gone homeward those former Enemies like ravennous wolves Ambrones lupi enraged with excessive hunger on all sides encompassing the sheepfold in the absence of the shepheard so they with â—ares and full-blown sayles invaded the Island broke into the borders and layd wast all things in their way mowing down and treading underfoot the Brittains like ripe corn 6. Hereupon the afflicted Brittains again sent Messengers after a most deplorable manner with rent garments and their heads covered with dust to implore aide from the Romans endeavouring like fearfull chickens to shrow'd themselves under their Mothers wings They earnestly begg'd them to prevent the utter miserable ruin of their countrey and that the Roman name might not be rendred contemptible to forraign Nations 7. This wofull Petition was address'd to the famous Roman Generall Aetius Prefect of Gaule under whom Brittany was also subiect He therefore mov'd to pitty with so tragicall a relation sent forces under the conduct of Gallio a Cittizen of Ravenna who once more vanquish'd the Enemies But having done this he declar'd to them the Emperours pleasure That for the future Brittany must rely on its own strength and not expect any assistance at all from Rome which at so great a distance and amid'st so many distractions could not attend to so remote a Province He advis'd them therfore to exercise themselves in military affairs to build fortifications in places convenient especially towards the Sea to strengthen their Citties with walls c. And having thus counselled and encouraged the Brittains the Romans took their last leave of them never returning more Yet before they went they once more joyn'd with the Brittains to repair the Wall which they made far more strong then formerly contributing thereto both publick and private charges THE CHVRCH-HISTORY OF BRITTANY UNDER BRITTISH KINGS II. PART THE NINTH BOOK I. CHAPTER 1.2 c. Kingdoms of the Picts and Scotts established in Brittany 1. THE Romans having taken their farewell of this Island it is from that Epocha that we may reckon the institution of two Kingdoms here the Picts and the Scotts For though heretofore there hath been mention made of severall Princes and Kings of each Nation yet they seem to have been Kings rather by election and in the nature of Generall 's for present expeditions then as enjoying an establish'd Principality 2. For as much as concerns the Picts though they always had their habitation in the Northern parts of Brittany yet they were oft forced to change and contract their Seats But now enjoying peace and security by the Romans absence they became establish'd in their ancient Territory Which Territory they in a few years enlarged making an irruption through the Wall of separation and possessing themselves of the Province more Southerly 3. And as for the Scotts they being hitherto as auxiliaries of the Picts mingled among them in all their invasions and oâ—t compell'd by the Romans to return to their habitation in Ireland and other Northern Regions Yet now they fix'd their habitation in the Northern coasts of Brittany under Fergusius their King 4. Of these two Nations and Kingdoms the principall in this age was that oâ— the Picts And if we enquire into their peculiar Seats the Picts seem to have possess'd the Provinces about Edinborough confining to the Wall which therefore was anciently call'd the Picts-wall And the Scots inhabited the Northern and Western Provinces lying nearest to Ireland from whence they came But in the following age they turn'd their arms against the Picts whose numbers and power they by degrees diminished and at last utterly destroy'd their kingdom and name and gave to the whole countrey the new appellation of Scotland II. CHAP. 1. Death of Honorius to whom succeeds Valentinian the third 2 c. A three fold Mission by Pope Celestin into Brittany and Ireland 6 7 S. Patricks Divine vocation 1. IN the year of Grace four hundred twenty three the Emperour Honorius dyed in whose place succeeded Valentinian the third of that name Son of Constantius who had been created Caesar and immediatly before his death Augustus In the Eastern Empire there raign'd the younger Theodosius 2. The same year dyed also Pope Bonifacius and after him was chosen Pope Celestinus to whom our Islands of Brittany and Ireland have an eternall obligation for by him they were either preserved from errour or converted to the Christian Faith By him S. Palladins was sent to the Scotts who freed them from their barbarous Idolatry By him S. Patrick
was directed an Apostolick Teacher into Ireland where he wrought the like effect with greater fruit And by him S. Germanus and S. Lupus two holy and learned Bishops of Gaule were employ'd to cure Brittany of the pestilent infection of Pelagianism spread there by the impious diligence of Agricola in which execrable employment he was assisted by the oft times excommunicated Heretick Celestius prime Disciple of Pelagius if the testimony of one single modern Authour Claudius Menardus may be taken 3. Now the circumstances touching the execution of this three-fold Mission we intend consequently to declare And though the Ecclesiasticall affairs of Ireland be not comprehended directly within our present Design yet since the great Apostle of that Countrey as hath been shew'd was a Brittain both beginning and ending his dayes in Brittany it will either be no excursion or one very excusable if not commendable to insert here some of his principall Gests 4. He did not begin the execution of his Apostolicall Office till after the time that S. Germanus and Lupus came into Brittany to expugne the Pelagian Heresy For by them he was encouraged therto Till which time he convers'd here in Brittany by his holy example inviting his countrey-men to the imitation of his vertues and piety 5. The ancient Authour of his life extant in Capgrave relates many admirable deeds perform'd by him before he had addicted himself to the discipline and instruction of S. Germanus One of which we will recite in this place and probably hapning about this time by which will be discover'd how wonderfully he was call'd to the Apostleship of Ireland 6. On a certain day S. Patrick in his sleep saw a man coming to him as out of Ireland having many letters in his hand one of which he gave to the holy man who read it Now this was the beginning of the Letter This is the voyce of the Inhabitants of Ireland Assoon as he had read those words the same instaÌ„t he heard the voyces of a world of infants crying to him out of their Mothers wombs in many Provinces of Ireland and saying We beseech thee Holy Father to come and converse among us Having heard this S. Patrick immediatly felt great compunction in his heart and could read no more of the Letter And assoon as he awak'd he gave thanks to God for this heavenly Vision being assured that our Lord had call'd him to be an instrument of the salvation of those who had cryed unto him 7. Hereto Iocelinus another Writer of his life adds That S Patrick hereupon ask'd counsell of our Lord the Angell of the great councell touching this affaire and by the mean of the Angell Victor receiv'd this Divine Oracle That forsaking his parents and countrey he should passe over into Gaule there to be more perfectly instructed in the Doctrin of Christian Faith and Ecclesiasticall Discipline III. CHAP. 1.2.3 c. Of S. Palladius Apostle of the Scotts in Brittany 8.9 His Disciples Servanus and Tervanus 10. c. Of S. Palladius his death 1. OF the foresaid three Missions the first that was put in execution was that of S. Palladius into Brittany This S. Palladius was a Deacon of the Roman Church a man no doubt of great prudence learning and sanctity since he alone was made choice of though as yet in an inferiour Ecclesiasticall degree to free the whole Island of Brittany from Heresy and Infidelity Twice was he sent as Legat of Pope Celestinus into our countrey Concerning the first Legation thus writes Baronius In the four hundred twenty ninth year of our Lord saith he during the Consulship of Florentius and Dionysius Pope Celestin by a Legation of the Deacon Palladius deliver'd Brittany infected with the Pelagian Heresy 2. Being come into Brittany assoon as he had inform'd himself of the state of the Island how the Civiller part formerly under the Roman Iurisdiction was defiled by Heresy and the Northern Regions now possess'd by the Scotts wholly buried in the mists of Paganism He gave notice hereof to Pope Celestinus who recall'd him to Rome to advise with him about a remedy against both these mischeifs 3. Vpon serious consultation therfore it was thought fit to divide these two employments and to commit them to severall persons Hereupon in opposition to the â—elagian Heresy by which the Roman Island as S. Prosper calls it that is the Provinces heretofore subject to the Empire were miserably infected two Holy Bishops of Gaule S. Germanus and S. Lupus were directed into Brittany whose labours with the happy successe of them shall be presently declared Again out of an Apostolick solicitude to rescue the barbarous Northern Regions from Paganism the same Palladius after he was exalted to an Episcopall Degree was by Pope Celestinus as his Legat again sent to be the Apostle and converter of the Scottish Nation 4. This double Mission is thus recorded by S. Prosper a Holy and learned Father living at the same time Pope Celestinus saith he of venerable memory upon whom our Lord had confer'd many gifts of his Grace for the defence of the Catholick Church knowing that to the Pelagians already condemn'd no new examination was to be allow'd but only the remedy of Pennance commanded that Celestius who impudently demanded a new audience as if his Heresy had not been discuss'd should be excluded out of the confines of Italy For his resolution and judgment was that the Statuts of his Predecessours and former Synodall Decrees ought to be inviolably observed by himself and that he should not admit to a new retractation those doctrins which already had deserv'd and suffred condemnation 5. Neither did he extend a lesse zealous care towards Brittany which he likewise freed from the same contagious discease of Heresy for by his order and the labours of S. Germanus and S. Lupus he excluded from that secret retirement divided by the Ocean from the rest of the world certain Enemies of Divine Grace which had seised upon that Island which by producing the Arch-hereticks Pelagius and Celestius had given an originall to their Heresy Moreover the same Holy Pope ordain'd Palladius a Bishop to the Scottish Pagan Nation and by these means whilst he studiously endeavour'd to preserve the Roman Island Catholick he made the barbarous part of the Island Christian. 6. Now here the Ancient and Later Scotts that is the Irish and the people now only call'd Scotts doe earnestly contend which should appropriat to themselves S. Palladius for their Apostle with exclusion of the other But the controversy may be compounded by allowing each of them a share in him For no doubt his Legation extended to the Scottish Nation in generall both in Brittany and beyond the Sea And during the short time that he lived he attempted the conversion of Ireland but in vain So that he was effectually the Apostle only of the Brittish Scotts 7. Hereof we have a proof in the life
of S. Patrick written by the ancient Authour Probus Palladius saith he being ordain'd Bishop by Pope Celestinus was directed to the conversion of this Northern Island of Ireland But Almighty God did not give Successe to his preaching Neither can any man receive any thing on earth unles it be given him from heaven For the savage and brutish inhabitants of this countrey would by no means receive his doctrin Therfore he would not spend much time in a land not his own but returned to him that sent him And having pass'd the sea he arriv'd at the confines of the Picts where he remain'd till his death 8. Moreover that the principall care of S. Palladius was exercis'd toward the Brittish Scotts appears in this that his two Disciples Servanus and Tervanus are reckon'd among the learned Teachers of Brittany Of which the former was sent to instruct the inhabitants of the Orcades and the other to the Picts Concerning Servanus the Centuriators of Magdeburg write in this manner When Palladius was sent into Scotland Servanus adjoyn'd himself to him and together with him promoted the Gospell and propagated the Doctrin of it He was afterward sent by the same Palladius after experience had of his learning and Sanctity to be an Apostle of the Isles of Orkney and to teach the inhabitants there true Religious Christian worship This he perform'd with great diligence and zeale and thereby obtain'd the Title of the First Apostle of those Islands Dempster indeed a Scottish Writer attributâ— that Title to another call'd Serfus who sayes he preach'd there before S. Servanus and was Bishop of those Isles chosen from among the Culdees or Colidei But most probable it is that Serâ—us and Servanus were one and the same person 9. And touching Tervanus likewise the other Disciple of S. Palladius another Scottish Historiographer thus writes Palladius having promoted Servanus to the degree of Bishop sent him to the Orcades to imbue that rude and barbarous Nation with the Faith of Christ. He likewise created Tervanus Arch-Bishop of the Picts In which places these two holy men perform'd the Office of their Mission so diligently by advancing piety and religion among them as likewise by rooting out the poyson of the Pelagian heresy out of the minds of many that the one worthily deserv'd to be call'd the Apostle of the Orcades and the other of the Picts The foremention'd Centuriators adde That Tervanus was sent to the Picts to water our Lords vineyard planted among them by S. Ninianus So that he seems to have been Ninianus his Successour And indeed this agrees exactly to the account formerly given touching the Gests and death of S. Ninianus Bishop of Wite-hern or Candida casa for in the year following this that Blessed Saint dyed 10. Little more is found recorded in ancient Ecclesiasticall Monuments touching the Gests of S. Palladius And no wonder his life not continuing much more then a year after he was made Bishop as S. Beda declares who saith that he dyed in the eighth year of the younger Theodosius Which eighth year is to be reckoned from the death of his Vncle the Emperour Honorius and not of his Father Arcadius For at that time Theodosius was but eight years old and under the tuition of Isdegerdes King of Persia. This if Cardinall Baronius had considered he would not have thought fit to correct S. Beda's Chronology 11. Certain modern Writers by mistake conceiving this Palladius to have been an Asiatick doe impute to him the implanting of the Eastern rites in the celebration of Easter among the Brittains And Trithemius likewise erroneously confounds him with Palladius familiar freind of Iohn of Ierusalem who was Bishop of Helenopolis infected with the Errours of Origen and a great defender of Pelagius Whereas this Palladius was a Roman Deacon who in the time of Pope Zosimus wrote the life of S. Iohn Chrysostom and was a zealous opposer of Pelagius and Celestius against whom he composed a Book His memory is celebrated in our English Martyrologe on the twenty seaventh of Ianuary IV. CHAP. 1.2 c. The Mission oâ— S. Germanus and S. Lupus into Brittany 4. c. Gests of S. Germanus before his Mission 8. c. And of S. Lupus 10. c. Their voyage into Brittany and Miracles 1. PResently after Saint Palladius his first voyage into Brittany upon his information sent to Pope Celestinus were deputed the two holy Bishops S. Germanus and S. Lupus to defend the Catholick Faith against the Enemies of Grace who had perverted many in this Island The occasion of whose journey hither is thus described by S. Beda The Brittains saith he being neither willing to receive the perverse Doctrins of those who blasphem'd the Grace of Christ nor also being able by disputes to refute their subtilties who endeavoured to introduce that impious perswasion agreed at last upon a discreet and happy advice which was to demand assistance in this spirituall warr from the Gallican Bishops Whereupon a Great Synod was assembled not in Brittany as Camden and Spelman suppose but in Gaule as appears by the relation of Constantius the Ancient Authour of S. Germanus his life In which Synod a serious consultation was had who should be sent thither to defend the Catholick Faith And at last by a generall and unanimous consent S. Germanus Bishop of Auxeâ—re Altisiodorensis and S. Lupus Bishop of Troyes Tricassinae civitatis were made choice of to goe into Brittany to confirm the Faith of Celestiall Grace 2. Now though in this Narration of S. Beda no mention be made of Pope Celestins interposing in the busines yet S. Prosper in the passage cited in the foregoing Chapter shews that the whole busines was managed by his orders and more expressly in his Chronicon he saith Pope Celestin sent Germanus Bishop of Auxerre in his place and with his authority Vice suâ to drive the Pelagian Hereticks out of Brittany and to establish the inhabitants of that Island in the Catholick Faith 3. Before we attend these two Holy Bishops in their journey to Brittany the relation and obligations we have to them require a particular information concerning their persons qualities former education Besides this we shall be able to judge of the Religion and state of the Brittish Churches in those times by observing their actions and behaviour who are now become the Teachers and Reformers of our Countrey So that any indifferent Reader will be able to perceive whether that Religion which S. Augustin the Monk taught the Saxons about a hundred and seaventy years after was changed from that which these holy Bishops profess'd as some Modern Protestants pretend it was 4. First then touching S. Germanus he was born at Auxerre in Gaule descended from illustrious parents From his infancy he was brought up in literature wherin by reason of his naturall capacity he so advanced himself that he became a great ornament to his countrey
after so great a tempest of warrs and changes in which his parents who had worn the Royall Purple were slain Now though in these two ancient Authours the name of his parents be not extant it may be probably affirm'd that he was the Son of Constantin who fifty years before had pretended to the Roman Empire and in the attempt was slain in Gaule For that Constantin besides his Son Constans also slain had other children appears by the expression of Sozomen who calls the said Constans sirnamed also Iulianus the Elder Son of Constantin 5. That he was born and bred up in Brittany seems to appear because as severall Writers affirm in the competition for the Crown when Vortigern was chosen Ambrosius being a pretender was compell'd to quitt both his right and the countrey and to retire himself into lesser Brittany Frō whence notwithstanding during the raign of the generous King Vortimer he return'd and assisted him courageously against the Saxons as hath been related and it seems after his death retir'd again to his former refuge 6. The return of these two Princes was more formidable to Vortigern then any thing he could apprehend from the Saxons who therefore fortified himself more carefully in his new Castle I will not here trouble the reader with any large description of that prodigious omen of two dragons one red and the other white which issuing out of a lake whilst Vortigern sate on the bank began a terrible combat in which at last the White was conquerour By which two Dragons according to Merlins interpretation were meant the Brittains and Saxons and the successe of their fight was the flight and destruction of the Brittains These seem to be inventions of the old Bards easily composed after the event and foolishly collected by Geffrey of Monmouth to signalize the expiring of the Brittish Kingdome 7. Hengist being inform'd of the coming of Aurelius Ambrosius with considerable forces in aid of the Brittains endeavoured to come to a battell with him before the uniting of their Armies but was not able to effect his intention So that a main battell was fought by the two Nations in Kent neer the ancient famous port of Roch borow which is thus describ'd by Henry of Huntingdon A while after that auxiliary forces were come King Hengist and his Son Esca gathered an invincible army in the seaventeenth year after the coming of the Saxons into Brittany which was the year of Grace four hundred sixty five On the other side the Brittains uniting all their forces oppos'd them with an Army gallantly ranged into twelve Bodies The fight continued long and with little advantage But at last Hengist having slain the twelve Leaders and cast down their Ensigns forc'd the Brittains to flye He himself likewise lost great numbers of his soldiers and principall Officers and particularly a certain great Prince of his Nation call'd Wipped in whose memory the place of the battell was call'd Wippeds-stede So that this Victory was much bewayld by the Saxons themselves and therefore after that time neither did he take the confidence to enter into the Brittains Borders nor the Brittains into Kent X. CHAP. 1. King Vortigern consumed by fire 2.3 A. Ambrosius King his Character 5.6.7 Death of S. Patrick and place of his buriall 1. THE year following was free from an extern war against the Saxons which gave Aurelius Ambrosius an opportunity to convert his arms against the principall Authour of all the miseries of Brittany the unhappy King Vortigern Therefore he march'd to the Castle Genorium which he beseiged but found him so strongly fortified there that by no force or cunning he could expugn it At last by fire whether cast by Ambrosius or coming from heaven is uncertain both the King and his Castle were consum'd so as saith Huntingdon his body never appear'd 2. Vortigern being thus removed the whole power and authority of the Kingdom was devolv'd on Ambrosius not after a tumultuary manner or by the factious suffrages of the Army but by an unanimous Election of the Clergy Nobility and Commons of the Nation For which purpose saith S. H. Spelman a Council or Assembly was call'd in Cambria about the Mountains of Erir in the Province of the Ordovices or Northwales in which he was exalted to the Regal Dignity This he says was done in the year four hundred sixty five following the account of Mathew of Westminster But other Historians as Stow Speed c. more probably place this Election the year following after the death of Vortigern 3. How happy an exchange the Brittains made of their King will appear from this Character given to Aurelius Ambrosius by Matthew of Westminster far unlike that which all writers ascribe to Vortigern Ambrosius saith he assoon as he was placed on the throne of Brittany employed himself to the utmost of his power in repairing Churches which had been ruind He was a Prince magnificent in his gifts sedulous in the worship of God modest averse from flattery a valiant soldier on foot yet more valiant on hors-back and very skilfull in conducting an army For which vertues and endowments his fame was spread through far distant regions 4. Being so worthy a Prince it is not altogether unlikely that this is the same Ambrosius mention'd by Eugypius in the life of S. Severin who writes thus Odoacer King of the Erul◠having subdued Italy wrote kind and familiar letters to S. Severin desiring him to ask of him whatsoever he pleased This he did in consideration that the same holy Bishop had foretold him that he should raign there The Holy man encouraged with so kind an offer requested him to free from banishment a certain person call'd Ambrosius who had been thereto condemned by the said King Which passage being cited by Baronius he thus adds As concerning this Ambrosius my opinion is that he is the same who afterward going into Brittany with great courage attempted and in some degree effected the freeing of that Island from the oppression of the barbarous Saxons Thus writes the learned Cardinal though he erroneously places the beginning of Odoacers raign in Italy too late 5. Severall years pass'd after the Election of Ambrosius either in peace or not considerable war between the Brittains and Saxons The occurrents of which time is thus describ'd by S. Beda The Brittains under the conduct of Ambrosius Aurelianus a modest Prince and who alone of the Roman race had remain'd after the slaughter made by the Saxons in which his parents who had worn the Regall Purple were slain provoking at last that Victorious Nation to combat gave them an overthrow And from that time now the Brittains and now the Saxons gott the better in small encounters till at last new forces of strangers arriving the Saxons gott possession of the whole Island 6. During this lesse disturbed time it was that S. Patrick many years before return'd out of Ireland dyed
be blessed for ever 11. After this her soule being ready to depart out of her body she saw standing before her a troop of heavenly Angels ready ioyfully to receive her soule and to transport it without any fear or danger from her spirituall Enemies Which having told to those who stood by her blessed soule was freed from the prison of her body on the eighth day before the Ides of October In her dissolution her face smiled and was all of a rosy colour and so sweet a fragrancy proceeded from her Sacred Virgin-body that those who were present thought themselves in the ioy of Paradice S. Cadocus buried her in her own Oratory where for many years she had lead a most holy mortified life very acceptable to God XV. CHAP. 1.2 Of S. Almedha sister to S Keyna and strange things hapning on her solemnity 3. Of her Brother Saint Canoc and his wreath 4. Of Saint Clitanc King of Brecknock and Martyr 1. TO the Gests of this Holy Virgin Saint Kâ—yna we will here adjoyn what remains in ancient Monuments concerning her sister Saint Almedha 〈◊〉 her Brother Saint Canocus There are saith Giraldus Cambrensis dispersed through severall Provinces of Cambria many Churches illustrated by the names of the Children of Braganuâ— Of these there is one seated on the top of a certain hill in the region of Brecknock not far distant from the principall Castle of Aberhodni which is called the Church of Saint Almedha who reiecting the mariage of an Earthly Prince and espousing her self to the Eternall King consummated her life by a triumphant Martyrdom The day of her solemnity is every year celebrated in the same place the first of August Whereto great numbers of devout people from far distant parts use to assemble and by the merits of that Holy Virgin receive their desired health from divers infirmities 2. One especiall thing usually hapning on the solemnity of this Blessed Virgin seems to mee very remarkable For you may oftimes see there young men and maids sometimes in the Church sometimes in the Church-yard and sometimes whilst they are dancing in an even ground encompassing it to fall down on a sudden to the ground at first they lye quiet as if they were rapt in an Extasy but presently after they will leap up as if possess'd with a frenzy and both with their hands and feet before the people they will represent whatsoever servile works they unlawfully performed upon Feast-dayes of the Church One will walk as if he was holding the plow another as if he were driving the Oxen with a goad and both of them in the mean time singing some rude tune as if to ease their toyleâ— One will act the trade of a Shoomaker another of a tanner a third of one that were spinning Here you may see a mayd busily weaving and expressing all the postures usuall in that work After all which being brought with Offrings unto the Altar you would be astonish'd to see how suddenly they will return to their senses again Hereby through Gods mercy who rejoyces rather in the conversion then destruction of Sinners it is certain that very many have been corrected and induced to observe the Holy Feasts with great devotion 3. As touching their Brother Saint Canoc the fame of his Sanctity was most eminent among the Siluâ—es His name is consign'd in our English Martyrologe on the eleaventh oâ— February where likewise he is sayd to have flourish'd in all vertues about the year of Christ four hundred ninety two To him most probably is to be referd that which is reported of the Wreath Torques of S. Canauc for so he calls him Which the inhabitants of that countrey esteem to be a precious Relick and of wonderfull vertue insomuch as when any one is to give a testimony by Oath if that Wreath be placed in fight he dares not presume to commit periury 4. Our Martyrologe also among other Saints of this time commemorates the death and Martyrdom of a King of Brecknock in Southwales calld Clitanc or Clintanc on the nineteeth day of August in the year of Grace four hundred niâ—â—ty two Concerning whom we read in Capgrave that he was a Prince very observant of peace and iustice among his Subiects and that in the end he became a Martyr adorn'd with a celestiall crown for his vertues and merits and particularly his Chastity and purity from carnall delectations For he was murdred by treason of a certain impious wretch whose name is perished with him But to return to the publick affairs of these times between the Brittains and Saxons XVI CHAP. 1.2.3 The erection of the Kingdom of the South-Saxons 4. Of the Citty Anderida 5. Two Metropolitans constituted 1. IN the year of Grace four hundred ninety one is placed by our best Historians the beginning of the Kingdom of the South-Saxons which as it began on a sudden and more timely then the rest so was it likewise the first that fayled and the last which embraced the Christian Faith The manner how this New Kingdom was erected is thus described by Henry of Huntingdon 2. Then began saith he the Kingdom of Sussex which Ella a long time held and administred with great power He had received great recruits out of Germany so that being confident of his forces he in the third year after the death of Hengist the Roman Emperour Anastasius then raigning layd siege to the Strong Citty of Andredecester Whereupon the Brittains were gatherd together in infinite numbers to raise this siege and both day and night vexed the besiegers with ambushes and incursions But they nothing discouraged gave continuall assaults on the Citty and in every assault the Brittains sett on their backs showrâ—ng arrows and darts upon them So that they were forc'd to give over the assault and turn their forces against them But the Brittains being more nimble quickly ran into the woods and when the Saxons returnd to the walls they follow'd them at their bac'ks 3. By this means the Saxons were a long time extremely harass'd and great slaughters were made of them Till at last they were compell'd to divide their Army into two parts that whilst one was employed in expugning the Citty the other part might be in a readines to fight with the Brittons from without Than indeed the besieged being weakned with famine could no longer resist the Saxons by whom they were all consum'd with the sword so that not one escaped And moreover in revenge of the great losses sustain'd by the Saxons during this Siege they demolish'd the Citty utterly so that it was never built again Onely the marks of the place where a most Noble Citty had been seated might be seen by passengers 4. The Citty here called Andredecester was by the Romans call'd Anderida Guido Pancirolus discoursing on the Officers subordinate to the Count of the Saxon-shore in Brittany makes mention of a Provost of a company of soldiers call'd
and was signally approved by him in the Synod of Victory assembled by him ten years after his Consecration 7. Neither was his Pastoral solicitude confined to his own Province it extended it selfe abroad also and especially into Ireland From whâ—nce he was often visited and consulted with by devout men Hence Giraldus Cambrensis speaking of this age saith It was among the Irishmen in those days a frequeâ—t custom to goe in pilgrimage and their greatest devotion was to visit the monuments of the Apostles in Rome Among the rest one Barro an Abbot in the province of Cork went thither and in his return he pass'd by Menevia where he stayd till he could find the commodity of a ship and wind For such was the usuall practise of good devout Irishmen that either going or returning they would desire to enioy the conversation of the Holy Bishop David whose name like a precious fragrant Oyntment was spread all abroad 8. B. Vsher has publish'd a Catalogue of Irish Saints sorted into severall Orders according to the times wherin they liv'd The first Order was of such as liv'd either contemporaries to S. Patrick or presently after him The Second Order contain'd such Saints 〈…〉 about this age such as were S. Finaâ—â—â— caâ—â—â—d by the Irish Fin and by the Brittains Gain or Win. S. Brendan c. In which 〈◊〉 this observation is express'd The Saints of the Second Order received the Rite of 〈…〉 out of Brittany from holy men 〈◊〉 â—â—ere such as were S. David S. Gildas and S. Doc. 9. Moreover S. David sent over some of his Diâ—ciples into Ireland who grew famous there for their learning and sanctity Among which one oâ— the most illustrious as was Saint Aeâ—an concerning whom Giraldus thus wâ—ites S. Aâ—â—â—n call'd by the Irish S. Maidoc fâ—mous for his vertues and learning in Divine 〈◊〉 having received permission from his 〈◊〉 David and his Brethren with their benâ—â—◠〈◊〉 sayâ—d into Ireland Where after he had 〈…〉 fame by his piety and miracles at 〈◊〉 he built a Monastery near the Citty of 〈◊〉 where having collected a good number of 〈◊〉 Brethren he consecrated himself to the Service of God living according to the form and â—ule which he had received from his Pious Father S. David at Menevia Which Rule was the â—ame that was observed by the Monks in Aegypt as we read in the Antiquities of Glastonbury 10. This S. Aedan was afterward Bishop of Fernâ— and Metropolitain of Leinster whilst S. David was yet alive whom he used to consult in affairs of difficulty as we read in the Nameles Authour of the life of S. Lugid call'd also S. Moluca in these terms Saint Moedhog nam'd otherwise S Aedan the most Holy Bishop of Leinster would needs goe bâ—â—ond Sea into Brittany to his Master S. David Bishop there to demand of hâ—â— whom he would recommend for his Spirituall Father to heare his 〈◊〉 in Iâ—eland The life of this S. Aedan is 〈◊〉 in Capgrave where notwithstanding he is â—tiled only Abbot and not Bishop XX. CHAP. 1.2 c. Of S. Davids death and buriall The Time and Place and of his Successour 1. AFter many years spent by the Holy Bishop David at Menevia in the exercise of all Christian vertues it pleased almighty God in love to him and just anger to the ungratefull Brittains to translate this burning and shining Light from earth to heaven where it now shines most gloriously to all eternity 2. As touching the year of his death considering the great diversity in Historians about his age it must needs be involved in great uncertainty For Giraldus Cambrensis and Iohn of Tinmouth affirm S. David to have lived one hundred forty seaven years having been botâ— in the year of Grace four hundred sixty two and dying in the year six hundred and nine when S. Gregory the Great was Pope Pits likewise allows one hundred forty six years to his age and places his death in the year of Grace five hundred forty four By which account his birth would fall in the year of Christ three hundred ninety eight But both these assertions seem exorbitant the former placing his Death much too late and the latter his Birth as much too early 3. It is therefore more consonant to the order of Brittish affairs and story saith learned B. Vsher and better agrees with the Character of the time assign'd by Giraldus to affirm with Pits that he dyed in the year of Grace five hundred forty four and that at his death he was fourscore and two years old and no more For in that year the Calends of March fell on the third Feria as Giraldus says they did when he dyed 4. Let us now view what things are reported to have occurr'd before his death When the houre of his dissolution approached saith the Authour of his life in Capgrave the Angell of our Lord appear'd to him and said The day so much desir'd by thee is now at hand Prepare thy selfe for on the Calends of March our Lord Iesus Christ attended with a multitude of Angels will come to meet thee Whereupon he answerd O Lord dismisse now thy servant in peace The Brethren who assisted him having heard the sound of these words but not well understanding the sence fell prostrate to the ground in great feare Then the Holy Bishop cryed with a loud voyce Lord Iesus Christ receive my Spirit Whereupon when the Brethren made loud complaints he asswaged their sorrow with mild and comfortable words saying My Brethren be constant in your good Profession and beare unanimously to the end that yoke which you have undergone Observe and fulfâ—â— whatsoever things you have seen and heard from mee Aâ—d from that houre to the day of his death the week following he remained in the Church exhorting and encouraging them 5. When the houre of his departure was come our Lord Iâ—sus Christ vouch-safed his presence as he had promis'd by his Angel to the infinite consolation of our Holy Father Who at the sight of him exulted wholly in Spirit saying to him O my Lord Take mee after thee And with these words in our Lords company he gave up his Spirit to God on the Calends of March which being associated to a Troop of Angells with them mounted up to heaven in the year of his age one hundred forty seaven 6. The same Authour further adds That this Holy Bishops death by an Angel divulging it instantly was spread through all Brittany and Ireland Suitable whereto is this passage in the life of S. Kentigern Whilst the servant of God Kentigern one day continued his prayers with more then ordinary attention and devotion his face seemd as on fire the sight whereof fill'd the by standers with great amazement When Prayers were ended he began bitterly to lament And when his Disciples humbly ask'd him the reason of his sorrow he sate a while silent at last he said My dear children know for certain that
the Holy Bishop David the glory of Brittany the Father of his countrey is this day dead he has escaped out of the prison of his body and is flown to heaven Beleive me I my self have seen a multitude of Angels conducting him in to the joy of his Lord and our Lord himself at the entrance of Paradice hath crownd him with glory and honour Know also that Brittany which is depriv'd of so great a light will a long time mourn the absence of so powerfull a Patron He it was who oppos'd himself to the sword of our Lord which was half drawn out for the destruction of that nation in revenge of their sins and impenitence Now will God deliver up Brittany to strange Nations which know him not and Pagans shall empty the Island of its inhabitants Christian Religion shall be utterly dissipated in it till the time prefix'd by God be ended But after that it shall through the mercies of our Lord be restor'd to its former state yea to a far better and happier How true this Prophecy of S. Kentigern was the following Story will demonstrate 7 S. David was buried in his own Church of Menevia which saith Geffrey of Monmouth he had loved above all other Monasteries of his Diocese because S. Patrick who had prophecied of his Nativity had been the founder of it He adds that it was by the command of Malgo King of the Venedotae that he was there buried And that after five hundred years he was solemnly canoniz'd by Pope Calixtus the second of that name The Church in which he was buried was dedicated to S. Andrew but in succeeding times took S. David for the Patron by whose name it and the whole Diocese was call'd S. Davids 8. The Memory of his Sanctity was so precious that within a few years after his death the visiting of his Church was a great devotion of those times S. Oudoceus Successour of S. Theliau in the Bishoprick of Landaff after a Pilgrimage to visit the Monuments of the Holy Apostâ—es at Rome made another to the Church of S. David And afterward when any one had a desire to goe in devotion to Rome and was hindred either by the difficulties or dangers of the iourney he might equall the merit of such a pilgrimage by twice visiting the Church of S. Davids as appears by a Dâ—stick common in those times expressing so much Such was either the pious credulity of that age or perhaps that compensation was allow'd by Popes 9. The Successour of S. David in the Bishoprick of Menevia was called Kinoc or Cenac who was translated thither from the See of S. Patern But his and many of his Successours Gests have been buried in obscurity for the Name of Saint David did so fill the Church of Menevia for severall ages that the mention of his successours has been omitted XXI CHAP. 1.2.3 Death of King Otta and K. Cerdic 1. BEcause we would not discontinue the Gests of the famous Bishop S. David we have pursued them severall years beyond the date and season whereto we are arrived in the Generall History of the Ecclesiasticall state of Brittany Which disorder hereafter also oft to be committed especially in the lives of particular Saints we expect will find pardon because therby a greater disorder will be avoyded of delivering their actions peece-meale and by shreds to the Readers prejudice We will therefore return to the place from which we made this diversion 2. In the year of Grace five hundred thirty two Otta King of Kent dyed leaving his Son Irmeric Successour in his Kingdom who was illustrious for nothing more then in that he was Father to the glorious and happy King Ethelhert the first Christian King among the Saxons 3. Two years after dyed also Cerdic King of the West-Saxons in the sixteenth year of his Raign to whom succeeded his Son Kenric in all his Dominions except the Isle of Wight which he left to his Sisters Son Witgar whom he dearly lov'd both for propinquity of blood and military skill XXII CHAP. 1.2 c Of S. Iohn a Brittish Saint in France 4.5 c. Of S. Mochia a Brittish Saint in Ireland 1. IN our ancient English Martyrologe the death of a Holy Brittish Preist is assignâ—d to the year five hundred thirty â—eaven His name was Iohn and his fame was more celebrated in forrain Nations then his own The great commotions of Brittany and barbarous cruelty of the Saxons compelled great numbers to seek means of serving God abroad which they could not find at home Among whom this Holy Preist Iohn was one who retir'd himselfe into France and thoâ—gâ— he spent his liâ—e iâ— solitude and prayer in the Province of Tours yet it pâ—eas'd God by a miracle after his death to 〈◊〉 known his Sanctity Which Miracle I shâ—â—ld scarce have mention'd in this History were it not that I find it related by a famous Bâ—shop S. Gregory oâ— Tours in whose Provâ—nce thiâ— Holy Preist liv'd and who might himself have been an eye-witnes oâ— it The relation given by him is as followeth 2. Not far from this Church of Caâ—on rests the sacred Holy of a certain Preist named Iohn He was by Nation a Bâ—ittain and living here with great devotion and piety our Lord was pleas'd by 〈◊〉 miraculously to restore health to many He the better to attend to divine love avoyded the â—ight of men confining himself to a little Cell â—nd Oratory over against the Church of Caâ—on â—here 〈◊〉 a little Orchard cultivated by himself he had planted a few lawrel-trees which now are â—o encreased that the boughs of them being drawn â—ogether arch-â—ise doe afford a very pleasing â—hade Vnder those laurels his custom was to sit reading or writing as he thought fit After his death among the said trees whose wide-stretch'd branches made a very commodious shade there was one which through age was quite withered Then he to whom the care of the place was committed dâ—â—g'd up the roots of the said dry tree and of the body of it hewed out a seat or bench upon which when he was weary or would seriously meditate on busines he was used to sitt After he had made such use of the said seat the space of two years or mâ—re a thought of remorse came into his heart I beleive by divine Inspiration which forced him to say Alas Sinner that I am â—hy doe I for mine own convenience make use of a seat fram'd of the tree which so holy a Preist planted with his oâ—n hand Having said this he presently took a â—â—ade and digging a deâ—p hole in the ground presently he putt the seat into it after he had cutt off the â—eet which supported it and then cover'd it with earth Now behold a great wonder The very next spring this dry bench thus buried as hath been said sprouted forth into green branches as the other treese did which prosper'd so well that at this day there are proceeded
administration of his Kingdom to a Nephew by his Sister and Son of Loth King of the Picts called Mordred Who taking advantage of his Vncles absence invaded the throne upon a pretence that King Arthur was a bastard as being born not in lawfull mariage And to this treason he added the crime of incest violently taking his Vncles wife Queen Guenhumara Moreover to strengthen him self he entred into a Confederacy with the King of the West-Saxons to whom he quietly yeilded severall Provinces 3. These infamous crimes being come to the ears of King Arthur he presently returned into Brittany inflamed with a rage and hatred unquencheable against his abominable kinsman Mordred was prepared to hinder his landing at which time a cruell batell was fought between them in which Angusâ—lus King of Albania and Walwan another Nephew of King Arthur were slain Notwithstanding at last with infinite difficulty he landed And renewing the fight he made a great slaughter of his enemies and compelled Mordred to fly to Winchester Whither he was with great fury pursued by King Arthur where in a second batell after much blood shed Mordred was again putt to flight which he directed towards Cornwal But King Arthur not ceasing to follow at last overtook him neer the River Camblan in which place the controversy between them was ended but fatally to them both 4. For Mordred having ranged his army in a desperat fury rushed among his enemies resolved rather to dye then once more to shew his back to them In this coÌ„bat which continued almost a whole day after horrible blood-shed on both sides King Arthur with the courage and fury of a lyon rushed into the troop where he knew Mordred was and making way with his sword at last with horrible slaughter dispersed his enemies There fell the Traytour Mordred and with him severall Saxon Commanders Cheldric Elaphius Egbrith and Bruning and many thousands with them 5. But this Victory cost King Arthur his life also For in the combat he received a mortall wound Whereupon he was conveyed into the Isle Avallonia now Glastonbury by the charity of a kinswoman of his a noble Matron called Morganis This gave the foolish Brittish Bards occasion to invent the story of a Faery Goddesse called Morganis which caried the Body of King Arthur by Magical skill into Avallonia with a promise that she would cure his wounds and that he should return with his former courage and strength to govern his Brittains And for this reason during many years yea ages his return was expected by them as foolshly as the coming of the Messias is by the Iewes 6. When Queen Guenhumara heard of the return of her husband and his war with his Nephew she fled in great hast to the Citty Caër-leon where she took the Habit of Religion among the Nunns in the Monastery of S. Iulius the Martyr 7. The true reason why King Arthur would be caried to the Monastery of Glastonbury doubtles was partly to prepare himself more perfectly for death in the company and by the assistance of the Holy Monks living there and likewise that after his death he might be buried among such a world of Saints as reposed there from the beginning of Christianity The like design we read of in Constantin for he ordaind his buriall in like manner to the end he might be partaker of the Suffrages of so many Saints of the prayers of such as in succeeding times should come to visit their Monuments 8. King Arthur before his death gave unto the said Monastery Brent-march and Poulden with other lands beside Which the Pagan Angli took away but afterward being converted to the Faith restored with advantage He appointed likewise for his Successour a kinsman of his called Constantin and having recommended himself to the Prayers of the Monks he dyed happily and after a Christian manner was buried with a Crosse. 9. His conveyance to Glastonbury was it seems by own order done with great secrecy and by the same order his death and place of burial was studiously coÌ„ceald The reason is given by Mathew of Westminster in these words The dying King was desirous to be hidden least his enemies should insult and his freinds be molested for so great a calamity And hence it is that since our Histories doe relate nothing of his death and buriall the Brittish Nation out of their great affection to him doe contend that he is still alive And on this occasion was invented the Prophecy fathered on Merlin the Magician that he should appear and raign once more Lastly Malmsburiensis affirms that in his time who dyed in the year of Grace one thousand one hundred forty two the Sepulcher of King Arthur could no where be found whereas the Monument of his Heroical Nephew Walwin Prince of a Territory called Walwerth had lately been found in the time of King William near the Sea-coast and that it was fourteen foot long 10. Notwithstanding a little while after in the raign of King Henry the Second by the pious industry of certain devout persons King Arthurs Monument was at last found and the expectation of his return utterly vanished among the Welsh Nation The manner how it was found together with the description of it we have in severall of our Historians as Mathew Paris and Giraldus Cambrensis who affirms that the Abbot who found it shewd him the Crosse which lay over King Arthurs body the characters whereof he curiously read c. 11. But the most authentick account hereof we may receive from the Great Table of Glastonbury framed on purpose to continue the memory of the said Invention a copy whereof is preserved by B. Vsher in this tenour In this Island Avallonia or rather this Tomb of Saints at Glastonbury doe rest King Arthur the flower of the Kings of Brittany and Guenhavera his Queen who after their decease were honourably buried near the old Church between two stone-Pyramids heretofore nobly engraven And in the same place have their bodyes rested for many ages to wit six hundred twenty eight years till the time of Henry de Soili who after the burning of the said Church was Abbot of the same place The which said Abbot after many admonitions by severall persons commanded men to digg between the said Piramids to try whether they could find the Kings body but before they began to digg the place was all encompassed with cortains They digged therefore exceeding deep and at last found a very great Biere of wood altogether shutt which with their instruments they opened and within it discovered the Kings body and a certain Crosse of Lead of which one whole side was filled with this Inscription Here lyes buried the famous King Arthur in the Island Avallonia Then they opened the Tomb of the Queen and the hayr 's of her head were spread over her body and seemd as if she had been lately buried but assoon as they touched them they fell all
deliverd from the ire of God de ira Dei eruti and call'd to partake his Mercy His last Question was How the King of that Nation was call'd And he was told that his name was Alle whereupon in allusion to that name he sayd Alleluia must be sung in those parts to the prayse of God the Creatour of all things 6. Afeer this discourse ended he went to Pelagius Bishop of the Roman and Apostolick See For as yet himself was not chosen Pope and humbly entreated him to send into Brittany some Ministers of Gods word to convert that Nation to Christ Adding That himself was ready to be employd with Gods assistance in such a work in case his Holines thought fit But his offer could not be taken for though the Pope would have granted his desire yet the Romans would not permit his absence so far from the Citty Notwithstanding a while after when himself was exalted to the Popedom he brought to perfection the work so long and so earnestly desir'd by him sending indeed other persons to preach the Gospell there but himselfe by his counsels exhortations and prayers contributing very much to make their preaching fruitfull and effectuall These things according to what our Ancestours have deliver'd we thought proper and fit to be inserted in our Ecclesiasticall History XVII CHAP. 1.2 S. Columban comes out of Ireland into Brittany and thence goes into France 3. Of S. Phara a Holy Abbesse to whom many Brittish Virgins repaire 1. BVT Alla King of the Deiri saith Malmsburiensis though by the selling of those children he gave occasion of bringing Christianity among the Angli yet was not so happy to hear any thing of it himself For the Divine Election regarded hiâ— Son Which Son was not his immediate Successour Edelric who the next year upon the death of his Father Alla possess'd his throne But Edwin a Prince who after many vicissitudes oâ— fortune came first to the Crown of the Northumbrians afterward to the Faith of Christ and lastly to the glory of Martyrdom as shall be shewd As for Ethelric his raign was short for it lasted onely five years and afforded nothing memorable 2. In the first year of King Ethelrics raign S. Columban after he had spent severall years in the Monastery of Benchor in Ireland came over into Brittany being mov'd with a desire of seing strange countreys saith Haraeus out of Ionas who largely wrote that Saints life The Venerable Abbot Comogel did much bewayle his departure but being unable to resist the Divine Will he dismiss'd him so that he with twelve Companions inflamed with the same desire took ship and came into Brittany from whence he afterward pass'd into France When he undertook this journey he was no more then twenty years of age In France he was very courteously receiv'd by King Sigebert or rather his Son Childebert who gave him the choice of any place for his abode These devout men therefore entring into a desart call'd Vosegus the Vauge found there a certain place encompass'd with old walls and watred with warm springs but time had ruind all the buildings The name of it was Luxovium 3. Whilst S. Columban lived in Austrasia a Province of France he was Spirituall Master and instructour to the Holy Virgin Phara reckon'd by the Centuriators of Magdeburg among the Brittish Nunnes Others say she was Neice to S. Columban himself From whomsoever she was descended certain it is that the sweet odour of her vertues and sanctity was so largely spread that many devout Virgins and some of them of Princely families out of Brittany repair'd to her to learn piety under her government in France as shall in due place be shewd XVIII CHAP. 1.2.3 War betwen the Scots and Picts 4. The South-Saxon King subject to the West-Saxons 5. S. Gregory consecrated Pope 1. IN the year five hundred and ninety a war was began in the Northern parts of Brittany between the Scotts and Picts which drew the whole Island into great factions In those parts Aidan or Edan son of the King of the Scotts then enioyd the principality who had been crownd King by S. Columba in the Isle Iona or Hy saith Adamannus 2. The cause of these commotions was the same which had formerly rais'd so long and furious wars between the Saxons and the Brittains For the Scots out of Ireland at first were invited by the Picts to assist them against the Brittains as the Saxons were by the Brittains against the Picts and Scots and these Irish Scots imitating the Saxons at first stayd in those parts upon courtesy but afterward grew insolent and new Aids from their own countrey dayly flocking to them they fix'd their habitation and not long after a Kingdom there Which being once establish'd their next attempt was to drive the Picts out of their own Provinces which at last they effected far more entirely then the Saxons had against the Brittains for the Scotts utterly rooted out of the world the very name and Nation of the Picts 3. It was for this Empire of the Northern parts of Brittany that Edan Prince of the Scotts now contended and the whole successe of the war though waged at a great distance from the Isle of Iona where S. Columba then was yet was divinely reveal'd to him For thus doe we read in his Life S. Columba being in the Isle of Iona on a certain day called his brethren together and kneeling down sayd Let us now pray fervently for this people and their King Aidan for this very hower the battell against their enemies begins A little while after he rose up and looking towards heaven sayd Now are the barbarous enemies put to flight and the victory is given to Aidan though dearly purchas'd for of his army there are slain three hundred and three This needs not seem incredible for many examples occurr in Ecclesiasticall story declaring how God has oft been pleas'd to reveale unto his servants events hapning in places far removed 4. The same year dyed Cissa King of the South-Saxons saith Mathew of Westminster and his Kingdom was devolved on Ceaulin King of the West-Saxons Yet so as that it was administred by his son Edelwalc who enioyd also the Title of King yet as Beneficiary to Ceaulin 5 But that which most illustrated this year was the advancement of S. Gregory to the Popedom who immediatly after the death of Pope Pelagius was with the wonderfull applause of all degrees and orders in Rome placed in S. Peters Chair to the great benefit of the whole Church but more especially to the incomparable felicity of our Island For his admirable Gests among which the most illustrious was the Conversion of the Angli and Saxons he was deservedly call'd S. Gregory the Great and the Apostle of England as our Martyrologes declare XIX CHAP. 1.2 Ceaulin King of the West-Saxons driven out of his Kingdom dyes 3 Ethelbert King of Kent becomes Supreme among the Saxons 1.
THE year following Brittany afforded a memorable example of the instability of worldly greatnes and power in the person of the hitherto prosperous King of the West-Saxons Ceaulin who after all his conquests was at last overcome in fight and expell'd his kingdom and life also Which is in this manner related by Malmsburiensis Ceaulin saith he in his last days was banish'd from his kingdom exhibiting to his Enemies a miserable spectacle of himself For such was the generall hatred born to him both by the Brittains and Saxons that they all unanimously conspir'd to destroy him Armies therefore being gathred on both sides a battle was fought at Wodensdike in the one and thirtieth year of his raign where his forces were utterly defeated after which he was compell'd to forsake his kingdom and a little after he dyed 2. The place where this battle was fought is in Wiltshire where a great fosse divides the Province in the middle saith Camden from East to West call'd by the inhabitants Wansdike and fabulously reported to have been made by the Devil upon a Wednesday for it takes its name from Woden or Mercury the Saxon Idol which gave the appellation to Wednesday The cause of the raising of that rampire seems to have been for a separation of the Kingdoms of the Mercians and West-Saxons And neer thereto is seated a Village call'd Wodensbury where Ceaulin fighting against the Brittains and Saxons was utterly broken 3. After the death of Ceaulin his Brothers son Cealric possess'd the Kingdom of the West-Saxons but being much inferiour in courage to his Predecessour he did not inherit that extent of power which Ceaulin had exercised over the other Saxon Princes Which opportunity was not omitted by Ethelbert King of Kent next in power to Ceaulin who without much hazard obtained that preeminence By which meanes a freer way was opened to communicate Christian Truthes to severall Provinces of the Kingdom after they had been once entertained by Ethelbert which hapned little above three years after the death of Ceaulin XX. CHAP. i. 2 c. The Irish Churches reduced from Schism by S. Gregory 1. SAint Gregory in the third year after he was Pope by his authority and wisedom restored the Churches of Ireland to Catholick Vnity from which they had been separated upon occasion of the quarrell about the Tria Capitula of which we treated before His Epistle to them concerning that subject is extant which that it had its full effect to their satisfaction may be proved by many arguments For presently after this time there is mention of severall of their Bishops and devout persons which undertook Pilgrimages to Rome to visit the Holy places and to expresse their duty to the supreme Bishop 2. Moreover another Epistle of the same Holy Pope is extant also in answer to certain doubts and questions which they had proposed to him touching the Rites and manner of Baptism what Form of Profession was to be administred to such as returned to the Church from the Nestorian Heresy c. But since those matters doe not concern the Ecclesiasticall affaires of Brittany the Reader if he be inquisitive may inform himself concerning S. Gregories resolutions in those cases from S. Gregory himselfe in his Works every where to be mett with 3. Onely we shall in this place observe that the Churches of Brittany were at this time free from any stain of Schism or Errours in Doctrines Yea probable it is that by them the Churches of Ireland were denounced to the See Apostolick as culpable It was about the year five hundred sixty six saith Baronius that they engaged themselves in the said Schism and now after twenty six years through Gods goodnes and by the endeavours of his servant S. Gregory they were restored XXI CHAP. 1.2 c. The death of severall Saxon Princes 4.5 The Death of the devout Queen Ingoberga Mother to Queen Bertha 1. IN the year of Grace five hundred ninety three Edelric King of the Northumbers dyed and his Son Ethelfrid succeeded him sirnamed the Cruel concerning whom Malmsburiensis gives this Character Thus being possessed of his Kingdom he began first vigorously to defend his own dominions then unjustly to invade the bounds of others and every where to seek occasions of exalting his glory Many combats were undertaken by him providently and executed gallantly for neither was he restraind by slouth when war was necessary neither in the exercising it did his courage impell him to temerity 2. About the same time Titillus King of the Eastangles being dead his Son Redwald possessed his throne who by some Writers is accounted the first founder of that Kingdom By the perswasion of the Holy King and Martyr S. Edwyn he was induced to give his name to Christ in Baptism But these and many other things concerning him which fill the Saxon Annalls hapned severall years after this time and shall in their due place be declared 3. This year was fruitfull in the deaths of our Saxon Princes for Crida King or Duke of the Mercians now likewise ended his life to whom succeeded his Son Wibba or Wippa not memorable in story for any thing so much as leaving behind him his illustrious children Penda Kenwalch and Sexburga of whom hereafter 4. About the year five hundred ninety four the pious and vertuous Queen Ingoberga received the reward of her patience by a holy and happy death She had been the wife of Charibert one of the Kings of the Franks and after she had born him a daughter was unworthily repudiated by him to make way for a Concubine called Meroflenda Her memory challenges a place in our History in as much as most probably she was Mother to Bertha or Aldiberga the Christian Lady above twenty years since maried to Ethelbert King of Kent whose piety and endeavours had a great influence in disposing her Husbands mind to embrace the Christian Faith very shortly to be proposed to him by S. Augustin the Monk 5. As touching the said Queen Ingoberga we receive a character of her vertues and an account of her happy death from a worthy French Bishop an eyewitnes of both to wit Gregory Bishop of Tours whose relation is as followeth In the fourteenth year of King Childebert Ingoberga Widow of Charibert departed this life A Lady she was of great sincerity and devotion diligent in watching prayers and Alms-giving She I suppose by direction of the Divine Providence sent messengers to mee desiring my counsel and assistance about her Last Will and disposing of matters which she intended for the good and remedy of her soule For which purpose she requested my personall presence that after advice between us her intentions might be committed to writing I could not refuse to come to her and at my entrance I mett with a Religious man who received mee courteously and presently called for a Notary Then we advised together after which she bequeathed some legacies and
in his leggs that he was not able to walk or stand And fifteen years did he remain in this infirmity 6. By this Miracle the Sanctity of the Holy Bishop was approved whereupon his Sacred body was translated to the Monastery of Ramsey on the fourth of the Ides of Iune To whose honour the Abbot Ednothus built a Church in which he placed his Tomb after such a manner that half of it appeared within and half without the wall to the end that a fountain of water which flowed thence might be ready for the use of every one who came in devotion whether the Church was shutt or not Which Water by the merits of the Holy Bishop had the vertue to cure many diseases 7. One great Miracle wrought there shall not be omitted because the Relatour protests himself an eye-witnes of it I my self saw saith Malmsburiensis what I shall now relate A certain Monk languished a long time with a Dropsy His skin was strangely swelled and his breath so noysom that none could approach him and his drouth was so excessive that he thought he could drink whole barrells On a time by an admonition received in sleep he went to Saint Ivo's Monument where after he had taken onely three draughts of the water he cast up all the superfluous humours within him The swelling of his belly presently fell and his thighs lost their former withered leannes In a word he was restored to perfect health 8. As for the Abbot Ednothus though the infirmity and pain in his leggs continued till his death yet for a sign that his fault was pardoned Seaven days before he dyed the Holy Bishop Ivo appeared to him in great glory and said The time is now at hand when thou shalt perceive that the pains I have inflicted on thee will prove a remedy to procure thee eternall rest Prepare thy self therefore for seaven days hence I will come and deliver thee from the prison of thy body And it fell out accordingly X. CHAP. 1.2 c. The Gests of S. Paul de Leon. 1. THE same year likewise is mark'd with the happy death of S. Paul a kinsman of S. Sampson Bishop of Dâ—le Concerning whom we read in the Gallican Martyrologe publish'd by Andrew Saussay that he was one of the Companions of S. Sampson That his Fathers name was Perfius and that he was a Scholler to S. Iltutus both in wit and innocence excelling all his companions Being very young he was prevented with many Graces of Gods holy Spirit and thereupon fearing least he should be tempted with vain glory at the age of fifteen he retir'd into a desart where building for himself an Oratory and a Cell he lead there an Angelicall life Thus growing every day more rich in merits when he was arrived at mature age he was compelled to accept the dignity of Preistly Office which he adorned with the splendour of his Sanctity The fame whereof being spread abroad he was sent for by King Margus probably the same with Malgus or Maglocunus whom together with his people he more perfectly instructed in the Mysteries of Christian Faith to which they had lately been converted 2. After some time by the admonition of an Angel he retired into an Island on the Coast of Lesser Brittany called Ossa where he brought many Infidels to the heavenly Light of the Gospell Where likewise by divine vertue he slew a monstrous Dragon After which the Prince of that Region called Vintrurus or Withurus offred him a Bishoprick which he with a resolute humility refused Notwithstanding he was with a pious fraud circumvented by him For being sent upon certain pretended affairs to Childebert King of the Franks he caried with him private letters desiring the King to ratify his Election to the Bishoprick The King received him with great reverence but withall compelled him to accept the Bishoprick which he had refused to which he was Canonically ordained by three Bishops The See of his Bishoprick was by the Kings decree seeled at Leon to which he was wellcomed by all the people with wonderfull ioy And this sublime Office he administred with admirable sanctity and Pastorall prudence to his death His sacred body many years after was thence translated by his Successour Mabbo to the Monastery of Fleury by occasion of the incursions of the Normans where it was a long time held in great veneration 3. The Authour of his life in the Bibliotheque of Fleury relates how he quitted his Bishoprick three severall times but was forced to resume it upon the death of his Successours But at last when his strength was even quite spent he ordained one of his Brethren named Cetomerin Bishop in his place a certain Noble Prince called Induael being present who came thither to recommend himself to his prayers And this being performed he retired himself into an Island called Batha where he spent many years governing a great Congregation of Monks and at last happily concluded his life being more then a hundred years old His Church is from him to this day called Saint Paul de Leon. 4. We read in Capgrave how this S. Paul on a time visiting a sister of his who devoutly served God in a Cell seated near the Sea on the Brittish shore at her request he obtained of God by his prayers that the Sea should never swell beyond the bounds marked by her by placing a row of stones By which means the sea was restrained the space of a mile from his usuall course and continues so to this day XI CHAP. i. 2 c. S. Gregory sends new Missioners with Letters and presents to severall persons 1. THE Messengers sent by S. Augustin to Rome stayd there a full year which delay it seems was caused by the difficulty of finding a sufficient number of able lobourers to cultivate our Lords Vineyard in Brittany At length in the year of Grace six hundred and one Laurence and Peter return'd accompanied with twelve others to assist them in the founding of the Saxon Church in our Island the principal of whom were Mellitus Iustus Paulinus and Ruffintanus all of them Monks and Brethren of the same Institut with S. Augustin 2. These devout Missioners were as the former by S. Gregory recommended to Princes and Bishops residing in the Citties through which they were to passe or were not far distant from their way One Letter exemplified in severall Copies he directed to Serenus Bishop of Marseilles to Mennas Bishop of Tholouse to Lupus Bishop of Chaillon on the Saone to Agilius Bishop of Mets and to Simplicius Bishop of Paris all whom he entreated to assist these Religious Monks with their charity that they might not be hindred from a quick dispatoh of their iourney so beneficiall to the Church of Christ. 3. Another letter was written by Saint Gregory to Siagrius Bishop of Autun in which he highly extolls his kindnes exhibited lately to S. Augustin desiring the like
their own confines and attempted nothing either openly or privily against the English Nation But from the Scotts we will passe to the Brittains and their contentions with the now Christian-Saxons about the Church and Ecclesiasticall Rites XVI CHAP. i. 2 c The death of S. Gregory the Great his admirable Sanctity c. 1. THE year of Grace six hundred and four is memorable to the whole Church but especially to Brittany for the death of S. Gregory the Supreme Pastor and the glorious Apostle of our Nation as likewise for the Generall Synod of Brittany convoked by S. Augustin in which there was a convention not only of Saxon and Brittish Bishops but likewise of severall from among the Picts and Scotts 2. As touching S. Gregory we read thus in S. Beda The blessed Pope Gregory after he had most gloriously governed the Roman and Apostolick Church thirteen years six months and ten days departed this life and was translated to an eternall Throne in the Kingdom of Heaven Whose memory we are obliged to celebrate in our History as being truly the Apostle of our Nation which by his industry was converted from the power of Satan to the Faith of Christ. For being elevated to the Pontificat over the whole world and made a Prelat of Churches already embracing the true Faith he made our Nation till his days enslaved to Idols a Church of Christ so that to him we may apply that of the Apostle For the seale of his Apostleship are we in our Lord. 3. His Memory is celebrated through the whole Chuch of God both Eastern and Western on the twelfth of March On which day we thus read in the Roman Martyrologe At Rome the commemoration of S. Gregory Pope and eminent Doctour of the Church who for many illustrious acts and converting the English Nation to the Faith of Christ hath the Title of Great and is called the Apostle of the English 4. The many glorious Gests of this Holy Pope not pertaining to our present subject I willingly omitt because either generally well known or easily to be found in Ecclesiasticall Historians and I will content my self with adioyning here a double Character given of him by two learned and Holy Bishops of Spain S. Isidor of Sevill and S. Ildefonsus of Toledo The former of which thus writes of him Pope Gregory Prelat of the Roman and Apostolick See was a Man full of compunction and fear of our Lord eminent in humility and endued with so great light of Divine knowledge by the grace of Gods Spirit that none was ever equall to him either in the times he lived in or any before him In the next place S. Ildefonsus gives this parallel description of the Pope He shone so bright saith he with the perfection of all vertues and merits that excluding all comparisons of any other illustrious persons Antiquity never shewed the world any one like to him He excelled S. Antony in Sanctity S. Cyprian in eloquence S. Augustin in wisedom c. 5. I ought to have bespoken the Protestant readers patience and now demand his pardon for representing this our Apostle reiected and disgraced by severall of them in the features and colours drawn by two such eminent Bishops who liv'd either in or near the same age with him and whose iudgment approv'd by the whole Christian world till this last age in reason deserves rather to be relyed upon then that of a few Apostats who liv'd almost a thousand years after him But I leave it to their consciences to determine whether this holy Pope deserv'd in England especially that such severe Laws should be enacted and such cruelties executed against him as have been against those who preach Christ as he did by the confession of Protestant Writers themselves And they must of necessity answer Yes for certainly if his Successours and disciples deserve these rigorous scourges he who seduced them deserved to be tormented with Scorpions XVII CHAP. 1. 2. c. A great Synod of Saxons Brittains c. assembled by S. Augustin 5.6 c. The place is uncertain 7.8 The Names of the Bishops 1. SAint Beda after recounting the death of this our Apostle S. Gregory proceeds to relate the actions of S. Augustin the same year in these words In the mean time Augustin by the assistance of King Ethelbert convoked to a Synod the Bishops or Doctours of the greatest and next Province of the Brittains who mett together in a place to this day in the English tongue calld Augustins-ac or Oake seated in the confines of the Wiccij or inhabitants of Worcester shire and the West-Saxons 2. Now this Synod having been a matter of great importance we will endeavour to frame with some diligence a Narration concerning it that is touching the place where it was celebrated the persons assembled in it and the speciall matters debated amongst them 3. The place though named with some Circumstances by S. Beda yet after such a vicissitude and chāge both of men and language is not at this day obvious or easy to be found It is doubtfull whether Augustins-Oke in S. Beda signifies simply a Tree only or a village among such trees that is Whether the Synod was held abroad in the open aire or in some house The former seems more probable to Sir H. Spelman for saith he It was an ancient custome in Brittany to hold their assemblies abroad for under a roof the Brittains apprehended danger by witch-craft or fascination as hath been formerly mentiond out of Beda at the meeting of King Ethelbert with this same S. Augustin Notwithstanding though by S. Beda's relation such was the Superstition of the Infidel Saxons no ground appears why it should be imputed to the Christian Brittains much lesse to S. Augustin and his companions who were Romans 4. It is therfore more likely that this Synod was celebrated within-dores in a place or village which had its appellation from an Oake and from this meeting obtaind the addition of S. Augustins name And herein it resembled an ancient Synod assembled by Theophilus against S. Iohn Chrysostom in the suburbs of the Citty of Chalcedon which was calld Ad quercum The Synod at the oak from some notable Oak which had stood near the Palace where the Bishops sate 5. But where to find this village is yet uncertain Camden with all his diligence and perspicacity leaves it in the dark For in his perambulation of the Province of the Wiccij mentiond by S. Beda he gives onely this account of it About this territory there is a place but the position of it is uncertain calld Augustins-ake or Oak at which Augustin the Apostle of England and the Brittish Bishops mett and after many hott disputes about celebrating Easter preaching the word of God to the Saxons and celebrating Baptism after the Roman rite they parted from one another with disagreeing minds 6. Notwithstanding if leave may be allowd to coniecture why
down to rest and was falln asleep there appeared to him the most Blessed Prince of the Apostles who after many sharp stripes inflicted on him askd him with an Apostolick Severity Why he would forsake the flock with which he had entrusted him And to what Pastours care he would committ the sheep of Christ now encompassed with so many wolves Hast thou forgott said he the example I have given thee who for the good of those Lambs which our Lord in testimony of his love recommended to mee suffred from Infidels and enemies of Christ bonds stripes prisons torments and in conclusion death it self even the death of the Crosse for which I am now crownd with him 9. The servant of Christ Laurence being encouraged with these stripes and exhortations of the Blessed Apostle as soon as morning appeared went to the King and laying aside his vestment shewd him how greivously his body had been torn with whipps The King wondring at it demanded who durst be so presumptuous to treat so worthy a person so cruelly But when he was informed that the Bishop had for his Salvation and eternall happines suffred so sharp torments he was struck with great feare 10. We will awhile interrupt the prosecution of S. Beda's Narration of the happy effect of this Miracle in the Kings conversion to attend the iudgment given hereof by some Modern Protestants especially the Centuriators of Magdebury whose censure is this These things were prettily feigned by Laurence to astonish a Pagan King for none but superstitious fooles will beleive that he was in earnest scourged by Peter Saint Beda then it seems was misinformed S. Laurence was a cheating lyar and all posterity superstitiously credulous yea God himself who prospered this invention with the Kings Conversion and the restitution of the Christian Faith in these mens iudgment stood in need of a lye to perfect his own work Certain it is that above eight hundred years since Alcuinus a man of admirable learning made use of this argument of S. Laurence his being chastised by S. Peter to encourage a then Arch-bishop of Canterbury chased from his See And the same example was afterward applied by Osbern a Monk and Precentor of Canterbury to S. Anselm declining the burden of the same Church But what proofs have those Censurers to disprove Saint Beda's Narration None at all but their bare assertion That these lying Miracles were contrived to support an Opinion that Saints have power to hurt those with whom they are displeased So that it seems in their opinion the reall scourging of a man is an act exceeding Gods Omnipotence VIII CHAP. 1.2 c. Edwin Prince of the Northumbers banished His dangers 7.8 He is comforted by an Angell 9 10. His Enemy Ethelfrid slain 1. WE must a little longer delay the relation of the happy effects which the visible marks of S. Laurence his stripes wrought in the mind of the Pagan King Eadbalous which effects began to be publickly seen the year following to insert another illustrious Example of Gods Goodnes to our Nation in exalting to the Throne of the Northumbers a Prince called Edwin by the destruction of that cruel King Etheâ—frâ—d the murderer of so many hundred innocent Monks of Bangor Which Edwin not long after embracing the Christian Faith raised up a glorious Church in those rude and barbarous Provinces which were indeed the first towards whom S. Gregory intended to expresse his Charity upon the sight of a few beautiâ—ull young slaves from hence exposed to sale in the Market at Rome 2. This Edwin was the Son of Alla King of the Deiri or Northumbers to whose name S. Gregory alluded saying that Alleluia's should ere long be sung in his Kingdom Now Alla dying in the year of Grace five hundred eighty nine and leaving his only Son Edwin but three years old the throne due to him was usurped by Ethelfrid sirnamed the Cruel or Savage 3. Edwin living in this Tyrants Court grew up an example of all vertues and endowments which rendred him agreable to all but formidable to Ethelfrid Who yet though he haâ—ed him as one who both had right to the Kingdom and deserved it yet he durst not lay snares for his life fearing in case such designs should want successe least considering the generall compassion and love born to Edwin a party should declare in his behalf and endanger his Crown Therefore imputing to him some feign'd crimes he sent him into Exile hoping that by poverty want of freinds and discontent he would quickly shorten his own life 4. Before his banishment he had maried Quenburga the daughter of Ceorl King of the Mercians who accompanied him in his exile and brought him two sons Offrid and Edfrid after which she dyed before his restitution And Edwin fearing the Tyrants trains was forced to disguise himself and shift from place to place in the habit of a peasant Till at last going into the Kingdom of the East-Angles he committed himself to the faith of Redwald King there in whose Court he lived with great splendour being acceptable both to the King and all others for his rare endowments for he divided his time between reading and Martiall Exercises and in both he so far advanced himself that his fame was spread through the whole Island 5. In the mean time Ethelfrid sought his destruction by all the ways he could imagine sending spyes every where to discover him and assassins to murder him But at last hearing that he was so kindly entertained among the East-angles he resolved either with treasure to buy or with an army to procure his death He sent therefore an Embassadour to Redwald by whom at first he offred great summs of money to purchase the delivering up of Edwin But those offers being rejected he next threatned open war upon refusall This threatning terrified Redwald in somuch as chusing rather to expose the single life of a stranger then hazzard the destruction of his kingdom he yeilded to the solicitations of Ethelfrid promising either to deliver him up or to take order for the shortning his life 6. These Treaties between the two Kings were not caried so secretly but Edwin had notice of them and by the change of King Redwalds countenance and gestures began to suspect his own danger Which suspicion was changed into assurance by an advice given him by a freind of Redwalds resolution Which freind advised him to secure himself by flight offring himself his companion and guide therin But Edwins answer was That having had so many years experience of Redwalds fidelity and generosity he would not be the first to shâ—w a suspicion of so base a crime in a King and that if he must perish he would chuse to doe it rather by the hand of a freind then of a declared Enemy With this resolution he dismissed his freind This discourse betwen them for the greater privacy passed in a solitary place and in the evening when it began to
the beginning of the following year But the short remainder of his life he spent very proffitably for Gods Churches For not contenting himself with providing for the spirituall good of his own See he extended his zeale and care beyond the limits of the Island Insomuch as some Authours write that to procure an Vnion and charitable correspondance between the Churches of the Saxons Brittains Scotts and Irish he undertook a painfull voyage into Ireland to perswade them to a conformity with the Vniversall Church in celebrating the Paschall solemnity 2. But perhaps their meaning was that by his appointment a Conference or Synod was assembled in which certain Irish and Scottish Bishops met to compose differences about that point Which Synod according to the Centuriators of Magdeburg was celebrated in the Isle of Man in which S. Laurence earnestly contended for an uniformity with the Catholick Church in that Observation and wrote letters to the same effect to the Irish and Scottish Bishops who were absent 3. Neither were his endeavours vain for as the Authour of his Life in Capgrave relates By S. Laurence his preaching and exhortations in Ireland Scotia his fame was largely spread insomuch as S. Tenan an Arch-bishop of Ireland came to him A man of so great Sanctity that he is reported to have raised to life three dead persons Which Holy Bishop having heard S. Laurence disputing touching the Paschall observation and other Apostolick Institutions yeilded the Victory to Truth and endeavoured to â—eform the practise of his own Nation 4. And no wonder it is that Truth defended by such a man should prevayle since he by Gods assistance confirmed it with Divine Miracles Among which the restoring of a dead man to life at his return from the same Synod is recorded by the said Authour The man of God Laurence being returned saith he found the son of a man who had kindly entertained him dead and the parents in great sorrow Who with a loud voyce cryed to him O holy man restore our son to us that we may more firmly beleive in Iesus Christ whom thou hast preached to us Hereupon the Holy Bishop having first offred up his prayers to God said to the Child Arise who presently rose up and withall testified that being dead his soule was violently drawn by horrible spirits to the flames of Hell but upon the prayer of the holy man Laurence it was by Angels shining with brightnes brought back to the body Hereupon the child together with his Father mother whole family and kinred were baptised and the Holy Bishop passing through the whole region dispersed saving doctrine every where which he confirmed with Miracles 5. These are the last Gests recorded of S. Laurence who in the beginning of the following year of Grace six hundred and nineteen deposed his mortality and was buried in his own Church neer his Predecessour S. Augustin with an Epitaph inscribed which commemorated his forementioned scourging by S. Peter Not the English only but Roman Church likewise celebrates his memory on the second of February for thus we read in the Martyrologe At Canterbury in England is this day celebrated the commemoration of S. Laurence who after S. Augustin govern'd that Church and converted also the King to the Faith Vpon which passage Baronius thus writes In the Catalogue of the Writers of Brittany is signified that the Life of S. Laurence was compiled by Gâ—tzelin a Monk of S. Bertins in Flanders which probably is the same still extant in Capgrave 6. It hapned commodiously that S. Mellitus Bishop of London was returned into Brittany before the death of S. Laurence For since the Kings of the East-Saxons would not admit him neither could Eadbald whose power was not so great as his Fathers constrain them to it now upon the vacancy of the See also at the the request of Eadbald and no man opposing he succeeded S. Laurence therein whilst S. Iustus governed the See of Rochester These two Bishops as we read in the Antiquities of Brittany with an equall care and solicitude exercised their Episcopall function and received exhortatory letters from Pope Boniface who after Deusdedit governed the Roman Church Those to Mellitus are not now extant But the Letters directed to S. Iustus shal be mentioned in due place 7. King Eadbald the year foregoing this had begun the building a Chappel to the honour of the Blessed Mother of God in the Monastery of S. Peter which being now finish'd was consecrated by S. Mellitus S. Beda makes mention of it And how gratefull it was to the Blessed Virgin Mary was oftimes made manifest by praises sung to God in it by the glorified Saints and many Miracles saith the Authour of S. Mellitus his life XI CHAP. 1.2 c King Edwins Conquests 1. IN the mean time Edwin King of the Northumbers according to a Divine Oracle being exalted from a state of Exile to that Kingdom encreased his dominions For in the year six hundred and twenty he fought against Cadwan the Brittish King who had compelled King Ethelfrid to retire more Northward quitting certain Provinces of the Brigantes Yorkshire lying towards Wales Which Provinces Edwin now again recovered having overcome him in battell The Region thus recovered was anciently called Elmeâ— saith Camden and it is seated near Leeds a principall town in Yorkshire in the Saxon tongue called Loyds which became a Royal Town after the burning of Cambodunum Almonbury or Albanbury in this Kings days where S. Paulinus built a Church to the honour of our Proto-Martyr S. Alban 2. The year following the same King Edwin fought prosperously against the Scotts and Picts lead by their King Eugenius and recovering from them the Provinces of Galloway and Laudon added them to his own Dominions That Region was in the times of the Romans call'd Valentia belong'd to the Brittains Some Wrâ—terâ— say that the Scottish King Eugenius was at this time dead and that these Provinces were won from Ferquhard his Son and this with lesser difficulty by reason of civill dissentions between the said Ferquhard and his Nobles He is sayd to have been educated and instructed by Conan the Holy Bishop of Sodor in the Isle of Man and that afterward by means of frequent conversation with Brittish Preists he fell into the Heresy of Pelagius with which never any Scottish King before had been tainted Thus Hector Boëtius Although no other Historian does in this age impute that Errour to the Brittains 3. King Edwins conquests were the next year yet further extended For according to Saint Beda's relation he subdued the Islands called Mevaniae or Meneviae to the English Empire One of which Islands lying more toward the South namely Anglesey is both more happy in producing plenty of corn and other fruits and in quantity larger as containing according to the English estimation the measure of nine hundred and sixty families Whereas the other to wit
following Now in his Letters to King Edwin calld by S. Beda exhortatory Letters the Copy of which is recorded by him after â—ongratulating with him for his piety and zeal he with a fatherly charity incites him to persist continually and advance in the Faith of that saving truth which he had embraced Adding withall that at his request he had sent two Palls for the two Metropolitans Honorius and Paulinus with a Faculty enabling each of them by his authority to subrogate another when either of them should depart this life This priviledge he granted as well out of his affection to the King as in consideration of the great distance between Rome and Brittany 4. At the same time likewise Pope Honorius wrote letters to Honorius the new Arch-bishop of Canterbury in which saith S Beda he renewd the Decree mentioned in the former letter That when the Arch-bishop of Canterbury or York should dye he who remaind alâ—ve being of the same degree should have power to ordain another in the place of him who was dead that it might not be necessary to weary themselves with sending to Rome through so far extended spaces of land and Sea for the ordaining an Arch-bishop He further signified that he had sent him a Pall and another to S. Paulinus for the same purpose The Exemplar of this Letter is likewise extant in S. Beda 5. Moreover the same year Pope Honorius wrote to the Scotts touching their Errour about Easter for thus writes the same Authour The same Pope likewise directed Letters to the Nation of the Scotts having found that they erred in the observation of the Paschal solemnity Whom he earnestly exhorted not to prefer their own reason being inconsiderable for their paucity and living in the utmost bounds of the world before all other Churches both ancient and Modern through the whole world and consequently that they would not celebrate another different Easter contrary to the Paschall computations and Synodal Decrees of the Vneversal Church 6 The successe of which Letters is thus declared by B. Vsher That these admonitions were not unproffitable I partly collect from Beda who relates how the Scotts dwelling in the Southern parts of Ireland by the advice given them from the Bishop of the Apostolick See were taught to observe Easter after the Canonical Rite and partly from Cummian who lived at the same time and in his Epistle to Segeni Abbot of the Monastery of Hye writes thus touching the first admitting in Ireland the great Cycle of the Alexandrins consisting of five hundred thirty two years composed of the multiplication of nineteen or the Cycle of the Sun into eight and twenty the Cycle of the Moon The first year saith he in which the Cycle of five hundred thirty two years was received by our countrey-men I my self received it not but held my peace neither daring to discommend nor commend it But after a year was passed I consulted the Successour of our Holy Fathers Albeus Bishop Queran of Cloen Brendin Nessan and Lugid who being assembled in the feild of Lena made a Decree that the year following Easter should be celebrated the same time with the Church Vniversal 7. By this narration of Cummian it seems that in the Synod of Lena two years since at least the more sound and considerable part of the Irish Ecclesiasticks determined to conform to the generall practise of the Church but that those inhabiting the Northern and more rude parts continued refractary Which the Abbot Lasrean signifying to the Pope occasioned the writing of these Letters in which the Church of Ireland in generall is not taxed but onely some part of it for the Popes expression related by S. Beda is this I am informed that certain persons of your Province in opposition to the Orthodox Faith doe endeavour to renew an Heresy already antiquated c. It was so of old in Asia for not that whole Province even of Lesser Asia but some particular Churches in it obstinatly maintained the Errour of the Quarto decimani XXI CHAP. 1.2 c. King Edwin slain and acknowledged a Martyr c. 8. His Queen Ethelburga returned into Kent 1. WHilst these contentions were agitated among the Scotts who desired to draw the Brittains into the same faction the English-Saxon Churches flourished wonderfully Christian Faith having changed their manners heretofore extremely barbarous but now exemplary to the whole world for their Modesty Iustice and Charity especially in the Kingdom of the Northumbers In which saith William of Malmsbury there were no domestick theeves no treacherous under-miners of conjugal chastity no fraudulent usurpers of other mens Estates which happines is to be attributed to King Edwins care For this large extended Empire was limited by Iustice and peace which there mutually kissed each other And this felicity had been accomplished but that an immature death unfortunatly snatchd him from his countrey His death indeed which hapned this year was most deplorable to his countrey but most happy to himself For the cheif blessing promised him by the forementioned Divine Oracle remaind alone not yet accomplished which was after many temporal Crowns one that was eternal The manner how he attaind it is now to be declared 2. We have before shewd how Cadwan Prince of Northwales for his valour and good conduct against Ethelfrid King of the Northumbers was chosen King of all the Brittains After his death his Son succeeded in the same power called by Writers severally Cadwallin Cedwalla and by Saint Beda Carduella but the Brittains call him Caswallo Now there hapned a Controversy between him and King Edwin saith Florilegus which could not be decided without war Whereupon they came to a battell in which Cadwallin was putt to flight and lost many thousands of his Soldiers King Edwin therefore having obtaind the Victory marchd with his Army into the Provinces of the Brittains burning their Citties destroying the inhabitants till at last he brought under his Dominion their three kingdoms of Demetia Venedotia and Menevia 3. Cadwallin seing his power thus broken enters into a league with the potent King of the Mercians Penda by which both of them conspired to the destruction of King Edwin Cadwallin was a Christian and Penda a violent Pagan yet the Christian Prince was in his manners and cruelty far more barbarous and cruel then the Pagan Wherefore ioyning all their forces together they invaded King Edwins Territories 4. The time and successe of this war is thus describ'd by S. Beda King Edwin saith he had now raignd seaventeen years most gloriously over the English and Brittains of which he spent six years in the service and Spirituall warfare of Christ. Then did Carduella King of the Brittains rebell against him and was assisted with the auxiliary forces of Penda the potent Prince of the Mercians who governed that Kingdom with variable fortune the space of two and twenty years They came at length to a furious combat in a
BOOK OF THE CHVRCH-HISTORY OF BRITTANY I. CHAPTER 1.2 c. Osric and Eanfrid succeed King Edwin Their Apostacy from Christianity 6. Oswald succeeds his Brother Eanfrid 7.8 Letters of Pope Honorius 1. RETVRNING to the Kingdom of the Northumbers we shal see nothing but spectacles of misery a Nation desolated a Church torn in peices and nothing but horrour and confusion Yet in a short time all these tempests will be asswaged and so great a peace and order will return both to the Kingdom and Church by another pious King that even the losse of King Edwin will be fully recompenced But first let us view the present calamities thus sett down by S. Beda 2. After that King Edwin was slain in battell saith he Osric the Son of his Vncle Elfric who by the preaching of S. Paulinus had been imbued with the Sacraments of our Faiâ—h took upon him the Kingdom of the Deiri As for the Kingdom of the Bernicians for anciently the Nation of the Northumbers was divided into these two Provinces that was possessed by Eanfrid the Son of Edilfrid born in the same Province Now we have already declared that during the whole course of King Edwins raign the Sons of his Predecessour Edilfrid attended by great numbers of the Nobility retired themselves among the Scots and Picts where they lived in banishment And they were instructed in Christian Religion professed by the Scots and purified by the Grace of Baptisme 3. Assoon therefore as their Enemy King Edwin was dead they were permitted to return into their countrey and there the elder of them Osric became King of the Province of the Deiri and the Second Eanfrid of the Bernicians But both of them were no sooner invested with the marks of a temporall Kingdom but they renounced the Sacraments and badges of the Heavenly kingdom with which they had been initiated and to their eternall ruine polluted themselves with the filth of their former Idolatry 4. But divine iudgment quickly overtook them both for they were slain in a short time by the impious hand of Cedwalla King of the Brittains whom Almighty God made the instrument of his iust severity For the elder of them Osric having rashly besieged the said King in a certain town the summer following the King made an unexpected furious sally and in a moment destroyd both him and his whole army After which Cedwalla possessed the whole kingdom of the Northumbers not as a victorious King but a furious Tyrant for he tore it in peices with the tragicall slaughters committed by him At length after about a year was passed the other Prince Eanfrid accompanied only with twelve soldiers unadvisedly coming to him to demand conditions of peace was in like manner slain by him 5. This was an unhappy year and the memory of it remains still in execration with all good men as well for the Apostacy of these two Saxon Kings who had abjured the Sacraments of their Faith as for the barbarous Tyranny of the Brittish King And therefore by a generall consent in the computation of the times and succession of our Kings the memory of these two perfidious Princes was abolished and this year assigned to the raign of the pious King Oswald who succeeded them 6. This Oswald brother to Eanfrid was the son of Ethelfrid and Nephew to the Holy King Edwin by his sister Acca so that his Title to the Kingdom of the Northumbers was sufficiently valid He after his Fathers death retired also among the Scots where understanding the vanity of Idols he embraced the Christian Faith Seaventeen years he continued in banishment But now hearing the desolation of his countrey the ruine of Christianity and death of his Brother armed with zeal and charity he took the courage though attended with very unconsiderable forces to hasten to the rescew of his kingdom and the Church of God in it almost become in visible With what successe this attempt was undertrken S. Beda will inform us the year following 7. It seems by the Letter of Pope Honorius to Honorius Arch-bishop of Canterbury dated this year and recorded only by William of Malmsbury that the miseries of the Northumbrian Church and Kingdom were come to his knowledge for therin he comforts and encourages the same Arch-bishop not to faint in the midst of so many and greivous calamities but to fix his trust in the promises of God to his Church and those who sustain the care of it In the same letter he likewise confirms the authority and Primacy of the Church of Canterbury over all the Churches of Brittany c. This Epistle found in the Archives of Canterbury was by S. Lanfranc directed afterwards to Pope Alexander the Second as a proof of the ancient Priviledges of his See 8. There is another Letter of the same Pope produced by Caius the Defender of the Antiquity of Cambridge in which the said Pope exempts that Vniversity from the Iurisdiction of all Arch-bishops Bishops Arch-Deacons c. and their Visitations or Censures giving the sole authority over Students to the Chancellour and Rectors of the same with power to excommunicate c. In the granting of which Priviledges he professes to follow the examples of his Predecessours Pope Eleutherius Fabian Simplicius Felix and Bonifacius But what grounds there are to suspect fraud in the compiling this Grant may be read in Brian Twyne the Advocat for Oxford and since him in the learned Bishop Vsher to whom I refer the Reader II. CHAP. 1.2 c. King Oswalds miraculous Victory over the Brittains 5.6 c. The Crosse Venerated by all Christians This approved by Miracles 1. IN the year six hundred thirty five Oswald King of the Northumbers fighting against the Tyrants happily triumphed And because our gravest Authours S. Beda William of Malmsbury and others affirm that encountring them Faith was his strongest armour we will endeavour more diligently and largely to recount the order and manner of the Combat by which he restored the Crown to himself security and Faith to his Subjects and the Churches to God 2. S. Beda's summary Narration of it is this Assoon as Ceadwalla had slain the two Kings Osrich and Eanfrid Oswald attended with an army weak for their numbers but fortified with Divine Faith came upon him and in the combat that execrable King of the Brittains was slain together with his immense army which he thought no power could resist This combat hapned in a place in Northumberland called in the English tongue Devils-burn or the Devils-brook It is at this day saith Camden called Dilston but in ancient Records Divelston the Seat and Mansion of the Noble family of Ratcliff Yet Bâ—omton calls the place Denysbourn or River of Denys and adds that from this combat it took the appellation of Slaughter of the Ceâ—wallians 3. Oswald preparing himself for the fight coÌ„sidered no doubt by Gods inspiration that victory was not to be expected
having surrendred the Kingdom to his Cousen Egric was retired into a Monastery Now Egric during his short raign had oft been vexed with the incursions of Penda King of the MerciaÌ„s but this year he invaded his countrey with a powerfull army which he was not able to resist In this danger by common advice it was decreed to call King Sigebert out of his solitude For which purpose Messengers were sent to solicite him to prefer the common care of the Kingdom before his privat Devotions He earnestly opposed a good while this proposal but at last saith Saint Beda even against his will they drew him from his Monastery to the Army for they hoped that the presence of so Noble and Valiant a Prince would encourage the fainting soldiers ready for fear to disband Notwithstanding Sigebert mindfull of his present profession though he was encompassed with a Royal army would not act the part of a soldier nor carry in his hand any other thing besides a rodd 2 Thus unarmed and with an intention to act the part of a General onely with his counsell and prayers he proceeded to the Battell Which was violently begun by Penda in which Sigebert being prepared to receive not give wounds took no care to defend his own life So that he became an easy Victime to the Enemies cruelty King Egric likewise was slain with him and for a perishing Crown received one that was immortall How precious the death of Sigebert was fighting for Religion and his countrey posterity shewd by giving him the title of a Martyr for with that dignity he is commemorated in our Martyrologe on the seaven and twentieth of September but in the Gallican on the seaventh of August 3. The innocent blood of Sigebert and Egric watering this Eastern feild made it fruitfully budd with flowers of many royal vertues in his Successour which was Anna the Son of Eni of the Royal family a Prince of admirable Vertue and Father of a most glorious Offspring saith S. Beda Now Eni was Son of Titullus and brother of Redwald so that Anna's succession being legal was unquestioned by all Never any Saxon King was blessed with such a progeny His son Erconwald afterward Bishop of London was for his Sanctity illustrious to the whole Church His daughters were Queen Etheldreda twice a wife yet always a most chast Virgin Sexburga also a Queen Ethelburga a most holy Virgin and Abbesse of Barking Edilburga a Virgin likewise and Abbesse of Brigue And lastly Withburga a chast Virgin All which are inscribed in our Martyrologe with the Title of Saints concerning each of which we shall hereafter treat in due place With so many glorious Stars did this one good King Anna adorn the palace of our Heavenly King X. CHAP. 1.2 c. King Oswalds Mercy and Piety 5.6 His desire to dye for his people 7.8 His battell against Penda and death 1. KING Oswald yet remained alive expecting the like end of his race But before we conduct him to his death it will be expedient after the old Roman fashion to adorn and crown the Sacrifice before its immolation by declaring some of those many vertues which he shewd both in living and dying We sayd some thing before of his Piety to God and munificence in his service These sublime vertues were accomâ—panied with others regarding Gods poorest servants whose wants and incommodities he would not only supply when they were in his view but he would often be inquisitive to find out objects of his mercy and liberality He never sent away from him any poore man empty-handed but performed exactly that precept of our Lord Give to every one who asks thee Yea his liberality was so boundlesse that he almost empoverished himself by supplying the indigence of the poore 2. One Noble Example of this vertue is recorded by S. Beda and generally all our Historians which was this On a certain Feast of our Lords Resurrection the Holy Bishop Aidan and King Oswald dined together when one of the Kings servants coming in told him that at the gate there stood a great multitude of beggars in great necessity King Oswald glad of an occasion to exercise his Charity stretched forth his hand and took up a silver dish full of meat which he commanded the servant to distribute among those poore not the meat only but the dish which for that purpose was to be broken in peices S. Aidan was much affected with so commendable an expression of piety in the King and taking that hand which had given the Plate said Let this hand never be consumed which has so liberally distributed the Gifts of God This propheticall benediction God heard and approved with a great Miracle For after the Kings death when all the rest of his body was dissolved into dust that hand remaind entire both in the flesh and sinews for many ages as shall be proved by many witnesses 3. How acceptable these vertues were to Almighty God he shewd by heaping on him even great temporal prosperity For sayes Saint Beda King Oswald together with the Nation governd by him was blessed not only with a sure hope of a heavenly Kingdom unknown to his Ancestours but moreover by Gods speciall assistance who made both heaven and earth he encreased his Dominion by the accesse of more Provinces then any of his Progenitours had enioyd For he not only united the Kingdoms of the Deiri and Bernicians but had a supereminent power over the four Nations and Provinces of Brittany which were divided into four tongues of the Brittains Picts Scotts and English 4. Yet did not the cares of so largean Empire withdraw his mind from a frequent conversation with God On the contrary the same Authour writes that whilst he managed the government of so many Provinces his cheif solicitude and labours were how to obtain a celestiall Kingdom The generall same gives that his frequent practise was to persist in his prayers from Morning Lawds to brâ—ad day and that by reason of his almost continuall custom of Praying and praising God wheresoever he was sitting he would hold his hands on his knees with his face looking up to heaven and lastly that he ended his life in the midst of his Prayers For being compassed on all sides with enemies and weapons when he saw himself upon the point to be slain he prayed for the soules of his soldiers And hence arose the Now common Proverb God have mercy on their soules sayd King Oswald when he was falling dead to the Earth This expression of piety we English Catholicks to this day owe to this good King for though the generall practise or the whole Church in all ages was to implore the Divine mercy for those who dyed in her Communion yet this speciall form of expressing our Charity by saying God have mercy â—n their soules came from this most pious King who in his last danger as it were forgetting himself became an intercessour for
Now that which encreased the reverence to this holy King was because saith William of Malmsbury he gave the first-fruits of Sanctity to his Nation for before him I known not any of the English illustrious for miracles To conclude his Memory is celebrated both in the Roman and English Martyrologes on the fifth of August Some part of his Relicks are sayd to have been translated beyond sea into Flanders and reposed in the Monastery of Bergs S. Winok the Memory of which Translation is celebrated there on the twelfth day before the Calends of Iune XII CHAP. 1.2 Oswi and Oswin Kings of the Northumbers 3.4 c. K. Kenewalch succeeds Kinegils His Apostacy and Repentance 9. The Monastery of Malmsbury 1. AFter S. Oswald was translated to a heavenly kingdom saith Saint Beda his Brother Oswi a young wan of about thirty years succeeded him in his throne which with great labour he possessed eight and twenty years He was onely naturall brother to King Oswald for he was born to Ethelfrid by a Concubine At the beginning he was onely King of the Bernicians For saith the same Authour he made his consort in the Kingdom Oswin descended from the royal family being the son of Osric of whom we treated before a man of excellent piety and Religion who governd the Province of the Deiri seaven years enioying great affluence of all things and beloved by all 2. These two Princes for some years raign'd in great concord being united both in blood and Religion But afterward by giving â—are to flatterers and sycophants enmity arose between them which proceeded so far that war was declared the successe wherof we shall declare in due season 3. The same year that King Oswald dyed in the North Kinigils also ended his life in the West He had lately embraced the Faith by the preaching of S. Birinus An argument of his Piety was his demolishing the Pagan Temple at Winchester which had been polluted with the superstitions of Idols and in the place erecting a Church which notwithstanding being intercepted by death he could not finish the care wherof he left to his son To this Church he added a Monastery saith Harpsfeild the revenews wherof were so great as ancient Monuments record that the whole region at seaven miles distance about was assigned by Kinegils to its use The Church was dedicated to the honour of S. Peter 4. After a long and quiet raign for the space of one and thirty years he ended his life and left his Successour Kenwalch calld by others Kenwald his Son For Quechelm his eldest dyed before him Besides Kenwalch he left another son alive named Kentwin William of Malmsbury adds a third calld Egelwin a Holy man and patron of the Monastery of Adeling for treating of that Monastery he saith The Monks of that place are few in number and poore who notwithstanding doe at least reap comfort if not ioy from their poverty by reason it affords them solitude and quietnes They dâ—e highly exalt the praises of their Patron S. Egelwin of whose sanctity they have experience by many benefits The constant fame is that he was Brother to Kenwalch King of the West-Saxons and by his vertue yet more ennobled his blood for though he was continually chaind by a long infirmity yet that did not abate his diligence and fervour in the service of God At last he dyed happily and by his intercession is present to all who invoke his help 5. Kenwalch succeeded his Father Kinegils in his kingdom but not in his piety For saith S. Beda he refused to embrace or renounced â—he Faith and Sacraments of the heavenly Kingdom and not long after deservedly lost the power of his temporal Kingdom This Character also William of Malmsbury gives of him In the beginning of his raign he might be compard with the worst Princes but in the middle and conclusion with the best Some write that by occasion of a prosperous combat fought against the Brittains he grew insolent and trode underfoot all Laws both humane and Divine But most probably his unhappines arose from his unlawfull repudiating his Queen Sexburga Sister to Penda King oâ— the Mercians 6. This aâ—front encreased by his marrying another wife Penda deeply resenting saith S. Beda made war against him in the third year of his raign and deprived him of his Kingdom so that he was forced to seek refuge with Anna King of the East-angles with whom he lived in banishment three years and there came to the acknowledgment of the true Faith For King Anna was a pious Prince and happy in a holy Offspring Kinewalch his conversion came by the admonitions of this holy King and his Apostolick Bishop S. Felix by whom he was baptised 7. By this trienniall Disciplin the Pride of Kinewalch being depressed and his lawfull Queen Sexburga restored to his bed he regain'd his Kingdom and afforded to his Subiects a pleasing spectacle of his change The recovering his kingdom seems to have been effected rather by force then covenants for Huntingdon relats how he bestowd on his Kinsman Aedred who had assisted him three thousand villages neer Aescendun This Aedred is by William of Malmsbury calld Cuthred who was his Brother Quichelms son on whom he munificently bestowd almost the third part of his Kingdom 8. Kenewalch thus restored to his Kingdom and his reason also to secure his crown for the future addicted himself to piety He shewd great reverence to the holy Bishop Birinus and the Church begun by his Father he so diligently finished that the same Writer gives him the whole praise For says he he was so religious that he was the first of the Saxons who built a Church to God at Winchester which was so fair that though when it was made an Episcopall See it was more beautified by Workmanship yet the same structure remained 9. At this time was founded the famous Monastery of Malmsbury by Maidulf an Irishman with the assistance of King Kenelwalk It is seated in Wiltshire where in former time Dunwallo Mulmutius King of the Brittains had built a Town which he called Caër-bladon which having been burnt in the Saxon warrs out of its ruines was raised a Castle called by the Saxons in their tongue Ingleburn till Maidulf an Irish-Scott saith Camden a man eminent in learning and piety invited with the pleasant solitude of a wood growing under it lead there an Eremiticall Life Afterward he opened there a School for learning and consecrating himself together with his Schollars to a Monasticall Profession he built there a Monastery Hence from this Maidulf instead of Ingleburn it was called Maidulfs-bury and afterward more contractedly Malmsbury Some Historians call it Meldunum XIII CHAP. 1. Ithamar a Saxon Bishop of Rochester 2. Birth of S. Swibert 3. S. Foillan Brother of S. Fursey 4.5 Death of S. Birinus whose Successour was S. Agilbert 6. Death of Saint Felix Apostle
could not hinder the fury of Ebroinus was in common fame charged with the crime though according to the Gallican Martyrologe she was at this time retired into a Monastery 3. The said Martyrologe therefore will give us a true information of this Fact where on the twenty eighth of October in the commemoration of this Holy Bishop we find this passage Clodoveus being some years before dead and his Widow S. Bathildis retired into her Monastery at Cala Ebroin Maire of the Palace a most cruel man and extremely disaffected to Ecclesiasticall persons began to rage every where with sacrileges rapines and murders of innocent persons No wonder therefore if S. Ennemund Bishop sirnamed Dalfin incurred his hatred because out of an affection of piety and iustice he was earnest with the King to ease the people of their pressures Therefore after that the Brother of the Holy Bishop who was Prefect of Lyons had been slain at Orleans upon a false accusation as if he had an intention to rebell Ebroin presently after with the like violence persecuted S. Ennemund Who being informed that accusations were falsely charged on him before the King perceiving the machinations of his cruel adversary at first departed from Lyons But presently after taking courage and placing his whole trust in God he returned thither again where whilst he was diligent in his devotions and pious works he was seised upon by the Emissaries of Ebroin and to the generall extreme greif of the Citty caried away with shew that he was to be lead to the Kings presence but by the way near Chaillon in Burgundy he was murdred by night whilst he prayd God to pardon his enemies and so for a reward of his iustice charity and patience he received a never fading crown of Glory 4. This Narration doth evidently absolve the good Queen Bathildis Whose memory ought to be in a speciall manner precious to us since she descended from a Saxon family in Brittany which she left unwillingly For as the Authour of her life in Surius and Haraeus who lived in the same age recounts She was stolln out of Brittany by Pirats and by them sold to Erchinoald a famous Prince in France then Maire of the Kings palace In whose service she behaved herself so decently for she descended from Noble Saxon Ancestors that the said Erchinoald's Lady being dead he intended to have taken her to wife But the Holy Virgin withdrew her self from his sight till he had maried another This her Modesty made her so acceptable to King Clodovaeus the second of that name son of Dagobert that as we read in the Appendix to Gregory Bishop of Tours he made her though a stranger his Queen for her prudence and comlines and had by her three Sons Cloathair Childeric and Theodoric 5. After Clodovaeus his death she awhile governed the Kingdom with her children and then with great difficulty obtaind permission of the Nobility to retire her self into a Monastery built by her self in a place called Cala in the Territory of Paris over which she had placed Abbesse a Holy Virgin called Bertilia sent for by her out of the Monastery of Iâ—dro To this Monastery of Cala therefore she retired where she lived a great example of Piety and vertue Now at that time there being in Brittany few Monasteries of Religious Virgins saith Saint Beda many Noble men sent their daughters out of Brittany into France to be instructed there and espoused to their Heavenly Bridegroom especially in the Monasteries of Brige Cale now called Chelles and Andilege 6. She built likewise in the Territory of Amiens at a place called Corbey a Monastery for Religious Monks which she magnificently enriched with possessions and all things necessary for their subsistence Over which Monks she placed Abbot a venerable person called Theofred whom she had for that purpose desired to be sent out of the Monastery of Luxueil Luxovium Which Abbot was afterward a Bishop 7 Neither was her piety confined to France onely For she honourd with many precious Gifts the Churches of the Holy Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul at Rome out of the great love and devotion she had to them Likewise great liberality she extended to the poor and to persons professing a Reclused solitary life in the same Citty 8. Thus in all conditions both as a simple Virgin a Queen and a Religious Nunne she sparkled with all divine Graces Particularly during her Regency by her zeale the Simoniacal Heresy which then defiled the Church of God was quite driven out of the Kingdom And for a further proof of her innocency touching the death of S. Ennemund or Dalfin Bishop of Lyons there is mention in her life of another Bishop called Sigebrand who by the practise of Ebroin against her will without conviction or examination was slain coÌ„trary to Law and iustice 9. Her piety to Holy Bishops particularly to S. Eligius the famous Bishop of Noyon is celebrated by S. Audoâ—n Bishop of Rouen who lived at the same time and wrote his life For he relates with what affection and devotion this Holy Queen with her children and Nobles hastned to take care for his honourable enterment Her desire was it should be conveyed to her Monastery of Cala but by no force it could be removed Whereupon overcome with a violent greif she uncovered his face which she bedewed with showrs of tears At last turning her self to her Nobles she said We now see it is not his will that his body should be removed from his own Citty let us therefore permitt his own flock to enioy it Which words she had no sooner uttered but the Body and Coffin became easily moveable so that two persons alone were able without difficulty to carry it Thus having venerated the Sacred Body she retired weary and hungry for she had continued a Fast of three days with Prayers and tears thereby to know Gods will for disposing the Body 10. The same Holy Writer further declares the same Queens devotion to S. Eligius after his death and how in a vision by night he commanded a certain Courtier to reprove her for wearing iewells and costly apparrell during her Widdow-hood Which she did not out of Pride but because she thought it fitting to be done whilst she took care of administring the Kingdom during her sons minority This command thrice repeated not having been executed by the said Courtier he was pâ—nished with a violent feaver During which having been visited by the Queen he declared it to her and immediatly the feaver quitted him Whereupon the Queen layd aside her Iewells and Ornaments a great part of which she distributed to the Poor and with the richest of them she made a most beautifull sumptuous Crosse which she deposed at the head of S. Eligius or S. Eloy Which devotion of hers was imitated by the Nobles so zealously that in a short time his Church was enriched with incredible riches Offrings
1. BY the death of Penda King of the Mercians that Kingdom â—ogether with that of the East-Angles whose Kings he had slain became an accession to the Dominions of the Victorious Oswi King of the Northumbers Notwithstanding in the year of Grace six hundred fifty six he permitted Peoda the Son of Penda on whom he had bestowd his daughter Alefleda to raign over the Southern Mercians and likewise Edelwald the Brother of Ethelhere to govern the East-Angles 2. By this indulgence of King Oswi the Christian Faith became spread through severall Provinces For he built many Churches and Monasteries in the Kingdom of the Mercians among which the principall was that which was founded in an Island called the Isle of the Hart in which as a testimony of gratitude to God for his Victory he enclosed his daughter So that within the space of two years the Mercians following his example were converted to the Faith and baptised 3. And for a firmer establishment of Christianity among them he erected an Episcopall See common to the Mercians and Midland Angli in the Citty of Lichfeâ—ld saith Bishop Godwin Though more probable it is that as yet there was no certain place affixed for the Bishops residence For severall years after this we read how Wuifer King of the Mercians offred Lichfeild to S. Wilfrid that he might there either build a Monastery or erect an Episcopall See The first Bishop of the Mercians was Diuma a Scottish Preist of whom we have already made mention 4. This is testified by S Beda in this passage When Oswi the most Christian King of the Northumbers having slain King Penda took possession of his Kingdom Diuma one of the four forementioned Preists was ordainen Bishop both of the Midland Angli and Mercians by Fâ—nan Bishop of Lindisfarn For by reason of the Scarcenes of Preists they were compelled to sett one Bishop over two Nations Now Diuma having in a short time converted great multitudes dyed To whom in the year of Grace six hundred fifty eight succeeded Cellach who was likewise a Scotch-man Who after he had a few years governed that Province voluntarily relinquished his Bishoprick and returned to his Native countrey the Island of Hu or Hy. 5. At this time Ithamar who had succeeded S. Paulinus in the Episcopall See of Rochester dyed He was not inferiour to his Predecessours in Sanctity and learning saith Harpsfeild who adds That many years after his death by reason of frequent Miracles wrought by his intercession his Body was translated to a more honourable place Which translation was made on the fourth day before the Ides of Ianuary on which day his Anniversary Solemnity is celebrated in the Church of Rochester In our Martyrologe his Commemoration is made on the Tenth of Iune which was the day of his death And his Successour was Damian descended of the South-Saxons saith S. Beda 6. This year Merevald a Prince among the Mercians built a Monastery for Religious Virgins at a Town called Lemster in the Province of Hereford He is said to have been the Son of Penda and Brother of Peoda and of his Successour Wolfer Kings of the Mercians But he is more illustrious by his Holy Offspring his son Merefin and his daughters Milburga Mildreda and Milgitha born to him by his Wife S. Ermenburga â— King Peoda likewise the Son of Penda first King of the Mercians this same year for propagating Christian Religion layd the foundation of the Mâ—nastery of Medeshampsted in the Region of the Girvians or Northamptonshire But having been the next year slain by the treason of his Wife Alcfleda the naturall daughter of Oswi King of the Northumbers he could not perfect it Thus writes Camden from Robert Swapham an ancient Authour And Ingulphus adds That he left his fervour and devotion to his Brother Wulfer his Successour in that Kingdom and to Saxulph a man of great power there who finished the said Monastery eight years after The place anciently called Medeshampsted afterward took the name of Peterborough illustrious in regard of this Monastery II. CHAP. 1.2.3 The Brittains overthrown by the King of the West-Saxons 1. IN the year of Grace six hundred fifty eight the Brittains received a great overthrow from Kenewalch King of the West-Saxons which is thus described by Huntingdon Cenwald so he calls him King of the West-Saxons in the seaventeenth year of his raign fought against the Brittains at Pennum For they knowing that he had been overcome by the stouâ— King Penda and almost driven out of his kingdom imagined that he was unable to sustain the burden of a battell Whereupon having gathered a numerous army they with great pride invaded his Dominions At the beginning of the fight the Brittains feircely setting on the Saxons made them give ground But the Saxons with great courage and constancy resisting them for they preferred death before flying at last so wearied the Brittains that their forces melted away like snow so that they turned their backs to the pursuers and fled from Pennum as far as Pedredan The wound which the Progeny of Brutus received this day was incurable 2. The place where this battell was sought was an obscure Village in Somersetshire at this day called Pen but anciently famous for this Victory over the Brittains and another which in after ages King Edmond Ironside gaind there against the Danes From thence the Brittains fled to the River Pedreâ— now called Parret where was seated the town called by the Saxons Pedridan but now Pederton and it was sometimes the Royal Seat of Ina King of the West-Saxons 3. After this combat and Victory the Saxons became so terrible to the Brittains that they never afterward descended from their mountains to encounter them Besides this their State became divided among severall petty Princes each of which sought to secure and enlarge his own territory so that they never combind in any generall design against the Saxons or English III. CHAP. 1.2 Wolfer King of the Mercians His wife S. Erminilda Trumhere Bishop of the Mercians 1. KING Peoda as hath been declared having been slain by the treachery of his Wife in the time of the Paschall Solemnity that Kingdom of the Southern Mercians returned to the Dominion of King Oswi But three years after the Princes of the Nation of the Mercians rebelled against him their names were Immin Eaba and Eadbert These exalted to the throne Wulfer the Son of Penda then a young man whom they had preserved and kept conceald among them And so with their new King they ioyfully persevered in Profession of Christianity 2. The wife of this King Wulfer was S. Erminilda Whose parents were Ercombert King of Kent and S. Sexburga By their pious instructions she became so zealous in promoting the Christian faith that by her perswasions kindnes and holy example that perverse and rude Nation of the Mercians was brought
19. Now in that Island there had anciently been a Church built by King Ethelbert at Saint Augustins request which not long before this time had been destroyed by the cruell Tyrant Penda who had also slain or chased away the Preists attending it This Church the Holy Virgin restored in a more ample form and consecrated it as it had been formerly to the Honour of the most blessed Virgin Mother of our Lord. Thereto likewise she by the assistance of her Brother King Adulf adioyned a Monastery of devout Virgins which with great fervour flocked to her over whom she was constituted Abbesse And concerning her manner of life there wee thus read in S. Beda It is reported saith he that from her first entrance into the Monastery she never used any linnen vestments and very seldom any warm bathes except before the solemne Feasts of Easter Pentecost and Epiphany and then she would be the last to wash her self after she had ministred to all the other Virgins She rarely eat any thing more then once a day unlesse on the great Solemnities or when any infirmity forced her to doe otherwise From the time of Midnight Mattins till break of day she remaind in the Church intent on her Prayers Some affirm that by the Spirit of Prophecy she foretold both the Pestilence of which she her self dyed and likewise in the presence of her whole Convent she signified the number of those who were to be taken out of the world 21. The sweet odour of her piety and vertues drew many Virgins and Widows some of Royall descent to follow her For her Sister Sexburga Queen of Kent after the death of her husband Ercombert to whom she bore two sons Egbert and Lothair who succeeded in the Kingdom became a Nunne under the Government of S. Etheldred to whom likewise she succeeded in the care of the Monastery Moreover the daughter of the same Sexburga calld Erminilda Queen of the Mercians when her husband Wulfer was dead retired to the same Convent bringing with her her only daughter S. Wereburga of whom more hereafter 22. Besides the Monastery of Religious Virgins S. Ethelreda built likewise or rather restord in a place neer adioyning a Convent for Monks over whom she as Abbesse retaind Iurisdiction In both which Cloysters there were no fewer then a hundred devout persons continually attending on the service of God V. CHAP. 1.2 c. S. Ethelreds Body found incorrupt 7 Taudrey-lace 8.9 c. Apparitions and Miracles wrought by the Holy Virgin 1. SEaven years the Blessed Virgin Ethelreda governd her Monastery of Ely exhibiting her self a glorious example of Piety and all vertues after which in the year of Grace six hundred seaventy nine our Lord calld her out of this world to receive her reward on the eighth day before the Calends of Iuly and according to her own command she was buried among her own Religious Virgins in the same coffin of wood wherin she lay when she gave up her Spirit and her Sister Sexburga who had been the Wife of Earcombert King of Kent succeeded her in the Office of Abbesse 2. The wonderfull testimonies which God was pleased to afford in approbation of the Sanctity and purity of this Holy Widow twice a wife and always a Virgin are commemorated by S. Beda who himself might have been a witnes of them He was three and twenty years old when those things hapned and wrote them forty years after The relation by him given thus follows 3. Sixteen years after the Blessed Virgin Saint Ethelreda was buried her Sister Sexburga Abbesse thought fitt to take up her bones and putting them into a New Coffin to translate them into a Church dedicated to her honour She commanded therefore certain of the Monks to search out a Stone commodious for that purpose Now the region of Ely being all encompassed with rivers and marishes afforded no such stones of a convenient largenes They therefore taking boat went to a certain Citty not far distant which lay desolate calld in the English tongue Grandacister where presently neer the walls of the Citty they found a Coffin of white Marble elegantly made and fittly coverd with a stone of the same Perceiving hereby that God had prospered their iourney they with great ioy and thankfullnes brought the Coffin to the Monastery 4. Now when her Sepulcher was opened and the sacred body of this Holy Virgin and Spouse of our Lord discovered it was found â—s free from any corruption as if she had been buried the same day This the foresaid Bishop Wilfrid and many other eye-witnesses have testified But a more certain Witnes hereof was her Physician calld Cinfrid who assisted her at her death and was likewise present when her body was taken up He frequently made relation how in her sicknes she had a great swelling under the hollow of her arme Whereupon he was advised to make an incision in the said swelling that the noxious humour might flow out Which I having done saith he for two days after she found her self at more ease insomuch as many thought she would recover But the third day after her paines returning she was suddenly taken out of the world and made a happy exchange of paines and death for life and perpetuall health 5. And many years after when her bones were taken out of her Sepulcher a Pavilion was sett up about which the whole congregation of Religious men and Virgins stood singing Psalmes In the mean time the Abbesse attended with a few of the Nunnes where busy within the Pavilion taking up the body and on a sudden we heard the Abbesse from within cry out with a distinct voyce Glory be to the name of our Lord And presently after they opened the dore of the Pavilion and calld mee in where I saw the Sacred Body of the Holy Virgin taken out of her Sepulcher and placed in the Coffin where it lay as if she had been asleep After which taking the cover from her face they shewd mee the wound of the incision which I had made perfectly cured insomuch as instead of a wide gaping wound which was in her body when she was buried now only some small signs of a scarr appeared and those likewise were so fresh that they seemd as if they had been closed that very day 6. The Religious Virgins also reported that when by reason of the foresaid swelling she was tormenâ—ed with extreme pains in her neck and side of her face she took great contentment in her infirmity and was want to say I know of a certainty that I am iustly paind in my neck because when I was a young maid I wore about my neck weighty chains of iewells Therefore God in his mercy has thus punished mee that the fiery heat and rednes of the swelling in my neck may satisfy â—or my former pride and levity 7. Harpsfeild from this passage in S. Beda well collects that the custom in England for women
and besides him as long as I live I will never admitt another Lover Therefore use thy sword if thou pleasest for be assured that neither thy flatteries nor threats shall have power to draw mee from him to whom I â—an by vow obliged The lustfull young man enraged to see himself so contemned and the maid so inflexible beleiving he could never enioy rest as long as she lived so resolved mad with lust and rage presently strook of her head and immediatly in the place where it fell to the earth a most pure and plentifull Spring gushed forth which flowes to this day and by the Holy Virgins merits gives health to a world of diseased persons 7. It being in the steep descent of a hill where the Virgins head was cutt of it lightly rouling down to the bottom slidd into the Church whereas the body remaind in the place where it first fell The whole congregation there attending to Divine Mysteries were wonderfully astonished to see the Head tumbling among their feet detesting the crime of the murderer and impreâ—ating Divine vengeance on him But the parents of the Virgin broke forth iâ— to tears and sad complaints They all went out and found the murderer near the liveles body wiping his sword on the grasse For being the Princes Son he apprehended no danger and as for the crime committed against God he was unsensible of the heynousnes of it The man of God therefore seing his pride and obstinacy and having in his hands the Virgins head looked earnestly upon him and sayd Impious Villain hast thou no shame of the slain wherewith thou hast defiled thy high birth and shewst thou no repentance of this horrible crime Thou hast disturbed the peace thou hast polluted the Church with thy sacrilegious murder thou hast highly provoked Almighty God and doest thou shew no sorrow for all this Since therefore it is so that thou hast not spared Gods Church nor reverenced his solemn day I beseech him without delay to inflict on thee a iust punishment for this thy unworthy and detestable crime Assoon as the Holy man had ended these words the young man immediatly fell to the ground and gave up the ghost and which was more wonderfull his body presently disappeared from the eyes of the by-standers and many say that it was swallowed up by the earth and with the wicked soule sunk into Hell 8 But the man of God often kissing the head which he held in his hands could not refrain to weep bitterly Afterwards ioyning it to the body and covering it with his mantle he returned to the Altar where he celebrated Masse Which being ended he returned to the Virgins body and there began a devout sermon to the people in which among other passages he said That the Holy Virgin had made a vow of Religious Profession but being thus intercepted by death had not opportunity to perform it Therefore he exhorted them ro prostrate themselves on the ground and earnestly beseech Almighty God to restore her to life The Congregation readily obeyd him and after they had so continued a good while in prayer the man of God rose from the earth and stretching forth his hands to heaven sayed O Lord Iesus Christ for whose love this Virgin despised all earthly things and desired only heavenly we most ardently beseech thee in mercy to hear our prayers and grant the request we make to thee And although we doubt not but that this thy Virgin who suffred onely for thy love shall be received by thee into thy ioy and therefore little regards our society and conversation yet vouchsafe to grant the humble requests of thy servants and command this Virgins soule to return to her body and thereby shew that thou hast an entire power and rule both over our soules and bodies and likewise that she being by thy mercy restored to life may for ever magnify thy Name and encreasing in the fervour of a holy conversation may after many years return more pure to thee her Spouse who art the onely Son of the Eternall Father with whom and the Holy Ghost thou livest and raignest one God world without end This Prayer being ended to which all the people cryed aloud Amen the Virgin presently rose up as from sleep cleansing her face from the dust and sweat and filled the Congregation with wonder and ioy 9 Now in the place where the Head was reioynd to the body there appeard a white Circle compassing the neck small as a white thread which continued so all her life shewing the place where the Section had been made And the report in that countrey is that from that white circle she had the name of Winefrid given her whereas at first she had been called Breuna For in the Brittish language Win signifies White And moreover the Tradition is that after her death whensoever she appeared to any that White mark was always visible The place where her blood was first shed was not much distant from a Monastery in North-Wales calld Basingwerk The Name of it formerly was The dry vale but after her death to this day it is called Saint Winefrids Well The Stones likewise both where the spring gushes forth and beneath in the Current having been sprinkled with her blood retain the rednes to these times which colour neither the length of so many ages nor the continuall sliding of the water over them have been able to wash away and moreover a certain Masse which sticks to the said stones renders a fragrant odour like Incense 10. The Holy Virgin being thus miraculously revived did dayly attend the man of God and devoutly hearkned to his exhortations and at last received from him the Holy vayle of Religious Profession Whereupon assembling severall Maids of Noble families the instilld into their minds a Love of Purity and contempt of all flattering delights of the world so that they willingly submitted their neâ—ks to the easy Yoke of Christ and by a Regular vow consecrated themselves to his service 11 Not long after the Holy Man Beuno dyed and by Divine admonition Saint Winefrid had recourse to another devout Man named Deifer who was of so great Sanctity and so highly favoured by God that he made a fountiain break out of the earth and conferred health on many infirm persons When Saint Winefrid therefore came to this Holy man a voyce from heaven signified to him whilst he watched that night in prayer Saying Tell my most deare daughter Winefride that she repair unto a man named Saturn from whom she shall be informed in what place she is to spend the remainder of her life Assoon therefore as the Holy Virgin came to him he said to her There is a certain place calld Witheriac it is vulgarly named Guitherine in the Province of Denbigh which is held in great reverence by all the people This place it is Gods will that thou visit and remain there whilst thou livest by thy good example informing others in the way of
we declared to have been of English parentage and kinsman of Oswin King of the Northumbers that he had his education from the Scotts was a Monk and afterward Abbot of the Monastery of Gethlin and last of all consecrated Bishop of the Mercians 5 But a greater difficulty remains How King Wulfere should deserve the Elogy here given him of piety and zeale for the propagation of the Orthodox Faith beyond the limits of his own Kingdom Yea besides this in other Authours we find him employd in building of Monasteries and Churches And William of Malmsbury gives him this generall Character that at his first Assumption to the throne to the end he might not deceive the expectation of his Subiects he spared no diligence study or labour to shew himself a good Prince who sought the proffit and felicity of his Kingdom Moreover that by his favour and countenance he earnesty advanced the Christian Faith then even gasping for life as being but a little before newly brought in by his Brother Whereas severall other Authours particularly such as have written our Saints lives paint him forth for a most horrible persecutour insomuch as seaven years after this Conversion of the South-Saxons by his incitation he is sayd to have putt to death his two sons Vlfald and Ruffin because by the preaching of S. Ceadda then Bishop of Lichfeild they embraced the Christian Faith 6. How can those things consist together Perhaps some will imagine that the praises given this King proceeded from flattery in the first Authours by whom those which followed were seduced Yet we shall find that those very Historians who so much celebrate his praises have not conceald his vices Thus the last mentioned Authour after the passage even now cited thus tempers the commendations given him Notwithstanding in these and whatsoever other vertues were in him were corrupted and depressed by the infamous crime of Simony of which he was the first King of England that was guilty selling for money the Sacred Bishoprick of London to a certain ambitious man called Wina He moreover adioyns the Off-spring of King Wulfere Kinred and Wereburga without any mention of the two Martyrs Vlfald and Ruffin So that in this Kings Story there is an obscure Mist which we may conceive to proceed from our Ancient Writers of Saints Lives who having a Story for the substance of it true to relate deliver it undigestedly without any choice of names times and other circumstances In order therefore to the clearing of this obscurity we will first breifly sett down the Summ of the Story of those two Martyrs and consequently endeavour to correct the circumstantiall faults of the relatours 7. Vlfald and Ruffin were Brethren sons of Wulfere King of the Mercians and Hermenilda who was daughter of Earcombert King of Kent and his wife S. Sexburga Wulfere their Father was an Infidell But Herminilda a devout Christian Lady of great Sanctity She during the tender age of these her children was diligent to imbue their minds with Christian Principles of piety and when they were come to riper â—ears she sought out a Master for them but with great secrecy least her Husband who was horribly averse from Christianity should know it She had recourse therefore to Ceadda Bishop of Lichfeild who instructed them more perfectly and regenerated them to Christ by the Water of Baptism These young Princes oft went forth â—pon pretence of hunting and either by their Mothers perswasion or their own inclination took that opportunity to Visit the Holy Bishop But being at last deprehended by their Father he agitated with the furies of his false Gods would compell them to renounce their Religion which they constantly refusing to doe he caused them both to be slain in the Sacred place of Prayer Their Holy Mother having understood the cruell death and Martyrdom of her children was desirous to give them an honourable buriall for which purpose she according to the Roman custom gathered a mighty heap of Stones for their Monument The place of their Sepulcher by its name still testifies the same for it is to this day called Stone a place which upon this occasion is grown to a populous Town Now when the death of these Holy Martyrs Vlfald and Ruffin was made known to the people and the cause likewise for which they dyed they began to be held in great honour and a Church with a Monastery was built consecrated to S. Vlfald yet so as that his Brother also became partaker of his honour By this means the place came to be frequented Neither was their Father King Wulfere more slow then others in honouring them For the guilt of the parricide committed by him wounding his conscience he in an humble manner went to Saint Ceadda and with great greif acknowledging his crime embraced the Christian Faith and with the Sacred Waters of Baptism expiated all his offences 8. This account doe our ancient Records give of the Martyrdom of these two Princes the substance whereof cannot reasonably be questioned considering the lasting monument yet remaining and that their names are extant among the Saints in our Martyrologe on the four and twenâ—tieth of Iuly But that they should have been instructed by S. Ceadda then Bishop of Lichfeild and slain in the year of Grace six hundred sixty eight by their Father then a Pagan this contradicts all our most authentick Histories in which long before that time King Wulfere is celebrated for his Faith and Piety Therefore it will be necessary to affirm that they were instructed by some Bishop of the Mercians before their Father began his raign during the time that their cruell Grand Father Penda lived who earnestly laboured to extinguish the Christian name and effectually caused the death of many Christian Kings 9. Therefore the Narration given by Camden deserves our acceptation who more distinctly and simply recounts the story in this manner To Peada King of the Mercians succeeded his Brother Wolfer who having been most averse from Christian Religion with barbarous inhumanity slew his Sons Wolfald and Ruffin because they had given up their names to Christ. But a few years after himself also embraced the Christian Faith and to the end he might by some pious work expiate that his impiety he finished a Monastery begun by his Brother XV. CHAP. 1.2 c. Of S. Winoc 1. SOme refer to this year the retiring of S. Winoc into the Monastery of Saint Bertin Thus writes Iperius in his Chronicle About the year of Grace six hundred sixty one S. Winoc Son of Iudicael King of the Brittains and brother of S. Iudocus of whom we have alreaâ—dy treated despising the world became a Monk in the Monastery of Sithiu under Saint Bertin together with his three brethren Kadanoc Ingenoc and Modoc S. Bertin then was Abbot over one hundred and fifty Monks among whom Saint Winoc shone like the Morning Starr 2. Marcellinus in his life of S. Suibert affirms that S
Iudoc and S. Winoc Anchorets and Preachers were sons of a King of England But the Saxon Annalls exact enough in recounting their Kings names mention no such King as Iudicail Most probable therefore it is that they were children of some Brittish Prince of this age For many examples we have of Brittains which for devotion passed over into Little Brittany or Belgick France but scarce any of the Saxons 3. Saint Winoc having spent severall years in great fervour under the government of Saint Bertin was commanded to sett his Light of piety on a Candlestick to enlighten others by his Doctrine and example This he admirably performed in severall places At last being sent to a Town of Heremare then called Wormholt but now Womholt he there layd the foundation of a Monastery where to his death serving God with great purity he was by him glorified by many Miracles He his supposed saith Iperius to have dyed in the same Monastery about the year of Grace seven hundred and seaventeen where he was likewise buried His Memory is in benediction For in the year nine hundred and twenty the same place was fortified and became a pleasant Town which to this day takes its name from S. Winoc being seated in the confines of France and Flanders 4. Some doubt whether that passage in Gregory Bishop of Tours be to be understood of this S. Winoc where he says At that time Vinoc a Brittain a man of admirable abstinence came out of Brittany to Tours having a desire to goe to Ierusalem He wore no other Vestment but one made of Sheep-skins without wooll And because he seemd to us a man of great piety to the end we might detain him amongst us more easily we honoured him with the dignity of Preist-hood If this be the same person we must conclude that Iperius places him much too late For Baronius refers that Narration of Gregory of Tours to the year of our Lord five hundred and eighty XVI CHAP. 1 2. c. The Gests of Saint Wilfrid continued 4.5 c. Controversy touching the Observation of Easter 1. IN recounting the rudiments of Saint Wilfrids piety we have already declared how in his younger years undertaking a iourney of devotion to Rome in his passage through France he was with great benignity received and for some time detaind by the Holy Bishop Ennemond or Dalfinus Bishop of Lyons likewise how in his return from Rome he again visited him and remaind with him to his death and Martyrdom by the cruelty and injustice of Ebroinus Maire of the Palace to Clodovaeus Second of that name King of France 2. Now according to the best Chronology it was in the year six hundred sixty two that the said Holy Bishop was martyrd after which Saint Wilfrid having nothing to detain him longer in France returned into his own Native Countrey of Brittany Where being arrived the fame of his vertues and abilities was quickly spread abroad whereupon saith William of Malmsbury Alfrid the son of Oswi and by his permission King of the Province of the Deiri or Yorkshire sent for him and with great kindnes received him taking great pleasure to hear him discourse of the occurrenâ—s of his iourney and dangers the Elegance of France the Roman pompe as likewise of the Lawes and Orders of Ecclesiasticall Discipline Many dayes he continued in this Kings Court and for his vertuous conversation industry preaching profound learning and copiousnes of elocution he was admitted into a near freindship with him Now this Alfrid was natural son of King Oswi born to him of a Concubine and when Edilwald the same Kings legitimate Son was dead whom he had made King of the Deiri Alfrid succeeded him in the same Kingdom 3. What followed after this is thus related by Saint Beda Wilfrâ—d saith he being returned to Brittany was ioynd in freindship with King Aldfrid who had been taught to love and obey the Catholick Rules of the Church Wherefore finding Wilfrid to be a perfect Catholick he shortly gave him a possession of ten families in a place called Stanford And not long â—fter he added a Monastery of thirty families in a place called Inrhypum now Rippon in Yorkshire Which place he had â—ormerly bestowed for building a Monastery on certain Monks who conformed to the Scottish discipline But because they having the choice given them would rather quitt the place then conform to the Catholick customes of the Roman and Apostolick Church in the celebration of Easter and other Canonicall Rites the King conferred upon Wilfrid the said Monastery perceiving that he was imbued with better disciplines and manners At which time by command of the said King he was in the same Monastery ordained Preist by Agilbert who had been Bishop of the Gevissi among the West Saxons For the King was very desirous that a man of so great erudition and piety as Wilfrid and one admitted to so near a freindship should be made a Preist and Doctour 4. S. Wilfrids fame was presently after much enlarged by occasion of a great Controversy then renewd and with greater heat then ever agitated between him and the Scotts cheifly about the Celebration of Easter In which Controversy not only the Monks and Ecclesiastick persons were engaged but great partialities and divisions were by occasion of it caused among the Laicks and even in the Princes Courts where some celebrated the Solemnity of our Lords Resurrection on one Sunday and some on another so that when one Company reioyced another were in Pennance and fasting The order how this Question was agitated is thus accuratly described by Saint Beda 5. In those days saith he a Notable Question was raised touching the celebration of Easter For all those who were come into those Northern parts either out of Kent or from France resolutly affirmed that the Scotts observed the Feast of our Lords Resurrection contrary to the custom of the Vniversall Church There was among them one named Roman a zealous defender of the true Observance he was by Nation a Scott but had been taught the Rule of Ecclesiasticall Truth in France and Italy This man in former time had had many conflicts with Finanus Bishop of Lindesfarn and many persons were reduced by him to the right way and many were incited by him to a more diligent inquisition of the Truth Yet he could never perswade Finanus to yeild on the contrary being a man of a rude feirce nature the more he was reprehended the more sullen he grew insomuch as he declared himself a professed Enemy of the Truth 6. Besides this Roman Iacob the forementioned Deacon of the late Venerable Arch-bishop S. Paulinus observed Easter after the true Catholick way together with all those whom he could instruct and perswade thereto The like did the Queen Eanfleda with all that attended her out of Kent from whence she brought a Preist named also Roman a man zealous for the Catholick Observance And hence it oft fell
and the Tonsure of the Crown for of this also no small debate was made And went back into Scotland with a purpose to treat there with his Countrey-men whether for the future he should conform to the Catholick Rites or no. But not long after he returned to his See and forsaking the Scottish custome submitted to the Catholick way of celebrating Easter XIX CHAP. 1.2 c. B. Colman goes into Ireland Where he builds a Monastery for Saxon-English Monks 5.6 c. His death and Elogy Monks then in great veneration 1. COlman Bishop of Lindesfarn though he returned presently out of Scotland well reformed from his former Errours yet his abode at his See was very short For saith Saint Beda he relinquished Brittany upon what Motive is not expressed and took with him all the Scotts which he had assembled in the Isle of Lindesfarn And besides them there went with him thirty of the English Nation who had likewise been imbued in Monasticall Exercises by him 2. Thus having left a few Religious Brethren in his Church he went first to the Island His or Iona from whence he had formerly been sent to preach the Gospell to the English Nation After that he retired from thence into a little Island West-ward from Ireland which in the Scottish language is called Inhys-bovinde or The Isle of the White Calf There he built a Monastery in which he placed the Scottish and English Monks which had attended him from Lindesfarn But shorly after a disagreement hapned between them upon this occasion The Scotts in Summer time when fruits were to be gathered were wont to leave the Monastery and to wander up and down in the countrey where they had much acquaintance But the Winter following they would return and expect their part in the Provisions gathered by the English which they thought unreasonable to allow them 3. To remedy this dissension therefore Colman after much travell up and down at length found another place in Ireland commodious for building a Monastery called in the Scottish or Irish tongue Magiâ— or Maiyo There he bought of a certain Count to whom the possession belonged a part of it to found his Monastery adding withall this Condition That the Monks in their dayly Devotions should be obliged to pray for the said Counts prosperity Having therefore with the assistance of the Count and Neighbours adioyning built a Monastery he placed the English Monks there having left the Scotts in the foresaid Island Which Monastery is to this day possessed by English Monks and from a slender beginning enlarged very much being vulgarly called Intugeo Here resides a famous Congregation of Religious Monks gathered out of England who are much reformed in their Institut and following the Example of their Venerable Fathers doe live under a Canonicall Rule and Abbot by the labour of their hands with great continence and simplicity 4. When Colman left Lindesfarn saith the same Authour he took with him part of the bones of his Predecessour the most Reverend Bishop Aidan and part he left in the Church which he had governed commanding they should be buried in the Secretary or Chancell of the same Church Whereby it is plain that certain Protestant Writers doe unjustly impute the introducing of these practises of Veneration of the Relicks of Saints to Roman Missioners after the departure of these ancient Preachers from Scotland These Relicks Bishop Colman reposed in his Monastery of Bovinde in which Island S. Rioch Nephew of S. Patrick by his Sister Darerca had long before fixed an Episcopall See 5. In that Island the same Venerable Bishop Colman ended his dayes in the year of Grace six hundred seaventy five as the Annals of Vlster doe testify Though our Martyrologe signifies that he went into Austria and there preaching â—he Gospell of Christ was slain by Infidels about the year of our Lord seaven hundred and five 6. To honour the Memory of this worthy Bishop we will here adioyn the Character given of him by Saint Beda together with that of the Religious Monks of that age How great the parsimony and continence of the Venerable Bishop Colman was the very place which he governed will declare For when they were departed excepting the Church only scarce any other buildings were found that is no more then were absolutly necessary for Civil conversation They had no money at all for they contented themselves with a few cattell For indeed there was no need neither of money nor buildings for the reception of great men which oft repaired to that Monastery for they never came upon any other busines but only to pray or hear the Word of God preached The King himself upon occasion would some times come attended only by five or six servants and as soon as he had ended his Prayers in the Church he would depart Or if sometimes they took any refection there they would desire no more then the dayly simple Provisions of the Monks 7. For the Teachers of that age employd all their solicitude in serving God not the world all their care was to garnish their soules not their bellies And for this cause the Habit of Religion was in those dayes held in great veneration insomuch as whithersoever any Ecclesiasticall or Religious person went he would be ioyfully entertained by every one as a faithfull servant of God And whensoever such an one was meâ—t in a iourney the people would approach to him and bowing down their heads would desire him to sign them with the Crosse or give them his benediction And they were very attentive to their good admonitions and exhortations Vpon Sundays likewise and Feasts the people with great fervour would repair to Churches or Monasteries not for refreshing their bodies but hearing Gods Word And if any Preist occasionally came into a village all the Inhabitanes would gather together and desire him to communicate to them the Word of life For indeed Preists and Clergy-men in those dayes had no other busines to call them out of their Solitude into towns or Villages but only to preach baptise visit the sick or to doe some other spirituall good to soules They were then so perfectly free from the infection of covetousnes that without some violence and constraint they would not so much as accept of lands and possessions from men for building Monasteries And this devout conversation of Clergy-men and Monks continued a good while after this in the Churches of the Northumbers XX. CHAP. 1.2 c. A great plague Death of King Earcombert and of the Arch-bishop Deus-dedit 4.5 c. Apostacy of one King of the East-Saxons and piety of the other 8. Of the Holy Bishop Iarumannus 9 10. wini the first Simoniacall Bishop in England 1. THE same year in the Month of May there was a great Eclipse of the Sun and a mortality or plague followed it so raging as no memory had been of the like saith Mathew of Westminster The destruction caused by it in
Brittany and Ireland was so great that it almost layd wast both those Islands as Huntingdon testifies It began saith S. Beda in the Southern parts of Brittany which were even depopulated by it and from thence it proceeded to the Province of the Northumbers where it raged in all quarters and destroyd a wonderfull multitude 2. Now because he says it began in the Southern parts and also recounts severall illustrious persons taken away by it wee will follow its course in our Narration and beginning with Kent we there are told of the death both of the King and Arch-bishop The King was Ercombert a Prince so devout that neither the luxury of the Court nor solicitudes of the Kingdom could withdraw him from the service of God And hereby living secure under the Divine Protection and favour all things both at home and abroad succeeded prosperously to him and he lived in great tranquillity to a very old age Thus writes William of Malmsbury So that it may be a doubt whether it was of the pestilence or some other disease that he dyed But whether that or the Ecclipse was Gods Messenger to summon him we may piously beleive that he was called from an earthly to a heavenly Kingdom 3. The like we may affirm of the Holy Arch-bishop of Canterbury Deus-dedit who sate the sixth in that Chair and after nine years devoutly and zealously spent in administring that See received this year the reward of his labours and has deserved a place among the Saints in our Martyrologe on the last of Iune A worthy Character of his vertues is afforded us by the Authour of his life in Capgrave After his death the See was vacant for a considerable time for by reason of the raging pestilence care could not be taken to provide a Successour 4. From Kent we passe to the East-Saxons governed by two Kings Signer the Son of Sigebert sirnamed the Little and Sebb a Prince of great Sanctity and Son not of Edilred as Harpsfeild affirms but of that King Seward who shamefully betraid the Christian Faith and was slain by the King of the West-Saxons 5. In this Kingdom the pestilence was more violent and furious then any other And we may iudge that Gods design thereby was by kindling the furnace of this calamity to sever the gold from the drosse and to render the Piety of one of those Kings more illustrious by opposing it to the impiety of the other For King Sigher upon this Visitation fell back to his former Pagan Superstition hoping to obtain from his Idols a remedy against the infection whereas nothing but impurity could proceed from them whose infection was more mortall then that of the pestilence Which Apostacy of the King became an Example to his inconstant Subjects Yea saith Saint Beda his Nobles who loved onely this present life and had no care or perhaps beleived not a future began to restore the Idoll-temples formerly demolished and to adore their senceles Idolls as if by them they could be defended from the Mortality But the violence of the pestilence afterward more encreasing taught them that what they hoped would be a remedy more inflamed the disease 6. As for the other King Sebb his portion of the Kingdom was free from this Superstition and his Piety being more purified by Humility and Resignation to Gods Visitation became a pattern to all his Subjects For saith the same Authour he was a man very devout to God and fervently intent to Religious Acts frequent Prayer and pious exercises of Charity and Alms-giving In his own inclination he preferred a private Monasticall life before the riches and pompe of a Kingdom and if the obstinate refusall of his Wife to admitt a Separation had not hindred he would long before have forsaken his throne to retire into a Monastery Hence it was that many were of opinion that a man so qualified was fitter to be ordained a Bishop then a King Yet he shewd himself to be a very good King and his Kingly solicitude was not confin'd to his own portion but extended it self to the reducing to Christian Profession Sigher his companion in the Throne For which purpose he advised Wulfere King of the Mercians of the danger his Kingdom was faln into of ruine from an infection far more horrible then the Pestilence Whereupon Wulfere as became a good Christian Prince sent thither Iarumannus Bishop of the Mercians lately there succeeding to the Holy Bishop Trumhere by whose endeavours the Christian Faith was again restored among the backsliding East-Saxons 8. Concerning this venerable Bishop Iarumannus S. Beda thus writes He was a Religious good man very industrious and passing through all quarters he preached the Word of Life and by his labours reduced both King Sigher and his Subiects to the way of iustice which they had forsaken insomuch as relinquishing or demolishing their Idoll-temples and Altars they ioyfully confessed the Name of Christ formerly renounced by them and desired much rather to dye in him with a beleif of the Resurrection then to live in the filth of Infideity among their Idols Iarumannus having gloriously finished so good a work together with the Preists and Teachers atâ—ending him returned home with great ioy 9. The piety of King Sebb rested not here but out of a care to provide against the inconstancy of the East-Saoxns he treated once more with Wulfere King of the Mercians to send him a Bishop to govern and administer the See of London There was then residing among the Mercians Wini who had been Bishop at Winchester in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons but for some now unknown crime was driven from his See by K Kenewalch This man incited by an inordinate ambition and desire of Rule and wealth most shamefully with money obtained of King Wulfere to be recommended to the Bishoprick of London into which he entred in the year six hundred sixty sixe and is marked in our Annalls as the first Simoniacall Bishop in our Island Hence William of Malmsbury thus writes Wina having bought the Bishoprick of London quickly ended there the remainder of his days He became an ominous and fatall example to posterity so that it cannot easily be discerned to whom the greater sin and infamy is to be imputed to him who sold or who bought with money this Sacred Dignity 10. However certain it is that King Sebb was perfectly exempted from this stain His desire was to obtain and ioy to receive a Bishop Orthodoxe in the Faith As for his manners being a stranger to him he hoped well and undoubtedly was wholly un interessed in the infamous bargain which passed between wulfere and Wini. XXI CHAP. 1.2 The plague among the East-angles which destroyed many Religious Virgins in Cherâ—esey 1. IN the Eastern parts of Brittany li kewise the pestilence was very feirce The dismall effects wherof S. Beda particularly relates hapning in a Monastery of Religious Virgins For saith he Erconwald Son of
he taught every where things belonging to Christian Faith and Truth Presently after his consecration being struck with the contagion then raigning in that Province saith Huntingdon he dyed and was buried at a place called Womalet But in S. Beda it is called Peynalech who adds that it was a Monastery 5. Moreover as S. Beda testifies when the Scottish Monks living in Lindesfarn departed thence with their Bishop Colman those which remaind received for their Superiour with the authority of Abbot the most Reverend gentle and mild man Eata who before was Abbot in the Monastery called Mailros This Translation was made as the report is upon the request of Bishop Colman at his departure to King Oswi Because the same Eata was one of the twelve children which Saint Aidan in the time of his Bishoprick had received from the English Nation to instruct them in the Doctrine of Christ. The said request of Bishop Colman was easily granted by King Oswi because he loved him very much for his gravity and prudence This is the same Eata who a while after was ordained Bishop of the same Church of Lindesfarn 6. Presently after the death of the Venerable Bishop Tuda there followed great commotions and debates in the Church of the Northumbers by reason of severall pretenders to the administration of the same Church as shall shortly be declared more at large XXIII CHAP. 1.2 The Plague in Ireland 3.4 c. The Gests of S. Egbert a Saxon Preist He reduces the Scotts to Catholick conformity his death 1. THere are severall other Saints commemorated in our Martyrologe whose death is assigned to this year as the two Royall Martyrs Ethelâ—ed and Ethelbert Sons of Wulfere King of the Mercians of whom we have already treated demonstrating that their Martyrdom could not fall so late Likewise two Royall Virgins S. Mildreda and Saint Milburga Neices of the same King by his Brother Merevald of whom we shall treat more commodiously hereafter 2. Following therefore the progresse of this Pestilence it will lead us into Ireland were we shall find matter proper for our present Subiect and related by S. Beda in the manner following The same killing infection faith he with equall destruction raged in Ireland Now there were at that time in the same Island many persons both of noble extraction and meaner state who in the times of Finan and Colman Bishops leaving their native countrey retired thither some to gain instruction and others to attend to their Spirituall Exercises and Mortification Severall of them therefore undertook a Monasticall Profession and not a few going from Cell to Cell where learned Masters inhabited addicted themselves to Reading and Study All these were freely and with a good will entertained by the Scotts who afforded them upon free cost both dayly nourishment books to read and instruction likewise 3. Among these there were two Noble young men of vertuous and towardly disposition Their names were Edelhum and Egbert The former of these was Brother of Edilhum or Ethelwin a man of great Sanctity who likewise the year following went into Ireland to enrich his mind with learning and being well instructed returned into his Native countrey Brittany where he was ordained Bishop of Lindisse or Lindesfare and worthy governed that Church many years of whom we shall treat more at large hereafter 4. The said two young men being in a Monastery which the Scotts or Irish call Rathmesige where all their companions were either taken out of the world by the infection or dispersed in other places they likewise both of them were struck with the same disease and greivously affected And of these two Egbert as a certain grave and sincere Preist who professed that he heard it from Egbert himself assured mee beleiving that he should not escape went one morning out of the Infirmary into a retired place where â—itting alone he began seriously to call to mind his former actions and feeling great compunction by the memory of his past sins he bedewd his face with teares and from the depth of his soule prayed to Almighty God not to take him out of the world till he had more perfectly performed Pennance for his past negligences and faults committed in his child hood and youth and till he had more plentifully exercised himself in good works He made a Vow likewise that he would live all his days a stranger and never return into Brittany where he was born likewise that besides the Solemn Canonicall Office he would every day recite the whole Psalter in memory of the Divine praises and also every week passe one whole day and night in fasting except he should be hindred by some bodily infirmity 5. Having concluded his weeping prayer and Vows he returned to his Cell where finding his companion asleep he likewise layd himself on his bed and falling into a slumber he was presently awaked by his companion who looking earnestly upon him said O Brother Egbert what have you done I hoped we should both together have gone to heaven But know that the things thou so earnestly prayed for are granted thee For he had learnt by a Vision both the subiect of Egberts prayers and that God would perform his desires In a word the following night Edelhum died 6. But Egbert in a short time shaking off the pains of his disease recovered and lived many years after He received the degree and Order of Preisthood which he adorned by many good actions suitable to that Profession and according to his desire being full of vertue and piety he a little while since to witt in the year of our Lords Incarnation seaven hundred twenty nine being fourscore and ten years old went to everlasting ioyes 7. He lead a life with all perfection of Humility meeknes continence simplicity and iustice Insomuch as both by the example of his life by his assiduity in teaching zeale in correcting and liberality in giving what he had received from rich men he was very beneficiall both to his own countreymen and also to the Scotts and Picts among whom he lived 8. He added likewise to his forementioned Vows this Of never tasting any thing in Lent but once a day and then also onely bread and a small measure of thin milk Which milk his custom was to putt the day before in a glasse and when the night was past to take off the cream and drink the rest with a small portion of Bread The like measure of abstinence he was wâ—nt likewise to observe forty days before our Lords Nativity and as many after Pentecost 9. This is that S. Egbert who was the first and cheif mover of the glorious design of twelve Apostolicall English Preists to convert certain German Nations our Primitive Ancestors to the Christian Faith which they undertook and in a great measure performed These were S. Suâ—bert S. Willebrord S. Boniface and the rest of their illustrious companions S. Egbert was desirous to have ioynd in their labours and dangers but
the world whom he buried honourably in the Church dignified with the Sacred Bodies of the Prime Apostles 7. He further tells him that he had delivered to the present Messengers as tokens of his Fatherly respect certain Relicks of the Blessed Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul and of the Holy Martyrs Saint Laurence S. Iohn and Paul Saint Gregory and Saint Pancratius which they were commanded to present to him Adding withall that he had sent a Crosse in which was a golden key containing of the filings of the chains of the same Prime Apostles which were to be presented to the Queen his spirituall daughter the fame of whose piety caused great ioy in the whole Roman Church 8. Then he concludes his letter with exhortations to proceed in his zeale of reducing the whole Island to an uniformity of Catholick Faith and Practise which he doubted not but would be effected if to his diligence he would adde his Prayers to our Lord to give a successe to his endeavours Withall assuring him that his own continuall Prayers should not be wanting for Gods assistance in all pious works in this life and an eternall kingdome with Christ in the world to come 9. The Queen here generally mentioned though not named was Eanfleda the daughter of S. Edwin King of the Northumbers and Ethelburga daughter of Ethelbert the first Christian King of Kent She was the first who received Baptism in that Kingdom by the Ministry of S. Paulinus and after her Fathers death was forced to retire with her Mother into Kent but at last was sent back to become the Wife of this King Oswi 10. It may seem strange why this letter concerning the Election of an Arch-bishop of Canterbury should be addressed to Oswi King of the Northumbers without any mention of Egbert King of Kent But the difficulty will cease if we consider that though in Brittany there was a Heptarchy of Kings yet among them one for the most part had a generall superintendence over the rest being in a sort the Monark of the whole Island so that without his advice and concurrence no matters of moment or generall concern might passe such as was the constituting an Arch-bishop with authority to ordain Bishops in other Provinces and regulate their actions Now such a Monark at this time was Oswi King of the Northumbers the most potent of all the Saxon Princes 11. Almost three years passed before an Arch-bishop was sent in the place of Wigard who dyed at Rome Therefore it will be convenient to intermitt awhile the prosecution of this subject that we may insert other Ecclesiasticall affairs regarding the Saxon Churches in Brittany which intervened II. CHAP. 1.2.3 Saint Wilfrid constituted Bishop of York by King Alcfrid And Saint Ceadda by King Oswi 1. KING Oswi whose care we have seen in providing for the Widowed State of the See of Canterbury was not wanting at the same time in supplying the Vacancy of the Churches of the Northumbers by the death of Tuda last Bishop of Lindesfarn Now the Kingdom of the Northumbers consisting of two Provinces one more Northerly called the Province of the Bernicians containing all beyond the River Tine to the Frith of Edinborough and the other the Province of York and Lancaster called the Province of the Deiri The Former was governed immediatly by King Oswi himself and the Latter by his Son Alcfrid subordinatly to him 2. King Alcfrid being likewise solicitous for a Spirituall Pastour to govern his Churches sent his freind and Instructour S. Wilfrid into France to Agilbert who as hath been said was lately departed out of Brittany into his Native countrey France where presently after his coming upon the death of Importunus Bishop of Paris he was substituted Bishop of the same See To whom as to the most resplendent Starr of all France when Saint Wilfrid newly elected Bishop of York came out of England to receive Episcopall Consecration he was by him solemnly ordained eleaven other Bishops assisting These are the words of the French Martyrologe Huntingdon adds That S. Wilfrid was consecrated in the village called Compendium or Compiegne 3. Whilst these matters were transacting in France King Oswi either prevented by the suggestions of those whom S. Wilfrid had maisterd in the late disputation or impatient at his delay in France without expecting longer sent the Holy Abbot Ceadda into the Western Province to be consecrated Bishop of York by Wina who as yet did not administer the See of London Thus the Church of York had two Bishops at the same time and moreover Ceadda administred the Vacant See of Lindesfarn Which Controversie between two Bishops both of them eminent for Sanctity how it was managed between them and how upon occasion thereof great benefit accrewd to other nations by enlarging the Churches bounds shall be shewd hereafter in the proper Season III. CHAP. 1.2 c. The Martyrdom of Saint Clarus a Hermite and of his Companion Saint Cyriâ—us 1. OVR English Martyrologe refers to the year of Grace six hundred sixty six the Martyrdom of an English Hermit called Saint Clare Whose Gests are more expressly and largely related in the Gallican Martyrologe where on the fourth day of November the following Narration is inserted 2. This day is celebrated the Memory of Saint Clare an Ermit and Martyr by birth an Englishman of a very Noble descent and illustrious for his outward comelines and inward naturall endowments but principally for his singular piety and rare Chastity Being come to years of maturity he was by his parents affianced to a Noble and beautifull Virgin But when the time wherin the Mariage was to be solemnised approached the devout young man out of a desire to preserve his Virginall purity privily withdrew himself from his parents house and out of Brittany passed over to Neustria in France and arrived at a town called Cherbourg Casaris-burgum 3. There he retired himself to a certain Wood confining to that place where assuming to himself two others who were desirous to imitate his pious conversation he began to serve our Lord in all purity of body and mind being wholly abstracted from secular cares and attending entirely to celestiall But by the Devills envy he was exposed to many persecutions so that unable to abide there longer he repaired to a Holy man called Odobert Abbot of a Monastery called Madvin by whom he was kindly entertaind and from him learnt and practised a more strict Rule of Monasticall Discipline 4. But when the fame of his eminent Vertue occasioned a concourse of great multitudes of both sexes to the said Monastery He fearing lest by his frequent conversing with such throngs of visitants his Chastity or Humility which he earnestly desired to preserve might be endangered he obtaind premission from Odobert to retire to another Monastery seated neer the River Epta And there being exempted from all other care he entirely addicted himself to the Spirituall employments of Prayer and Preaching for
by the incitement of Odobert he had submitted himself to receive Holy Orders By which exercises of Piety the shining beames of his Sanctity were spread abroad to the admiration of all 5. The Enemy of mans Salvation could no longer support the brightnes of Divine Graces shining in this Saint to obscure which he inflamed with lust the mind of a certain Noble Woman dwelling near who impudently attempted to expugne the Chastity of the Seruant of God But Saint Clare resolutly resisted the shameles Lady notwithstanding which resistance when her sollicitations still more encreased he was forced for his own quietnes and liberty â—o forsake the Monastery 6. The lascivious Woman desperatly enraged with his departure sent two Murderers in search of him who at last found him in a poor cottage where he had fixed his habitation with one onely companion named Cyrinus There they first sett upon him with many opprobrious speeches and at last drawing out their swords they most cruelly cutt off his head whilst he devoutly kneeling offred his Sacrifice of Chastity to our Lord the lover of pure minds and Patron of innocence 7. This glorious Champion of Chastity being thus Victorious by patience presently after arose and with his hands taking up his head by the assistance of Angells caried it to a fountain not far distant into which he cast it and then caried the same back to the Oratory of his Cell and going on a little further towards a Village seated near the River Epta which since took a new name from this glorious Martyr he there consummated his course and transmitted his blessed Soule to Heaven 8. Much to the same effect is the Narration of this holy Saints Martyrdom extant in Capgrave Where concerning his Companion Cyrinus we read That he being first dangerously wounded was by the prayers of Saint Clarus wonderfully restored to health And hence it follows in the fore said Martyrologe in this manner 9. Saint Cyrinus miraculously recovered took care of the Holy Martyrs buriall Who also afterward in a conflict for piety consecrated his own name likewise to Martyrdom whose memory is there celebrated on the thirteenth of Iune Moreover the Sacred Head of Saint Clarus is with due Veneration conserved in a Village in the territory of Paris called by his name whither it was afterward translated And at Paris it self in the ancient Monastery consecrated to Saint Victor the Martyr his commemoration is anniversarily repeated For thither the most Chast Martyr like the Patriark Saint Ioseph is sayd to have fled from the face of the foresaid unchast Lady And a fitt place it was for his retirement being in those dayes divided from the noyse and tumult of that Citty 10. The distinct place where this Holy Martyr suffred is there said to be in the Territory about Roâ—â—en in Normandy in tractu Vulcassino neer the River Seyne where in the Primitive times another S. Clarus a Preist and Martyr is recorded to have suffred Who immediatly after the Apostles times being sent from Rome to preach the Gospell illustrated a good part of Celtick Gaule first with his Doctrine and after with his Blood The day of his Passion is said to have been the fourth of November as that of our present Martyr the fifteenth before the Calends of August IV. CHAP. 1.2 c. The Martyrdom of two Kentish Princes Ethelred and Ethelbert 6 7. their murder miraculously discovered 8.9 c. Satisfaction made for it by King Egbert 1. A Little before the arrival of a New Arch-bishop of Canterbury from Rome two young innocent Princes Ethelred and Ethelbert in the Kingdom of Kent were crownd with Martyrdom For that Name was given to the violent death by which they were taken out of this world without any demerits of their own inasmuch as God was pleased miraculously to testify their innocence 2. We have before declared that Eadbald King of Kent had by his Queen Emma two sons Ermenred the elder and his Brother Ercombert Ermenred dying before his Father and leaving behind him two infants Ethelred and Ethelbert of whose Martyrdom we now treat not they but their Vncle Ercombert succeeded in the Throne Notwithstanding these two young Princes were bred as became their birth and were yet more enriched with Divine Graces then secular ornaments For saith Mathew of Westminster after their Regeneration by Baptism they remaining in their innocence and voluntary neglect of worldly advantages fortified their other vertues by the safe-guard of Humility 3. King Ercombert at his death recommended them to the care of his Son and Successour King Egbert who being a Prince of great benignity treated them with all Kindnesse and affection not having any jealousy or preiudice against them though their Title to the Kingdom in reason and iustice ought to have taken place of his who was their Vncle since they were children to the Elder Brother 4. But his kindnes to them did not last long For by the ordinary fate of Courts certain Sycophants suggested to him that by cherishing them he fomented his own danger Among these the principall Counseller of mischeif was one called Thunrâ— chieâ— Minister of state in that Kingdom who in a seeming care of King Egberts safety advised him to take out of the way these two Princes now of an age fitt for government whose vertues and excellent endowments had fixed them in the affections of the people so that it was iustly to be feared that either they would challenge their right or the people voluntarily give them it 5. These Suggestions at first were unwillingly heard by King Egbert who forbad him to continue them But Thunre called by others Thimur pretending duty and a zealous care of the Kings Safety again renewed them more earnestly and eloquently then before till in the end the King made no reply but by silence seemed to consent to his proposall Hereupon Thunre promising to himself at least impunity inhumanly murdred these two innocent Princes It was easy for him to execute this crime by reason of his familiarity and privacy with them for in his outward profession and behaviour he always expressed a great tendernes and affection to them in so much as they not suspecting any treachery at all from him afforded him all advantages against themselves so that with drawing them into a solitary place amidst his caresses and embracings of them he stabbed them with his ponyard 6. Having thus murdred them as the report is he buried their bodies in a deep trench which he digged under the Seat where the King was wont to sitt supposing that none would seek for them there But the Eye of Divine Providence from whom the secrets even of hearts are not concealed quickly discovered them and by many Miracles testified their innocence For the next time that the King was sitting there a flame issuing out of the Seat scorched and extrely terrified him Whereupon his servants digging the ground under it where they
same purpose and that they having received his Benediction were returned full of sorrow the Monk who had heard the celestiall Musick went to the Bishop and prostrating himself to the ground before him said Venerable Father may it be permitted mee to ask you a question The Bishop answered Ask freely whatsoever thou wilt Then said he I beseech you tell mee What meant that ioyfull song which I heard sung by many with great ioy who came from heaven to this Oratory and after a while returned back to heaven again The Bishop replyed If thou hast indeed heard that Musick and perceived the heavenly company which came hither I command thee in the Name of our Lord that thou acquaint none with it before my death The truth is they were Angells and celestiall Spirits which came to call mee to receive those heavenly rewards which I always loved and desired and they have promised mee to return seaven dayes hence and conduct mee with them to heaven And indeed thus it came to passe as he had foretold For presently after a languishing infirmity came upon him which dayly encreased and on the seaventh day as had been promised him after he had armd himself against death by receiving devoutly the Body and blood of our Lord his soule was freed from the prison of his body and as we may piously beleive accompanied by Angells to celestiall ioyes Of whose glory S. Egbert was a witnes as we have already shewed in his Gests related by the same Authour 5. It is no wonder if he entertained with ioy the day of his death saith the same Authour since through the whole course of his life his cheif solicitude was to prepare himself for it insomuch as when any great wind or thunder hapned he would presently lay aside all other busines in hand and prostrating himself on his face pour forth his soule to God in prayer For as he told his Disciples the reason why God sends forth those voyces of terrour is to imprint his fear in mens minds and make them mindfull of those storms and tempests which shall be raised in the last dayes before the Generall Iudgment This S. Beda relates from the testimony of a Religious Monk called Trumbert his Master in Divine learning who had been a Disciple of this Holy Bishop 6. Now S. Ceadda dyed on the sixth day before the Nones of March and was first buried near the Church of our Blessed Lady But afterwards a magnificent Church having been built to the honour of the Prince of the Apostles his Sacred bones were translated thither And in both places for a proof of his Sanctity frequent miracles and cures were wrought 7. The place where he was buried was covered with a woodden tomb built in the form of a little house having a window in the wall through which such as in devotion came thither were accustomed to putt in their hand and take thence some part of the dust Which they mingled with water and gave to be tasted to sick men or cattell also by which their infirmities were presently taken away 8. We may with more assurance relate these Miracles because even the Lutheran Centuriators of Magdeburg acknowledge their beleif of them For thus they write Ceadda the Brother of Ced succeeded Iarumannus in the Bishoprick of the Mercians He received from King Wulfere his Episcopal See in a town of Lindissi called Lichfeild and governed the Churches of the Midland-English and Lindesfarians After his death he was renouned for Miracles insomuch as a man who was frantick and slept only at his tomb was restored to health and others afflicted with any manner of diseases by tasting the dust of his monument were perfectly cured 9. His Memory was with great devotion celebrated in all succeeding ages insomuch as the Cathedrall Church of his Bishoprick being raised with greater magnificence took its appellation from him This came to passe in the dayes of King Edward the second at which time saith B. Godwin Walter Langton Bishop of that See of Lichfeild bestowed two thousand pounds to enrich the Chest which contained the Body of his Predecessour S. Ceadda or Chad and likewise encompassed the precincts of the Church with a wall and ditch adding thereto two gates one very magnificently built toward the west and a lesser one to the East 10. To conclude this Narration we must not omitt one late memorable example of a wonderfull iudgment of God against the professed Enemies of his Saints In the beginning of the late rebellious warr a warr undertaken as much against Gods departed Saints as living Governours one of the most zealous Leaders of a Sacrilegious faction conducting his Army to this Citty of Lichfeild with an intention to break into the Inclosure of S. Ceadda's Church fortified by a Royal party whilst compleatly armed he pulled up the visour of his helmet that he might better view how to place his Ordinance against the wall was mortally wounded in the eye being the only part of his body exposed to danger by a bullet short at random Thus he perished in the heat of his fury whilst he assaulted the Church of S. Ceadda and upon the very Feast day of S. Ceadda 11. In the place of S. Ceadda the Arch-bishop Theodore ordained Bishop of that See a good and modest man saith S. Beda named Winfrid or Wilfrid who was Deacon to his Predecessour and at that time lived in the Monastery of Athburn Of whom we shall speak more hereafter X. CHAP. 1.2 c. The death of severall Saints Of King Oswi Of Abbot Boisilus Of Oswin a Monk of Diman and Adammannus 1. IN the six hundred and seaventieth year of our Lords Incarnation saith S. Beda which was the second year after the coming of Theodore into Brittany Oswi King of the Northumbers in the fifty eighth year of his age fell sick of an infirmity of which he dyed At the same time he was so affectionatly desirous to receive more perfect Instruction in Religion from the Apostolick See of Rome that he was determined in case he had recovered of that disease to goe thither and end his days at the Sacred places of the Apostles for which purpose he had desired the Holy Arch-bishop Wilfrid to be his guide in that journey for which he designed him a great summe of money He dyed the fifteenth day before the Calends of March and left his Son Egfrid heyr of the Kingdom He was buried in the Monastery of Strenshalch to which he had long before consecrated his daughter Edelfleda from her first infancy as hath been declared 2. That he dyed in general opinion of Sanctity appears in that his Name is read among the Saints in our Martyrologe on the fiâ—teenth of February And William of Malmsbury recounts how his body together with the bodies of many other Saints was removed three hundred years after his death For thus he writes At Streneshalt in the Quire
tongue they named Ingelborn a mile distant from which the Saxon Princes had a Palace called Caer-Durburg now Broken-bridge The said place kept the name of Ingelborn till Maidulf the Scottish Monk retired thither from whom it took the name of Maâ—dulfs-burg and contractedly Malmsbury some Writers call it Meldun Among the Disciples of Maidulf the most famous was Aldelm who succeeded him and by the help of the Bishop Eleutherius to whom the Seat belonged built there a very fair Monastery of which himself was Abbot and from him some Writers have calld the place Aldelms-birig but that Name was quickly obliterated though his Memory be continued there by a much frequented Faire yearly kept on his Feast 6 The said West-Saxon Kings Escuin and Kentwin as they were in their Faith Orthodoxe and in their Charity magnificeÌ„t so were they likewise in defence of their Kingdom courageous For saith the same Authour Escuin in a battell gave a great overthrow to the Mercians and Kentwin in another to the Brittains The Controversy which Escuin had with Wulfere King of the Mercians was touching the limits of their kingdoms to decide which they were forced to come to a combat in which notwithstanding Huntingdon rather ascribes the victory to Wulfere However certain it is that neither of these two Kings survived their Victory or defeat many days for Wulfere dyed the same year and Escuin in the following 7. The place where this battell was fought is by Florentius called Bindanheafâ—l and in a Manuscript cited by Sir Henry Spelman Bedanead Probably it was the same Town in Devonshire which is now called Bediford of some esteem saith Camden for the numerousnes of its inhabitants and a stone-bridge of arched work 8. The foresaid Florentius mentioning the death of Wulfere called by some Authours Fulgere gives him this Elogy In the year of Christ six hundred seaventy five dyed Wulfere King of the Mercians after he had raigned seaventeen years He was the first King of that Province who embraced the Christian Faith and received the Sacrament of Regeneration He utterly rooted out of his whole Kingdom the Pagan Worship of Devills commanding the name of Christ to be preached every where He built many Churches c. At his death saith Saint Beda he left his Brother Edilred or Ethelred his Successour in his Kingdom XVII CHAP. 1.2 c. Of S Wereburga daughter to King Wolfere her Gests Miracles death and uncorruption of her body 1. THE Memory of King Wulfere received a great luster from the wonderfull Sanctity of his daughter Saint Wereburga born unto him saith the same Authour by his Queen Ermengilda who was the daughter of Ercombert King of Kent and his Queen S. Sexburga daughter of Anna King of the East-Angles and Sister to the glorious Virgin and Queen Saint Ethelreda 2. S. Wereburga from her infancy was by her pious Mother Ermenilda educated in the fear and love of God and in a contempt of worldly vanities so that from her tender years she entertained a desire to consecratt her whole life to our Lord in a state of Religion and Virginity Her great beauty and endowments of Nature rendred her desireable to others but the greater beauty of her mind enriched with Divine Grace disposed her to reserve her affections for him only who was beautifull beyond the Sons of men During her Fathers life she was not permitted to aspire to the Espousals of her heavenly Bridegroom But assoon as he was dead she accompanied with her Mother Erminilda betook her self to the lately founded Monastery of Ely where she undertook a Religious Profession 3. This is thus more expressly related by Harpsfeild Saint Wereburga saith he being descended from most Noble Parents would not be affianced to any but the most Noble Bridegroom and therefore gave up her immaculate body and chast soule to the spirituall embraces of our Lord. These glorious Espousalls to which the Church and heavenly Angells were witnesses were publickly celebrated in the Monastery of Religious Virgins at Ely of which her Mothers Sister the illustrious S. Ethelreda was Abbesse there this devout Virgin received the Sacred Veyle of Religion And from that time her only diligence and solicitude was employed in avoyding all things that might displease the eyes of her Heavenly Bridegroom for whose love she despised gold iewells rich attire and all other vanities admired by the world All her thoughts were busied in this one thing how she might excell her Religious Sisters in observing silence abstinence watching devout reading and Prayers Which holy design having compassed insomuch as she was as far exalted above them in these and all other Vertues as in the Noblenes of her descent yet the thought so meanly of her self and was so free from arrogance and pride that she shewd her self always ready and willing to obey them all and chearfully underwent the vilest Offices among which a charitable care of the poor and needy to whom she was a pious and tender Mother took the principall place In a word through the whole course of her life her conversation was such as shewd that though according to humane condition her body moved on the earth yet her mind was always fix'd in heaven 4. How long this Holy Virgin lived in the Monastery of Ely under the government of S Ediltrudis does not distinctly appear Certain it is that her death is unduly in our Martyrologe referd to this present year for from our most ancient authentick Records it is unquestionable that she survived her Mother S. Erminilda who became Abbesse of the same Monastery after S. Sexburga who succeeded S. Ediltrudis dying the year of Grace six hundred seauenty nine However in as much as her Gests are not interwoven with the general History we will here adioyn the remainder of her Acts recorded by Mathew of Westminster Florentius c. 5. Her Brother Ethelred who succeeded his Father Wolfere in the kingdom of the Mercians admiring his Sisters Sanctity and unwilling that his Province should be deprived of so illustrious a light recalled her from Ely into her native countrey where she with difficulty was persuaded to accept the government of three Monasteries of Religious Virgins Trickingham since called Trent in Staffordshire Wedun and Hamburg in Northampâ—onshire which she governed with such meeknes that she seemd rather their servant then Mistresse directing them more by her example then command 6. And no wonder she should find obedience from her devout Daughters when as even irrationall and wild creatures became subiect to her command as if by her Sanctity she had recovered that empire which man enioyd in his primitive Innocence I should forbeare relating an illustrious miracle to this purpose touching her banishing from her territory great flocks of Wild-geese for their importunity and wastfull devouâ—ing her corn and other fruits were it not that I find it related by ancient credible Authours and not concealed also by Protestants 7.
He was born of a Noble extraction but was far from making that an argument of pride and contempt of others as some doe but as became a true servant of God he used it as a motive to aspire to true Nobility of soule consisting in Piety and humility He was cousin germain to his Abbot S. Benedict but in both of their minds there was such a contempt of worldly respects or priviledges that neither did Easterwin at his first admission into the Monastery expect any preeminence in consideration of his birth nor any priviledge or favour for his propinquity to the Abbot who likewise for his part did not at all consider these relations but he lived in the Monastery in an equall state with the meanest 3. Add hereto that whereas he had been an Officer in the Court of King Egfrid assoon as he had quitted secular employments and undertaken a spirituall warfare onely he continued always like the rest of his poor brethren humble and obedient and not only willingly but ioyfully would he winnow or thrash corn milk the ewes or heyfers and labour in the bake-house garden or kitchen and any other painfull or mean services of the Monastery 4. Yea after he had unwillingly undertaken the degree and Office of Abbot he remained in the same mind he was before towards all according to the Wise mans admonition saying They have made thee a Ruler be not lifted up but be amongst them as one of them mild affable and kind to all Whensoever upon occasion he was obliged to exercise Regular Discipline or correction towards any of his brethren after a fault committed he so behaved himself as rather to prevent any future recidivation then to expresse anger for what was past neither did he shâ—w a countenance clouded with any passion Whensoever the necessity of busines called him abroad which often hapned if he found any of his brethren at labour he would presently ioyne himself with them either holding the plough or turning the van to winnow or hammering iron and the like For in his youth he was robustious and fitt for any labour He had a sweet and winning speech a cheerfull heart a liberall hand and well conditioned aspect Whilst he was Abbot he contented himself with the same dyet he used before and as the rest of his Community used he lay in the same Common Dormitory insomuch as when the disease of which he dyed seised on him so that as he perceived by certain signs it would prove mortall he continued two dayes resting in the Dormitory For the five remaining dayes before his death he made himself to be removed to a more retired lodging in the Monastery And one of those dayes coming abroad into the aire he sent for all his Brethren and with great compassion and kindnes gave to each of them the kisse of peace they all the while weeping bewayling the departure of so good and great a Father and Pastour 5. He dyed the night before the Nones of March whilst the Monks were exercised in singing Martins He was four and twenty years old when he first entred the Monastery in which he lived twelve years seaven of which were spent in his Preistly duty and four in governing the Convent after which leaving his earthly corruptible body he went to receive his reward in the heavenly kingdom Having premised this short account of the life of the Venerable Abbot Easterwin we will return to the order of our Narration XIII CHAP. 1.2 c. The Gests sicknes and death of the Holy Abbots S. Sigfrid and Saint Benedict Biscop 1. SAint Benedict having constituted the said Easterwin Abbot of the Monastery of S. Peter and Ceolfrid of that of Saint Paul he not long after undertook his fourth voyage to Rome and as formerly he returnd enriched with innumerable gifts proper for the Church as Sacred Books and abundance of holy Images In which was described the whole life of our Saviour in so many severall peices as they suffised to encompasse the whole Church of our Lady built in the greater Monastery And our Church of S. Paul likewise was adorned with pictures containing such histories in the Old and New Testament as had a coÌ„formity each to the other For example there were placed opposite to one another the Image of Isaac carrying wood with which he was to be burnt in sacrifice and over against it our Lord in like manner carrying his Crosse Again to the Serpent exalted by Moyses in the wildernes there answered the Image of our Lord exalted on his Crosse. Besides these he brought with him two Mantles all of pure silk of inestimable work for which he had in exchange from King Aldfrid and his Counsellours for before his return King Egfrid was slain a possession of three families lying Southward to the Mouth of the River Wire 2. But to qualify the ioy of the good successe of his voyage he found his Monastery in a sad condition by reason of the death of the Venerable Abbot Easterwin and a great number of the Monks under his charge which had been taken out of the world by a pestilence raging through all that countrey Yet this greif was attended with some consolation for as much as in the place of Easterwin by an Election made by the Religious Monks there with whom also was ioyned the Reverend Abbot Ceolfrid there was substituted a Successour in the charge of Abbot Sigfrid a Deacon a man of equall gravity and meeknes with his Predecessour He was sufficiently learned in the Scriptures adorned with all vertues and of wonderfull abstinence But as his mind was enriched with all Graces his body was much depressed with sicknes for he was tormented with an incurable disease of the lungs 3. And not long after the Venerable Abbot Benedict also began to be afflicted with a tedious sicknes For God in his mercifull Providence to the end he might prove the solidity of their piety by patience cast them both upon their beds that after their infirmities had been cured by death he might eternally refresh them in the quiet repose of Light and peace For as we said Sigfrid after he had been vexed with a tedious and irksom pain in his lungs and entralls was brought to his end And Benedict for three years space languishing with a Palsey was reduced to that extremity that all the lower members of his body were deprived of motion and life and the upper parts without which life could not consist were reserved free for the exercise of his patience Now during the time of their sicknes both these Holy Abbots ceased not to give thanks to their Creatour continually attending to the Praises of God and charitable admonitions to their Brethren 4. Particularly S. Benedict did frequently and earnestly exhort his Monks to a constant Stability in the Observance of the Rulâ— which he had given them For said he You must not think that the Constitutions which you have received from mee were inventions of
mine own brain But having in my frequent voyages passed through no fewer then seaventeen-well ordred Monasteries I informed my self in all their Laws and Orders and selecting the best among them those I have recommended to you Moreover he enioyned them to have a speciall care that the most noble and well furnished Library which he had brought from Rome and which was so necessary for the instruction of the Church should not through negligence be spoyld or dissipated 5. But one speciall Injunction he often and earnestly renewd to them which was That in the Election of an Abbot no regard at all should be had by any of them to kinred but only to integrity of life and ability of reaching For said he I prosesse unto you that I would much rather chuse that this place in which I have founded this Monastery if such were the will of God should be reduced to a barren wildernes then that mine own Brother who we know does not walk in the wayes of Piety should succeed mee in the charge of Abbot And therefore my Brethren be yee in a speciall manner wary not to seek in my place a Father either among strangers or for propinquity of blood to any of you But according as is contained in the Rule of the Great Patriark and Abbot S. Benedict as likewise in the particular Decrees of this Monastery when you meet together in the common Assembly of your Congregation for the Election of an Abbot let him be proposed to the Bishop to receive his Benediction whom you shall unanimously chuse as most apt for that charge both with regard to his vertue and learning 6. The same Venerable Abbot Benedict likewise to qualify the tediousnes of long nights which by reason of his infirmity he was forced to passe without sleep was accustomed to send for one of the Monks to read to him some portion of Scripture suitable to his present state as the Story of the patience of Iob or such like by meditating on which his mind might be more vigorously affected to the love and desire of heavenly things And because he was utterly unable to rise out of his bed to the Quire and withall found great difficulty to raise his voyce and frame his tongue to the usuall course of Psalmody he out of a prudent devotion would every Ecclesiasticall hower send for some of his Monks and whilst they divided as it were into two quires chanted the Psalms proper for the Hower by day or night he as well as he could would ioyn his voyce with theirs and so by their assistance he would perform the divine Office which alone he could not doe 7. These two Venerable Abbots being thus oppressed with sicknes one day had a desire to meet together that they might see one the other and consult together touching the common good of the Monasteries which they were become unable any longer in their own persons to govern But so extreme was their weaknes that Abbot Sigfrid was carried in a Coffin to the Chamber where S. Benedict lay on his bed and both of them being placed close to one another with their heads on the same pillow yet their weaknes was such that without the help of others attending on them they were unable to ioyn their lips together to give and take their last kisse of charity which was a sad spectacle to the assistants who helped them to perform this last Office 8. At that time Holy Abbot Benedict by the advice of Sigfrid and consent of all the Monks of both Monasteries sent for Ceolfrid a man of nearer propinquity to his vertues then blood whom he had formerly constituted Abbot of the Monastery of S. Paul and proposed him to be Abbot of both the Monasteries whereto all the Religious men present willingly consented as judging it most proffitable to the common good and the preservation of peace and concord that one Spirituall Father should have the care and direction of those two neighbouring Monasteries 9. After these things were thus ordered within two months the Venerable and devout Abbot Sigfrid having passed through the fire and water of many tribulations was conveyed to the refreshment of eternall peace And four months after his death S. Benedict also the great conquerour of all vertues was brought to his last end That whole night the Religious Monks spent in watching and modulating Divine Psalms so comforting themselves in the losse of so beloved and reverenced a Father Severall of them continued in the chamber where the devout Abbot lay expecting his deliverance from mortality All that night they employed in reading some parts of the Gospell for his comfort and in prayers and his last hower approaching they gave him for his Viaticum the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord. And thus that holy soule after it had been purified in the furnace of many tribulations took her flight freely to eternall glory precisely in the point of time when the Monks reciting the whole Psalter were come to this Psalm Domine quis similis erit tibi c. the scope of which Psalm imports that notwithstanding the malice and violence of our spirituall enemies continually watchfull to destroy us yet by Gods help every faithfull soule shall triumph over them and mock at their eternall confusion So that it may seem that by Divine Providence this Psalm was recited the same moment when that happy soule left her mortall body to shew that no Enemy should have power to hinder her passage to eternall felicity 10. His death hapned in the sixteenth year after he had founded the Monastery of Saint Peter which he governed eight years alone and the eight years following with the assistance of Easterwin Sigfrid and Ceolfrid the first of whom continued Abbot four years the second three and the third one He dyed on the day before the Ides of Ianuary and was buried in the Church of the Blessed Apostle S. Peter to the end that after his death his Body might not be far divided from the Altar and Relicks of him to whom whilst he lived in the flesh he bore a devout affection and who was to open unto him the gates of the celestiall kingdom 11. Thus far have we continued the History of the two ancient and famous Monasteries of S. Peter and S. Paul at Wiremouth and Girwy together with the Gests and death of the first Abbots S. Benedict Easterwin and Sigfrid which though they hapned beyond the present time of this History yet I thought fitt not to interrupt S. Beda's Narration or divide each occurrent assigning it to its proper year to the prejudice of the Readers memory As for the Gests of the remaining Abbot Ceolfrid to whose care our famous and learned Historian S. Beda was committed we will treat of them hereafter in due place XIV CHAP. 1.2 c The Gests of Saint Ebba Abbesse of Coldingham 1. IN the year of Grace six hundred eighty three S. Ebba Abbesse of
the Monastery of Coldingham a Virgin of eminent Sanctity received the eternall Reward of her Piety She was daughter of Ethelfrid King of the Northumbers and consecrated to God in perpetuall Virginity by Finan formerly Bishop of Lindesfarn This was done saith the Authour of her life in an age when persons of high birth esteemed their Nobility to consist principally in the humble service of our Lord and that those were most highly exalted who with greatest submission undertook the Crosse of Christ. At that time innumerable Congregations both of men and woemen were sprinkled through the whole Island severally embracing the spirituall warfare of our Lord. Yea somewhere in the same place persons of both Sexes men and Virgins under the government of one spirituall Father or one Spirituall Mother armed with the sword of the Spirit did exercise the combats of Chastity against the Powers of darknes enemies thereto The Institut and practise of these was imitated by S. Ebba who for the love she bore to the Son of God even in the flower of her youth contemned whatsoever was great or desireable in the world She preferred the service of our Lord before secular Nobâ—lity spirituall Poverty before riches and voluntary objection before honours For though descended from Royall parents yet by Faith she overcame the world by vertues beauty and by spirituall Graces her own Sexe 2. At the beginning of her Conversion she by the assistance of her Brother King Oswi built a Monastery near the banks of the River Derwent in the Bishoprick of Durham where now is situated a small Village called Ebbchester so named saith Camden from the Virgin Ebba born of the family of the ancient Kings of the Northumbers who about the year of our Lord six hundred and thirty was so illustrious for her sanctity that by the Roman Church she was Canonized among Saints and very many Churches in this Island were dedicated to her name which are vulgarly called S. Tabbs This Monastery flourish'd till the time of the Danes whose fury as many others did it selt 3. S. Ebba did not long continue in her own Monastery before she was invited to the government of the Monastery of Coldingham seated in a place called by Saint Beda the Citty of Colud There saith the Authour of her life she had the charge of a Congregation of men and woemen which had Cells though divided yet contigiâ—ous to one another who all united in one holy Profession with great ioy and comfort lived under her direction for by an admirable prudence she shewd her self to the Virgins a carefull Mother by the power and efficacy of her admonitions and to the men as it were a Father by her constancy of mind That famous Virgin S. Ethelreda or Ediltrudis as hath been said was a Disciple of this holy Abbesse Ebba submitting her self to the rudiments of so great a Mistresse but afterwards became the glory of the Monastery of consecrated Virgins at Ely And the Blessed Bishop Cuthbert though from his infancy he avoyded the conversation of woemen like the pestilence yet he frequently came to discourse with S. Ebba and would some-times for instruction of the devout Virgins her subjects make some dayes abode in that Monastery 4. At last as we read in her life this holy Virgin Ebba full of all vertues and good works departed this life to her heavenly spouse on the eighth day before the Calends of September in the six hundred eighty and third year of our Lords Incarnation which was four years before the death of the said Holy Bishop S. Cuthbert And her body was with great honour buried in her own Monastery Her memory is worthily celebrated among the Saints in our English Martyrologe on the five and twentieth of August where her death is consigned to about the year of Grace six hundred eighty four XV. CHAP. 1.2 c. The burning of the Monastery of Coldingham and the cause of it foretold by an Angell 1. IT will not be impertinent in this place to adioyn to the Gests of the Holy Abbesse Ebba the relation of a wonderfull calamity which through Gods just judgment befell her Monastery a few years after her death and a warning whereof she herself had in her life-time The cause of which calamity was the relaxation of Discipline in the said Monastery proceeding from the vitious disposition of human Nature not restrained by the vigilance and severity of Superiours The whole matter is at large sett down by S. Beda in the tenour following 2. In those dayes saith he the Monastery of Virgins in the Citty of Colud or Coldingham through a faulty negligence was consumed with flames Which misfortune notwithstanding was indeed to be ascribed to the malice and wickednes of those which inhabited there especially Superiours as all that knew it did observe The divine Piety was not wanting to admonish before-hand those upon whom this judgment was to come to the end that correcting their faults they might like the Ninitives by fasting teares prayers avert from them the wrath of God For there lived in the same Monastery a man of the Scottish Nation whose name was Adamannus who lead a very devout life in continence and prayers insomuch as he never used to take any sustenance but on Sundays and Thursdayes and oftimes spent whose nights in Prayer 3. This so rigorous a mortification was first practised by him out of necessity for the correction of his former wickednes and licentiousnes but in processe of time necessity was turned into custom For in his youth he had committed some very great crime for which afterwards soberly considering he had a most horrible remorse and fearfull expectation of divine judgment Therefore going to a Preist who he hoped might shew him the way of salvation he simply confessed his guilt beseeching him to advise him how he might escape the Divine Vengeance The Preist having heard his Confession said thus to him A great wound requires a great cure Therefore according to thy utmost ability persist constantly in fasting reciting of Psalms and Prayers that thus preventing the face of our Lord in confession thou maâ—sâ— find mercy from him The young man overwhelmed with sorrow and infinitly desirous to be freed from the bonds of his sins thus replyed I am young in years and vigorous 〈◊〉 body so that whatsoever you shall impose upoâ— mee so I may in the end be saved I will chearfully suffer and perform though you should command mee to spend every night wholly in prayers standing all the while and passe the whole week entirely in fasting The Preist told him It is too much to endure a whole week without sustenance it will be sufficient therefore if you continue your Fast for two or three days together Doe this therefore for some time till I see you next and then I will tell you more particularly what you are to doe and how long your pennance is to last Having said
this and prescribed him the measure of his Pennance the Preist went away And awhile after upon some pressing occasion passed over into Ireland his Native countrey Neither did he ever after return according to his promise 4. However the Penitent mindfull of his injunction and promise gave himself wholly to teares of Pennance to devout watchings and continence insomuch as he took his reâ—ection only two dayes in the week as hath been said and fasted all the rest And afterwards when he heard that the Preist was gone into Ireland and that there he was dead notwithstanding according to his injunction he persever'd in the observance of the same measure of fasting So that what at first he undertook out of compunction and fear of Gods iudgment afterward he continued the same out of Love to God and hope of eternall rewards 5. After he had with great diligence and care for a long time observed this rigorous course of Mortification it hapned on a certain day that he in the company of one of his Brethren went out of the Monastery to a place at a good distance and returned at night Being come near to the Monastery and observing the lofty buildings of it the good man fell presently a weeping shewing withall great sorrow in his countenance Which his companion observing askd him the cause He answered All these goodly buildings both publick and private which thou seest shall within a very short time by fire be consumed to ashes Assoon then as they entred into the Monastery he to whom this was told went presently to the Mother of the Congregation whose name was Ebba and to her discovered the holy mans speeches 6 She being extremely troubled with so ominous a presage as there was reason sent for the good man and diligently enquired of him the matter and how he came to the knowledge of it He answered thus Awhile since as I was employed one night in watching and reciting Psalms I saw standing by mee a person whose face I had never before seen the sight of whom putt mee into a great feare But he bad me I should not feare and in a familiar manner said to mee Thou doest well in passing the night in watching and prayers and that thou doest not indulge to sleep I replied Alas Sir I have great need to persist in devout watching and incessantly to pray our Lord to pardon my sins He replied Thou sayst well both thou and many others have need to redeem their sins by good works and when they cease from bodily labours then to labour more diligently for eternall goods but few there are who doe thus For but even now I have taken a view of this whole Monastery I have beheld every chamber and bed one after another and besides thy self I have not found one person employed in the care of his soules health But every one men and woemen are either benummed in a sluggish drowsines or if they are awake they are doing some what that is naught For the lodgings here which were intended for places of prayer or reading are now turned into chambers of good fellow-ship drinking and other wantonnesses Yea moreover the Virgins consecrated to God contemning the Sanctity of their profession whensoever they are at leasure they employ their time in weaving delicate garments wish which they adorn themselves like Brides or endeavour to win the affection of men who come to visit them Therefore a terrible iudgment from heaven by fire is deservedly prepared against this place and those which inhabit it 7. When he had said this the Abbesse replied Why would you not sooner discover to mee this revelation He answered I was silent out of respect to you and for fear of troubling your mind too much Notwithstanding this comfort you may have this iudgment shall not happen in your dayes 8. This Vision being afterward divulged the people of that place for a while conceived some fear and began to intermitt their exorbitances But after the death of the Abbesse they returned to their former corruptions yea they committed far greater wickednes and when they said Peace and security on a sudden the foresaid vengeance came upon them 9. A true perfect relation of these things saith S. Beda I received from my reverend fellow-Preist Edgils who then lived in the said Monastery and after the desolation of it he came into ours where he lived many years and afterward dyed 10. When this hapned S. Cuthbert being as yet a Monk though as hath been said he bore great respect to S. Ebba for her Sanctity yet perceiving how dangerous any commerce between Religious men woemen was whatsoever pretext of Charity might be made for it he utterly forbade it to his Monks Concerning which prohibition and the occasion of it thus writes Turgothus Priour of Durham quoted by Bishop Vsher Not long after saith he the man of God Cuthbert being exalted to the Episcopall throne entirely separated from his Monks all society with woemen for fear any then alive or their Successours might after the forementioned example provoke the wrath of God against them By the generall consent therefore of all of both sexes he both for present and future times interdicted to his Monks any commerce with woemen wholly forbidding them entrance into his Church And therefore in the Isle of his Episcopall See he built a Church which in the Saxon tongue is called Grenceyric or Green Church because seated in a green plain and ordained that woemen should come thither to hear Masse or Sermons but that they should never approach nearer to the Church in which himself and his Monks served our Lord. Which custom is diligently observed to this day insomuch as unlesse an invasion of enemies or burning of the place compell them it is not permitted that women should sett their feet no not within the Church-yard where for a time the body of Saint Cuthbert reposed But quitting this not unusefull digression we will return to the course of our generall History XVI CHAP. 1.2 c. King Egfrids cruelty to the Irish their imprecations against him and his punishment foretold 1. IN the year of our Lords Incarnation six hundred eighty four saith S. Beda Egfrid King of the Northumbers upon what provocation it is uncertain sent an army under the command of Bertus into Ireland who miserably wasted that innocent Nation a Nation withall which had always been affectionate to the English Yet for all that so furious was the rage of this army against them that neither Churches nor Monasteries were spared by them As for the Irish according to their ability they repelled force with force and withall by earnest prayers solicited the divine help using many imprecations against their enemies And although those who use bitter language and cursing shall be excluded the Kingdom of God yet the generall beleif was that the English who by their impieties deserved such curses by the just iudgment of God shortly after received their
him large possessions for the building of Monasteries Whose intentions he diligently executed erecting severall Churches and Monasteries in commodious places and assembling many Disciples studious of piety and learning among whom the most eminent were Boysil Priour of the Monastery of Mailros and S. Cuthbert afterward Bishop of Lindesfarn who were men of admirable sanctity and withall eminently endued with the Spirit of Prophecy 4. After the disputation and conflict touching the Observation of Easter which was held in the Monastery of the Holy Abbesse S. Hilda Bishop Colman by descent a Scott obtaind of King Oswi that the Venerable Monk Eata should as Abbot govern the Church of Lindesfarn For the Scots bore a great affection to Eata insomuch as he was one of the twelve English children which had received their education from Bishop Aidan Eata therefore having undertaken the care of the Church of Lindesfarn brought with him thither S. Cuthbert whom after the death of Boysil he had made Priour of the Monastery of Mailros and constituted him Priour of the Convent in Lindesfarn And when afterward the dissention grew hott between King Egfrid and the holy Bishop Wilfrid by means of which he was expelled his Bishoprick Bosa was in his place substituted Bishop of York in the Kingdom of the Deiri and the Holy Abbot Eata was ordained Bishop in the Province of the Bernicians having his Episcopal See partly at Hagulstad that is Extoldesham now Hexham where at this time there are Canons Regulars and partly in the Church of Lindesfarn or Holy Island They were consecrated Bishops by Theodore Arch-bishop of Canterbury 5. Thus writes the Authour of the Life of S. Eata whereto he adioyns the Narration how the Province of Lindesfarn being divided S. Eata was confined to that of Lindesfarn and another placed at Hagulstad and after the Election of S. Cuthbert he resigned to him the See of Lindesfarn and removed to Hagulstad then vacant by the deposition of Tumbert And in conclusion he relates the manner of his death after he had with great zeale and piety administred his Episcopal Office saying When our mercifull Lord thought good to crown the labours of this holy Bishop with an eternall reward he was struck with a greivous disease of the bowells called a Dyssentery the torments whereof encreasing dayly he was purged therby like gold in a fiery fornace and at last all the drosse of sinfull imperfections being spent and consumed he dyed most happily so entring the gate of heaven there to abide for ever He was buried toward the South end of the Church of Hagulstad and a little Chappell of stone was built over his Tomb. From which place his body was afterward translated but by whom is uncertain and with due honour placed in a Shrine within the Church 6. His Successour in the said Bishoprick of Hagulstad was the famous Bishop Iohn de Beverlaco of Beverley so called from a well-known Town of that name in Yorkshire where he or his family lived This holy man as we learn from the Authour of his Life in Capgrave was born in England and being very young was for his instruction committed to Saint Theodore Arch-bishop of Canterbury who educated him in all innocence of manners and vertue and taught him the knowledge and prudence of Holy Scriptures And after he had been well imbued with other learning likewise his custome was to travell through severall provinces sowing among the ignorant people the word of God But after that the Venerable Bishop Eata by Gods disposition had ended the course of human life he with the consent of King Alfrid received the Episcopall honour Concerning this Holy Bishop more will be said in the Sequele of this History VI. CHAP. 1.2 The Tyranny and death of Edric King of Kent 2.3 c. Of Cedwalla King of the west Saxons at first a Pagan His Brother Mol is burnt 7.8 He conquers the Isle of wight which receives the Christian Faith 9. Cedwalla's munificence to S. Wilfrid 1. WE must awhile surcease this Narration touching the Ecclesiasticall affairs among the Northumbers that we may attend to the great combustions and changeâ— in the Southern parts of this Island This was the first year of the Raign of Edric King oâ— Kent after the death of his usurping Vncle Lothere His government was Tyrannous and therefore unquiet For as William of Malmsbury observeth he did boast but a short time in the Successe of his Tyranny for within two years he was deprived both of his kingdom and life leaving his countrey exposed to be torn in peices by its enemies 1 But Cedwalla the Successour of Kentwin in the kingdom of the West-Saxons though at the first no Christian raigned fair more gloriously and concluded both his raign and life more happily He was saith the same Authour a Noble branch of a Royal Stock being the great grandchild of Ceaulin by his brother-Cuda He was a young man of immoderate ambition who would let passe no occasion of exercising his courage His restles disposition had procured against him the anger of the greatest part of the Nobility of that kingdom by a faction and conspiracy of whom he was driven into banishment In resentment of this iniury he drew out of the kingdom in a manner the whole strength of it for the warlick youth there either out of pitty of his misfortune or affection to his courage resorted to him in his exile Edilwalch King of the South-Saxons was the first against whom he vented his fury insomuch as coming to a battell his whole army was defeated and himself slain But after that Victory obtained Cedwalla was driven out of that Province by Bertun and Ethelhun two South-Saxon Generalls who after that possessed themselves of the Kingdom 3. About this time Kentwin dying Cedwalla by consent of the inhabitants was made King of the West-Saxons Who immediatly with new forces invaded once more the Kingdom of the South-Saxons which he subdued and held in great slavery moreover killing Beorthun the Prince or Generall of the forces of that Nation 4. And not content with this acquest he and his Brother Mul wasied also the Kingdom of Kent but in the end was driven out with losse This hapned indeed the year following but since the whole Raign of Cedwalla containd onely two years or little more in which short time the hand of God wrought wonderfull changes upon him converting him from a furious Pagan to an humble devout Christian from a Lyon to a Lamb We will here make no breaches in his Story but deliver it all at once 5. Concerning his invasion of Kent William of Malmsbury thus describes it Presently after Cedwalla accompanied by his Brother Mollo breathing forth a furious hatred against the inhabitants of Kent with all the forces he could make made an invasion into that Province which he thought might easily be subdued by reason of a long peace it had enioyed and at this time was also
of Lindesfarn where it was received by a great Troop of devout people who mett it together with severall Quires of Monks singing Psalms and it was with great reverence layd in a Stone Coffin and buried in the Church of the Blessed Apostle S. Peter on the right side of the Altar This is the Narrative which the Venerable Abbot Herefride who was an eye-witnes of all things gave to Saint Beda touching the circumstances of the happy death of the glorious Saint Cuthbert IX CHAP. 1 2. c. The incorruption of Saint Cuthberts Body testified in all ages The great liberality of our Kings to his Church Its Priviledges c. 1. SO precious in the Sight of God was the death of this most admirably holy Bishop that to shew the incorruption of his Faith God was pleased to conferre an incorruption on his Body likewise A miraculous Priviledge not only conspicuous to the age immediatly following but even to these our times Saint Beda who wrote his life and might have been an eye-witnes of what he wrote testifies as much for that age â— The Divine disposition saith he being pleased to demonstrate in how great glory the man of God Saint Cuthbert lived after his death the Sanctity of whose life had before been arrested by many miraculous signs gave this illustrious testimony Eleaven years after his buriall God inspired into the minds of his Brethren the Monks to take up his his bones which they conceived according to the course of Nature to be dry and the flesh dissolved into dust Those bones they intended to lay in a new Coffin and place them more honourably in a Tombe raised above the pavement This intention of theirs they signified to their Venerable Bishop Eadbert who approving it commanded them to put it in execution on the next Anniversary day of his Deposition They did so and opening the Sepulcher found his body perfectly entire with a lively freshnes and all his limbs as flexible as if he had been alive so that he appeared like a person rather asleep then dead Moreover all his Vestments were not only undecayed but appeared in their primitive freshnes and also with the addition of a wonderfull luster â— The Monks seing this were much astonished and with great hast signified these wonders to their Bishop who then had retired himself to a place a good way distant from the Church which every tide was encompassed by the Sea For his custome was every year both during the time or Lent and forty dayes likewise before our Lords Nativity to confine himself to that solitude there passing the time in great abstinence compunction and prayer And to the same place his Venerable Predecessour S. Cuthbert had been accustomed severall times to retire himself for devotion and mortification before he went to the Isle Farne 4. Hither came the Monks bringing with them some shreds of the vestments wherwith the Sacred Body had been cloathed which they presented to the Bishop He accepted their gift very thankfully and with much content heard their relation of this miracle with an affectionate devotion kissing those garments as if the body which they had covered had been there present Withall he commanded them to provide new vestments to enwrapp the body and to lay it reverently in the New Coffin which they had provided For I am assured said he that the place consecrated by God with so celestiall a miracle will shortly be frequenâ—ted with great devotion And how happy shall that man be on whom God the Authour of all Blessednes shall conferre the Grace and priviledge to repose there Many other like speeches did the Venerable Bishop adde with a trembling tongue and great compunction After which the Monks according to his command inwrapped the Sacred Body in new vestments and layd it in a New Coffin which they putt into a Tombe raised above the pavement of the Sanctuary 5. Presently after this the devout Bishop Eadbert was assaulted by a very sharp disease the violence of which encreasing more more an within in a few dayes that is the day before the Nones of May he also departed to our Lord. Whose body likewise the Monks layd in the Tombe of their Blessed Father S. Cuthbert over the Coffin in which his incorrupted Body râ—posed After which many miraculous cures there done have given an assured testimony of the Sanctity of them both a particular relation of severall of which I have sett down in the Book of the life of the same glorious S. Cuthberth to which I referr the Reader 6 Occasion will frequently be given in the pursuit of this History to renew the memory of this glorious Saint for severall times have his Sacred Relicks been translated and never without a renewing of miraculous testimonies of his Sanctity and glory 7. So wonderfull was the Veneration in which his memory was held by all succeeding ages that Kings Princes sett no bounds to their magnificence toward him that is toward the Church for his honour heaping Gifts lands Priviledges and immunities on it Alfrid who at this time was King of the Northumbers out-passing the liberality of his Father Egfrid gave the whole countrey between the Rivers Were and Tine for a perpetuall possession to S. Cuthbert and those who administred divine Mysteries in his Church Which likewise succeeding Kings made a Sanctuary and Refuge to all that on any occasion whatsoever repaired to it granting them an entire security for the space of thirty seaven dayes upon no â—ccasion to be infringed Thus writes Camden in his Description of the Bishoprick of Durham to which place S. Cuthberts Reliks were last of all translated 8. And for that reason saith the same Authour that whole Region with others confining is by Monks in their writings called The land or patrimony of Saint Cuthbert For that title was given to all the land belonging to the Church of Durham of which Saint Cuthbert was Patron This Cuthbert in the first infancy of the Saxon Church was Bishop of Lindesfarn a man of such Sanctity and integrity of life that he was canonized among the Saints And our Kings and Nobles beleiving him to be a Tutelary S. against the Scotts did not onely very oft visit his Body with great devotion which our Writers have perswaded us to have continued hitherto entire and uncorrupted but likewise bestowed upon it very large possessions and many immunities 9. Among which immunities this was one not the least signall that all the inhabitants of that countrey as being the Watchmen and Guards of Saint Cuthberts Body were exempted from all servitudes and obligations of attending even the King himself in his warr for as we read in the ancient Book of Durham They sayd that they were Halywerke folks and that they held their land for the defence of the Body of Saint Cuthbert and they ought not either for King or Bishop to goe out of the limits of the Bishoprick that is beyond the Rivers
Arch-bishoprick for I doe not know any one of the English Nation so capable of it considering the eminence of your learning and skill in the Ecclesiasticall Lawes of Rome As for my self I will by Gods grace for the future be very diligent to wipe out all old offences by my care to perform all good offices and among the rest I will endeavour by my intercession and all the authority I have to reconcile to you all the Princes who have hitherto been your persecutours 3. Saint Wilfrid answered the Arch-bishop with all meeknes as became so holy a person but to accept of the Arch-bishoprick without the order and decree of a Nationall Councill he would by no means consent Saint Theodore notwithstanding used his utmost endeavours to obtain his complyance in this point but in vain Therefore he sent Messengers with letters to Alfrid King of the Northumbers who succeeded Egfrid and to his Sister Elfleda Abbesse of Streneshalch earnestly requiring them to lay aside all displeasure and without delay to receive into their affection and favour the Holy Bishop These Letters are not now extant but others which he wrote to the same effect to Ethelred King of the Marâ—cians have been preserved by William of Malmsbury in this forme 4. Your admirable Sanctity My beloved son may hereby take notice that a perfect reconciliation is made between my self and the Venerable Bishop Wilfrid Therefore I doe admonish you and in the Love of Christ require that yâ—u woulâ— still continue as you have hitherto done your protection of him who these many years has beeâ— despoyled of his revenews and forced to live among Pagans in the Conversion of whom he has seâ—ved our Lord with great effect Therefore I Theodore humble Bishop doe now in my decrepite age make this request unto you desiring the same which the Apostles authority recommends touching a Holy Bishop who has so long a time possessed his soule in patience and in imitation of Christ our Head with all humility and meeknes expects an end of so many injuries done him Moreover if I have found favour in your eyes let mee enioy the comfort of seeing your face most desirable to mee and let not a iourney for that purpose seem burdensome to you that my soule may blesse you before I dye Beloved Son perform the requesâ— I have made you in behalf of the said holy Bishop and be assured that if you obey your Father who am shortly to depart out of this world you will reap great proffit to your soule by it Farewell 5 S. Wilfrid armed with these Letters and reâ—recommendations took his iourney to the Kingdom of the Northumbers and beforâ— he entred it he received a kind invitation â—rom King Alâ—frid who at his coming with the consent of a Synod assembled restored to him all the revenews of which he had been deprived The Church of Lindesfarn was now vacant by the voluntary cession and ensuing death of Saint Cuthbert And as for Bosa Bishop of York and Iohn lately ordained Bishop of Hagulstad or Hexham they shewed a greater inclination to preserve peace and declare their obedience to the ordinance of the Pope then to retain their dignities or revenewes To this effect the foresaid Authour thus writes When Saint Wilfrid came with the Arch-bishops Letters to the forementioned Kings he was entertained with very kind speeches and all expressions of favour And particularly King Alfrid who had familiarly known him before of his own accord invited him to come to him And being arrived he first of all restored to him the Monastery of Hengsteldeim and afterward by decree of a Synod the Bishoprick of York together with the Monastery of Rippon We will now leave him in quiet possession of his Bishoprick which lasted the space of five years after which shall be related fresh troubles and persecutions renewed against him XI CHAP. 1. The Martyrdom of Saint Lewina a Virgin 2.3 Her Relicks removed into Flanders and venerated there 1. TO this year of Grace six hundred eighty seaven is assigned in our ancient Records the death and Martyrdom of a certain Brittish Virgin called Lewina whose memory is celebrated in our Martyrologe on the two twentieth day of Iuly and she is said to have been slain in this our Island by a certain Saxon out of his hatred to the Christian Faith She suffred in the Province of the South-Saxons whom S. Wilfrid had lately converted to the Faith And she was buried in Sussex at a place called Seaford not far from the Town of Lewes which probably took its name from this Virgin 2. When the Danes in after ages cruelly vexed this Island and with a furious zeale imitated since by Calvinistes raged against the Monuments of Saints the Holy Virgins Body was taken up and translated beyond Sea where it was reposed at a place called Berga or Monts in Brabant or rather Flanders where now is seated the Town of S. Winoc Thus writes Miraeus in his Belgick Calender on the two and twentieth of Iuly Then is celebrated the memory of Levinna or Lewina an English Virgin whe flourished under Eubert or rather Egbert the Father of Alfrid King of the English Nation and suffred Martyrdom in the time of Theodore the seaventh Arch-bishop of Canterbury Her Sacred Body was taken out of her Monument by Edelin a Bishop and translated at last to Bergs of S. Winâ—c together with the Relicks of S. Oswald King and Martyr and of S. Itiâ—berga or Idalberga a Virgin Concerning the Miracles of Saint Lewina there is extant a Book written by Drogo Bishop of the Morini or Teroüâ—â—ne 3 Consonantly hereto wee read in the Gallican Martyrologe on the fifth of August At Bergs in the Province of the Morini is then celebrated the Memory of the reception of Saint Lewina Virgin and Martyr whose most Sacred Body was by Balger a Monk of Bergs brought to his Monastery from the Monastery of S. Andrew at Zevored or Seaford a Sea port in England The said Sacred Body being caried through severall villages and Towns in Flanders before it came to Bergs became illustrious by many Miracles affording comfort and health to any one who implored her intercession as Drogo Bishop of the Morini manifestly declares in his Book of the said holy Virgin and Martyrâ— Miracles XII CHAP. 1. Ina King of the West-Saxons 2.3 c. Saint Aldelm at Rome obtains Priviledges for his Monastery of Malmsbury A fabulous report concerning Pope Sergius 1. IN the year of Grace six hundred eighty eight began the raign of the glorious King Ina King of the West-Saxons as we have already declared when we treated of the cession of King Cedwalla after his conversion who left his throne to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome there to receive Baptism where he happily dyed in his Baptismall innocence 2. The same year Saint Wilfrid contenting himself with the Churches of York and Hagulstad which he administred with great
perfection voluntarily surrendred the Church of Lindesfarn which he committed to the governance of Eadbert mentioned before upon occasion of the death of S. Cuthbert who was ordained Bishop of that Diocese At this time the English-Saxon Churches flourished wonderfully when the Princes and others following their example sought not their own interests but those of Iesus Christ. This wee shall shorty make good by relating the actions of severall of our Kings and Apostolicall men who filled France Germany and even Italy it self with the seeds of Gods Word and the fame of their Sanctity 3. The year following in which King Cedwalla dyed at Rome S. Aldelm who as hath been said was his companion in that iourney became a Petitioner to Pope Sergius and obtaind of him in the behalf of his Monastery of Malmsbury a Priviledge of exemption from Episcopall Iurisdiction and a power to the Monks of electing their own Abbot according to the Rule of S. Benedict Of this Priviledge saith William a Monk of the same Monastery the same S. Aldelm obtained a confirmation from Ina King of the West-Saxons and Ethelred of the Mercians 4. Among other Acts of S. Aldelm at Rome there is reckoned by a certain Authour of no great credit saith Baronius his freeing Pope Sorgius from a scandalous imputation and calumny imposed on him of being the Father of a bastard then incestuously born Which calumny S. Aldelm is said to have dissipated by commanding the infant then but nine dayes old expressely to acquitt the Pope of that crime This fable the Centuriatours of Magdeburg having mett with they according to their accustomd impudence doe thus pervert There was great familiarity between Aldelm and Pope Sergius to whom a Son having been born by adultery at Rome he had not the boldnes to declare the truth ingenuously What ever the truth was certain it is that these Writers have most disingenuously adulterated it XIII CHAP. 1.2 The death of Saint Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury His Disciples 3. The death of S. Eanfleda 4.5 Likewise of S. Hersewida 1. THE next year after the death of King Cedwalla at Rome that is the six hundred and ninetieth after our Lords Incarnation saith S. Beda Arch-bishop Theodore of blessed memory being an old man and full of dayes for he was then in the eighty eighth year of his age happily dyed That his life should be continued to this number of years he had been advertised by Revelation in a dream as he oft told his freinds He administred the See of Canterbury the space of two and twenty years and was buried in the Church of S. Peter where the Bodies of all the Arch-bishops were enterred Concerning him and all his Predecessours in that See likewise it it may be truly and properly said Their Bodies doe rest in peace and their names live from generation to generation For to summ up all in a word the English Churches received more spirituall advancement during his government then they had done in any age before 2. A great ornament to S. Theodore were his Disciples whom he left behind him for the perpetuating his name Among which the most eminent were those who are named by Bishop Parker in his Antiquities where speaking of S. Theodore he saith Besides his other vertues he was in great perfection learned and after his death he did as it were live in his Disciples which were many and illustrious Among which the more notable were these Saint Beda Iohn of Beverley Albin the Venerable Abbot of the Monastery of S. Augustin in Canterbury and Thobias Bishop of Rochester who was as skillfull and ready in the Latin and Greek as his own native language S. Beda ingenuously acknowledges that Albin assisted him much in the collecting his History and for the tongues makes him equall to Thobias Of all these Disciples of S. Theodore wee shall speak particularly hereafter 3. The same year dyed also S. Eanfleda the daughter of Edwin King of the Northumbers She was the first person baptized in that Province After her Fathers death she returned with her mother into Kent and in processe of time was married to Oswi King of the Northumbers who by her admonition built the Monastery of Gethlin now called Gilling not far from Richmond in expiation for the death of Oswin slain by Oswi After the death of her husband she retired into the Monastery of Streneshalch or Whitby in which her daughter S. Elfleda had spent many years in great devotion and after the death of S. Hilda was made Abbesse of it There S. Eanfleda received the Religious habit and veyle and submitted herself to the instructions and command of her own daughter She was buried in the Church of Saint Peter belonging to the said Monastery where formerly her husband King Oswi and afterward her daughter S. Elfleda were also enterred Her name is commemorated in our Martyrologe among the Saints on the fifth of December 4. To the same year is likewise assigned the happy death of S. Hereswida the daughter of Hereric Nephew to the glorious King S. Edwin She was married to Ethelhere King of the East-Angles to whom she bore three Sons all which were consequently Kings Aldulph Eflwold and Beorna After her husbands death she retired from Court and being desirous to passe to a more strict and private life she left her countrey and in the famous Monastery of Cala or Chelles in France she undertook the Profession of a Religious life So great was her devotion and piety that both in France and Brittany many were inflamed to imitate her example And among the rest her Sister S. Hilda had an intention to follow her into France but was perswaded not to deprive her own countrey the Kingdom of the Northumbers of the luster of her vertues In the mean time S. Hereswida having spent many years in the delicious exercises of Contemplation this year received the Crown so long expected by her 5. In the Gallican Martyrologe we read this testimony of her In the Monastery of Cale seated in the territory of Paris this day being the twentieth of September is celebrated the memory of S. Hereswida She being a Queen in England out of love to Christ forsook her Scepter and kingdom and betook her self to the said famous Monastery where after she had afforded admirable examples of Piety humility and Regular Observance professed by her she was consummated with a blessed end and obtained the reward of a heavenly crown Her glorious gests Saint Beda who was a great admirer of her hath celebrated with condigne praises XIV CHAP. 1.2.3 Saint Wilfrid again expelled his Diocese 4 5. c. He retires among the Mercians where he succeeds to Sexulf in administring the See of Leicester and ordains Bishops 7 8. Bosil Bishop of Worcester dying Ostfor succeeds 1 SAint Wilfrid had now five years enioyd with quietnes and with great piety administred his Province of the
Martin in the Town of Dover and enriched the Monks living there with large possessions XIX CHAP. 1. Brithwald consecrated Arch bishop of Canterbury 2.3 Pope Sergius his Letters to the Saxon Kings and Bishops 4. Brithwald ordains Bishops 1. PEace and tranquility being thus restored to the Kingdom of Kent the Consecration of a New-Arch-bishop in the place of S. Theodore dead two years since was very seasonable and necessary His Successours name was Brithwald who saith S. Beda was an Abbot in a certain Monastery seated near the place called Raculf where the River Genlade discharges it self into the Sea He was a man well versed both in holy Scriptures and likewise in Ecclesiasticall and Monasteriall Disciplines Yet much inferiour to his Predecessour He was chosen Bishop in the year of our Lords Incarnation six hundred ninety two on the first of Iuly Wichtred and Suebhard being then Kings of Kent But his Ordination was deferred to the year following for the attaining of which he was forced to passe over the Sea to Rome thence returned into France where he was consecrated by Godwin a Metropolitan there on the third day before the Calends of Ianuary and took possession of his own See on the day before the Calends of September being a Sunday 2. The same year there came Letters from Pope Sergius directed to Ethelred Alfrid and Adulf English Kings to whose protection and favour he earnestly recommended the New Arch-bishop The Motive of writing this Letter seems to have been the divisions and turmoyles of Kent of the composing of which it seems the Pope was ignorant and therefore did not addresse it to Withred King of Kent 3. Other Letters also came then from the same Pope to all the Bishops of Brittany in which he acquaints them with how much gladnes he entertained the said Elect Arch-bishop newly arrived at Rome as likewise the tidings of the Orthodox Vnity which was amōg them Consequētly he signified to them that according to the ancient Priviledge of that Church of Cāterbury from the dayes of his Holy Predecessour S. Gregory to the present time he had invested him with the Primacy of all the Churches of Brittany conferred on him the Sacred use of the Pall and Dalmatick Vestment Whereupon he required and commanded them to yeild to him all due honour and obedience as their Supreme Prelat and Primat These two Letters are cited by William of Malmsbury in his Discourse touching the dignity of the See of Canterbury 4. The first care of this New Arch-bishop was to supply the vacant Sees with worthy Prelats and saith S. Beda among many Bishops ordained by him he consecrated in the place of Gebmund Bishop of Rochester then dead Tobias a man skilfull in the Greek Latin and Saxon tongues and adorned with great variety of litterature To Tobias we may adioyn Waldher about this time ordained Bishop of London and successour to the holy Bishop Erconwald concerning whose Princely extraction vertues and Sanctity attested by many miracles before and after his death we have already spoken S. Erconwalds body was buried in his Church at London but in the year of Grace eleaven hundred forty eight his Sacred Relicks were taken up and translated to a more honourable place where for many miracles they were held in great veneration as Mathew of Westminster testifies in the same year XX. CHAP. 1.2 c. King Sebbe becomes a Monk His sicknes and Blessed death 6. Impious folly of the Centuriators of Magdeburg 7. c. A miracle at the enterrement of the Holy King Sebbe 9. The Holy Bishop Egwin succeeds to Ostfor in the See of Worcester 1. THE same year afforded to the world an illustrious example of the contēpt of perishing honours and pleasures in the person of a Prince who had many years enjoyd them and by experience knew the iust valew or rather the reall basenes of them and unsatisfaction to be found in them This was an example as ordinary in that age as to be esteemed miraculous in this 2. The person who afforded this example was Sebbe King of the East-Saxons concerning whose piety and desire to relinquish his purple for a poor Religious habit we have spoken already This desire at last he this year executed The order and manner whereof is thus related by S. Beda 3. When Sebbe had spent thirty years in the government of the East-Saxons all which time by his piety and devotion he shewed himself a soldier contending for a heavenly kingdom he was at last assaulted by a greivous sicknes which left him not till it brought him to his grave Being in this condition he admonished his wife that she should no longer oppose his retirement from the world but rather ioyn with him in dedicating the remainder of their lives in the service of God since neither of them could any longer enioy any content in the pleasures or rather slavery of the present world It was with much adoe that he obtained her liking hereto But having at last with much importunity wrested her consent he went to Valdhere then Bishop of London and successour to S. Erconwald and with his approbation and benediction he received the Habit of Religion so long and so earnestly desired by him He brought to the said Bishop a great summ of money to be distributed among the poore reserving nothing at all to himself so great was his desire to become truly poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven 4. When his sicknes encreased on him so far that he perceived his death to approach being a person of a truly royall mind and therefore apprehending least the pains of his end night enforce him either by words gestures or actions to behave himself otherwise then became a person of his quality and condition he being then at London sent for the foresaid Bishop and desired him that besides himself and two of his own servants no other should be present at his death 5. This request the venerable Prelat willingly granted And not long after the devout King in his sleep by a comfortable Vision was freed from all the anxiety of his former solicitude and moreover had notice given him of the precise day in which he was to end his life For as himself afterward related he saw three men in shining vestments coming to him of which one sate down before his bed whilst the other two his companions stood by and askd him how he did Then he that was sett down said to him Be of good chear for your soule shall without any pain at all and with great splendour forsake your body and on the third day following you shall dye And the event really made good both these promises which he received in the vision For on the third day immediatly after Noon without any sence of pain he breathed forth his soule as if he had quietly rested in sleep 6. Thus happily dyed this Religious King whose death no doubt was precious in
the Faith which they preached with the sacrifice of their lives The manner of their Martyrdom is thus described by S. Beda 2. Two certain Preists of the English Nation who â—or attaining to their heavenly â—ountrey had lived as it were banished persons a long time in Ireland went into the Province of the Old Saxons hoping by their preaching there to gain soules unto Christ. They were both of them as of the same devotion so likewise of the same name each of them being called Ewald yet with this distinction that according to the colour of their hair the one was called Black and the other White Ewald There was little difference between them as to their piety and â—eale but he who was called Black Ewald was more skillfull in the learning and knowledge of Scriptures 3. These two Brothers assoon as they were entred into the Province took their lodging with a certain Farmer whom they entreated to direct them to the Prince of the countrey because they had a Message to deliver to him which would bring much proffit to the publick Now those Saxons had no Kings but severall petty Princes who upon occasion of any war approaching meet together and by lotts chuse a common Ruler and Generall whom for the time they all obey but the war being ended they return to their former state of equality among themselves 4. The countrey-farmer entertained them therefore promising them that he would â—ondâ—ct them to their Prince â—nd in this expectation he detained them in his house severall days Now the barbarous Neighbours adioyning perceiving that they were strangers and of a quite different Religion from that of the countrey for they spent the greatest part of their time in Hymnes Psalms and Prayers and dayly offred to God the saving Sacrifice for which purpose they were furnished with Sacred Vessels a small Table in stead of an Altar Thereupon having a suspicion that if those Holy men should have accesse to their Lord and converse with him they would avert him from their Gods and induce him to embrace a New Religion by which means the whole Province might by little and little be in danger to forsake the old Religion They therefore suddenly sett upon them and forcing them out of the house â—lew them Him who was called the White Ewald they killed with the sword but the other they putt to death with great and tedious tortures tearing his members asunder and having slain them they cast their Bodies into the Rhene 5. When the Prince of the countrey whom these Holy men desired to see heard of this he conceived great fury against those his barbarous Subjects for not permitting strangers desirous to speak with him to come to him Whereupon he sent soldiers and slew all the inhabitants of that Village and burnt their houses with fire The foresaid Preists and Holy Martyrs suffred on the fifth day before the Nones of October 6. Now how precious their death was in the eyes of God appeared by many celestiall signs For whereas their dead bodies as hath been sayd were by the Pagans cast into the River it so fell out that they were caried against the stream the space of forty miles upward to the place where their companions abode Moreover every night a very great light reaching to heaven shone over the place where the said bodies remained And this was observed by some of the Pagans who had murdred them Likewise one of these Brethren Martyrs in a Vision by night appeared to one of their companions named Tumon a man who while he lived in the world had been in great esteem for his Noble birth but from a soldiers profession became a Monk To this man the Holy Martyr discovered that he might find their bodies in the place where he should see a glorious Light shining from heaven And so it came to passe for their Sacred Bodies being thus discovered were with great honour enterred as became such glorious Martyrs and the days both of their suffring and Invention is celebrated in those places with due Veneration 7 In the Gallican Martyrologe we read the foregoing relation abbreviated the place of their Martyrdom to have been in Westphalia And there is this addition That when Pipin the glorious Duke and Generall of the French Nation was informed of these things he caused the Martyrs Sacred Bodies to be brought to him which he buried with great splendour at Colen in the Collegiate Church of S. Cumbert Their Memory is celebrated on the third of October which was the day either of their suffring or invention 8. These were the First-fruits which consecrated this English Apostolick Mission How plentifull the succeeding Harvest was reaped by the incredible labours the unwearied industry and neglect of dangers yea readines in these zealous labourers to expose themselves to death it self for the salvation of barbarous and pittilesse Nations shall shortly be more largely declared VI. CHAP. 1.2 c. A Synod in Kent The Acts of it c. 1. WHilst those Holy men were labouring abroad the new ordained Arch-bishop of Canterbury Brithwald assisted by the pious King of Kent Withred employed his industry and zeale in composing that Church and Kingdom much deformed by the late tumults and disorders For which purpose by the ioynt consent of them both a Synod was assembled at a place called Becancelde at which were present besides the King and Arch-bishop the greatest part of the Nobility and Clergy of that Kingdom 2. The Acts oâ— this Synod or rather mixt Assembly to which were admitted certain Abbesses also have been rescued from oblivion and darknes by the learned Antiquary Sir Henry Spelman who out of five Manuscripts of which three were more contracted then the other hath lately exposed them to publick view Neither Saint Beda nor William of Malmsbury have spoken particularly of this Synod though both of them have recorded in a generall expression the magnanimity and piety of this King Withred Thus writes the former Victred son of Egbert the legitimat King of Kent assoon as he was firmly established in his Kingdom by his Religious piety and industry freed his Nation from externall invasion And the latter thus King Withred was at home civill and courtâ—ous and abroad invincible He with great devotion advanced Christian Religion and piety and withall did largely extend his Regall power 3. As touching the forementioned Synod in as much as the Acts thereof doe well represent to us the piety and iustice of that Age it would be a wrong to the Reader to be deprived of the particular knowledge of them I will therefore adioyn them in this place according to the largest Copy extâ—nt in Sir H. Spelman They are composed in the person and as the Laws of King Withred according to the form following 4. In the name of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ a great Council was assembled in a place named Becancelde in the year of our Lords Incarnation
him into prison intending the day following to putt him secretly to death for being under the dominion of the French who were Christians they durst not kill him openly 4. As for Werenfrid and my self Marcellin we followed him to the prison weeping Which the Holy Preist Swibert observing with a chearfull countenance he comforted us and exhorted us to stand constantly for the Faith of Christ and not to fear death for his cause 5. Now the following night towards morning as Saint Swibert was praying and we weepâ—ing an Angell of our Lord appeard to him in the prison with great splendour and said to him Servant of the true God fear not for our Lord is with thee Having said this in the presence of the Keepers who stood amazed he sett him at liberty commanding him to preach Christ constantly every where to the Pagans After this the Angell ascended to heaven and the Holy man came and kneeling down devoutly related to us what had hapned whereupon we with great fervour gave thanks to God for this Angelicall Visitation and consolation 6. The Pagans and specially the Idoll-Preists the next day hearing that he had been thus delivered began to perceive the impotency of their Idols and extolled the power of Christ. As for the Holy man he with great courage preached the Gospell to them to their great astonishment and converted many of them to Christ and no man had the boldnes to lay hands on him 7. Assoon as he had performed his Ministery there he returned with us to Vtrecht where he declared to our Brethren all things which had hapned to him at Duerstat at the hearing whereof they wept for ioy and unanimously blessed God for his goodnes After which he departed into severall villages and towns in Friseland Holland and Teisterband publickly and constantly preaching the Gospell oâ— Christ to all and though thereby he suffred in many places great persecutions from the Pagans which he endured with patience and ioy yet being always sustained by Divine assistance he brought great multitudes to the knowledge and obedience of Christ. 8. Toward the end of the same year being attended by Werenfrid and my selfe he went into the Eastern coast of the Principality of Holland where there was a town a mile distant from Vtrecht toward the South called Haganstein At which time there hapned a famous solemnity of the Pagans whereto were assembled great multituds of them to perform detestable sacrifices incense and Rites to their false Gods The Holy man then went boldly into the midst among them crying aloud O yee men if you have any reason left in you draw near and hearken to mee I am a Messenger sent to you from the most high God c. And with a long Oration recorded by Marcellinus an car-wittnes he declared to them the Truth of Christs Doctrine and vanity of their Idoll-worship Moreover his preaching was confirmed by a following miracle for he restored sight to a man well known to them all whose name was Giselbert and who had been born blind After which succeeded a notable conversion of many Pagans of the blind mans acquaintance who were witnesses of the Miracle 9 Now the Brethren seing so manifest an assistance of God thought fitt to chuse amongst them all two persons to be ordained Bishopâ— to witt Swibert and Willebrord The former they sent into England to S. Wilfrid Bishop of the Mercians by whom he was consecrated Bishop this same year As for Saint Willebrord he was sent to Rome where he was by Pope Sergius ordained Arch-bishop of Vtrecht and the whole Province of Friseland as shall be declared What speciall Diocese was allotted to Saint Swibert does not appear yet in a particular manner he is named the Apostle of Teisterband Westphalia and the Boructuarians as the companion of his labours Marcellin hath informed us And the reason why he was directed into Brittany to Saint Wilfrid for his ordination and not to the Arch-bishop Brithwald seems to be because as hath been declared a Legatin Power had been conferred by the Pope on the Arch-bishop of the Northumberâ— which Power was not taken from him by his unjust exile Or else because these Holy Missioners being come out of that Kingdom acknowledged a particular relation to and dependance on S. Wilfrid IX CHAP. 1.2 The Gests of Saint Swibert being a Bishop 3.4 c. His miraculous raising to Life a person who had been drowned and the Successe of that Miracle 1. IN the year of Grace six hundred ninety six S. Willebrord was consecrated Arch-bishop of Vtrecht hy Pope Sergius but returned not to his Province and companions till the year following In the mean time Saint Swibert having dispatched a shorter voyage into Brittany came back this year and gloririously biâ—â—â—â—arged â—arged his Episcopall function God assisting his labours with the Gift of most stupendious Miracles faithfully related by the companion of his Travells S. Marcellinus as followeth 2. The most holy Prelat Swibert having been exalted to the Pontificall Dignity and consecrated by S. Wilfrid after he had saluted his kindred freinds he together with his attendants and companions returned to the Work of the Gospell and arrived at Wiltenburg or Vtrecht some what more then a year before S. Willebrord was come back from Rome He was received by the Brethren and New Converts with great honour and ioy He adorned his Episcopall Degree with all the vertues becoming it living afterward in yet greater perfection of Humility Meeknes Simplicity and piety The Work of preaching the Gospell he constantly fullfilld travelling through the Villages and towns not on horseback but as the Apostles were wont to doe on foot Thus he passed through all the quarters of Friseland Holland and especially the County of Teisterband converting great multitudes to the Faith of Christ and diligently extirpating Idolatry Thus by his assiduous preaching and exhortations he reduced in a manner the whole County of Teisterband to the beleif of the Gospell and there in many places he built new Churches and elsewhere consecrated Idoll-Temples to Christian Churches Thus in Zanduic near Tâ—el a Church was erected to the honour of the Holy Martyr S. Vincent another in Arkel to the honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God and a third in Hornaer to the honour of S. Denys Areopagite with many others 3. Now how in the Dedication of one of those Churches he raised to life a young man who had been drownd is at large described by the same devout and most faithfull Writer whose relation though diffused will very well deserve a place in this our History 4. The Divine Providence did so order saith he that whilst on the eighth day before the Calends of October this same year Saint Swibert was dedicating a Church in Malsen a Village seated neer the River Lighen in the Country of Teisterband a certain young man named Splinter of Adingyn Son of a person cheif in authority at Duerstat being out
of curiosity desirous to see the manner of Christian Worship and particularly the Actions of S. Swibert of whom he had heard wonderfull things though as yet he remained in his ignorance and infidelity he attended by three servants took boat about seaven a clock in the morning willing to see the Ceremonies of the Dedication of the Church at Malsen which was but a small mile distant from Duerstat Now as the boat was sayling in the midst of the River Rhene or Leck the young man sate on the side of it leaning on his sword and sportfully passing the time but on a sudden by reason of the moistnes and slipperines of the boat his feet sliding he fell backwards into the River and notwithstanding all the endeavours of his servants to save him was swallowd by the deep gulfe and drowned Whereupon the servants filled the shores on both sides of the river with their clamours and not daring to return to his parents they ran away This misfortune caused an incredible sorrow not only to his parents and kindred but all the inhabitants neer adioyning 5. At last about noon the same day his body was taken up in a Nett by fishermen and with great lamentation caried to the house of his parents and though his ioynts were become stiff and inflexible yet by the advice of the Pagan Preists he was putt into a warm bed and so caried into their Idoll-Temple of Mars For they had heard that the Christians having caried severall persons who had been drowned into their Churches they were by the Sacrifices and prayers of the Bishops restored to life The Father therefore of this young man called Gunther a Noble Soldier and Lord of Adengyn made hast with his family and freinds to the Temple of Mars where he offred an abominable Sacrifice killing many beasts of severall sorts to their great God Mars hoping thereby to have his onely Son restored to life But after they had with mournfull hearts continued in their Sacrifices and Prayers two howers and found no help the afflicted Father despaired of his Sons recovery neither indeed had they ever heard that their false God had had the power to doe such things 6. Now the same day there were present severall Christians who being desirous to see the successe of these Sacrifices and Prayers followd the Funerall to the Porch of the Temple These seeing the inexpressible greif of Gunther and his freinds and reioycing at such a proof of the impotency of Heathen Gâ—ds they called Gunther aside and to the end that Christ might be magnified they advised him with all speed to send for S. Swibert the Christian Bishop from Malsen to whom his Sons intention had been to goe assuring him that upon condition himself would renounce his Idols and beleive in Christ the Bishop by our Lords Power would raise his Son to life 7. Gunther having heard this and calling to mind how the same Saint Swibert in that very Citty had been freed by an Angell out of Prison and how in Hagenstein he had in the Name of Iesus restored sight to one born blind was encouraged by these Christians speeches and without delay taking with him some freinds of the better sort he went presently to Malsen Where being come to the presence of Saint Swibert he immediatly leaped from his horse and casting himself at the Holy Bishops feet and kissing his hands he with many tears and sighs declared to him the manner of his Sons unfortunate death beseeching him that he would vouchsafe to goe with him to Duerstat and by the power of the glorious Name of Iesus the Omnipotent God restore his Son to life promising that himself with his whole family and kindred would beleive and be baptised 8. Saint Swibert with great courtesy and respect raised him up speaking comfortable words to him but notwithstanding he had great compassion of his greif and lamentations yet he piously excused himself fearing to tempt God in a matter of so great importance Gunther therefore again embracing his feet with great importunity beseeched him for the love of Iesus Christ the living God to goe along with him Thus at last being overcome with his pittifull cryes and principall with the prayers of Werenfrid and my self together with other New-Converts he attended by us entred a Charret prepared for him and with great speed came to Duerstat after Complin about six of the Clock Now there was a great multitude of people assembled on the banks of the Rhene or Leck expecting the arrivall of Saint Swibert at which Profane Idoll-Preists were much greived 9. Assoon then as we had passed over the River Leck as he was in the way toward the place where the dead body lay being attended by his Disciples and also a great troop of Pagans the Lady Mechtildis the Mother of Splinter who had been drownd mett him almost distracted with greif and casting her selfe at his feet in the open street she with a loud voyce cryed O servant of the living God help mee and restore my Son in the Name of thy God and I will beleive in him with my whole family for our Gods are unable to raise him up S. Swibert took up the Lady and comforting her sighed within himself a little 10. Now the Body of Splinter who had been drownd was again caried from the Temple of Mars into his fathers house When the Holy Bishop then was come before it he desired that the Pagan Preists would please to be present with him that they might see the power of our Lord Iesus Christ the Omnipotent God In the mean time he commanded us to attend devoutly to our prayers and to implore the Divine Mercy for restoring life to the dead man and himself likewise prayed Whilst the whole multitude therefore wept and when some of the Idoll-Preists at the request of the Lord Gunther stood by trembling S. Swibert kneeling down and weeping abundantly with a loud voyce cryed unto our Lord saying O Lord Iesus Christ who art our Refuge incline thine eare unto our prayers that thy glory may be revealed to these men and thy holy Name be glorified by these Vnbeleivers That they may know that our Faith is not vain and that besides thee there is no other God whose Mercy is endlesse and whose gifts are â—â—measurable For the glory of thy Name restore life to this thy servant who has been deluded by the fraud of the Devill that they may know that all Idolls which they worship for Gods are images filled with Devills and that seeing the Power of thy Mercy they may beleive in thee and beleiving may be saved 11. Having thus said he rose from Prayer having a great confidence in Christ and said O Lord Iesus Christ the comforter of the sorrowfull who hast sayd Whosoever beleives in mee the works that I doe he also shall doe and greater then these he shall doe O most mercifull Lord God who at the tears of the two holy Sisters Mary Magdalen and
in the day of Iudgment come to the Kingdom of heaven And many of them before that day are eased and delivered by the Prayers Fasting and Alms of the living and especially by the celebrating the most Holy Sacrifice Moreover that flame-vomiting and stinking pitt which thou sawest is the very Mouth of Hell into which whosoever once falls he shall never come out of it for all eternity 12. As for this pleasant flowry feild here before thine eyes in which thou seest such multitudes of youth making mercy and cloathed with white raiment this is the place which is the Receptacle of such soules which have continued to their death in the exercise of vertue but yet their Works have not been of such Perfection as to deserve their present admission in the Kingdom of Heaven Yet all these in the day of Iudgment shall arrive unto the Vision of our Lord and the Ioyes of his heavenly Kingdom But as for those who in their Words Works and Thoughts have attained to Perfection such assoon as they have left the Body shall enter into that Blessed Kingdom To the confines of which Kingdom that Place pertains where thou sawest so glorious a Light and heardst so sweet Harmony and wast refreshed with so admirably sweet-smelling Odours 13. Thou therefore having seen all these things must presently return to thy Body and again as formerly live among men If then hereafter thou wilt be diligent to examine all thine actions and to observe uprightnes and simplicity in thy conversation and speeches thou also after death shalt receive a mansion among these ioyfull troops of happy Spirits For I having departed for a time from thee did it to this end that I might see what would in the end become of thee When he had spoken thus to mee I had a horrible aversion from returning to my Body being extremely delighted with the sweetnes and beauty of that place which I saw and the happy society of the persons living in it Notwithstanding I had not the boldnes to make any such request to my Guide And whilst I was busy in these thoughts I know not how I presently perceived that I was again alive among men 14. These and other particulars did the Man of God usually recount concerning his Vision and these he related not to negligent slouthfull Christians but such only as being either affrighted with the meditation on future Torments or delighted with the Hope of eternall Ioyes were in a disposition to receive proffit by his words 15. At a small distance from his Cell there lived a certain Monk whose Name was Genigills who was also exalted to the Degree of Preist-hood which he adorned with many vertues He is alive at this day leading a solitary life in Ireland and sustaining his decrepit age with bread and cold water onely This Monk often visited that devout man and asking him many particulars touching his Vision received perfect information from him 16. The same Holy man related likewise his Visions to King Alfrâ—d a Prince adorned with all sorts of learning who with great willingnes and attention hearkned to his Narration nd at this Princes entreaty he was entertained in the foresaid Monastery there receiving the Monasticall Tonsure And when the King had occasion to make his progresse into those parts he very oft visited him out of a desire to heare the same things again At that time the Abbot of the Monastery was Aedilwald then a Preist of a conversation very Religious and modest who now worthily possesses the Cathedrall Church of Lindesfarn Now the Holy man had assigned unto him in the said Monastery a very retired place where he might with all freedom attend to the service of his Creatour and Prayer 17. And his privat Mansion being seated on the bank of the River his custome was frequently for mortifying his Body to plunge himself into the same sometimes to the loyns and sometimes to the neck where he continued singing Psalms and praying as long as he could possibly endure And when he came out he never putt off his wett and cold garments for change but suffred them to drye and receive warmth from his Body And when in the Winter time crusts of ice which himself oft broke to have place wherein to plunge himself came about him and some who saw it said to him It is a wonder Brother Drithelm for that was his name how you are able to endure such bitter cold He would answer simply for he was of a simple mild nature I have seen far colder places then this And when they said How is it possible you can sustain such strange austerities His answer was I have seen much greater austerities then these Thus to the day of his death he lived and out of a servent desire of celestiall Happines tamed his weak aged body with Fastings and other Mortifications and by his exhortations and pious conversation became an instrument of the salvation of many 18. This is Saint Beda's Narration which as appeareth he received from witnesses of unquestioned credit Notwithstanding weighing the circumstances of the Vision wee may probably conclude that the Holy man was mistaken in thinking that he had been really dead For this seems to have been a Vision imparted by Gods direction to his soule while he was in a deep and death-like Traunce both for his own good and the good of others So that wee are not to conceive that there are extant any where such Valleys pitts and Walls as are mentioned in this Story but that God thought fitt by representing to his imagination such objects to signify thereby the great variety of States in which soules according to their severall dispositions shall after death be placed Some Happy which Happines notwithstanding is greater or lesser according to the degrees of perfection to which they had ascended in their life-time And some painfull but with far greater variety the Torments of impenitent soules being inexpressible and endles whereas such soules as have lived sinfull lives but yet have had the Grace of Repentance before their deaths shall suffer most bitter anguish yet such as by the devotion of their freinds and mercy of God may be asswaged and shall certainly have an end The intolerablenes of which Anguish peircing the inmost Spirits of men is represented here by scorching flames and bitter Frosts the greatest tortures our bodies are capable of yet far short of the internall Agonies of imperfect separated soules which are altogether pure Sensation XI CHAP. 1.2 c. Queen Kyneburga becomes a Nunne 4. The Monastery of Dormund 6.7 S. Kineswitha Sister to Q. Kyneburga 8 Of S Tibba a Virgin 9.10 Of another S. Kyneburga and her Son S. Rumwold 1. ABout this time Kyneburga wife to Alfrid King of the Northumbers by permission of her Husband forsook the world and entred into a Monastery That which hastned the execution of this good design might probably be the famed report of this Vision of Drithelm Certain it is
to Vtrecht and presently after upon the ruined foundation of the ancient Church of Saint Thomas near the Castle they erected a Church in which they placed Canonicall Preists who lived in Community Which Church they dedicated to the honour of S. Martin Bishop of Tours There S. Willebrord Arch-bishop of the Frisons established his Cathedrall See and together with S. Swibert and the rest of the Brethren with their own hands consecrated it with its primitive benediction having translated into it the Sacred Body of S. Cunera Virgin and Martyr being one of the companions of S. Vrsula 2. In processe of time when Radbode King of the Frisons was dead free permission was given to Christians to preach the Gospell every where through Friseland Wherefore the foresaid Holy Prelats with the Preists and other Ecclesiasticks passing through the coasts of Holland and Friseland instructed the rude people in the Documents of the Gospell teaching them to renounce their profane Idolatry they baptized the Cathecumens they confirmed the Neophyts they dispensed Sacred Orders and with great constancy and devotion published the Gospell of Peace through all villages ordaining Preists and Deacons every where to assist them in the Ministery of Baptism especially in the great Town of Duerstat where after two years preaching they brought the whole people to embrace the Faith of Christ and by the assistance of the forementioned Noble man Gunther and his freinds they changed the Temples of Idolls into fifty two Christian Churches 3. Neither did they content themselves with preaching the Word of life in Friseland and Thuringia or Hervingia but as far as Denmark they brought to the Orthodox Faith great multitudes having purified them from their barbarous and Idolatious customs Thus these Holy Prelats and Preachers having with great fervour published for the space of severall years the Doctrine of Christ in severall Provinces they returned with great ioy to Vtrecht to their Brethren and fellow-laboures declaring to them how great things God had done by them And though the Holy Bishop S. Swibert was first advanced to Episcopall Dignity yet S. Willebrord in place and honour went before him and is esteemed the first Arch-bishop of Vtrecht inasmuch as he was by Pope Sergius ordained specially the Archbishop of the Frisons and by the Apostolick See sent in Mission to the same people 4. Conformably hereto writes Albinus Flaccus who likewise touching S. Willebrords preaching to the Danes addes this relation When the Holy Arch-bishop says he perceiv'd that he could not with any fruit or successe endeavour the Conversion of Radbode King of the Frisons he turned his steps and course of preaching to the Savage Danes At that time as the report is there raigned a Prince called Ongend a man of a disposition more cruell then any wild beast and whose heart was more impenetrable then a rock Yet this man by Gods operation treated with great honour this Preacher of Truth Who finding the said barbarous Prince obdurate in his perverse manners and wholly given up to Idolatry so that he had no hopes at all to work any good change in him He took with him thirty young children of that countrey returned with them to the Provinces subiect to the French But being desirous to prevent the cunning malice of the Devill he in the iourney having catechized the said children washed them in the Font of life for fear least by some accident in so long a voyage by Sea or the incursions oâ— the barbarous people through which he passed he might endanger their eternall state 5. Now this Devout Apostle pursuing his voyage came to a certain Island in the confines of the Frisons and Danes called by the inhabitants Fositesland from a certain profane Deity of theirs named Fosite to whom many Temples were there erected This place was held by them in such wonderfull veneration that no man durst presume to touch any beast feeding there or any other thing consecrated to the said Idoll nor so much as draw any water from a spring flowing there except in sign of veneration he observed an exact silence Into this Island the man of God being cast by tempest was forced to stay there some dayes expecting a seasonable time to putt to Sea But the Holy Bishop making small account of the foolish superstition of that place or of the feirce disposition of King Radbode who was wont to putt to a cruell death all those that violated such ceremonies he himself with the solemne invocation of the Blessed Trinity baptised three men newly converted and moreover gave order to his companions to kill certain beasts feeding there for their nourishment This the Pagans beholding verily beleived that such a sacriledge would be punished either with madnes or some sudden death But perceiving no harm to come to them in a great rage they went and told the King what had been done by the Christians Who being enflamed with excessive fury against the Holy Bishop seised upon him and intending to revenge the iniury done to his false Gods he according to the ancient custom of that Nation every day cast lotts three times upon him and his companions and yet never did that Lott which condemned to death fall upon the Bishop or his Disciples onely one Christian of the company was designed to death by the lott and so ended his life by Martyrdom Now this custom of casting lotts in such cases is verified to have been very ancient among the Germans by the testimony of Caesar in his commentaries 6. The same Authour moreover testifies how after the return of Clement or Willebrord a Synod was assembled at Vtrecht by appointment whereof other Missioners and Preachers were sent into the circumiacent Provinces And by occasion of the mentioning this ordinance of the Synod he makes a collection of the names and most memorable Gests of those devout Missioners which either formerly or in this present Synod or afterward were sent to labour in our Lords vineyard saying Then the foresaid Holy Prelats together with the excellent Preists and Preachers which came out of Brittany with them to Vtrecht observing that through Gods blessing much people was converted from Infidelity to the Faith of Christ they in the Synod assembled in this lately sprung Church of Vtrecht decreed that other zealous Preachers should after the manner of the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord be sent through the confining barbarous Nations to preach unto them the Faith of Christ. Now there were in the said Primitive Church of Vtrecht at that time the foresaid Apostolicall Prelats Canonicall Preists and worthy Preachers which together with the two Holy Brethren whose names were Ewald following S. Swibert constantly preached Christ to the Gentiles Afterward likewise were ioyned to them S. Winfrid a Preist who after he had lived thirteen years a Canon in the Church of Vtrecht was consecrated Arch-bishop of Mentz and called by a new name Boniface from whence returning after the death of S. Willebrord
Swibert should be sought out and humbly entreated to visit the said unhappy person 4. This being accordingly done Saint Swibert moved with great compassion and Charity went to the house attended by his Preists and other Disciples and being yet in the way thither the Devill presently caused the possessed person to fome and gnash his teeth and to cry out in a far more horrible manner then before at which all that were present were much greived and astonished But assoon as Saint Swibert approached the house the clamours ceased the Demoniack lay still in his bed as if he had been asleep 5. Assoon as the Holy Bishop saw him lying in this posture he commanded all us who attended him to betake our selves devoutly to our Prayers And he himself likewise with fervent zeale besought almighty God that he would vouchsafe to free the Demoniack from the Devills power to the end that his Holy Name might be glorified and those Infidels converted to the Faith Having thus prayed we all rose up and he signed the Demoniack with the sign of the Saving Crosse saying In the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ I command thee O unclean Spirit that thou depart from this Creature of God that he may acknowledge his true Creatour and Saviour Immediatly hereupon the Wicked Spirit departing with a noysom stink began to crye out aloud O thou servant of the Great God thou shalt not abide long in this Province for as thou hast driven mee from this my habitation so will make thee to be driven out of this countrey 6. As for Ethelhere who was thus freed from the Devills power he presently arose in the sight of all and casting himself at the Holy Bishops feet he begged pardon for the injuries he had done him and earnestly besought him that he might be baptized in the Name of Iesus Christ in whose Name he had been delivered In like manner many Pagans and two Idoll Preists there present cast themselves at S. Swiberts feet desiring to be instructed in the Mystery of the Christian Faith Whom the Saint raised up and taught them how the Eternall Wisedom descended from Heaven to Earth that by his Blessed Death and Blood shed on the Altar of the Crosse he might restore life to mankind dead in sins Thus he continued three whole weeks instructing and confirming them in the Faith and yet baptised only two and forty of them besides woemen and children or both sexes 7. Two years he spent among them constantly preaching the faith whereby he converted great numbers which with their own hands broke their Idols and built Churches in which the Holy Bishop constituted Preists and Deacons to assist him Many likewise having been informed of the Miracles done by him came to see and hear him of whom he converted and baptized not a few He gained the affection and veneration of all cheifly by the tendernes of his love which he shewd to the poor and afflicted whom he meekly visited in their necessities and infirmities and these not only Christians whom he confirmed in their Faith but Pagans also who by his charitable assistance were withdrawn from their Superstitions and Idolatry Notwithstanding how aâ—ter two years the Devill by Gods permission made good his threatning that he would shortly expell him out of that Province shall hereafter be declared III. CHAP. 1.2 c. The death of S. Adelbert and of S. â—erenfrid Apostolick Missioners in Germany 4.5 S Decumanus a Holy Hermite murdred A miracle after his death 1. TO this year is assigned in our Martyrologe the death of S. Adelbert who as hath been declared was one of the twelve English Apostolick Missionners into Germany Concerning whom in the Gallican Martyrologe on the five and twentieth of Iune we read this Testimony 2. At Egmond in Holland is the same day celebrated the Memory of S. Adelbert Confessour and Deacon Who being descended from the Royall stock of the Kings of the Deiri in Brittany for he was the Son of Edilbald son of S. Oswald King and Martyr and by S. Willebrord constituted Arch-deacon in the Provinces of the Batavi and Frisons did notably promote the Christian Faith For he was made choice of among the most excellent Disciples of that Holy Prelat and sent into the utmost confines of that Diocese to preach the word of life to that pagan people in Knemaria where he gathered a plentifull harvest to our Lord. And after he had confirmed his New plantation in the Faith he was called by Almighty God to receive his eternall reward After his death he received Divine Testimonies of his celestiall Happines For at Egmond where he was buried in his own Oratory he became illustrious by such Miracle â—as afforded great security and protection to the inhabitants and invited a wonderâ—full concourse of strangers to perform veneration to him and to begg his intercession 3. This same year likewise another associate in the same Mission S. Werenfrid a Preist received an eternall reward for his labours His memory is also celebrated in the same Martyrologe on the fourteenth of August with this Elogy At Elst in Gelderland is this day commemorated the Deposition of S. Werenfrid an illustrious fellow-worker with Divine Grace He was associated with S. Willebrord in the busines of Piety and heaped up the gain of many soules to our Lord. Thus loaden with such precious spoiles he was received into Glory His body reposes honourably in a Collegiat Church consecrated to his honour and name in the foresaid town seated on the Rhene between Nimegen and the Sand. He is by others said to have dyed at a Town called Westervert and afterwards to have been buried at Elst And that he sowed the precious seed of the Gospel at Medemblick Durâ—stad Elst and other towns in Batavian 4. The year following wee find commemorated in our Martyrologe the Martyrdom of S. Decumanus born of Noble parents in the South-Western parts of Wales who forsaking his countrey the more freely to give himself to Mortification and devotion passed the river Severn upon a hurdle of rodds and retired himself into a mountainous vast solitude covered with shrubbs briars where he spent his life in the repose of Contemplation till in the end he was slain by a murderer 5. The place so described by the Authour of his life in Capgrave is seated in the County of Somerset where a Castle in after times called Dorostorum now Dunstor was built by the family of the Mohuns To this Castle saith Camden are adiacent two Villages consecrated to two Saints The one is called Caranton from a Brittish Saint Carantac and the other Decombes from S. Decumanus who out of Southwales arrived here renouncing all wordly vanity and by a murderer was peirced through with a sword For which saith he he obtained in the esteem of the ignorant common people divine honour Thus writes this Authour skillfull indeed in places but ignorant in the Faith of his Ancestours who
never attributed Divine honour but a Veneration infinitly inferiour thereto to Gods Saints 6 This veneration he probably obtained from a Miracle related by the Authour of his life in this manner Wee must not saith he leave buried in silence this prodigious wonder how when his head was cutt from his body the trunk raising it self up took the head which it caried from the place where he was slain to a spring not far off which flowed with a most Christallin water in which with the hands it washed the blood away Which spring in a reverent memory of the Saint is to this day called S. Decumanus his Spring Near to which place the body together with the head was honourably buried by the neighbouring inhabitants IV. CHAP. 1. 2. c. A fearfull iudgment on a Soldier who delayed Confession and Pennance to the last 1. AMong the Gests of the year of Grace seaven hundred and seaven Mathew of Westminster relates the sad accident of a Soldier of the family of Kenred King of the Mercians which deserves a place in this History to forewarn the Reader of the danger of delaying Confession and Pennance for sins The Narration he receives from S. Beda in whose words wee will deliver it though he names not the precise year as the other does 2. In the days of Coenred or Kenred who succeded Edilred in the kingdom of the Mercians there was a certain military Officer who as he was for his industry and courage acceptable to the King so on the contrary for the neglecting his soule he no lesse displeased him And therefore he on admonished him to confesse and amend his wicked life for fear a sudden death might prevent his repentance But the unhappy man though thus frequently admonished by the King little regarded his wholesom advice only he promised that he would take a time afterwards to doe pennance for his crimes Not long after it hapned that a sicknes surprising him he was forced to keep his bed where he lay in great tormeÌ„ts The King then who loved him much came to visit him and earnestly renewd his exhortations that at least then before he dyed he would goe to confession and demand Pennance but the man answered him That he would not confesse his sins till he were recovered of his present disease for fear his companions should upbraid him that the fear of death made him doe that which in the time of health he had refused to doe Now he thought this Answer argued a great courage in him but as afterward appeared he found that he had been miserably seduced by the Devill 3. His sicknes then growing more violent and dangerous the King once more came to visit and advise him but assoon as he was entred the chamber the sick man cryed out with alamentable voyce What would you have Sir Why come you hither It is not now in your power to give mee any comfort or assistance The King replied Doe not say so I fear your sicknes distracts you No Sir answerd he I am not mad but I have before mine eyes a foul and miserable conscience What means this said the King His reply was Awhile since there entred into this chamber two beautifull young men the one of which sate down at my head and the other at my feet And one of them brought forth a Book curiously garnished but extreme little which he gave mee to read and there I found written every good action which I had done in my life but alas the number was very small and the worth of them not at all considerable When I had read it they took it from mee without saying a word 4. Then there presently came toward this house a vast army of wicked Spirits horrible to be looked on which both surrounded it without and filled all the rooms within Assoon as they were sate down one of them who by the more horrid darknes of his face and preference in sitting seemed to be the principall among them brought forth likewise a Book of a dreadfull shape an enormous greatnes and insupportable weight This Book he gave to one of his attendants bidding him to bring it to mee that I might read it Assoon as I had looked into it I found there all the crimes which ever I had committed in deed word and even the slightest thoughts all this plainly described in hideous letters Then he said to the two young men in white garments who sate there why doe you stay here since you manifestly see that this man is ours They answered It is true take him and make him partaker of your damnation 5. Assoon as they had said this they presently disappeared and two of the most wicked among those Spirits of darknes arising with forkes in their hands smote mee one on the head and the other on the feet And now they are to my most horrible torment creeping through my inward parts and assoon as they shall meet together I shall dye and be hurried by them into Hell Thus â—pake this unhappy despairing man and presently after dyed and now being for all eternity tormented he practises repentance without any fruit which he neglected to doâ— in his life time when a short Pennance might have procured him pardon 6. Now as S. Gregory writing of the like case observes wee are to iudge that this man had these apparitions not for himself to whom they proffited nothing but for our good that wee knowing his unhappy end may fear to delay the time of Pennance now allowed us least being prevented by unlooked for death wee may dye impenitent And as touching the Bookâ— of a fashion so different which he saw presented to him by the good and by the evill Spirits this was done by Divine dispensation to putt us in mind that our deeds and even our thoughts doe not vanish into aire but are reserved to the examination of the Supreme Iudge and shall be presented to our view in the last day either by our good or evill Angells And whereas in this Vision the Angells brought forth a white Book and afterward the Devills a Black one the former a very small one and the latter one of an enormous bignes that signified that in his youth â—e had done some few good actions all which notwithstanding had been obscured by the sins of his riper age But on the contrary those who in their ripe age doe endeavour to hide from the eyes of God the sins committed in their childhood may be associated to those concerning whom the Psalmist saith Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven whose sins are covered This Story saith S. Beda as I received it from the Venerable Prelat Pecthelm I thought fitt simply to commit to writing for the spirituall benefit of those who shall read or heare it V. CHAP. 1. 2. c. S Egwin Bishop of Worcester is by calumny eiected goes in Pennance to Rome and is miraculously absolved 8 9. c At his return
presently with that farewell disappeared The Holy man with great ioy rendring thanks to God for this favour understood thereby that it was Gods will that the same place should be consecrated to his service and dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin Mother of our Lord. For during his former afflictions and persecutions he had made a vow that if God would vouchsafe to give a prosperous end to his desires he would build a Church to his service Hereupon without delay be cleansed the place began the work and shortly brought it to perfection The fidelity of this Narration is verified by a writing or Charter of S. Egwin himself which shall shortly be produced VI. CHAP. 1.2 c. Two Kings Coenred and Offa undertake a Pilgrimage to Rome where they dye 7.8 c. S. Egwin obtains great Priviledges to his Monastery of Evesham from Pope Constantin 1. TO this miraculous vision of S. Egwin we may in part impâ—te the devout pilgâ—â—mage oâ— King Coenred or Kenred King of the Mercians to Rome to visit the Sacred Monuments of the Apostles In which Pilgrimage he was also attended by the same Saint Egwin Other encouragements thereto likewise he might have from the example of his Predecessour King Ethelred whose Sanctity was at this time in high esteem Moreover the sad and horrible death of his impenitent servant mentioned before probably incited him not to delay the securing of his future everlasting condition for that might teach him that sins are with ease committed but with great difficulty cleansed away Which of these or whether all these Motives concurred to induce this devout King to free himself from those encombrances with which a Crown was attended which made the way to heaven far more dangerous and painfull it is uncertain But certain it is that at this time This pious King as Saint Beda saith having for the space of four or â—ive years with great dignity and renown governed the Kingdom of the Mercians with far greater dignity and Noblenes relinquished that Scepter to become an humble suppliant at the Sepulchers of the glorious Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul And by the advice of S. Egwin he constituted his Successour in the Kingdom Coenred the son of Ethelred from whom himself had received the Crown 2. How much more efficacious good Examples are then Words was at this time also in an eminent manner declared to the world For the generous Act of King Ethelred who out of Love to Christ exchanged his Purple into an humble Habit of Religion was so far not only imitated by his Successour King Coenred but also by Offa the pious King of the East-Saxons that he also at this very time resolved in his company to quitt his Throne after a raign of eight years â—o undertake a tedious iourney that he might dye as it were in the Society of the same Blessed Apostles 3. We have already declared how in the beginning of his Raign he demanded for his wiâ—e Kineswida daughter of Penda King of the Mercians a Lady adorned with all the embellishmets of Nature and Grace This proposition was readily accepted by her freinds who without consulting her confidently promised him a successe to his desires for they doubted not but she would esteem it a condition to be accepted with willingnes and ioy 4. But the devout Virgins ambition lay a quite different way She had lately seen her Sister Kineburga descend from a Royall Throne into a Monastery and from thence by the Ministery of Angells called to their Society in Heaven Such a spectacle raised her thoughts and desires above the earth and notwithstanding the earnest opposition of her freinds those desires were effected by the intercession of the Quuen of Virgins to whom she had recourse as hath been already related 6. It is not to be doubted but King Offa though perhaps afflicted with the refusall yet by her example learnt to disesteem worldly pompes which he saw she trodd under her feet And thereupon would not neglect the present opportunity to accompany his neighbour King Kenred in his devout Pilgrimage to Rome 6. These two devout Kings together with Saint Egwin Bishop of Worcester arrived there the year following Pope Constantin then sitting in S. Peters chair Where having performed their publick Devotions each of them receiving the Monasticall Tonsure ended their dayes in an humble Religious Profession 7. As for the Holy Bishop Egwin the Motive of his iourney thither was not only to attend these pious Princes but also to obtain from the See Apostolick a Confirmation and Priviledges for his new erected Monastery at Evesham Which by the intercession of the two Kings he easily and effectually obtained 8 Moreover to the endowing of the said Monastery King Kenred and Offa before their quitting the world munificently contributed severall Mannors and villages containing sixty six Manses the names of which are contained in a Charter yet extant made by the same Kings the Title whereof is A Charter of Kenred and Offa Kings concerning the Lands in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Bishop Egwin together with many other possessions conferred on the Monastery of Evesham all which were confirmed by Pope Constantin in the Church of Lateran To the same effect there is likewise still remaining another Charter of Bishop Egwin in which he relates the substance of the forementioned Story concerning the appearing of our Blessed Lady to him and likewise setts down the names of the seâ—verall Lordships and villages given to the said Monastery by the Kings Ethelred and Kenred as likewise by a young Noble Gentleman called Atheric and a Venerable Preist named Walterns So that in a short time there were conferred on his Monastery one hundred and twenty Manses All which possessions saith he were by Apostolick authorities and priviledges and by Regall Edicts exempted from all exactions by any power whatsoever to the end that the Monks serving God there according to the Rule of S. BENEDICT may passe their lives in quietnes without any disturbance 6. Pope Constantin being a Witnes of these Kings munificence and having been informed of the wonderfully gracious Visitation by which our Blessed Lady had vouchsafed to dignify the Province of the Mercians admonished the Holy Arch-bishop Brithwald to publish the great wonders of our Lord and for that purpose to assemble a Synod of the whole Kingdom in which he should in the name of the sayd Pope denunciate to all Princes Nobles Bishops and other Ecclesiasticks the Confirmation which he had given to the endowments of the said Monastery made by the said Kings together with many Priviledges and Exemptions by himselfe bestowd upon it to the end saith he that there should be restored a Congregation of Monks who should incessantly serve our Lord according to the Rule of the glorious S. Benedict which Institut as yet is rarely observed in those parts Moreover he enioyned him and his Successours with the assent of
Egwin Bishop of that Diocese to take into their care and protection the said Monastery and in case any Tyrants or oppressours should invade the rights or possessions of it to smite them with the rodd of Excommunication 10. S. Egwin being returned with these Charters and Letters the Arch-bishop accordingly assembled a Synod at a place named Aln-cester so called by reason of its situation on the banks of the River Alne it being a place commodious for the present purpose by reason of its vicinity to Evesham from which it was distant about seaven miles it was also a remarkable place because there was a Palace of the Kings of the Mercians And it is observed in the Life of Saint Egwin that this was the place where he ordinarily preached and exhorted the people 11. The onely busines in this Synod of Alne was the reading and confirming the â—ayd Charters and Priviledges Which being â—one the said Arch-bishop sent Saint Wilfrid Arch-bishop of York who was there present â—o Evesham to consecrate the place VII CHAP. 1.2 c. The death of S. Wilfrid with his preparation thereto 8.9 c. S. Acca succeeds him in the See of Hagulstad 1. THIS was the last publick action that we read performed by S. Wilfrid For now were finished the four years according to a promise of the Holy Archangel S. Michael added to his life after his great sicknes in France The which sicknes returning presently after this Synod he prepared himself for his last hower The manner of which preparation is thus described by William of Malmsbury 2. S. Wilfrid saith he having for the space of four years enioyd an undisturbed tranquillity according to the promise of the Archangel Michael was again assaulted with the same infirmity which formerly had seised on him at Meaux Meldis in France and now it was so violent that it suddenly deprived him both of his senses and speech Whereupon his Disciples who assisted him made their prayers unto God that he might at least recover his speech to the end he might dispose his affairs then not well settled After which Prayer his speech was immediatly restored to him and a few days after he recovered likewise so much strength that he was enabled to visit all the Monasteries and other places depending on him Thus being by his frequent sicknesses admonished that death approached he took care to accomplish those good designs in the administration of which he formerly had not been sufficiently diligent 3. He ordained Abbots and Superiours over all his Monasteries and as touching his Treasures he divided them into four parts Of which one portion and that was the greatest he bequeathed to the Roman Church by whose authority he had been exempted from all injuries and restored to his honours And this part he intended himself to present notwithstanding his great age if he had not been prevented by death A second part he gave to the poor A third he delegated to the Superiours of his Monasteries to the end that therby they might be enabled to purchase the freindship and favour of Great men consequently secure themselves from the violence of their adversaries The fourth part he bestowed on those who had been his attendants and companions in his travells and who as yet had not received possessions for their Sustenance 4. Having performed these things he took leave of his Disciples at Rippon whom he especially loved and in other parts of the Northumbers and took a iourney to a conference with Ceolred King of the Mercians to which he was invited namely to the forementioned Synod and consecration of the Monastery of Evesham And being there he provided carefully for the security peace of his Monasteries in that Region which through the indulgence of Princes he had founded in great number 5. After he had made a progresse through them all and procured great advantages to them in which care he spent a year and a half immediatly after he was by a renewing of his infirmity again admonished of his approaching death This hapned to him when he was in the Isle Inundule or as Saint Beda calls it the Province of Vndule a region in Northamptonshire at this day called Oundale corruply saith Camden for Avondale or the Vale of Avon Perceiving then that his last hower was come he made a short exhortation to his Disciples and children for his weaknes would not permit him to speak much and having bestowed on them his Benediction he for ought appeard without any pain at all finished his life whilst the Monks there present reciting the Psalier were come to those words of the Psalm Send forth thy Spirit and they shall be created c. He dyed on the fourth day before the Ides of October saith S. Beda and in the seaventy sixth year of his age having been Bishop the space of forty six years 6. He was a man who for iustice sake had been exposed to many dangers and who in the places to which he was banished did not spend the time unproffitably but was very diligent in erecting Monasteries and founding Bishopricks He was naturally qualified so as easily to ingratiate himself with Stranger Princes in whose countreys he lived an exile and on the other side by reason of his inflexible love to iustice he was exposed to the hatred of his Naturall Princes No man ever lest so many Monasteries behind him which he distributed to many Successours From the Monastery of Oundalo where he dyed and over which he had appointed a certain Abbott called Cudbald his Body was caried to Rippon where it was buried with great honour These wonders attended his death 7. In the hour of his expiration there was heard a sweet melody of birds and clapping of their wings as if they were flying up to heaven but not one bird could be seen And the same thing hapning severall times during the solemne Procession when his body was transported certain devout and prudent persons then present interpreted it to be an assembly of Angells which according as had been promised him were come to conduct his soule to heaven For as hath been already declared out of Saint Beda the Archangell Michael appearing to him in France said to him these words I doe assure thee that for the present thou shalt recover from this sicknes But be prepared for after four years I will visit thee again His Body was buried in the Church of the Blessed Apostle Saint Peter in Inrhypum Rippon neer the Altar toward the south and on his Tomb was inscribed an Epitaph recorded by the same Saint Beda and importing how he had founded the same Church and richly adorned it how he had erected there a rich Crosse of silver how he had left there the four Gospells written in Letters of gold enclosed likewise in a golden case How he had â—educed his countrey to the Catholick observation of Easter How he had founded great numbers of Monasteries instructing them in the ancient Rules of
the Holy Fathers And lastly how during the space of forty five years in which he exercised the Episcopall charge he having been exposed to many dangers both at home and abroad at last attained to his eternall happy rest in our Lord. His Memory is celebrated among the Saints by the Church on the twelfth of October the day on which he dyed How his Sacred Relicks were translated from Rippon to Canterbury two hundred and thirty years after his death we shall in due place declare 8. His Successour in the See of Hagulstad or Hexham saith Saint Beda was Acca formerly one of his Preists a man of admirable magnificence for having founded a Church to the honour of Saint Andrew the Apostle he richly adorned it and having gathered many Relicks of the Apostles and Martyrs he raised therein severall Altars in which he placed the said Relicks Moreover he built in the same a most Noble Library furnished with a vast number of volumes He provided also for his Church all manner of holy vessels Lamps and other ornaments And for a more solemne performance of the Divine Office he sent for out of Kent a famous Cantour named Maban who had learnt Ecclesiasticall modulation of the Successours of Saint Gregory there Him he detained the space of twelve years to instruct his Monks both in such Song as they either had never learnt or by disuse had forgotten 9. The devout Bishop Acca also himself was very skilfull in Church-song and moreover learned in Holy Scriptures untainted in his Confession of the Catholick Faith and perfectly versed in Ecclesiasticall Discipline For from his infancy he had been brought up among the Clergy of the Holy Bishop Bosa Bishop of York And afterward aspiring to Religious Perfection he adioynd himself to Saint Wilfrid in whose attendance he continued to his death Whith him also he went to Rome where he learnt many things pertaining to Ecclesiasticall institution which he could not have learnt at home 10. Wee find in Saint Beda that Saint Acca before his exaltation to the Episcopall degree had been an Abbot for under that title there is an Epistle directed to him declaring how by his instinct and order Saint Beda had written his Treatise called Hexameron touching the Creation of the world And how after he was made Bishop he wrote oftimes to the same Saint Beda and exhorted him to write his Commentaries on Saint Luke c. shall be declared hereafter VIII CHAP. 1.2 c. Death of S. Aldelm Bishop of Shirborn 5.6 c. Elogies given to him even by Protestants 8.9 c. Forther succeeds him To whom an Epistle from Arch-bishop Brithwald 1 THE same year in which Saint Wilfrid dyed our Island lost another Star likewise of the first magnitude the Holy and most learned Bishop Saint Aldelm Bishop of Shirborn concerning whom frequent mention hath been already made 2. As touching his death thus writes the Auâ—hour of his life in Capgrave S. Aldelm in a good old age full of vertues and Sanctity departed to our Lord on the eighth day before the Calends of Iune in the seaven hundred and ninth year after our Lords Incarnation and the fifth year after he had been promoted to the Episcopall charge and the thirty fourth after his being instituted Abbot He was buried in his Monastery of Meldun or Malmsbury with great honour 3. His death was by divine revelation foreknown to Saint Egwin who in a certain Treatise thus writes Two years after the foundation of the Monastery of Evesham the Holy Bishop Aldelm departed to our Lord whith being made known to mee by revelation I called together she Religious Brethren to whom I declared the decease of that Venerable Father and presently after with great speed I took my iourney to the place where his Sacred Body reposed above fifty miles distant from his Monastery of Malmsbury Whither I conducted the same and there buried it very honourably Moreover I gave command that in every place in which the said Body dayly rested during the Procession there should be erected Sacred Crosses All which Crosses doe remain to this day neither hath any one of them felt any injury by time One of the said Crosses is yet to be seen in the Cloister of that Monastery 4. Two hundred and forty years after his death to witt in the year of Grace nine hundred forty nine saith the foresaid Authour his Sacred Body was taken up out of his Tomb and placed with great honour in a Shrine His Memory is yeaâ—ly celebrated by the Church on the Anniversary day of his death which was the twenty fifth of May. 5. This glorious Bishop is never mentioned by any of our ancient Historians without high praises Yea even our late Protestant Writers are very large in his commendations Bale though ordinarily rude and uncivill towards Catholicks yet of S. Aldelm he testifies that he was so diligently studious in all learning Divine and Humane that he far exceeded all the Ecclesiasticall Writers of his time And that both in verse and prose he was wonderfully learned both for Latin and Greek for his witt sharp and for his stile elegant He happily departed to our Lord in the year of his Incarnation seaven hundred and nine Camden likewise thus writes of him He is truly worthy that his Memory should for ever flourish not only in regard of his Sanctity but learning also He was the first of the English Nation who wrote in the purity of the Latin tongue and the first who taught the English to compose both verse and prose as well in the Greek as Latin stile This Aldelm after he was dead was reclamed by the Great King Athelstan as his Tutelar Saint The like Elogies doe Bishop Godwin D. Iames and the Centuriators of Magdeburg make of him 6. Yet after all this there is scarce one Point in which they condemne the Roman Church as an Errour iustifying their Separation from it but was held by him And particularly touching the Supreme Vniversall authority of the Pope in the heretofore mentioned Epistle of his to Gerontius King of Cornwall he in the name of the whole English Synod writes That S. Peter merited by a happy and peculiar Priviledge to receive from our Lord the Monarchicall Power of loosing sins both in heaven and Earth Moreover That the foundation of the Church and bullwark of Faith was placed principally on Christ consequently on Peâ—eâ— c. And that Christ who is Truth it self did thus establish on Peter the Priviledge over the Church Thou art Peter and on this Rock I will build my Church Yea Flacius Illyricus writes that S. Aldelm maintained That the Confession of the true Faith wholesome Doctrine and a life otherwise unreprocheable would nothing proffit him who lived in separation from the Vnity of the Catholick Roman Church This is the Faith taught then in the English Church and the Teachers of this Faith the Protestants now
on by Devills and so horribly tormented that they tore their own flesh with ther teeth and shortly after with terrible roarings miserably ended their lives 5. Thus writes the sayd Authour a summary of which relation may be read in William of Malmsbury collected out of the Antiquities of the Church or Glastonbury The village where they were murdred still keeps the same name Shapwick and it is seated near unto Glastonbury X. CHAP. 1.2 c. Geruntius King of Cornwall overcome by King Ina. 5.6 The Picts overcome by the Northumbers 1. THE year of Grace seaven hundred and ten was spent in Brittany in great preparations and turmoyles of warr For one way the Picts and another the Brittains invaded the Saxons and English endeavouring to recover some part of their former losses 2. Gerontius King of the Brittains in Cornwall was the first who brought his army into the feild against Inas King of the West-Saxons This is the same Gerontius to whom S. Aldelm wrote the Epistle before cited in which he endeavoured to quality the inveterate rancour still burning in the hearts especially of the Brittish Clergy against the Saxons though now Christians and their Brethren 3. What was the particular ground of their quarrell not any of our Historians doe declare It is probable that Gerontius seeing King Inas so employed in works of piety building of Churches and settling affairs both of State and Religion imagined that by a sudden invasion finding him unprepared he might gain some considerable advantage against him But he found himself deceived for King Inas shewd himself as courageous in warr as devout in peace 4. The combat fought between them and the time of that combat is thus described breifly by Huntingdon The next year after the death of S. Wilfrid saith he King Ina and his kinsman Nun fought against Gerente King of Wales In the beginning of which combat Higebald a Saxon Duke was slain But afterward Gerente with his army and associates was compelled to fly leaving their arms and other spoiles to their pursuers 5. At the same time saith the same Authour Berfrid who was Consul or Generall of the Kingdom of the Northumbers resisted and quelled the Pride of the Picts That which begott and nourished this pride in them was the good successe which twelve years before this they had against Brâ—thric or Berthred Captain of the Northumbers who desiring to avenge the death of his Master King Egfrid slain by them made an hostile invasion upon their countrey but as his Lord upon whom the curses of the Irish cruelly treated by him lay heavy fell by the swords of the Picts so did Brithric also saith Mathew of Westminster who yet places this story two years too late which mistake in Chronology is usuall with him Since that time till this present year no mention is made of any debates between those two Nations which it seems the Picts attributed to the weaknes of the Northumbers and thereupon now attempted an invasion of their countrey 6. But they found not the same successe as before for Berthfrid Captain of the Northumbers coming to a battell with them between Here and Cere putt them to flight and slew great multitudes of the Picts so avenging the death both of King Egfrid and his Consul Brithric XI CHAP. 1.2 Death of Saint Adrian Abbot of Canterbury 3. His Successour Albinus different from Alcuinus 1. THE same year saith S. Beda which was the fifth of the Raign of Osred King of the Northumbers the most reverend Father Adrian Abbot of the Monastery of S. Augustin in Canterbury dyed and was buried in his Monastery He was a faithfull assistant in preaching the Word of God with Theodore Arch-bishop of Happy Memory This was the one and fortieth year since he had been appointed by Pope Vitalian to attend Theodore and the nine and thirtieth since he arrived in Brittany Among other proofs of the learning and great endowments of this holy Abbot as likewise of S. Theodore this is one that Albinus his Disciple who succeeded him in the government of the sayd Monastery was by his care so perfectly instituted in learning and the study of Holy Scriptures that he had more then an ordinary skill in the Greek tongue and for the Latin he was as perfect in it as in his Native language 2. Our Island preserves a gratefull memory of this holy Abbot Adrian for in our Martyrologe his name is recorded among the Saints and anniversarily recited on the ninth of Ianuary It was not by his learning that he purchased this honour for as the Authour of his life in Capgrave testifies his Sanctity was testified by many miracles 3. As touching his Successour Albinus there is a great controversy among our Modern Historians whether he was the same with Flaccus sirnamed Albinus or Alcuinus the Instructour of the Emperour Charlemagne and founder of the Vniversity of Paris But the proofs demonstrating that they were different persons seem unanswerable For this Elder Albinus was of Canterbury the other of York This was the Disciple of his Predecessour Adrian and the Holy Arch-bishop Theodore The other had for his Masters Hechbert Arch-bishop of York a Disciple of S. Beda and Egbert his Successour This was an Abbot the other only a Priour during his abode in Brittany Lastly This Albinus dyed and was buried at Canterbury in the year of Grace seaven hundred thirty two as Weaver in his Monuments testifies as likewise our ancient Chronicler William Thorn but the younger Albinus or Alcuinus dyed and was buried at Cormorac in France in the year of Grace eight hundred and four or rather eight hundred and nine So that a whole age intervened between them XII CHAP. i. 2.3 An Episcopall See established among the South-Saxons at Selsey 1. IT hath been declared in the occurrents of the year of Grace six hundred eighty one how S. Wilfrid being driven from York and retiring into the Kingdom of the South-Saxons did in a wonderfull manner convert them to the Faith of Christ. After which he received from their King the Isle of Selsey for a quiet and setled habitation Which Isle saith Malmsbury he filld with Monks withall transmitted it to posterity dignifyed with an Episcopall See Notwithstanding hitherto not any one since his departure from thence had succeeded him in that Bishoprick but the Churches there were governed by the Bishop of Winchester The first therefore who sate in that peculiar See after S. Wilfrid was Eadbert concerning whom Mathew of Westminster thus writes 2. In the year of Grace seaven hundred eleaven a Synodal Decree was made in the Province of the South-Saxons that whereas the said Province had hitherto pertained to the Diocese of Winchester at this time administred by Daniel Bishop thereof it should afterward enioy its own Bishop Now the first Bishop ordained there was Eadbert who had been Abbot of a Monastery built by S.
lyes saith he notwithstanding he made good his threatning to S. Swibert when he was cast out of a person possessed by him That he would take a course to drive him out of the Province For two years after that an illustrious man called Bruno one of the principall Nobility among the Saxons coming into the Province of the Boructuarians with a great retinue took up his lodging in a village named Ratigen Where being entertained by one of principall authority there there hapned a quarâ—ell between them after they had been inflamed with drink and in this dissension the Saxon through the Devils instigation killed the other with two of his servants Which being known through the village the freinds and kinred of those who had been slain betook themselves to â—rms and to revenge their death putt to the sword the said Noble man of Saxony and almost all his followers 4. A true report of this being spread through Saxony presently the Saxons in great rage with a powerfull army entred the borders of the Boructuarians where they killed great numbers with the sword besides other horrible mischeifs which they did to the rest as for the village of Ratigen they with an implacable fury utterly destroyd it On the other side the Boructuarianâ— and principally such as had relation to the men who had â—een slain there having likewise assembled strong forces of armed men with fire and sword demolished many towns and fortifications of the Saxons 5. Such violences and depopulations on both sides having continued a long time the Boructuarians and specially such Christians among them as had been converted by Saint Swibert considering that they were not able to resist the power and insolence of the Saxons they took leave of Saint Swibert and having received his benediction they were forced to remove themselves into remoter Provinces to the end they might there with more security serve our Lord. 6. In the mean time the glorious Prelat S. Swibert perceiving his flock to be dispersed up and down and that no truce could be procured between the two Nations nor any fruit by his preaching by reason of the stony hearts of the Saxons he made his prayers earnestly and assiduously to God that he would please to shew him some convenient place where he might dwell quietly in his old age At last by the admonition of an Angel he was commanded to goe to Colen where the Noble Duke Pepin and his wife Plectrude would bestow on him a fitt place for his habitation 7. Now saith Baronius how when the Holy Bishop came to Colen he was there kindly and respectfully entertained by Plectrude the Wife of Pipin how likewise after he had done many things beseeming his Apostolicall Office and by her recommendation obtained from her husband a village called Werda seated in an Island of the Rhene where he built a Noble Monastery is at large recounted by the same Marcellinus That establishment proved a strong bulwark to expugne the infidelity of the Saxons And thus it hapned that wheresoever this Apostolicall Bishop went his presence proved advantageous and healthfull to soules and that dispersion of Christians became a mean for the further spreading of the Gospell as it hapned in the Primitive Church when by occasion of a violent persecution of Christians at Ierusalem the dispersion of the Disciples round about became proffitable to the salvation of infinite multitudes 8. Thus writes Baronius out of Saint Marcellin But let us heare the relation from the Holy mans penne The Noble and devout Princesse Plectrudis saith he with great devotion received the Holy Bishop in the Palace of the Dukes of Colen and Lorrain a great part of which she had changed and consecrated into a Cloister of Religious Virgins intitled the Church of the glorious Virgin Ad Capitolâ—um And awhile after she directed the holy man attended by a Noble person of Ardenna named Gerald who had been healed by Saint Swibert a little before of a pestilent disease with commendatory Letters to her husband Prince Pinpin earnestly requesting him that he would bestow on the holy Bishop the village of Werda seated in an Isle of the Rhene to the end that there he and his Disciples attending him might take care and doe good to the soules of the Pagan Saxons living near Pipin being at that time well stricken in years received S. Swibert with great honour detaining him a good space of time with him In the end with great chearfulnes as one who thirsted after the Conversion of the Infidell-Saxons he with a Regall magnificence not only bestowed on him the said village but withall out of his own copious Treasure offred and added great store of gold and silver to enable him for the building a Church and Monastery to the glory of God and the nourishing with the word of life that barbarous people utterly ignorant of the Faith 9. Now this Pipin was not the younger Pipin who was son to Charles the Great but Pipin firnamed de Herstallo Father to Charles Martel who was founder of this Monastery So that the Centuriators of Magdeburg relating otherwise doe shew great want of exactnes in distinguishing times and great ignorance in citing Saint Beda for a witnes who was dead above forty years before the younger Pipin raigned who was so far from being a founder of the Monastery of Werda that he changed into a Castle and fortification against the Saxons But let us return to S. Marcellins Narration 10. The holy Bishop saith he having taken leave of the Prince returned to Colen to Saint Plectrudis By whose assistance and authority he being attended by many Masons and other workmen went to Werda where he presently began to found a Monastery near the Rhene to the honour of the glorious Virgin Mary and there he collected a Congregation of Monks devoutly serving our Lord. After which it can hardly be expressed with what humility devotion and reverence he preached the Faith of Christ to that rude Pagan people and especially with what purity of mind and body he celebrated Masses and performed all other Ecclesiasticall duties XV. CHAP. 1.2 c. Saint Swibert raises to life a dead man c. 1. AFter two years preaching there saith Baronius the foundations of the Saxon-Church began to be layd by the most holy Apostolick Bishop S. Swibert who came to them in abundance of benedictions with signs and Miracle raising a dead man to life being powerfull in all things both deeds words Let us attend therefore to what S. Marcellinus has delivered coÌ„cerning these things 2. In the seaven hundred and eleaventh year of our Lords Incarnation saith he when S. Swibert not only in Werda but also in the towns and villages preached the Gospell of Christ with great fervour to the profane Saxons it hapned on a certain day being Teusday that he went into a certain neighbour-village attended by a venerable Preist called Willeic to celebrate Masse and a certain
rich-man who had been a Pagan called Heâ—nger but was afterward converted and being baptized on the Feast of S. Peter and S. Paul was named Peter this man out of a great servour of Faith devotion and Humility himself took care of conducting a Cart loden with sand stones and other materials convenient for building the Monastery and in the way by the malice of the Devill an Enemy to all good works the said Peter fell from the Cart under the wheeles and was taken up dead having his head and other members greivously wounded in severall places By occasion of which there being assembled a great concourse of people who with greif beheld so sad a spectacle When preparation was making for his buriall the Holy Father S. Swibert with his devout Chaplain Willeic came to the place Where being informed of the manner of the death of the said Peter he having great coÌ„fidence in our Lords goodnes commanded the dead body to be carried to his Cell Which being done he in the presence of a great multitude expecting the issue with many sighs abundance of teares kneeling down powrd forth his prayers most earnestly to our Lord to restore to life the said Peter who was a servant of his Monastery And having a good space multiplied such prayers he rose and kissing the body immediatly the dead man revived and rose up perfectly whole insomuch as there was not left on his body the least marks of any wounds nor no settling of blood Which the people seeing with great ioy gave thanks to the Mercy of our Saviour 3. The fame of this wonderfull Miracle being spread in the Province many Neophytes were confirmed in Faith and Infidels converted which were regenerated by Baptism Now the same Peter lived a long time after in perfect health till the building of the Church was quite finished and after the Holy Bishop departed to our Lord. Notwithstanding this he did not reap that fruit which might reasonably be expected among that hard-hearted peogle for though many both of the common people and Nobles were converted yet the greatest part remained in their Infidelity XVI CHAP. i. 2. c. A fictitious pretended Synod of London introducing the Veneration of Images Which was in use from the beginning 1. FOR want of matter to furnish the year of Grace seaven hundred and twelve Bale the Apostate and the Centuriators of Magdeburg have invented a fiction of a certain Synod pretended to have been held at London decreâ—ing the introducing of Sacred Images into Churches veneration of them as if before this time either Images had not been seen in the Churches of Brittany or no respect had been given to them 2. This assertion of theirs Harpsfeild deservedly calls a false and sencelesse fable Yea Sir H. Spelman though no freind to Images acknowledges that the Centuriators report this without the least testimony of any ancient Writer And whereas the occasion of this fiction was taken from the Apparition of the most Blessed Virgin Mary to S. Egwin upon which he founded the Monastery of Evesham the same Sir H. Spelman confesses that neither in the Charter of King Coenred nor of S. Egwin neither likewise in the Letters of Pope Constantin nor in any other Monuments recorded by him any thing is to be found concerning the introduction or adoration of Images 3. He grants indeed that our Apostle Saint Augustin made use of the Crosse and Image of Christ because Saint Beda expressly affirms the same But he resolutly denyes that before these times the Saxons did ever adore the Crosse or Sacred Images Indeed if by Adoration he mean that worship is due only to God wee agree with him that neither then nor before or since the Saxons or any Catholick allowed it to the Crosse or Images as appears in the seaventh Occumenicall Synod But if he will by Adoration understand a worship or veneration Superiour to a Civill respect but infinitly beneath the Worship due to God it is most apparent that both S. Augustin and the Saxons after their Conversion did allow and practise Veneration to Crosses and Images 4. For S. Gregory who was S. Augustins Master expresly calls the Crosse Venerable Venerandam and commands that the Image of our Blessed Lady and the Crosse should be taken out of a Synagogue of the Iews with that veneration that becomes them And again I know saith he that you doe not therefore desire the Image of our Saviour to the end you may adore it as a God And wee likewise prostrate our selves before it but not not as before a Divinity Hence Peter Martyr treating of Images sayes concerning him Gregory the Roman Bishop was a Patron of Superstition for among his Prayers this is one Grant unto us O Lord that those who come to adore thy Holy Crosse may be freed from the chains of their sins Yea Bale himself the inventour of the forementioned fable acknowledges that Gregory admiâ—s of adoration of the Crosse Masses for the dead 5. Again Saint Beda praises Saint Oswald for erecting a Crosse and praying before it and moreover he addes To this day many devout persons are wont to cutt off slices from the wood of that most Holy Crosse which putting into water and giving that water to be drunk either by sick men or beasts they are presently restored to health All which particulars are manifest signs of a Religious Veneration Hence it is most apparent not only that the Saxons did from the beginning use the Crosse and Image of Christ and this Sir H. Spelman confesses but likewise religiously venerate them And that be ore the Saxons time the Christian Brittains did the same hath been upon severall occasions demonstrated in the former part of this History 6. As touching therefore this mentioned fictitious Synod of London wee will only add that which B. Parker writes What was decreed in that Synode is not come to light And whereas some Writers affirm that the worship and â—â—oration of Images was permitted by it how truly they affirm this I will not interpose my iudgment XVII CHAP. 1.2 c. Another pretended Synod censured 1. AFTER that Sir Henry Spelman had abated the authority of the foresaid Synod of London he adioyns another Synod which he affirms to have been celebrated under King Ina about these times and which he calls a great Councill of all Bishops and Princes Nobles Counts and aâ— Sage Counsellors and Senatours as likewise the Commons of the whole Kingdom which Council was assembled by the câ—mmand of King Ina. 2. Now what was transacted in this pretented Council he thus relates out of the Appendix Auctarium to the Laws of King Edward the Confessor King Ina took to wife a Lady named Guala for whose regard that countrey was named Wales which formerly had been called Cambria For the said King had two wives And with this his last wife he had possession of Wales Cornwall and
three years after and is commemorated on the two and twentieth of September 6 A great proof of the perfection of Monasticall Disciplin observed after her death in her Monastery is this That Saint Boniface the glorious Apostle of the Germans having founded a Monastery in those parts made choice of her Disciples above all others and particularly of Saint Lioba to plant Religious observance there This is testified by Rodulphus Disciple of Rabanus Maurus in the life of S. Lioba written by him 8. The same Writer also affirms that in the same town of Winburn there was erected likewise a Cloyster of Monks either by Saint Cuthburga or her Brother King Ina And that from the beginning a Law and Decree of Religious Disciplin had been made That excepting Preists who were to serve at the Altar no men should be permitted to enter the Monastery of those Religious Virgins Nor any woman into that of Religious men And that among the other obligations of the Virgins at their Profession this was one never to step out of their Cloyster except upon a necessary cause to be approved by Superiours 9. Among the Epistles of Saint Boniface there is one inserted from one Aldhun an Abbot and two Abbesses called Cnenburg and Coenburg which were probably these two Princely Sisters Saint Cuthburga and Saint Quenburga desiring a devour Preist called Wietbert an attendant of Saint Boniface to recommend to God in his Prayers two Religious woemen Quoengyth and Edlu both which dyed the same day being the Ides of September XIX CHAP. 1.2 c. The death of Prince Pipin to which S. Swibert endeavoured in vain to prepare him 1. THE death of Duke Pipin hapning about this time since the holy Apostolick Bishop Saint Swibert was employed in preparing him to it which charge he performed with great zeale though with small effect it will not be iudged impertinent to give an account of what passed between them from the relation of S. Marcellin a witnes whose authority cannot be questioned Thus therefore he writes 2. It hapned sayth he in the year seaven hundred and fourteen after our Lords Incarnation that Pipin of Herstall a magnanimous Prince and Maâ—re of the King of France his house sell fick of that disease which endred with his life Hereupon the illustrious Bishop Saint Swibert was earnestly desired by certain Noble persons to visit him But he thought fitt first to goe to Colen attended by his two Disciples Willeic and Theodorick there to demand counsell of Plectrudis the illustrious Duchesse of Lorrain or the Austrasians how he should cary himself in that affaire She with great devotion received and entertaind him at last for her own consolation retaining with her the pious Preist Willeic she dismissed Saint Swibert accompanied by Agilulf Archbishop of Colen and other Prelats giving them charge seriously to advise her husband Prince Pipin that in case he should dye he would take care not to disinherit his illustrious lawfully begotten children Drogo Duke of Champagne and Grimoaldus Maire of the house to Childebert King of France by substituting in his Will as his Heyr Charles Martell a bastard by Alpaide his Concubine which injustice he could not doe without the losse and damnation of his soule besides the stain that he would bring upon his name in the sight of the whole Church and Scandall of his Nobility and Subjects 3. This was an employment which not long before had cost the Holy Bishop Lambert very dear for because he had reprehended the same Prince for his unlawfull cohabitation and mariage with the same Harlot he lost his life and was deservedly esteemed a Martyr 4. The foresaid Bishop therefore being arrived at Ioppilta a Town upon the River Mosa where the sick Prince lay were kindly received by him They therefore to comfort and encourage him to suffer with patience temporall afflictions or infirmities told him that Almighty God in his wisedom and goodnes made the way to heaven rough and unpleasant to his Elect least being delighted in the way they should forget or disesteem the happines which they expected in their countrey 5 After such like discourse often repeated at last having found a convenient and opportune season among other spirituall advices which they gave him for the good of his soule they with great affection and zeale discovered to him the speciall motive of their iourney sharply reprooving him for his unlawfull mariage But they had no sooner touched upon this argument but they were with great indignation repulsed by the Prince And the harlot Alpaide having diligently enquired into and found the occasion of these Prelats iourney rudely commanded them presently to be gone And withall was so importunate with the Prince in behalf of her Son Charles Martel that she obtained of him whatsoever she requested And accordingly Pipin dying the same year left Charles Martel heyre of all his Principalities 6. This being seen by the foresayd Prelats they were forced to return to Colen with greif and dishonour where they made known to Plectrudis all things which had passed at Ioppilia with Pipin withall comforting and exhorting her to sustain such crosses with patience XX. CHAP. i. 2 c. The Birth education and Gests of S. Guthlac Of his Disciple Bertelins intention to murder him Of Ethelbald a banished Mercian Prince comforted by him c. BVT in Brittany a far more comfortable and happy death befell a Hermit of admirable Sanctity named S. Guthlac who as in this life he enioyd a familiar conversation with Angels so in the next he was made their companion in blessednes for ever His Gesis we have thought fitt to remitt till this time when he dyed because having lived a solitary life they were scarce at all involved with the common occurrents of the Church in his time The story of his life may require from us a more then ordinary attention credit because written by Felix a devout â—reist of the same age and dictated to him by Bertelin a Monk of Croyland his companion in Solitude The Authour dedicated his Writing to Elwold King of the East-Angles which is a sufficient warrant to rectify the Chronology of some of our Historians who place the death of this Elwold in the year of Grace six hundred and ninety By the generall account S. Guthlac lived forty seaven years and being twenty four years old he undertook a soldiers Profession in which he lived eight years and fifteen years after in the Solitude of Croyland so that his Birth must fall in the year of Grace six hundred sixty seaven The wonderfull circumstances of which is thus recorded by the foresaid Authour Felix 2. In the dayes of Ethelred King of the Mercians saith he a certain Noble person of Royall offspring named Penwald had by his wife Tecta the holy servant of God Guthlac At the hower of his birth his future Sanctity was miraculously designed For from heaven there appeard the hand as it were of
a certain Prince of Mercia called Ethelbaldus by the good advice of S. Guthlac 11. In those days saith he that is in the year before the death of this Holy Hermit Prince Ethelbald great grandchild of Alwy the Brother of King Penda was banished out of the kingdom of the Mertians He was of an elegant stature strong of body and warlick of mind but which was to be bewayled he was high-minded and apt to any rash attempt against the King For which turbulent spirit of his as we may iustly imagine he was exposed to many dangers and for a long space debarred all medling with State-affaires And not only so but King Coelred did violently persecute him every where insomuch as being in great danger and wholly destitute of freinds and all means to resist he would oft come privatly to the man of God Saint Guthlac who was his Confessour to seek for spirituall counsell when all worldly assistance fayled him and to him he humbly made his complaints 12. The Holy man having heard him kindly and mildly comforted him and withall as one to whom future things were by divine revelation known he distinctly and particularly discovered to him what should succeed afterward promising him that he should be King of his Nation and subdue all his Enemies Yea moreover he bad him be confident that all these things should happen to him without any combat or effusion of blood only by Gods power and Providence over him 13. But to these comforting promises he added serious admonitions that he should fear our Lord God above all things and shew â—ll subwission and respect to his Holy Church That he should often deplore his former crimes and constantly make good his purpose of amendment For he told him that if he would be carefull to obey the Divne Law he might with confidence expect Gods help and favour By such exhortations and comforts the mind of the afflicted Prince was exceedingly refreshed insomuch as in the presence of his holy Father Saint Guthlac and others then standing by he expressly promised that assoon as God should sett him peaceably in the Throne of the Kingdom he would found a Monastery in the same place to the honour of God and memory of his sayd Father And this promise a short time after he effectually accomplished XXI CHAP. 1. 2. c. The death of Saint Guthlac and wonderfull occurrents Of his Sister Saint Pega 1. AFter a life spent with such austerity holines and devotion there must needs follow a death conformable to it which is thus related from the mouth of his companion and Disciple Berthelin 2. When the day of his departure approached he called to him his Disciple Berthelin to whom he sayd My son I am now going to reap the fruit of my Labours I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. And after other words to the same effect he enioynd him to goe and with great affection in his name salute his Sister Pega desiâ—ing her to take care of his buriall Withall he bid him tell her that therefore he had avoyded the seeing and conversing with her in this present life that they might for ever enioy each others company in the life to come 3. Then his sayd Disciple took the boldnes to say thus to him I adiure you Holy Father that you will not refuse to tell mee plainly what the matter was that every morning and evening since I dwelt with you I heard you speak to and sometimes seem to answer some body Who was that person with whom you conversed Your speeches I heard but could never understand with whom you spoke To this question the Holy-man answered My dear son My last hower is now at hand It is not therefore expedient for mee now to lye who all my life have abhord it Know therefore that from my first entrance into this wildernes every morning and evening I have enioyd the conversation and comfort of a heavenly Angell who by his celestiall consolations refreshed mee in all my labours and tentations He foretold to mee things future discovered such as were absent and acquainted mee with hidden Mysteries which it is not expedient nor lawfull for mee to make known But now My son be carefull to seal up in silence these things and presume not to discover them to any but my Sister Pega and the devout Anchoret Egbert 4. When he had sayd this such an odortferous fragrancy came from his mouth that it seemed as if one had strowed roses or pourd forth balsam in the place And from midnight till morning a Light of inestimable brightnes shone through the whole house And assoon as the Sun was risen he sayd to his Disciple Bertelin My Son now is the moment that I must goe to Christ Having said this with hands stretched forth toward heave he fell asleep in our Lord on the third day before the Ides of April And the same Brother saw as it were a tower of fire reaching from the earth to heaven the splendour of which was so wonderfull that in comparison the light of the Sun at midday was pale and obscure A while after Blessed Pega the holy Mans Sister coming into the Island found the whole house replenished with a sweet fragrancy infinitly exceeding all odours which either art or nature could produce Then having decently buried her Brother S. Guthlat in his Oratory she returned to her own dwelling 5. About a year after his death his sister and other Preists came to his Oratory with a resolution to bury his body more honourably and they found it entire without the least corruption as if he had been asleep The ioynts likewise of his arms and fingers were as easily flexible as if the humours and spirits were yet running through his veyns his sinews had lost nothing of their former vigour Moreover the garments in which his sacred body had been wrapped preserved stil their primitive freshnes and glasse With great ioy and exaltation therefore they again reposed the Sacred Body once more in a Tombe expressly made for it 6. Now Prince Ethelbald in his exile having heard of the death of the Holy man was overwhelmed with greif and coming to his sepulcher he cryed out with many tears O Father whither shall I a poor banished man goe to whom shall I have recourse Now indeed I perceive that I am a miserable exile Dear Father Guthlac doe not you forsake him who is abandond by all and exposed to all miseries and torments Having spoken many such words with extreme greif and bitter sighs towards midnight he saw the Oratory wonderfully enlightned with an inexpressible brightnes and the Holy man himself appeard to him with a celestiall splendour saying to him these words My dear Son our Lord has a regard to thee be comforted and assured that within two years all thy travells shall have an end and thou shalt recover thy throne with great glory Besides this the Holy man expressly discovered to him how many
years he should live and many other things which should befall him And when the Prince desired some sign to assure him that these things should be accomplished the Holy man added Let this be a mark and sign to thee that to morrow before nine a clock in the morning the inhabitants of this place now in want shall be beyond their hope supplied with abundance of provisions Now when the Prince saw this really fullfilld his mind before wavering was confirmed with great hope and confidence And indeed a short while after Almighty God took out of the way King Ceolred his persecutor and dispersed all his enemies so that within the â—â—ne promised the Royall dignity was restored to him as shall shortly be declared and likewise how Ethelbald gratefully and magnificently accomplished his Promise XXII CHAP. 1.2 The Death of the Royall Virgin Saint Eanfleda c. 3. The death of Waldhere Bishop of London to whom Inguald succeeds 4. Beorna King of the East Angles after Elwold 1. THE same year the Royall Virgin and holy Abbesse S. Eanfleda likewise left this valâ—â—y of tears to goe and enioy the eternall embraces of her heavenly Bridegroom to whom she had been consecrated from her infancy We have already declared how she being born immediately before her Father Oswi King of the Northumbers was ready to ioyn battell with the bloody King of the Mercians Penda he made a vow that in case God would give him the Victory he would devote her to his service in a Religious life And the Victory ensuing he gave her to the care of S. Hilda Abbesse of the Monastery of Heortsig and afterward of Steneshalch in which S. Eanfleda lived some years in obedience and afterward became Abbesse thereof Where saith S. Beda having accomplished threescore years in great devotion and purity she was translated to heaven to celebrate her mariage with our Lord to whom she had been all her life espoused In the same Monastery both she and her Father Oswi her Mother Eanfled and her Mothers Father Edwin and many other Noble personages were buried in the Church of S Peter the Apostle and her name is anniversarily recited among the Saints in our Martyrologe on the eighth of February 2. Among the Epistles of S. Boniface there is one which seems to have been written by this Holy Virgin to an Abbesse named Adolana who lived in forrain parts somewhere in the way to Rome for therein she recommends to her care and charity another Religious woman formerly brought up in her Monastery who in devotion to the Blessed Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul had undertaken a pilgrimage to Rome to visit their Holy Sepulchers 3. The year following Waldhere Bishop of London dyed who had succeeded the glorious Bishop S. Erconwald in that See and who as S. Beda testifies gave the Habit of Monasticall Profession to Sebbe the devout King of the East-Saxons a little before his death His Successour was Inguald who governed the same Diocese about thirty years and is reckoned the sixth among the Bishops of London 4. About the same time also hapned the death of Elwold King of the East-Angles in whose place his Brother Beorna raigned who was the youngest son of Ethelhere XXIII CHAP. 1.2 Warr between King Ina and Ceolfrid 3. Horrible crimes of Ceolfrid 1. THE same year there arose great troubles in Brittany by reason of a bloody war between Inas King of the West-Saxons and Ceolred King of the Mercians These were both in power and extent of Dominion the most puissant Kings among the Saxons An equality therefore bred a mutuall emulation and desire in each of them to advance themselves by the ruine of the other King Ina was the invader Neither did he find Ceolred unprepared so that they quickly came to a battell And the place of their combat was a Town in Wiltshire called Wodensbury from Woden the Idol of the Pagan-Saxons answering to Mercury It is seated near Wansdike and is the same place where in the year of Grace five hundred ninety one Ceaulin King of the West-Saxons fought his last battell which having lost he dyed presently after 2. In this place did Inas and Ceolred meet to decide their controversy whether should be Master And saith Huntingdon the battell was fought on both sides with such horrible obstinacy that it could scarce be determined â—â— wâ—ether part the destruction was greater 3. Ceolred esteemed it as a victory that he could resist so powerfull a King as Ina from whom he little apprehended a second invasion considering the great deminution of his forces by the last combat So that he esteemed himself secure and freely gave himself up to his lusts and abominable sacriledge By which he filled up the measure of his sins and felt the year following in a terrible manner the avenging hand of Gods justice His lusts he extended even to Religious Virgins consecrated to the immortall God who therefore ought to be exempted from the touch of any mortall man And as for his Sacriledge in inâ—ringing the priviledges of Religious houses and invading their possessions our Historians doe not particularly exemplify in any So that it is probable that it was the late-built Monastery of Evesham which was violated by him notwithstanding the great Priviledges and Exemptions conferred on it both by the Papall and Regall authority and notwithstanding the solemne maledictions denounced by the founder thereof Saint Egwin yet alive who in consecrating it is recorded to have pronounced these words If any King Prince or other shall be incited by the Spirit of avarice so as to diminish the Rights of this Monastery which God forbid Let him be judged before the Tribunal of God and never come into the memory of Christ but let his name be for ever blotted out of the Book of the living and himself bound with the chains of eternall torments except he repent and satisfy for his crime in this life 4. But before we relate the effect of this Curse upon this unhappy King it will be expedient to recount the story of a wonderfull vision hapning about this time to a certain man who was restored from death to life on purpose that by relating the wonders of the other world he might deterr sinners from the obstinacy of their rebellion against God By which vision it appears that this King Ceolred was some time before his death destined to eternall torments It is not without some scruple that I am moved to insert in this History Narrations of this Nature But the unquestionable authority and Sanctity of the Relatâ—ur obliges mee not to omitt it though the Centuriators of Magdeburg without any shew of a rationall disproof of it doe voluntarily and at adventure condemne it as a fable XXIV CHAP. 1.2 c. The Narration of a terrible Vision of a man when his soule was separated from the body and afterward restored related hy S. Boniface 1. THIS wonderfull relation is
Divine Verities as far as they had â—carnâ— them they in succession of times should be instructed by the English Nation in those things which they had not so well learnt and be brought to a perfect form of living As on the contrary the Brittains who refused to make known to the English that knowledge of Christianity which they had when as afterward the English became by other means perfectly instructed in the Rule of Christian Faith and Discipline they remain in their old errour and irregular practises neither admitting the ancient Catholick Tonsure on their heads and observing the Christian solemnities contrary to the Orders and practise of the Catholick Church 4. Now these Monks of Hy by the instruction of Saint Egbert received the Catholick Rite when Dunchad was their Abbot about fourscore years after they had sent Aidan their Prelat to preach to the English Nation This Dunchad was the tenth Abbot of Hy after Saint Colomba and the Annals of Vlster observe that he admitted the Roman Rites of Easter in the year of Grace seaven hundred and sixteen on the fourth day before the Calends of September being Saturday and that he dyed the year following 5. As touchinh S. Egbert S. Beda addes that he remained thirteen years in the sayd Island which by a new Grace of Ecclesiasticall Communion and peace he had consecrated to Christ. Concerning his happy death we shall speak in due place THE TWO AND TWENTIETH BOOK OF THE CHVRCH-HISTORY OF BRITTANY I. CHAPTER 1.2 c. The Gests of the Holy Abbot S. Ceolfrid He resigns his Office and in travelling toward Rome dyes at Langres in France 1. THE year of Grace seaven hundred and seaventeen is illustrated by the deaths of two glorious English Saints the great S Swibert Apostle of the Germans and Saint Ceolfrid the worthy Successour of S. Benedict Bâ—scop in the government of the Monasteries of Saint Peter and S. Paul at Wiremouth and Girwy in the Kingdom of the Northumbers 2. Treating above of the occurrents of the year of our Lord six hundred eighty three we then out of a History of Saint Beda lately published concerning the Abbots of those two Convents related the memorable Gests and happy deaths of Easterwin Sigfrid and S. Benedict Biscop who had been Abbots of the same before this S. Ceolfrid to whom S. Benedict at his death recommended the care of them both and by whom Saint Beda himself received his education in learning and piety Now therefore it will be requisite to pursue his Narration concerning this his devout carefull Master and Benefactour Which is as follows 3. S. Ceolfrid saith he was a man industrious in all things sharp of witt diligent in busines ripe in iudgment and fervent in his zeale for promoting Religion He as hath been already declared by the assistance of S. Benedict Biscop in the space of seaven years founded perfected and governed the Monastery of S. Paul the Apostle and afterward became Abbot both of that and the other Monastery also of S Peter which considering their mutuall charity and propinquity were to be esteemed as one Monastery In which Office he continued twenty eight years carefully and prâ—dently accomplishing the worthy design begun by his Predecessour S. Benedict For he added severall new built Oratories encreased the number of Sacred Vessels and Vestments for the Altars and Church and also much enlarged the Libraries of both the Monasteries formerly well furnished by his Predecessour Particularly he added three Pandects of a New Translation to a former one of an old of which one he took with him in his last voyage to Rome leaving the others to each Monastery one he gave likewise a large Book of Cosmography of an admirable work which S. Benedict had bought at Rome 4. Moreover he purchased of the devout and learned King Aldfrid a peice of land of eight families near the River Fresca for a possession to the Monastery of S. Paul which land had been taxed by S. Benedict but he dyed before he could accoÌ„plish the purchase But afterward in the raign of King Osred Saint Ceolfrid made an exchange of this land for other land of twenty families near a town called Sambuâ—e from which it tooke its name because it lay nearer and more conveniently to the Monastery for the effecting of which exchange he added a considerable Summ of money And having done this he sent certain Monks to Rome who obtained of Sergius Pope of happy memory a Priviledge for the security of the Monastery as S. Benedict before had received from Pope Agathon and this latter likewise as the former was confirmed in a Synod by the subscription of the Magnificent King Aldfrid and the Bishops there present In his time also a certain servant of Christ learned in Scriptures and secular knowledge called Witmer undertaking a Monasticall Profession in the Monastery of S. Peter which he afterwards governed gave for a perpetuall possession to the same Monastery a peice of land of ten families which had been given him by King Aldfrid 5. But S. Ceolfrid after a long and exact practise of Regular Observance instructions for which he had received partly from his Father Saint Benedict and partly himself had collected from the ancient Fathers after an incomparably skillful exercise of Prayer and Psalmody never omitted by him after a wonderfull fervour showed by him in correcting the disobedient and irregular as likewise an equall mildnes in comforting and strengthning the infirm after a sparingnes in eating and drinking not usuall in governours as likewise a coursenes and vilenesse in cloathing at last seeing himself full of dayes and by reason thereof incapable of continuing the due Office of a Spirituall Superiour in teaching and giving good example to his Monks having seriously and a long space meditated on these things at last it seemed to him most expedient to give order to his Monks that according to the Priviledge given them and according to the Rule of the Holy Abbot Saint Benedict they should chuse to themselves an Abbot as himself had been chosen young by his Predecessour then going to visit the Sepulchers of the Apostles that by this means himself night have the opportunity before his death to attend to his own soule in solitude and exemption from secular cares and they under the conduct of a younger Abbot more perfectly observe the instituts of a Regular life 6. Now having made this proposall though all the Monks at first opposed themselves with sighs tears and prostrations yet at last he obtained his desire And so earnest he was to begin his iourney that the third day after he had discovered his purpose secretly to his Brethren he began it towards Rome For he was afraid least he should be prevented by death before he could come thither as in effect it fell out and indeed he was desirous to avoyd the importunity of his freinds men of quality in the world who he knew would interpose delayes and lastly
hundred and fourteen days besides the Canonicall howers he recited the whole Psalter twice a day and this when he was so sick that he could not tide on horse-back but was forced to be caried in a Litter every day except that on which he passed the Sea and three days before his death he sung Masse and offred the Saving Sacrifice to God 16 He dyed on the five and twentieth day of September in the year after our Lords Incarnation seaven hundred and sixteen upon a Friday after three of the clock in the after noon in the feilds of the foresaid Citty of Langres and was buried the day following in the Monastery of the three Twin-Martyrs about a mile distant from the Citty toward the south there being present no small army partly of English who attended him as likewise inhabitants of the Monastery and Citty adioyning all which with loud voyces sung Psalmes at his enterrment Thus far writes S. Beda 7. It seems his body did not remain at Langres for in the Supplement of the Gallican Martyrologe on the six and twentieth of November we read celebrated the Translution of Saint Ceolfrid an English Abbot who at his return from his pilgrimage to Rome dyed at Langres in France and was buried in the Church of the three twinn Martyrs Afterward his countrey-men demanding his Sacred Body which had been glorified by many Miracles it was with great veneration caried back to his own Monastery The day of his deposition is celebrated in our Martyrologe on the five and twentieth of September II. CHAP. 1.2 c. The death Buriall and Miracles of S. Swibert 1. THE same year as hath been sayd Saint Swibert the glorious Apostle of the Germans and Frisons ended his mortality This was the third year after he had visited Prince Pipin and was returned to Werda saith Marcellin At last Almighty God who is himself the great reward of his faithfull servants and who by a temporall death of the flesh translates the living Stones of his Church from earth to his heavenly building was pleased to call the valiant Champion of his Faith Saint Swibert to receive his Crown in his eternall kingdom Therefore in the said year Saints Swibert replenished with all Divine Graces and inflamed with a cordiall desire to See God after he had celebrated the Divine Mysteries on the Feast of Saint Peters Chair in his Monastery a languishing sicknes took him so that he was forced to confine himself to his bed 2. And when he saw that his disease every moment grew more violent he called all his Brethren and Disciples togeâ—her to the number of twenty and in the first place admonished them to follow our Lords foot-steps and to be carefull to preserve peace and charity with one another and with all of the house-hold of Faith Likewise that with all care they should observe the Instituts of Regular Disciplin which he had taught them by Word and example Then he told them expressly that the day of his death was at hand whereupon they all began to weep bitterly But the Holy Bishop said to them My beloved Brethren doe not weep but rather reioyce in my behalf for now I shall receive the recompence of all my labours Extend your charity to mee at this time of my retiring out of the world and protect mee with your prayers After he had said this he much reioycing in our Lord exhorted them to a contempt of this present world and an earnest desire of heavenly rewards again putt them in mind by their watchings prayers and good works to prevent the hour of his death which was uncertain And having added other words to this effect and bestowed his Benediction on them by his command they went out to the Church with great sadnes 3. But he retained with him the Superiour of his Monastery Saint â—iâ—eic with whom he ioynd in most devout Prayer to God and meditation of Divine things And when the day of his departure and repose was come of which he had before been informed by an Angel causing his foresaid Brethren to be once more assembled he commanded that Masse should solemnly be celebrated in his presence Then arming himself with the Communion of our Lords Body and making the sign of the Crosse on all that stood about him he quietly slept in death and his blessed soule was caried by Quires of Angels to the eternall happy Society of the Saints And immediatly his face became of a shining brightnes his Cell likewise yeilded an odoriferous fragrancy which wonderfully refreshed all that were present Thus this most Holy Prelat Saint Swibert Bishop of Werda happily dyed in the sixty ninth year of his age on a friday being the first day of March on which day the Church every where celebrates his Memory 4. In the same hower that he dyed his soule with great glory and ioy appeared to Saint Willebrord his beloved companion Bishop of Vtrecht then in his way returning from Epternac to Verona requesting and admonishing him that he would be present at his Funeralls in Werda and commend his body to the Sepulcher This being declared to us by Saint Willebrord with much greif he presently took boat and made great hast to Werda There was then present with him his illustrious Spirituall daughter the Duchesse Plectrudis with certain Prelats who blessed God for the merits of his holy Confessour Saint Swibert All these the day following being Saturday as they were according to custom singing the Vigile of the Dead a young man was brought among them who had been made blind by lightning and with his clamours interrupting the Psalmody and calling to the Saint to have his sight restored assoon as he had touched the Coffin he immediatly recovered his sight to the astonishment of all Besides another who was raging mad being brought in and kissing the cover of the same Coffin was presently restored to his senses A third also who was possessed by the Devill by the same means was perfectly freed from the Wicked Spirit 5 At last on Sunday after all the solemnity of the funerals had been devoutly fullfilld the Sacred Body with hymns and Lauds was reverently committed to the ground by Saint Willebrord Arch-bishop of Vtrecht Saint Willeic a Preist the glorious Princesse Pâ—ectrudâ— Duchesse of the Austrasians and many others his Brethren and Disciples 6. And I Marcellin Preist who have written this History and had been formerly a Disciple and companion of the Holy Bishop S. Swibert I was also present at the Buriall with Saint Willebrord after which at the earnest request of my dear Brethren Willeic Gerard Theodoric and others we remained with them in the Monastery of Werda fifteen dayes for their consolation I will therefore here relate among many some few testimonies of Miracles which I saw with mine own eyes and many other with mee so that it not only deservedly may but ought to be beleived that the said Holy Bishop is great in
Apostolick And withall commanded him that in case any thing were wanting to him in the succeeding discharge of his Office and Ministery that he would not faile to give intimation thereof to him 6. Saint Boniface after he had received these Letters from the Venerable Pope went from Rome to Luitprand King of the Lombards by whom he was honourably entertained and abode with him some space of time Then taking leave of him he passed the steep mountains of the Alpes and visiting the formerly unknown borders of the Bavarians and Germany from thence came into Thuringia where like a diligent and prudent Bee he searched all places where he might gather and carry the delicious Nectar of the Holy Faith 7. During his abode which was a considerable time in Thuringia he with lively and spiritually exhortations invited the Princes of that Province to embrace the Holy Faith and Religion of Christ. And certain Preists whom he found in those parts addicted to many vices and disorders he with effectuall reprehensions reduced to an orderly and Canonicall conversation VII CHAP. i. 2 c. The miserable death of King Radbode deluded by the Devill 1. WHilst S. Boniface abode in Thuriâ—gia the happy newes came to him of the death of the Tyrant Radbode King of the Frisons who had lately with great fury persecuted the Christians At which report he received great ioy and presently after sayled into Friseland where with great Zeale and diligence he disperâ—ed the precious seed of the Gospell and withdrew very many from their Superstitions and Idolatry 2. But before wee proceed in this Narration touching the Gests of this glorious Apostle it will be expedient to declare the circumstances of the miserable death of this Tyrant Radbode recorded by a devout Writer of the same age Ionas a Monk of Fontanell in France who in the life of S. Wulfran Archbishop of Sens a ioynt-labourer with S. Willebrord and S. Boniface in the Conversion of the Frisons professes that what he wrote he received from the testimony of a Venerable Preist called Ovo a Frison by Nation who himself had been miraculously delivered from death by the said Apostolick Bishop when he had been condemned and for the space of two howers actually hanged by the Tyrants command as a Sacrifice to his Idols 3. When by the sight of many Miracles saith he King Radbode had been convinced of the Verity of Christian Religion and was disposed to receive Baptism he by many earnest adiurations obliged the Apostolick Bishop to answer him to this Question In whether of the two places did remain his Predecessours Kings and Princes in that celestiall Region promised to him in case he would be baptised or in the other Region of darknes and torments Hereto the Bishop replied that without doubt since they all dyed without Faith in Christ and Baptism they were condemned to eternall torments When the barbarous King heard this He being ready to step into the fountain where he was to be baptised streight with-drew his foot and said That he could not be induced to want the society of so many gallant Princes and live for ever among a small company of beggars and vile people 4. Yet again after this he was perswaded once more to advise with the Holy Bishop Willebrord whom he sent for to see whether he taught the same Doctrine with S. Wulfran S. Willebrord answered the Messenger Since the King will not hearken to the counsell of my Holy Brother Wulfran it is not likely that he will be perswaded by mee For this last night I saw him bound fast with a fiery chain Yet he followed the Messenger but in the way was told that that the unhappy King was dead without Baptism 5. And indeed it appeard that the wicked King had filled up the measure of his sins and was given up by God to impenitency For in his last sicknes by the Divine permission the Devill appeard to him in his sleep transformed into an Angell of light with a crown of gold upoÌ„ his head glistering with inestimable iewells and garments gloriously shining and said to the astonished King Tell mee Noble Prince who has seduced you to a willingnes to forsake the Religion of your Predecessours Doe not hearken to them but continue constant in the worship of the ancient Gods of your Nation and you shall not fayle after death to be translated to golden Palaces and live there in all manner of pleasures and felicity And to shew you that I doe not seduce you To morrow send for the Christian Doctour Wulfran and command him to give you a sight of that happy eternall mansion which he promises you in case you will embrace the Christian Faith and be baptized This since I am assured he cannot doe Let there be Messengers chosen of his Beleif and yours I will undertake to be their Guide to shew them that gloriously happy Mansion which I have promised you 6. Assoon as the King awaked he sent for the Holy Bishop and recounted to him his Vision Who groaning in Spirit told him that it was an illusion of the Devill to bring him to eternall misery no way to be avoyded but by Faith in the Saviour of the world and purging of Sins by Baptism But the King replied that unlesse he would give him a sight of the Happines promised him he would not fayle according to the order prescribed in the Vision to send his Messengers Hereupon the Holy Bishop apprehending that in case he should refuse to send one Messenger likewise to detect the Devills fraud the Pagans would publish their own fictions therefore he thought good to send one of his Deacons to accompany the Kings Messenger These two therefore assoon as they were at an indifferent distance from the town mert with one who appeared in the shape of a man and told them saying Make hast for I will shew you the happy mansion which I promised the King Hereupon they following him travelled through many unknown pathes till at last they came to a large way paved with severall sorts of polished marble Then they saw afarr off a golden house and the street leading to it was covered with gold and precious Stones Assoon as they were entred into the house they saw a most glorious Throne of a wonderfull beauty and magnificence and their Guide told them This is the Palace and this the Seat which God has promised to give to King Radbode 7. When the Deacon with great astonishment saw these things he said If all these things be works of the Omnipotent God let them remain for ever But if they be illusions of the Devill let them presently vanish Having said this he immediatly armed himself with the sign of the Crosse and the Guide which seemed to have been a man vanished into a Devill and the whole Palace became durt So that the two companions the Deacon and the Frison found themselves entangled in the midst of reeds and briars in a great
Concerning him thus we read in the Authour of his Life in Capgrave The Venerable Confessour of Christ Saint Brithun drew his originall from the Nation of the English He was Deacon for many years to the Holy Bishop of York Saint Iohn of Beverley and for the sanctity â—f hâ—s life and laudable conversation he was in his affection preferred by him before others and constituted Abbot in the Monastery of Deirwode now called Beverley which the said Holy Bishop built from the foundations And to the same Monastery Saint Iohn in his old age refigning his Bishoprick retired by the counsell of the said holy Abbot where also he dyed after he had spent four years in an Angelicall purity of conversation After his translation to heavenly ioyes the Venerable Abbot imitating his good Master persevered to the end of his life in watchings fastrags prayers and other good works For he was a lover of vertues a persecutour of vice a despiser of this present world a Zealous aspirer to heavenly ioyes a faithfull guardian and instructour of the flock committed to him an unwearied practiser of jâ—stice and piety a munificent disperser of Almes and in a word one who with all diligence performed whatsoever he knew to be pleasing to God Thus constantly serving our Lord in all good works to his decrepiâ—e age he crownd a most holy life with a suitable death and having quiâ—ted this world on the Nones of May he received his reward in heaven His body was with great hâ—nour buried in his own Monastery Where in processe of time his sanctity becoming illustrious by many Miracles with consent of the Clergy and people it was taken up and his sacred Relicks placed near the Coffin of his beloved Master and Instructour the Holy Bishop Saint Iohn close to the Altar in his Church of Beverley 3. The same year is recorded the devout Pilgrimage of Daniel Bishop of Winchester to Rome who is supposed by â—ome to have subscribed to a Synod about this time assembled there in which a heavy Anathema is pronounced against al such as presume to associate to themselves in mariage any Virgins or other women consecrated to God or those whose matrimonial society men being promoted to such orders have according to the Churches Discipline been obliged to forsake XII CHAP. 1. A Rebellion of the South-Saxons repressed 2.3 c. Of Saint Pechelm Bishop of Casa Candida and of S. Wirâ— an Irish Bishop 6.7 c. Casa Candida was within the Saxon Dominions 1. THE year following great commotions were raised in the Southern parts of Brittany For the South-Saxons impatient of the yoak layd on them by the West-Saxons elected among them a Generall a young man of great courage called Ealdbrith under whose conduct they seised on a strong Castle newly built by King Inas in Somersetshire at the River Thone therefore called Thoneton and now Taunton At which time King Inas being by some design or perhaps by sicknes diverted his magnanimous Queen Edilburga with a choice army layd siege to the said Castle and in a short space took and destroyd it that it should no more be a seat of Rebellion But Ealdbrith by flight escaped into Surrey and from thence retired into Sussex where King Inas following him with a powerfull army and fighting with him dispersed all his forces and slew Ealdbrith so utterly extinguishing the rebellion 2. The same year a New Episcopall See was erected in the Province of the Picts or rather an ancient one being decayed was restored This was the Episcopall See called Candida Casa and a holy man called Pecthelm was consecrated Bishop of it For thus writes S. Beda concluding his History Pecthelm now sitts Bishop in that part of the Province which is called Candida Casa or White house the which Diocese was newly erected by reason of the multiplying of beleivers in those parts and the first Bishop was the said Pecthelm 3. Wee have in the eighth book of this History declared how in the year of Grace three hundred ninety four S. Siricius Pope consecrated S. Ninian first Bishop of the Southern Picts who established his Episcopal See at this place where he built a Church to the honour of S. Martin and with great industry converted a great part of the Nation But after the Saxons had subdued the Picts wee read of certain Bishops of the Picts as about forty years before this the devout Bishop Trumwin but it seems they had no determinate See at least not this of Wite-hern or Candida Casa which was at this time restored 4. As for this Pecthelm he was a man of great piety and learning and so illustrious that he was consulted in difficulties of great importance by Saint Boniface as appears by severall Epistles yet extant In his younger age he was educated in the kingdom of the West-Saxons where he was Disciple to the famous Saint Aldelm and made Deacon as William of Malmsbury testifies After that he went over into Germany where he associated himself to Saint Willebrord and was present at a Synod assembled by that Holy Apostolick Bishop at Vtrecht to which his name is found subscribed It was he who related to Saint Beda the sad Story of the impenitent Soldier and favourite of Coenred King of the Mercians formerly recounted in this History 5. By whom this holy man was consecrated Bishop not any of our Historians doe declare but in the Belgick Calendars published by Miraeus we read that he was ordained Bishop by the Pope as likewise the companion of his pilgrimage Saint Wâ—ro For there wee read this passage Saint Plechelm so he is there named born of Noble parents in the kingdom of the Northumbers from his youth excelled in humility and modesty and even in that tender age chastised his body by watchings and fastings attending assiduously to Prayer Being come to riper age he was diligent in the study of Holy Scriptures When he was promoted to the order of Preisthood he was liberall to the poor and adornâ—d with all vertues insomuch as that internall Light which he received from Gods holy Spirit shone forth gloriously in all his actions Not long after associating himself to Saint Wiro he accompanied him in a pilgrimage to the Monuments of the Blessed Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Rome There they with great devotion visited all holy places and by assiduous Mortifications and prayers offred themselves Holocausts of sweet savour to God These two holy men being observed by the Pope to be endued with divine wisedom and enflamed with Charity he consecrated them Bishops and enriching them with Sacred Relicks of Saints he dismissed them to their own countrey There Plechelm became Bishop in the Church called Candida Casa where with unwearied labour he extinguished all remainder of Idolatry 6. Here is a great controversy against the Saxon pretentions raised by the ancient Scotts or Irish and the Modern Scotts each of them challenging to their
and Martin the fourth And Polydor Virgil an Italian acknowledges that he was sent into England to perform the Office of Collectour for the Pope 8. This liberality begun by our Saxon Kings was imitated by other Extern Princes in succeeding times Thus Pope Gregory the ninth of that Name in an Epistle to his Legats declares that in the Archives of S. Peter in three severall places it is fâ—und that Charles the Emperour collected yearly for the service of the Apostolick See twelve hundred pounds besides what every one offred in his particular devotion And in the year of Grace one thousand forty six by a Generall Assembly of the States of Poland under King Casimir a promise was made of a half penny yearly to be payed by every person in that kingdom to the Pope And in the year of our Lord one thousand seaventy six Demetrius Duke of Dalmatia Croatia in a Synod assembled at Salona obliged himself to pay to the See of Rome an annuall Tribute of two hundred peices of Gold called Byzantins The like Pensions we read to have been given by the Dukes of Brittany c. Thus much wee thought fitt to adde upon occasion of this charitable Liberality to the See of Rome begun by the devout Saxon King Ina. Wee will prosecute his iourney the year following XVIII CHAP. 1. Death of Tobias Bishop of Rochester 2 3 S. Boniface consults the Pope about severall Questions which are resolved by him 1. THE same year Tobias Bishop of Rochester dyed He was saith S. Beda Disciple of Theodore Arch-bishop of Canterbury of happy memory and of Adrian Abbot of S. Augustins Monastery And to a great perfection of learning both Ecclesiasticall and secular he added so accurate a skill in languages both Greek and Latin that they were as familiar to him as his Native countreys tongue He was buried in the Porch of S. Pauls which himself had built within the Church of S. Andrew to be a place for his sepulcher From this passage of S. Beda the great Cardinall Baronius inferrs that the English Nation received from the Roman Church not the Catholick Faith only but likewise all good literature To Tobias there succeeded in the See of Rochester Aldulfus who was the tenth Bishop of that Church 2. But the incessant labours of S. Boniface wil oft interrupt our Narration of the affaires of Brittany and require our attention to them This year as appears by an Epistle or Pope Gregory to him he sent his Preist Denuaâ— to the said Pope to onsult him about certain difficulties occurring in the discharge of his Apostolick Office As 1. within what degrees of propinquity Mariage may be permitted to which the Resolution was that the utmosâ— strictnes ought not to be exercised to such new converted Nation and therefore thaâ— beyond the fourth degree of affinity or consanguinity Mariage might be allowd Again 2. that in case a woman have an incurable infirmity before Mariage be accomplished it may be lawfull for the husband to marry another 3. That if a Preist be defamed by an accusation of the people and no certain Witnesses be produced against him the Preist by oath making God witnes of his innocence shall remain in his degree 4. That it is no fitt that more Chalices then one should be upon the Altar at celebration of Masse 5 That concerning eating meats consecrated to Idols it may be allowd after making the sign of the Crosse over them except in case oâ— scandal mentioned by S. Paul â—â— at one shoulâ— say This was offred to Idols 6. That childrenâ—o â—o either sex offred by their parents to God in their infancy to a Regular Discipline may not afterward in ripe age leave that state and contract matrimony 7. That persons baptized by adulterous and scandalous Preists ought not therefore to be rebaptized But in case there be a doubt whether infants have been baptized or not then according to the Tradition of the Holy Fathers they ought to be baptized 8 That the holy Sacrament of Christs body and blood ought not to be denyed to persons infected with Leprosy or other like contagious disease but they must not be admitted to eat and drink with others 9. That in case the Pestilence should rage in Monasteries oâ— Churches it would be a folly to flye since no man can scape Gods hands 10. That he ought sharply to reprove scandalous and licentious Bishops or Preists but was not obliged to refuse eating or conversing with them For this may be a mean to gain them 3. Some of these doubts also S. Boniface proposed to his learned freinds in Brittany and particularly to the holy Prelat Daniel Bishop of Winchester who returned him the like answers and comforted him being much afflicted with his perverse and obstinat German Clergy Both his Epistle and the Answer to it are still extant XIX CHAP. 1.2 c. King Ina at Rome builds the Schoole of the English â—hâ—re it was seated 6 7 He there takes a Monasticall Habit. his happy death 1. IN the year of Grace seaven hundred twenty seaven the devout King Ina finished his iourney to Rome At his leaving Brittany he resigned his kingdom to his kinsman called Ethelard a worthy Successour of so Noble a Prince And being thus discharged of so great a burden of secular solicitudes he performed his iourney more chearfully 2. Being arrived at Rome saith Mathew of Westminster he by the consent and will of Pope Gregory built in the Citty a certain house which he would have to be called The Schoole of the English To the said house the following Kings of this Nation the Princes Bishops Preists or any other Ecclesiasticks were to come to be instructed in the Catholick Faith and learning to prevent the teaching any perverse doctrine contrary to Catholick Vnity and when they were become well established in the Faith they returned home again 3. It seems that not only the Popes in these times but the Saxon Princes in Brittany thought more convenient that the youth of this Nation should be taught learning and vertue at Rome rather then publick Schooles should be erected at home And the reason is given by the same Authour saying From the time of S. Augustin our Apostle to this Publick Schooles and Professours of Teaching were by the Bishops of Rome straitly forbidden to the English by reason of the many Heresies which at the coming of the English into Brittany at which time the Pagans were mixed with the Christians did much corrupt the doctrines and Discipline of Christianity So that the Censure given by the Apostat Bale touching this Foundation does well become him who affirms That it was erected to the great mischeif of the English state 4. Besides this house the same King Inas built near to it a Church to the honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which the Divine Mysteries might be celebrated by and for such
English as should come to the Citty and in which if any of them hapned to dye here they might be buried Thus writes the same Authour who in another place declares that Burrhed last King of the Mercians going in pilgrimage to Rome and there dying was after a Royall manner buried in the Church of the Blessed Virgin adioyning to the Schoole of the English 5 It is not easy to determin in what region of this Citty the said Schoole and Church were placed Severall of our Historians agree that it was the same which is to this day called the Hospitall of the English or the Hospitall of S. Thomas thus write Polydor Harpsfeild Parker c But other Authours mentioning the frequent conflagrations of it particularly Anastasiuâ— Biâ—bliothecarius in his description thereof about the year of Grace eight hundred twenty three shews that it was seated in the Suburbs near to the Church of S. Peter in that place which is now called the Borgo and anciently Saxia because a Colony of Saxons was sent thither by Charles the great 6. King Inas having thus provided for securing a perpetuall succession and propagation of the Faith among his countreymen presently retired himself to a quiet repose in contemplation He therefore in the expression oâ— William of Malmsbury cutt off his hair and cloathing himself with a vile plebeian habit spent the short remainder of his age in a secret retirement And how acceptable this last sacrifice of himself was to Almighty God he was pleased to shew by many miracles saith the same Authour Now that by this plebeian habit was meant a Monasticall one the generall consent of our Historians doe confirm For the cloathing of Religious persons at the beginning was the same with that of the ordinary meaner sort of people but fashions altering among secular persons and Religious men not changing hence it comes that they have a distinct peculiar habit nothing at all resembling the generall fashion of other men in the world 7. His life was not prolonged at Rome For in our Martyrologe he is recorded to have dyed this same year and his memory is celebrated among Saints on the seaventh of February Which does not well agree together For his arrivall at Rome and the orders taken for such buildings could not be effected so early in the year Yet that he did not passe through the following year may be collected from hence that being dead his Sacred Body was buried with great honour in the entrance of S. Peters Church by reason that the Church founded by him to the honour of the Blessed Virgin was not quite finished XX. CHAP. 1.2 Death of S. Willeic and of S. Engelmund a Martyr 3.4 Oswold rebells against King Ethelard and is expelled 5 6 c. Death of S Egbert 8.9 Osric King of the Northumbers dying the pious King Ceolulf succeeds 1. TO this same year is consigned the happy death of the Holy Preist and Disciple of S. Swibert S. Willeic of whom some what hath been sayd before Concerning him thus writes Miraeus in his Belgick Calendar S. Willeic was an assistant of the holy Bishop S. Swibert in the preaching of the Gospell and became a Canon of the Church of Vtrecht lately erected After S. Swiberts death he governed the Monastery of Werda the space of ten years with great commendasion and esteem He dyed this year and his Memory is celebrated among the Saints on the second of March 2. About the same time also dyed yet more happily because his life was sacrifised by Martyrdom the glorious Saint and câ—panion of S. Willebrord S. Engelmund who according to the same Authour imbueâ— with Evangelicall Doctrin the â—acavians and Kenemarians But in the Supplement to the Gallican Martyrologe a larger Elogy is â—iven oâ— him in this manner At Welsa in Holland on this one and twentieth day of Iune is celebrated the happy death of S. Engelmund Preist and Martyr He by Nation an Englishman was companion of S. Willebrord by command of Pope Sergius was ioynd in commission with him in his Apostolick Office in preaching converting of soules and working miracles among the Pâ—isons He was also Abbot and directour of many Religious persons which he assembled together to praise our Lord. At length being zealously vrgent to withdraw the Savage Nation of the Prisons from their horrible Superstitions and barbarous manners he for so great Charity incurred their hatred and furâ—ous persecution with which he was at last oppressed So crowning his Apostolick Office with a glorious Martyrdom 3. The year following the Kingdom and Churches of the West-Saxons were much disquieted by the restles ambition of a young Prince of the Royall family called Oswold who it seems in indignation that King Ina in resigning the Crown preferred his kinsman Ethelward or Adelhard before him thought by force to give it himself Concerning this tumult and the successe of it unhappy to the aggressour thus writes Henry of Huntingdon Adelhard King of the West-Saxons before the first year of his raign was expired fought a batel against Oswold a young man of the Royall stock who attempted to obtain the kingdom for himself But the young man not being able to bring equall forces into the feild having for some time born the burden of a furious combat at last being overpowred was forced to fly and quite abandon the kingdom By which means King Ethelward was firmly established therein 4. This worthy King to shew himself a deserving Successour of King Ina presently after extended his Royall magnificence to houses of piety and Religion particularly to the famous Monastery of Glastonbury the memory whereof the Antiquities of that place doe thus commend to posterity When Câ—ngisle was Abbot in the year of our Lords Incarnation seaven hundred twenty nine Ethelard King and Successour of Ina bestowed for a stable possession to the Religious family serving our Lord in the Monastery of Glastonbury sixty hâ—des of land in Pohonholâ— and twelve hydes in Thoric His Queen likewise named Fridogitha gave Brunant How this devout Queen nine years after this quitted her Royall state and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome where she consecrated herself to God wee shall shew hereafter 5. This year likewise dyed the most holy Abbot Egbert of whom frequent mention has been made This is he who in the year of Grace six hundred sixty four being mortally sick of the Pestilence was wonderfully restored to health and forsaking his Native countrey Brittany went into Ireland in the year six hundred and ninety where for his admirable piety he was in â—igh estimation and being desirous to expose himself to all incommodities and dangers for spreading the Faith in forrain countreys waâ— by Almighty God who designed him for another employment hindred Notwithstanding by his exhortations the glorious Saint Willebrord Sutbert and their companions undertook that most famous Apostolick Mission into Germany This likewise was he who thirteen years
place to manifest the sincere veracity of so learned and pious an Authour wee will from his penn declare upon how well grounded an authority he built the whole frame of his History as likewise what diligent search he made for true information in all things as well such as hapned in former ages as during his own age in the other regions and kingdoms of Brittany and forrain countreyes And lastly wee will conclude with a particular Narration of Saint Beda's own life and happy death 2. As touching the first thus he writes At this present time to witt in the year of Grace seaven hundred thirty one the Bishops governing the severall Episcopall Sees of Brittany are these following The Province of Kent is administred by Tatwine Arch-bishop oâ— Canterbury and Aldulf Bishop of Rochester That of the East-Saxons by Inguald Bishop of London The East Angles by Eadbert or Aldbert Bishop of Dumwich and Hadulac Bishop of Helmham The Province of the West-Saxons by Daniel Bishop of Winchester and Forthere Bishop of Shirborn In the kingdom of the Mercians Alduin is Bishop of Lichfeild Walstod Bishop of Hereford and the region beyond the Severn Wilfrid Bishop of Worcester and Cymbert or Kinebert Bishop of the Lindisfari or Lincoln as for the Isle of Wight it was annexed to the See of Winchester The Province of the South-Saxons of late has been vacant and therefore has recourse to the Bishop of the West-Saxons that is Winchester for such necessities as require Episcopall Ministery And all these together with other Southern Provinces though governed immediatly by particular Kings yet both they and their Kings also from the South Sea as far as the Humber Northwards are subject to Edilbald King of the Mercians Lastly the large Province of the Northumbers of which Ceolulf is now King is administred by four Bishops the Church of York by Wilfrid the younger that of Lindeâ—â—arn by Edilwald Hagustald or Hexham by Acca and Candida Casa or Witehern by Pectheâ—m This last Episcopall See has been lately erected by reason that the number of Christians there has been greatly multiplied and Pecthelm was consecrated the first Bishop thereof Thus are the severall Episcopall Churches of Brittany administred 3. As touching the severall Nations inhabiting it that of the Picts is ioynd in league with the English and to their great ioy with the Vniversall Church in the Orthodox Faith Communion and peace The Scotts inhabiting the Northern parts of Brittany are quiet and make no attempts or fraudulent designs against the English The Brittains although for the most part out of a Nationall hatred they have an iâ—â—econcileable aversion from the English and likewise doe erroneously and impiously oppose the Catholick Church in the Paschall Observance yet in neither of these regards can they attain their purpose and prevaile both divine and human power resisting their designs For though a great part of that Nation be independent on any other yet in some places they are subject to the Empire of the English And again the times at present being peaceable very many of them in the Northern parts called Cumbers both Nobles and of inferiour condition doe more frequently receive the Monasticall Tonsure in English Monasteries and consecrate their children to the same Profession then exercise themselves in arms and warlike exploits And what good issue may come from hence the succeeding age will see 4. Such at present is the state of all Brittany in this year which is the two hundred eighty fifth since the coming of the English into this Island and the seaven hundred and one and thirtieth after our Lords Incarnation I will conclude with this prayer That the earth may all ways reioyce in the kingdom of our God and many Islands with ioy confesse to the memory of his Holines the constancy of Brittany in his Faith Thus does S. Beda conclude his History XXIII CHAP. i 2. c. The names and qualities of such persons from whom S. Beda received information in his History 1. IN the next place for a proof of his veracity in his History wee will produce his Epistle to the illustrious and learned King Ceolulf then raigning over the Northumbers to whom S. Beda presented the same desiring not so much his protection as iudgment and censure of it In which Epistle to the end he might approve his care and diligence to inform himself in the truth he produces the names and characters of the principall persons from whom he received information and assistance persons of such abilities piety and esteem that no man can reasonably suspect in them either want of knowledge or of sincerity Thus therefore he writes 2. The principall Authour and assistant in this work saith he was Albinus the most reverend Abbot of Canterbury a man of eminent learning in all kinds of litterature having been educated therein by those two most venerable and learned men Theodore Arch-bishop of the said Church of happy memory and Hadrian Abbot This worthy Abbot Albinus was pleased to communicate to mee partly in writing and partly by the Religious Preist of the Church of London Nothelm whom he sent to acquaint mee with all particular occurrents worthy memory which had after diligent enquiry come to his knowledge either in the Province of Kent or adiacent Regions concerning the Gests of the Disciples of the Blessed Pope S. Gregory or whatsoever he could find in ancient Record or receive from the Tradition of Ancestours The said Nothelm likewise afterward going to Rome by permission of Pope Gregory searching the Archives of that Church found and copied out certain Letters both of the said Pope and some of his Predecessours touching the affaires of Brittany which at his return by the advice of the most Reverend Abbot Albin he brought to mee to be inserted in this History 3. In the which those things which are related from the beginning thereof to the times in which the English Nation receiued the Christian Faith wee collected principally out of such Writings as we could here and there meet with Then from that time to the present age all the Gests performed in the Province of Kent by the Disciples of S. Gregory and their Successours and under what Kings they were performed all these came to my knowledge by the industry of the foresaid Abbot Albin and the relation of Nothelm sent by him The same persons likewise informed mee in severall things touching the Conversion of the West and East-Saxons the East-Angles and Northumbers by the preaching of what Bishops and in the raign of what Kings those Provinces received the Christian Faith In a word it was principally by the advice and perswasion of the same Albinus that I had the courage to sett upon this work 4. Besides these the most Reverend Bishop of the West Saxons Daniel who is yet alive gave mee an account in writing of many things regarding the Ecclesiasticall History of that Province and that of the South-Saxons confining
to it together with the Isle of Wight Again how by the ministery of the Holy Preists Ceddand Ceadda the Province of the Mercians came to embrace the Faith of Christ before unknown to them and that of the East-Saxons to recover that Faith which once received was afterward reiected by them And likewise how those two Holy Fathers spent their lives in all Sanctity and how happily they dyed all these things wee learnt from the Religious Brethren of the Monastery of Lestingen built by them Moreover in the Province of the East-Angles the Ecclesiasticall Gests wee understood partly by writings and Tradition of their Ancestours and partly by the relation of the most Reverend Abbot Esius 5. But as touching the Province of Lindissi or Lincoln how the Faith of Christ 〈◊〉 spread there together with the Succession of Bishops we were informed in some part by Letters of the most Revered Bishop Cymbert or Kinebert or by discoursing with severall men of good credit To conclude the occurrents hapning in the Kingdom of the Northumbers and severall regions of it these I came to the knowledge of by the constant report not of a few but of allmost innumerable Witnesses who might well know or remember them besides many things to which I my self can give testimony Among which those things which I have written concerning our most holy Father and Bishop Saint Cuthbert either in this History or in a particular Book of his Gests those I received and transcribed out of certain writings compiled by the Religious Monks of the Church of Lindesfarn the sincerity of which I had no reason to suspect and to those I added with great care many other things which I my self learnt from the most sure attestation of severall faithfull and sincere persons 6. To conclude I humbly entreat the Reader that in case he find in those my Writings any particular passage swerving from Truth he would not impute that to mee as my fault since my only care has been simply and sincerely to commit by writing to posterity for their instruction such things as either from vulgar fame or writings of former ages I have collected Now it is against the generall Law of History that the Writer should be answerable for the mistakes of other men Thus much touching the Truth and sincerity of S. Beda's History XXIV CHAP. 1.2 c. The birth life and Gests of the Venerable Doctour of the Church S. Beda 1. WE will in the last place adde a Narration of the Life and blessed Death of this great Ornament of his age and glory of our Island S. Beda a man so admirably eminent in all kinds of learning so excellent a Poet an Oratour an Historian an Astronomer an Ariâ—hmetician a Chronographer a Cosmographer a Philosopher and a Divine that it was a common saying among the learned of his age That a man born in the utmost corner of the earth had dazeled the whole world with the luster of his Witt and learning And such use he made of all these great Talents in his life that according to his own testimony between the observances of Regular Disciplin and dayly singing the Divine Office in the Church he always found a great sweetnes in learning or teaching or writing some thing For which in his life time he was first by Pope Sergius and for that reason perhaps generally by all stiled Venerable and in that regard that Title since his death has by the whole Church been in a sort appropriated to him For though in all Histories and Martyrologes his Sanctity is celebrated yet he is seldom found written or named Saint but Venerable Beda so that perhaps I may incurr the censure of some Readers for not observing the same in this present History 2. How long he lived cannot certainly be determined Some as hath been said assign his death to this year in which he concluded his History But this is sufficiently disproved in that Saint Boniface fourteen years afther this writing to Egbert Arch-bishop of York and desiring some Books of Venerable Beda to be sent to him speaks of him as then newly dead for he entitles him a man as he had heard who of late had been much enriched with divine Grace and spirituall knowledge and shined gloriously in that Province c. And the like passage we find in an Epistle of the same Holy Bishop to Cuthbert Abbot and Disciple of S. Beda 3. Again others prolong his age beyond the year of Grace seaven hundred seaventy six grounding their opinion on an Epistle written as by him that year to a Preist called Withreda Vpon which account he should many years over-live Saint Boniface contrary to what was even now produced Moreover severall of our ancient Historians place his death four years after this But neither will S. Bonifaces expression well suit with that position 4. In this uncertainty without interposing mine own iudgment it seemd most expedient since we can no longer make use of the testimony and light of this so holy and faithfull an Historian to adioyn his own story to that which he wrote of his countrey especially considering that wee find no Gests of his hereafter inter-woven with the generall Ecclesiasticall affairs so that without any preiudice to order wee may treat of his end in this place conveniently enough 5. He was born in the year of Grace six hundred seaventy one as evidently appears in that himself affirms that he was this year in which he concluded his History fifty nine years old The place of his Birth was a little village not far from Durham called Girwy now Iarrow where the River Tine is ready to fall into the Sea A village then of no consideration though since ennobled not only by his birth but by its neighbourhood to the famous Monastery of Saint Peter founded by S. Benedict Biscop three years after S. Beda was born and it self being the Seat of another Monastery about eight years after built by the same Holy Abbot and dedicated to S. Paul 6. Who or of what condition his parents were hath not been recorded but in a poor village then so obscure we may expect to find inhabitants as obscure What ever condition they were of he was in his infancy deprived of them both and left to the care of his kinred who probably for want of subsistence recommended him being but seaven years old to the care and discipline of the foresaid S. Benedict by which means he in his tender years was imbibed in the rudiments of a Monasticall Life according to the Rule of the Great Patriark of Monasticall Instition S. BENEDICT which Rule as hath been declared was not long before this time introduced into the Province of the Northumbers by the famous Bishops S. Wilfrid 7. In this Monastery of S. Peter seated at Wiremouth S. Beda under so carefull and pious a Master spent his time in all innocence and devotion till he came to an age capable of Professing that Disciplin under
did not enter into that See till the year of Grace seaven hundred thirty five And indeed that seems to have been one of the last things he ever wrote for in it he complains of his age and sicknes Neither would it have been very seemly for a simple Monk to write instructions of that Nature to an eminent Father of the Church but that the advantage authority of age might iustify it 17. Many Books he has written of great curiosity and subtilty but his cheif delight was to meditate and interpret Holy Scriptures which he did with so unwearied a diligence that he allowed no time oâ— leasure for the Devill or the flesh to tempt him And particularly concerning his Expositions of Scripture he says That if they brought no other proffit to the Readers at least they were beneficiall to himself in this that whilst he employed his whole studies on them he avoyded all vain thoughts of wordly things 18. A principall encourager and inciter of him to proceed in such expositions was the Reverend and Holy Bishop Acca the successour of S. Wilfrid in the Episcopall See of â—â—gustald as William of Malmsbury testifies There is still extant a Letter of Acca to him in which he exhorts him to explain the Gospell of S. Luke with a iust Commentary after he had finished that upon the Acts of the Apostles Many others had desired the same thing from him but he deferred or rather excused the labour partly for the difficulty and likewise because S. Ambrose had left a sufficient explanation of the Gospell But these reasons not satisfying the Holy Bishop Acca who told him that the commentary of S. Ambrose it self needed an Interpretation Hereupon S. Beda delayd no longer but in an Answer testifyed his Obedience Which Letter also he prefixed to the same Commentary 19. Such his Expositions of Holy Scriptures were even in his own age of so reverend esteem that by an Ordonnance of an English Synod they were received into the Ecclesiasticall Office and at this day by the consent of the Vniversall Church many Lessons on severall occasions are publickly read in the Church-Service out of his Homilies 20. It is not unexpedient to treat so particularly concerning S. Beda's study meditation and explanation of Holy Scripture to stop the mouths of Modern Sectaries who vainly impute the pretended Errours and Superstitions of Catholicks to their ignorance in Scripture Whereas we see a holy mortified disinteressed person who spent his whole life in prayer and Meditation on Scripture and yet confidently taught those Doctrins and Practises which such men will needs call Superstitions Errours 21. I will conclude this Discourse of this Holy Doctours Life with those words which he is sayd a little before his death to have spoken to his Disciples If by my labours and study I have in any measure proffited you or the Church of God render mee I beseech you this requitall to be mindfull of mee after my death there where Christ our Lord is every day both the Preist and Sacrifice of Propitiation XXV CHAP. 1.2 c. The order and circumstances of the happy Death of S. Beda 1. AS touching S. Beda's happy departure out of this Life to God there is still exitant an Epistle written by one of his Disciples whose name I suppose was Cuthbert afterwards Abbot of his Monastery It is written with great sincerity neither is it obnoxious â—o any suspicion of being supposititious We find it annexed to the end of his Works and well deserves a place in this History The person to whom it was directed is not known and the Writers name onely guessed at But the tenour of it is as follows 2. The small Gift you were pleased to send mee I gratefully received and your devout Letter I read with much consolation especially finding in it that your Community does carefully celebrate Masses and Prayers for our Beloved Master and Father in God Beda Therefore being moved rather by my affection to him then any opinion of mine own ability I will most willingly acquaint you in a short discourse with the order and circumstances of his happy departure out of this world since I perceive that you desire and have requested to be informed of it 3. His last sicknes began about a forthnight before Easter and continued till the Feast of our Lords Ascention The thing which most troubled him in it was shortnes of breath other pain he had little or none During all which time he ceased not day and night to give thanks to God All this hindred him not to continue his Lessons to his Disciples at the Ordinary howers and except that short time all the rest of the day he spent in singing of Psalms with great chearfullnes of mind The whole night likewise except when sleep which was very short interrupted him he spent in Prayer and giving of thanks to God I sincerely professe I never saw nor heard of any man who so incessantly employed his time in praising God A most blessed man certainly he was He would sometimes repeat also that sencence of S. Paul It is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of God and other like passages of Holy Scripture to admonish us by meditating on our last hour to awake from spirituall sleep and negligence Again at other times he would sing certain Antiphones for both our and his own consolation Particularly in repeating one which begins thus O King of glory Lord of all power when he came to those words Leave us not orphans he broke forth into excessive weeping But he would again resume it and such was his employment all the day As for us his Disciples who attended him we could not abstain from weeping Some times wee would read and presently burst forth into tears and sometimes we would read and weep together 4. In such an exercise mixt with greif and ioy we passed the dayes of Lent till the aforesaid Feast And he would oftimes reioyce and give God thanks for his sicknes frequently saying God corrects every child whom he receives sometimes also he would repeat that speech of S. Ambrose I have not so lived among you as that I need to be ashamed neither doe I fear to dye because I have a mercifull Lord. 5. In those dayes moreover besides our dayly Lessons he accomplished two Works which deserves to be remembred for the strangenes the one was the Translation of S. Iohns Gospell into the English tongue for the Churches proffit till he came to those words in the sixth Chapter but What are these five loaves and two fishes among so many The other was a Collection of memorable passages out of S. Isidores works 6 But when the Tewsday before our Lords Ascension was come his sicknes became much more violent and breathing more difficult and besides that a swelling began to arise in his feet Yet all that day he taught and dictated to us very chearfully and he would now and then say
to us Be diligent in learning for I know not how long I may last nor whether my Creatour will very shortly take mee from you Such speeches made us beleive that he foresaw when he should dye The night following he passed without any sleep at all and spent it wholly in praying and praysing God The morning following very early he bid us to be very attentive and diligent to make an end of writing the Lesson we had begun So that we continued in receiving his Dictats till nine of the clock After which hower we went in solemâ—e Procession with Relicks of the Saints as the Office of that day required One of us his Disciples in the mean time stayd with him and told him saying There remains still one Chapter of the Treatise which you did dictate to us But I fear it will be too great trouble for you to speak No said he Take your pen presently and Write and he did accordingly 7. About three of the Clock after noon he called mee to him and said I have in a little boxe some precious things there is Pepper incense and Oraria which some interpret Handkercheifs others Stoles and some likewise Chaplets for numbring of Prayers which say they therefore from him took the name of Beades Run presently and fetch them and desire the Preists of our Monastery to come hither that I may distribute among them some such small Gifs as God bestowd on mee This I performed with much trembling And when the Preists were come he earnestly requested every one of them not to faile to pray and say Masses diligently for him Which they also heartily promised him But they burst out into bitter weeping when he told them he beleived they should never see his face again in this world But again it was a ioy to them when he said It is now time if such be the pleasure of God my Creatour that I should be delivered out of this flesh and goe to him who when I was not framd mee of nothing I have lived a long time and my mercifull Iudge has well ordered my life The time of my freedom is at hand for my soule desires to see Christ my King in his glory In such like speeches to our great comfort and edification he spent ioyfully that which was his last day till even 8. The foresaid young Disciple of his whose name was Wilberck sayd once again to him Dear Master There remains yet one sentence unwritten But he answerd Well well all is finished Thou hast said right Come and turn my head for I much desire to sitt and look to my Oratoâ—y and pray to my heavenly Father Thus being layd upon a hayr-cloath spread on the floor as he was singing these words Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. he happily breathed forth his soule And we may assuredly beleive that considering his laborious constancy in praising God his soule was by Angells caried to eternall ioyes 9. Now all which heard his speeches and were witnesses of the manner of the death of this our good Father Beda doe professe that they never saw any one end his life with so great tranquillity of mind and devotion For as you have heard as long as his soule continued in his body he never ceased to praise God and with arms stretchd forth to give thanks to him Now you must know that besides what I have written there remain many other particulars which for want of skill in expressing I am forced to omitt Yet I have a purpose through Gods help to relate more amply severall other things which I saw and heard from him This account did this Disciple give of his holy Masters death After which as we read in the Authour of his Life in Capgrave there followd in the room where he dyed a sweet fragrancy so wonderfully odoriferous that all the persons present thought themselves in Paradise for no Perfumes or precious balsam came near the sweetnes of it 10. And hereto William of Malmsbury adds which was omitted by the said Disciple That the whole congregation of the Monks being assembled he received Extreme-Vnction and communicated the Body of our Lord for his Viaticum to strengthen him in his last combat against his spirituall enemies and moreover that having kissed them every one he earnestly desired to be remembred in their Prayers c. 11. He dyed on the seaventh day before the Calends of Iune which was the twenty sixth of May But because that day was also the Feast of our great Apostle S. Augustin therefore the Church thought fitt to commemorate S. Beda the day following and so we find both in the Roman and English Martyrologes He was buried in his own Monastery in which from his infancy he had lived about threescore years But the fame of his Sanctity afterward encreasing his Bones together with the Sacred Body of Saint Cuthbert Bishop of Lindesfarn were translated to Durham and there reposed together 12. Assoon as his Death was known abroad severall Letters came from forrain countreys to desire some of his Treatises and Books Two Epistles there are still extant from S. Boniface and from S. Lullus Successour to him and to S. Willebrord to the same purpose And particularly S. Lullus writing to Cuthbert who had been his Disciple three and forty years and was afterward Abbot of the same Monastery tells him that he had sent a Vesture all of silk to enwrap the Relicks of his beloved Master To which the Answers of the same Cuthbert also are still extant 13. I doe not know by what warrant from Ancient Monuments the devout Writer by some stiled the Chancellour of the Blessed Virgin B. Alanus de Rupe affirms that Saint Beda was the first who began in England the Exercise of particular Devotions and reciting of Chaplets to the honour of that glorious Queen of Virgins for so weer find the Oraria distributed by S. Beda to his Brethren interpreted And that from Brittany such Devotion was propagated into France and other forrain countreys 14. I will conclude this Narration with the large Testimonies given to S. Beda's learning and Piety even by Enemies to that Religion which he taught Thus then writes Camden of him Beda among all our Writers is a lover of Truth And again Our Beda the singular glory of England for his piety and erudition gott the Title Venerabilis He gave up himself as he testifies to the Meditation of Holy Scriptures and wrote a very great number of Volumes in an age turmoyld with huge waves of barbarism Thus likewise Whitaker Beda did excell in many vertues and singular learning To the same purpose Foxe Beda was a man worthy of eternall memory the whole Western Church of that age gave him the palm and preeminence for learning and understanding of Scripture Very many more like testimonies may be added but I will content my self with that of the carnall Apostat Bale
his solemnity we many conclude that both these were added by S. Beda's Disciples after his death 8. Not long after S. Boniface visited the confining Regions of Bavaria the Prince whereof was called Hugbert To whom the Holy Bishop with great zeale preached the Faith of Christ. There likewise with much fervour and authority he condemned and cast out of the Church a certain pestilent Heretick called Ermewolf What his Heresy was it does not appear probably it died with the Authour II. CHAP. 1.2 The Primacy of the Sea of Canterbury again established by the Pope 3.4 Bishops conâ—ecrated by Arch-bishop Tatwin after he had received the Archiepiscopall Pall. 5.6 Sedition among the Northumbers c. 1. WE read in B. Parkers Brittish Antiquities that in the year of Grace seaven hundred thirty two being the second after the consecration of Tatwin Arch-bishop of Canterbury a controversy arose between that See and the See of York about Primacy Vpon which occasion Tatwin went to Rome where he obtained the Pall from Pope Gregory and likewise a confirmation of his Primacy After which he made great hast to return into Brittany 2. There is indeed extant in William of Malmsbury an Epistle of Pope Gregory addressed to all the English Bishops in which he exhorts them to Vnity and constancy in Faith and Charity and withall signifies that he had given the Archiepiscopall Pall with the venerable use of the Dalmatick to Tatwin Successour to S. Augustin in his chair of Canterbury and that after a diligent search in the Sacred Archives for the Priviledges and rights of Iurisdiction belonging to that See from the time of the said S. Augustin he had confirmed the same commanding all the Churches of Brittany with their respective Bishops to yeild due obedience to all the Canonicall precepts of the said Tatwin whom he appointed Primat and withall conferred on him authority in his stead to visit all Churches in that Region Moreover that the Church of Canterbury being the first offspring of Christianity and Mother of all other Churches there he took it into his speciall protection threatning severely to vindicate all contempts and disobediences to it on any person whatsoever 3. To this effect did Pope Gregory write but without any mention or reflection on the See of York or any competition of any other in the Primacy Besides this the present Bishop of York Wilfrid second of that name was a man of great modesty and aversion from contention Whereas indeed his Successour of a Princely family and high Spirits did not long after not only restore his See oâ— York to the Archiepiscopall dignity which at first S. Paulinus the Apostle of that Province enioyd but challenged an equality with the Arch-bishop of Canterbury as shall be declared And this perhaps gave occasion of mistake and a confusion of times to B. Parker and likewise B. Godwin 4. Arch-bishop Tatwin having thus received the Pall and being returned into Brittany the year following consecrated two Bishops For Kinebert Bishop of the Lindesfari or Lincoln being dead he substituted in his place Alwâ— whom wee find present in a Synod assembled fourteen years after this Likewise the Episcopall See of the South-Saxons by the death of Eolla being vacant he consecrated for his Successour Sigga or Sigfrid 5. The same year there were great tumults in the Kingdom of the Northumbers by a faction the Head whereof is now unknown But so violent was the Sedition that both King Ceolulf and the Holy Bishop Acca were forced to submitt to the impetuousnes of it King Ceolulf was made prisoner and Shaved as a Monk Notwithstanding presently after in consideration of his integrity vertue and prudence he was restored to his Throne 6 But as for the Holy Bishop Acca the persecution against him continued longer For during the space of three years he remaind banished from his See Yea saith William of Malmsbury it is uncertain whether ever he returned to it or no. However that after his death he was with great honour buried there and became famous to posterity by his frequent Miracles shall be shewed hereafter III. CHAP. 1.2.3 Ethelbald the Mercian King invades his neighbours 4.5 Tatâ—in Arch bishop of Canterbury dying Nothelm succeeds And Egbert succeeds in the See of York 6 7 8. S. Boniface proposes a Scrupulous doubt to Nothelm c. The Râ—solution of it 1. IN the year of Grace seaven hundred thirty four Ethelbald Kiâ—g of the Mercians who as hath been sayd was wonderfully called by God to the Kingdom became very powerfull and not content with the limits of his own kingdom invaded the Provinces of his Neighbours All the Regions from the South-Saxons as far as Humber Northward though governed by petty Kings yet those Provinces with their Kings were subject to his Dominion saith Florentius Yet all these to a mind so vast as his were narrow bounds Therefore making an impression into the Western parts he besieged the Castle of Sâ—merton and no assistance coming to the souldiers there inclosed he brought it into his own power By which means he became possessour of a great part of Somersetshire which takes its name from that place 2. And not content with this he marched with his Army Northward and force prevayling over iustice he in a hostile manner entred the Kingdome of the Northumbers where finding none to resist him he enriched himself and his army with spoyles as much as he thought good then withdrew his forces homewards Thus writes Huntingdon The Abridger of S. Beda's History referrs this invasion to the year seaven hundred and forty but the generall consent of other Writers disproves him 3. But this prosperity which Gods goodnes gave him he abused and plunged himself into many enormous crimes as shall be shewed Notwithstanding the Divine Grace did not utterly forsake him For at last he repented his ingratitude to God amended his errours and with a mixture of vertues and vices ended his life by the treason of his Subjects 4. The same year as Hoveden testifies the Moon for the space of an hour early in the morning on the thirtieth day of Ianuary became of a deep blood-red colour and from thence turned black after which its naturall brightnes was restored This prodigy it seems in his opinion foreshewed the death of Tatwin Arch-bishop of Canterbury for he immediatly addes an account of his death thereto hapning the twenty ninth of Iuly following and in the fourth year after his Consecration He was a man saith S. Beda highly eminent for his Religion and prudence He succeeded Brithwald his equall in learning and piety who was Successour to S. Theodore 5. The year following gave to the two Principall Sees of Brittany Canterbury and York vacant by the death of their Pastours two worthy persons to succeed in the exercise of the Episcopall function to Canterbury Nothelm and to York Egbert As touching the former Nothelm was born
at London in which Church he was Preist not Bishop as Parker mistakingly affirms Some thing hath already been spoken of him when wee related how S. Beda made use of his industry and assistance in composing his History 6. To this New Arch-bishop Nothelm presently after his consecration S. Boniface directed an Epistle in which after he had desired from him the same Christian affection Vnion of minds which heretofore he had with S. Brithwald his Predecessour he proposed to him a difficulty and scrupule which had much and long tormented him a resolution whereof he desired from him as he did from diverse others and particularly from Pecthelm Bishop of Candida Casa and also from an English Abbot called Duddo who had formerly been S. Boniface his own Schollar yet such was his humility that he disdaind not to consult him Now the Doubt or difficulty I will sett down in S. Boniface's own expression 7. I desire saith he to hear your counsell touching a sin committed by mee through ignorance in permitting mariage between two parties the Case stood thus A certain Man with my leave maried a woman a widdow to whose sâ—n he had formerly been God-father This the Romans say is so unlawfull that they ought to be divorced Yea moreover they affirm that anciently under the Christian Emperours â—uch a crime was punished with death or at least perpetuall banishment Now I beseech you to inform mee whether you can find either in the Decrees of the Ancient Catholick Fathers or Holy Scriptures that this is so great a sin For mine own part I can by no means comprehend how a carnall conjunction between persons in a Spirituall prâ—pinquity should be a heynous sin since in Sacred Baptism wee are all of us sons and daughters of Christ and his Church and Brothers and Sâ—sters to one another 8. The Resolution of this Doubt wee can not find since their Answers hereto are lost But Serrarius a learned Iesuit who published Saint Boniface's Epistles with Annotations after he had produced severall Decrees of Ancient Popes strictly forbidding such Mariages shews the Answer to this Doubt to be now very easy Adding withall That if in S. Boniface's time the Ancient Caâ—ins had been in the same number and order as now he would never have doubted of the Question However his diligence in seeking satisfaction is highly to be praised and his humility of mind to be imitated since he not only proposes his doubts to Bishops but even his own Disciples desiring to be taught by them now in his old age yea since he professes that he will not pertinaciously adhere to his own iudgment but obediently acquiesee in the Decrees of the Church and Holy Fathers How far now are our modern Sectaries from such a disposition of mind For Luther and Beza grounding themselves upon their private iudgment and proudly contemning and opposing all Antiquity and authority doe sett as nought all regard of Spirituall Alliance Such difference there is between the Spirits of a modest humble Catholick and an arrogant Heretick IV. CHAP. 1.2 c The Gests of S. Pecthelm 6.7.8 Of S. Wiro 9. And of S. Otger 1. AS touching S. Pecthelm Bishop of Candida Casa to whom S. Boniface directed one of his Epistles demanding his iudgment touching the forementiond doubt it is not easy to determin in what place that Epistle might find him Wee signified his Ordination to that See in the year seaven hundred twenty three and S. Beda in the eighth year after concluding his History affirms that he continued at that time Bishop there Yet the Writers of the Gallican and Belgick Antiquities consonantly aâ—â—â—rm that he left Britâ—tany and after the example of S. Boniface propagated the Christian Faith in those Countreys Of which there is an absolute silence among our English Historians Let us therefore enquire concerning his Gests of forrain Authours 2. In the Gallican Martyrologe upon the fifteenth day of Iuly wee read thus In the Mount of S. Peter otherwise called the Monastery of S. Odila neer Ruremâ—nd in Belgium â—s that day celebrated the deposition of S. Pecthelm Bishop of Candida Casa in Scotland that 〈◊〉 now for anciently it was within the Doâ—â—nioâ— of the English-Saxons and Confessour who being inflamed with a zeale to root out Heathenish Superstition to that time springing â—p in some parts of Belgium undertook a voyage into those countreys in the company of S. Wiro Bâ—â—hop and S. Otger a Deacon Where he was kindly entertaind by King Pipin and encouraged â—o so pious a work He brought very many to the Light of Evangelicall Truth and cast down severall profane Temples of fâ—lse Gods building many Churches to the honouâ— of the only true God The like testimony wee find in Miraeus his Belgick Calendar 5 Now the death of this Holy Bishop our Historian Florentius referrs to this present year Concerning which the sayd Martyrologe thus treats In the same Monastery S Pecthelm full of dayes and merits peaceably dyed And many Divine Miracles shining at his Sepulcher declared him a glorified Saint in heaven Whereupon veneration and honour due to Saints was attributed to him and his Holy Companions For â—heir Sacred Relicks were taken up and reposed under the Altar of the Cathedrall Church of Ruâ—emond and moreover an annuall Feast and Office celebrated in their honour not only through that whole Diocese but also at Oldensale in the Bishoprick of Daventer where his Head is preserved and with great veneration of the people honoured Hereunto Miraeus adds That this anâ—ient Inscription is found upon their Shrines Parts of the Relicks of S. Wiro S. Pecthelm and Saint Otger In the year of Grace one thousand five hundred seaventy one in which the rebellious Gueuses or Calvinists having overthrown the Table of the Altar but leaving the base untouched they were by a singular Providence of God defended from the fury of those Hereticks and twenty three years after when the same Altar was repaired they were there found and afterward honourably taken up as wee read in the Office of the Church of Ruremond 4 In this Narration there occurr difficulties of some weight For whereas it is sayd that Saint Pecthelm was kindly received by King Papin it will not be easy to determin among three Princes in this age all of the same name which was he who received our Saints Whether the first Pipin son to the elder Carloman or his Grandchild by his daughter Begga or the last who was Son to Charles Martel and was the only Pipin who was King But he not beginning his raign till the year seaven hundred fifty two he could not be King at S. Pecthelm's arrivall in France Therefore most probable it is that he was at this time only a young Duke but is stiled King because he became so afterward Notwithstanding after all this the Irish Historians confidently apply all this Story to their Pecthelm Bishop of Tuam and indeed their
pretentions are not all together unprobable 5. Saint Pectelm being dead to him succeeded Frithwald in the See of Candida Casa So that the Illustrious Cardinall Baronius is evidently mistaken in the sence of a passage in S Beda in which after mentioning the death of Heddi he immediatly addes these words To conclude Pecthelm who a long time was Deacon and a Monk with his Successour Aldelm was wont to relate c. From which Passage the learned Cardinall affirms that Pecthelm had for his Successour Aldelm whereas S. Beda's meaning was that Aldelm was Successour to Heddi and that Pecthelm was S. Aldelms Deacon and Monk which from severall Authours we have verified before 6. As touching the Companions of S. Pecthelm the uncertainty of their native countrey is as great Saint Wiro as hath been declared is likewise challenged by the Irish and one particular mentioned in his Life argues strongly for it where it is sayd That it was the custom in the Island where he was born that when any Bishop was elected he was sent to Rome to receive Ordination from the hands of the Pope and so to return and take possession of his See 7. Saint Wiro therefore being thus ordaind was with great ioy received by his flock to whom he diligently gave wholesom instructions both by preaching and example Yet a desire long fixed in his mind to live in a forrain countrey known only to God still remained Whereupon privatly escaping away with S. Pecthelm and S. Otger he passed over into France where as hath been sayd he was with all respect and favour received by Prince Pipin who held him particularly in such Veneration for his eminent Sanctity that he chose him for his Spirituall Father and Guide of his soule to whom he usually confessed his sins and this with so great humility that his custom was to approach to him with bare feet 8. How long he remaind wiâ—h 〈◊〉 is â—ncertain But certain it is that thirsting after Solitude he retired himself to the place called the Mount of S. Peter of Odilia near the Citty of Ruremond in the Diocese of Liege where both by his preaching Sanctity and Miracles he became illustrious And being full of years and Sanctity a feaver not violent freed him from the prison of his flesh and sent his Spirit to heaven His commemoration among the Saints is placed in our Martyrologe on the eighth of May. His Body was buried in the Chappell dedicated to our Blessed Lady near Ruremond but afterward at least a great part of it was translated to Maestrick where it is held in great veneration 9. It remains that wee speak breifly of S. Oâ—ger who is generally acknowledged to have been born in Brittany For Surius in his Life declares that Saint Pecthelm and S. Wiro in their iourney to Rome passing through Brittany by a speciall Providence of God S. Otger a Deacon adioynd himself to their company who out of a fervent desire of heavenly good things contemning all commoditie and pleasures on earth became an inseparable Companion to S. Wiro whom from Rome he followed to the said Mount of Saint Peter where leading a heavenly life upon earth and inflaming the soules of many with a Love of Spirituall and Celestiall good things he there happily ended his Life on the tenth of September on which day his memory is celebrated The Centuriators of Magdeburg confounding him with S. Aldebert doe mistake in affirming that he was son to the King of the Deiri or Yorkshire V. CHAP. 1.2 c. Egbert Archbishop of York restores the Primitive dignity to his See 5. He consecrates Suffâ—agan Bishops 1. THE same year as hath been sayd not only the See of Canterbury but that of York also received a New Pastour For Wilfrid the younger either dying or which seems more probable voluntarily reliquishing that See there was chosen in his place Egbert Brother to Eadbert or as some also call him Egbert who shortly after was King of the Northumbers 2. The Church of York since the death of the founder of it and first Arch-bishop Saint Paulinus to this time continued in much depression By whose fault this hapned it does not appear perhaps it was by means of the contentions long continuing among the Bishops or the multiplication of Bishopricks But now Egbert being a man of great parts and courage restores it to its primitive Dignity as William of Malmsbury thus declares Egbert saith he by his prudence and assisted with his Brothers power reduced that See to its first State For as it is manifest to any one who reads the Ancient Gests of the English Nation Saint Paulinus the first Prelat of that Church was by open violence and hostility driven out of it So that he was forced to retire himself to Rochester in Kent where he died Bishop of that See and there left the Archiepiscopall Pall which he had received from Pope Honorius As for his Successours in that great Church of York they contented themselves with the simple Title of Bishops not aspiring higher But Egbert a man of a more haughty disposition considering with himself that as it is a mark of â—ride for a man to seek honours undue so is it a mark of basenes to neglect such as are due thereupon by severall Appeals to the See Apostolick he at last recovered the Archiepiscopall Pall so raising that Church once more to a Metropolitan Dignity 3. Not any of our Historians doe impute this action of Egbert to a culpable ambition on the contrary his memory is much celebrated by them Harpsfeild sayes that he was a Prelat in many regards worthy of high commendation And William of Malmsbury gives him this Character That he was a Treasury of all liberall sciences And of this says he I can produce a witnes of unquestioned authority the learned Alcuin who in an Epistle to the Emperour Charles the Great thus writes Let mee be furnished with Books of more exquisite learning such as whilst I lived in mine own countrey of Brittany by the favour and industry of my worthy Master Egbert Arch-bishop of York I had the use of And if such be your Excellencies pleasure I will send thither some of my Disciples to coppy out there bring with them into France the choycest flowers in their Libraries Probably this Alcuin who after Saint Aldelm and Saint Beda was the most learned man of the English Nation had a principall regard in this passage cited out of him to that most Noble Library which Egbert furnished at York 4. But nothing gives a greater luster to him and more setts forth his learning and erudition then that Saint Boniface iudged him a person capable to resolve his difficulties There is among his Epistles one written after the death of Saint Beda to him in which he desires him to send him some of that Holy Doctours Treatises and withall asks his advice whether he might lawfully permitt a
certain Preist besides whom there was none other to administer Baptism and celebrate Masse in a large territory inhabited by Christians indeed yet such as were tainted with errours considering that the said Preist who long agoe had falln into the sin of fornication afterward not only was absolved after Pennance but also restored to his degree and Office contrary to the expresse Canons of the Church Now the Question is Whether it be better or at least a lesse ill that such a Preist should perform the Office of the Altar contrary to the Canons or in case he be deprived a multitude of Infants should dye without Baptism and the rest of the people without Sacraments since that people can not be furnished with another more chast Preist Which is indeed no Question at all 5. Egbert having obtaind his Archiepiscopall Pall this same year supplied two Episcopall Sees which were vacant For to Plecthelm Bishop of Candida Casa he substituted Fridwald And the Holy Bishop Acca having been unjustly expelled his Church of Hagustald and there being no probability of his restitution least our Lords flock should remain longer without a Pastour he consecrated thereto Fridbere Who notwithstanding in our Ecclesiasticall Monuments is not esteemed Bishop till the death of Acca which followed five years after VI. CHAP. 1.2 c. A Summe of the Gests of S. Willebrord and his death 6.7 c. Severall Bishops consecrated by Nothelm Arch-bishop of Canterbury 9. Queen Frithogitha's pilgrimage to Rome 1. THE year following the most famous Apostle of the Frisons the erectour and first Arch-bishop of Vtrecht Saint Willebrord received the eternall reward of all his labours Wee have often mentioned him before and will here only add a breif Summ of his Life and Gests out of the Gallican Martyrologe 2. On the seaventh of November at Epternac in the Territory of Triers is celebrated the Commemoration of Saint Willebrord Bishop and Confessour Apostle of the Frisons He was by Nation an English-Saxon and being endowed with many Divine Graces he with nine Companions were by Saint Egbert directed into Lower Germany From Brittany therefore he passed over into Friseland and began the Apprentissage of his Apostolick Office at Vtrecht but was desired by Pipin to goe further into the countrey of the Frisons At the Castle of Vtrecht near an Ancient ruind Church of Saint Thomas he built an Oratory to the honour of the Holy Crosse. Pope Sergius being before admonished by an Angelicall vision solemnly ordained him Arch-bishop in the Church of Saint Peter at the request of Duke Pipin and withall strengthning him with Apostolick authority to preach and dilate the Gospell to the end he might with a more prosperous omen undertake that labour he gave him the Sirname of Clement to whom after the two Princes of the Apostles the Care of Religion in its infancy was committed 3. From Rome he returned into Friseland and at Vtrecht upon Rhene placed his Episcopall See building there a Church which he consecrated to Saint Martin He baptized with the Water of regeneration Pipin the Son of Charles Martel He spread the Gospell largely in Friseland baptizing Catechumens confirming Neophytes celebrating holy Orders and almost in every village building Churches over which he constituted Pastours 4. Whilst he was busily employed in these sacred works there came to him Saint Boniface who in processe of time became his Successour in his Bishoprick and Apostleship of the Frisons Who staying with him about two years assisted him with courage and diligence in procuring the salvation of many At last after many labours incommodities and travells undertaken by him for many years in planting the Church and saving of soules he rendred his holy and happy Spirit to his Creatour at Epternac after he had for the space of forty years with a piety and vertue truly Apostolick governed the Church founded by himself 5. His Sacred Body was buried in a Monastery of that Town which formerly he had erected where it did â—hine with so many illustrious Miracles that both the Monastery and Church were afterwards called by his Name Concerning his Successours Eoban Boniface and Gregory we shall treat in due place His Life was written both in verse and Prose by his Countrey man Saint Alcuin an eloquent Witnesse of his Sanctity 6. The same year Nothelm Arch-bishop of Canterbury having received his Archiepiscopall Pall from Rome consecrated severall Bishops For the See of Hereford being vacant by the death of Walstâ—d he substituted in his place Cuthbert Who four years after succeeded Nothelm himself being translated to the See of Canterbury But before that he finished a very costly Crosse begun by his Predecessour and moreover built a sumptuous Tomb in which he placed the Bodies of the three preceding Bishops Tirtil Torthere and Walstâ—d to which he adioyned three more a certain Nobleman called Milfrid with his Lady called Quenburga and Osrith the Son of Oselin as appears by the verses inscribed on it recorded by B. Godwin in his Catalogue of the Bishops of Hereford 7. The Church of the East-Angles likewise being deprived of her two Pastours Eadbert Bishop of Dumwich and Hadulac Bishop of Helmham The said Arch-bishop gave for successour to the former Cuthwin called by Hoveden Heordwald and to the other Ethelfrid Concerning whom nothing remains to posterity but their names 8. The next year Alduin Bishop of Lichfeild dying two Bishops were consecrated in his place Witta in Lichfeild and Totta or Torthelm in Leycester In this Citty of Leycester which saith William of Malmsbury is very ancient and situated in the midland countrey of England called Legecestria from the River Leger passing by it Saint Wilfrid as hath been declared after his expulsion out of the Kingdom of the Northumbers made his abode and exercised Iurisdiction there After whose departure the Kingdom of the Mercians had but one Bishop till this year in which for the Vastnes of the Province two Bishops were ordained And Leycester continued an Episcopall See till the time of King Edgar when Leovâ—n Bishop of the Lindesfari or Lincoln united Leycester to his See 9. Moreover in the place of Forthere Bishop of Shirburn Herwald was consecrated The cause whereof was not the death of Farther but as Florentius testifies because be attending Frithogitha Queen of the West-Saxons undertook a Pilgrimage to Rome And it was not fitt that the Church should want a Pastour This is the same Frithogitha Wife to King Ethelard who eight years before this was so munificent a Benefactrice to the Monastery of Canterbury And now the flame of Divine Charity encreasing in her soule she abandoned all her splendid possessions and gave her self entirely to God And in those days at wee read in Mathew of Westminster many Kings and Bishops Noble men and â—gnoble Clergy-men and Secular yea women also did the like VII CHAP. 1.2 c Ceolulf King of the Northumbers becomes a Monk His Muneficence to the Church
of Saint Cuthbert 1. THE same year Brittany saw a spectacle which all other Christian countreys esteemed prodigious but was become no wonder in our Island and this was a potent King in his ripe age and the midst of his prosperity to renounce all wordly glory advantages and contentment and to prefer before all these a poor Cell a course habit sparing and simple dyet and submission to the meanest of his Subiects This was Ceolulf King of the Northumbers to whom S. Beda had dedicated his History of Brittany not so much that he might by his eminent quality be a protectour of it or of the Authour as by his learning and iudgement to be a correctour And it is not to be doubted but that so many examples which he found there of persons contemning hating and flying from all worldly tentations and pleasures had a strong influence on his mind to inflame it with the love of heavenly and only true happines 2. A little before he thus offred himself a Holocaust to our Lord he had bestowd liberally many possessions on the Monastery of Lindesfarn where the famous S. Cuthbert learnt and practised the rudiments of his Sanctiâ—y whose life and glorious actâ—ons he had read in S. Beda's writings Hoveden among the munificent gifts of this King to S. Cuthbert reckons these pâ—aces Vdecester Wittingham Edulfingham and Cewlingham But the Religious King esteemed this liberality not considâ—rable unlesse he gave himself likewise to him by embracing a penitenciall Life in his Monasteâ—y which this year being the ninth of his raign he performâ—d 3 This space of nine years spent in vanity saith Huntingdon seemed to him a whole age for he was in great anguish of mind that so great a part of his Life should be lost in the vain cares and encombrances of the world He resolved therefore to consecrate the remainder of his years to spirituall Wisedom and to the eternall advantage of his own soul. Therefore proposing to himself out of the History of S. Beda six potent Kings for his imitation he resolved to follow their examples These were Ethelred King of the Mercians and Kenred his Successour Likewise Cedwalla King of the West-Saxons and Ina his Successour Sigebert King of the East Angels who became a Monk and was afterwards slain by the Tyrant Penda And Sebbi King of the East Saxons who embracing a Religious Profession by Dâ—vine revelation foresaw the wishd-for day of his death he saw it and was glad These did not consume their Substance with harlots like the Prodigal son but went on their way with sorrow sowing their seed that they might return with ioy and present their â—heaves to our Lord. King Ceolulf therefore added a seaventh Hebdomadam to the number of perfect Kings and receiving a Monasticall habit in exchange of the Temporall Crown which he left God sett upon his Head a glorious Crown of one entire precious stone 4. The Monastery into which he retired was thâ—t of Lindesfarn the Monks whereof were the Disciples of S. Aidan whom long before this King Oswald had sent for thither out of Scotland and they following his example practised far more rigourous austerities then were usually seen else where For not only all the Râ—ligious men and women too of that institut continued fasting every Wednesday and Friday till Vespers were accomplished but also wholly abstained from wine and all strong drink contenting themselves with Water mingled with a little milk But whether it was that experience shewd them that English Complexions not so robustious as those of the Scotts could not support this great austerity or whether likewise it was out of condescendance to the delicacy and infirm temper of King Ceolulf at his entrance an indulgence was given to the Monks and they were permitted for their drink to use a moderate proportion of Wine or Ale 5. Now besides his former liberalities to that Monastery King Ceolulf at the time of his Monasticall Tensure gave the Mannor of Warkworth So writes Camden out of our Ancient Monuments Warkworth saith he with all its dependences was a possession of the Church of Lindesfarn by the gift of King Ceolulf For this mansion at his renouncing the world he bestowd on the said Church in which beinâ— made a Monk he aspired to a heavenly kingdom 6. Our Martyrologe in which his memoâ—â— is celebrated among the Saints on the fifth of Ianuary refers his death to this saâ—â— year But certain it is that his life was proâ—longâ—d there the space of twenty thrâ—â— years So that we are to interpret thaâ— thiâ— year he dyed to the world Now how happily he concealed himself in that solitude from the world and how charged he was with merits and graces when he left it this is sufficiently testified saith William of Malmsbury by the honour he received in being buried close to S. Cuthbert and by many Divine Miracles wrought there by his intercession His Relicks were afterward translated to Northam saith Hoveden where they likewise became illustrious by Miracles being placed in a Church there built by Egred Bishop of Lindesfarn about seaventy years after this Kings death and dedicated to the honour of Saint Peter Saint Cuthbert and S. Ceolulf 7. This Holy King resigned his Kingdom to his Nephew Eadbert or Egbert a Successour likewise of his vertue and piety for saith William of Malmsbury he governed it the space of twenty years with great prudence and iustice He had likewise a Brother of his own name Arch-bishop of York who by his own wisedom and his Brothers power restored his See to its primitive dignity But of these two illustrious persons more hereafter VIII CHAP. 1.2 Saint Boniface his iourney to Rome 5.6 c. He by Apostolick authority erects severall Bishopricks in Germany 1. THE Gests of S. Boniface which are the principall busines of the greatest part of this Age almost yearly furnishing our History doe call us into Germany from thence to attend his iourney to Rome which he again undertook in the year of Grace seaven hundred thirty eight The occusion of his iourney as we read in the Authour of his Life the account whereof is collected from that of his Disciple S. Willebald was partly to visit Pope Gregory third of that Name as likewise to commend himself to the Prayers of the Holy Apostles and other Saints reposing there and also to obtain from the said Pope as appears by his Letters a resolution of certain difficulties touching the care of soules committed to his charge 2. He went therefore to Rome attended by a great troop of French men Bavarians and Brittaine Where being arrived he was kindly received by the Pope The people of Rome likewise had him in such veneration that they flocked in great multitudes to his preaching and endeavoured to detain him a long time among them For of old it had been their custom when any man of note or sanctity came to Rome they would with
all civility respect and kindnes entertain him Thus they did in former ages with S. Athanasius S. Epiphanius S Hierom S. Peter of Alexandria and many others 3 Now when S. Boniface was ready to depart the Pope very liberally bestowed on him many gifts and whatsoever Relicks of Saints he desired He sent likewise by him severall Letters to the Bishops Princes and Abbots of Germany requiring their assistance to S. Boniface in the great charge committed to him of converting soules as likewise their presence to whatsoever Synods he should assemble and their Obedience to his orders and Decrees made according to the Rule prescribed by the See Apostolick which had authorized him to his Apostolick Office and constituted him the supreme Prelat of Germany 4. With these Letters S. Boniface departed from Rome and came to Ticinum or Pavia where he abode some time with Luitprand King of the Lombards Thence he proceeded towards Germany and being arrived near the River Danubius he made some stay there expecting a Synod of Bishops which he by the Popes order had called And from thence he wrote Letters to certain speciall freinds Goppin Eoban Tacwin and Wyx Religious Abbots as likewise to all their Monks and severall Religious Virgins in which he gave them a particular account of this his iourney and the successe of it 5. The year following being invited by Vtilo Duke of the Bavarians he visited his countrey staying there many dayes and preaching the word of God with great fruit There he found many false Christians who wasted the Churches and seduced the people Some of these falsely pretended themselves to be Bishops and others usurped the Office of Pâ—eists Many likewise with fictions and pernicious lyes wrought great mischief among the ignorant A further course of whose malice he found not any meanes more effectually to prevent then by dividing the Province of Bavaria into four Dioceses which with the consent of Duke Vtilo he performed the Government of which he committed to persons of eminent vertue whom he ordained Bishops 6. Of these the first was Iohn whose Episcopall See was placed at Salisburg The second was Erimbert who governed the Church of Frislingen the third was Hunibald who was consecrated Bishop of Ratisbon the Metropolis of Bavaria And Winilus who before had been ordained Bishsp by the Pope of the whole countrey had the Church of Patary assigned to him 7. Having done this he wrote to the Pope giving him an account of all things and desiring his confirmation and ratification for perpetuity Therein imitating his Predecessours For so did Fugatius and Damianus in the Brittish Church so did S Patrick in Ireland and so did S. Augustin among the English-Saxons demand from the See Apostolick a confirmation of their Ordonnances 8. We have still extant the Popes answer hereto containing an approbation of what he had done Likewise an iniunction to asâ—semble a Synod of all Germany and in his place to preside over it And because the necessities of those Churches would not allow him repose in any one place he renewed his Apostolick Authority to erect Bishopricks wheresoever he should iudge expedient IX CHAP. 1. Cuthred succeeds King Ethelard in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons 2. Nothelm Arch-bishop of Canterbury dying Cuthbert succeeds 3.4 The Death of the Holy Bishop Saint Acca 5 6. c. The Martyrdom of Saint Iuthwara a Brittish Virgin of her Sister S Sidwella 10.11 c. The Gests of the Holy Virgin S. Fridâ—svida 17.18 Death of S Ethelburga Abbesse formerly Queen of the West-Saxons 19 The Death of Saint Arnulf a Hermite 1. IN the year of our Lords Incarnation seaven hundred and forty Cuthred began his raign over the West-Saxons whose Predecessour Ethelard by some called his Brother by others his kinsman dyed the year before This King saith Huntingdon was much afflicted by the proud King of the Mercians Ethelbald who sometimes made open war against him and sometimes raised sedition in his countrey In all which Fortune shewed her self very various between them sometimes the one and some times the other gaining advantage And now and then being weary they would make peace which seldom lasted any considerable time the one or the other presently renewing the warr 2. The same year there was exalted to the Archiepiscopall See of Canterbury being vacant by the death of Nothelm Cuthbert who four years before had been consecrated Bishop of Hereford He was descended from an illustrious Saxon family and as Nobly he administred his Office He was no sooner established in his Seat but Aldulf Bishop of Rochester dying he consecrated his Successour in that See a Preist called Dun. 3. At this time the Holy Bishop Acca formerly a great freind to S. Beda and encouâ—ager in his studies and Writing ended his â—ite of whom mention hath been severall times made before A breif relation of his Gests we will here adioyn from Miraeus who recites his name among the Saints on the last day of November though in our Martyrologe his commemoration be on the nineteenth of February Concerning him Miraeus thus writes Acca a Bishop is named the third among the Apostolick Preists which under the conâ—uct of S. Willebrord departed out of England and arrived at Vtrecht in the year of our Lord six hundred and ninety to procure the consecrat on of S. Swibert he was there detained and not long after ordained Bishop of Hagustald not Lindesfarn as Miraeus mistaking writes 4. How Saint-like his life was Almighty God shewd by many miracles after his death as Hoveden testifies saying The same year Acca Bishop of Venerable memory was received into the happy region of the living after he had administred the Church of Hagustald twenty four years His body was buried with great honour in the Eastern part of that Church And above three hundred years after his death by occasion of a Revelation made to a certain Preâ—st his Sacred Relicks were translated and putt into a shrine Where to this day he is held in great veneration And for a demonstration of his Sanctity his â—hasuble Albe and Maniple which had been buried with his Sacred Body to this day doe not only preserve their colour but primitive firmnes likewise 5. In our Martyrologe on the three and twentieth of December this year is commemorated the Martyrdom of a devout Brittish Virgin called Iuthwara The Circumstances of her death and Martyrdom and a breif abridgment of her life we find in Capgrave The Holy Virgin S. Iuthwara saith the Authour there was born of Noble parents and from her childhood being prevented by a plentifull Grace of Gods holy Spiriâ— she was diligent to serve our Lord in all good works She living in her Fathers house after the death of her Mother with all innocence became amiable to all and made a progresse in vertues as she did in years Whensoever any Pilgrims came to her Fathers house as frequently they did she with great
the year of Grace seaven hundred and seaventeen and dyed in the year seaven hundred forty three XIV CHAP. 1.2 S Boniface falsely calumniated to Duke Pipin 3.4 c. His Letter to the Pope and Ansâ—er 6. Aâ—stedius his malicious mistake 1. IN the mean time Saint Boniface his patience is exercised for his good for he found adversaryes not only in the Court of Duke Pipin a proper seat for envy and malignity but at home also among his companions in the work of the Gospell As for the former sort he easily made voyd all their designs against him with a Letter written to the Duke and his domesticall accusers he overcame by his meeknes 2. Who these were what they layd to his charge we find in a Letter written to him by the Pope the tenour whereof is this Virgilius and Sidonius Religious men living in the Province of the Bavarians have lately visitted us with their Letters in which they have intimated that your Revered Fraternity enioynd them to rebaptize certain Christians At the reading of this we were much troubled and should extremely wonder if it should be true Among other examples they produced this of a certain Preist in the same Province who being ignorant of the Latin tongue he pronounced it wrong in baptizing saying Baptizo â—e in nomine Patria Filia Spiritua Sancta And for this it iâ— sayd your Reverend Fraternity thought fit that Baptisme should be reiterated But holy Brother if he who baptizes introduces no errour oâ— heresy but through ignorance only failes in pronunciation we can by no means allow that sucâ— Baptism should be repeated For as your Holy Fraâ—ternity well knows who soever is baptized even by Hereticks in the name of the Father of the son and of the Holy Ghost must by no means be rebaptized but only be purified by imposition of hands If the matter therefore stand as hatâ— been related to us Holy Brother abstain hereafter from such iniunctions and be carefull to observe what the Holy Fathers teach 3. Vpon the receit of this Letter S. Boniface presently without reply acquiesced Anâ— the same year dispatched to Rome his Preist Eoban with Letters to the Pope in which hâ— suggested many things very necessary for the Churches of France contained in twenty seaven heads of great advantage to Ecclesiasticall Discâ—pline 4. Hereto Pope Zacharias immediatly answerd adioyning to every one of the said Points his own iudgment Withall he inâ—formed him that the most excellent Prince Pâ—pin had sent likewise to him a Religious Preist named Audobaâ— with other Points of the like nature concernâ—ng the Rights of Bishops Preists c. also touching unlawfull Mariages inquiring what was to be observed therein according the Rites of the Church the Dâ—ctrine of Holy Fathers and Canons of Councils And many other things he had proposed relating to the good of soules To all which likewise he had returned an Answer Consequently he enioyned S Boniface to assemble a Synod and therein to discover to the Bishops his said Determinatiâ—ns 5. He gave him moreover order that the forementioned contumacious and Sacrilegious Hereticks Aldebert Godelâ—ace and Clement should be made to appear before the said Synod that their cause might again be accurately examined And in case they were found wholly to swerve from the way oâ— Truth and iustice and being convinced would not retract their errours and amend their faults that then the Princes assistance being desired they should be proceeded against with all severity according to the Canons of the Church But if they should persist in Pride and protest that they were innocent then his will was that they should be sent to Rome and with them two or three Preists approved for their piety and prudence to be their accusers and there the cause should be with all care examined by the See Apostolick and judgment given on them according to their merits 6. Before we declare how S. Boniface observed what was enioynd him by the Pope in calling a Councill and therein convincing again the said Hereticks and doing other matters for the Churches good all which was done the year following it will be expedient in the mean time to admonish the Reader of a mistake made by Alstedius a Calvinisticall Chronologist who affirms that this year a Synod was assembled in Brittany against the Sodomiticall impurity of the English Clergy Whereas no Synod was called there this year and in that which was assembled two years after though many disorders are censured in it yet this is not named among them XV. CHAP. 1.2 A third Synod assembled by S. Boniface at Mâ—nts 3 4 c In which Geâ—vilio Bishop of Mentz is deposed â—oâ— Homicide c. 6 S Boniâ—ace Aâ—ch bishop of Mentz and Primat of Germany 1. IN the year of Grace seaven hundred â—orty five S Boniface according to the admonition given him by Pope Zacharias and the command of Duke Caroloman assembled his third Councill at Mentz in Germany at which were present according to the account given by himself to Herefrâ—d an English Prelat eight Bishops all of the English Nation But of them those only Names remain which Miraeus hath recorded saying At the Synod of Ments convoked by S. Boniface were present Abel Burchard Willebald Werbet and Wera perhaps Wetta or Wittan 2. The Decrees of this Synod touching Ecclesiasticall Disciplin containd in the forementioned thirty seaven Heads sent by Saint Boniface to Pope Zacharias and by him with some correctiâ—ns approved are not now extant But other affairs of great coÌ„sequence agitated and determined are mentioned in the Life of S. Boniface in Surius Where we read that in the said Synod not only many Ecclesiasticks infected with Heresy were excommunicated but severall Bishops also infamous for horrible crimes were depofed The prime Authours of all Errours in Germany were the two Arch-hereticks Aldebert and Clement Whose cause was remitted to Rome and there with all circumspection iudged as shall be largely declared 3. Of Bishops sayd to be deposed in this Synod the name and speciall demerit of one only is now recorded and that was Gervilio Bishop of Menâ—z where the Councill was held The cause of his Deposition according to the said Authour was this At that time the Thuringians implored the â—ssiâ—â—ance of â—aroloman against the Saxons which wasted their countrey He presently sent an Army and with it Gerold Bishop of Mentz who was Father of Gervilio Gerold in the combat among many others was slain And his son who at that time was a Lay man attending at Court to asswage his greif for his Fathers death was taken into the Clergy and made Bishop of Mentz in his Fathers place 4 Not long after Caroloman gathered another Army which himself lead into Germany and took Gervilio with him Whilst this Army lay encamped on both the sides of the River Visurgis Weser Gervilio commanded his servant to goe privatly into the enemies
I. CHAPTER 1.2 An Anniversary Commemoration of the Martyrdom of S. Boniface c. ordained by a Synod in England 3.4 c. Letters out of Brittany to Saint Lullus Successour of S. Boniface 1. A Year was scarce passed after the Martyrdom of Saint Boniface and his devout Companions when the English-Saxon Church in Brittany by a common Decree ordained an Anniversary Commemoration of them For assoon as Cuthbert Arch-bishop of Canterbury heard of their said Martyrdom he assembled a Synod of the Bishops and Abbots of his Province in whose Names he wrote a Synodicall Letter to Lullus the Successour of S. Boniface in the Archiepiscopall See of Mentz which to this day remains among the Epistles of E. Boniface 2. In which Epistle he acquaints him 1. With their sincere affection to him and his fellow-bishops in those barbarous new-converted Regions how ioyfull they all were of their prosperity and how great a part they took in any calamity befalling them 2. He adds that it was a great subject of ioy to them that their Nation of Brittany should have the Happines to send forth so many illustrious Preachers and Apostles endued with such Spirituall courage as not to fear to encounter with Nations so feirce in their superstition and with such spirituall Wisedom and knowledge as to perswade and induce them to forsake their ancient Idolatry 3. He tells him that in this their General Synod they had unanimously decreed to celebrate with an annuall Feast the fifth day of Iune in commemoration of the glorious Martyrdom of Saint Boniface and his companions whom they chose together with Saint Gregory and Saint Augustin as their speciall Patron and Intercessour with our Lord. 4. He desires that the same Charity and propinquity may continue between both their Churches which was begun in the life time of S. Boniface and that mutuall Prayers and celebration of Masses on both sides may dayly be made for one another both living and dead 5. He admonishes him that whereas in many places of late the State of Religion began to shake by the rising of New-Sects whilst unconstant and sensuall men deserting and contemning the Decrees of Ancient Fathers and Ecclesiasticall Laws invent and according to their own inventions publish new Doctrines prejudiciall to soules therefore he and his Churches together with them ought to begg the intercessions of the Holy Apostles and Martyrs of Christ that he would give them grace to continue constant in the Orthodox Faith and Vnity of the Church A good pattern and example of which constancy ought to be the late Famous Doctour and Martyr of our Lord S. Boniface who willingly suffred all incommodities and dangers for the Faith and who being now admitted as an houshold servant into the presence of God as he will be a powerfull Defender of those who follow his example so on the contrary he will be a terrible accuser before the Supreme Iudge of all such as shall forsake that Rule and Communion with the Roman and Apostolick Church which he allways followed â— Other Letters likewise out of Brittany were written â—t this time to the same Holy Archbishop Lullus one from his kinsman Kineara Bishop of Winchester who two years before this succeeded in the place of Humfrid In which he desires him that the same Communion of Prayers and charitable Offices may continue between then which had intervened between Saint Boniface and S. Daniel and Humfrid his Predecessours A second from Milret Bishop of Worcester signifying how a little before he had passed over into Germany to enioy the conversation oâ— S. Boniface and presently after his return heard the news of his deâ—th for which though at first he waâ— sad yet the consideration of the great glory which he now enioyes and what a glorious Patron and Pillar to all of his countrey he is now becom his sorrow was quickly turned into ioy and thanks giving He further exhorts him that the same mutuall Charity which S. Boniface had conciliated between them may still continue and that he would afford him his instructions and Prayers promising all Obedience to his commands c. II. CHAP. 1.2 c. The unhappy death of Ethelbald King of the Mercians and severall iudgments touching his future State 5 6. Beornred his murderer succeeds and is expelled by Offa. 1. THE same year Ethelbald King of the Mercians after a raign of forty one years with great vicissitude of fortune was taken out of the world by a violent death Huntingdon writes that Ethelbald fighting a second time against the West-Saxons at Secundune a wonderfull slaughter was made of his Army and he disdaining to flye was slain Another Historian sayes that though he fled he could not avoyd being slain Now this place of the Battell then called Secundun is seated in the borders of Staffordshire and Warwickshire about three miles from Tamworth and is now called Serkington Notwithstanding the Authour of the Epitome at the end of S. Beda's History affirms that he was by treachery miserably slain in the night time by his own guards So that it is probable this misfortune hapned to him after his flight from the said battell 2. Being thus unhappily slain his Body was buried at Repandun in the County of Darby Which Town saith Camden wee now call Reptoâ— which in ancient time was very ample and renowned but now is straitned to a small village It was formerly famous as having been the buriall-place of Ethelbald the good King of the Mercians who by the treachery of his own servants was slain And Ingulfus adds that there was then at Ripedune a most famous Monastery where this Kings body was buried But what became of his soule the iudgments of God are uncertain to us 3. The iudgments of men likewise concerning him are uncertain Huntingdon iudges hopelesly of his future state For after he had related the sad but iust death of the Tyrant Sigebert he ioyns him thus with Ethelbald Behold saith he the manifest iudgment of God Behold how our Lords justice retributes worthy punishments to mans demerits not only in the world to come but even in this life also For setting up wicked Kings for the punishment of their subjects one he suffers to rage a long time for their longer vexation and that such a King becoming by so long a continuance in wickednes more depraved he may in Hell be more sharply tormented as the forementioned King Ethelbold Another he quickly exterminates c. 4. Yet other Writers passe a more favourable iudgment of his state Camden calls him a good King and certain it is that he shewed great signs of Repentance Hence William of Malmsbury after he had produced S. Boniface his sharp letter to him addes Neither could the Letters of so great a Saint want effect which with so much circumspection and zeale he sent to him as became the duty of an Apostolick Legat and his Charity to his countreymen
Boniface they entombed it and there it became glorious by many Miracles Notwithstanding whereas S. Boniface had commanded that her Body should be layd in his own Sepulcher the said Monks his Disciples not thinking it expedient to open his Tomb and discover his Sacred bones durst not presume so far to obey him for which reason they reposed her Body in a Tomb near adioyning thereto And this was the only Body of that Sexe which ever was permitted to enter into that Monastery Her Memory is celebrated both in the English and Roman Martyrologe on the fourth day before the Calends of October on which day she dyed 13. Her name is also written Liobgytha and so S. Boniface writes it in a short Epistle to her and herself also in an answer to him in which she shewes that he had formerly been ioynd in a great league of freindship with her Father whom she calls Tinne who lived in the Western parts of Brittany and that he was also a kinsman to her Mother Ebbe 14. This is the Summ of what we find recorded concerning this Blessed Virgin the miracle of her age for her learning and sanctity the object universall admiration and affectioÌ„ of Princes Queens Nobles Bishops and all that knew her Onely envied and hated by the Devill because she was a Virgin consecrated to God this incited him to endeavour but in vain to cast a spott upon the opinion of her Chastity and the same likewise has of late incited his Ministers the Lutheran Centuriatours of Magdeburg to renew his calumny yea and to enwrap S. Boniface also in the same suspicion Because he erected Monasteries and taught Prayer for the dead they call him a Minister and slave of Satan And because he brought Religious Virgins out of Brittany into Germany they write thus He drew out of England with him a flock of women among whom the prinâ—ipall were Chunitruda Aunt to Lullus Archbishop of Mentz and Valdopyrga these he placed in Bavaria Then Chynilda and Beregitha whom he left in Thuringia lastly Tecla and Lioba whom he settled in France to the end that in all his perambulations up and down he might every where find lascivious Mistresses What a horrible Religion must that be which such men as these professe which even acknowledges it self to be odious to God and man unlesse the Teachers of it can demonstrate that the consecrating of soules to Gods service in continuall fasting and prayer the mortifying of all lustfull passions the dedicating both soule and Body to devotion and chastity and such Chastity attested by Divine Miracles the converting of many Nations to Christ from abominable Idolatries and lastly the offring of ones life to God by Martyrdom be sinfull crimes and proofs that such persons are slaves of Anti-Christ 15. Wee have placed the Gests and death of S. Lioba in this year therein complying with our Martyrologe though certain it be that she ourlived it many years as appears by the freindship she had with King Charles the Great and his Queen Hildegardis who long after this began his raign and was maried 16. Before wee take off our pen from writing of this Holy Virgin wee will adde some thing in relation to her concerning her Venerable Mistresse the devout Abbesse Tetta The little wee know of her name and that to her was committed the instruction of S. Lioba we have not received from our own Monuments but wee are obliged to strangers who wrote her daughter and Disciples Gests for it particularly to the forenamed Religious Preist Mogâ— who had particular knowledge of her Disciples Agatha Tecla Nana and Lioba from whose relation he received what he wrote of her 17. From him therefore shall here be related only two particulars concerning her the first is the speciall Institut of her Monastery the Second a worthy example of her Charity to her daughters after they were dead and her care of the living 18. As touching the first Whereas at Winburn there had anciently been built by the West-Saxon Kings two Monasteries one for men and the other for women and in that age of innocent simplicity and fervour of Devotion mutuall free society between persons of different sexes did not render them exposed to tentations or suspicions Yet in her Monastery an inviolable Law was observed that no accesse was permitted for either to the others enclosure And this speciall Institut the Venerable Abbesse Tetta so rigorously observed that she would not so much as admitt the Bishops entrance among them 19. In the next place among many examples of the Devout Abbesse Tetta's vertues her daughter Lioba related this one to her Disciples for their instruction There was said she in the Monastery of Winburn a certain Religious Virgin which for her extraordinary strictnes in Regular Observance was oft made the Mistresse of the younger Virgins But in that Office she shewed such indiscreet rigour that thereby she incurred an extreme aversion and hatred from them which she never endeavoured to qualify by meeknes but on the contrary persisted to her death in her obstinacy to contemn their bitter displeasure against her and not to remitt any thing of her severity towards them In this pertinacy she dyed without seeking any reconciliation with them But their passions did not dye with her on the contrary they could scarce look on the place where she was buried without expressions of hatred to her memory yea some of them would not abstain from shewing their indignation by trampling upon her grave 20. This being come to the knowledge of the Venerable Abbesse Tetta she called them together about the grave where she with vehement sharpnes reproved their uncharitable presumption But withall observing that the loose earth covering the dead Virgins body was unmeasurably sunk below the pavement she was much affrighted at it fearing that such depression against the ordinary course of Nature argued no good state of her soule She renewed her rebukes therefore against those implacable Virgins and enioynd them to cast out of their hearts all bitternes against her Memory Yea she required the whole Congregation to ioyn with her in earnest and assiduous Prayers for their departed Sister that God would forgive her all her offences committed by indiscretion or obstinacy She moreover ordaind among them a three-days Fast adiuring them to employ that time in watching Prayers and Psalmody On the third day she with all her spirituall children lying prostrate before the Altar in devout Prayers with many sighs and tears assoon as they rose up they saw the earth upon the grave raised up to its naturall height which they did not doubt but was a sign that their Prayers were granted V. CHAP. 1. Troubles among the Northumbers 2.3 c. The Gests of Offa King of the Mercians 1. IN the kingdom of the Northumbers assoon as the pious and devout King Eadbert had hid himself in a Monastery all vertue and piety seemed to disappear with him and in the
degrees or orders the Nobles whom they call Edlingen Free-men whom they called Frilingen and Servants whom they called Lassâ— every Borough or District was governed by a Noble man to whom the Freemen and Servants were Subjects Now every year once their custome was to hold a generall Assembly of all these Boroughs and all degrees of Inhabitants The place of their meeting was called Marklo neaâ—â—he River Weser 7. Now this great Assembly being ready to meet the Man of God S. Leibwin had a resolution to present himself before it and there either to gain a good number of Converts to God or Martyrdom to himself It hapned that at this time he was entertained in the house of a certain Noble man of great Power to whom he communicated his intention But the said Noble man whose name was Folbert endeavoured to disswade him telling him that though there were some to whom he was very dear yet the greatest part would shew themselves enemies and endanger to take away his life He besought him therefore during the time of the Assembly either to return home or to goe to the house of his dear freind Davo after which he might come and visiâ— him again But the Holy man replied That he neither ought nor durst neglect to perform the work which our Lord Iesus Christ had commanded him to doe The Noble man hearing this opposed no further but remained very sad 8. The Assembly then being mett the courageous soldier of Christ taking all his Spirituall Armour and withall cloathing himself with his Preistly Vestments and taking a Crucifix in one hand as our Lords Ensign-bearer and in the other a Book of the Gospells presents himself in the midst of the Assembly where they were offring Idolatrous Sacrifices and devotions to their false Gods Which the Holy man seeing with an inflamed zeale loud voyce condemned their Superstitions telling them that they were Devills which they worshipped which would reward them with eternall torments Whereas if they would turn to the only true God the Creatour of all things and Saviour of men and repenting of their Idolatries embrace the true Faith and be baptized to the remission of their Sins he would grant them tranquillity and plenty in this world and everlasting glory in the next He added hereto That if they neglected to follow his wholesom and saving counsell God had preordained for their present punishment a King not far distant from them of wonderfull prudence courage and power who would avenge the cause of God by their destruction 9 When they heard these words they be came inflamed with rage against him calling him Seducer and Impostour and not content with this they snatchd out of the hedges stakes of wood which they sharpned intending to kiâ—l him with them for they wore no weapons at such assemblies But the Holy man protected by Supernaturall assistance passed through the midst of them undiscerned and so escaped 10. Yet among them some there were whose â—earts Aâ—mighty God touched with his Grace Of whâ—ch the principall was one called Buâ—o who ascending to an eminent place boldly told them that since they never refused to receive and hearken to Embassadours sent from their barbarous neighbours much lesse ought they to stop their ears against the speeches of an Embassadour sent from the Supreme God who to procure their good was willing to sacrifice his own life That they might iudge of the power of that God since he had delivered his servant from the fury of so great a multitude Therefore no doubt the threatning which in the name of his God he had made against them would certainly be executed The mind of the Multitude hearing these things was deeply struck with fear and thereupon they decreed by common consent That none should hurt or disquiet that Messenger of God but suffer him freely to passe whithersoever he thought fitt 11. Saint Liebwin therefore seeing such a visible proof of Divine protection over him gave due thanks to God though he was not without some greif that the blessing of Martyrdom was denyed him But since he could not suffer from others he spared not to afflict himself mortifying and crucifying the flesh and sensuall affections of it with Watching Fasting and Prayer by which mean without persecution he suffred a long Martyrdom And as for the Apostolick Office enioynd him he incessantly employed his time in teaching exhorting and baptizing great multitudes which dayly gave up their names to Christ. This he ceased not to doe till Almighty God this year thought meet to call him to receive the reward of a good and faithfull servant on the day before the Ides of November on which day his memory is celebrated both in the English and Gallican Martyrologe 12. After his death certain malicious Pagans among the Saxons envying so great a Congregation of Christians as assembled in his Oratory first despoyled the place and then sett it on fire They had a great desire to exercise their rage by some indignities to his Sacred Body but with all their diligence in seeking it they could never find it 13. Not long after the said Oratory was again restored It was built in the haven of the Citty called afterwards Daventry Which name it took from the forementioned person Davon a Noble man of Saxony and most cordiall freind and Disciple of S. Liebwin 14. In the mean time the devout servant of God Gregory dyed and Alberic succeeded him in the Archiepiscopall See of Vtrecht By his directions and command a certain Preist afterward a Bishop named Ludger was sent to seek out the Sacred Relicks of this Holy man of God which at last by a vision in sleep he was directed to find and having taken them up he with great veneration deposed them in the Church new built Many years after this Bertulf accounted the twentieth Bishop of Vtrecht is said to have been the founder of another Magnificent Church in the same Town which was consecrated to the honour of God and his faithfull servant Saint Liebwin VIII CHAP. 1.2 c. The Gests of Saint Winnebald 5. And of Saint Sola 1. THE same year likewise gave an end to the labours of two Disciples of S. Boniface S. Winnebald and S. Sola As touching the former he was as hath been sayd Son to Saint Richard the English King and Brother to S. Willebald There little remains in Ecclesiasticall Monuments recorded of him but that he was one of those Preists which in the year of Grace seaven hundred twenty five were called out of Brittany to assist S. Boniface in preaching to the Frisons He was by the same Saint afterward made Abbot of the Monastery of Heildesham Which Office did not so wholly employ him but that he travelled the countrey about to root out Idolatrous superstitions 2. The greatest difficulty he found was in reprooving and correcting the errours and vices of false Christians especially such as took on them the title and Office of Preists Many
of which were most horribly depraved and defiled with all manner of uncleannes These were so impatient of reformation that they endeavoured many wayes to destroy him who spared no labours to save them But God defended his servant from their malice 3. After many years spent and divided between the exercises of Martha and Mary sometimes attending in the solitude of his Monastery to Prayer and Contemplation as likewise to the establishing perfect Regular Observance and sometimes travelling abroad to win soules to Christ At last a greivous infirmity seized on him nowithstanding which he would needs undertake a iourney to visit his fellow Disciple Megingant then Bishop of Wizteburg with whom he staied only three dayes For returning homeward his infirmity encreasing he retired to a Monastery in the way dedicated to S Benedict Being there he sent to his Brother S. Willebald who was a Bishop and to other his freinds desiring them to visit and assist him in his last sicknes Who being come exhibited to him all requisit Offices of Christian Charity At last the Holy man perceiving his last hour to approach after many pious exhortations made to all that were present quietly yeilded up his soule to God 4. S. Ludger who wrote the life of S. Gregory the third Bishop of Vtrecht his Master affirms that S. Winnebald was very dear to him who by many Miracles after his death shewd how great the sanctity of his life had been His memory is celebrated in our Martyrologe on the four and twentieth of September but in the Gallican on the first of May Where mention is made of his Relicks translated to Furnes a town in Flanders 5. The other Disciple of S. Boniface was S. Sola an English-Saxon likewise who emulating the piety of his Master taught the Counsells of Christian Perfection to such as S. Boniface had converted to the Faith He accompanied S. Winnebald and S. Willebald in their pilgrimages to Rome And was afterward the first Abbot of a Monastery founded by himself in a place from him called Solenhoffen His Life is extant written above eight hundred years since by Ermenold a Deacon and Disciple of Rabanus Arch-bishop of Mentz Wherin wee read how he became a Father of a great congregation of devout Monks and after many blind lame dumb and deaf miraculously healed by him in the name of Iesus he at last full of all vertues in a good old age gave up his Spirit to God About a hundred years after his death Altimus Bishop of Eysâ—at obstained of Pope Gregory the fourth that his name shâ—uld be written among the Saints Molanus affirms that his Feast is celebrated on the third of December IX CHAP. 1. 2. c. A Rebellion among the Northumbers c. 4.5 Bregvin Arch-bishop of Canterbury dying Iambert succeeds 6.7 c. Severall Episcopall Sees vacant supplied 1. IN the year of Grace seaven hundred hundred sixty one which was the third of the Raign of Ethelwald Mol King of the Northumbers a certain Nobleman of that kingdom named Oswin raised a rebellion against the said King and Armies on both sides being brought into the feild a terrible battell was fought at a place called Edwinscliff in which Oswin was slain 2. The year following the same King in the Citty of Cataract took to wife his Queen called Edilthrida As touching the Citty where this Mariage was celebrated Camden writes that at this day nothing remains of it great but its name being a very small village called Ca-Catarick and Catarick bridge The antiquity whereof is demonstrated by the large Roman way and old broken monuments there digged up 3. No more is found touching the forenamed Queen Edilthrida unlesse this be the same to whom an Epistle of Alcuin is found directed with this inscription To the devout servant of God formerly a Queen now a most beloved Religious Sister Aedilthrydis the humble Levite Alchuin wisheth health Which Epistle is full of pious exhortations and instructions suitable to the state professed by her and likewise of thankfullnes for her munificent liberality to him then living in France 4. The same year Bregwin Arch-bishop of Canterbury after he had governed that Province only three years dyed Concerning whom this Elegy is found in Capgrave Bregwin was appointed by God as a Mirrour so brightly shining with all vertues that in his life every one might find what he ought to imitate At length in the third year of his Bishoprick being full of good works and examples of vertues he departed this life to eternall happines on the seaventh day before the Calends of September and was buried in the Church of S. Iohn adioyning to the Cathedrall Church But in our Martyrologe his Deposition is commemorated on the ninth day before the said Calends In B. Godwins Catalogue of Bishops wee read that the Monks of S. Augustin with armed men entred the Archiepiscopall Palace endeavouring by force to take away the dead Body of Bregwin and that their Abbot Lambrith or Iambert went to Rome to make complaint of the wrong done to that Monastery 5. But besides that none other of our Historians mention this the relation is probably disproved because the same Iambert was by the Citty Monks elected to succeed in the Archiepiscopall See who two years after either went to Rome or from Rome received the Archiepiscopall Pall. 6. The year following the Episcopall See of Candida Casa or Witern being vacant by the death of Frithwald Pectwin was immediatly ordained his successour As yet that Bishoprick pertained to the Iurisdiction of the English and was subordinat to the Metropolitan See of York and so it remaind saith William of Malmsbury all the time of Pectwin Ethelbrith and Beadulf the succeeding Bishops after whom no more can be found because the said Bishoprick quickly failed being seated in the utmost Northern coast of the English Territory and exposed to the violence of the Scotts and Picts 7. Assoon as Iambert Arch-bishop of Canterbury had received his Archiepiscopall Pall he consecrated four Bishops the same year One in Kent and three in the kingdom of the Mercians In Kent the See of Rochester being vacant by the death of Dunn there was substituted in his place Eardulâ— From whom together with a Kentish Prince of the same name there is among the Epistles of S. Boniface found one directed to tâ—e Holy Arch-bishop of Mentz Lullus to renew a charitable correspondence which had past between him and the others his Predecessours Withall as a testimony of such Charity he desired him in his holy Prayers and Sacrifices to be mindfull of three Religious Virgins lately dead in Kent their names were Irmigy Northry and Dulicha 8. There interven'd a great communication of affections and Christian Offices between Saint Lullus and our English Bishops yea Kings also For wee find an Epistle likewise sent to him from Kenulf King of the West-Saxons by a Messenger formerly directed
sirnamed the Great Huntingdon and Hoveden doe thus write oâ— it In the said year which was the fifteenth of the Raign of Kenulf King of the West-Saxons began a great change of the right hand of the most High For then did Charles the Greaâ— King of France upon the death of his Father King Pipin begâ—n his raign to whom thirty years after the Roman Empire which had been glorious so many ages became subject and continues so to his Successours to these times 2. We declared before how a great league of freindship and Royall presents interven'd between the two late Kings Pipin and Egbert King of the Northumbers The like freindship and society did Alâ—ed now King of the Northumbers demand of Charles the glorious Successour of King Pipin This we collect from a Letter written by him and his Queen Ogâ—â—fu to S. Lullus Arch-bisop of Mentz In which he desires him to assist with his counsell and favour the Embassadours which he had sent to his Lord and Patron the most glorious King Carl that peace and freindship many be established between them 3. In the same Epistle likewise which is an answer to one sent him from S. Lullus in behalf of the disquietted Churches in his dominion the same King and Queen not only humbly begg the Holy Bishops prayers for themselves but likewise send him a Catalogue of the Names of their speciall kinred freindâ— lately dead of whom they desire him to be mindfull at the Holy Altar assuring him that the same Charity shall be extended to all his relations in their Churches Indeed we can scarce meet with any Epistleâ— written in theâ—e times but this is generally onâ— clause and part of the busines 4. About this time saith Harpsfeild there flourished in Brittany two Religious Virgins famous for their piety and learning calld Rictrudis and Gisla Disciples of the famously learned Alcuin who taught very many aâ— this time in Brittany He was not unmindfull of the advice given him by his Master Archbishop Egbert of going to Rome and thence returning into France But seeing how usefull and even necessary his abode was in Brittany he delayd the said iourney till a fitt opportunity was presented him as we shall declare And as touching the foresaid Illustrious Virgins we shall in due time mention the kind and learned Letters which passed between them and their Master when he lived in France XII CHAP. 1. Succession of Bishops 2. Of Pope Adrian to whom the King of the Northumbers sends Embassadours 5. The Church of S Boniface miraculously preserved from fire 6 7 c Offa King of the Mercians invades and subdues severall Principalities Fictions of Mathew Paris 1. IN the year of our Lords Incarnation seaven hundred seaventy one the two Bishops of the East-Angles luckily again dyâ— together and to Aldebert Bishop of Dumwich is substituted Eglafe to Lanfeâ—t Bishop Oâ— Helmham Athelwolf In the next following age these two Sees were united into one which first remaind at Helmham thence waâ— translated to Thetford and lastly to Norwich 2. The year following to Pope Steven succeeded the worthy and learned Pope Hadrian first of that name to whom Alfred King of the Northumbers sent an Embassadour to congratulate his assuÌ„ption and for other Ecclesiasticall affairs not recorded To this Embassadour Alcuin gave an Epistle direâ—ted to the same Pope full of humble respect to him and congratulation to the Church for enioying the happines of so worthy a Pastour The Embasadours name was Angilbert whom Alcuâ—â— calls his most beloved Son to wâ—om he câ—â—mitted certain requests to be presented by word of mouth 3. The same year Kenulf King of the West-Saxons added to his former liberality towards the Ancient Monastery of Glastonbury the Mannor of Compton This he gave to the Abbot thereof called Waldun who newly succeeded to Guban 4. Afterward the See of London being vacant by the death of Eadgar in his place succeeded Kenwalck Nothing remains of the Gefts of either Neither can any account be given more of the names of Cuthrid Bishop of Lichfeild who dyed at the same time to whom was substituted Bertâ—â—n Hoveden calls them by other names as likewise the Episcopall See too It is a difficulty not worth the penetrating 5. It will not be impertinent in this place to relate how miraculously God gave testimony to the Gests Doctrine Sanctity of S. Boniface of late happy memory by defending his Church of Fritzlar froÌ„ the fury of the Saxons They making an invasion into the confines of the French dominions besieged a certain Strong Castle called Barimburg During which siege they wasted with sword and â—â—e the countrey circumjacent Their principall rage was directed against the Church of Fritzlare built by S. Boniface and concerning which he had prophecied that it should never be consumed by fire Whilst the furious Pagans were exeâ—cising their utmost diligence to make this a false Prophecy and were heaping wood and casting firebrands to sett it on fire there appeard to severall Christians in the foresaid Castle and to some Pagans likewise two men in white shining raiments who protected the Church from fire so that by no diligence or pains taken within or without the Church could the Pagans effect their desire On the contrary a terrour from heaven seising on them they fled away none pursuing them When they were gone there was found one Saxon Soldier stark dead upon his knees with fire and wood in his hands bowing down in the posture of one blowing the fire with an intention to burn the said Church Thus did God shew his power and favour to his faithfull servant And though shortly after he permitted the Church of S. Swibert at Werda to be consumed by fire yet so terrible a punishment he inflicted on the Authours that it became evident that the said Blessed Bishop preached the true Orthodoxe Faith 6. In the year of Grace seaven hundred seaventy four Offa King of the Mercians a Prince of high Spirits began troubles which in successe of time endangerd the ruine of severall petty kingdoms of Brittany For having three years before this subdued the Nation of the Hestings in the Southern parts of the Island or Sussex he extended his ambition to add also the kingdom of Kent to his conquests And because Lambert or as some Copies write Lambert then Archbishop of Canterbury endeavoured to defeat his ambition he turned his indignatioÌ„ against that Church also the dignity and revenews of which â—e sought to diminish For he took from it severall Mannors as Cherring Seleberts Chert and severall others which were afterward restored 7. This wart between Offa and Alric is thus breifly described by Huntingdon In the twentieth year of Kenulf King of the West-Saxons saith he Offa King of the Mercians fought against the Kentish men at place called Ottanford where the slaughter was most horrible especially on the Kentish partâ— So that King
A particular reason why her veneration is great in that Citty is given by Miraeus Because saith he it is a constant Tradition of that Church that this same holy Virgin in her way from England into Germany made some abode in Antwerp And to this day there is seen in the most ancient Church of that Citty a certain Grott in which she was wont to pray for which reason the same Church formerly called the Castle Church was afterward by our Ancestours dignifyed with the Title of S Walburgis And indeed before the receiving of the Roman Office there the same Church was accustomed to celebrate the memory of S. Walburgis as their peculiar Patronesse four times every year but since that time they keep her Feast but once 7. It is very probable that this Holy Virgiâ— was entertained for some time at Antwerp by the Disciples of S. Willebrord as being of the same Countrey For it appears by the Testament of the same Holy Bishop that he possessed to his death the Church built in the Castle of Antwerp near the River Scald together with a third part of the custom or tribute belonging to it as we have before declared 8. The same Authour adds that in the forementioned vault of that Church there is preserved a part of S. Walburga's â—awbone which saith he in the year of Christ sixteen hundred and fifteen was visited and reverently kissed by the pious Archdukes Albert and Isabella XIV CHAP. 1.2 Succession of Bishops 3. The Northumbers rebellious 4.5 King Offa's victory over the West-Saxons 1. PEctwin the Bishop of Witern or Candida casa dying in the year of Christ seaven hundred seaventy seaven after he had administred the same See seaven years there was substituted in his place Ethelbert who twelve years after was translated to the See of Hagustald 2. The year following in the place of Ethelmod Bishop of Shirborn Denefrit was ordained in the same See Of these two Bishops saith B. Godwin besides their names I can find nothing in our Ecclesiasticall monuments 3. The Northumbers still persist in their seditious tumults For Ethelred whom they had five years before this placed in the throne out of which they had eiected Alred they now also drive into exile or as some write detain iâ— prison and in his place substitute Alfwold The principall movers of this sedition were two great Northuusbrian Dukes concerning whom Mathew or Westminster thus writes Ethelwald and Herebert saith he who were Dukes in the kingdom of the Northumbers rebelled against their King and at a place called Kings-clive they slew Ealdulf who was Generall of King Ethelreds army and a while after the same Dukes in a great battell slew two other Generalls of the same King Kenulf and Eggen As for King Ethelred he was forced to fly out of the Kingdom in whose place they constituted Alfwold King a Prince of great piety and iustice who raigned ten years After which time Ethelred was again restored 4. In the Western parts likewise there arose great commotions For anciently the West-Saxon kingdoÌ„ had extended as far as Oxfordshire Where among other strong places a Castle had been built at a place anciently called Bensigetun now Benson But Offa king of the Mercians unwilling any longer to suffer his neighbour Prince to enioy such an advantage to incommodate his countrey raised an Army and besieged the said Castle To raise this siege Kenulf King of the West-Saxons approached with other forces So that they came to a battell In which Kenulf was defeated and compelled to fly By which means King Offa took and possessed the Castle This was the only misfortune which hitherto had befalln Kenulf who was a Prince renowned both for his vertues and warlick exploits But after this continuall calamities oppressed him till his death which was also very unhappy 5. Kenulf after this defeat endeavoured by the assistance of the Brittainâ— to repair his losses But Offa to prevent the entercourse between the West-Saxons and Brittains caused a mighty trench for the space of ninety miles between the Rivers Dee Deva and Wey Vaga to be made which though it was the occasion of many contentions yet in them all Offa had the advantage XV. CHAP. 1.2 c. Miraculous Iudgments of God against the Pagan blasphemers of Saint Swibert and Sacrilegious destroyers of his Church and Monastery at Werda 9.10 c The Writer of that Narration is Saint Ludger whose Holines together with the Doctrine of the Veneration of Saints is asserted 1. WHilst these troubles afflicted Brittany Almighty God in Germany fought for the defence of the Faith planted there by the English-Saxons miraculously punishing the Sacriledge committed by the Saxons and Westphalian Pagans against the Monastery or Werda built by his servant S. Swibert as we find written in an Epistle of S. Ludger Bishop of Munster written to Rixfrid Bishop of Vtrecht 2. Whilst the glorious King of the French Charles sirnamed the Great was fighting in the Southern parts of France against the Saracens then raigning in Spain the feirce and perfidious Saxons and Westphalians iudging this to be a fitt time to revenge themselves of the losses which they had formerly suffred from the Christians raised a mighty army with which they wasted all the countreys as far as the Rhene expressing their raâ—e principally against the Churches of God and sparing neither sexe nor age With this fury they came to Werda where was the Church of S. Swibert There they utterly destroyed and burnt to the ground both the Town and Church all the inhabitants and Preists they killed which had not escaped by flight and all the Sacred Books and ornaments they burnt Only the Sacred Body of S. Swibert was preserved from their fury though with all possible diligence they made search for it Yea many of those Saxons who were Christians had a desire to expresse their hatred against this Holy Bishop because many years before this by his intercession the French had gaind a memorable victory against them 3. In this detestable Army there was not any one so execrable in his malice and cruelty as a certain Officer called Ogell Osterbach of Paderborn This man was the principall instrument of the Devill in all mischeifs committed in which he took excessive pleasure And particularly he it was who with great labour and diligence heaped wood for burning the said Church which with much adoe at last by Gods permission he performed 4. After he had among many other abominable actions executed this being at dinner with his companions in a meadow adioyning to the same place he with great ioy and triumph recited to them what he had done particularly insulting upon S. Swibert the Protectour of the French and blaspheming God But behold in the middst of his laughter and ioy the heavy wrath of God came upon him so that he fell backward before them all upon the plain ground and broke his neck by this horrible
the infant vowing him to Gods service Which they had no sooner done but his health was immediatly restor'd to him 3. Two years after therefore they being mindfull of their Vow delivered him to a venerable person named Theodoret who according to their order presented him to a devout Abbot named Egbald who governed a Monastery called Waltheim He with the advice and consent of his brethren received him as a Member of their Religious Congregation where he was bred up in all modesty piety and humility and withall according to his capacity was instructed in all Sacred learning 4. When he was arrived at a mature age he by earnest prayers obtaind permission to accompany his Father and Brother in a pilgrimage of devotion which they undertook to Rome In their return their Father S. Richard dyed at the Citty of Lucca where also he was buried with great honour as hath been else where declared After whose death an earnest desire took him to prolong his pilgrimage as far as the Holy land there to visit and perform his devotions in all the places where the principall Mysteries of our Salvation were wrought And accordingly being accompanied by two devout persons only he returned back and taking ship at Câ—â—eta they sailed to Cyprus and from thence into Syria where arriving at a Citty called Emesa he with his coÌ„panions who were now seaven was taken prisoner and in danger to loose his life upon a suspicion that they were Spies Being thus made captives God disposed the heart of a certain old man who was a Saraâ—en to pitty them insomuch as he oft visited them and â—ent them dayly sufficient nourishment in their prison Not long after a Spanish merchant who had a Brother a servant of the Prince of that Ciâ—cy in great favour with him by his intercession obtaind the freedom of these Captives 5. From thence therefore they went into the Holy Land which they passed quite through scarce omitting any place that was memorable or recorded in Holy Scripture A particular account of all their proceedings with â—he names of each place in order may be read in the History of the said Religious Virgin who professes that she received the relation from S. Willibalds own mouth 6. When they were come to Gaza S. Willibald being present at Masse solemnly sung to the honour of S. Mathias the Apostle lost his sight and for the space of two months continued blind whereupon he returned to Ierusalem entring into the Church where the Holy Crosse was found his sight was again restored to him After this passing through severall citties and places of devotion they took ship again return'd into Italy arriving at Naples From whence S. Willebald with one companion travelled to the famous Monastery of S. Benedict calld Mount Cassin where they found very few Monks under the government of their Abbot called Petronax a man of great mildnes prudence There S. Willibald made his abode the space of ten years during which he was some times appointed Sacristan of the Church afterwards a Dean and lastly the Porter 7. In this place having perfectly instructed himself in all duties belonging to Regular Observance at last with permission of his Abbot he returned to Rome where he was with great kindnes received by Pope Gregory the third who took great delight in hearing him recount the marvellons variety of accidents which befell him in his long voyages And awhile after the said Pope told him that his kinsman S. Boniface had earnestly requested him to command him to quitt the Monastery of Mount Cassin and to send him into Germany to assist him there in preaching the Gospâ—ll To which command S. Willibald humbly submitted and accordingly leaving behind him his companion in the Monastery be began his voyage into Germany and at last arrived at a place called Linthruth where he found S. Boniface who not long after sent him to a place calld Eystat Which place had been given to S. Boniface by a devout person called Suitgar who accompanied S. Willebald thiâ—her The Region thereabout was in a manner wast scarce any house to be seen but a small Church dedicated to our Lady Now after these two devout persons hâ—d chosen a place convenient to be the Seat of a Monastery they went to S. Boniface to give him notice thereof who returned thither with them and there ordaind S. Willibald a Preist A year after this S. Boniface called him into Thuringia whither being come he went to Heidenheim where his Brother was Abbot of a Monastery by whom he was with very great ioy received after so many years of separation To the same place shortly after S. Boniface came with two other Bishops S. Burchard and S. Wizo By whom S. Willibald was consecrated also Bishop and sent back to Eystat which Saint Boniface bestow'd on him to be an Episcopall See giving it the preeminence next to the Metropolis of Mentz 8. There he built a Monastery instituting the Monks in the ObservaÌ„ces which he had learnt at Mount Cassin And there leading an Angelicall Life among men dividing his employment between a quiet repose of Contemplation in the Monastery and charitable solicitudes in governing his Diocese he at last full of merits and Graces this year rendred happily his soule into his mercifull Creatours hands and was honourably buried in his own Church where his Memory is in great veneration and his Sanctity testified by many Miracles which are registred by Philip his Successour in the same Bishoprick Two hundred and eight years after his death he was solemnly Canonized by Pope Leo the Seaventh And both in the Roman and English Martyrologe his Memory is celebrated on the seaventh of Iuly XVIII CHAP. 1. The death of S Werburga 2. Succession of English Bishops 3. 4 c. A great miracle of a Soldier recovered by the Intercession of S. Bruno 1. ABOVT the same time is recorded the death of S. Werburga she had formerly been wife to Ceolred King of the Mercians after whose death which hapned in the year of Christ seaven hundred and sixteen she complying with a divine inspiration entred a Monastery where like the good Widdow Saint Anna the Prophetesse shâ— never departed from our Lords Temple serving God night and day in abstinence and prayer the space of sixty five years partly as a simple Religious woman under Obedience and partly as Abbesse of the same Monastery with as much humility governing others as she had formerly obeyd 2. Then the See of Worcester being vacant by the death of Tilher it was supplied by the substitution of Adored in his place Ceâ—lmund likewise Bishop of Hereford dying there was ordained in the same his Successour named Vtell in the year of Grace seaven hundred eighty three 3. Little else occurring the same year in Brittany S. Ludger will inform us how wonderfully Almighty God glorified his servant Swibert in Germany so recommending the Faith which he had taught That year saith
with a violence not beseeming his Profession Notwithstanding the Holy Martyrs bowell he placed in a Church at Mentz where they are held in great veneration 4. Moreover in a further expression of his love and regard to his blessed Masters memory he exhorted S. Willebald his Nephew to write the Holy Martyrs Life to the end that posterity might know honour and imitate the heavenly vertues which shone so brightly in him 5. Severall Monasteries he founded as that of Heresfeild in Hassia not far from Mentz which he endowd with ample revenews adorned it with many Relicks translating likewise thither from Fritzlar the Body of S. Wigbert for which a magnificent shrine was made by the contribution of King Charles the Great Another Monastery likewise he erected at a place called Bleidenstat about two miles from Mentz Which afterward by his Successour Bertold was changed into a Colledge of Canons Thither also he translated the Relicks of S. Ferruth from Kassel In a word his whole life was employed in nothing but the advancement of piety and vertue either in converting Pagans from Idolatry to the Christian Faith or in promoting devout Christians in the wayes of Perfection 6. When his last sicknes seised on him he sent for the Holy companion of his Apostolick Office S. Witta who had been consecrated by S. Boniface Bishop of Birburg and after that Town was destroyd was made Successour of S. Wigbert in the Monastery of Fritzlar Him being come he desired to say Masse after which he intended to direct him to his Monastery of Heresfeild The good Bishop after he had with great devotion prepared himself for celebrating that most dreadfull Sacrifice not then perceiving in himself any bodily infirmity at all went to the Holy Altar where he had no sooner performed that Divine Liturgy and communicated but immediatly he expired His Body Saint Lullo presently caused to be caried into a boat conveying it himself to Heresfeld where he buried it with great honour This Holy Bishop is by some German Writers called Albuinus according to the Saxon signification of his name Witta or White 7 Presently after S. Lullo himself followd him partaking together the eternall rewards of his labours on the sixteenth day of October His Body was there likewise in the same Monastery buried with all religious piety and solemnity And about threescore years after being taken up it was found with as fresh a colour as due proportion and softnes of all the members yea and covered with vestments as free from any decay as if it had been then newly buried 8. The said Monastery of Heresfeld having been ruined by the rebellious Lutherans it is not known whither that Sacred body was removed But his Head was caried to the Monastery of S. Godard the Abbot whereof Herman in the year of Christ sixteen hundred and three gave it to the Iesuits of Mentz to be placed there in their Colledge 9. Many Miracles are recorded as performed by him both in his life and after his death I will only mention one Is the year of Grace eight hundred forty seaven when his Body was taken up as the Monks there were removing a huge Stone which lay over it it fell from their hands upon the foot of one of their Brethren so crushing and breaking it that it quite lost the shape of a foot Whereupon the Religious Monks being much contristated had recourse to God in Prayer begging likewise the Saints intercession And the night immediatly following it was so perfectly restored that the said Brother assisted at the next Mattins not retaining any mark of the least bruise at all 10. A little before his death he by the appointment of Pope Adrian ordained S. Willehade Bishop of Bremen Which Citty was then newly erected into an Episcopall See by the same Pope and richly endowed by the munificence of Charles the Great Whose Charter describing the limits of the Territory whereof and likewise of the lands conferred on it is extant in Baronius As touching S Willehade the first Bishop thereof we shall deliver his Gests in the occurrents of the year of Christ seaven hundred ninety one in which he dyed THE FIVE AND TWENTIETH BOOK OF THE CHVRCH-HISTORY OF BRITTANY I. CHAPTER 1. 2. c. Alfwold the pious King of the Northumbers murdred to whom Osred succeeds and presently after Ethelred 7.8 Ethelred Bishop of Hagulstad the magnificence of that Church 1. NOTWITHSTANDING all the care which the Legats of Pope Adrian in the late Synod with the unanimous consent of the Bishops and Nobles had taken for the preventing seditions and rebellions in the Kingdom of the Northumbers yet such an unquiet tumultuous Spirit had taken so fixed a possession of the minds of that people that scarce any King could be permitted to sit upon that throne but by the murder of his Predecessour and the uniust usurper by his own destruction made way for his Successour Which restlesse turbulent disposition since it could not be cured by the Laws and authority of Gods Church God took the revenge into his own hands and sent the terrible Nation of the Danes first to lay wast that kingdom and afterwards to be a most tearfull scourge to the whole Island 2. In the year of Grace seaven hundred eighty nine Alfwolâ— the good pious King of the Northumbers after that he had with the great ioy of vertuous men governed that kingdom the space of eleaven years was by a tempestuous sedition of wicked men deprived of it and his life also The Head of the faction against him was Sâ—gga a Noble man of that Kingdom who gathering a troop of desperatly wicked men murdred this most innocent King in a place called Silcester near the Picts wall This was an ancient Station of the Romans where the Asturian Wing quartered to oppose the irruptions of the barbarous Picts and Caledonians and it was then called Cilurnam but is now much more celebrated for the death of this pious King In the place where he was slain a heavenly light was frequently seen saith Huntingdon 3. His Body was caried to the Cathedrall Church of Hagustald where it was with great honours and devotion buried which Church had been built to Gods honour and the memory of his Saints Saint Cuthbert and S. Oswald King and Martyr Of how great merit this innocent King was with God the miracles performed at his Tombe and elswere doe declare abundantly 4. Moreover the Divine iustice gave a yet greater testimony of his Sanctity by the terrible revenge with which God expiated this execrable murther which though committed by a few was punished with a common calamity For not only Sigga who defiled his hands with his blood the same year out of despair became his own executioner and murderer But likewise dire Prodigies terrified the whole Nation Horrible thunders and fiery dragons in the aire foretold a most greivous famine shortly ensuing and an unexpressible slaughter of men Thus
of February But his principall Feast is obser-served on the fourteenth of October the day of his Translation 10. His Successour Saint Megingand who was one of those which Saint Boniface had called out of Brittany was come to a great age at the death of Saint Burchard yet he administred that See the space of fifteen years in all things conformable to the good example of his Blessed Predecessour And â—t last being oppressed with age by the consent of his Clergy he elected for his Successour a certain Disciple and Monk of his Monastery called Bernwelf to whom he resigned the whole care of his Bishoprick consigning into his hands all the possessions and goods left by Saint Burchard And attended by a few disciples he retired to a certain place given to him by a devout person named Hatto 11. But in this his choice he was not so happy as his Predecessour had been for instead of kindnes and respect due to him he found extreme ingratitude and persecution from his Successour Insomuch as whereas in the Monastery of Saint Kilian he had left fifty Monks laudable in their observance of Regular Disciplin all these did Bernwelf with iniuries drive out of the Monastery and compelled them to have recourse to his Master Mengingand And not content with that he most greivously and incessantly vexed the good old man with frequent clamorous accustions of having detained certain Vestments and Books left by Saint Burchard So great and insupportable unquietnes and troubles he caused to his Master who had made him Bishop that he was compelled to forsake that place of his retirement called Korinlathe and afterwards Nieustat which he gave up to the patronage of King Charles and betook himself to another further distant Monastery by the same King bestowed upon him and his Monks Where living in all freedom from secular molestation under the protection of the illustrious King Charles in all things being acceptable to God and men he in a short time full of good works departed this life to receive his eternall reward IV. CHAP. 1.2 c. The Gests and blessed death of Saint Willehade first Bishop of Bremen 1. AS for Saint Willehade he likewise came out of Brittany presently after Saint Boniface his Martyrdom and arrived at a place called Dockum where the said Holy Martyr received his Crown There he remaind a good space not deterred by the so late cruelty of the barbarous Pagans from boldly preaching the Gospell and God so blessed his labours that many were converted and baptized by him From thence passing over the River Lavinca he went to a place called Huchmark where endeavouring likewise to withdraw those barbarous people from their Idolatry they in a great rage cryed out that such a profane seducer ought to be killed And when they were ready to putt this in execution certain men among them more moderate told them that they ought to make a tryall according to the ancient custom of their countrey by casting of Lotts whether his death would be acceptable to their Gods or no And being hereto perswaded through Gods Providence he escaped so that they gave him free permission to goe out of their countrey 2. Leaving them therefore he went to a place called Drente where by his preaching many were converted and baptized But when his Disciples moved with zeale began to destroy the Heathen Temples the barbarous people became incensed and had a resolution to kill them Saint Willehade was sore bruised with clubbes and one among them ran upon him with his sword purposing to cutt off his head Lifting up therefore his sword he with all his force smote him on the neck Now the Holy man had at that time a case full of Relicks tyed about his neck The sword then curt a sunder the string only and did not at all enter into the flesh The Pagans therefore astonished at this Miracle let both him and his Disciples depart without any further harm done them 3. Now the Victorious King of France Charles having heard report of this Holy man's sanctity and zeale encouraged him much to be constant in preaching the Gospell He went therefore into a Territory called Wigmode where he converted many and built Churches Yea the greatest part of the Frisons inhabiting thereabout promised they would embrace the Christian Faith But not long after Wittekind Duke of the Saxons rebelled against King Charles and raising an army began a great persecution against the Christians The holy man therefore after he had escaped an imminent danger went to Rome Where being much comforted and encouraged by Pope Adrian he returned back into Franconia 4. Moreover at the command of the same King the man of God went again into Wigmode where he openly and boldly preached the Faith and repaired the Churches which the Pagans had demolished And God did so prosper his labours that the Frisons once more embraced the Faith which they had renounced Yea Duke Wittekind himself the Authour of all the mischeif submitting himself to King Charles was perswaded to receive Baptism 5. The said King seeing so many Christians converted thought good that a New Episcopall See should be erected for which purpose he made choice of a place called Bremen in the countrey of Wigmode there he caused a Church to be built and with the advice of Lullo he sent to Pope Adrian to demand that this Holy man Willehade should be consecrated Bishop of Bremen which was accordingly performed There is in the Annalls of Baronius extant the Charter of King Charles for the erection and endowment of this Episcopall See in which after thanks given to God for his many victories over the Saxons he declares the limits of this new Diocese what possessions and Tithes were annexed to it as likewise to a Monastery adioyning all which were committed to the care of the Holy servant of God Willehade Which Charter was dated in the year of our Lords Incarnation seaven hundred eighty eight 6. In this function Saint Willehade behaved himself with wonderfull piety and encreased his diligence in the practise and progresse in all vertues And falling into an infirmity of body he was commanded by Pope Adrian to eat fish for formerly out of a rigorous abstinence he forbore the use of them Scarce any day passed in which he did not with great contrition of heart celebrate Masse and besides that he would some dayes recite the whole Psalter twice or thrice Thus the blessed man did wonderfully adorn his Doctrine and by his own example confirm that which with his tongue he preached to others 7. At length after he had severall times with great zeale visited his Diocese he came to a certain place called Bleckensee now Plexem Where so violent a feavour took him that his Disciples despaired of his recovery And one of them being more familiarly conversant with him could not forbear to testify his greif by teares and complaints saying Holy Father doe not so soon
forsake your tender flock least when you are gone the wolves seise upon it The Blessed man answered him My son doe not you desire to detain mee from the sight of my Saviour These my sheep he gave mee and to him I commend them of whose goodnes the whole earth is full Thus piously affected and always intent upon God was this Blessed servant of his to the hower of his death which befell on the sixth day before the Ides of November To his funeralls all the people on all sides made hast and with hymnes and praises to God caried the Sacred Body of their most dear Father and Teacher to the Church of Bremen which himself had built and dedicated to the Apostle Saint Peter He sate in the same See onely two years three months and twenty six dayes having been a laborious Preacher since the death of S. Boniface the space of thirty five years V. CHAP. 1.2 c. A falsely supposed Book against Images said to be sent from Charles the Great to King Offa Alcuin's iudgment touching Images 7.8 c. It was upon misinformation that the Councill of Francfort censured the Eastern Church in that Point 1. THE year of Grace seaven hundred ninety two is much celebrated by modern Protestant Writers because as they suppose it affords them a great advantage to question yea condemne the Roman-Catholick Faith touching Images and the Veneration due to them Sir Henry Spelman thus breifly gives an account of the busines That year saith he Charles the Great King of the French sent into Brittany to Offa King of the Mercians a Book of the second Councill of Nicéa in which a Decree is made that Images are to be adored But the English reiect this 2. To iustify this Device he first produces a Letter pretended to be written by King Charles to Offa thereto annexing a passage out of the Authour by whom the said Letter is recorded to witt the Compiler of the Life of this King Offa the second lately published under the Name of Mathew Paris As touching the Letter there is nothing in it relating to the Controversy about Images But thereto the said Authour adioyns That among others marks of extraordinary freindship between the two Kings Charles who as he was the most powerfull so also the most meck and kind of the Eastern Kings sent to Offa the greatest and most pious of the Western Kings certain Epistles and together with them Synodall Statutes as it were certain rudiments of Catholick Faith for informing the minds of the English Prelats whom he beleived to be rude unlearned and irregular These things he sent to King Offa for perpetuating the freindship begun happily between them And this present Offa received with ioy as a blessing sent him from heaven 3. This foundation being thus layd though as yet not a word touching Images be found yet Sir Henry Spelman to prove that at this time the English-Saxons as to the Point of Images were Protestants that is Iconomachi will needs collect from hence that the Synodall Statuts here mentioned as sent to inform the unlearned disorderly Prelats in Brittany was the same Book of which Hoveden thus writes The same year Charles King of the French sent a Synodall Book into Brittany which had been directed to him from Constantinople In which Book alas were found many things disagreeing yea directly contrary to true Faith and principally one Point confirmed by the unanimous consent of almost all the Eastern Doctours and not so few as three hundred Bishops That Images ought to be adored which is an assertion which the Church of God doeth altogether abominate And against this Point Albin or Alcuin wrote an Epistle admirably established upon the Divine authority of Scriptures which together with the forementioned Book he himself caried to the King of the French in the name of our Bishops and Princes 4. Harpsfeild taking Notice of the like passages as he iudges frudulently interposed in the writings of some of our ancient Authours esteems the whole Narration to be a foolish unsavoury fable not worth the trouble of confuting And indeed Sir H. Spelman himself after he had produced these things foreseeing that it would be a difficult taxe to iustify these allegations is content to represse himself and onely in geâ—nerall to affirm that hitherto he could find no ground to iudge that as yet the English Church had admitted the adoration of Images Thus writes he and yet in the same Book he before had with great earnestnes endeavoured to iustify a pretended Synod of London assembled almost fourscore years before this time in which a Decree is made by the English-Saxon Clergy and Nobility for admitting the adoration that is veneration of Images as we have already shewed 5. And as touching the pretended Epistle in confutation of the said Doctrine written by Alcuin and by him caried into France besides that it neither appears in the volume or his Epistles published by himself nor in any other Authour Let the indifferent Reader iudge how unsavoury a fable the imputing of this to Alcuin is when he shall read what Alcuin himself writes concerning this Point 6. In his Book of Divine Offices treating of the Ceremonies appointed by the Church to be observed on Good Friday he writes thus Towards evening in all Churches of Preists Bishops and Monasteries a Crosse is prepared before the Altar which is sustained on both sides by two Acolytes and a cushion layd before it Then comes the Bishop alone and having adored the Crosse kisses it The same also is done by the Preists Deacons and other Clarks and lastly by the people The Bishop sitts in his Seat whilest all salute the Crosse. The two first Preists having saluted the Crrsse enter into the Sacristie c. Moreover the same Alcuin not content with this further teaches why and how this Ceremony is to be performed When we adore the Crosse saith he let our whole body lye prostrate on the ground and with our mind let us look upon him whom we adore as hanging on the same Crosse and we adore the vertue it self which it received from the son of God In body we are prostrated before the Crosse in mind before our Lord. We venerate the Crosse by which we are redeemed and we pray to him who redeemed us Yea further for exploring Alcuins mind touching this matter these following words of his are remarkeable Those who cannot have any part of the very wood of our Lords Crosse doe without any prejudice to Faith adore that Crosse or Image of it which they have Such a Protestant Iconoclast was Alcuin thus does he confute by the Divine authority of Scripture the veneration of Images asserted by the Council of Nicéa 7. Notwithstanding what ever becomes of this Story touching King Charles his Synâ—â—dall Book sent into Brittany which is no other but his Capitulare containing a great number of Ecclesiasticall Ordonnances or of Alcuins
supposed Epistle This is undoubted that about this time a great scandall was given to the Western Churches upon occasion of the Doctrine touching Veneration of Sacred Images asserted a little before this time in the Seaventh Generall Councill assembled at Nicea In which Councill three hundred and fifty Eastern Bishops restored the Sacred use and Veneration of Images which had been with horrible cruelty impugned by severall preceding Emperours In the Decrees concerning which they taught the very same Doctrine and practise which King Charles and the French Church as likewise King Offa and the English-Saxon Bishops conformably to Pope Hadrian both beleived and practised Notwithstanding which two years after this in a Councill assembled by command of King Charles at Frankfort the said Council of Nicéa was sharply and bitterly condemned 8. It may seem strange that the Eastern and Western Churches should so well agree and so sharply disagree at the same time and upon the same Point But the wondeâ— will cease when it shall evidently appear that it was upon a most malicious and false misinformation that King Charles and his Bishops entertaind a prejudice against the Eastern Church being told that they maintained a doctrine which they expressly disclamed 9. To the end this may be demonstrated we will produce from the Western Council or Frankfort what iudgment they made of the Councill of Nicéa which upon misinformation is there called the Councill of Constantinople There was brought into the Synod to be publickly debated a Question concerning a late Synod of the Greeks which was held at Constantinople touching the adoration of Images in which was found written this clause That an Anathema should be denounced against all such as would not exhibite the same service or adoration to the Images of Saints as they doe to the Divine Trinity Such an adoration and service our Holy Fathers have with contempt renounced to Images and unanimously condemned it 10. This was indeed a iust and necessary condemnation of so blasphemous a Doctrine and no doubt both Alcuin and the English Bishops would not refuse to ioyn in the like condemnation But the Doctrin so worthily condemned is so far from being approved or asserted in the Councill of the Greeks at Nicéa that in the very Decision concerning the Veneration of Images they doe expressly renounce it as will appeare by their Decree here following 11. We insisting on the Doctrin of the Holy Fathers observing likewise the Tradition of the Catholick Church Doe define that venerable and Sacred Images commodiously framed in colours marble or any other matter according to the manner and form of the Venerable and like-giving Crosse are with all diligence and care to be dedicated in Churches in Sacred Vessells and Vestments in walls and tables in private houses and publick wayes and especially the Image of our Lord God and Saviour Iesus Christ next of the Divine Virgin-Mother of the glorious Angells and Saints To the end that by an inspection of such images all that look upon them may be brought to the remembrance and desire of the principall obiects represented by them and exhibite reverence and respectfull adoration to them yet by no means any true Divine Worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which according to our Faith is only due to the Divine Nature We therefore intend such a veneration as we shew when we reverently burn incense or light candles to the Type of the venerable and life-giving Crosse to the Holy Gospells and other oblations as hath been and iâ— the custom received from our predecessours 12. Whence appears how innocent the Bishops of that Synod were of the impiety condemned by the Western Bishops at Francfort So that we may conclude that this false information was given them from the Hereticks Iconoclasts condemned by the same Councill And theâ—efore the same Sir Henry Spelman writes truly and ingenuously saying I doe confesse that I doe not find that prodigious sentence concerning deifying of Images in the Exemplar of the Nicene Synod which is published by Binius VI. CHAP. i. 2 c. The Body of Saint Alban the Proto-martyr of Brittany miraculously discovered to King Offa who causes it to be translated and builds a magnificent Church and Monastery to his honour 1. THE year following Offa King of the Mercians residing then at the Citty of Bath was in sleep admonished by a Divine Oracle to take up out of the earth the Sacred Body of Saint Alban and place it more honourably in a shrine He therefore sending for Humbert Arch-bishop of the Mercians declared unto him his vision Then the said Arch-bishop attended by Ceoâ—ulf and Vnwona his two Suffragan Bishops with an innumerable multitude of both sexes mett the King at Verulam upon a day appointed There did the said King behold a Light from heaven darting its beams over the place where the Holy Martyr had been buried by which sign seen of them all they became assured of the truth of the former vision Then were all the people commanded to purify themselves by fasting almes and prayers and the Bishops adorned with their Sacerdotall Vestments begged the assistance of the Blessed Martyr For the place since the coming of S. Germanus and Lupus two French Bishops into Brittany to root out the Pelagian Heresy about three hundred forty four years before this had been quite defaced by the Pagan Saxons English and Iutes who conquered the countrey and destroyed all sacred places and among the rest the Church which after the death of the Holy Martyr had been magnificently built to his honour by the Brittains as Beda testifieth 2. The said Bishops therefore after fasting and prayers opening the ground found the Blessed Martyrs body in a woodden Coffin together with the Sacred Relicks of the Apostles and Martyrs which Saint Germanus had placed there This Invention drew teares of ioy and devotion from the eyes of all the Clergy and people present and the Bishops with great reverence and fear took out of the ground that precious Treasure which had been a long time hid and with a solemne Procession with Hymns and Canticles they transported it to a certain Church which had anciently been built to the honour of the said Holy Martyr without the gates of the Citty Verulam where in a shrine curiously wrought of gold and silver and adorned with pretious stones they deposed it 3. In the same place to this day divine miracles are frequently wrought for in the sight of many hearing is restored to the deafe walking to the lame sight to the blind and death both of mind and body to all who with confidence in the Divine mercy through the intercession of his Saint implore it These things were acted in the five hundred and seaventh year after the suffring of the Holy Martyr the three hundred forty fourth year after the coming of the English into Brittany the first Indiction and the first day of August 4 King Offa not content with preparing
a sumptuous shrine for the honour of this glorious Martyr added also a most magnificent Monastery for obtaining of Priviledges for which by advice of the Bishops recourse was had to the Pope Concerning which Monastery Mathew of Westminster writes that as S. Alban was the Prime among the Brittish Martyrs and Saints so his Monastery excelled both in possessions and liberties all the other Monasteries of the Kingdom 5. To this day is preserved the Charter which King Offa made to this Monastery in which he mentions the foresaid miraculous discovery of the holy Martyrs body adding that since Honour given to God and pious devotion to his Saints is the stability of an earthly kingdom the prosperity of long life and will undoubtedly be rewarded with eternall happines therefore he gave such lands and possessions there named to the said Monastery freeing it likewise from all tributs and burdens Apponting withall over it as Abbot Willigoda a Preist to govern it according to the Rule of S. Benedict for ever Lastly requiring that dayly prayers should continually be offred there for the soules of himself and his freinds 6. At the same time the Abbot of Croyland called Patrick successour to the first Abbot thereof Kenulph seeing the devotion piety of King Offa to Gods Saints and his kind inclination to the Prayers of Religious men obtained froÌ„ him a Charter likewise by which he took into his Protection the said Monastery confirming all the possessions and Priviledges formerly given to the same freeing the Monks thereof from all secular burdens and impositions as he had newly done his brethren the Monks of S. Alban such is his expression VII CHAP. i. 2 c. The Gests and Martyrdom of S. Ethelbert King of the East-angles 1. COncerning this King Offa the Character given him by William of Malmsbury is very proper saying In one and the same man sometimes vices did palliate themselves with a shew of vertue and sometimes vertues did succeed vices that a man would be uncertain in what shape to represent such a changeable Proteus For the same year in which he shewd himself so pious toward the Holy Martyr S. Alban he shewd himself most impious in cruelly killing an innocent Prince and making him a Martyr 2. This Prince was Ethelbert the Son of Ethelred and Leofrana by whom he was carefully instituted in piety and all vertues He had now governed the Kingdom of the East-angles forty four years with such iustice and moderation that he was tenderly loved by all his subiects All which time he had never admitted any proposall of mariage but now yeilding to the importunity of his Mother and Nobles who earnestly desired to see a Successour he remitted to their iudgments to propose to him a fitt Consort 3. When they were therefore to consult about the person in the first place they generally turned their thoughts upon a Princesse among the South-Saxons whose name was Seledrida and her Fathers Egeon by whose death she was possessed of a very considerable Province besides other great riches Therefore they advised the King to make choice of her whose Treasures and territory would be a great strength and accession to his Kingdom But the King whose iudgment was directed by better Rules then humane policy and interests reiected the proposall because that Province which Egeon had left unto his daughter was procured by uniust and fraudulent means and therefore he could not expect a benediction from God upon the possession of it 4. Some few others therefore whose counsells were guided by Principles more sublime and not so worldly proposed to the King a daughter of the most potent King Offa whose name our Historians generally call Alfreda only by Ingulfus she is named Etheldrita a Virgin endowd withall Graces against whom no exception could be made Yea moreover such affinity contracted with her Father would be an absolute security to the Kingdom To this therefore King Ethelbert consented and thereupon Embassadours were dispatched to King Offa to demand of him this grace which he willingly granted so that conditions on both sides were readily agreed on 5. When the time appointed for the mariage drew near King Ethelbert thought fitt to goe to the Mercians thereby to shew more affection and respect in conducting his espoused Lady home But when he began his iourney there hapned to him many terrible prodigies portâ—nding a fatall successe Among which this was one When he mounted on horsback attended by a great multitude of his loving Subiects who earnestly prayed for his happines on a sudden besides a great earth-quake the Sun became wholly darkned insomuch as one could not discern another neither durst they remove by reason of the trembling of the earth All were astonished at this and falling prostrate on the ground earnestly besought God to avert his wrath from them But the King more devoutly then the rest humbly begged of God at least an internall Light by which he might discern whether that iourney and the occasion of it were acceptable to him and for the benefit of his own soule in token of which he besought him to cease the trembling of the earth no to restore the Suns Light Assoon as he had ended his Prayer all these prodigies immediatly ended Thereupon the King confidently prosecuted his iourney though his Mother terrified by such ominous signs earnestly endeavoured to disswade him 6. Assoon as he was entred into Mercia attended by a small guard God was pleased in a vision by night to signify to him his approaching death and the immense glory which should follow it For First it seemed to him that the roof of his Palace fell upon him and that his Mother seeing it let fall from her eyes teares of blood Afterward he saw a wonderfully great and most beautifull Tree which certain persons feircely endeavoured to hew down and out of the wounds made in it flowed a torrent of Blood eastward Then a pillar of Light from the South more bright then the Sun seemed to rise up and himself in the shape of a Bird having the extremities of his wings shining like gold had a great desire to embrace that glorious pillar so that mounting to the top of it he heard a most celestiall Harmony to which he with infinite pleasure attended till his sleep ending all vanished away 7. The next morning he recounted this Dream to his freinds at which their astonishment and fears were renewed with great encrease considering such fearfull signs as the falling down of a house his Mothers bloody teares a fair tree cutt down and blood issuing out of it Thereupon they attempted to perswade him to return and not to tempt God after so manifest a warning given him of danger But the King thinking it both dishonourable and unsafe to publish a suspicion of any treachery in so great a King as Offa and withall considering that though in his Vision there were many ominous signs yet the end seemed glorious and
it 1. WE will conclude this Book and Century with a short view of the state of Gods Church in Brittany at this time Sir Henry Spelman has published another Synod held this year at Clovesho In which after a publick attestation of the Vniformity of their Faith with the same which Saint Gregory the Great caused to the taught here at the first Conversion of the Nation with a Profession that what they beleived they would also in their lives practise a Decree was made for the restitution of all lands and goods which had been usurped by Lay-persons and violently taken from Churches and Monasteries 2 More specially Athelard Arch-bishop of Canterbury presiding in the same represented to the Synod how Ethelbald King of the Mercians had given formerly to the Church of our Saviour in Canterbury a certain Monastery called Cotham with all the Lands and possessions belonging thereto and that such his Donation might be of perpetuall force he sent by Cuthbert then Archbishop a Turf of the said land together with all Writings perâ—aining to the same Monastery which he required him to lay upon the Altar of our Saviours Church But after the death of the said Arch-bishop two men who had been educated by him named Veâ—head and Osbert by the Devills instigation stole away those Writings and caried them to Ceolulf King of the West-Saxons who thereupon took to his own use the said Monastery and land notwithstanding any thing that the Arch-bishop could alledge His Successours likewise in the Arch-bishoprick Bregwan and Iambert in severall Synods made complaints of this injury done to the Church of our Saviour both to the King of the West-Saxons and to Offa King of the Mercians who had subdued many Citties and particularly that Territory in which the said Monastery of Cotham was seated which he annexed to his own Dominion But now at last Kenulf King of the Mercians repenting of his injustice had restored all the said Writings adding withall a great summe of money humbly requesting that he might be absolved from the Excommunications denounced against Sacrilegious usurpers of Church-lands 3. Matters standing thus the said Arch-bishop Athelard together with his principall Officer Cuba brought the foresaid Writings into the Synod which were publickly read and approved Then he acquainted the Synod that by a mutuall agreement between himself and a certain Abbesse named Cynedritha she should possesse the said Monastery of Cotham with all lands belonging to it giving in exchange land of one hundred and ten Mansions and Sixty Hides Cassatarum in a place named Fleot and thirty in another called Tenaham and twenty in a third named Creges Ennulina all which lands King Offa had formerly given to her and her heyrs and after their decease to the Church of Beodford This agreement touching an exchange with a mutuall surrendry of all Writings on both sides the Arch-bishop desired might be approved and confirmed by the Synod that no difference might hereafter happen between his Successours and the heyrs of King Offa. He moreover gave to the same Abbesse another Monastery seated in a place called Pectonege which the devout King Egfrid had bestowd on him to be possessed by a right of inheritance XXIII CHAP. 1.2 c. The Martyrdom of S. Alcmund a Northumbrian Prince 4.5 c. Brithric King of the West-Saxons murdred by his Queen Eadburga For which it was ordained that the wives of succeeding Kings should never have the Title of Queens 1. THE Kingdom of the Northumbers at this time was again most greivously plagued by the Danish Pirats for a most horrible army of them landing in the Northern parts cruelly spoyled the Churches of Hercenes and Tynmouth 2. The same year also Alcmund son of Alred who had been there King was apprehended by the guards of the present Vsurping King Eardulf and by his command was slain together with all those who had been his companions in banishment 3. This Prince Alcmund was son of that King Alred who in the year of Christ seaven hundred seaventy four was by a rebellion of his Subiects driven out of his kingdom and fled to the Picts This Prince willingly followed his Father into banishment the incommodities whereof he bore with a Christian equanimity By such afflictions God disposed this pious Prince for a far richer crown For though by the relation of Mathew of Westminster he is said to have been slain by the cruelty of King Eardulf yet in our Martyrologe he is commemorated in the quality of a Martyr made a sacrifice to God by the inhumanity of the Danes Certain it is that he dyed a violent and uniust death and by posterity has been aâ—ways venerated as a Saint which God approved by many Miâ—racles In the Citty of Darby a magnificent Church was built to his honour called to this day the Church of S. Alcmund Another likewise was erected in Shrewsbury as our Martyrologe testifies where his Name is celebrated among Saints on the nineteenth of March. And in former times a great concourse thither was made especially from the Northern parts to pay their devotions to God in honouring his Saint their iniured countreyman 4. This Century concluded with the death of Brithric King of the West-Saxons by the treacherous cruelty of his Wife The manner thereof is thus described by Mathew of Westminster King Brithric saith he had taken to wife Eadburga daughter to Offa King of the Mercians This woman being exalted to so great honours did not content her self but was restlesse in her ambition to enioy alone all wealth and power Therefore with a tyrannous malice she was wâ—nt to accuse before the King and persecute all the Nobles of the Kingdom and all others who favoured iustice By which means she became the Obiect of the Vniversal hatred both of the Princes and inferiour subiects Because that wicked woman by her flatteries had so insinuated her self into the Kings affection and esteem that whosever she accused were presently either banished or slain Or if she could not obtain this her custom was privatly to destroy them by poison 5. Now there was at that time a certain young man of a Noble family and deeply in the Kings favour against whom the Queen not having any thing of which she could with any pretence of iustice accuse him she provided poyson with which she killed him And a part of this poyson the King unawares taesting immediatly dyed Her purpose then was not that the poison should be given to the King but only to the young man his favourite but by mishap they both drank of it and both presently dyed 6. The King being thus unhappily slain the Queen knowing how universally she was hated in great fear fled away privatly carying with her inestimable treasure And passing the Sea she went to the Emperour-Charles to whom she presented many rich gifts On a certain time 〈◊〉 she was among other Ladies standing in his presence being though a most wicked yet a
follow'd the Eastern Rite of the Quartodecimani from whence they inferr that the Gospell was not communicated to this Island from Rome but certain Eastern Apostolicall Missioners 11. But the contrary is most evident For First it is certain that they received the order about Easter from Pope Eleutherius Again as certain it is that Restitutus Bishop of London caried into Brittany the Decrees of the Councill of Arles Thirdly wee find expressly in the Letter written by Constantin to all Churches that among other Provinces which observed the order prescribed by the Councill of Nicâ—a after that of Arles Brittany was one 12. The Errour therfore which in succeeding times crept among the Baittains was not the Orientall Iewish way of observing Easter as in the Law of the Passeover exactly on the fourteenth day of the Moon as the Quatodecimani did whether that day were Sunday or not But only this that when it fell upon a Sunday they did not as all other Catholick Churches did delay the celebration of it till the Sunday following on purpose to declare their opposition to the Iewes but they kepd it on that day in which the Iews kepd it So that once in seaven years they varied from other Christian Churches The only cause of which Errour doubtlesse was the calamity of those times when all commerce between the Brittains and Rome was intercluded XV. CHAP. 1.2 c. S. Helenas iourney of Devotion to Ierusalem and Churches built by her 4.5 c. The Invention of the Holy Crosse. 1. PResently after the dissolution of this famous Councill Helena the Mother of Constantin being near fourscore years old had the courage and fervour to undertake a pilgrimage to Ierusalem there to visit the holy places sanctified by our Lords actions and suffrings and to adore his footsteps For Surely saith S. Hierom to adore the place where our Lords feet stood is a part of Faith So that it was not Superstition as the Lutheran Centuriators calumniously impute to her but an act of singular counsell and wisedome as Eusebius yea by divine admonition received in her sleep as Socrates saith that she was incited to this iourney 2. The place which she most ardently desired to visit and adorn was the Sepulcher of our Lord which the flagitious impiety of former Pagans had endeavoured to blott out of the memory of man kind foolishly thinking hereby to hide and make divine Truth undiscoverable saith Eusebius So that it cost incredible labour to remove that vast heap of earth with which it had been covered on the top of which had been raised a Temple to Venus solemnised with all manner of impurity 3. The place being cleansed there was by Constantins order erected upon it a most magnificent Temple the structure and ornaments wherof are particularly described by the same Historian And besides this the same devout Empresse began the building of two other sumptuous Churches the one at Bethlehem where our Lord was born and the other on Mount Olivet whence our Lord ascended into heaven Which after her death shortly succeeding were finish'd by her Son In this last place was yet extant the impression of our Lords feet which she honoured with due veneration Concerning which the Prophet Zacharias long before prophecied saying And in that day his feet shall stand upon the Mount Olivet over against Ierusalem to the East S. Hierom testifies that the same footsteps of our Lord imprinted on the ground were shewd in his time And though the Earth was continually taken away by the devotion of Christians yet those holy footsteps did immediatly receive their former state 4. Hereto we may not omitt to adioyn a stupendious Miracle related by Sulpitius Severus in these words That was a wonderfull thing saith he that place on which at his Ascension our Lords feet last stood could not be continued to the rest of the pavement about For whensoever marble was layd on it the earth refused to receive it casting the stones ofteÌ„times upward to the faces of those who applied them And moreover the footsteps of our Lord there seen are a lasting Monument that the dust there had been trod on by our Saviour S. Bede adds another Miracle that wheras the Temple built over the place consisted of three stories or concamerations the two uppermost wherof were vaulted with Arches that which was the lowest and most inward could by no art or labour be closed with a vault 5. But whilst these magnificent structures were preparing there yet wanted that which the devout Empresse most of all desired to find which was the Holy Crosse on which our Lord perfected the Redemption of mankind and by the apparition of which her Son had lately been drawn to Faith and Baptism A rumour there was that it was still extant hid in some of those holy places but where to find it was the difficulty Cammand therfore was given that all places there about should be digg'd but in vain At last saith Ruffinus the Religious Lady was by a celestiall admonition informed where it lay Wherupon causing all the rubbish to be removed she found deep under ground three Crosses in a confus'd order So that her ioy was much diminish'd by the uncertainty which of them was the true one There was found likewise with them the Title which had been written by Pilat in Greek Latin and Hebrew letters But yet that being separated did not give any signs wherby to discern which was our Lord Crosse. In this uncertainty the onely remedy was to begg by Prayer a Divine testimony It hapneâ— that at the same time there was in the Citty a certain woman of quality who lay sick of a greivous disease ready to expire Macarius therfore who was then Bishop of Ierusalem seeing the Empresse and all about her solicitous to discover the 〈◊〉 Crosse commanded saying Let all three be brought and God will be pleased to shew us that which bore our Lord. Entring therfore together with the Empresse and many of the people into the sick womans house he kneeled on the ground and in this manner prayed O Lord who by thy onely begotten Son hast vouchsafed to bring salvation to mankind through his suffring on the Crosse and hast lately inspired into the heart of thy Hand-maid here present a desire to find the Crosse on which our salvation did hang Be pleased to shew unto us evidently which of these three Crosses was employed to glorify our Lord and which for the servile punishment of malefactours and let this be the mark that this woman who lies here half dead assoon as she touches the saving Crosse of thy Son may be recalled to life from the gates of death Having said this he applied first one of the Crosses which availed nothing then the second yet without any effect But assoon as he had applied the third Crosse unto her immediatly the woman opened her eyes rose up in perfect health and with
Abbesse †The sign of the hand of Herelwida Abbesse †The sign of the hand oâ— Ealfrid Preist †The sign of the hand of Bissan Preist †The sign of the hand of Aldulf Preist †The sign of the hand of Bonnâ— Preist 13. The same King Withred the year following granted another Charter to a certain Abbesse in the Isle of Thanet called Eabba by which he gave unto her four plough-lands in the same Island belonging to the said King and seated in a small Territory called Human Which Charter he made in his own name and in the Name of his Queen Kinegytha So that it seems the Queen in the former Charter named Werburga either was dead at the making of this or had two names 14. Thus by the piety of King Withred and the zealous diligence of the Arch-bishop Brithwald the Kingdom of Kent recovered its former tranquility and the ruins which through factions and disorders in the state had hapned to the Church were repaired But far greater and more happy changes on the other side of the sea caused by the industry and zeale of our foresaid Apostolick Missioners invite us a while to leave Brittany and attend to them Where we shall see how prosperously the seeds of heavenly Truths sowd by them doe grow and multiply and this the more plentifully because these Spirituall Labourers ioyfully watred them with their own Blood VII CHAP. 2 c. Gâ—sts of the Missioners among the Frisons Cruelty of King Radbode 1. THE Narration of these happy successes in the countrey of the Frisons we will here sett down in the words of the Eminent Cardinall Baronius taken from the faithfull Relation of Marcellinus one of the said Missioners who wrote what he saw with his eyes and in which himself had a part 2. In the six hundred ninety fifth year of our Lord and in the eight Iudiction saith he the Church of the Frisons was happily propagated being bedâ—w'd with the blood of Martyrs For besides the Martyrdom of the two Brethren called Ewald before related the Holy Preist Wigbâ—rt one of the twelve Apostolick Missioners was this year made partaker of the same Crown These things are particularly declared by Marcâ—llinus in the Acts of S. Swibert where to the Gests formerly related he adioyns the following Narration 3. At that time Radbode the infidel King of the â—risons having been expelled out of Vtrecht by the illustrious and most Christian Prince Pipin Senâ—schall of the Court of France made his abode in the Isle of Fosteland called so from the name of a certain Idol-Deâ—ty called Fosta where that Sect of Idolatry was most solemnly celebrated In that Island the Holy Preists and Apostolick Missioners by the suggestion of S. Wigbert being assembled together destroyd the profane Temples of Iupiter and Fosta and yet with all their diligence in preaching could perswade onely three persons to renounce the Pomps of Satan and ioyn themselves to the Orthodox Faith 4. But King Radbode an obstinate Idolater having heard that his Idols had been destroyd by Christians conceived a most furious rage against them and resolving to revenge the injury done to his Gods commanded Saint Wigbert whom he knew before to be a Christian and companion of the Holy Missioners to be putt to death with horrible torments Which manner of death was most acceptable to him for in his dayly prayers his custom had been to begg of almighty God the favour of suffring Martyrdom for him And as for the rest of the Holy Preachers he drove them violently out of the said Island 5. These devout Preists perceiving that King Radbode could by no means be withdrawn from the profane worship of Idols and that by reason of his Tyranny they could by preaching make small progresse in gaining of soules they retired out of that countrey to the foresaid illustrious Prince Pipin by whom they were gratefully entertained And whereas a little before he had by conquest obtained the possession of the Southern Fâ—â—seland from whence he had expelled the said King Radbode he sent them back to preach the Gospell there with a command from the King directed to his Pagan Subjects that not any of them should dare to disturb or in the least sort molest them in their preaching Hence it came to passe by Gods Grace assisting them that by their sedulous teaching they dayly converted many soules from Idolatry to the Faith of Christ. 6. The place where these Holy Preists upon any occasion mett together was the Castle of Vtrecht anciently called Wiltanburg which at this time was under the power of the Eastern Francks and where a little before in the raign of the Emperour Heraclius the illustrious and Holy King of France Dagobert had caused a Church to be built to the honour of the Apostle S. Thomas which Church presently after the perverse and obstinat Frisons had utterly ruind to the ground In the same place these Holy Preists this year built another Church to the honour of the Holy Crosse adioyning to the ruines of the former where they consecrated likewise a Sacred Font to which the new-converted Christians might have a secure accesse to receive the holy Sacrament of Baptism by reason of the strength and defence of the said Castle and garrison Thus writes S. Macellinus cited by Baronius VIII CHAP. 1.2 c. The Gests of S Swibert 9. He and S. Willebrord ordained Bishops 1 TO the foregoing Narration the same Authour subioyns another more particularly of the Gests of S. Swibert according to the tenour following After this the foresaid Preists perceiving that the harvest was indeed great but the laborours few they therefore divided themselves and after the manner of the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord wâ—nt two and two or three and three through diverse Provinces of Germany taking with them certain new converts and so preached the Gospell to the Nations 2. Among these that glorious Preist of our Lord S. Swibert inflamed with the fire of Divine Love at the same time attended by Werenfrid and my self went to a great Village filled with a world of Pagan Rites and adorned with diverse Idoll-Temples And it was distant from Vtrecht about two miles Eastward There whilst he preached that Christ was the true God who would give eternall life to all who beleived in him and admonished them to reliquish the vain worship of Idols which were full of Devills which could not afford any help to such as served them presently he was seised upon by the Pagans and Idoll-Preists and greivously scourged by them crying out and saying This blasphemer prophanes our Law affirms that our Omnipotent Gods are Devills and would seduce the people boldly telling them that the man who was crucified is the true God So that unlesse he be killed or driven out of our countrey the Worship of our Gods will cease and the Rites taught 〈◊〉 by our Fathers shall be exterminated 3 Having said thus they took him and cast