Kingdom And further to confirm that Ordinatur here signifies the same with Eligitur see the Law abovementioned concerning the Election of the Mercian Kings the Title of it in Sir Henry Spelman's first Volume of Councils is de Ordinatione Regum i.e. of the Election of Kings AND that by this word Ordinatur cannot be meant any Lineal Succession in Ethelwerd will further appear from him where he says Post Obitum Athulfi Regis ordinati sunt filii ejus in Regnum which must be understood either an Appointment by the Father's Will or else a new Election since these Sons of King Aethelwulf could never be thus appointed or ordained Kings by the Law of Lineal Succession because each of these Brothers except the Eldest left Sons BUT William of Malmesbury does likewise as good as own that King Egbert came in by Election when he says that upon the Death of Brytrich Egbert at the frequent Solicitations of his Countrey-men coming over into Britain Móxque imperare jussus Patriae Desideriis satisfecit being immediately commanded to reign did thereupon satisfy the Desires of his Countrey Now I would fain know if he had come in by virtue of a Lineal Descent why he should have needed the being commanded to reign since he ought rather to have commanded their Allegiance as his Due AND either to this Time or rather to the latter end of this King 's Reigny as you may find in the ensuing History I suppose may be referred what the Author of the Mirror of Justices in the very beginning of the Book says concerning the first Election of a King to reign over the rest of the Saxon Sovereign Princes viz. That forty of them made him to swear that he would maintain the Holy Christian Faith with all his Power and govern his People according to Right without regard to any Person and that he should be liable to suffer Right i. e. Judgment as well as others of his People THIS Passage tho it be accounted by some of but a doubtful Authority because of the forty Princes abovementioned whereas we never read of above seven or eight Saxon Kings to have reigned at once and those â—oo were by this Egbert reduced to three besides himself viz. the East-Angles Mercia and Northumberland yet if by the Princes here mentioned we understand not Sovereign Princes but Ealdormen of Counties and Great Cities who as Mr. Selden shews us in his Titles of Honour are commonly stiled in the old Saxon Charters Principes and by this Author in his French Original rendred Princes these meeting together in a Great Council did as the chief Magistrates of the Cities and Counties from whence they came injoin the King this Oath which was taken at the General Council mentioned in the ensuing History under Anno 803 or else 828. This Passage in the Mirrour of Jâ—sticâ—s if it were taken out of some old Saxon Monument now lost as I have great reason to believe it was since the Laws which he here relates concerning King Alfred are admitted by the Learned Author of the Notes upon his Life printed at Oxford to have been transcribed by him from some Antient Commentaries of that King which Laws he there a little after recites I say this Passage may serve as a great Proof not only of this King's Election to be the Chief or Supream King of all England but also it gives us the Original Contract if I may so call it which he then entred into with this Nation at the time of his Election and Coronation TO Egbert succeeded Athelwulf his Son who though I grant it is no where said that he was Elected yet if his Father were so as it is most evident he was it is not likely that the Kingdom should become Successive in one Descent especially if we consider the manner of all his five Sons coming to the Kingdom either in his Life-time or after him FOR as to Athelstane his eldest Son on whom he bestowed almost as soon as he came to the Crown the Kingdom of Kent with the South and East-Saxons I have proved in the ensuing History from Matthew Westminster and other Authors that he was Illegitimate and so could have no Legal Right of Succession nor does it seem probable he should be set over those Kingdoms by his Father without any previous Election or Consent of those People AND as for his other four Legitimate Sons Ethelbald the Eldest of them did by the General Consent of the King and the whole Nation which amounts to an Election divide the Kingdom with his Father he himself enjoying that of the West-Saxons whilst his Father ruled over the rest And by the virtue of his Testament confirmed likewise by the General Consent of the Kingdom Ethelbald remained only King of the West-Saxons whilst Ethelbert his second Brother reigned in Kent as also over the East and South-Saxons which had been his Brother Aethelstane's share who died without Issue for ought we can find BUT after King Ethelbald's Death Ethelbert succeeded in the whole Kingdom and he likewise dying Ethelred his Brother succeeded him after whose Death also Alfred the youngest Brother came to the Throne THIS short Account is the Truth of the Matter of Fact yet there requires a great deal to be said to have it well understood since Dr. Brady in his true and exact History of the Succession of the Crown Vol. 1. of his Introduction will needs derive the whole Right which these Princes had to the Kingdom from the Entail of it by their Father's Will abovementioned and if the Testament of a King then Regnant could dispose of the Crown to the prejudice of the Right Heirs by Lineal Descent I desire this Learned Antiquary to satisfy us how this could consist with his supposed Right of Lineal Succession at the same Time BUT the Truth is this worthy Doctor as well as the Author of the great Point of Succession discussed here deal with us like some crafty Witnesses who indeed speak the Truth but not the whole Truth if they find it will make against them For the Doctor in the first Place conceals and the nameless Author of the other Pamphlet either wilfully or ignorantly positively denies that King Alfred's three elder Brothers who reigned before him left any Issue Male whereas it is most certain that two of them if not all Three left Sons behind them for Athelm and Aethelwold to whom King Alfred by his Testament bequeaths divers Lands therein mentioned under the Title of his Brother's Sons are supposed by the Learned Author of the Notes upon his Life to have been the Children of King Ethelbald his eldest Brother tho whether they were so or no I will not be so confident as to affirm But that they were either the Sons of Ethelbald or Ethelbert is most certain and consequently they ought to have reigned before him who was but their Uncle AS for King Ethelred he had
all Ireland for so it was then commonly called for near Four Hundred Years after this and he therein complains of Draganus an Irish Bishop who coming over hither would not so much as Eat in the same House with him at which time also Laurentius wrote Letters not only to his fellow Bishops in Ireland but also to the British Clergy in Wales to the same purpose as the former but how well he succeeded therein the present time says Bede declares about which Year also Mellitus Bishop of London was sent to Rome to confer with Pope Boniface concerning the necessary Affairs of the English Church when the Pope held a Synod at Rome with the Bishops of Italy concerning the Life and Conversation of the Monks where he sate with them This Synod was held in the Eighth Year of Emperour Phocas and the Bishop at his return brought back the Decrees of that Council together with the Pope's Letters to Arch-Bishop Laurence and all the Clergy as also to King Ethelbert and the whole English Nation This Year also Sebert King of the East-Saxons Founded the Church and Abbey of Westminster and Mellitus the Bishop Dedicated it to St. Peter thô for what Order of Monks is uncertain since they were driven out after the Death of Sebert by his Successours who continued Pagans for many Years after This Year according to Florence Ceolwulf dying Cynegils began to Reign over the West Saxons for Thirty One Years being the Son of Ceolric who was the Son of Cutha who as we have heard was slain fighting against the Britains some Years before Cynegils and Cwichelme fought against the Britains at Beamdune now Bindon in Dorsetshire and there slew Two Thousand and Forty Six Men which Battel H. Huntington thus describes The Saxon and British Troops being drawn up in Battel Array the Fight immediately began when the Britains fearing the weight of the Saxon Battel Axes and long Launces turn'd their backs and fled so that the Saxons obtain'd the Victory without any great loss on their side and he also agrees pretty near in the number of the slain with our Saxon Annals This Cwichelme here mentioned is by Will of Malmesbury said to be Brother of Cynegils and to be by him taken as his Partner in the Royal Power But Florence of Worcester and Mat. Westminster do make Cwichelme to have been the Son of Cinegils thô the former Opinion be the more likely but let it be either of them it is certain that they were both of them Stout and good natured Persons who governed with that mutual Love and Concord as it was a wonder to the Age in which they liv'd so ought it to be an example to all future times Thô the Cathedral of Christ Church in Canterbury had been already built about Twenty Years yet it seems the Monastery adjoyning to it was not founded till this Year as appears not only from the Manuscript above mentioned once belonging to the Monastery of St. Augustine but also from Will of Malmesbury that in the time of Arch-Bishop Laurence and about this very Year that it was first replenished with Monks as appears by a Letter of Pope Boniface to King Ethelbert whereby he approves of and confirms the Foundation of the said Abby by the said Arch-Bishop which Letter though Will. of Malmesbury had promised to recite yet being by him forgot or else ommitted in our Printed Copies is to be found at large in the said Manuscript concerning which Monastery the afore-cited Author farther adds That though some had said that Arch-Bishop Aelfric had thrust out the Clerks i. e. secular Chanons out of that Church and had placed Monks in their rooms yet was it not at all probable since it appeared by the said Epistle of Pope Boniface that there had been Monks in the Church of St. Saviour from the first foundation of that Monastery in the time of Arch-Bishop Laurence who succeeded St. Augustine But it hath been denyed by Cardinal Baronius in his Annals as also by some later Antiquaries of what Order these Monks were whom Augustine and Laurentius placed in these two Monasteries above mention'd and that a late ingenious Authour in his Preface to a Treatise called Notitia Monastica hath questioned whether they were of the Benedictine Order since he rather supposes That the Benedictine Rule was scarce heard of in England till some Hundreds of Years after and never perfectly observed till after the Conquest but he should have done well to have told us what other Order they were of since the general Tradition in most of the Ancient English Monasteries of the Benedâ—ctine Order was That they had observed that Rule from their first foundation And the Saxon Annals under the Year 509 do expresly affirm That St. Benedict the Father of all the Monks dyed that Year And he had long before his Death founded his Order in Italy and of which Augustine himself is supposed to have been and though I also acknowledge that all the ancient Monasteries of England were not at first of that Order since those that were founded in the Kingdom of Northumberland by the Bishops Aidan and Coleman followed the same Rule with the Monks of Ireland and Scotland viz. That of St. Basil which all the Eastern Monks did then and do to this day observe yet even these did about an Hundred Years after quit that Rule and follow the more Modern one of St. Benedict and therefore Stephen Heddie in his Life of St. Wilfred Bishop of York lately published by the learned Dr. Gale hath expresly told us That the said Bishop returning home into his own Country i. e. the Kingdom of Northumberland and carrying along with him the Rule of St. Benedict very much improved the Constitutions of God's Churches by which he meant the Monasteries of those Parts And therefore the Chronology once belonging to the Abby of St. Augustine's in Canterbury printed in the Decem scriptores after Will. Thornes Chronicle under Anno 666 upon very good grounds thus observes That this Year Bishop Wilfred caused the Rule of St. Benedict to be observed in England That is in the North Parts into which he then went for if that Rule had not been observed in the Southern Parts before How could it be said that he carried it out from thence along with him but to conclude there having been a dispute among the Roman Catholicks beyond the Seas about Seventy Years ago concerning this matter some of them affirming that all the ancient English Monks before the Conquest were of the Order of St. Equitus or else of some other Order whereupon those of the Benedictine Order wrote over to our Antiquaries in England viz. Sir Robert Cotton Sir H. Spelman Mr. Camden and Mr. Selden appealing to their Judgment herein From whom they received a Letter under all their Hands wherein they expresly certified that there was never any such Order as that of St. Equitus and further
for they soon sent him Aidan a Man of great Meekness Piety and Moderation only Bede finds â—ault with him That he had Zeal but not according to Knowledge in that he observed Easter day according to the custom of his own Nation and that of the Picts of which I have sufficiently spoken already But so soon as this Bishop came to him he gave him a place for his Episcopal See in the Isle of Lindisfarn where he himself desired it which place is Pena-Insula except when the Sea quite overflows that neck of Land which joyns it to England But this King took care by hearkening to the Instructions of this good Bishop to propagate Christ's Church in his Kingdom which during his Reign extended over both Deira and Bernicia being then both united into one and it was often observed as an unusual spectacle that whil'st the Bishop Preacht who being a Scot did not speak English so as to be well understood the King being present and with his Courtiers and Officers having learn't the Scotish Tongue during the time of his banishment would himself interpret the Bishops Sermon to them and many Scotish Priests coming into those Provinces of Britain where King Oswald Reigned began to Preach and Baptize those that believed so that now Churches were built in divers places to which the People assembling rejoyced to hear the Word of God there were also given by the King several Lands and Possessions to build Monasteries for they were chiefly Monks who now came hither to Preach for Bishop Aidan was himself a Monk sent from the Monastery of the Isle of Hye of which we have said enough in the last Book But of the Humility and Piety of this Bishop Aidan Bede gives us a very large account in several instances of it for he seems to have been an excellent pattern for succeeding Bishops and Clergy Men to follow For he tells us That all who travelled with him I suppose in his Visitation or Conversions were they professed Monks or only Lay Bretheren were obliged to bestow their time either in reading the Scriptures or else in learning the Psalms by heart but to let you see how much more Humility and Condescention are able to prevail than Pride and Austerity Bede tells us That the King of the Scots first sent another Bishop to King Oswald who being of a very rough Austere Temper could therefore do but little good among the English so that being forced to return home again he laid the fault upon their Rude Irreclameable Dispositions whereupon the Scotch Clergy being grieved at hiâ— return called a Synod to consider what was best to be done in this case when Aidan who was then present told this Bishop That he thought he had been too harsh and severe to his Ignorant Auditors and had not according to the Apostle's Rule first given them the Milk of milder Doctrine till by degrees they should be able to receive and digest the more perfect and harder precepts of God's Word which as soon as they heard they all turn'd their Eyes upon him and resolved he should be sent to Convert the Ignorant unbelieving English because he was endued with Prudence the Mother of all other Vertues thô he was not wanting in those also The same Authour also gives us as high a Character with many Examples of the great Humility Affability and Charity of King Oswald as that being once at Dinner it was told him There were a great multitude of Poor People at his Gate desiring Alms whereupon he immediately sent them a large Silver Dish full of Meat from his own Table and order'ed the Dish afterwards to be broken into small pieces and distributed among them upon this Bishop Aidan taking him by the Right Hand said thus Let this Hand never corrupt which saying gave occasion to the Miracle whether false or real I shall not now dispute concerning the incorruptibility of King Oswald's Right Arm which Bede hath given us so many strange Relations of and that it was preserved uncorrupt in the Church of Peterburgh in his time Of this King he also tells us That by his Industry the Provinces of Deira and Bernicia which had been almost in perpetual Discord were now as I may say united into one People so that he received all the Nations and Kingdoms of Britain under his Protection He was Nephew to King Edwin by his Sister Acca and it was fit that so great a Predecessour should have one of his own Blood to succeed him But we shall proceed now to the Conversion of the West-Saxons which the same Author thus relates At this time the Nation of the West-Saxons which were anciently called Gewisses received the Christian Faith in the Reign of Cynegils by the preaching of Byrinus an Italian who being ordained Bishop by Asterius Bishop of Genoua by the Order of Pope Honorius came into Britain and thô he had promised the Pope to preach the Gospel in the most inland parts of the Island where it never had been heard of before yet landing in the Country of the West-Saxons and finding them to be altogether Heathens he thought it better to preach the Gospel there than to seek further which when he had done for some time and that the King being sufficiently instructed was to be Baptized with his People it happened that Oswald the Victorious King of the Northumbers was there present and received him coming out of the Font as his Godfather intending also to make him his Son-in-Law and then both Kings joyned in conferring on the said Bishop a City which was called in Latin Dorinea now Dorchester in Oxfordshire there to fix his Episcopal See but divers Years after when many Churches had been built and much People converted to Christ by his means he at last deceased and was buried in that City for so Bede stiles it thô it be now but a poor Country Town Will. of Malmesbury adds to this Relation of Bede That King Cynegils was quickly perswaded to submit to the preaching of the Bishop but that Cwichelme his Brother and Partner in the Kingdom did for some time refuse it till being admonished by Sickness that he should not neglect the Salvation of his Soul he was at last baptized and the same Year died which is confirmed by the Saxon Chronicle under the Year following thô omitting the Baptism of Cynegils it only mentions that of Cwichâ—lme adding That the same Year he departed this Life and that Bishop Felix preached the Faith of Christ to the East-Angles This Felix was a Burgundian the first Bishop in Dunwich in Suffolk where he founded his Episcopal See His Conversion was thus Sigebert having succeeded his Brother Eorpwald in the Kingdom of the East-Angles and having whilst he was banished into France by his Brother's Jealousie there received Baptism did now by the Assistance of Bishop Felix erect a School like those he had seen in France where Youths might be taught Letters having
time resigned his Kingdom was become a Monk and so used his Interest with King Cenered whom he had appointed King in his stead that he promised to obey the Pope's Decrees not long after which the Bishop likewise sent an Abbot with a Priest to King Alfred desiring his leave to return home and to deliver him the Pope's Letters and the Decrees which had been made on his behalf which Messengers thô the King civily received yet he plainly told them That he would do them any other Favour but that it was in vain to trouble him any further in this matter because whatever the Kings his Predecessours together with his Councellours as also the late Arch-Bishop Theodore had already judged and what he himself together with the present Arch-Bishop and all the Bishops of the British Nation had lately Decreed That he was resolved never to alter for any Letters sent as they said from the Apostolick See so the Messengers returning without any success the Bishop continued where he was for some Years but the King it seems repented at last of this harsh Resolution and would have altered it as you will hereafter find I have been the more exact in this transaction of Bishop Wilfrid's because it has never been as yet published in English before and it also gives us a great light into the Affairs of the Church at this time and lets us know that the Kings of Northumberland did not then think themselves bound to observe the Pope's Decrees thô made upon Appeals to Rome if they were contrary to a General Synod or Council of the whole Nation About this time thô it be not mentioned in Bede nor in the Saxon Chronicle Ina King of the West-Saxons summoned a great Council or Synod of all the Bishops with the Great and Wise Men of his Kingdom which because it is the first Authentick great Council whose Laws are come to us entire I shall set down the Title of it as it is recited in the First Volume of Sir H. Spelman's British Councils it begins thus Ina by the Grace of God King of the West-Saxons by the Council and Advice of Cenred my Father and Hedde and Erkenwald my Bishops with all my Ealdermen and sage Ancients of my People as also in an Assembly of the Servants of God have Religiously endeavoured both for the health of our Soul and the common preservation of our Kingdom that right Laws and true Judgments be Founded and â—stablished throughout our whole Dominions and that it shall not be Lawful for the time to come for any Ealderman or other Subject whatever to transgress these our Constitutions I have also given you an Extract of the chief of those Laws as far as they relate to any thing remarkable either in Church or State referring you for the rest to the Laws themselves 1. If a Servant do any Work on a Sunday by Command of his Master he shall be free and the Master shall be amerced Thirty Shillings but if he went about the Work without his Master's privity he shall be beaten or redeem the penalty but a Freeman if he work on that Day without the Command of his Master shall loose his Freedom or pay 60 Sihillings if he be a Priest his penalty shall be double 2. The portion or dues of the Church shall be brought in by the Feast of St. Martyn he that payeth them not by that time shall be amerced Forty Shillings and besides pay twelve times their value 3. If any guilty of a capital Crime shall take refuge in a Church he shall save his Life and yet make recompence according to Justice and Equity if one deserving Stripes run to a Church the Stripes shall be forgiven him 4. If any one Fight within the King's House or Palace he shall forfeit all his Goods and it shall be at the pleasure of the King whether he shall have his Life or not he that Fights in a Church shall pay 120 s. in the House of an Alderman or other sage Nobleman 60 s. whosoever shall Fight in a Villager's House paying Scot shall be punished 30 s. and shall give the Villager 6 s. and if any one Fight in the open Field he shall pay 120 s. 5. He that on his own private account shall revenge an injury done to him before he hath demanded publick Justice shall restore what he took away and besides forfeit 30 Shillings 6. If a Robber be taken he shall lose his Life or redeem it according to the estimation of his Head we call Robbers to the Number of Seven or Eight Men from that number to Thirty Five a band all above an Army 7. If a Country Boor having been often accused of Theft if he be at last taken he shall have his Hand or Foot cut off 8. If any one Kill another's Godfather or God-Son the satisfaction shall be according to his Quality and Circumstances let the compensation due to the Relations and that due to the Lord for the loss of his Man be both alike and let the one encrease according to the Circumstances of the Person just as the other doth but if he were the King's Godson let him make satisfaction to the King as well as the Relations but if his Life was taken away by a Relation then let the Money due to the Godfather be diminished as it useth to be when Money is paid to the Master for the Death of his Servant If a Bishop's Son be killed let the penalty be half so much From which Laws we may observe that our Saxon Ancestors were strict observers of the Lord's day and would not permit any servile Work to be done thereon Secondly that the superstition of Sanctuaries was very ancient in England as well as elsewhere Thirdly That Theft Murder and all sorts of Crimes were then redeemable by pecuniary Mulcts either to the King or to the Friends of the party slain or wrong'd or else by loss of Limbs but there is one Law behind that is very remarkable That if any English Man who hath lost his Freedom do afterwards Steal he shall be hang'd on the Gallows and no Recompence made to his Lord if any one Kill such a Man he shall make no recompence on that account to his Friends unless they redeem him within a Twelve Month. Where it appears that no English Freeman could then be hang'd for any fault but Treason thô that is not express'd in these Laws but as for the last clause in these Laws That if the Son of a Bishop be killed the penalty should be half whereby some would prove that Bishops were then Married it is a mistake for by those words are only meant a Bishop's Spiritual Son or Godson and not his Natural or Conjugal Son This Year the Kentishmen made a League with King Ina and gave him Thirty Thousand Pounds to obtain his Friendship because they had before burnt Moll his Brother Also Withred began to Reign over the Kingdom of Kent and
Queen ordered the Steward to defile all the Rooms with Cow-dung and other filth and also put a Sow and Pigs into the Bed where they had lain the Night before but when the King and Queen had gone some part of their Journey she perswaded him to return back again to the same place otherwise he would run a great hazard which being done when the King saw the place which was yesterday fit to entertain a Prince now thus spoiled being much troubled at it he went to the Queen and complain'd to her of it at which she laughing replied My Lord and Husband See what is become of all that Feasting and Magnificence we saw Yesterday Are they not all gone and past like Water that runs into the Sea so of all those Vanities there remains nothing but this Dung and Filth that only serves to represent the Corruption of the Soul by such Excesses think then Sir how soon that Flesh will rot that is now pamper'd by Luxury and the greater and more powerful we are the greater will our Torments be hereafter She needed to say no more for she had now brought over her Husband to her Sentiments which she had for some Years before constantly instill'd thô hitherto in vain thus after so many warlike Triumphs being at the highest pitch of Humane Felicity he went to Rome where he shewed not the least Pride in his Conversation but without exposing himself to publick view being there shorn a Monk grew old in that mean Habit nor was his Wife who had been the Authour of this Resolution wanting in following the same Example accompanying him thither her self comforting him and confirming him in that Course he had undertaken by her own Example so not living far from each other in Mutual Love they at last departed this Life not without doing divers Miracles if our Author may be credited But before we dismiss the History of this â—ing it is fit we should take notice of a notorious falshood inserted by some Ignorant trifling Monk among the Laws of King Edward the Confessour concerning this King Ina's Marrying Guala the Daughter of Cadwallader King of the Britains from which Daughter we are there told that Country was called Wallia which in Ancienter times had the name of Cambria and that all the English who lived at that time took their Wives from the British Stock as they did also from the English and that this was done by the Advice of a Common Council of the Kingdom and that in this manner they were made one Nation and one People by God's mercy throughout the whole Kingdom of Britain which hath given occasion to some fabulous Historians to make this Ina King of Wales as well as England though without any ground Since none of the Ancient British or English Chronicles do ever mention any such thing For during the Reign of this Ina Ivour the Son of Alan Duke of Britain is Recorded by the Welsh Chronicles to have Reigned in Wales but the likeness of these two Names I suppose gave the first occasion to this Fable The same Year that Ina went to Rome the Saxon Annals relate That King Ethelhard his Successour fought with Oswald Aetheling which Oswald was the Son of Aethelbald and he the Son of Cynebald Grandson to King Ceawlin who as H. Huntington and Will of Malmesbury tell us Being a Young Prince of the Blood Royal and raising a Rebellion against him in the beginning of his Reign endeavoured to obtain the Kingdom for himself but being worsted was forced to Flee This Year appeared a Comet and that Holy Man Ecgbert dyed at Hye This Ecgbert was the person above mentioned who brought over the Monks of that Monastery to keep Easter after the Roman manner This Year Oswald Aetheling dyed as it is supposed in Banishment This Year Osric King of Northumberland was slain and Ceolwulf succeeded him and held it Eight Years who was the Son of Cutha and he the Son of Cuthwin where follows his Pedigree as far as Eoppa This Year Bede also tells us Bertwald the Arch-Bishop Deceased being worn out with Age and Infirmities having held that See Thirty Seven Years and Six Months in whose room Tatwin was made Arch-Bishop who had been a Priest in the Monastery of Berodune in the Kingdom of the Mercians he was consecrated at Canterbury by Daniel Bishop of Winchester Inguald Bishop of London Aldwin Bishop of Leichfield and Aldulf Bishop of Rochester he was a Man famous for Religion and Prudence and very well skill'd in the Scriptures he sate Arch-Bishop till Bede's Death and lived but Three Years after here also follow in Bede the Names of the rest of the Bishops that were his Contemporaries which is unnecessary here to be inserted But as for the state of Civil Affairs when Bede finished his History he gives us this brief Account viz. That Ceolwulf who was then King of Northumberland had been in the beginning of his Reign perplexed with great Troubles the end of which Bede could not then foresee the Nation of the Picts at this time kept their league with the English Nation and rejoyced to be partakers of the Catholick Peace and Truth with the Universal Church This he speaks because Natan King of the Picts had been but a little before brought over to imbrace the Romish observation of Easter and to their manner of shaving Priest's Crowns Also the Scots who Inhabit Britain being kept in within their own limits did practise no Treachery against the English Nation as to the Britains thô the greatest part from a natural hatred to the English Nation did oppose the Catholick observation of Easter yet the Divine Power as well as Human Force being against them they could not obtain their desires for though they were partly at their own disposal yet were they in great measure subject to the English in this Peaceable and quiet time the most part of the Northumbrian Nation as well Nobles as Private Persons chose rather to make themselves and their Children Monks than to Educate them in a Military Life which says he What end it will have the next Age will shew And so indeed it did not long after Bede's Death for when the best Men thus retired into Monasteries none but the worser or meaner sort being left they soon fell into horrid Rebellions and Civil Wars one King driving out and Murdering another leaving the People an easie Prey to the Danes who in the next Generation Invaded them This as Bede relates was the Present State of Britain in his Time about 285 Years after the Arrival of the English Saxons We being now bereft of the assistance of so good an Authour must for the future wholly rely upon the Saxon Annals together with the other Monkish Writers thô indeed for near the space of above Thirty Years last past Bede growing more intent upon Ecclesiastical than Civil Affairs being all most wholly taken up with the reciteing of Visions and
4 years   796 Kenwulf one of the Blood-Royal tho far remote 24 years           795 Osbald 27 days and then deposed               795 Eardulf 10 years       794 Cuthred as his Tributary          Edmund sirnamed the Martyr     THE General History OF BRITAIN NOW CALLED ENGLAND As well Ecclesiastical as Civil BOOK V. From the beginning of the Reign of King EGBERT to that of King EDGAR Being the space of One Hundred Fifty Six Years and an Half THE English Saxons having after their Conquest of so great 〈◊〉 part of Britain and the expulsion of the Natives into Wales and Cornwall erected Seven and if we reckon Deira and Bernicia as distinct Eight different Kingdoms in this part of our Island that naturally followed which always attends a Warlike People canton'd out into many small independant principalities viz. constant disputes about the borders of their respective Territories or else a strife for the Mastery who should be Chief and Domineere most over the rest from whence besides divers other accidental occasions of Quarrels sprang Civil Wars incident to neighbouring Nations no ways divided but by Rivers or other less certain boundaries which never ceased until what had been begun by King Egbert's Predecessours was finish'd by himself and his Successours who at length united all those Kingdoms into one to the lasting quiet and happiness of the English Nation which to set forth shall be the subject of this present Period For though there had been before Egbert many chief or Principal Kings several of whom Bede as also the Saxon Annals have mentioned who by the sole power of their Arms succeeded each other in that Title yet did it never so properly belong to any one as to King Egbert with whose Reign we shall begin this Book since he was not satisfied as others had been before him with the bare acknowledgments and submissions of the other remaining Kings but having subdued most of them he laid their Kingdoms to his own leaving only those of the Mercians Northumbrians and East-Anglâ—s to be held by their respective Princes as Tributaries to his Crown in which state they continued till the Invasion and Conquest of the Danes wholly swallowed up all those Principalities and that after their expulsion by King Alfred and his Son Edward the Elder these Kingdoms became again united to the rest of their Dominions under the General name of England But since the Invasion of the Danes also happened in the beginning of this Period 't is fit we say something of it both as to its Causes and Instruments by which it was performed in the doing of which I shall make use of H. Huntington's words in the Prologue to his Fifth Book wherein he tells us That the Invasion of the Danes was much the fiercest and most câ—uel that ever was felt in this Island for the Romans althô they subdued Britain to their Empire yet used their Victory with moderation and made those they conquered partakers of the Roman Laws and Civility and as for the Invasion of the Picts and Scots which followed the decay of the Roman Empire in Britain though it fell severely upon the Northern Parts yet was it not of any long continuance or of any general extent being soon stopt by the more predominant Power and Valour of the English-Saxons who as you have already heard conquering this Kingdom by degrees though they drove out the ancient Inhabitants who refused to submit to them yet we do not find but that they spared the lives of all those that became their Vassals and having Conquered the Country they not only repaired the ancient Towns and Cities but likewise built many new ones and governed the Kingdom by their own Laws and Constitutions Lastly the Normans who succeeded the Danes in subduing this Nation yet granted not only Life and Liberty to the vanquished but also permited them the use of their ancient Laws and Customs whereas the Danes wasted and spoiled this whole Island for a long time together by frequent Incursions exempting no places Sacred or Prophane from Spoil or Ruin so that sparing neither Age nor Sex they seemed for a long time not so much to design the Conquest as Destruction of tâ—e English Nation till at last King Knute obtaining the Crown of Englaâ—d after the Death of King Edmund Sir-named Irâ—nside by restoring iâ—â— ancient Laws and Liberties made some amends for the continual spoils and depredations of himself and his Predecessours If therefore you do but consider the frequent Invasions of that Barbarous People how they often landed in several places at once thereby not only dividing the Forces of the English-Saxons but also so distracting their Commanders that they could not tell which way to March against them you may hence observe that next to the Providence and Mercy of God nothing but the extraordinary Valour and Conduct of those Kings whose Great and Noble Actions we shall here relate could have preserved this Nation from being totally subdued long before nor could they ever bring it under their Power till they met with a Prince who fell very short of his Ancestors as well in Prudence and Valour as in the chiefest thing of all the love of his Subjects But as for the causes which provoked the wrath of God to bring this dreadful Judgment upon the English Nation the same Author gives us this probable Account viz. That in the Primitive Church of England Religion shined with so great a Lustre that divers Kings and Queens together with many of the great Men and Bishops undertook Monastick Vows as you have already heard but in process of time all Virtue and Piety so far declined that the English Saxons suffered no Nation to exceed them in deceit and all manner of wickedness which chiefly appears in the precedent as well as following History of the Northumbrian Kings in which you will find that all Orders and Degrees of Men were guilty of so great Treachery and Rebellion that nothing was a greater disgrace than Piety and Innocence which was looked upon as a just occasion to be made away wherefore it was no wonder if God thought fit to send upon them whole swarms of cruel Nations which destroyed all before them to wit the Danes or Norwegians together with the Swedes and Vandals These from the latter end of the Reign of King Egbert to the beginning of the Reign of William the First being above Two Hundred and Thirty Years never gave this Island any long respite from their Invasions So that it seems it was not the Nation of the Danes alone properly so called who were the cause of this Destruction but a mixture of divers of these Northern Nations who joyning together proposed at first to themselves no other design but
Old Minster or Cathedral The nearness of these two Monasteries afterwards occasioned great differences between them until the Monks of this new Abbey who were placed here in the room of the Secular Chanons by Bishop Ethelwald Anno Dom. 963. were removed without the Walls to a place called Hyde as you shall hear in due time and here also the Bones of King Alfred were new Buried by King Edward his Son as Will. of Malmsbury relates because of some foolish Stories made by those of the Old Monastery concerning the dead King's Ghost walking in some Houses adjacent to the Church This Year also according to our Annals the Moon was Eclipsed The next Year Prince Ethelwald incited the Danish Forces in East-England to Arms so that they over-ran and spoiled all the Country of Mercia as far as Crekelade now Crekelade in Wiltshire and there passing the Thames they took in Braedene now Braedon Forest in Wiltshire whatsoever they could find and then return'd home In the mean time King Edward so soon as he could get his Army together followed them and destroyed all the Country which lies between the Ditch and the River Ouse as far as the Northern Fens By the Ditch above-mention'd Florence of Worcester understands that bound or limit drawn between the Territories of the late King Edmund and the River Ouse which at this day is known by the name of the Devil's Ditch that formerly divided the Mercian Kingdom from that of the East-Angles And Bromton's Chronicle under this Year further adds That Ethelwold having thus passed the Thames at Crekelade took Brithenden and marched as far as Brandenstoke now Bradenstoke in Wiltshire so that as Mr. Camden well observes in his Britannia our Modern Historians have been much mistaken in supposing that place to be Basing-Stoke in Hampshire But to return to our History As soon as the King resolved to quit those parts he order'd it to be proclaimed throughout the whole Army that they should all march off but the Kentishmen staying behind contrary to his command he sent Messengers to them to come away yet it seems before they could do it the Danes had so hemmed them in that they were forced to fight and there Eadwald the King's Thane and Cenwulf the Abbot with many more of the English Nobility were slain and on the Danes part were kill'd Eoric their King and Prince Ethelwald who had stirred them to this Rebellion and Byrtsig the Son of Prince Beornoth and Ysopa General of the King's Army and abundance of others which it would be too tedious to enumerate But it was plain that there was a great slaughter made on both sides yet nevertheless the Danes kept the Field of Battel Also this Year Queen Ealswithe the Mother of King Edward deceased in which also a Comet appeared Who this Eoric King of the Danes was is uncertain I suppose him to have been the Danish King of the East-Angles whose death according to Will of Malmesbury's Account falls about this time for he says thus That this King was killed by the English whom he treated tyrannically but for all this yet they could not recover their Liberty certain Danish Earls still oppressing or else inciting them against the West-Saxon Kings till the Eighteenth Year of this King's Reign when they were all by him overcome and the Country brought under obedience To this time we may also refer that great Council which was held by King Edward the Elder where Plegmond Archbishop of Canterbury presided though the place where is not specified yet the occasion of it as we find from Will of Malmesbury as well as the Register of the Priory of christ-Christ-Church in Canterbury cited by Sir H. Spelman was thus Pope Formosus had sent Letters into England threatning Excommunication and his Curse to King Edward and all his Subjects because the Province of the West-Saxons had been now for Seven Years without any Bishops whereupon the King summoned a great Council or Synod of Wise men of the English Nation wherein the Archbishop read the Pope's Letters then the King and the Bishops with all his Lay-Subjects upon mature deliberation found out a safe course to avoid it by appointing Bishops over each of the Western Counties dividing what Two Bishops had formerly held into Five Diocesses The Council being ended the Archbishop went to Rome and reciting the King's Decree with the Advice and Approbation of the Chief Men of his Kingdom He thereby and with rich Presents so pacified the Pope that Plegmond obtain'd his confirmation thereof and then returning into his own Country he ordained five Bishops in one day to wit Fridestan to the Church of Winchester Aldestan to Cornwall Werstan to Shireborne Athelm to Wells and Eadwulf to Crediton in Devonshire But Archbishop Parker in his Antiq Britannicae under this very Year thus recites this Transaction out of a very Ancient Manuscript Author whom he does not particularly name viz. That Plegmund Archbishop of Canterbury together with King Edward called a great Council of the Bishops Abbots Chief men Subjects and People in the Province of the Gewisses where these two Bishopricks were divided into five So that you see here was no less than five new Diocesses erected at once by the Authority of both the King and the Great Council of the Nation though it seems the Pope took upon him the confirmation of this Decree The same Authors likewise tell us That Archbishop Plegmond ordained two more Bishops over the Ancient Provinces to wit one Bernod for the South Saxons and Cenwulf for the Mercians whose See was at Dorchester in Oxfordshire Cardinal Baronius in his Annals having given us a Copy of these Letters of Pope Formosus hath found a notable Error in the Date of them for being written Anno Dom. 904 or 905. they could not be sent by that Pope who was dead about 9 or 10 years before and therefore the Cardinal would put the time of this Council back to Anno Dom. 894. but then as Sir H. Spelman in his Notes upon it well observes the fault will be as great this way as the other for King Edward under whom this Council was held was not King till above 10 years after therefore some would place this Council in the latter end of King Alfred's Reign after the Kingdom came to be setled upon the expulsion of the Danes but Sir H. Spelman affirms That these things being written long after the time when they were transacted the name of Formosus might be put into the Copies of these Letters instead of Pope Leo the Fifth and then all things will fall right enough But as to Frithestan Bishop of Winchester this Account of Will of Malmesbury will not hold for our Annals tell us That he was not made Bishop till Anno Dom. 910. upon the death of Bishop Denulph and therefore that See could not be so long void as this Relation would have it The like mistake is in making Werstan to be then
England and sojourned with the most Holy and Religious Monks in the City of Winchester Helmestan Abbot of the said Cathedral Church and the Venerable Swithune Praepositus i. e. Bishop of the same who had been before in Professione sacrae Theologiae in Studio Canterbriggiensi Cathedratus i. e. Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge had often relieved him during the many Hardships he suffered in his Banishment with special Favour he desired always should be acknowledged If we were assured that this Epistle was Genuine it would advance the Antiquity of this University far higher than the time we are now treating of and would make it Ancienter than the time of King Alfred in the latter end of whose Reign St. Swithune sate Bishop of Winchester But since we have not the Originals but only Citations from these ancient Pieces I shall not take upon me to determine of their Validity but leave that as also this Authors Credit to the Reader 's Judgment But to return to our Annals This Year Egbriht the innocent Abbot was slain on the 16th Kal. of July a little before the Summer Solstice and about three Days after Aethelfleda sent an Army against the Welsh which took Brecenanmere supposed to be either Brecknock Castle or else some place near it and there she took the King's Wife and about thirty four Prisoners The Danes marching now on Horseback after Easter from Hamtune i. e. Northampton and Lygraceaster now Leicester slew many Men at Hocneratune now Hoocnorton in Oxfordshire and the places adjoyning and as soon as they had returned home again they sent out another Company of Robbers which marched towards Ligtune most likely to be Leighton in Bedfordshire but the People of that Country being forewarned of their coming fought with them and not only put them to flight but also recovered whatsoever they had taken away so that they left a great many of their Horses and Arms behind them Now a great Fleet sailed from the Southern Parts of Armorica under the Command of two Earls Ohtor and Rhoald and sailing about toward the East entred the Mouth of the River Severne and there spoiled all the Coasts of North Wales toward the Sea as far as they could and they also took Cumeleac the Welsh Bishop in Yrcingafield now Archenfield in Herefordshire and carried him Prisoner to their Ships but King Edward within some time Ransomed him for Forty Pounds but after this the Danes quitting their Ships marched again towards Yrcingafeild where the Men of Hereford and Gleawcester and the neighbouring Towns fought them and put them to flight and there slew Rhoald and a Brother of Earl Ohtor's with a great part of their Army and drove them into a certain Wood where they besieged them till they made them give Hostages to depart out of King Edward's Kingdom But at last it seemed advisable for the King to place a good Guard from the South part of the Mouth of Severne and from the West of Wales toward the East as far as the River Avon that so the Danes might not Land any more on that side nevertheless leaving their Ships they stole away privately by Night in two Companies to plunder the one to Weced now Watchet in Somersetshire and the other to Portlocan now Portlochbay in the same County but they were routed in both places insomuch that few of them escaped alive unless it were those who swam off to their Ships Then they besieged an Island at Bradanrelic Florence calls it Reoric which is supposed to be a little Island now called Shepholm in the Mouth of Severne where they were in such great want of Victuals that many died with Hunger because they could get no Provisions there After this they went to Deomed supposed to be South Wales from whence they passed into Ireland All this happened in Autumn And the same Year a little before Martinmass King Edward marched with his Army to Buckingaham and there stayed a Month building two Forts on each side the River Ouse before he parted thence Thurkytel the Danish Earl owned him for his Lord as also all their chief Commanders and almost all their Noblemen who were at Bedanford now Bedford with many of them that belonged to Hamptune This Year also Ethelfleda Lady of the Mercians before Whitsontide took the Town of Deorby where within the Gates were killed four Thanes who were very dear to her Also we read in the Collections of that Learned Antiquary Mr. Lambert and by him given to the Cottonian Library that it is found in an Ancient Chronicle once belonging to the Monastry of Rochester and collected by one Edmund de Hadenham That this Year the Lady Elfleda by the Assistance of the King her Brother besieged the City of Canterbury and taking it slew a great many Danes that were therein King Edward marching with his Army to Bedanford about Martinmass had the Town surrendred to him and then all the Inhabitants who were his Subjects returned thither and there he stayed a Month and before he departed he commanded a Castle to be built there on the South-side of the River After this King Edward went to Maeldune now Maldon and rebuilt the Town and saw it fortified whilst he was there Also Earl Thurkytel passed over into France by K. Edward's Leave and Convoy with all those Danes that would follow him as likewise Aethelfleda brought under her Dominion the Town of Legracester now Leicester and a great many of the Danes belonging to that place became subject to her as also those who were at York nay some of them confirmed it both with an Oath and by giving of Hostages that they would continue so but as soon as this was done she departed this Life twelve days before Midsummer at Tammeworth it being the Eighth Year of her Government over the Mercians after her Husband's Death with great Moderation and Justice Her Body lies buried at Gleawcester in the East Isle of St. Peter's Church This Lady's Death is placed in our printed Annals under the Year 918 and that more rightly for the Cottonian Copy of these Annals is certainly mistaken in putting the Death of this Princess two Years later than this viz. 920. though they all agree in Substance viz. that she died at Tamworth about a Fortnight before Midsummer and that thereupon King Edward going thither the whole Nation of the Mercians submitted to him But whenever this Princess died she was certainly a Woman of great Virtue Prudence and Courage and truly resembled her worthy Father King Alfred as far as the Difference of Sex would permit But to return again to our Annals The same Year the Daughter and Heir of Ethered Lord of the Mercians called Aelfwinna whom her Mother had left her Heir was deprived by the King of that Dominion and she was about three weeks before Christmas brought into West-Seax John Bevour who calls himself Castoreus in his Manuscript History of the Kings
Pay and Victuals to his Army and that Winter Thurkil demanded the same for King Ethelred's Forces which lay at Grenawic i. e. Greenwich But both the Armies refrain'd not a jot the less from plundering where they pleased so that the Nation both as well in the North as in the South was no longer able bear it After this the King stayed some time with his Fleet which lay then in the Thames whilst the Queen retired beyond Sea to her Brother Earl Richard in Normandy and Elsige Abbot of Burgh went along with her the King also sent thither the Princes Eadward and Aelfred with Bishop Aelfune to be their Governor Then the King went with his Fleet about Christmass into Wihtland and there kept the Festival and afterwards passed over to Earl Richard and there stayed with him till Sweyn died There is in the Peterburgh Copy of these Annals this following Relation That whilst the Queen thus remained beyond Sea Elsige Abbot of Burgh who was then with her went to the Monastery called Boneval where the Body of Saint Florentine lay buried This place he found almost wholly deserted and the poor Abbot and Monks in a miserable condition having been robbed of all they had then he bought of the Abbot and Monks the whole Body except the Head for Five thousand Pounds and at his return into England dedicated it to Christ and St. Peter that is he placed it in the Church of Peterburgh of which he was then Abbot This was a vast Sum of Money in those days to be given for the Bones of one dead Carkass and not entire neither but such was the Superstition of that Age. This year King Sweyn ended his Life about Candlemas Then all the Danish Fleet and Army chose Cnute his Son to be their King But all the Wise or Chief Men of the English Nation as well of the Clergy as Laity sent to King Aethelred to let him know that there was no Prince dearer to them than their own Natural Lord provided he would govern them better than he had hitherto done Upon this the King sent Prince Edward his Son and several others Attendants into this Kingdom with Orders to recommend him to the whole Nation in his Name promising them to be a faithful and kind Lord to them and that he would redress whatever Grievances they had suffer'd and would also pardon whatsoever had been done against him either by Words or Deeds provided they would all sincerely return to their Allegiance Then a full and firm Amity being concluded on both by Words and Deeds and Hostages being given on both sides they decreed the Danish King for ever banished England After which King Ethelred return'd about Lent into his own Countrey and was chearfully received by all men The Bodleian Copy of Florence here adds That Queen Elfgiva or Emma with the Two Young Princes her Sons remained still in Normandy until she was after the Death of her Husband sent for over by King Cnute and the Common-Council of the Kingdom and being married to him was solemnly crowned at Westminster in the presence of all the Bishops and Great Men of England After Sweyn was dead Cnute his Son staid with his Army at Gegnesburgh until Easter and there agreed with the people of Lindesige that they should provide his Army with Horses and then that all of them should march out together to plunder but King Ethelred came thither with a strong Army before they were ready to execute their Design and spoiled and burnt all places killing all the men they could meet with therefore King Cnute departed thence with his Fleet leaving the poor miserable people to shift for themselves and sail'd Southward till he came to Sandwic and there put the Hostages on shore which had been given to his Father having first cut off their Hands and Noses But for an addition to all these Calamities the King commanded Twenty one thousand Pounds to be paid to the Army that then lay at Grenawic Also this year on the Vigil of St. Michael happen'd a great Inundation of the Sea all along this Coast insomuch that it spread further than ever it had yet done so that it drowned many Towns and an innumerable company of men We have nothing further to add under this year more than to observe the various Relations of our Monkish Writers concerning the sudden death of King Sweyn which they will needs have to be a Judgment upon him for wasting the Lands belonging to the Monastery of Badricesworth and for giving opprobrious language against the Memory of St. Edmund who was then enshrin'd But because their Relation of this matter is very remarkable I shall give you both Florence of Worcester and Simeon of Durham their Account of it which is thus That King Sweyn lying then at Gainsborough there held a General Assembly of his Great Officers and when it grew toward evening being encircled with his Armed Men he cast out Threats that he would send and spoil that Monastery whereupon he presently thought he saw St. Edmund coming all Armed toward him which made him cry out vehemently Help help Fellow-soldiers look here King Edmund comes to kill me and as he uttered these words he received a Mortal Blow by the Saint's hands and so fell from his Horse and lying till the dusk of the evening in great torment he expired on the second of February and was carried to York and there buried So these Writers report from the Legend of St. Edmund Yet John of Tinmouth makes St. Edmund's Ghost to have stabbed him with his Dagger as he sate in his Chair But William of Malmesbury tells us That St. Edmund appeared to him in his sleep and smote him whilst he was in bed because he answered him rudely But they all agree that he died of the Blow which St. Edmund had given him But I do believe that there may be so much Truth in this story that King Sweyn being mortally wounded by some unknown hand who had the good fortune to make his escape gave occasion to the Monks of St. Edmundsbury to invent this Legend for the Honour of their Saint and also to deter others from daring to violate that place which was then accounted sacred But is seems King Ethelred was not much better'd by Affliction nor did he long observe his Promise of governing according to Law for the next year A Mycel Gemot or Great Council being now held at Oxnaford Earl Eadrâ—c there betray'd Sigeferth and Morcar two Danish Thanes of the Seafenburghs that is the Seven Towns but where they lay we know not and inviting them all into his Chamber they were there treacherously slain Then the King seized upon all their Goods and commanded the Widow of Sigeferth to be secured and carried to Meadelnesbyrig i. e. Malmesbury But some short time after Edmund Aetheling coming thither married this Woman against his Father's will For the Prince going as William of Malmesbury relates to see
at Byferstane i. e. Beverston in Gloucestershire together with a great many in their Retinue to attend on the King their Natural Lord and all the Chief and Wise Men that waited on him whereby they might have the King's Consent and Assistance as also that of his Great Council to revenge the Affront and Dishonour which had been lately done to the King and the whole Nation But the Welshmen getting first to the King highly accused the Earls insomuch that they durst not appear in his presence for they said they only came thither to betray him But then there came to the King the Earls Syward and Leofric with many others from the North parts being as William of Malmesbury relates almost all the Nobility of England who had been summoned by the King to come thither But whilst according to our Annals it was told Earl Godwin and his Sons that the King and those that were with him were taking Counsel against them they on the other side stood resolutely on their own defence though it seem'd an hard thing for them to act any thing against their Natural Lord. But William of Malmesbury adds farther That Earl Godwin commanded those of his Party not to fight against the King yet if they were set upon that they should defend themselves so that there had then like to have happen'd a Cruel Civil War if calmer Counsels had not prevailed By this you may see the great Power of Earl Godwin and his Sons who could thus withstand the King and all the Nobility that were with him But to proceed with our Annals Then it was agreed by the chief men on both sides that they should desist from any further violence and thereupon the King gave them God's Peace and his own Word After this the King and his Great Men about him resolved a second time to summon a Witena Gemot or Great Council at London at the beginning of September He also commanded an Army to be raised as great as ever had been seen in England both from the North and South side of Thames When this Council met Earl Sweyn was declared outlaw'd and Earl Godwin and Earl Harold were cited to appear at the Council with all speed As soon as they were come there they desired Peace i. e. Security and also Pledges to be given them whereby they might have safe ingress and regress to and from the Council But the King required all the Earl's Servants to deliver them up into his hands after which the King sent to them commanding them to come with Twelve men to the Great Council but the Earl again demanded Securities and Pledges to be given him and then he promised to clear himself from all Crimes laid to his charge But the Pledges were still denied him and there was only granted him a five days Peace or Truce in which he might depart the Land Then Earl Godwin and Earl Sweyn his Son went to Bosenham in Sussex and their Ships being brought out of the Harbour they sail'd beyond the Seas and sought the Protection of Earl Baldwin staying with him all that Winter but Earl Harold sailed Eastward into Ireland and there took up his Residence under that King's Protection Soon after this the King sent away his Wife who had been crown'd Queen and suffer'd all her Money Lands and Goods to be taken from her and then committed her to the Custody of his Sister at the Nunnery of Werwell But note that Florence of Worcester places this Quarrel with Earl Godwin and his Sons three years later viz. under Anno 1051 and farther adds That the reason why Earl Godwin fled thus privately away was that his Army had forsook him so that he durst not plead the matter with the King but fled away the night following with his five Sons carrying away all their Treasure with them into Flanders This is the Relation which Florence and the Printed Copy of these Annals give us of this great difference between the King and Earl Godwin and his two Sons in the carriage of which both Parties are to be blamed the King in yielding so easy an ear to the false Accusations brought against them and they in refusing to stand to the Determination of the Great Council of the Kingdom without Pledges first given them by the King which is more than any Subject ought to require from his Prince But certainly the King shewed himself a very Weak Man in being persuaded to deal thus severely with his Innocent Queen for the Faults of her Father and Brothers which it was not in her power to help But to conclude the Affairs of this unhappy year our Annals proceed to tell us That About the same time the Abbot Sparhafoc was deposed from the Bishoprick of London and William the King's Chaplain ordained to that See Also Earl Odda was appointed Governor of Defenascire Somersetscire and Dorsetscire and of all the Welsh and the Earldom which Earl Harold lately held was given to Aelfgar the Son of Earl Leofric About this time the Bishoprick of Credington in Cornwal was as we find in the Monasticon at the Request of Pope Leo removed from thence to Exeter where the Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul was made a Bishop's See the Monks being removed from thence to Westminster and Secular Chanons placed in their stead Which shews that the humour of Monkery did not so much prevail now as in the days of King Edgar And this year Leofric Bishop of that Diocess was enthron'd at Exeter after a solemn Procession where the Bishop walked to Church between King Edward and Queen Editha his Wife This year according to Florence of Worcester the King released the Nation from that cruel Burthen of Danegelt under which it had for so many years groaned but I will not pass my word for the truth of the occasion why he did it though related by Ingulph viz. That King Edward going into his Treasury where this Tax had been laid up saw the Devil capering and dancing upon the Money-bags which it seems no body else could see but himself at which he was so concerned that he ordered all the Money to be restored to the right Owners and forbad its being gathered any more Not long after according to the same Author William Duke of Normandy the King's Cousin coming over into England was honourably received here and had Noble Presents made him and as some relate too that King Edward promised to make him his Successor in the Kingdom This year also according to Florence of Worcester Alfric Archbishop of York deceased and Kinsing the King's Chaplain succeeded him This year deceased Aelgiva alias Ymma the Mother of King Eadward and King Hardecnute She hath a various Character given her by our Historians William of Malmesbury represents her to be very Covetous and Unkind to her first Husbands Children which seems to have been true enough But then she was very Devout and had a great Respect for
Makes War upon his Brother Cadelh Prince of South-Wales and destroys his Countries Id. p. 299. Submits himself and all his Subjects to King Alfred's Dominion Id. p. 306 307. His Decease and Issue Id. p. 316. Pitying the distressed condition of the Northern Britains gave them great part of Cheshire to dwell in if they could beat out the Saxons thence Id. p. 317. After a bloody Fight with the Saxons obtains a compleat Victory over them Ibid. Andate the Goddess of Victory among the Britains l. 2. p. 48. Andover a Town not far from Winchester in Hampshire l. 6. p. 10. Anciently called Andefer Id. p. 25. Andragatius Maximus his General kills the Emperor Gratian near the Bridge of Singidunum and establishes his Master in his usurped Empire l. 2. p. 95. And hearing of the ill news of Maximus casts himsâ—lf headlong out of a Ship being then at Sea and so drowns himself Id. p. 96. Andredswood in Kent and Sussex is in length from East to West at least One hundred and twenty Miles and in breadth Thirty containing all that which is called the Wilde of Kent l. 5. p. 299. St. Andrew's Church at Rochester built by Ethelbert King of Kent l. 4. p. 160. Angild the Forfeiture of the whole value of a man's Head and that Hand which stole was to be cut off unless redeemed l. 5. p. 297. Angles supposed to be derived from the Ancient Cimbri l. 3. p. 123. Anglesey anciently called Mona l. 2. p. 46. and Manige l. 6. p. 28. The whole Isle subdued by Godfred the Son of Harold the Dane Id. p. 7 20. Destroyed by the Danes Id. p. 23. And by King Ethelred's Fleet Id. p. 28. They cast off Meredyth and receive Edwal ap Meyric for their Prince Id. p. 24. Anglia Sacra publish'd by the Learned Mr. Wharton l. 4. p. 166. Anlaff Son of Syhtric King of Northumberland flies into Ireland l. 5. p. 332. Supposed the Son of Syhtric His getting into Athelstan's Camp in the disguise of a Musician and the Observations he made there Id. p. 335. His ravaging and wasting the Countries where-ever he came the Battel he had with King Edmund and the Agreement between them both at last His marrying Alditha the Daughter of Earl Orme Id. p. 343. Called Olaf a Dane and Norwegian by Extract who had been expelled in the time of King Athelstan the Kingdom of Northumberland but being some time after recalled by those Rebels he was again expelled by King Edmund who added that Countrey to his own Dominions Id. p. 343 344. Returns again in King Edred's time and with joy is restored to his Kingdom by the People three years after they expel him a third time and set up Eric for their King Id. p. 350. Another of this Name Son to the King of Dublin comes with a great Fleet into Yorkshire or Lincolnshire and lands but he is miserably beaten by King Athelstan Id. p. 334 335. Anlaff or Unlaff King of Norway the Ravages he commits and where l. 6. p. 24 25. Is brought with great honour to King Ethelred After Baptism he returned into his own Countrey Id. p. 25. Anna King of the East-Angles enriches Cnobsbury Monastery with Noble Buildings and Revenues l. 4. p. 180. Is slain in fight by King Penda together with his whole Army Id. p. 185. His youngest Son Erkenwald wâ—s made Bishop of London Id. p. 196. Annals Saxon first collected and written in divers Monasteries of England l. 4. p. 151. The Cottonian Copy of them in the Form we now have them was wrote after the Conquest l. 6. p. 56. Antenor with his Trojans joining Brute their Expedition and the Accidents that befel them l. 1. p. 9. Anwulf Son of Baldwin Earl of Flanders sent Ambassador from Hugh King of the French to King Athelstan to demand his Sister in Marriage l. 5. p. 339. Aper kills Numerianus and is killed by Dioclesian l. 2. p. 83. Appeals none to the King in Suits unless Justice can't otherwise be had l. 6. p. 13. Appledore anciently called Apuldre or Apultre in Kent l. 5. p. 299 300. Arbogastes General to Eugenius sets him up in the Empire of the West against Valentinian the Second but his Master being overcome by Theodosius and put to death he soon after made himself away l. 2. p. 97. Arcadius Emperor of the East Eldest Son to Theodosius Id. ib. Archbishop its Title not known here in the time of Lucius l. 2. p. 69. His ancient Power as Governor of the Church of England l. 2. p. 210. None but Monks made Archbishops of Canterbury l. 5. p. 333. Brythelme resigns at the Command of the King and whole Nation l. 6. p. 2. When the Churches of Wales first owned the Archbishop of Canterbury's Superiority l. 6. p. 21. Archenfield in Herefordshire anciently called Yrcingafield l. 5. p. 319. Archigallo for his Tyranny is deposed by his Nobles but restored to it by the kind Artifice of his Brother l. 1. p. 14. Arch-pyrate anciently did not signify a Robber but one skill'd in Sea-Affairs or a Seaman derived from Pyra which in the Attick Tongue was as much as Craft or Art l. 6. p. 9. Arderydd a Battel fought there on the Borders of Scotland l. 3. p. 146. Areans removed by Theodosius from their stations but who these were is unknown l. 2. p. 93. Ariminum the Council called there by Constantius l. 2. p. 89. Our Bishops sent to it and what was done there Id. p. 90. Arles in Gallia the Council there when held and what British Bishops were sent to it l. 2. p. 88. Is made the Imperial Seat of Constantine and called Constantia it was besieged by Gerontius but he was hinder'd from taking it l. 2. p. 103. Armorica now Britain in France l. 1. p. 13. l. 5. p. 287. A Fleet prepared for the Armorican War l. 2. p. 25. The people there refuse to accept Charles King of the Almans for their King l. 5. p. 287. Armour whence arose the Custom of hanging up the Armour of Great Men in Churches as Offerings made to God for the Honour they had gained to themselves or Benefit to their Countrey through his Assistance and Blessing l. 6. p. 57. Army a Lawful one raised by the King for the Defence of the Nation called anciently by the name of Fyrd l. 6. p. 60. Arnulf the Emperor with the Assistance of the French Saxon and Bavarian Horse put the Danish Foot to flight l. 5. p. 298. Arnwy Abbot of Burgh resigns his Dignity by reason of his ill state of health and with the King's License and the Consent of the Monks confers it upon another Monk of that Abbey l. 6. p. 84. Arrian Heresy when it first infested Britain l. 2. p. 106. Arthur what he was King of who was his Father and the many considerable Victories he gained over the Saxons and when he carried the Picture of Christ's Cross and of the Virgin Mary on his back l. 3. p. 134 135. He besieges
Communion and so bore them down with two things which were really false one that the Romans had received their Cycle by Tradition from St. Peter the other that it was made use of every where except in these Islands to the first of these Assertions the Scots for want of knowing better opposed only the Authority of St. John for their Cycle as to the other they could not tell what to say whereas in truth though they did not know it the Roman account came but an Age or two before from Alexandria and was not yet received in all the Western Church no not in some Parts of France it self but that in use among the Scots was the same Cycle that they and the Britains had ever used since their Conversion and was the same that was anciently used in the Roman Church But to return to Bede's Relation of this Synod where when after a long Dispute the British Clergy could neither by Intreaties nor Reproofs of Augustine be brought to a Compliance but that they would prefer their own old Traditions before the Consent of the Christian i. e. the Roman Church the Arch-Bishop as Bede relates offered to decide this Controversie by a Miracle desiring that some sick or impotent Person being brought before them his Doctrine by whom the Man should be cured was to be followed and believed to be from GOD which when the other Party had at last thô unwillingly consented to there was then found out a certain English-man who was quite blind and being offered to the British Bishops could receive no Cure from them when Augustine moved by a just Necessity prayed to GOD That he would restore this blind Man to his Sight whereupon he was immediately cured and Augustine was cried up by all as the only Dispenser of God's Word Then the Britains confessed indeed That they believed that the Doctrine which Augustine preached was the Truth but that they could not without the general Consent of their own Nation quit the ancient Rites and Customs of their Country wherefore they desired that more of their Clergy being assembled there should be a General Synod held about it which when it was agreed to there came as they relate several British Bishops their Annals relate them to have been Seven in all together with several Learned Men especially from the Monastery of Bangor over which one Dinoth is said to have been then Abbot and in which there was so many Monks all living by their own Labour that being divided into seven Divisions under as many Rectors each of these Divisions had not less than 300 Men. But their Abbot Dinoth and his Clergy a little before their going to the aforesaid Synod went first to a certain Man both Holy and Wise who led an Anchorite's Life among them whom they asked Whether they should lay aside their ancient Traditions at the Preaching of Augustine or no Who made this Answer If he is a Man of God follow him They said ' How shall we know this He replied The Lord says Take my Yoak upon you for I am meek and humble in Heart Perhaps that he himself beareth the Yoak of Christ and offereth the same to be born of you but if he be cruel and proud it is apparent that he is not of God neither need you to regard what he saith They said again But how shall we make a Discovery of that He replied Contrive it so that he and his Company may come first into the place of the Synod and if he shall rise up to you when you approach know then that he is the Servant of Christ and obediently hear him but if he shall despise you nor will rise up to you when you are more in number let him be slighted by you also They did as he directed them and it fell out that Augustine bearing himself as the Pope's Legate and their Metropolitan as they drew near sate still in his Chair which when they saw they grew presently angry accusing him of Pride and endeavouring in all Things he said to contradict him But He began thus to discourse to them Whereas ye do many Things contrary to our received Customs and the Consent of the Catholick Church nevertheless if ye will obey me in these few Things to wit That ye celebrate Easter in its proper Time That ye perform the Ministery of Baptism according to the Custom of the Holy Roman Apostolick Church That ye preach the Word of GOD together with us to the English Nation Then as for all other Things which ye practise although contrary to our Customs we will quickly tolerate them But they made answer That they would do none of those Things neither would they acknowledge him for their Arch-Bishop And discoursing further among themselves they said If he would not just now rise up unto us how much more when we shall be subject to him will he then look upon us as nothing To whom Augustine is reported thus threatningly to have denounced against them If ye will not now accept of Peace with your Brethren ye are like to find War from your Enemies and since ye would not prâ—ach the Way of Life to the English Nation ye shall suffer by their hands the Punishment of Death Which in every Thing the Divine Judgment concurring was fulfilled as he had foretold thô Bede here further tells us that Augustine lived not to see the Issue of this Prediction for he died a good while before but of this we shall speak in its due time And though Bede places the fulfilling of this Prediction immediately after its Relation yet since I intend to refer every thing to its proper Time wherein it happened I shall defer the speaking of this for some Years But Sir Henry Spelman out of an ancient British Manuscript of Mr. Peter Moston's a Welsh Gentleman gives us a much more particular Account of the Answer which the Abbot of Bangor then made to Arch-Bishop Augustine which being Translated out of the Welsh Original is to this effect Be it known and without doubt unto you that we all are and every one of us obedient and subject to the Church of GOD and the Pope of Rome and to every godly Christian to love every one in his Degree in perfect Charity and to help them by Word and Deed to be the Children of GOD And other Obedience than this I do not know due to him whom you name to be Pope nor as the Father of Fathers to be claim'd and to be demanded And this Obedience we are ready to give and to pay to him and to every Christian continually Besides we are under the Government of the Bishop of Caerleon upon Uske who is to oversee under GOD over us to cause us to keep the way Spiritual From whence we may observe that the Christian Religion came not first into Britain by the Preaching of any Persons sent from Rome for then they would still have owned Canonical Obedience to the
Pope as well as the English did afterwards therefore it is most likely according to the Traditions given you in the Second Book that it was first preached and propagated here by some Apostle or Disciple of the Eastern or Asiatick Church And thô a late Romish Writer very much arraigns the Credit of this Manuscript as made since the Days of King Henry the Eighth and cavils at the Welsh thereof as Modern and full of false Spelling yet is not this any material Exception against it since the Welsh used in it is not so Modern as he would make it as I am credibly informed by those who are Criticks in that Language and as for the Spelling that may be the fault of the Transcribers And thô the Archiepiscopal See was then removed from Caer-Leon to St. David's yet it might still retain the former Title as of the first and most famous Place About which time Arch-Bishop Augustine is supposed by the best Chronologers to have departed this Life thô the certain Year of his Death is not to be found either in Bede or the Saxon Chronicle His Body was buried abroad near the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul till that could be finished and dedicated which as soon as that was done was decently buried in the Porch on the North-side of the Church in which were also buried all the succeeding Arch-Bishops except two viz. Theodore and Birthwald who were buried in the Church because the Porch would contain no more but his Epitaph thô it mentions his being sent by the Pope to convert the English Nation and his being the first Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and that he died in the 7th of the Kalends of June in the Reign of King Ethelbert yet omits the Year of that King's Reign as well as that of our Lord in which he died I suppose because the Year of Christ was not then commonly made use of either in the Ecclesiastical or Civil Accounts of that Time but of this we shall treat further hereafter Under this Year Bede also places the Death of Pope Gregory the Great of whose Life and Actions he gives us a long Account to which I refer you but the Saxon Chronicle puts off the Death of this Pope to the next Year but I rather follow Bede as the ancienter and more authentick Author The same Year is also very remarkable for Civil as well as Ecclesiastical Affairs in this Island for now King Ethelbert summoned a Mycel Synod or Great Council as well of the Clergy as Laity wherein by their common Consent and Approbation all the Grants and Charters of this King whereby he had settled great Endowments on Christ-Church and that of St. Pancrace in Canterbury were confirmed which had been before the old ruinous Church of St. Martin without the City already mentioned but the Charters now made and confirmed by King Ethelbert in this Council are almost word for word the same with those he had made by himself before with heavy Imprecations against any who should dare to infringe them as you may see in Sir H. Spelman's First-Volume of British Councils where this Learned Author in his Notes farther shews us that these Charters above-mentioned are very suspicious of being forged in many respects as First That this King there stiles himself King of the English in general whereas indeed he was no more than King of Kent Secondly Because the Year of our Lord is expressed at their Conclusion which was not in use till long after Besides an old Manuscript of the Church of Canterbury says expresly That the Monks of the Monastery had their Lands and Priviledges by a long and peaceable Possession according to Custom until King Wightred Anno Dom. 693 made them a confirmation of all their Priviledges by a Charter under his Soul There are also other Exceptions against the Bull that is there recited to be Arch-Bishop Augustine's which you may see at large in those Learned Notes above-mentioned In this great Council or Synod among many other Secular Laws and Decrees these deserve particularly to be taken notice of the first Law assigns the Penalty of Sacriledge appointing what Amends is to be made for Things taken from a Bishop by a Restitution of nine times the value from a Priest by a Ninth and from a Deacon by a Threefold Restitution The Second Law is That if the King summon'd his People and any Man should presume then to do them Injury he shall make double Amends to the Party and besides shall pay Fifty Shillings to the King The Third Law is That if the King shall drink in a Man's House and there be any Injury done in his Presence the Party so doing it shall make double Satisfaction the rest that follow since they belong only to the Correction of Manners are omitted To these Laws Bede relates when he says That King Ethelbert amongst other good Things which he conferr'd upon his Nation appointed certain Laws concerning Judgments by the Councel of his wise Men according to the Example of the Romans which being written in the English Tongue were yet kept and observed by them to this time and then mentions some of those Laws to the same effect as they are already expressed This Year was fulfilled Arch-Bishop Augustine's Prediction upon the Britains for as Bede and the Saxon Annals relate Ethelfrid King of Northumberland now led his Army to Leger-Ceaster and there killed a great multitude of Britains and so was fulfilled the Prophecy of Augustine above-mentioned and there were then killed 200 Priests or Monks who came thither to prey for the British Army but in Florence of Worcester's Copy it was 2200 but Brockmaile who was to be their Protector escaped with about 50 Men. H. Huntington gives a more particular account of this Action and says That King Ethelfrid having gathered together a powerful Army made a great Slaughter of the Britains near the City of Legions which is called by the English Lege Cestre but more rightly by the Britains Caerlegion so that it is evident it cannot be Leicester as our common Historians write but West-Chester which lay near the Borders of King Ethelfrid's Kingdom where this Battle was fought This Author further adds That when the King saw those Priests or Monks of the Abby of Bangor who came out to pray for the Army ranged by themselves in a place of Safety having one Brockmaile for their Defender and that the King knew for what end they came thither he presently said If these Men pray to their GOD against us though they do not make use of Arms yet do they as â—eally fight against us as if they did And so he commanded his Forces to be first turned upon them who being all cut off he presently defeated the rest of the Army without any great difficulty and he also agrees with Florence of Worcester's Relation of the number of the Monks there slain and accuses their Defender Brockmaile of Cowardice
most likely to have been against the Mercians for Ethelward in his Chronicle says That Conwal about this time was engaged in a Civil War which must be understood with those of his own Country and the Mercians were his next Neighbours The next Year The Mid-land English or Mercians under Peadda their Eolderman or Governour received the Faith of Christ Which Conversion Bede relates more at large when speaking of this Peadda the Son of Penda as being a young Man most worthy of the Name of a King was by his Father set over a Province of that Nation Will. of Malmesbury calls it part of that Kingdom and that this Prince went to Oswy desiring Alfreda his Daughter to Wife but could by no means obtain her unless he together with his whole Nation would receive Baptism but he having heard the Preaching of the Gospel through the Hope of a future Immortality voluntarily professed that he would be a Christian whether he had married the Virgin or not being chiefly persuaded to receive the Faith by Alcfrid the Son of King Oswy who was his Friend and Relation having married Cymburge his Sister So that King was baptised by Bishop Finan together with all his Train in that famous Town of the King 's which Bede calls Admurum that is Walltown near the Picts Wall and taking with him four Priests to teach and baptise his Nation he return'd home with much Joy these Priests coming with the King into this Province preach'd GOD's Word and were as willingly heard and receiv'd and both the Noble as well as the inferior sort renouncing their Idolatry were baptised nor did King Penda himself prohibit them from preaching in his own Kingdom if they would if they would but rather hated and despised those whom professing the Faith of Christ he found not to perform Works suitable to it calling them miserable and contemptible Wretches who failed to obey that GOD in whom they believed These Things fell out two Years before the Death of King Penda About the same time the East-Saxons at the Instance of King Oswy again received the Christian Faith which they had formerly rejected having as you have heard driven away Mellitus their Bishop for Sigebert who was now King of that Nation having succeeded Sigebert Sirnamed The Little This Prince being a Friend to King Oswye and using to come sometimes to visit him into the Kingdom of Northumberland he was wont often to tell him That those could not be GODS that were the Works of Mens Hands but that GOD was an Incomprehensible Being Invisible Omnipotent and Eternal who governed all Things both in Heaven and Earth and would judge the World in Equity and that all those who would learn and do His Will should receive Eternal Rewards These and many other such Things when King Oswy had often inculcated with a Brotherly Affection at last by the Persuasion of that King and of divers of his Friends he also Believed and was baptised with all his Followers at the same place where Peadda had been Christned before viz. at Wall-Town above-mentioned King Sigebert being thus made a Christian returned to his own Kingdom only asking of King Oswy to appoint him some Teachers who might convert and baptise his Nation into the Faith of Christ so the King sent to the Kingdom of the Mercians and called back Cedda who had been before sent thither and giving him a certain Priest for his Companion sent him to preach the Word to the East-Saxons When these had passed through all places and had gathered a very large Church it hapned some time after that Cedda returning home went to Lindisfarne to confer with Bishop Finan who when he found the Work of the Gospel to have so well prospered under his Ministery calling to him Two other Bishops ordained Cedda Bishop over the Nation of the East-Saxons who thereupon returned into his own Province and finishing the Work he had begun with greater Authority Built Churches in many places and ordained Priests and Deacons who might help him in the Preaching of the Word and Baptism especially in a City which is called in the English Tongue Iâ—hancestir as also in that which is called Tylabury the former of which places was upon the Bank of the River Pent and the other is near the Thames now called Tillbury in which having gathered together a small company of Christ's Servants he taught them the Discipline of a Monastick Life as far as they were capable to receive it This Year according to the Saxon Annals Anna King of the East-Angles was Slain being overcome in Fight by King Penda of whom H. Huntington gives us but a slender Account only that Anna and his whole Army perished in a moment by the edge of the Sword so that scarce any of them remained This Year also one Bottulf began to Build a Monastery at Icanho supposed to be Boston in Lincoln-shire As also Honorius Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Deceased on 20. Kal. Octob. The same Year likewise according to Mat. Westminster Ercombert King of Kent Deceasing Egbert his Son Succeeded him in the beginning of whose Reign Aethelbert and Aethelred the Sons of his Unkle Ermenred being but Youths were cruelly Murdered by one Thanor the King's Servant without his privity whose Bodies were strangely discovered where they were buried by a Light from Heaven whereupon their Bodies were removed to the Monastery of Warinens The Miracles that followed in the doing of which I omit as incredible This Year King Penda was Slain at Winwidfeld with Thirty others of the Royal Blood Of which Battle Bede gives us a particular account That Oswi having long endured the Ravages and Devastations of his Country by the Inroads of King Penda and having had his strong City of Bebbanburg now Bamburrough Castle assaulted and set on Fire and thereby very near taking found himself too weak to resist and offering him many Rich Presents desired to buy a Peace which Penda proudly refusing and resolving nothing less should satisfie him than this King's destruction Oswi upon that turning his Gifts into Vows to God implored the Divine Assistance devoting his Daughter then but one Year Old to be a Nun and with Twelve Portions of Land whereof each maintained Ten Families to build and endow Monasteries So it seems his Vows proved more successful than his Treaties for hereupon he with Alfred his Son gathering a small Army therewith encountred and discomfited the Mercians having then Invaded and wasted the Northumbrian Kingdom thô they were Thirty times more in number and led by experienced Captains This Battle was fought near a place called Loyden now Leeds in York-shire besides this Ethelwald the Son of Oswald who ruled in Deira took part with the Mercians but in the Fight withdrew his Forces and in a safe place waited for the Event with which unseasonable Retreat the Mercians perhaps being terrified and misdoubting greater danger fled their Commanders together with Penda himself being almost all
of her Husbands enjoy her and at last with much ado obtained Leave of this King to quit his Palace and retire into a Nunnery which perverting of the Ends of Marriage was counted a great piece of Sanctity in those Times But the Monastery above-mentioned being burnt and destroyed by the Danes Anno 870 was afterwards re-edified by King Edgar as shall be in due time more particularly related Also Egbright King of Kent deceased and Lothair his Brother succeeded him This Year also according to Bede Bosa Bishop of Dunmoc being deprived by reason of his Infirmities two Bishops viz. Acca and Bedwin were placed in that Diocess one of whom had his See at Dunmoc now Dunwich in Suffolk and the other at Helmham in Norfolk ' This Year Aescwin began to Reign over the West Saxons Here also follows his Pedigree needless to be repeated for William of Malmesbury remarks no more of him than that he was supposed to be the next of the Royal Line as being the great Nephew of Cynegils by his Brother Cuthgils The same Year as Bede tells us in his Lives of the Abbots of Wiremuth and Girwy Abbot Benedict I suppose from his Episcopal Actions Sirnamed Biscop having before come over with Arch-Bishop Theodorus was by him made Abbot of the Monastery of St. Peter in Canterbury which he 2 Years after resigning and Adrian that great Scholar succeeding him he went again to Rome and then returning into Britain brought along with him many Books of Divine Knowledge and then applying himself to Egfrid King of Northumberland he obtained of him as much Land as served 70 Families lying near the Mouth of the River Wir in the Bishoprick of Durham where he began a Monastery in Honour of St. Peter but before it was finished he went into France and from thence brought Masons who built the Church of Stone after the Roman fashion and the Work being near finished he sent into the same Country for Artificers who understood the making of Glass which till then had been unknown in Britain wherewith he glazed the Windows of the Church and Monastery he had there built and thereby taught the English Nation the Art of Glass-making which says my Author hath proved so useful in making of Lamps for Churches and also other Vessels so necessary for divers Uses And because this Island nor yet France it self could then afford all the Ornaments requisite for the Altar he took care to fetch them from Rome whither he went for that purpose from whence again returning he brought a great many choice Books of all sorts together with divers Relicks of Saints and curious Pictures with which he adorned the Church he had built and he likewise received a Bull from Pope Agatho whereby the Monastery also by the Consent and License of King Egfrid was freed from all Secular Servitude But some time after Simeon of Durham says 8 Years King Egfrid being very well satisfied with what Benedict had done bestowed as much more Land upon him as then maintained 40 Families for the building of another Monastery at a Place called Girwy now Tarro◠near the Mouth of the River Tine which was built in Honour of St. Paul when also by reason of his frequent Absence and Employment in other Affairs he appointed one Easterwine his Kinsman Abbot of that of St. Peter and Ceolfrid a Monk of the same Monastery over that of S. Paul in which Charges they continued several Years under his Inspection till at last after the decease of Easterwine and another Abbot called Sigfrid Ceolfrid above-mentioned was made Abbot of both Monasteries which he Governed many Years untill He resigning that Charge went to end his Days at Rome but died by the way in France These Transactions thô happening in the space of about 40 Years I have here put together that you may have at once the History of these two ancient and famous Monasteries in the latter of which Bede himself the Author of this Account lived and died a Monk as shall be related hereafter About this time also thô Bede does not set down the Year Arch-Bishop Theodore deposed Winfrid Bishop of the Mercians for some Canonical Disobedience and ordained Sexwulf Abbot of Medeshamsted in his Room But to return to the Annals This Year Wulfher the Son of Penda and Aescwin Son of Genwulf fought at Bedanheafde and also King Wulfher deceased the same Year Where that Place was is uncertain thô some suppose it to be Bedwin in Wiltshire lying near Berkshire H. Huntington describes this Battle to have been very sharp but that the Mercian King inheriting his Father's and his Grandfather's Courage was somewhat superior yet that both Armies were terribly shattered and many Thousands slain on both Sides on which our Author makes this just Reflection That from hence it is worth while to observe how Vile the Actions of Men and how Vain those Wars are which Princes call Glorious Undertakings for when these Kings had brought so great a Destruction upon their own Nations both of them survived not long after For according to Florence's Chronicle King Wulfher deceased this Year having destroyed the Worship of Idols throughout his Kingdom and caused the Gospel to be preached in all Places of his Dominions and Ethelred his Brother succeeded him in the Kingdom whom William of Malmesbury describes to have been more famous for Devotion than Fighting unless when he shewed his Courage in a notable Expedition against Kent or else when he met and repell'd Egfrid King of Northumberland and forced him to return home recovering from him all Lindsey which Wulfher had taken away before thô with the loss of his Brother Edwin in that Expedition after which he spent all the rest of his Life in Peace About this time also according to Math. Westminster for Bede hath not set down the Years Erkenwald younger Son of Anna King of the East Angles was by Arch-Bishop Theodore ordained Bishop of London being a Man of great Worth and Piety This Year also according to Florence King Wulfher was first baptized but the Saxon Annals mention no such thing and therefore I wonder from whence he had it for it is quite contrary to what Bede relates concerning his being Baptized long before or else How could he be Godfather to Edelwalch King of the West Saxons who was Baptized near 20 Years before But I suppose Florence had it from some old Monkish Legend if not from the Roman Martyrology it self in which is related that incredible Story of King Wulfher's murdering of his two Sons Ulfwald and Rufin with his own Hands because they had been instructed in the Christian Faith by Ceadda Bishop of Litchfield And Mr. Stow in his Chronicle having found the same Story in an old Ledger-Book of that Church hath thought fit to insert it into his History placing the Year of their Suffering in Anno 668 when all our Historians do at that time relate him to have been a Christian. But this Book
Miracles and mentioning other things only by the bye hath given us so slender an account of those times that if we had not found some assistance from the Saxon Annals as well as from other Writers the History of that Age though very short and obscure would yet have been much more imperfect without them But to proceed now with our Saxon Annals This Year K. Ethelbald took Sumerton and Acca was driven from his Bishoprick of Hagulstad I suppose by the then King of Northumberland though no Author expresly mentions it Will. of Malmesbury tells us that this Ethelbald was that great and powerful King of the Mercians to whom Boniface Bishop of Mentz being then the Pope's Legat writ a sharp Letter setting forth and reproving the then reigning Vices of this Nation and particularly of that King himself who relying on the vain Confidence of his Justice and Alms was not ashamed no more than the Noblemen of his Kingdom by his Example to commit Uncleanness even with Consecrated Nuns which wicked Actions the Bishop foretells would be the ruin of himself and Kingdom as it proved in the end But King Ethelbald after he had thus taken Somerton with an Army too powerful to be resisted by the K. of the West Saxons became to great that as H. Huntington observes he made all the rest of the Provinces of England together with their Kings subject to him as far as the River Humber This Somerton was anciently a great Town and Castle of the West-Saxon Kings and gave Name to that County which we now call Somersetshire though at present it be but an ordinary Country Village Also this Year the Sun was so much eclipsed that as the Epitome of Bede and Ethelward relate on 13 o Kal. Sept. it s whole Orb seem'd as it were covered with a black Sheild This Year also the Moon appear'd as it were stain'd with Blood and Simeon of Durham saith it lasted one whole hour and then a Blackness following it return'd to its natural Colour Also Tatwin the Archbishop deceased and Egbryht was made Bishop of York Now Bede also died But the Author of his Life in Manuscript in the Cottonian Library refers it to the Year following and the Chronicle of Mailros with greater Truth to the Year 736 for he was as his Life above-cited relates born Anno 677 and deceased in the 59th Year of his Age. But since Bede our Historian deceased about this time and that it is to him we are beholding for the greatest part of the History of this present Period it is fit we give you a short account of his Life He was born in the Province of Northumberland not far from the Monastery of Gyrwie the place is now called Yarrow near the Mouth of the River Were where he was bred up from seven Years of Age and in which being profess'd he lived a Monk all the rest of his Life spending his time in the Study of the Scriptures saying his Prayers or Writing Comments upon the Old and New Testaments as also his Ecclesiastical History so often cited by us besides divers other Books containing the Lives of Saints and other Matters of Humane as well as Divine Learning whose Titles you may find at the end of his said History 'Till at last being wasted by a long Asthma he there made an Heavenly End as may be seen in his Life above-mentioned So that Simeon of Durham very well observes that though he lay as it were hid in the utmost Corner of the World yet after his Death he became known in all Parts by his Learned Writings therefore he hath for his great Piety as well as Learning justly obtained the Title of Venerable Bede After whose decease as Will. of Malmesbury rightly observes all knowledge of Actions passed was almost lost even to his own Times since none proved an Emulator of his Studies nor a Follower of his Learning so that to a slothful Generation one more slothful still succeeding the Love of Learning for a long time grew cold in this whole Island ' This Year Bishop Egbriht received the Pall from Rome but you must here observe that by the Pope's thus sending a Pall to the Bishop of York he now became an Archbishop and consequently Metropolitan of all the Northumbrian Provinces that See having been ever since the Time of Paulinus's Flight out of Northumberland into Kent and carrying the Archiepiscopal Pall along with him no more than an ordinary Bishoprick subject to the Archbishop of Canterbury from whose Power it was from this time exempted and came now to have Supreme Jurisdiction over all the Bishops in Deira and Bernicia as far as the Pictish Kingdom ' The Arch-bishop Nothelm received his Pall from Rome This was the new Archbishop of Canterbury who succeeded Tatwine You may take notice that it was in those Times usual for the Pope to send a Pall to every new Archbishop upon his Consecration to shew his Dependance upon the See of Rome and for which every Archbishop paid a great Sum of Money to the Pope's Treasury This Nothelm when he was a Presbyter of the Church of London was he to whom Bede in the Epistle before his History owns himself beholding for divers ancient Monuments relating to the English Church as also Epistles out of the Pope's Repository This Year Forthere Bishop of Scireburn with Frithogithe Queen of the West-Saxons went to Rome Where as H. Huntington tells us they both took upon them the Monastick Habit which in those days very many of the English Nation of all Degrees and Qualities as well high as low were wont to do For now also as our Annals relate Ceolwulf King of Northumberland surrendred his Kingdom to Eadbert his Cousin who reigned Thirty one Years This Ceolwulf was he to whom Bede dedicated his History who after his professing himself a Monk in the Monastery of Lindisfarne as R. Hoveden relates brought the Monks of that place from the strict discipline of drinking only Milk or Water to drink Wine and Ale and they might very well afford it for he brought along with him good provisions to live easily as great Treasures and Revenues in Land recited at large by Simeon of Durham all which he bestowed on that Monastery no wonder then if such great Commendations be given by Monkish Writers to Kings becoming Monks The same Year also as Simeon of Durham and Mat. of Westminster relates Alwin Bishop of Lichfield dying there were two Bishops ordained in that Diocess viz. Wicca at Lichfield and Tocca the first Bishop of Leycester which Town from this time continued a Bishop's See for divers Ages Also this Year according to the Saxon Annals the Bishops Ethelwald and Acca deceased and Cynwulf was consecrated Bishop and the same Year Ethelbald King of the Mercians wasted the Contry of Northumberland And as H. Huntington adds carried away as much Spoil as he had a mind to from thence Also as Simeon of Durham
them reaching the Shore were presently slain at the Mouth of the same River But Simeon of Durham imputes this to a Judgment inflicted on them by St. Cuthbert for thus spoiling his Monastery The Moon was Eclipsed 5 o Kal. Aprilis from the Cock crowing till the Morning Eardwulf also began to reign over Northumberland 1 o Idus Maii and was afterwards Consecrated and placed on the Throne 7 o Kal. Junii at York by Eanbald the Arch-Bishop and by the Bishops Ethelbert Higbald and Badewulf This Eardwulf as Florence of Worcester informs us was he who 5 Years before had so strangely escaped Death at Ripun after he had been carried out to be buried but the Chronicle of Mailross does here give great Light of the Saxon Annals for it tells us that now the Northumbers murthered their King Ethelred the Son of Moll Simeon places it a Year after but says The Murther was committed on the 14th of the Kalends of May at a Place called Cobene but they both agree that immediately after his Death one Osbald a Nobleman of that Country was made King but reigned only 27 Days and that then being forsaken by the Chief Men of his Kingdom he was driven into the Isle of Lindisfarne with a few Followers from whence he fled by Sea to the King of the Picts where he became a Monk And this Eardwulf reigned of his stead William of Malmesbury further adds that Alcuin writing to King Offa tells him That King Charles so soon as he heard of this Murther of King Ethelred above-mentioned and of the Perfidiousness of the Northumbrian Nation not only stopt the Gifts he was then sending but falling into a Passion against them called them a perverse and perfidious Nation and worse than Pagans so that if Alcuin had not interceded for them he would have done them all the Mischief he could About this time also the Welsh Chronicles relate there was a great Battle fought at Ruthlan between the Saxons and the Britains where Caradoc ap Gwin King of North Wales was slain But as Dr. Powel observed in his Notes upon Caradoc's Chronicle in those Times there was no settled Government in Wales therefore such as were Chief Lords of any Country there are in this History called Kings This Year died Eanbald Arch-bishop of York the 4th of the Ides of August whose Body was there buried also the same Year Bishop Ceolwulf died and another Eanbald was Consecrated in his stead This Year likewise Cenwulf King of the Mercians destroyed Kent to the Borders of Mercia and took Eadbert or Ethelbert Sirnamed Praen and carryed him Prisoner into Mercia and there caused his Eyes to be put out and his Hands to be cut off Also Ethelheard Arch-bishop of Canterbury called a Synod which by the Command of Pope Leo established and confirmed all those things relating to God's Church which had been before constituted in the Reign of King Withgar and then the Arch-bishop said thus I Ethelheard Arch-bishop of Canterbury with the Unanimous Consent of the whole Synod and of the whole Body of all the Monasteries to whom Exemption hath been granted of Old Times by Believers in the Name of GOD and by his fearful Judgments and as I have received Command from Pope Leo do Decree That for the future none shall presume to Elect themselves Covâ—rnours amongst Lay-men over GOD's Heritage but as it is contained in the Charter or Bulls which the Pope hath granted or Holy Men to wit our Kings and Ancestors have ordained concerning the Holy Monasteries so let them remain inviolate without any gain-saying and if there be any one who shall refuse to obey this Command from GOD the Pope and Us but shall despise it and count it as nothing let him know that he shall give an Account of it before the Tribunal of GOD. And I Aethelheard the Archbishop with Twelve Bishops and Three and Twenty Abbots do hereby establish and confirm this Decree with the Sign of the Cross. This Council thô the Annals do not expresly mention it under that Title is that great Council of Becanceld placed in Sir H. Spelman's Collection under Anno 798 being held under Cenwulf King of the Mercians Aethelheard Arch-bishop of Canterbury with 17 Bishops more who all subscribed to this Decree thô the Annals mention no more than 12 Bishops to have been there This Year the Romans took Pope Leo and cut out his Tongue and put cut his Eyes and deposed him but presently after if it may be believed he could both see and speak by the help of GOD as well as he could before and was also restored to the Papacy by the Emperour Charles Also Eanbald the Arch-bishop of York received the Pall and Ethelbert Bishop of Hagulstad deceased 3 o Kal. Nov. This Year was a bloody Battle in the Province of Northumberland in Lent-time at Wealaege now called Whalie in Lancashire where was slain Alric the Son of Heardbert and many others with him The occasion of which Civil War Simeon of Durham hath thus given us â—iz That besides Alric there were divers others in Northumberland who had formerly conspired against King Ethelred and now raising a Rebellion against Eardwulf under Wadâ— their Captain after much slaughter on both sides at Billangahoth near Whalie in Lancashire the Conspirators being at last put to flight King Eardwulf returned home Victorious The same Year London according to the same Author with a great multitude of its Inhabitants by a sudden Fire was Consumed And now according both to Simeon of Durham and Roger Hoveden was held the Second Council of Pinchinhale in the Kingdom of Northumberland under Eanbald Arch-bishop of York and divers other Principal and Ecclesiastical Men where many things were ordained for the Profit of GOD's Church and of the Northumbrian Nation as concerning the keeping Easter and other Matters not particularly mentioned The same Year also according to Monasticon Anglicanum Kenwulf King of the Mercians founded a stately Abbey at Winchelcomb in Glocestershire for 300 Benedictine Monks and when it was Dedicated in the Presence of Wilfrid Arch-bishop of Canterbury and 13 other Bishops he then set free before the High Altar Eadbert King of Kent who was then his Prisoner of War But having before most cruelly put out his Eyes and cut off his Hands and disposed of his Kingdom to another I doubt that Liberty proved but a small Satisfaction to his poor injured Prince But such was the Superstitious Zeal of that Age the Foundation of a Monastery was counted a sufficient Atonement to GOD for whatsoever Cruelties or Injustice Princes hath then committed This Year Ethâ—lheard the Arclt-bishop and Cynebriht Bishop of the West Saxons went to Rome the latter to take the Habit of a Monk and Bishop Alfwin deceased at Southburg now Sutbury in Suffolk and was buried at Domuc now Dunwich in the same County being then the Seat of that Bishoprick and Tidfrith was chosen in his Room
the Abbot of Rievalle in his Life of King Edward informs us had been begun some years before in performance of a Vow the King had formerly made to go to Rome but being dissuaded from it by the Chief Men of his Kingdom he sent thither Aldred Archbishop of York and Herman Bishop of Winchester to obtain Pope Leo's Dispensation from that Journey who by the said Bishops returned it him upon these terms That he should bestow the Money he would have spent in that Voyage in building a Stately Church and Monastery in Honour of St. Peter Whereupon the King chose out a place near his own Palace where had anciently stood a Church and Monastery built by Sebert King of the West-Saxons and Mellitus Bishop of London but it being destroyed by the Danes had ever since lain in Ruins But an Ancient Epitome of English Chronicles written by a Monk of Westminster and now in the Cottonian Library relates That Archbishop Dunstan had here before erected a small Monastery for Twelve Monks which was vastly augmented by King Edward Though whether this were so or no is as uncertain as it is incredible what these Monkish Writers tell us of its being anciently consecrated by St. Peter himself which not being mentioned by Bede looks like a Fable invented only to gain a greater Veneration for that Place Here also in the Author above-mentioned follows the King's Letter to Pope Nicholaus That he would please not only to confirm what his Predecessor had done but also grant him new Privileges for the said Monastery and then comes the Pope's Bull or Privilege for that purpose in which is recited this Legend of that Church's having been anciently consecrated by St. Peter But though Simeon of Durham places the Consecration of this Church on the day above-mentioned yet he refers it to the end of the year 1065 and perhaps with more Exactness since the English-Saxon year began then not at Lady-day as it does now but New-years-tide And after this Author farther adds That upon Christmass-day preceding the King held his Curia or Great Council at Westminster where were present King Edward and his Queen Edgitha and Stigand the Archbishop of Canterbury and Aldred Archbishop of York with the other Bishops and Abbots of England together with the King's Chaplains Earls Thanes and Knights Which Council as Sir H. Spelman informs us was summoned to confirm the King's Charter of Endowment of the said Monastery but though it be there imperfect yet you may find it at large in Monast. Anglican wherein after the Recital of the Bull of Pope Leo follows this Clause viz. That the King for the Expiation of his own Vow and also for the Souls of the Kings his Predecessors as well as Successors had granted to that place viz. Westminster all manner of Liberty as far as Earthly Power could reach and that for the Love of God by whose Mercy he was placed in the Royal Throne and now by the Counsel and Decree of the Archbishops Bishops Earls and other of his Great Men and for the Benefit and Advantage of the said Church and all those that should belong to it he had granted these Privileges following not only in present but for future times Then follows an Exemption from all Episcopal Jurisdiction as also another Clause whereby he grants it the Privilege of Sanctuary so that any one of whatsoever condition he be for whatsoever cause that shall fly unto that Holy Place or the Precincts thereof shall be free and obtain full Liberty And at last concludes thus I have commanded this Charter to be written and seal'd and have also signed it with my hand with the Sign of the Cross and have ordered fit Witnesses to subscribe it for its greater Corroboration Then immediately follows the King's Subscription in these words Ego Edwardus Deo largiente Anglorum Rex signum venerandae Crucis impressi Then follows the Subscription of Queen Editha with those of the two Archbishops seven of the Bishops and as many Abbots and so comes on the Subscriptions of the Laity viz. of Raynbald the Chancellor and of the Earls Harold and Edwin who write themselves Duces and six Thanes besides other of inferior Order This Charter bears date on St. Innocents day Anno Dom. 1066. which how it could be so dated four days before New-years-day when the year then began I do not understand Here also follows a Third Charter which is much the same with the former only it contains the King's Letter to Pope Nicholaus and his Bull reciting the Privileges granted to the said Church all which are there at large inserted Then follows the Subscriptions of the King Queen Archbishops Bishops Earls c. almost in the same order as the former only Osbald and another of the King's Chaplains do here subscribe before any of the Lay-Nobility and besides the Thanes there are several who subscribed with the Title of Milites added to their Names I have been the larger upon this Foundation not only because it was the Greatest and Noblest of any in England but also for that it still continues though under another Title to be a Collegiate Church for a Dean and Eight Prebends with an excellent School belonging to it which hath hitherto furnished both the Church and State with as great a number of Learned and Considerable Persons as any in the whole Nation But to return again to our History as it is related by the aforesaid Abbot of Rievâ—lle King Edward having at this Great Assembly of the Estates of his Kingdom appeared solemnly with his Crown on his Head according to custom was a day or two before Christmass in the night-time taken with a Feaver which very much damped the Jollity of that Festival yet he concealed it as much as he could for two or three days still sitting down at Meals with his Bishops and Noblemen till the third day perceiving the time of his Dissolution drew near he commanded all things to be got ready for the Consecration of his New Church which he resolved should be solemnized the next day being the Feast of the Holy Innocents whereat all the Bishops and Great Men of the Kingdom assisted and the King as far as his Health would permit but presently after the King growing worse and worse he was forced to take his Bed the Queen Bishops and the Nobility standing weeping about him and whilst he lay speechless and almost without life for two days and the third awakening as if it were from a Trance both William of Malmesbury and the Abbot above-mentioned relate That after a devout Prayer he told them That in a Vision he had lately seen two holy Monks whom he had in his youth known in Normandy to be men of meek and pious Conversation and whom he therefore had very much loved and now appeared to him as sent from God to tell him what should happen to England after his decease shewing him That the Iniquity of
their former Privileges to endure for ever by a perpetual Right Id. p. 317 318. Builds Two Forts on both sides the River Ouse in Buckinghamshire to oppose the Danes who at last almost all submit to him Id. p. 319 320. Has the Town of Bedford surrendred to him where he built a Castle Rebuilds and Fortifies the Town of Maldon and makes the whole Nation of the Mercians submit to him Id. p. 320. Overcomes Leofred the Dane and Griffyth ap Madac Brother-in-Law to the Prince of West-Wales Id. p. 321. The several Towns he ordered to be rebuilt l. 5. p. 321 322 323 324. Is accepted for Lord and Protector by several Countries under the Danish Dominions and adds the Kingdom of the East-Angles to his own Id. p. 322 323. Several other Kings make their Submission to him Id. p. 324. His Decease at Fearndune in the Province of the Mercians Id. p. 324. Aelfleda the Daughter of the Earl Aethelem was his Queen and Wife Id. p. 327. The Laws both Civil and Ecclesiastical made in his Reign Id. p. 325 326. His Children how bred up and bestowed in Marriage c. Id. p. 327. His Character of being Mild and Humble as well as Couragious Id. p. 328. No Martyr as Buchanan in his History fancies him and why Id. p. 332. Edward Aetheling Son of King Edmund sirnamed Ironside Marries Agatha the Queen of Hungary's Sister his Issue by her l. 6. p. 49. Is sought by Ambassy to return into England which he did about Three years after together with his Children and soon after Dies his Body being Buried in St. Paul's Church Id. p. 86 87. Edward Sirnamed the Martyr is Elected in a great Council and presently Anointed King according to his Father Edgar's Appointment l. 6. p. 15. Not present at the Council of Calne in Wiltshire upon the persuasion of Archbishop Dunstan as supposed Id. p. 16 17. Is Killed by whom and by what at Corfesgeate now Corfe-Castle in the Isle of Purbeck and buried at Werham without any Royal Pomp having Reigned Three years and a half Id. p. 17 18. His Character Ibid. His Body taken up and carried and Buried at Shaftsbury with great Solemnity Id. p. 20. Edward the Confessor Son of King Ethelred comes into England from Normandy and returns no more back but tarried till his Brother Hardecnute died l. 6. p. 66 67. His Advancement to the Crown by Election in the Great Council and how it is effected Id. p. 69 70. His undutifulness to his Mother by taking from her all the Gold and Silver she had with other things because of her severity to him formerly shews him not to be altogether so great a Saint as the Monks represent him Id. p. 71 97. Marries Edgitha or Editha the Daughter of Earl Godwin who was not only Beautiful and Pious but Learned above the Women of her Age but he never carnally knew her l. 6. p. 72 73 97. Sends Bishops to the Great Council at St. Remy to know what was there decreed concerning the Christian Faith Id. p. 74. The Difference between the King and Earl Godwin and his Sons and what the ground of it Id. p. 75 77 78 81. Sends away his Wife who had been Crowned Queen committing her to the Custody of his Sister at the Nunnery of Werwel and takes away almost all she had Id. p. 78. Begs his Mother's Pardon for having suffered her to undergo the Ordeal and upon what Account Id. p. 79. Hearing Earl Godwin was come with his Ships for England he orders his Fleet to pursue him whereupon he returns to Bruges but soon after comes again and commits many Insults upon the Sea-coasts Id. p. 80 81. Restores to the Queen his Wife upon his Peace with Earl Godwin whatsoever she had been before possessed of Id. p. 81. In a great Council is Reconciled to Earl Godwin whom he restores to his former Honours and Estate Id. p. 82 83. Commands Rees the Brother of Griffyn King of South-Wales his Head to be cut off and sent him to Gloucester for his Insolencies against the English Id. p. 85. His Forces under Siward the Valiant Earl of Northumberland are said to Conquer Scotland Id. p. 86. Aelfgar's Rebellion against him twice and yet he was forced to Pardon him Ibid. p. 87.88 Confirms by his Charter the Foundation of the Abbey of the Holy-Cross at Waltham in Essex Id. p. 89. Wales Subdued and becomes subject to him the Inhabitants giving Hostages Ibid. After which he makes Two Brothers Joint-Princes of North-Wales l. 6. p. 90. Confirms and renews the Laws of King Cnute at the Request of the Northumbers Ibid. Builds Westminster Church and Abbey its Consecration Calls his Curia or Great Council to confirm his Charter of Endowment of this Monastery His Sickness and Speech to those about him concerning the Vision he had seen of Two Holy Monks that told him of the Misery which would befall this Nation after his Death Id. p. 93 94 95. The Application of it with what befell the Kingdom in succeeding Reigns Id. p. 96. Recommends upon his Death-bed the Queen to her Brother c. and highly extols her Chastity and Obedience Id. p. 96. His last Words Death and Burial in St. Peter's Church at Westminster Ibid. p. 97. The various reports of his Bequeathing the Crown to his Cousin William Duke of Normandy Id. p. 96 97. His Character and the story of the Boy that Robbed his Chest he being then in the Room Id. p. 97 98 104. His Miracles of Curing the Blind and those Sores we now call the King 's Evil and of his being Elected King by his Father's Command in a Great Council whilst he was in his Mother's Belly Id. p. 98. His Laws or those which bear his Name because he renewed the Observance of them shew what Liberty English Subjects enjoyed before the Conquest Id. p. 99 100 101 102 103 104. By the Laws of St. Edward are meant the English-Saxon Laws Id. p. 104. Edwi When he Began his Reign and where and by whom Crowned he turns the Monks out of Glastenbury and out of the greatest Monasteries in England placing Secular Channons therein l. 3. p. 353. The Mercians and Northumbrians Deposing him Elect Edgar his Brother for their King which is confirmed by the Common Council of the Kingdom Edwi having no more left him than that of the West-Saxons for his share Id. p. 354. His Death and Character and Burial at Winchester Id. p. 355. Edwin of the Blood-Royal of Northumberland being the Son of Aella is forced to fly from Ethelfrid as a Banished Man with the cause of his future Conversion l. 4. p. 169. The wonderful Vision he had and the Success of it He succeds Ethelfrid and Banishes his Sons Id. p. 170. Being Converted to the Christian Faith he receives Baptism with all his Noblemen and a great many of the common people Id. p. 171 172 173 174. At last is killed by the Pagans and his whole Army routed Id.
very well skill'd in the Holy Scriptures sent to King Alfred out of Mercia l. 5. p. 305 306. West-burgh a Monastery in Worcestershire l. 5. p. 253. West-Chester Vid. Chester Westminster Church and Abbey founded by King Sebert Mellitus the Bishop dedicating it to St. Peter l. 4. p. 166. But being destroyed by the Danes it had ever since lain in Ruins till Edward the Confessor built it anew and had it re-consâ—crated l. 6. p. 93 94 95. The Legend of this Church her having been anciently consecrated by St. Peter Id. p. 93. Charter of Endowment and Privileges of this Church confirmed by the Great Council The Greatest and Noblest of any Foundation in England Id. p. 94. West-Saxons when this Kingdom first began l. 3. p. 133. Were conquered by Cerdic and his Sâ—ns Id. Ib. Who first took upon them the Title of the Kings of the West-Saxons and at last they overcome all the other six Kingdoms Id. p. 136. They fight with Ivor and are put to flight Id. p. 145. Cut off Sebert's three Sons who were all Heirs to the East-Saxon Kingdom l. 4. p. 168 169. Their Conversion by the preaching of Byrinus an Italian Id. p. 179. Anciently called Gewisses Id. Ib. Bishop of the West-Saxons that is of Dorchester Id. p. 203. Their Royal Standard a Golden Dragon Id. p. 226. Are forced to maintain the Danes and what Money they give them besides l. 6. p. 25. Submit to King Cnute and give him Hostages and likewise provide Horses for his Army Id. p. 41. Westwude since called Shireburne l. 4. p. 214. Whalie in Lancashire anciently called Wealaege where a bloody Battel was fought and with whom l. 4. p. 241. Wheat at what rate sold in Hardecnute's time Vid. Sester Whipping a Punishment to be inflicted only on Villains l. 5. p. 285. Whitby in Yorkshire anciently called Streanshale l. 4. p. 189. Whitchurch in Hampshire anciently called Whitcircan l. 6. p. 28. Whitsand an ancient Port Five hundred years before Caesar's time l. 2. p. 31. About the Fourteenth Century was made unserviceable being stopp'd up by the Sands Id. Ib. Wibbendon now Wimbledon in Surrey l. 3. p. 145. Wiccon now Worcestershire l. 4. p. 242. l. 5. p. 247. Widow to remain so a Twelvemonth by King Cnute's Law and if she marry within that time to lose her Dower and all that her Husband left her l. 6. p. 60. Wigbryht Bishop of the West-Saxons goes to Rome about the Affairs of the English Church l. 5. p. 251. Wigheard the Presbyter sent to Rome there to be made Archbishop of Canterbury but died almost as soon as he arrived there l. 4. p. 195 205. Wight is brought under subjection by Titus Vespatian l. 2. p. 41. The Isle anciently called Vecta l. 2. p. 84. Is conquered by Cerdic and Cynric who bâ—stow it on Stufe and Withgar Nephews to the former l. 3. p. 138. Is taken by Wulfher King of Mercia l. 4. p. 188. Received at last the Christian Faith though upon hard terms l. 4. p. 203. The Danes quartering here made it their old Sanctuary l. 6. p. 27 31. Wightred confirms all the Privileges of the Monks of the Church of Canterbury by a Charter under his Hand l. 4. p. 163. Wigmore in Herefordshire anciently called Wigingamere l. 5. p. 321. Wilbrode an English Priest converts several Nations in Germany to the Christian Faith is ordained by the Pope Archbishop of the Frisons l. 4. p. 211. His Episcopal See was the famous Castle anciently called Wiltaburg now Utrecht Id. p. 211 212. Wilfreda a Nun taken out of a Cloyster at Wilton by King Edgar by whom he had a Beautiful Daughter that was afterwards Abbess of the said Monastery l. 6. p. 3 12. St. Wilfrid Bishop of York when he caused the Rule of St. Benedict to be observed in England l. 4. p. 167 168. Wilfrid Abbot chosen unanimously by Oswi's Great Council Bishop of Lindisfarne and how he came to lose it upon his refusing Consecration here at home l. 4. p. 190. Is sent into France to be ordained Id. p. 192. A great Contention between King Egfrid and him so that he was expell'd his Bishoprick Id. p. 196. He appeals to Rome and what the success thereof Id. p. 197. By his preaching converts the South-Saxons Id. p. 198. Receives of Ceadwallo as much Land in the Isle of Wight as maintain'd 300 Families Id. p. 203. Is recalled home by King Alfred and restored in a General Synod to his Sees of York and Hagulstad Id. p. 204 213. Is a second time expelled by Alfred and why Id. p. 205 206. Three times deprived the first time unjustly but whether so the other two is doubtful His Decease at Undale and Burial at Ripon in Yorkshire Id. p. 214 215. His Character Is the first Bishop in that Age that ever used Silver Plate Id. p. 215. An Account of his building the Monastery of Ripon l. 5. p. 350. The second Bishop of York of that name his Death l. 4. p. 224. Wilfrid or Wulfred consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury in the room of Ethelward deceased and the next year received his Pall l. 5. p. 248. Goes to Rome about the Affairs of the British Church Id. p. 251. His Death and the different Account who succeeded him Id. p. 255. William the Son of Robert Duke of Normandy by Harlotte his Concubine afterwards King of England to whom recommended whilst his Father made his Pilgrimage to Jerusalem l. 6. p. 54. When he began to reign in Normandy Id. p. 56. The great Battel at Vallesdune in Normandy upon his account Id. p. 74. His coming over into England and noble Reception here with Edward's promising to make him his Successor Id. p. 79. Takes the City of Man l. 6. p. 89. Sets Harold at liberty who was detained by the Earl of Ponthieu contracts Friendship with and betroths his Daughter to him Id. p. 92. Harold promises upon King Edward's death to deliver up Dover-Castle to him and procure his Succession to the Throne Id. Ib. Could have no pretence to the Crown of England by Blood Id. p. 96 97. His great Preparations to invade England and the reasons why first acquainting the Pope with his Design and receiving his Answer with the account of his craving Aid of his People and Neighbour Princes Id. p. 107 108 109. His coming over and landing at Pevensey and Preparations for a Battel but first sends a Monk to Harold with Proposals which he by no means would hearken to Id. p. 110 111. The manner how he drew up his Army in order to fight him Id. p. 112. By seeming to retreat he gets the Victory wherein Harold is slain Id. p. 212 213. Having got Harold's Standard which was curiously embroider'd he sends it to the Pope Id. p. 113. Sends Harold's Body as soon as it was found to his Mother Id. p. 114. Wills Last Vid. Testament Wilton near Salisbury supposed anciently to be Ellendune where a great Battel was fought between