probably it might have been practised in their own Kingdoms or used it as they found it here practised by the Saxon Kings Or whether the Authorities I have already cited do not expresly prove that every one of the three Danish Kings came in by Election and that Harold Harefoot was the only Prince of those Three who could make any pretence to it by Testament AND as for the Saxon Kings that reigned before them how far they by their last Wills alone could dispose of or entail the Crown without the concurrent Assent and Consent of the Great Council of the Kingdom I refer the Reader to that part of King Alfred's Will I have here made use of for his farther Satisfaction if he have still any doubt left about it I have now dispatched this exact and faithful History of the Succession of our English Saxon Kings in which I am not conscious to my self that I have either added or diminished any thing material to or from the Authors which I have made use of I desire to be believed that I have not wrote this to prove that the Succession to the Crown ought at this day to be Elective in the same manner as it was before the Conquest but only to obviate and remove the false Opinions or Prejudices of some Men who by the plausible Representations of the Doctor and others have been so far prepossessed as to believe that an Hereditary Succession to the Crown hath been as Antient as the Monarchy it self whereas we find that Sweden and Denmark have from Elective become Hereditary Kingdoms in a much less space of Time And I suppose no Man of those Countries would asperse any Writer there of being an Enemy to Monarchy for asserting so evident a Truth and therefore I hope I may find the same fair Quarter at Home notwithstanding the Doctor 's Insinuations before his abovecited History of the Succession of the Crown That none but Papists Fanaticks or Common-Wealth's Men a List of whose Works he there gives us would dare to write for or maintain this Opinion But if Parsons the Jesuit has happened in his Discourse of the Succession to write some Truths concerning it I am no more to be thought Jesuitical for following not him but the Authors from whom he took them than I should be if I had wrote a Mathematical Dissertation founded upon Demonstrations from Euclid which had been before made use of by Tacquet or any other Learned Jesuit that has wrote upon that Subject AFTER the Election I shall say somewhat of the Coronation of our English Saxon Kings which sometimes was performed on the same Day on which they were Elected and sometimes several Days nay Months after as appears by the Coronation of King Edward the Confessor who tho he were Chosen King in June not long after his Brother Hardecnut's Decease yet was he not Crowned till the Easter following as you will find in the Saxon Annals under the Years 1041 1042. But Harold his Successor to make the Crown the surer was Elected and Crowned the same Day This Solemnity of the Coronation was most commonly performed by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury yet was it not at first done in the Church but in the open Air thus the Kings Athelstan Edmund and Edred are expresly mentioned by our Historians to have been Crowned in the Market Place of Kingston upon Thames and I suppose the like had been used in the Coronation of former Kings since it is not taken notice of as an Innovation BUT to say somewhat of the forms of those Crowns which our Kings then wore it appears from their Coins that they were at first no other than Diadems like those of the Greek Emperors in that Age and from whom they were borrowed thus Offa King of the Mercians is Graven on his Coin with a Diadem of Pearls about his Head but our great King Alfred has no more than a bare Head-band or Circle which seems to have been tied behind as you may see in his Coins And tho I confess there is also a Coin of one K. Egbert with a Coronet of Rayes upon his Head yet that this was not of our K. Egbert but rather of him that was King of Northumberland who began to reign An. 867 I rather incline to believe As for King Edward the Elder he has in his Coins only a kind of Diadem upon his Helmet King Athelstà n Edmund and Eadred his Brothers being the first of our West-Saxon Kings who wore Crowns with three Rayes or Points higher than the rest and therefore I look upon it as a Fiction in them who will needs have it that K. Alfred was Crowned with a Crown wrought with Flower de Lices because such a Crown was kept among the Regalia at Westminster before our late Civil Wars in a Box upon whose Cover was this Inscription Haec est Principalior Corona cum qua Coronabantur Reges Aelfredus Edwardus c. Which having been the Crown of Edward the Confessor it was very easy for the Monks of that Church who kept those Regalia in after times to inscribe what they pleased upon this Box since it added so much to the Antiquity and Reputation of this Crown and I am the more inclined to this Opinion because I find King Cnute and Edward the Confessor to be the first Kings who wore Diadems adorned with Flower-de-Lices as appears by their Coins I shall in the next Place say somewhat of the Titles by which our West-Saxon Kings stiled themselves in their Laws and Charters and to begin with King Egbert however Supreme he were over all the rest of the Kings then reigning in England yet we cannot find that he stiled himself more than Rex West-Saxonum in any of his Charters for as for Laws we have none of his left us The like I may say for his Successors Ethelwolf and his Sons and Grandsons as far as King Athelstan who for ought I can find was the first Prince that upon his Victories over the Danes and Scots changed his Title of Rex West-Saxonum or Anglorum alone which was used by his Predecessors to this that follows Ego Aethelstanus Rex Anglorum per omnipotentis Dextram totius Britanniae Regno sublimatus as you will find it in his Charter in William of Malmesbury de Gestis Pontif. as also in the same Place you will find this King's Title to have somewhat varied for on a rich Box or Shrine given by this King to keep the Relicts of the Saints in was engraven this Inscription Ego Aethelstanus totius Britanniae multarum nationum in circuitu positarum Imperator c. which Title was also made use of by his Brother King Edmund only instead of Imperator he stiles himself Gubernator Rector as appears by his Charter to the Church of Glastonbury set down by the same Author above-mentioned in his Antiquity of the Church of Glastonbury which was also used by King Edgar tho with some difference
and Offa King of the Mercians departed this Life the Latter after he had Reigned Forty Years Yet notwithstanding the Printed Copies of the Saxon Annals have placed the King's Death under this Year Yet the rest of the Copies do not agree with this Account for the Laudean Manuscript Copy in the Bodlean Library places this King's Death in Anno. Dom. 896 and that with greater Truth for first Pope Adrian above-mentioned died not till Two Years after the time here specified And it appears farther in a Letter written by the Emperour Charles the Great to this King Offa and which is recited at large by William of Malmesbury in his Life of this King that Pope Adrian was dead some time before the date of that Letter viz. Anno. Dom. 796 Thô it is certain King Offa did not survive long after I thought to give the Reader notice of this because it puts the Death of this King and the Succession of all his Successours just Two Years later than the common Printed Accounts But whenever this King here died he is said by William of Malmesbury to have been buried in a Chapel at Bedford near the River Ouse whose frequent Inundations had in his time carried away both the Chapel and the Tomb into the River So that it could not be seen unless sometimes by those who washed themselves in that River This Prince is also described by the same Author to have had so great a Mixture of Vertues and Vices that he does not know well what Character to give him The Reason that so confounded him was That thô he was a Cruel and Perfidious Prince yet he Built the Monastery of St. Albans as you have heard but for all that he cannot give him many good words because he took away abundance of good Farms from his Abbey This seems to have been the first of our English Saxon Kings who maintained any great correspondence with Foreign Princes for thô he had first great Enmity with Charles the Great which proceeded so far as to the interdicting of all Commerce yet at last it was changed into as much Amity so that a firm League was made between them as appears by a Letter of the said Charles to Offa extant in William of Malmesbury in which also is mentioned that he sent him many Noble Presents Also he granted saith Henry Huntington a perpetual Tribute to the Pope out of every House in his Kingdom and this perhaps for his consenting to translate the Primacy from Canterbury to Litchfield in his own Dominions He also drew a Trench of a wondrous length between Mercia and the British or Welsh Territories thereby to hinder the Incursions of the Welsh-men called to this day in the Welsh Tongue Claudh Offa i.e. Offa's Dike But from the Grant of the above-mention'd Pension some Men of different Perswasions have drawn as different Consequences Pol. Virgil and divers of the Romish Writers have from thence concluded That King Offa by this Act made his Kingdom Tributary to the Pope whereas indeed it was no such Thing for it had been also granted by King Ina long before as hath been already observed for the Kingdom of the West Saxons whose Example King Offa seemed now to follow and indeed was no more than a Voluntary Annual Alms or Benevolence as it is expresly called in our Saxon Annals as shall be shewn further hereafter This is also urged by some high Promoters of the Royal Prerogative to prove this King 's unlimited Power in Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Matters since He as they suppose could without the Consent of the Great Council of the Kingdom charge all the Houses in his Dominions to pay each of them one Penny to the Pope But this if it be closely looked into will prove a Mistake for thô it be true that upon King Offa's going to Rome he is said to have granted this Alms called Rome's Scot or Peter-pence to the Pope yet Anno 794 immediately upon his Return you will find in Sir H. Spelman's Councils he called a Great Council at Verulam now St. Alban's where this Tribute might be confirmed by the Consent of the Estates of his Kingdom Nor is the Silence of our Histories or of the Acts of this Council it self any material Argument to the contrary since that Law might be lost or omitted by which it was confirmed as well as several other Councils of that Age there being no more mention made of this King's Confirmation of the Lands given to this Monastery in the great Council at Verulam than what is cited in Sir H. Spelman's Councils out of a Manuscript History of St. Alban's all the Acts of that Council being now lost But to return to our Annals The same Year Ethelred who had been twice King of Northumberland was slain by his own People 13 o Kal. Maii and that deservedly as R. Hoveden relates as having been the Death of King Osred his Predecessour After Ethelred one Osbald a Nobleman was made King but held the Throne but a small time being deserted by his Subjects and at last forced to flee the Kingdom going by Sea from Lindisfarne and then taking Refuge with the King of the Picts there died an Abbot Who was most in fault in all these frequent Rebellions and Changes of Kings among the Northumbers is hard to decide since all the Annals as well as Historians are very short in their Relations of these Transactions but it is certain that the People as well as Princes must have suffered much by such frequent Revolutions And it is also very well observed by H. Huntington that these frequent Rebellions and Expulsion of their Kings proceeded in great part from the proud and turbulent Temper of the Northumbrian Angles The same Year according to our Annals Bishop Ceolwulf and Bishop Eadbald departed from the Northumbers and Egferth Son to Offa began his Reign over the Mercians and within a few Months after deceased having scarce reigned half a Year It is also further to be noted That this Prince being of great Hopes and Worth had been crowned King 9 Years before in his Father's Life-time and after his Death restored to the Church whatever he had violently seized on but before he died he left the Crown to Kenwulf the next of the Royal Line But the Monks do ascribe the short Reign of this good Prince to his Father's Sins but of these Things it belongs not to us to determine Also this Year Eadbert or Ethelbert Sirnamed Praen began to Reign in Kent and also Ethelred the Ealderman deceased This Man had been a famous Commander in his time but was then a Monk in the City of York and now also according to the Annals the Heathen Danes destroyed Northumberland and robbed the Monastery built by Egbert which is at the Mouth of the River Weri but there one of the Danish Captains was slain and divers of their Ships destroyed by a Tempest and many of their Men drowned but some of
Years and then was murdered by the Vsurper Allectus who also governed near three Years longer till about the middle of the Reign of the Emperor Dioclesian who having constituted Constantius Chlorus Caesar sent Asclepiodotus as his Lieutenant into Britain being then part of his Share as were all the Provinces on this side the Alpes in the Year 295. and he having slain Allectus in Battel governed here some short Time till Constantius himself coming over in Person reigned as Caesar or Augustus so long as he lived During all which Revolutions we do not read of any Persecution in Britain as the Learned Mr. Dodwell in his Dissertationes Cyprianae has very well observed and consequently St. Alban could not suffer Martyrdom between the Years 303. and 305. or at any other Time where the Roman Martyrologies place it AND this I think is clear from the Testimonies of two Author of unquestionable Credit who lived in the very Time when this if at all must have happened The first of these is Eusebius who in his eighth Book of Ecclesiastical History giving a Character of Constantius the Emperor hath these words viz. He always shewed himself most benign and affable towards all Men which appeared by this that he was no ways partaker of the Persecution raised against us i. e. Christians but having preserved the Worshippers of the true God free and unhurt from all Accusations and not having so much as destroyed the Buildings of our Churches or acted any thing against those of our Religion he at last attained a quiet and happy End To which we may also add another Passage in his first Book cap. 8. but it being more tedious and not so express and full as the Place now cited I therefore omit it TO whom we may also subjoin Lactantius who in his Treatise de Mortibus Persecutorum differs indeed from Eusebius about his demolishing the Christian Churches yet he agrees with him in the main that no Christians suffered Death in Constantius his Division or Share of the Empire This Author's words I have thus translated But Constantius lest he should seem to dissent from the Edicts of the greater Emperors tho he permitted the Meeting-places of the Christian Assemblies that could be rebuilt to be pulled down yet he still preserved the true Temple of God which is in the Bodies of Men safe and inviolate And this is farther confirmed by Optatus de Schismate as also by Zozomen in his Ecclesiastical History who both reciting the Address of the Donatists to the Emperor Constantine do acknowledg that his Father never shed the Blood of any Christian. AND even this small difference between these two Authors may be thus reconciled by supposing that tho he connived at the destroying of the Christian Churches by the vulgar Pagans yet he no ways commanded it much less approved of it when it was done So that there could be no Persecution in Gaul or Britain both which were part of his Province during the Time that he continued either as Caesar or Emperor and the Persecution ceased Anno Dom. 308. not long before his Death BVT since a Learned and Ingenious French-man Theodorus Ruinartus in his Preface to a late Treatise entituled de Actibus Martyrum put out with a new Edition of this Work of Lactantius in Holland hath endeavoured to justify the Martyrologies against this Opinion of Mr. Dodwell's I think it very convenient to take some notice of what he there alledges and his chief Argument against these plain Authorities is that the Emperor Maximian was in Gaul during some part of this Persecution and that then the Power of Constantius being only as Caesar was suspended by the Presence of the Emperor himself and consequently the Persecution was carried on in that part of the Empire notwithstanding Constantius his private dislike of it or perhaps opposing it as much as he durst BVT in return to this seeming Argument we shall first observe that neither Eusebius nor Lactantius mention any Persecution in Gaul or Britain during all this Time which it is highly probable they would have done had it been carried on with the like Fury in these as it was in the other parts of the Empire So that I do not find this Author clearly makes out that the Emperor Maximian was in Gaul during this Persecution by any other Testimonies than those Martyrolgies themselves whose Credit we have just reason to question BVT suppose I should admit there was a Persecution in Gaul at the same Time as he affirms what will this concern Britain where it is certain from the Authority abovementioned that the Power of Constantius was never abrogated or suspended by any of the other Emperors But if it appears there was no such Persecution in Gaul as he pretends can one with reason believe that there should be any at that Time in Britain which lay so much more remote and out of the View or Notice of those persecuting Emperors But Michael Alford in his British Annals being sensible of the great Improbability of this Persecution between the Years 303 and 305. when upon Constantius's being declared Emperor all Authors agree the Persecution ceased all over the Empire he therefore antedates the Time of it to the Year 287 when he supposes that St. Alban after he had been kept six Months in Prison suffered Martyrdom viz. in the beginning of the Reign of Dioclesian and Maximian and for this he cites an antient Manuscript Copy of Bede which he had seen as also the Authority of Matthew Paris in his History and Matthew Westminster who both follow an old Martyrologist cited by Capgrave as much antienter than Bede TO this Opinion we reply that in the first place it does not appear by any Authority but this Writer's bare conjecture that there was any Persecution in Britain or Gaul at the beginning of the Emperors Reigns above mentioned but rather the contrary since Eusebius expresly tells us that Dioclesian was so far from persecuting that he favoured and employed the Christians in all Offices both Civil and Military till after the Persian War which was toward the latter end of his Reign Nor indeed could this Persecution have happened under the Vsurpations of Carausius and Allectus here in Britain seeing they were always engaged in defending themselves against the Roman Emperors and therefore could not be at leisure to persecute Men for Religion during such unsettled Times AND as for the Authority of these Martyrologies which this Author urges for the Truth of this Persecution viz. That they are some of them very Antient the Originals of them being about 900 Years old I doubt this will be so far from supporting their Credit that it will rather be instrumental to destroy it since it is very well known that it was about the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth Century that this trick of forging the Lives and Sufferings of Saints came first in Fashion and so was carried on
be uncertain yet between the Years 402 and 406 Pelagius a British Monk whose Welsh Name is supposed to have been Morgan as being of the same signification with the Latin Name of Pelagius broached his Heresie for absolute Free will without the assisting Grace of God which Opinion was afterwards condemned by divers Councils in France and Africa and was also confuted by St. Augustine About which times also flourished Festidus a learned Bishop if not an Arch-bishop of Britain who writ a Pious Treatise De Vita Beata and who by some late Romish Writers hath been accused of Pelagianism from which imputation he is justly vindicated by the said Reverend Dr. Stillingfleet in his above cited work Nor did this Island remain long free from this Pelagian Heresie for he having as it is supposed perverted divers of his Country-men abroad they afterward returning home brought it over and dispersed it here and was especially propagated by one Agricola the Son of Severian a Pelagian Bishop as Bede informs us who farther says that the Britains when they would by no means receive so perverse a Doctrine that blasphemes the grace of Christ nor yet were able by disputing to refute so settled an Errour they took a safer course to send for aid in this spiritual warfare from the Bishops of France for which cause a great Synod being there assembled it was proposed who was most fitting to be sent to succour the true Belief then assaulted when by the common votes of them all Germanus Bishop of Auxerre and Lupus Bishop of Troyes were chosen to go and confirm Britain in the Catholick Faith who when they had received the command of that Church passed the Sea and landed here though not without great danger from Storms which Bede supposes to be raised by the Devil and which he also says were to be lay'd by the Prayers of Bishop German as soon as they landed they were joyfully received both by the Clergy and People to whom they forthwith preached not only in the Churches but also in the High-ways and Streets whereby the Faithful Christians were confirmed and many Hereticks brought back to the Truth at which the Heads of the Heretical party being very much concern'd though they lay for a great while private yet at last fearing their silence would be interpreted as a quitting of their cause a publick disputation was agreed upon between them which was as some of our Authours relate at Verulam where the Hereticks appeared in a splendid garb and encompassed with a great number of Followers so that there met a great multitude of People on both sides to be as well Spectators as Judges where in the first place Germanus and Lupus allowed their Adversaries a full liberty of disputing which took up much time to little purpose then the Bishops with a Torrent of proofs drawn from the Holy Scriptures bore down all before them backing their Reasons with Divine Authorities whereby the Pelagians being non-plus'd had nothing to reply so that the People being the Judges could scarce refrain their Hands from them and testified their resentment by their great clamour against them Nor did these Bishops think this enough but as Bede further relates from one Constantius who lived within Fifty Years after this was done they thought fit likewise to confirm their Doctrine by Miracles for a certain Magistrate bringing his Daughter of Ten Years Old being Blind offer'd her to the Pelagians to be cured who refusing to undertake it the Bishops were desired to do it who as this Authour relates after Prayers to God restored the Girl to sight by the Application of certain Saints Relicts to her Eyes whereupon the People were so astonished that banishing all Errour from their Minds they followed the Doctrine of these Holy Bishops who it seems were not however very fond of these Relicts but as the same Authors have it opening the Tomb of St. Alban at Verulam buried them all therein to the intent that one Grave might contain the Bones of all those Saints collected from so many several Regions who being equal in merit the same Heaven had also received this done Germanus only took away in exchange a small lump of Earth which was yet stained with the Blood of the Martyr I shall pass over the rest of the real or pretended Miracles of these Bishops though related by Bede as being of less moment and come to that famous Victory which he from the same Authours relates to have been obtained by their means which was thus That not long after their coming the Picts and Saxons made a fierce Invasion upon the Britains who marching out against them and mistrusting their own Forces sent to Germanus and his Collegue to help them reposing more confidence in the Spiritual strength of those Two Holy Men than in their own Thousands so these Bishops being arrived their presence in the British Camp seem'd not less than if a whole Army had come to second them It was then the time of Lent and the People instructed by the daily Sermons of these Pastors came flocking to receive Baptism to which purpose a place in the Camp was made up of Green Boughs like a Church against the Day of the Lords Resurrection the Army being there Baptized march'd out to Fight and contemning the Defence of Arms only expected Divine assistance the Enemy hearing how they were imploy'd seem'd assured of the Victory when Germanus who also had intelligence of their approach undertook to be their Captain and riding out with some select Troops to discover what advantages the place might offer happen'd on a Valley encompassed with Hills through which the Enemy was to pass and placing there an ambush warned them that what words they heard him pronounce aloud the same they should all repeat with an universal shout the Enemy march'd on securely and German Thrice aloud cryed Halelujah which being answered by the Souldiers with a sudden noise and clamour was also much encreased by the Ecchoes from the Neighbouring Hills and Woods the Scots and Picts startled hereat and supposing it the shout of a Mighty Army flung down their Arms and fled and for hast many of them were drowned in that River they had newly passed The Victory thus obtained without fighting yielded the Britains great store of spoil and procured to Bishop German greater Authority and Reputation than before The place of this Fight is reported to have been near a Town called Guiderac in the British Tongue but in the English Mould in Flintshire and the place is called Maes German that is German's Field to this Day But there are two Objections to be made against the Truth of this Relation The first is how the Britains could fight against the Saxons before their arrival here under Aingist which was not till above Twenty Years after Secondly how the Britains who had been Christians for above Three Hundred Years should need to be new Baptized To the former of
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
Plunder and Spoil But of this we shall speak more in due time and shall now proceed in our History where we left off in our last Book Egbert the only surviving Prince of the Blood-Royal of the West Saxon Kings as great Nephew to Ina by his Brother Inegilds being arrived in England was now ordained King as Ethelwerd expressly terms his Election But since Asser in his Annals places this King 's coming to the Crown under Anno 802. as does Simeon of Durham and also Roger Howden from an Ancient piece of Saxon Chronologie inserted at the beginning of the first Book of his first part and this account being also proved by that great Master in Chronology the now Lord Bishop of Litchfield to be truer then that of the Saxon Annals or Ethelwerd by divers Proofs too long to be here Inserted I have made bold to put this King 's coming to the Crown two Years backwarder then it is in the last Book thô I confess the former Account in the Saxon Annals would have made a more exact Epocha Also about this time as appears from the ancient Register of St. Leonard's Abbey in York cited in Monast. Anglican viz. ' That Anno Dom. 800 Egbert King of all Britain in a Parliament at Winchester by the consent of his People changed the Name of this Kingdom and commanded it to be called England Now thô by the word Parliament here used it is certain that this Register was writ long after the Conquest yet it might be transcribed from some more ancient Monument since Will. of Malmesbury tells us of this King tho' without setting down the time that by the greatness of his Mind he reduced all the Varieties of the English Saxon Kingdoms to one uniform Empire or Dominion which he called England though others perhaps more truly refer it towards the latter end of his Reign as you will find when we come to it This Year Eardulf King of the Northumbers led his Army against Kenwulf King of Mercia for harbouring his Enemies who also gathering together a great Army they approached to each other when by the Advice of the Bishops and Noblemen of England as also by the Intercession of the chief King of the English by whom is meant King Egbert who then passed under that Title They agreed upon a lasting Peace which was also confirmed by Oath on both sides This we find in Simeon of Durham's History of that Church and in no other Authour About this time also St. Alburhe Sister to King Egbert founded a Benedictine Nunnery at Wilton which was long after rebuilt by King Alfred and augmented by King Edgar for Twenty Six Nuns and an Abbess The same Year the Moon was Eclipsed on the 13 Kal. Jan. and ' Beormod was Consecrated Bishop of Rochester About this time in Obedience to a Letter from Pope Leo III. who at the desire of Kenwulf King of the Mercians had Two Years since restored the See of Canterbury to its ancient Primacy was held the Third Synod at Cloveshoe by â—rch bishop Ethelward and 12 Bishops of his Province whereby the See of Canterbury was not only restored to all its ancient Rights and Priviledges but it was also forbid for all times to come upon Pain of Damnation if not repented of for any Man to violate the Rights of that ancient See and thereby to destroy the Unity of Christ's Holy Church then follow the Subscriptions of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and of 12 other Bishops of his Province together with those of many Abbots and Presbyters who never Subscribed before but without the Subcriptions of the King or any of the Lay Nobility Which plainly shews it to have been a meer Ecclesiastical Synod and no great Council of the Kingdom as you may see at large in Sir H. Spelman's 1 Vol of Councils the Decree of which Synod also shews that the Church of England did not then conceive the Authority of the People alone sufficient to disanul what had been solemnly Decreed in a great Council of the Kingdom as was the Removal of the Primacy from Canterbury to Litchfield The next Year According to our Annals Ethelheard Arch-bishop of Canterbury deceased and Wulfred was consecrated Arch-bishop in his stead and Forther the Abbot dyed The same Year also Deceased Higbald Bishop of Lindisfarne 8 o Kal Julii and Eegbert was Consecrated to that See 3 o Ides Junii ' This Year Wulfred the Arch bishop received his Pall. Cuthred King of Kent deceased as did also Ceolburh the Abbess and Heabyrnt the Ealdorman This Cuthred here mentioned was as Will. of Malmesbury informs us he whom Kenulph King of the Mercians hath made King of Kent instead of Ethelbert called Pren. This Year the Moon was Eclipsed on the Kal. of September and Eardwulf King of the Northumbers was driven from his Kingdom and Eanbryth Bishop of Hagulstad Deceased Also this Year 2 o Non Junii the sign of the Cross was seen in the Moon upon Wednesday in the Morning and the same Year on the Third Kal. Septemb. a wonderful Circle was seen round the Sun This Eardwulf above-mentioned is related by Simeon of Durham to have been the Son of Eardulf the first of that Name King of Northumberland and after Ten Years Reign to have been driven out by one Aelfwold who Reigned Two Years in his stead During these Confusions in the Northumbrian Kingdom Arch-Bishop Usher with great probability supposes in his Antiquitat Britan. Eccles. that the Picts and Scots Conquered the Countries of Galloway and Lothian as also those Countries called the Lowlands of Scotland as far as the Friths of Dunbritain and Edenburgh And that this City was also in the possession of the English Saxons about an Hundred Years after this I shall shew in due order of time and that our Kings did long after maintain their claim to Lothian shall be further shewn when I come to it But that all the Lowlands of Scotland as far as the English Saxon Tongue was spoken were anciently part of the Bernician Kingdom the English Language as well as the Names of places which are all English Saxon and neither Scotish nor Pictish do sufficiently make out The Sun was Eclipsed on the 7th Kal. of August about the Fifth Hour of the Day This Year as Sigebert in his Chronicle relates King Eardulph above-mentioned being expelled his Kingdom and coming for Refuge to the Emperour Charles the Great was by his Assistance restored thereunto but since neither the Saxon Annals nor Florence nor yet any of our English Historians do mention it I much doubt the Truth of this Relation thô it must be also acknowledged that it is inserted in the ancient French Annals of that time and recited that this King's Restitution was procured by the Intercession of the Pope's and Emperour's Legates who were sent into England for that purpose This Year according to Mat. Westminster Egbert King of the West
so that the Inhabitants giving them Hostages became subject to King Edward Afterwards marching farther they slew King Griffyth and brought his Head to Harold who placed another King there All this though done in the two following years is here related all at once But Simeon of Durham and Florence of Worcester are much more large in their Account of these Welsh Affairs which they give us under the following year viz. Griffyn Prince of Wales having by his frequent Inroads highly exasperated King Edward being then at Gloucester he after the Christmas Holidays from thence dispatch'd Earl Harold against him with a strong Party of Horse if possible to surprize him yet he got timely notice of his coming and by that means made a shift to escape but left behind him most of his Ships which the Earl taking commanded to be burnt and so returned into England But about Rogation Week Harold having got a Fleet in readiness he set sail from Bristol and compassing the greatest part of Wales joined himself to the Horse with which his Brother Tostige met him and did so much mischief in Wales that tho Prince Griffyn had mustered up an Army to oppose them yet the Welshmen being thus hard put to it at last yielded themselves to Earl Harold delivering up Hostages and consented to pay him Tribute and absolutely renounced Griffyth their Prince So that not long after Prince Griffyth being betrayed by his own People was by them murthered and his Head being cut off was sent to Earl Harold together with the Gilded Stern of his Ship all which the Earl immediately caused to be carried to the King Thus fell Griffyth ap Lhewelyn to whom the Welsh Chronicles give a Noble Character of a Valiant and Generous Prince who had been hitherto for the most part victorious in all his Undertakings till now he perished by the Treachery of his own Servants After this King Edward as Simeon of Durham relates made Blechen and Rithwalla whom the Welsh Chronicles call Blethyn and Rithwallen Joint-Princes of North-Wales being Half-Brethren to Griffyth the last Prince on the Mother's side as being Sons to Angharat Daughter to Meredyth Prince of Wales Florence of Worcester also adds That these Welsh Princes above-mentioned when they received from the King this Grant of North-Wales swore Fealty not only to Him but also to Earl Harold who it seems delivered it to them swearing to perform their Commands both by Sea and Land and to pay those Tributes which had been formerly paid to King Edward's Predecessors Which if true shews that Earl Harold was already adopted and declared Heir of the Crown But this being not found in our Annals nor in any other Historian I cannot pass my word for the Truth of it This year also according to the Annals the Northumbers took Arms against Tostige their Earl and slew as many of his Servants as they could lay hold on as well English as Danes they also seized upon all his Arms that were in York and his Treasure where ever they could find it and then sent for Earl Morchar the Son of Earl Aelfgar and chose him for their Earl who then marched Southward with all that Province as also all the men of Snotingaham Deorbie and Lincolnascires till they came even to Northamtune where his Brother Eadwin with all his Company met him But there Earl Harold came against them to whom they sent a Message which they desired might be conveyed to the King as also the Messengers by whom they besought to let them have Morchar for their Earl The King hereupon granting their Request afterwards sent Earl Harold to them to Hamtune at the Feast of St. Simon and Jude farther assuring them of it and he also at their request confirmed and renewed the Laws of King Cnute But the Northern men had done much damage to the Countrey about Hamtune whilst their Message was thus transacting for they slew their Men and burnt the Houses and Corn and took away several Thousand Head of Cattel together with some Hundreds of Men whom they carried Captives into the North-Parts so that this Country and the others adjacent felt the damage for many years after But Earl Tostige with his Wife and as many as were of their Party went over to Earl Baldwin where they tarried all that Winter The occasion of which Insurrection as Florence and Simeon of Durham inform us was this There was one Gospatrick a great Officer in Northumberland with whom Earl Tostige having a Quarrel his Sister Queen Edgitha caused him to be murthered at Court the Christmas before though this seems very unsuitable to the Meek and Pious Temper of this good Queen Yet however so much is certain That this Gospatrick being slain the Earl also killed in his own Lodgings two of his Friends viz. Gammel the Son of Orne and Vlf the Son of Dolphin having treacherously drawn them thither and had besides laid intolerable Impositions on the People all which so incensed them against him that three or four of the principal Thanes of that Countrey viz. Gammelbearne Dimstan the Son of Agelnoth and Gloincorn the Son of Eardulf with Four hundred Florence says Twenty thousand men in Arms entred York a little after Michaelmass and there first slew two of the Earl's Huisceorles i. e. Domestick Servants Amund and Ravensheart though fled out of the City and the day following above Two hundred more of his men on the North-side of the River Humber Tostige hereupon made loud Complaints to the King and at his Request Harold his Brother and others were appointed to take up the business but as they were going down into the North for this purpose the whole Countrey in a manner rose and met them at Northampton where as also afterwards at Oxford they strenuously refused to receive Earl Tostige and by no means would admit of a Reconciliation And so violent were they and resolute that after the Feast of All-Saints they caused both him and his Adherents to be banished the Land William of Malmesbury also adds the reason which the Northumbers gave to justify this their Rising viz. That they were Freemen born and as freely educated and that they would not endure the Insolence of an Earl for they had learned from their Ancestors to chuse either Liberty or Death In short if the King meant to have them still his Subjects he should set Earl Morchar over them and then he should soon find they could if kindly used willingly submit This was the most probable occasion of Tostige's Banishment Tho H. Huntington who lived after the Conquest and had heard many Tales of the Hatred which Earl Godwin's Sons bore to each other tells us another story of this matter viz. That as the King sate at Dinner at Windsor he commanded Earl Harold to serve him with the Cup Tostige his Brother being present and not able to endure that his younger Brother should be preferred before himself in the King 's very presence flew
with Archbishop Athelnoth to Rome and there clears himself before the Pope of what he had been accused l. 6. p. 53. Leotheta in French Judith Daughter of Charles the Bald King of the Franks Married to Ethelwulf King of the West-Saxons l. 5. p. 263. Places her by him on his Royal Throne but the Nation would not permit her to be called Queen for there was formerly a Law made against it upon account of a certain wicked Queen called Eadburga Wife to King Brythtric Id. p. 264. Lethard Bishop to Bertha Wife of Ethelbert King of Kent whom she brings over with her from France to assist and strengthen her in the Christian Faith l. 4. p. 153. Levatriae now Bows upon Standmore in Richmondshire l. 2. p. 74. Vid. Stanmore Leutherius or Lothair Bishop of Winchester l. 4. p. 192. Vid. Eleutherius A Grant of Lands from him to build the Abbey of Malmesbury Id. p. 195. Llewelin Prince of North-Wales surely mistastaken and put instead of Howel King of South-Wales l. 5. p. 328. Llewelin ap Sitsylt in Right of his Wife Prince of South-Wales l. 6. p. 27. Raises great Forces against Aedan ap Blegored the Usurper of his Countrey and in a bloody Battel Kills him with his Four Sons His Descent Id. p. 40. After Conan's Death he possesses himself of South-Wales and Governs both the Countries with great Peace and Prosperity Id. p. 51 52. Slain by Howel and Meredith the Sons of Prince Edwin or Owen Id. p. 53. Liblacum signifies the Art of Conjuration or Witchcraft that sort of it particularly called Fascination l. 5. p. 340. Licinius Priscus Propraetor or Lieutenant in this Island in Hadrian's time l. 2. p. 67. Lideford anciently called Hildaford l. 6. p. 26. Lising made Archbishop of Canterbury l. 6. p. 37. Deceases and who succeeds in his room Id. p. 51. Lightning such fell as the Age had never seen before it appeared as if the stars shot from Heaven l. 4. p. 224. l. 5. p. 261. Vid. Miracles and Prodigies Strange kind of Wild-Fire appeared such as none ever remembred and did a great deal of mischief l. 6. p. 56. Limene a River lying from the Eastern part of Kent as far as the East-end of that great Wood called Andred l. 5. p. 299. Lindisfarne an Isle and Episcopal See till that Church was destroyed by the Danes and then the See was removed to Durham l. 3. p. 144. Desired by Aidan of Oswald for his Episcopal See it is a Peninsula except when the Sea quite overflows that Neck of Land which joins it to England l. 4. p. 178 183. Ceolwulf professes himself a Monk in this Monastery who brought great Treasures and Revenues in Land to it Id. p. 223. Eadbert King of Northumberland causes the Cathedral Church to be besieged Id. p. 225. Lindisse the Danes landing at Humberstan spoil all that Countrey l. 4. p. 170. Lindissi now Lincoln l. 4. p. 175. Litchfield anciently called Licetfield l. 4. p. 217. Two Bishops ordained in this Diocess on the Death of Alwin Id. p. 223. Becomes an Archbishoprick the Bishops of the Provinces of the Kingdom of Mercia and the East-Angles subject to it obtained of the Pope by Offa Id. p. 229 233. The Archbishoprick confirm'd by a General Synod of the Kingdom Id. p. 233. Becomes again an ordinary Bishoprick subject to the See of Canterbury Id. p. 235. Living Abbot of Tavistock brings the Letter that Cnute wrote upon his Return from Rome and sent into England the Purport of which is there set down l. 6. p. 55. Succeeded in the Bishopricks of Worcester and Gloucester Id. p. 65. Is accused to King Hardecnute and deprived of his Bishoprick Id. p. 67. Living Bishop of Devonshire that is Exeter deceases and who succeeds him Id. p. 73. London said though without any ground of truth to be called by Brute Troja Nova which in time was changed to Trinobantum or Troynovant l. 1. p. 9. Mellitus made Bishop of London l. 4. p. 159 166. When it had been part of the East-Saxon Kingdom for above One hundred years Id. p. 177. When it suffered great mischief by Fire Id. p. 229. With a great Multitude of its Inhabitants consumed by a sudden Fire Id. p. 242. Taken by the Danes Three hundred of their Ships coming into the Mouth of Thames l. 5. p. 261. Tribute due from the King of Aberfraw to the King of London l. 5. p. 229. l. 6. p. 3. Taken from the Danes by King Alfred who repairs it l. 5. p. 288. The City miserably destroyed by Fire l. 6. p. 21. Besieged by the Danes but they were forced to draw off Id. p. 25. Always gave the Danes an ill Reception Id. p. 34. Becomes subject and gives Hostages to Sweyn the Dane Id. p. 38. Besieged by the Danish Forces both by Land and Sea but God delivers it from their fury Id. p. 46. Submits to the Danes as part of the Mercian Kingdom who take up their Winter-Quarters there Id. p. 48. The flourishing Trade and Wealth of it that in Cnute's time could pay above a seventh part of that excessive Tax of Danegelt which was laid on the whole Nation Id. p. 51. Lords to have none of the Intestate's Goods but what is due to them as a Heriot l. 6. p. 59. Lord's-Day if any Servant do then any work by his Master's order he shall be free and his Master fined Thirty Shillings but if he does it of his own accord he shall be beaten c. The Punishment of a Freeman or Priest that worketh on that day l. 4. p. 208 211. l. 5. p. 285. Strictly observed in the Saxon times l. 4. p. 209. No Market to be held on this day under Penalty of the Wares and a Mulct of Thirty Shillings besides by King Athelstan's twenty fourth Law l. 5. p. 341. Edgar's Law for keeping this day like the Jewish Sabbath l. 6. p. 13. Lord's-Prayer Vid. Creed Lothaire King of Kent his Death l. 4. p. 202. Lothair Nephew of Bishop Agelbert takes on him the Episcopal Charge over the West-Saxons l. 4. p. 192. Lothebroc descended from the Royal Family in Denmark the story of his coming hither into Norfolk and being killed by King Edmund's Huntsman the Body found out by his own Greyhound l. 5. p. 272 273. Lots none to be cast for deciding of Civil Controversies l. 4. p. 234. Lucius succeeds his Father Coil the Tributary King of the Britains is called Lees sirnamed by the Britains Lever-Maur that is the Great Light l. 2. p. 68. In the beginning of Commodus his Reign he sends to Eleutherius then Bishop of Rome desiring by his means to be made a Christian Id. p. 68 69. But the story seems to be of very suspicious credit Id. p. 69. His Conversion when it happened Ibid. Had Regal Authority under the Romans in some part of this Island Id. Ib. Lucullus Salustius Legate of Britain in the days of Domitian l. 2. p. 65. Ludgate received its name from King Lud