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ОглавлениеBede's Ecclesiastical History of England
A Revised Translation
With Introduction, Life, and Notes
By
A. M. Sellar
Late Vice-Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
London
George Bell and Sons
1907
Contents
Editor's Preface Introduction Life Of Bede Errata
Preface
Book I
Chap. I. Of the Situation of Britain and Ireland, and of their ancient inhabitants.
Chap. II. How Caius Julius Caesar was the first Roman that came into Britain.
Chap. III. How Claudius, the second of the Romans who came into Britain, brought the islands Orcades into subjection to the Ro-
man empire; and Vespasian, sent by him, reduced the Isle of Wight under the dominion of the Romans. Chap. IV. How Lucius, king of Britain, writing to Pope Eleutherus, desired to be made a Christian.
Chap. V. How the Emperor Severus divided from the rest by a rampart that part of Britain which had been recovered.
Chap. VI. Of the reign of Diocletian, and how he persecuted the Christians.
Chap. VII. The Passion of St. Alban and his companions, who at that time shed their blood for our Lord.
Chap. VIII. How, when the persecution ceased, the Church in Britain enjoyed peace till the time of the Arian heresy.
Chap. IX. How during the reign of Gratian, Maximus, being created Emperor in Britain, returned into Gaul with a mighty army. Chap. X. How, in the reign of Arcadius, Pelagius, a Briton, insolently impugned the Grace of God.
Chap. XI. How during the reign of Honorius, Gratian and Constantine were created tyrants in Britain; and soon after the former was
slain in Britain, and the latter in Gaul.
Chap. XII. How the Britons, being ravaged by the Scots and Picts, sought succour from the Romans, who coming a second time, built a wall across the island; but when this was broken down at once by the aforesaid enemies, they were reduced to greater distress than before.
Chap. XIII. How in the reign of Theodosius the younger, in whose time Palladius was sent to the Scots that believed in Christ, the
Britons begging assistance of AEtius, the consul, could not obtain it. [446 a.d.]
Chap. XIV. How the Britons, compelled by the great famine, drove the barbarians out of their territories; and soon after there en-
sued, along with abundance of corn, decay of morals, pestilence, and the downfall of the nation.
Chap. XV. How the Angles, being invited into Britain, at first drove off the enemy; but not long after, making a league with them,
turned their weapons against their allies.
Chap. XVI. How the Britons obtained their first victory over the Angles, under the command of Ambrosius, a Roman.
Chap. XVII. How Germanus the Bishop, sailing into Britain with Lupus, first quelled the tempest of the sea, and afterwards that of
the Pelagians, by Divine power. [429 a.d.]
Chap. XVIII. How the some holy man gave sight to the blind daughter of a tribune, and then coming to St. Alban, there received of his relics, and left other relics of the blessed Apostles and other martyrs. [429 a.d.]
Chap. XIX. How the same holy man, being detained there by sickness, by his prayers quenched a fire that had broken out among the houses, and was himself cured of his infirmity by a vision. [429 a.d.]
Chap. XX. How the same Bishops brought help from Heaven to the Britons in a battle, and then returned home. [430 a.d.]
Chap. XXI. How, when the Pelagian heresy began to spring up afresh, Germanus, returning to Britain with Severus, first restored bodily strength to a lame youth, then spiritual health to the people of God, having condemned or converted the Heretics. [447 a.d.]
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Chap. XXII. How the Britons, being for a time at rest from foreign invasions, wore themselves out by civil wars, and at the same time gave themselves up to more heinous crimes.
Chap. XXIII. How the holy Pope Gregory sent Augustine, with other monks, to preach to the English nation, and encouraged them by a letter of exhortation, not to desist from their labour. [596 a.d.]
Chap. XXIV. How he wrote to the bishop of Arles to entertain them. [596 a.d.]
Chap. XXV. How Augustine, coming into Britain, first preached in the Isle of Thanet to the King of Kent, and having obtained licence from him, went into Kent, in order to preach therein. [597 a.d.]
Chap. XXVI. How St. Augustine in Kent followed the doctrine and manner of life of the primitive Church, and settled his episcopal see in the royal city. [597 a.d.]
Chap. XXVII. How St. Augustine, being made a bishop, sent to acquaint Pope Gregory with what had been done in Britain, and asked and received replies, of which he stood in need. [597-601 a.d.]
Chap. XXVIII. How Pope Gregory wrote to the bishop of Arles to help Augustine in the work of God. [601 a.d.]
Chap. XXIX. How the same Pope sent to Augustine the Pall and a letter, along with several ministers of the Word. [601 a.d.]
Chap. XXX. A copy of the letter which Pope Gregory sent to the Abbot Mellitus, then going into Britain. [601 a.d.]
Chap. XXXI. How Pope Gregory, by letter, exhorted Augustine not to glory in his miracles. [601 a.d.] Chap. XXXII. How Pope Gregory sent letters and gifts to King Ethelbert. [601 a.d.]
Chap. XXXIII. How Augustine repaired the church of our Saviour, and built the monastery of the blessed Peter the Apostle; and concerning Peter the first abbot of the same.
Chap. XXXIV. How Ethelfrid, king of the Northumbrians, having vanquished the nations of the Scots, expelled them from the ter-
ritories of the English. [603 a.d.]
Book II
Chap. I. Of the death of the blessed Pope Gregory. [604 a.d.]
Chap. II. How Augustine admonished the bishops of the Britons on behalf of Catholic peace, and to that end wrought a heavenly miracle in their presence; and of the vengeance that pursued them for their contempt. [Circ. 603 a.d.]
Chap. III. How St. Augustine made Mellitus and Justus bishops; and of his death. [604 a.d.]
Chap. IV. How Laurentius and his bishops admonished the Scots to observe the unity of the Holy Church, particularly in keeping of
Easter; and how Mellitus went to Rome.
Chap. V. How, after the death of the kings Ethelbert and Sabert, their successors restored idolatry; for which reason, both Mellitus
and Justus departed out of Britain. [616 a.d.]
Chap. VI. How Laurentius, being reproved by the Apostle Peter, converted King Eadbald to Christ; and how the king soon recalled
Mellitus and Justus to preach the Word. [617-618 a.d.]
Chap. VII. How Bishop Mellitus by prayer quenched a fire in his city. [619 a.d.]
Chap. VIII. How Pope Boniface sent the Pall and a letter to Justus, successor to Mellitus. [624 a.d.]
Chap. IX. Of the reign of King Edwin, and how Paulinus, coming to preach the Gospel, first converted his daughter and others to the mysteries of the faith of Christ. [625-626 a.d.]
Chap. X. How Pope Boniface, by letter, exhorted the same king to embrace the faith. [Circ. 625 a.d.]
Chap. XI. How Pope Boniface advised the king's consort to use her best endeavours for his salvation. [Circ. 625 a.d.]
Chap. XII. How Edwin was persuaded to believe by a vision which he had once seen when he was in exile. [Circ. 616 a.d.]
Chap. XIII. Of the Council he held with his chief men concerning their reception of the faith of Christ, and how the high priest
profaned his own altars. [627 a.d.]
Chap. XIV. How King Edwin and his nation became Christians; and where Paulinus baptized them. [627 a.d.]
Chap. XV. How the province of the East Angles received the faith of Christ. [627-628 a.d.]
Chap. XVI. How Paulinus preached in the province of Lindsey; and of the character of the reign of Edwin. [Circ. 628 a.d.] Chap. XVII. How Edwin received letters of exhortation from Pope Honorius, who also sent the pall to Paulinus. [634 a.d.]
Chap. XVIII. How Honorius, who succeeded Justus in the bishopric of Canterbury, received the pall and letters from Pope Hono-
rius. [634 a.d.]
Chap. XIX. How the aforesaid Honorius first, and afterwards John, wrote letters to the nation of the Scots, concerning the observance of Easter, and the Pelagian heresy. [640 a.d.]
Chap. XX. How Edwin being slain, Paulinus returned into Kent, and had the bishopric of Rochester conferred upon him. [633 a.d.]
Book III
Chap. I. How King Edwin's next successors lost both the faith of their nation and the kingdom; but the most Christian King Oswald retrieved both. [633 a.d.]
Chap. II. How, among innumerable other miracles of healing wrought by the wood of the cross, which King Oswald, being ready to engage against the barbarians, erected, a certain man had his injured arm healed. [634 a.d.]
Chap. III. How the same king Oswald, asking a bishop of the Scottish nation, had Aidan sent him, and granted him an episcopal see in the Isle of Lindisfarne. [635 a.d.]
Chap. IV. When the nation of the Picts received the faith of Christ. [565 a.d.] Chap. V. Of the life of Bishop Aidan. [635 a.d.]
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Chap. VI. Of King Oswald's wonderful piety and religion. [635-642 a.d.]
Chap. VII. How the West Saxons received the Word of God by the preaching of Birinus; and of his successors, Agilbert and Leuthe-
rius. [635-670 a.d.]
Chap. VIII. How Earconbert, King of Kent, ordered the idols to be destroyed; and of his daughter Earcongota, and his kinswoman
Ethelberg, virgins consecrated to God. [640 a.d.]
Chap. IX. How miracles of healing have been frequently wrought in the place where King Oswald was killed; and how, first, a traveller's horse was restored and afterwards a young girl cured of the palsy. [642 a.d.]
Chap. X. How the dust of that place prevailed against fire. [After 642 a.d.]
Chap. XI. How a light from Heaven stood all night over his relics, and how those possessed with devils were healed by them. [679-
697 a.d.]
Chap. XII. How a little boy was cured of a fever at his tomb.
Chap. XIII. How a certain person in Ireland was restored, when at the point of death, by his relics.
Chap. XIV. How on the death of Paulinus, Ithamar was made bishop of Rochester in his stead; and of the wonderful humility of
King Oswin, who was cruelly slain by Oswy. [644-651 a.d.]
Chap. XV. How Bishop Aidan foretold to certain seamen that a storm would arise, and gave them some holy oil to calm it. [Between
642 and 645 a.d.]
Chap. XVI. How the same Aidan, by his prayers, saved the royal city when it was fired by the enemy [Before 651 a.d.]
Chap. XVII. How a prop of the church on which Bishop Aidan was leaning when he died, could not be consumed when the rest of the Church was on fire; and concerning his inward life. [651 a.d.]
Chap. XVIII. Of the life and death of the religious King Sigbert. [Circ. 631 a.d.]
Chap. XIX. How Fursa built a monastery among the East Angles, and of his visions and sanctity, to which, his flesh remaining un-
corrupted after death bore testimony. [Circ. 633 a.d.]
Chap. XX. How, when Honorius died, Deusdedit became Archbishop of Canterbury; and of those who were at that time bishops of the East Angles, and of the church of Rochester. [653 a.d.]
Chap. XXI. How the province of the Midland Angles became Christian under King Peada. [653 a.d.]
Chap. XXII. How under King Sigbert, through the preaching of Cedd, the East Saxons again received the faith, which they had before cast off. [653 a.d.]
Chap. XXIII. How Bishop Cedd, having a place for building a monastery given him by King Ethelwald, consecrated it to the Lord with prayer and fasting; and concerning his death. [659-664 a.d.]
Chap. XXIV. How when King Penda was slain, the province of the Mercians received the faith of Christ, and Oswy gave posses-
sions and territories to God, for building monasteries, as a thank offering for the victory obtained. [655 a.d.]
Chap. XXV. How the question arose about the due time of keeping Easter, with those that came out of Scotland. [664 a.d.]
Chap. XXVI. How Colman, being worsted, returned home; and Tuda succeeded him in the bishopric; and of the state of the church
under those teachers. [664 a.d.]
Chap. XXVII. How Egbert, a holy man of the English nation, led a monastic life in Ireland. [664 a.d.]
Chap. XXVIII. How, when Tuda was dead, Wilfrid was ordained, in Gaul, and Ceadda, among the West Saxons, to be bishops for the province of the Northumbrians. [664 a.d.]
Chap. XXIX. How the priest Wighard was sent from Britain to Rome, to be ordained archbishop; of his death there, and of the letters of the Apostolic Pope giving an account thereof. [667 a.d.]
Chap. XXX. How the East Saxons, during a pestilence, returned to idolatry, but were soon brought back from their error by the zeal
of Bishop Jaruman. [665 a.d.]
Book IV
Chap. I. How when Deusdedit died, Wighard was sent to Rome to receive the episcopate; but he dying there, Theodore was ordained
archbishop, and sent into Britain with the Abbot Hadrian. [664-669 a.d.]
Chap. II. How Theodore visited all places; how the Churches of the English began to be instructed in the study of Holy Scripture, and in the Catholic truth; and how Putta was made bishop of the Church of Rochester in the room of Damianus. [669 a.d.]
Chap. III. How the above-mentioned Ceadda was made Bishop of the province of Mercians. Of his life, death, and burial. [669 a.d.] Chap. IV. How Bishop Colman, having left Britain, built two monasteries in the country of the Scots; the one for the Scots, the other for the English whom he had taken along with him. [667 a.d.]
Chap. V. Of the death of the kings Oswy and Egbert, and of the synod held at the place Herutford, in which Archbishop Theodore
presided. [670-673 a.d.]
Chap. VI. How Wynfrid being deposed, Sexwulf received his bishopric, and Earconwald was made bishop of the East Saxons. [675
a.d.]
Chap. VII. How it was indicated by a light from heaven where the bodies of the nuns should be buried in the monastery of Be-
recingum. [675 a.d.?]
Chap. VIII. How a little boy, dying in the same monastery, called upon a virgin that was to follow him; and how another nun, at the point of leaving her body, saw some small part of the future glory. [675 a.d.?]
Chap. IX. Of the signs which were shown from Heaven when the mother of that community departed this life. [675 a.d.?]
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Chap. X. How a blind woman, praying in the burial-place of that monastery, was restored to her sight. [675 a.d.?] Chap. XI. How Sebbi, king of the same province, ended his life in a monastery. [694 a.d.]
Chap. XII. How Haedde succeeded Leutherius in the bishopric of the West Saxons; how Cuichelm succeeded Putta in the bishopric of the church of Rochester, and was himself succeeded by Gebmund; and who were then bishops of the Northumbrians. [673-681 a.d.]
Chap. XIII. How Bishop Wilfrid converted the province of the South Saxons to Christ. [681 a.d.]
Chap. XIV. How a pestilence ceased through the intercession of King Oswald. [681-686 a.d.]
Chap. XV. How King Caedwalla, king of the Gewissae, having slain Ethelwalch, wasted that Province with cruel slaughter and devas-
tation. [685 a.d.]
Chap. XVI. How the Isle of Wight received Christian inhabitants, and two royal youths of that island were killed immediately after
Baptism. [686 a.d.]
Chap. XVII. Of the Synod held in the plain of Haethfelth, Archbishop Theodore being president. [680 a.d.]
Chap. XVIII. Of John, the precentor of the Apostolic see, who came into Britain to teach. [680 a.d.]
Chap. XIX. How Queen Ethelthryth always preserved her virginity, and her body suffered no corruption in the grave. [660-696 a.d.]
Chap. XX. A Hymn concerning her.
Chap. XXI. How Bishop Theodore made peace between the kings Egfrid and Ethelred. [679 a.d.] Chap. XXII. How a certain captive's chains fell off when Masses were sung for him. [679 a.d.] Chap. XXIII. Of the life and death of the Abbess Hilda. [614-680 a.d.]
Chap. XXIV. That there was in her monastery a brother, on whom the gift of song was bestowed by Heaven. [680 a.d.]
Chap. XXV. Of the vision that appeared to a certain man of God before the monastery of the city Coludi was burned down. Chap. XXVI. Of the death of the Kings Egfrid and Hlothere. [684-685 a.d.]
Chap. XXVII. How Cuthbert, a man of God, was made bishop; and how he lived and taught whilst still in the monastic life. [685
a.d.]
Chap. XXVIII. How the same St. Cuthbert, living the life of an Anchorite, by his prayers obtained a spring in a dry soil, and had a crop from seed sown by the labour of his hands out of season. [676 a.d.]
Chap. XXIX. How this bishop foretold that his own death was at hand to the anchorite Herebert. [687 a.d.]
Chap. XXX. How his body was found altogether uncorrupted after it had been buried eleven years; and how his successor in the
bishopric departed this world not long after. [698 a.d.]
Chap. XXXI. Of one that was cured of a palsy at his tomb.
Chap. XXXII. Of one who was lately cured of a disease in his eye at the relics of St. Cuthbert. Book V
Chap. I. How Ethelwald, successor to Cuthbert, leading a hermit's life, calmed a tempest by his prayers when the brethren were in
danger at sea. [687-699 a.d.]
Chap. II. How Bishop John cured a dumb man by his blessing. [687 a.d.] Chap. III. How he healed a sick maiden by his prayers. [705 a.d.]
Chap. IV. How he healed a thegn's wife that was sick, with holy water.
Chap. V. How he likewise recalled by his prayers a thegn's servant from death.
Chap. VI. How, both by his prayers and blessing, he recalled from death one of his clerks, who had bruised himself by a fall.
Chap. VII. How Caedwalla, king of the West Saxons, went to Rome to be baptized; and his successor Ini, also devoutly journeyed to the same threshold of the holy Apostles. [688 a.d.]
Chap. VIII. How, when Archbishop Theodore died, Bertwald succeeded him as archbishop, and, among many others whom he ordained, he made the learned Tobias bishop of the church of Rochester. [690 a.d.]
Chap. IX. How the holy man, Egbert, would have gone into Germany to preach, but could not; and how Wictbert went, but because he availed nothing, returned into Ireland, whence he came. [Circ. 688 a.d.]
Chap. X. How Wilbrord, preaching in Frisland, converted many to Christ; and how his two companions, the Hewalds, suffered martyrdom. [690 a.d.]
Chap. XI. How the venerable Suidbert in Britain, and Wilbrord at Rome, were ordained bishops for Frisland. [692 a.d.]
Chap. XII. How one in the province of the Northumbrians, rose from the dead, and related many things which he had seen, some to be greatly dreaded and some to be desired. [Circ. 696 a.d.]
Chap. XIII. How another contrarywise before his death saw a book containing his sins, which was shown him by devils. [704-709
a.d.]
Chap. XIV. How another in like manner, being at the point of death, saw the place of punishment appointed for him in Hell. Chap. XV. How divers churches of the Scots, at the instance of Adamnan, adopted the Catholic Easter; and how the same wrote a book about the holy places. [703 a.d.]
Chap. XVI. The account given in the aforesaid book of the place of our Lord's Nativity, Passion, and Resurrection.
Chap. XVII. What he likewise wrote of the place of our Lord's Ascension, and the tombs of the patriarchs.
Chap. XVIII. How the South Saxons received Eadbert and Eolla, and the West Saxons, Daniel and Aldhelm, for their bishops; and of the writings of the same Aldhelm. [705 a.d.]
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Chap. XIX. How Coinred, king of the Mercians, and Offa, king of the East Saxons, ended their days at Rome, in the monastic habit;
and of the life and death of Bishop Wilfrid. [709 a.d.]
Chap. XX. How Albinus succeeded to the godly Abbot Hadrian, and Acca to Bishop Wilfrid. [709 a.d.]
Chap. XXI. How the Abbot Ceolfrid sent master-builders to the King of the Picts to build a church, and with them an epistle concerning the Catholic Easter and the Tonsure. [710 a.d.]
Chap. XXII. How the monks of Hii, and the monasteries subject to them, began to celebrate the canonical Easter at the preaching
of Egbert. [716 a.d.]
Chap. XXIII. Of the present state of the English nation, or of all Britain. [725-731 a.d.]
Chap. XXIV. Chronological recapitulation of the whole work: also concerning the author himself.
Continuation Index Footnotes
[pg v]
Editor's Preface
The English version of the "Ecclesiastical History" in the following pages is a revision of the translation of Dr. Giles, which is itself a revision of the earlier rendering of Stevens. In the present edition very considerable alterations have been made, but the work of Dr. Giles remains the basis of the translation. The Latin text used throughout is Mr. Plummer's. Since the edition of Dr. Giles appeared in 1842, so much fresh work on the subject has been done, and recent research has brought so many new facts to light, that it has been found necessary to rewrite the notes almost entirely, and to add a new introduction. After the appearance of Mr. Plummer's edition of the Historical Works of Bede, it might seem superfluous, for the present at least, to write any notes at all on the "Ecclesiastical History." The present volume, however, is intended to fulfil a different and much humbler function. There has been no attempt at any original work, and no new theories are advanced. The object of the book is merely to present in a short and convenient form the substance of the views held by trustworthy authorities, and it is hoped that it may be found useful by those students who have either no time or no inclination to deal with more important works.
Among the books of which most use has been made, are Mr. Plummer's edition of the "Ecclesiastical History," [pg vi] Messrs. Mayor and Lumby's edition of Books III and IV, Dr. Bright's "Early English Church History," and Dr. Hunt's "History of the English Church from its foundation to the Norman Conquest." Many of the articles in the "Dictionary of Christian Biography" and the "Dictionary of Christian Antiquities," Dr. Mason's "Mission of St. Augustine," Dr. Rhys's "Celtic Britain," and a number of other books, mentioned in the notes, have been consulted.
For help received in different ways I wish to express my gratitude to various correspondents and friends. I am particularly indebted to Mr. Edward Bell, who has kindly revised my proofs and made many valuable suggestions. For information on certain points I have to thank the Rev. Charles Plummer, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Professor Lindsay of St. Andrews University, Miss Wordsworth, Principal, and Miss Lodge, Vice-Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford; and in a very special sense I wish to
acknowledge my obligations to Miss Paterson, Assistant Librarian at the University Library, St. Andrews, whose unfailing kindness in verifying references, and supplying me with books, has greatly lightened my labours.
[pg xix] Introduction
There are, it has been estimated, in England and on the Continent, in all about 140 manuscripts of the "Ecclesiastical History." Of these, four date from the eighth century: the Moore MS. (Cambridge), so called, because, after being sold by auction in the reign of William III, it came into the possession of Bishop Moore, who bequeathed it to the University of Cambridge; Cotton, Tiberius A, xiv; Cotton, Tiberius C, ii; and the Namur MS. A detailed account of these, as well as of a great number of other manuscripts, will be found in Mr. Plummer's Introduction to his edition of Bede's Historical Works. He has been the first to collate the four oldest MSS., besides examining numerous others and collating them in certain passages. He has pointed out that two of the MSS. dating from the eighth century (the century in which Bede died), the Moore MS. and Cotton, Tiberius A, xiv, point to a common original which cannot be far removed from Bede's autograph. We are thus brought very near to our author, and may have more than in most cases the assurance that we have before us what he actually meant to say.
The earliest editions were printed on the Continent; the "editio princeps" is believed to date from 1475. A number of editions followed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; the first in England was published by Abraham Whelock at Cambridge in 1643-4. Smith's [pg xx] edition in 1722 marked a new era in the history of the book. It was the first critical edition, the text being based on the Moore MS. collated with three others, of which two were eighth century MSS.; and succeeding editors, Stevenson (1841), Giles (1842), Hussey (1846), the editor in the "Monumenta Historica Britannica" (1848), Moberly (1869), Holder (1882), base their work mainly on Smith's. Mr. Mayor and Mr. Lumby together edited Books III and IV with excellent notes in 1878. Their text "reproduces
5
exactly the Moore MS." which they collated with some other Cambridge MSS. (cf. Mayor and Lumby, Excursus II). In 1896 the Rev. C. Plummer published his edition of Bede's Historical Works, the first critical edition since Smith's, and "the very first which exhibits in an apparatus criticus the various readings of the MSS. on which the text is based." For the student of Bede this admirable book
is of the highest value, and the labours of all succeeding editors are made comparatively light. Besides the most minute and accurate work on the text, it contains a copious and interesting commentary and the fullest references to the various sources upon which the editor has drawn.
The first translation of the "Ecclesiastical History" is the Anglo-Saxon version, executed either by Alfred himself or under his immediate supervision. Of this version Dr. Hodgkin says: "As this book had become a kind of classic among churchmen, Alfred allowed himself here less liberty than in some of his other translations. Some letters, epitaphs, and similar documents are omitted, and there
is an almost complete erasure of the chapters relating to the wearisome Paschal controversy. In other respects the king's translation seems to be a fairly accurate reproduction of the original work." Mr. Plummer, however, finds it "very rarely available for the settlement of minute differences of reading."
[pg xxi]
The first modern English translation is Thomas Stapleton's (1565), published at Antwerp. It is a controversial work, intended to point out to Queen Elizabeth "in how many and weighty pointes the pretended refourmers of the Church ... have departed from the patern of that sounde and Catholike faith planted first among Englishmen by holy S. Augustin, our Apostle, and his vertuous company, described truly and sincerely by Venerable Bede, so called in all Christendom for his passing vertues and rare lerning, the
Author of this History." To save Elizabeth's time "in espying out the particulars," the translator has "gathered out of the whole History a number of diversities between the pretended religion of Protestants and the primitive faith of the english Church." If charm and appropriateness of style were the only qualities to be aimed at in a translation, we might well content ourselves with this rendering, which fills with despair the translator of to-day, debarred by his date from writing Elizabethan English.
The work was again translated by John Stevens (1723), and a third time (with some omissions) by W. Hurst in 1814. In 1840 Dr. Giles published a new edition of Stevens's translation with certain alterations; and a second edition of the same volume was published in 1842, and incorporated in the collected works of Bede, edited by Dr. Giles. In 1870 a literal translation by the Rev. L. Gidley was published. The present volume is a revision of the translation of Dr. Giles.
A brief analysis of the work may be of some use to the student in keeping distinct the different threads of the narrative, as owing to the variety of subjects introduced, and the want of strict chronological order, it is difficult to grasp the sequence of events as a coherent whole.
The sources from which Bede draws his material are [pg xxii] briefly indicated in the dedication to King Ceolwulf which forms the Preface, and in it he acknowledges his obligations to the friends and correspondents who have helped and encouraged him. For the greater part of Book I (cc. 1-22), which forms the introduction to his real subject, he depends on earlier authors. Here he does not specify his sources, but indicates them generally as priorum scripta. These authors are mainly Pliny, Solinus, Orosius, Eutropius, and the British historian Gildas. In the story of Germanus and Lupus he follows closely the Life of Germanus by Constantius of Lyons. Prosper of Aquitaine also supplies him with some materials. When he comes to his main subject, the History of the English Church, he appears to rely but little upon books. Only a very few are referred to here and there, e.g., The Life of St. Fursa, The Life of St. Ethelburg, Adamnan's work on the Holy Places, and the Anonymous Life of St. Cuthbert. That some form of annalistic records existed before his time, and that these were consulted by him, we may infer from some of his chronological references (cf. iii, 1, 9). Local information with regard to provinces other than Northumbria he obtains from his correspondents in various parts of England, and these are expressly mentioned in the Preface.
For the history of the Roman mission and of Kent generally, as well as some particulars with regard to the conversion of other provinces, his chief source is the Church of Canterbury, which apparently possessed, besides oral tradition, written documents relating to the first beginnings of the Church. Moreover, Nothelm, who was the bearer of much important material, had been to Rome and had permission to search the papal archives. But it is in dealing with the history of Northumbria, as is natural, that Bede's information is most varied and copious. Much of it is apparently obtained directly from [pg xxiii] eye-witnesses of the events, much would doubtless be preserved in the records of the Church of Lindisfarne, to which he had access, perhaps also in his own monastery. We know that the monasteries kept calendars in which the death-days of saints and others were entered, and other records of similar nature (cf. iv, 14), and that these were used as materials for history.
Passing to the history itself, we may trace a division of subjects or periods roughly analogous to the division into books. Book I contains the long introduction, the sending of the Roman mission, and the foundation of the Church; Books II and III, the period of missionary activity and the establishment of Christianity throughout the land. Book IV may be said to describe the period of organization. In Book V the English Church itself becomes a missionary centre, planting the faith in Germany, and drawing the Celtic
6
Churches into conformity with Rome.
Book I.--In Book I, cc. 1-22, Bede sketches the early history of Britain, describing the country and giving some account of the various races by whom it was inhabited. The story of the Roman occupation is narrated at some length, the invasions of the Picts and Scots and consequent miseries of the Britons, their appeals for help to the Romans, the final departure of their protectors, and the coming of the Saxons are described. We have some shadowy outlines of British Church History in the legendary account of
the conversion of King Lucius, in the story of St. Alban, affording evidence of a great persecution of Christians during the Roman occupation, in the allusions to the Arian and Pelagian heresies, and in the mission of Germanus and Lupus. A brief allusion to the mission of Palladius is all that we hear of the Irish Church at this period.
These chapters are introductory to the main subject, the History of the English Church, which begins in [pg xxiv] Chapter 23 with the mission of St. Augustine in 597 a.d. The reception of the Christian faith in the kingdom of Kent and the foundation of a national Church occupy the remaining chapters of the book. Various letters of Pope Gregory relating to the mission and his answers to the questions of Augustine are given at length; and the Book concludes with a piece of Northumbrian history, Ethelfrid's conquests of the Britons and the defeat of Aedan, king of the Dalriadic Scots, at Degsastan in 603 a.d.
Book II.--Book II opens with a biographical sketch of Gregory the Great, the founder of the Mission. This is followed by an account of Augustine's negotiations with the leaders of the British Church with regard to the Paschal question and some other matters, his failure to win them over (a failure apparently largely due to his own want of tact in dealing with the susceptible Celtic temperament), his alleged prophecy of disaster and its fulfilment some time after at the battle of Chester. Then we have the consecration
of Mellitus to London, as Bishop of the East Saxons, and Justus to Rochester (604 a.d.); the evangelization of the East Saxons by
Mellitus; the death of Augustine and succession of Laurentius as Archbishop (no date is given; it may have been in 605); fresh attempts at union with the Celtic Churches, in which again we can perceive a failure of courtesy on the one side met by an obstinate pride on the other. The death of Ethelbert in Kent (616 a.d.) and that of Sabert in Essex, soon after, lead to a pagan reaction in both provinces; Mellitus and Justus take refuge on the Continent; Laurentius, intending to follow them, is stopped by a vision which leads to the conversion of King Eadbald and the recovery of Kent for Christianity. Essex, however, continues to be pagan. On the death
of Laurentius (619 a.d.), Mellitus succeeds to Canterbury and is himself succeeded by Justus (in 624). In Chapter 9 we enter upon a new development of the highest importance in the work of the mission. The marriage of Edwin, king of Northumbria, and the Kentish princess, Ethelberg, brings about the conversion of Northumbria [pg xxv] through the preaching of Paulinus. The story is told in detail. Letters from Pope Boniface to Edwin and his consort are quoted at length, Edwin's early history with its bearing on the great crisis of his life is related; finally we have the decisive debate in the Witenagemot at Goodmanham and the baptism of the king at Easter, 627 a.d. Through the influence of Edwin on Earpwald, king of East Anglia, that province is next converted, but on the death of Earpwald the people lapse into paganism for three years, till Christianity is finally established by the labours of Bishop Felix, under the enlightened King Sigbert, who had himself been drawn to the faith in Gaul.
Meanwhile, peace and prosperity reign in Northumbria, and Paulinus extends his preaching to Lindsey. He re-receives the pall from Pope Honorius, in accordance with the original intention of Gregory that the Bishop of York should rank as a metropolitan. At Canterbury, Justus is succeeded by Archbishop Honorius. Parenthetically we have extracts from letters, probably of the year 640 a.d., addressed by the Roman see to the Irish clergy on the Paschal question and the Pelagian heresy.
In Chapter 20 we have a dramatic climax to the book in the overthrow and death of Edwin at the battle of Hatfield in 633 a.d.; the devastation of Northumbria by the British king, Caedwalla, and Penda of Mercia; and the flight of Paulinus, taking with him Ethelberg and Eanfled to Kent, where he ends his life in charge of the Church of Rochester. His work in Northumbria seems for the time, at least, wholly overthrown. Only James the Deacon remains heroically at his post to keep alive the smouldering embers of the faith.
Book III.--Book III opens with the story of the apostasy of the Northumbrian kings and the miseries of the "Hateful Year," terminated by the victory of Oswald at Heavenfield in 634 a.d. Christianity is brought again to Northumbria (635 a.d.) by the Celtic Mission, sent from Iona at the request of Oswald, who nobly co-operates with Aidan in the work of evangelization. Aidan fixes his see
at Lindisfarne. The mention of Iona leads to a short account of the mission of St. Columba to the [pg xxvi] Northern Picts in 565 a.d., and incidentally of St. Ninian's mission to the Southern Picts "long before"; the grant of Iona to St. Columba, and its constitution, the character of its monks and their error with regard to Easter. The characters of Aidan and Oswald are described; and the union of Deira and Bernicia under Oswald is briefly mentioned.
In Chapter 7 we pass to a fresh missionary enterprise. Birinus, sent to Britain by Pope Honorius, converts the West Saxons. Their king, Cynegils, is baptized, and a see is established at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire. Under Coinwalch, the successor of Cynegils, the province passes through various vicissitudes, political and ecclesiastical, and finally the West Saxon see is fixed at Winchester.
7
In Kent, Earconbert succeeds Eadbald in 640 a.d., and takes vigorous measures for the suppression of idolatry. His daughter, Earcongota, and many other high-born English ladies enter the religious life in Gaul, for convents are still scarce in England.
In Chapter 9, reverting to the history of Northumbria, Bede tells us of the death of Oswald at Maserfelth in 642, and relates at length various miracles wrought by his relics. Oswald is succeeded by Oswy in Bernicia and in Deira by Oswin. The latter is treacherously murdered by Oswy; his character is described. The death of Aidan (in 651) immediately follows that of his beloved king; Aidan's miracles are related, and a warm tribute is paid to his character, in spite of the inevitable error with regard to Easter, which is severely condemned.
In Chapter 18, passing again to East Anglian history, we hear of King Sigbert's services to education, and of his retirement to a monastery from which he was forcibly drawn to fall in battle against the Mercians. (The chronology is here very vague.) A vision of the Irish St. Fursa, who founded the monastery of Cnobheresburg in East Anglia is told in detail. Changes in the episcopate in East Anglia and elsewhere are mentioned. Deusdedit succeeds Honorius as Archbishop of Canterbury in 654.
Again, a Northumbrian prince gives a fresh impulse to the spread of Christianity. In 653 the Middle Angles [pg xxvii] (who occupied a part of Mercia) are converted, their prince, Peada, being persuaded chiefly by his brother-in-law, Alchfrid, a son of Oswy. Four priests are sent to them to preach and baptize, Cedd, Adda, Betti, and Diuma, and Diuma becomes bishop of the Middle Angles and Mercians. Similarly, at this time, King Sigbert of Essex listens to the exhortations of his friend, King Oswy, and, at the preaching
of Cedd, the East Saxons receive the faith a second time. Cedd becomes their bishop. Sigbert's tragic death is related. His successor, Suidhelm, receives baptism at the hands of Cedd. The foundation of Lastingham by Ethelwald of Deira and its consecration by Cedd are described. Cedd dies of the plague of 664.
Meanwhile, important political changes have taken place in the north: the defeat and death of Penda at the Winwaed in 655 are followed by Oswy's rule, which established Christianity in Mercia, in spite of a successful rebellion after three years, when the Mercians threw off the yoke of Northumbria and set up Penda's son, Wulfhere, as their king.
In Chapter 25 we come to the Synod of Whitby (664 a.d.), which settled the Easter question for the English Church. Wilfrid comes to the front as a champion of the Catholic rules. The opposing party either retire or conform. The self-denial and devotion of the Celtic missionaries are highly praised, and some account of the life led by English students in Ireland follows, with the story of the self-dedication of Egbert, who is destined to play a prominent part afterwards in the history of the Church.
The consecration of both Wilfrid and Ceadda (664 a.d.), as bishops of Northumbria leads to complications in the episcopate. An important step towards the unity of the English nation in ecclesiastical matters is taken when Wighard is sent to Rome by the kings Oswy and Egbert, acting in concert, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury (667 a.d.). Wighard dies there, and Pope Vitalian undertakes to find an archbishop for the English Church.
[pg xxviii]
The book ends with a fresh apostasy in Essex during the miseries of the great plague of 664. Mercia, so lately itself evangelized, becomes a new missionary centre, King Wulfhere sending Bishop Jaruman to recall the East Saxons to the faith.
Book IV.--In all but one of the kingdoms of England Christianity is now, at least in name, established, and the Church settles down to the work of organization. The man for this task is found in Theodore of Tarsus, consecrated Archbishop of the English in 668. He arrives at Canterbury in 669. We hear at once of the vigorous impulse given by him and Abbot Hadrian to the various depart-ments of education there. Finding an irregularity in Ceadda's orders, he completes his ordination and makes him Bishop of the Mercians (probably in 669), with his see at Lichfield. Ceadda's death (672 a.d.), his character, and the miracles and visions connected with him are described. Parenthetically we get an account of Colman's activity in Ireland after his retirement, in consequence of the decision at Whitby. The most important political events at this time are the death of Oswy and succession of Egfrid in Northumbria in 670 or 671, and the death of Egbert and succession of Hlothere in Kent in 673.
In the same year the Council of Hertford, the first English provincial council, is held, and marks the strength and independence
of the Church. Theodore proceeds with his reforms in the episcopate. Various events of ecclesiastical importance follow; the East
Anglian diocese is divided about this time, and other changes are effected.
Essex, so long prone to lapses into paganism, becomes at this time a centre of religious life under its Bishop Earconwald and its king Sebbi. Earconwald, whose holiness is attested by many miraculous circumstances, was the founder of the monasteries of Chertsey and Barking, the latter of which was ruled by his sister, the saintly Ethelburg. Various miracles are related in connection with her and her monastery. The king of the East Saxons, Sebbi, is a man of unusual piety who resigns his kingdom and receives the tonsure.
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[pg xxix]
After a brief allusion to West Saxon history, the devastation of Kent by Ethelred of Mercia in 676, and certain changes in the episcopate, we come to an important step in the organization of the Church taken by Theodore. In pursuance of his policy of increasing the number of bishops, he subdivides the great Northumbrian diocese. Wilfrid is expelled (678 a.d.). From these events we pass summarily to the evangelization of the South Saxons by Wilfrid, who extends his labours to the Isle of Wight, and thus the last of
the English provinces is won for the faith.
In the Council of Hatfield (680 a.d.) the English Church asserts its orthodoxy and unites with the continental Churches in repudiat-ing the heresy of the Monothelites. Turning to Northumbrian history, we have the story of Egfrid's queen, Ethelthryth, and a hymn composed in her honour by Bede. The war between Mercia and Northumbria in 679 is ended by the mediation of Theodore, and a miracle in connection with the battle of the Trent is related.
The remainder of the book is occupied mainly with Northumbrian history, the life and death of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, the story of the poet Caedmon, the destruction of Coldingham, prophesied by the monk Adamnan, Egfrid's invasion of Ireland (684 a.d.) and of the country of the Picts (685 a.d.), his defeat and death in that year, the decline of Northumbria, the flight of Bishop Trumwine from Abercorn, and the succession of Aldfrid to the kingdom. The death of Hlothere of Kent (685 a.d.) is followed by anarchy in that province, till Wictred succeeds and restores peace.
In Chapters 27-32 we have an account of the life of St. Cuthbert and stories of the miracles wrought by his relics.
Book V.--Book V opens with the story of the holy Ethelwald, who succeeded Cuthbert as anchorite at Farne, and a miracle wrought through his intercession. This is followed (cc. 2-6) by an account of John of Beverley, Bishop of Hexham, and the miracles attributed to him. In Chapter 7 we have a piece of West Saxon [pg xxx] history: Caedwalla, King of Wessex, after a life of war and bloodshed, goes to Rome to receive baptism there, and dies immediately after his admission into the Church (689 a.d.). He is succeeded by Ini, who in 725 likewise ended his days at Rome.
In 690 Theodore dies, after an episcopate of twenty-two years. Bertwald succeeds him at Canterbury in 693.
At this time Englishmen begin to extend their missionary enterprise abroad. Various missions are undertaken by men who have lived long in Ireland and caught the Celtic zeal for the work of evangelization. The story is told of the attempted mission of Egbert to Germany and the unsuccessful venture of Witbert. Wilbrord (in 690) and others plant the faith among the German tribes.
The vision of Drythelm is inserted here, probably on chronological grounds ("his temporibus"), and other visions of the future
world follow.
Apparently about the same time a change is effected in the attitude of the greater part of the Celtic Church towards the Paschal question. The Northern Irish are converted to the Roman usages by Adamnan, Abbot of Iona, whose book on the "Holy Places" is here described (cc. 16-17).
The death of Aldfrid and succession of Osred in Northumbria in 705 are the next events narrated.
About this time the division of the West Saxon diocese is carried out, Aldhelm being appointed to Sherborne and Daniel to Winchester; the South Saxons receive a bishop of their own for the first time. In 709 a.d. Coenred of Mercia and Offa of Essex receive the tonsure at Rome, and in the same year Bishop Wilfrid dies. The story of his life is told.
Not long after, Hadrian dies and is succeeded by Albinus as Abbot of St. Augustine's. Bede's friend, Acca, succeeds Wilfrid as Bishop
of Hexham. His services to the Church are enumerated.
An important step is taken at this time by the Northern Picts in the acceptance of the Roman rules with regard to Easter and the tonsure. The letter of Abbot Ceolfrid of Wearmouth and Jarrow to the Pictish king Naiton [pg xxxi] on this subject is quoted at length. Soon after, Iona yields to the preaching of Egbert, and receives the Catholic usages. Egbert dies in 729. In Chapter 23 a num-ber of events are briefly mentioned; the death of Wictred of Kent in 725, and the succession of his sons, the death of the learned Tobias, Bishop of Rochester, in 726, the appearance of two comets in 729, followed by the devastation of Gaul by the Saracens, the death of the Northumbrian king Osric, and succession of Ceolwulf in 729; finally, the death of Archbishop Bertwald in 731 and
the succession of Tatwine. Then follows an account of the state of the English episcopate in 731, the year in which Bede finished the History. The relations of the English with Picts, Scots, and Britons are described, and some allusion is made to the growth of monasticism in this time of external peace.
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The book closes in Chapter 24 with a chronological summary of the whole work, an autobiographical sketch of the author, and a list
of his works.
[pg xxxiii]
Life Of Bede
Few lives afford less material for the biographer than Bede's; few seem to possess a more irresistible fascination. Often as the simple story has been told, the desire to tell it afresh appears to be perennial. And yet it is perhaps as wholly devoid of incident as any life could be. The short autobiographical sketch at the end of the "Ecclesiastical History" tells us practically all: that he was born in the territory of the twin monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow; that at the age of seven he was sent by his kinsfolk to be brought up, first under the Abbot Benedict, afterwards under Ceolfrid; that in his nineteenth year (the canonical age was twenty-five) he was admit-
ted to the diaconate, and received priest's orders in his thirtieth year, in both instances at the hands of John, Bishop of Hexham,
and by order of the Abbot Ceolfrid; that he spent his whole life in the monastery in learning, in teaching, and in writing, and in the observance of the monastic rule and attendance at the daily services of the Church. Of his family we know nothing; the name Beda appears to have been not uncommon. The fact that he was handed over by kinsmen ("cura propinquorum") to Abbot Benedict would seem to imply that he was an orphan when he entered the monastery at the age of seven, but it was not unusual for parents to dedicate their infant children to the religious life, in many cases even at an earlier age than Bede's. We may compare the story of the little boy, Aesica, at Barking, related by Bede, and of Elfled, the daughter of Oswy, dedicated by her father before she was a year old.
[pg xxxiv]
The epithet "Venerable," commonly attached to his name, has given rise to more than one legend. It was apparently first applied to him in the ninth century, and is said to have been an appellation of priests. The best known of these legends is Fuller's story of a certain "dunce monk" who set about writing Bede's epitaph, and being unable to complete the verse, "Hic sunt in fossa Bedae ...
ossa," went to bed with his task unfinished. Returning to it in the morning, he found that an angel had filled the gap with the word "venerabilis." Another account tells how Bede, in his old age, when his eyes were dim, was induced by certain "mockers" to preach, under the mistaken belief that the people were assembled to hear him. As he ended his sermon with a solemn invocation of the Trinity, the angels (in one version it is the stones of a rocky valley) responded "Amen, very venerable Bede."
The land on which Bede was born was granted by Egfrid to Benedict Biscop for the foundation of the monasteries a short time after the birth of Bede. Wearmouth was founded in 674, Jarrow in 681 or 682. Bede was among those members of the community who were transferred to Jarrow under Abbot Ceolfrid, and under his rule and that of his successor, Huaetbert, he passed his life. With regard to the chief dates, the authorities differ, Simeon of Durham and others placing his birth as late as 677. Bede himself tells us that he was in his fifty-ninth year when he wrote the short autobiography at the end of the History. That work was finished in 731, and there seems to be no good reason to suppose that the autobiographical sketch was written at a later time. We may infer then
that he was born in 673, that he was ordained deacon in 691 and priest in 702. For his death, 735, the date given in the "Continua-
tion," seems to be supported by the evidence of the letter of Cuthbert to Cuthwin (v. infra). From this it appears that he died on a Wednesday, which nevertheless is called Ascension Day, implying, doubtless, that his death occurred on the eve, after the festival had begun, according to ecclesiastical reckoning. It is further explained [pg xxxv] that Ascension Day was on the 26th of May ("VII Kal. Junii"),1 which was actually the case in the year 735.
Beyond the testimony borne to his exceptional diligence as a student in a letter from Alcuin to the monks of Wearmouth and Jar-row, we hear nothing of his childhood and early youth. One anecdote in the Anonymous History of the Abbots may perhaps refer to him, though no name is given. It tells how, when the plague of 686 devastated the monastery, the Abbot Ceolfrid, for lack of fit persons to assist at the daily offices, decided to recite the psalms without antiphons, except at vespers and matins. But after a week's trial, unable to bear it any longer, he restored the antiphons to their proper place, and with the help of one little boy carried on the
services in the usual manner. This little boy is described as being, at the time the History was written, a priest of that monastery who
"duly, both by his words and writings, commends the Abbot's praiseworthy deeds to all who seek to know them," and he has generally been supposed to be Bede.
In the "Ecclesiastical History" (IV, 3) there is an allusion to Bede's teachers, one of whom, Trumbert, educated at Lastingham under Ceadda, is mentioned by name. The monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow must have offered exceptional facilities for study. Benedict had enriched it with many treasures which he brought with him from his travels. Chief among these was the famous library which he founded and which was enlarged by Abbot Ceolfrid. Here Bede acquired that wide and varied learning revealed in his historical, sci-entific, and theological works. He studied with particular care and reverence the patristic writings; his theological treatises were, as he says, "compiled out of the works of the venerable Fathers." He must have had a considerable [pg xxxvi] knowledge of Greek, probably he knew some Hebrew. Though he is not wholly free from the mediaeval churchman's distrust of pagan authors, he constantly betrays his acquaintance with them, and the sense of form which must unconsciously influence the student of classical literature has passed into his own writings and preserved him from the barbarism of monkish Latin. His style is singularly clear, simple, and fluent,
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as free from obscurity as from affectation and bombast.
Thus was the foundation laid of that sound learning upon which his widespread influence both as a teacher and writer was reared. "I
always took delight," he tells us, "in learning, or teaching, or writing." Probably his writing was, as is so often the case, the outcome of his teaching; his object in both is to meet "the needs of the brethren." One of his pupils was Archbishop Egbert, the founder
of the school of York, which gave a fresh impulse to learning, not only in England, but through Alcuin in France, at a time when a revival was most to be desired.
It was to Egbert that he paid one of the only two visits which he records. In the "Epistola ad Ecgbertum" he alludes to a short stay he had made with him the year before, and declines, on account of the illness which proved to be his last, an invitation to visit him again. He visited Lindisfarne in connection with his task of writing the life of Cuthbert. Otherwise we have no authentic record of any absence from the monastery. The story that he went to Rome at the request of Pope Sergius, founded on a statement of William of Malmesbury, is now regarded as highly improbable. The oldest MS. of the letter of Sergius, requesting Ceolfrid to send one of
his monks to Rome, has no mention of the name of Bede. If such an event had ever disturbed his accustomed course of life, it is
inconceivable that he should nowhere allude to it. Still less is the assertion that he lived and taught at Cambridge one which need be
seriously debated by the present generation.
We may fairly assume that, except for a few short absences such as the visits to York and Lindisfarne, his [pg xxxvii] whole life was spent in the monastery. It must have been a life of unremitting toil. His writings, numerous as they are, covering a wide range of subjects and involving the severest study, can only have been a part of his work; he had, besides, his duties as priest, teacher, and member of a religious community to fulfil. Even the manual labour of his literary work must have been considerable. He did not employ an amanuensis, and he had not the advantages with regard to copyists which a member of one of the larger monaster-
ies might have had. "Ipse mihi dictator simul notarius (= shorthand writer) et librarius (= copyist)," he writes. Yet he never flags. Through all the outward monotony of his days his own interest remains fresh. He "takes delight" ("dulce habui") in it all. It is a life full of eager activity in intellectual things, of a keen and patriotic interest in the wider life beyond the monastery walls, which shows itself sadly enough in his reflections on the evils of the times, of the ardent charity which spends itself in labour for the brethren, and, pervading the whole, that spirit of quiet obedience and devotion which his own simple words describe as "the observance of monastic rule and the daily charge of singing in the Church." We can picture him, at the appointed hours, breaking off his absorbing occupations to take his place at the daily offices, lest, as he believed, he should fail to meet the angels there. Alcuin records a saying
of his, "I know that angels visit the canonical hours and the congregations of the brethren. What if they do not find me among the brethren? May they not say, 'Where is Bede?' "
It is probably here, in this harmony of work and devotion, that we may find the secret of the fascination in the record of his un-eventful days. It reconciles the sharp antithesis between the active and the contemplative life. It seems to attain to that ideal of "toil unsever'd from tranquillity" which haunts us all, but which we have almost ceased to associate with the life of man under present conditions. Balance, moderation, or rather, that rare quality which has been well called "the sanity of [pg xxxviii] saintliness,"2 these give a unity to the life of Bede and preserve him from the exaggerations of the conventual ideal. With all his admiration for the ascetic life, he recognizes human limitations. It is cheering to find that even he felt the need of a holiday. "Having completed," he writes, "the third book of the Commentary on Samuel, I thought I would rest awhile, and, after recovering in that way my delight
in study and writing, proceed to take in hand the fourth." Intellectual power commands his homage, but his mind is open to the appreciation of all forms of excellence. It is the unlearned brother, unfit for study and occupied in manual labour, to whom, in his story, it is vouchsafed to hear the singing of the angels who came to summon Ceadda to his rest. The life of devotion ranks highest in his estimation, but he records with approval how St. Cuthbert thought "that to afford the weak brethren the help of his exhortation stood in the stead of prayer, knowing that He Who said 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,' said likewise, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' " He tells us how St. Gregory bewailed his own loss in being forced by his office to be entangled in worldly affairs. "But," adds the human-hearted biographer, "it behoves us to believe that he lost nothing of his monastic perfection by reason of his pastoral charge, but rather that he gained greater profit through the labour of converting many, than by the former calm of his private life." Yet he holds that this immunity from the evil influence of the world was chiefly due to Gregory's care in organizing
his house like a monastery and safeguarding the opportunities for prayer and devotional study, even while he was immersed in affairs at the court of Constantinople, and afterwards, when he held the most onerous office in the Church.
This quality of sanity shows itself again in an unusual degree of fairness to opponents. The Paschal error, indeed, moves his indigna-tion in a manner which is incomprehensible [pg xxxix] and distasteful to the modern reader, but even in the perverse and erring Celts he can recognize "a zeal of God, though not according to knowledge." Aidan's holiness of life wins from him a warm tribute of admiration. In the monks of Iona, the stronghold of the Celtic system, he can perceive the fruit of good works and find an excuse for their error in their isolated situation. In the British Church it is the lack of missionary zeal, rather than their attitude towards the Easter question, which calls forth his strongest condemnation.
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A characteristic akin to this is his love of truth. As a historian, it shows itself in his scrupulous care in investigating evidence and
in acknowledging the sources from which he draws. Nowhere is his intellectual honesty more apparent than in dealing with what
he believes to be the miraculous element in his history. In whatever way we may regard these anecdotes, there can be no doubt that Bede took the utmost pains to assure himself of their authenticity. He is careful to acquire, if possible, first-hand evidence; where this cannot be obtained, he scrupulously mentions the lack of it. He admits only the testimony of witnesses of high character and generally quotes them by name.
These are but a few of the glimpses afforded us of the personality of Bede, a personality never obtruded, but everywhere unconsciously revealed in his work. Everywhere we find the impress of a mind of wide intellectual grasp, a character of the highest saintliness, and a gentle refinement of thought and feeling. The lofty spirituality of Bede, his great learning and scholarly attainment are the more striking when we reflect how recently his nation had emerged from barbarism and received Christianity and the culture which it brought with it to these shores.
The letter in which he declines Egbert's invitation on the plea of illness is dated November, 734. If we may assume that his death took place on the eve of Ascension Day in 735, no long period of enfeebled health clouded the close of his life, and weakness never interrupted his work. His death has been described by his pupil, Cuthbert, who afterwards became Abbot of Wearmouth and [pg xl] Jarrow in succession to Huaetbert, in the letter quoted below. He was first buried at Jarrow but, according to Simeon of Durham,
his relics were stolen by the priest, Elfred, and carried to Durham. In 1104, when the bones of Cuthbert were translated to the new Cathedral, those of Bede were found with them. Not long after, Hugh de Puisac erected a shrine of gold and silver, adorned with jewels, in which he placed them, along with the relics of many other saints. The shrine disappeared at the Reformation, and only the stone on which it rested remains.3
Letter of Cuthbert to Cuthwin.
"To his fellow-lector, Cuthwin, beloved in Christ, Cuthbert, his fellow-student, greeting and salvation for ever in the Lord. I have
very gladly received the gift which thou sentest to me, and with much joy have read thy devout and learned letter, wherein I found
that which I greatly desired, to wit, that masses and holy prayers are diligently offered by you for our father and master Bede, beloved of God. Wherefore I rejoice, rather for love of him than from confidence in my own power, to relate in few words after what man-ner he departed out of this world, understanding also that thou hast desired and asked this of me. He was troubled with weakness and chiefly with difficulty in breathing, yet almost without pain, for about a fortnight before the day of our Lord's Resurrection; and thus he afterwards passed his time, cheerful and rejoicing, giving thanks to Almighty God every day and night, nay, every hour, till the day of our Lord's Ascension, to wit, the twenty-sixth day of May, and daily gave lessons to us, his disciples; and whatsoever remained of the day he spent in singing psalms, as far as he was able; he also strove to pass all the night joyfully in prayer and thanksgiving to God, save only when a short sleep prevented it; and then he no sooner awoke than he straightway began again to repeat the well-known sacred songs, and ceased not to give thanks [pg xli] to God with uplifted hands. I declare with truth that I have never seen
with my eyes, or heard with my ears, any man so earnest in giving thanks to the living God. O truly blessed man! He repeated the words of St. Paul the Apostle, 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,' and much more out of Holy Scripture; wherein also he admonished us to think of our last hour, and to arise out of the sleep of the soul; and being learned in our native poetry, he said also in our tongue, concerning the dread parting of souls from the body:
Fore then neidfaerae naenig uiuurthit thonc suotturra
than him tharf sie
to ymb hycggannae aer his hin iongae huaet his gastae godaes aeththa yflaes aefter deothdaege doemid uueorthae.
Which being interpreted is: "Before the inevitable journey hence, no man is wiser than is needful that he may consider, ere the soul
departs, what good or evil it hath done and how it shall be judged after its departure."
"He also sang antiphons for our comfort and his own. One of these is, 'O King of Glory, Lord of all power, Who, triumphing this day, didst ascend above all the heavens, leave us not comfortless, but send to us the promise of the Father, even the Spirit of Truth--Hallelujah.' And when he came to the words, 'leave us not comfortless,' he burst into tears and wept much. And an hour af-ter, he fell to repeating what he had begun. And this he did the whole day, and we, hearing it, mourned with him and wept. Now we read and now we lamented, nay, we wept even as we read. In such rapture we passed the fifty days' festival4 till the aforesaid day; and
12
he rejoiced greatly and gave God thanks, because he had been accounted worthy to suffer such weakness. And he often said, 'God scourgeth every son whom He [pg xlii] receiveth'; and the words of St. Ambrose, 'I have not so lived as to be ashamed to live among you; but neither do I fear to die, because we have a merciful Lord.' And during those days, besides the lessons we had daily from
him, and the singing of the Psalms, there were two memorable works, which he strove to finish; to wit, his translation of the Gospel of St. John, from the beginning, as far as the words, 'But what are they among so many?' into our own tongue, for the benefit of
the Church of God; and some selections from the books of Bishop Isidore, saying, 'I would not have my boys read a lie, nor labour herein without profit after my death.'
"When the Tuesday before the Ascension of our Lord came, he began to suffer still more in his breathing, and there was some swelling in his feet. But he went on teaching all that day and dictating cheerfully, and now and then said among other things, 'Learn quickly, I know not how long I shall endure, and whether my Maker will not soon take me away.' But to us it seemed that haply he knew well the time of his departure; and so he spent the night, awake, in giving of thanks. And when the morning dawned, that is,
on the Wednesday, he bade us write with all speed what we had begun. And this we did until the third hour. And from the third hour we walked in procession with the relics of the saints, according to the custom of that day.5 And there was one of us with him who said to him, 'There is still one chapter wanting of the book which thou hast been dictating, but I deem it burdensome for thee to be questioned any further.' He answered, 'Nay, it is light, take thy pen and make ready, and write quickly.' And this was done. But at the ninth hour he said to me, 'I have certain treasures in my coffer, some spices, napkins and incense; run quickly and bring the priests
of our monastery to me, that I may distribute among them the gifts which God has bestowed on me.' And this I did trembling, and when they were come, he spoke to every one of them, admonishing and entreating them [pg xliii] that they should diligently offer masses and prayers for him, and they promised readily. But they all mourned and wept, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, because they thought that they should see his face no long time in this world. But they rejoiced for that he said, 'It is time for me, if it be my Maker's will, to be set free from the flesh, and come to Him Who, when as yet I was not, formed me out of nothing.
I have lived long; and well has my pitiful judge disposed my life for me; the time of my release is at hand; for my soul longs to see Christ my King in His beauty.' Having said this and much more for our profit and edification, he passed his last day in gladness till the evening; and the aforesaid boy, whose name was Wilbert, still said, 'Dear master, there is yet one sentence not written.' He answered, 'It is well, write it.' Soon after, the boy said, 'Now it is written.' And he said, 'It is well, thou hast said truly, it is finished. Take
my head in thy hands, for I rejoice greatly to sit facing my holy place where I was wont to pray, that I too, sitting there, may call upon my Father.' And thus on the pavement of his little cell, chanting 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,' and the rest, he breathed his last.
"And without doubt we must believe that inasmuch as he had always been devout and earnest on earth in the praise of God, his soul was carried by angels to the joys of Heaven which he desired. And all who heard him or beheld the death of our father Bede, said that they had never seen any other end his life in so great devotion and peace. For, as thou hast heard, so long as the soul abode in the body, he chanted the 'Gloria Patri' and other words to the glory of God, and with outstretched hands ceased not to give thanks to God.
"But know this, that much could be told and written concerning him, but my want of learning cuts short my words. Nevertheless, with the help of God, I purpose at leisure to write more fully concerning him, of those things which I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears."
[pg xlv] Errata
Page 9, headline, for "54 a.d." read "54 b.c." Page 21, headline, for "394 a.d." read "395 a.d."
Page 214, note 4, for "cc." read "pp." [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to Bright.]
Page 215, note 1, for "St. James 'the Less' " read "James, 'the Lord's brother.' " [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote to "the
Eastern."]
Page 220, note 2, for "Lumley" read "Lumby." [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote starting "A stone."]
Page 254, note 1, line 4, for "existence" read "co-existence." [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote starting "Eutyches was Archi-
mandrite."]
Page 316, line 7, for "Gedmund" read "Gebmund."
13
Page 346, note 6, for "p. 56" read "p. 356." [Transcriber's Note: This is the footnote starting "Ripon, v. infra"]
[pg 001] Preface
To the most glorious king Ceolwulf.6 Bede, the servant of Christ and Priest.
I formerly, at your request, most readily sent to you the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which I had lately published, for you to read and judge; and I now send it again to be transcribed, and more fully studied at your leisure. And I rejoice greatly at
the sincerity and zeal, with which you not only diligently give ear to hear the words of Holy Scripture, but also industriously take care to become acquainted with the actions and sayings of former men of renown, especially of our own nation. For if history relates good things of good men, the attentive hearer is excited to imitate that which is good; or if it recounts evil things of wicked persons, none the less the conscientious and devout hearer or reader, shunning that which is hurtful and wrong, is the more earnestly fired to perform those things which he knows to be good, and worthy of the service of God. And as you have carefully marked this, you are desirous that the said history should be more fully made known to yourself, and to those over whom the Divine Authority has appointed you governor, from your great regard to the common good. But to the end that I may remove all occasion of doubting what I have written, both from [pg 002] yourself and other readers or hearers of this history, I will take care briefly to show you from
what authors I chiefly learned the same.
My principal authority and aid in this work was the most learned and reverend Abbot Albinus;7 who, educated in the Church of Canterbury by those venerable and learned men, Archbishop Theodore8 of blessed memory, and the Abbot Hadrian,9 transmit-ted to me by Nothelm,10 the pious priest of the Church of London, either in writing, or by word of mouth of the same Nothelm, all that he thought worthy of memory that had been done in the province of Kent, or the adjacent parts, by the disciples of the blessed Pope Gregory,11 as he had learned the same either from written records, or the traditions of his predecessors. The same Nothelm, afterwards went to Rome, and having, with leave of the present Pope Gregory,12 searched into the archives of the Holy
Roman Church, found there some epistles of the blessed Pope Gregory, and other popes; and, returning home, by the advice of the aforesaid most reverend father Albinus, brought them to me, to be inserted in my history. Thus, from the beginning of this volume to the time when the English nation received the faith of Christ, we have acquired matter from the writings of former men, [pg 003] gathered from various sources; but from that time till the present, what was transacted in the Church of Canterbury by the disciples
of the blessed Pope Gregory or their successors, and under what kings the same happened, has been conveyed to us, as we have said, by Nothelm through the industry of the aforesaid Abbot Albinus. They also partly informed me by what bishops and under what kings the provinces of the East and West Saxons, as also of the East Angles, and of the Northumbrians, received the grace of the Gospel. In short, I was chiefly encouraged to undertake this work by the exhortations of the same Albinus. In like manner, Daniel,13 the most reverend Bishop of the West Saxons, who is still living, communicated to me in writing some things relating to the Ecclesiastical History of that province, and the adjoining one of the South Saxons, as also of the Isle of Wight. But how, by the ministry
of those holy priests of Christ, Cedd14 and Ceadda,15 the province of the Mercians was brought to the faith of Christ, which they knew not before, and how that of the East Saxons recovered the faith after having rejected it, and how those fathers lived and died, we learned from the brethren of the monastery, which was built by them, and is called Laestingaeu.16 Further, what ecclesiastical matters took place in the province of the East Angles, was partly made known to us from the writings and tradition of former men, and partly by the account of the most reverend Abbot Esi.17 What was done with regard to the faith of Christ, and what was the episcopal succession in the province of Lindsey,18 we had either from the letters of the most reverend [pg 004] prelate Cynibert,19 or by word of mouth from other persons of good credit. But what was done in the Church in the different parts of the province of Northumbria from the time when they received the faith of Christ till this present, I received not on the authority of any one man, but by the faithful testimony of innumerable witnesses, who might know or remember the same; besides what I had of my own knowledge. Wherein it is to be observed, that what I have written concerning our most holy father, Bishop Cuthbert,20 either in this volume, or in my account of his life and actions, I partly took from what I found written of him by the brethren of the Church of Lindisfarne,21 accepting without reserve the statements I found there; but at the same time took care to add such things as I could myself have knowledge of by the faithful testimony of trustworthy informants. And I humbly entreat the reader, that if he shall find in these our writings anything not delivered according to the truth, he will not lay the blame of it on me, for, as the true rule of history requires, withholding nothing, I have laboured to commit to writing such things as I could gather from common report, for the instruction of posterity.
Moreover, I beseech all men who shall hear or read this history of our nation, that for my infirmities both of mind and body, they will offer up frequent intercessions to the throne of Grace. And I further pray, that in recompense for the labour wherewith I have recorded in the several provinces and more important places those events which I considered worthy of note and of interest to their inhabitants, I may for my reward have the benefit of their pious prayers.
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[pg 005]
Book I
Chap. I. Of the Situation of Britain and Ireland, and of their ancient inhabitants.
Britain, an island in the Atlantic, formerly called Albion, lies to the north-west, facing, though at a considerable distance, the coasts
of Germany, France, and Spain, which form the greatest part of Europe. It extends 800 miles in length towards the north, and is 200 miles in breadth, except where several promontories extend further in breadth, by which its compass is made to be 4,875 miles.22 To the south lies Belgic Gaul. To its nearest shore there is an easy passage from the city of Rutubi Portus, by the English now corrupted into Reptacaestir.23 The distance from here across the sea to Gessoriacum,24 the nearest shore in the territory of the Morini,25 is fifty miles, or as some writers say, 450 furlongs. On the other side of the island, where it opens upon the boundless ocean, it has the islands called Orcades. Britain is rich in grain and trees, and is well adapted for feeding cattle and beasts of burden. It also produces vines in some places, and has plenty of land and water fowl of divers sorts; it is remarkable also for rivers abounding in fish, and plentiful springs. It has the greatest plenty of salmon and eels; seals are also frequently taken, and dolphins, as also whales; besides many sorts of shell-fish, such as mussels, in which are often found excellent pearls of all colours, red, purple, violet and green, but chiefly white. There is also a great abundance of snails, of which the scarlet dye is made, a most beautiful red, which never fades
with the heat of the sun or exposure to rain, but the older it is, the more beautiful it becomes. It has both salt and hot [pg 006]
springs, and from them flow rivers which furnish hot baths, proper for all ages and both sexes, in separate places, according to their requirements. For water, as St. Basil says,26 receives the quality of heat, when it runs along certain metals, and becomes not only hot but scalding. Britain is rich also in veins of metals, as copper, iron, lead, and silver; it produces a great deal of excellent jet, which is black and sparkling, and burns when put to the fire, and when set on fire, drives away serpents; being warmed with rubbing, it attracts whatever is applied to it, like amber. The island was formerly distinguished by twenty-eight famous cities, besides innumerable forts, which were all strongly secured with walls, towers, gates, and bars. And, because it lies almost under the North Pole, the nights are light in summer, so that at midnight the beholders are often in doubt whether the evening twilight still continues, or that of the morning has come; since the sun at night returns to the east in the northern regions without passing far beneath the earth. For this reason the days are of a great length in summer, and on the other hand, the nights in winter are eighteen hours long, for the sun then withdraws into southern parts. In like manner the nights are very short in summer, and the days in winter, that is, only six equinoc-
tial hours. Whereas, in Armenia, Macedonia, Italy, and other countries of the same latitude, the longest day or night extends but to fifteen hours, and the shortest to nine.
There are in the island at present, following the number of the books in which the Divine Law was written, five27 languages of different nations employed in the study and confession of the one selfsame knowledge, which is of highest truth and true sublim-ity, to wit, English, British, Scottish, Pictish, and Latin, the last having become common to all by the study of the Scriptures. But at first this island had no other inhabitants but the Britons, [pg 007] from whom it derived its name, and who, coming over into Britain, as is reported, from Armorica,28 possessed themselves of the southern parts thereof. Starting from the south, they had occupied
the greater part of the island, when it happened, that the nation of the Picts, putting to sea from Scythia,29 as is reported, in a
few ships of war, and being driven by the winds beyond the bounds of Britain, came to Ireland and landed on its northern shores. There, finding the nation of the Scots, they begged to be allowed to settle among them, but could not succeed in obtaining their request. Ireland is the largest island next to Britain, and lies to the west of it; but as it is shorter than Britain to the north, so, on the other hand, it runs out far beyond it to the south, over against the northern part of Spain, though a wide sea lies between them. The Picts then, as has been said, arriving in this island by sea, desired to have a place granted them in which they might settle. The Scots answered that the island could not contain them both; but "We can give you good counsel," said they, "whereby you may know what to do; we know there is another island, not far from ours, to the eastward, which we often see at a distance, when the days are clear.
If you will go thither, you can obtain settlements; or, if any should oppose you, we will help you." The Picts, accordingly, sailing over into Britain, began to inhabit the northern parts [pg 008] thereof, for the Britons had possessed themselves of the southern. Now
the Picts had no wives, and asked them of the Scots; who would not consent to grant them upon any other terms, than that when any question should arise, they should choose a king from the female royal race rather than from the male: which custom, as is well known, has been observed among the Picts to this day.30 In process of time, Britain, besides the Britons and the Picts, received a third nation, the Scots, who, migrating from Ireland under their leader, Reuda, either by fair means, or by force of arms, secured
to themselves those settlements among the Picts which they still possess. From the name of their commander, they are to this day called Dalreudini; for, in their language, Dal signifies a part.31
Ireland is broader than Britain and has a much healthier and milder climate; for the snow scarcely ever lies there above three days: no man makes hay in the summer for winter's provision, or builds stables for his beasts of burden. No reptiles are found there, and no snake can live there; for, though snakes are often carried thither out of Britain, as soon as the ship comes near the shore, and the scent of the air reaches them, they die. On the contrary, almost all things in the island are efficacious against poison. In truth, we have known that when men have been bitten by serpents, the scrapings of leaves of books that were brought out of Ireland, being put into water, and given them to drink, have immediately absorbed the spreading poison, and assuaged the swelling.
15
[pg 009]
The island abounds in milk and honey, nor is there any lack of vines, fish, or fowl; and it is noted for the hunting of stags and
roe-deer. It is properly the country of the Scots, who, migrating from thence, as has been said, formed the third nation in Britain in
addition to the Britons and the Picts.
There is a very large gulf of the sea, which formerly divided the nation of the Britons from the Picts; it runs from the west far into the land, where, to this day, stands a strong city of the Britons, called Alcluith.32 The Scots, arriving on the north side of this bay, settled themselves there.
Chap. II. How Caius Julius Caesar was the first Roman that came into Britain.
Now Britain had never been visited by the Romans, and was entirely unknown to them before the time of Caius Julius Caesar, who, in the year 693 after the foundation of Rome, but the sixtieth year33 before the Incarnation of our Lord, was consul with Lucius Bibulus. While he was making war upon the Germans and the Gauls, who were divided only by the river Rhine, he came into the province of the Morini, whence is the nearest and shortest passage into Britain. Here, having provided about eighty ships of burden and fast-sailing vessels, he sailed over into Britain; where, being first roughly handled in a battle, and then caught in a storm, he lost
a considerable part of his fleet, no small number of foot-soldiers, and almost all his cavalry. Returning into Gaul, he put his legions
into winter-quarters, and gave orders for building six hundred sail of both sorts. With these he again crossed over early in spring into Britain, but, whilst he was marching with the army against the enemy, the ships, riding at anchor, were caught in a storm and either dashed one against another, or driven upon the sands and wrecked. Forty of them were lost, the rest [pg 010] were, with much difficulty, repaired. Caesar's cavalry was, at the first encounter, defeated by the Britons, and there Labienus, the tribune, was slain. In the second engagement, with great hazard to his men, he defeated the Britons and put them to flight. Thence he proceeded to the river Thames, where a great multitude of the enemy had posted themselves on the farther side of the river, under the command of Cassobellaunus,34 and fenced the bank of the river and almost all the ford under water with sharp stakes: the remains of these are to be seen to this day, apparently about the thickness of a man's thigh, cased with lead, and fixed immovably in the bottom of the river. This being perceived and avoided by the Romans, the barbarians, not able to stand the charge of the legions, hid themselves in the woods, whence they grievously harassed the Romans with repeated sallies. In the meantime, the strong state of the Trinovantes,35 with their commander Androgius,36 surrendered to Caesar, giving him forty hostages. Many other cities, following their example, made a treaty with the Romans. Guided by them, Caesar at length, after severe fighting, took the town of Cassobellaunus,37 situated between two marshes, fortified by sheltering woods, and plentifully furnished with all necessaries. After this, Caesar returned from Britain into Gaul, but he had no sooner put his legions into winter quarters, than he was suddenly beset and distracted with wars and sudden risings on every side.
[pg 011]
Chap. III. How Claudius, the second of the Romans who came into Britain, brought the islands Orcades into subjection to the Ro-
man empire; and Vespasian, sent by him, reduced the Isle of Wight under the dominion of the Romans.
In the year of Rome 798,38 Claudius, fourth emperor from Augustus, being desirous to approve himself a prince beneficial to the republic, and eagerly bent upon war and conquest on every side, undertook an expedition into Britain, which as it appeared, was roused to rebellion by the refusal of the Romans to give up certain deserters. No one before or after Julius Caesar had dared to land upon the island. Claudius crossed over to it, and within a very few days, without any fighting or bloodshed, the greater part of the island was surrendered into his hands. He also added to the Roman empire the Orcades,39 which lie in the ocean beyond Britain, and, returning to Rome in the sixth month after his departure, he gave his son the title of Britannicus. This war he concluded in the
fourth year of his reign, which is the forty-sixth from the Incarnation of our Lord. In which year there came to pass a most grievous famine in Syria, which is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles to have been foretold by the prophet Agabus.
Vespasian,40 who was emperor after Nero, being sent into Britain by the same Claudius, brought also under the Roman dominion the Isle of Wight, which is close to Britain on the south, and is about thirty miles in length from east to west, and twelve from north to south; being six miles distant from the southern coast of Britain at the east end, and three at the west. Nero, succeeding Claudius in the empire, undertook no wars at all; and, therefore, among countless other disasters brought by him upon the Roman state, he almost lost Britain; for [pg 012] in his time two most notable towns were there taken and destroyed.
Chap. IV. How Lucius, king of Britain, writing to Pope Eleutherus, desired to be made a Christian.
In the year of our Lord 156, Marcus Antoninus Verus,41 the fourteenth from Augustus, was made emperor, together with his brother, Aurelius Commodus. In their time, whilst the holy Eleutherus presided over the Roman Church, Lucius, king of Britain, sent a letter to him, entreating that by a mandate from him he might be made a Christian.42 He soon obtained his pious request,
16
and the Britons preserved the faith, which they had received, uncorrupted and entire, in peace and tranquillity until the time of the
Emperor Diocletian.
Chap. V. How the Emperor Severus divided from the rest by a rampart that part of Britain which had been recovered.
In the year of our Lord 189, Severus, an African, born at Leptis, in the province of Tripolis, became emperor.43 He was the seventeenth from Augustus, and reigned seventeen years. Being naturally of a harsh disposition, and engaged in many wars, he governed the state vigorously, but with much trouble. Having been victorious in all the grievous civil wars which happened in his time, he was drawn into Britain by the revolt of almost all the confederated tribes; and, after many great and severe battles, he thought fit to di-vide that part of the island, which he had recovered, from the other unconquered nations, not [pg 013] with a wall, as some imagine, but with a rampart.44 For a wall is made of stones, but a rampart, with which camps are fortified to repel the assaults of enemies,
is made of sods, cut out of the earth, and raised high above the ground, like a wall, having in front of it the trench whence the sods were taken, with strong stakes of wood fixed above it. Thus Severus drew a great trench and strong rampart, fortified with several towers, from sea to sea. And there, at York, he fell sick afterwards and died, leaving two sons, Bassianus and Geta;45 of whom Geta died, adjudged an enemy of the State; but Bassianus, having taken the surname of Antonius, obtained the empire.
Chap. VI. Of the reign of Diocletian, and how he persecuted the Christians.
In the year of our Lord 286,46 Diocletian, the thirty-third from Augustus, and chosen emperor by the army, reigned twenty years, and created Maximian, surnamed Herculius, his colleague in the empire. In their time, one Carausius,47 of very mean birth, but a man of great ability and energy, being appointed to guard the sea-coasts, then infested by the Franks and Saxons, acted more to
the prejudice than to the advantage of the commonwealth, by not restoring to its owners any of the booty taken [pg 014] from the robbers, but keeping all to himself; thus giving rise to the suspicion that by intentional neglect he suffered the enemy to infest the frontiers. When, therefore, an order was sent by Maximian that he should be put to death, he took upon him the imperial purple,
and possessed himself of Britain, and having most valiantly conquered and held it for the space of seven years, he was at length put to death by the treachery of his associate Allectus.48 The usurper, having thus got the island from Carausius, held it three years, and was then vanquished by Asclepiodotus,49 the captain of the Praetorian guards, who thus at the end of ten years restored Britain to the Roman empire.
Meanwhile, Diocletian in the east, and Maximian Herculius in the west, commanded the churches to be destroyed, and the Christians to be persecuted and slain. This persecution was the tenth since the reign of Nero, and was more lasting and cruel than almost any before it; for it was carried on incessantly for the space of ten years, with burning of churches, proscription of innocent persons,
and the slaughter of martyrs. Finally, Britain also attained to the great glory of bearing faithful witness to God. Chap. VII. The Passion of St. Alban and his companions, who at that time shed their blood for our Lord.
At that time suffered St. Alban,50 of whom the priest Fortunatus,51 in the Praise of Virgins, where he makes [pg 015] mention of the blessed martyrs that came to the Lord from all parts of the world, says:
And fruitful Britain noble Alban rears.
This Alban, being yet a pagan, at the time when at the bidding of unbelieving rulers all manner of cruelty was practised against the Christians, gave entertainment in his house to a certain clerk,52 flying from his persecutors. This man he observed to be engaged in continual prayer and watching day and night; when on a sudden the Divine grace shining on him, he began to imitate the example
of faith and piety which was set before him, and being gradually instructed by his wholesome admonitions, he cast off the darkness of idolatry, and became a Christian in all sincerity of heart. The aforesaid clerk having been some days entertained by him, it came to the ears of the impious prince, that a confessor of Christ, to whom a martyr's place had not yet been assigned, was concealed at Alban's house. Whereupon he sent some soldiers to make a strict search after him. When they came to the martyr's hut, St. Alban
presently came forth to the soldiers, instead of his guest and master, in the habit or long coat which he wore, and was bound and led before the judge.
It happened that the judge, at the time when Alban was carried before him, was standing at the altar, and offering sacrifice to devils. When he saw Alban, being much enraged that he should thus, of his own accord, dare to put himself into the hands of the soldiers, and incur such danger on behalf of the guest whom he had harboured, he commanded him to be dragged to the images of the dev-ils, before which he stood, saying, "Because you have chosen to conceal a rebellious and sacrilegious man, rather than to deliver him up to the soldiers, that his contempt of the gods might meet with the penalty due to such blasphemy, you shall undergo all [pg 016] the punishment that was due to him, if you seek to abandon the worship of our religion." But St. Alban, who had voluntarily declared himself a Christian to the persecutors of the faith, was not at all daunted by the prince's threats, but putting on the armour of spiritual warfare, publicly declared that he would not obey his command. Then said the judge, "Of what family or race are you?"--
17
"What does it concern you," answered Alban, "of what stock I am? If you desire to hear the truth of my religion, be it known to you, that I am now a Christian, and free to fulfil Christian duties."--"I ask your name," said the judge; "tell me it immediately."--"I am called Alban by my parents," replied he; "and I worship ever and adore the true and living God, Who created all things." Then the judge, filled with anger, said, "If you would enjoy the happiness of eternal life, do not delay to offer sacrifice to the great gods." Alban rejoined, "These sacrifices, which by you are offered to devils, neither can avail the worshippers, nor fulfil the desires and petitions of the suppliants. Rather, whosoever shall offer sacrifice to these images, shall receive the everlasting pains of hell for his reward."
The judge, hearing these words, and being much incensed, ordered this holy confessor of God to be scourged by the executioners, believing that he might by stripes shake that constancy of heart, on which he could not prevail by words. He, being most cruelly tortured, bore the same patiently, or rather joyfully, for our Lord's sake. When the judge perceived that he was not to be overcome by tortures, or withdrawn from the exercise of the Christian religion, he ordered him to be put to death. Being led to execution, he
came to a river, which, with a most rapid course, ran between the wall of the town and the arena where he was to be executed.53 He there saw a great multitude of persons of both sexes, and of divers ages and conditions, who were doubtless assembled by Divine inspiration, to attend the blessed confessor and martyr, [pg 017] and had so filled the bridge over the river, that he could scarce pass over that evening. In truth, almost all had gone out, so that the judge remained in the city without attendance. St. Alban, therefore, urged by an ardent and devout wish to attain the sooner to martyrdom, drew near to the stream, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, whereupon the channel was immediately dried up, and he perceived that the water had given place and made way for him to pass. Among the rest, the executioner, who should have put him to death, observed this, and moved doubtless by Divine inspiration hastened to meet him at the appointed place of execution, and casting away the sword which he had carried ready drawn, fell at his feet, praying earnestly that he might rather be accounted worthy to suffer with the martyr, whom he was ordered to execute, or, if possible, instead of him.
Whilst he was thus changed from a persecutor into a companion in the faith and truth, and the other executioners rightly hesitated to take up the sword which was lying on the ground, the holy confessor, accompanied by the multitude, ascended a hill, about half a mile from the arena, beautiful, as was fitting, and of most pleasing appearance, adorned, or rather clothed, everywhere with flowers of many colours, nowhere steep or precipitous or of sheer descent, but with a long, smooth natural slope, like a plain, on its sides, a place altogether worthy from of old, by reason of its native beauty, to be consecrated by the blood of a blessed martyr. On the top
of this hill, St. Alban prayed that God would give him water, and immediately a living spring, confined in its channel, sprang up at his feet, so that all men acknowledged that even the stream had yielded its service to the martyr. For it was impossible that the martyr, who had left no water remaining in the river, should desire it on the top of the hill, unless he thought it fitting. The river then having done service and fulfilled the pious duty, returned to its natural course, leaving a testimony of its obedience.54 Here, therefore, the head of the undaunted martyr was [pg 018] struck off, and here he received the crown of life, which God has promised to them
that love him. But he who laid impious hands on the holy man's neck was not permitted to rejoice over his dead body; for his eyes dropped upon the ground at the same moment as the blessed martyr's head fell.
At the same time was also beheaded the soldier, who before, through the Divine admonition, refused to strike the holy confessor. Of whom it is apparent, that though he was not purified by the waters of baptism, yet he was cleansed by the washing of his own blood, and rendered worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. Then the judge, astonished at the unwonted sight of so many heavenly miracles, ordered the persecution to cease immediately, and began to honour the death of the saints, by which he once thought that they might have been turned from their zeal for the Christian faith. The blessed Alban suffered death on the twenty-second day of June, near the city of Verulam,55 which is now by the English nation called Verlamacaestir, or Vaeclingacaestir, where afterwards, when peaceable Christian times were restored, a church of wonderful workmanship, and altogether worthy to commemorate his martyrdom, was erected.56 In which place the cure of sick persons and the frequent working of wonders cease not to this day.
At that time suffered Aaron and Julius,57 citizens of the City of Legions,58 and many more of both sexes in divers places; who, after that they had endured sundry torments, and their limbs had been mangled after an unheard-of [pg 019] manner, when their warfare was accomplished, yielded their souls up to the joys of the heavenly city.
Chap. VIII. How, when the persecution ceased, the Church in Britain enjoyed peace till the time of the Arian heresy.
When the storm of persecution ceased, the faithful Christians, who, during the time of danger, had hidden themselves in woods and deserts and secret caves, came forth and rebuilt the churches which had been levelled to the ground; founded, erected, and finished the cathedrals raised in honour of the holy martyrs, and, as if displaying their conquering standards in all places, celebrated festivals and performed their sacred rites with pure hearts and lips. This peace continued in the Christian churches of Britain until the time
of the Arian madness, which, having corrupted the whole world, infected this island also, so far removed from the rest of the world, with the poison of its error; and when once a way was opened across the sea for that plague, straightway all the taint of every heresy fell upon the island, ever desirous to hear some new thing, and never holding firm to any sure belief.
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At this time Constantius, who, whilst Diocletian was alive, governed Gaul and Spain, a man of great clemency and urbanity, died in Britain. This man left his son Constantine,59 born of Helena, his concubine, emperor of the Gauls. Eutropius writes that Constantine, being created emperor in Britain, succeeded his father in the sovereignty. In his time the Arian heresy broke out, and although it was exposed and condemned in the Council of Nicaea,60 nevertheless, the deadly poison of its evil spread, [pg 020] as has been said, to the Churches in the islands, as well as to those of the rest of the world.
Chap. IX. How during the reign of Gratian, Maximus, being created Emperor in Britain, returned into Gaul with a mighty army.
In the year of our Lord 377,61 Gratian, the fortieth from Augustus, held the empire for six years after the death of Valens; though he had long before reigned with his uncle Valens, and his brother Valentinian. Finding the condition of the commonwealth much impaired, and almost gone to ruin, and impelled by the necessity of restoring it, he invested the Spaniard, Theodosius, with the pur-ple at Sirmium, and made him emperor of Thrace and the Eastern provinces. At that time, Maximus,62 a man of energy and probity, and worthy of the title of Augustus, if he had not broken his oath of allegiance, was made emperor by the army somewhat against
his will, passed over into Gaul, and there by treachery slew the Emperor Gratian, who in consternation at his sudden invasion, was attempting to escape into Italy. His brother, the Emperor Valentinian, expelled from Italy, fled into the East, where he was entertained by Theodosius with fatherly affection, and soon restored to the empire, for Maximus the tyrant, being shut up in Aquileia, was there taken by them and put to death.
Chap. X. How, in the reign of Arcadius, Pelagius, a Briton, insolently impugned the Grace of God.
In the year of our Lord 394,63 Arcadius, the son of Theodosius, the forty-third from Augustus, succeeding to [pg 021] the empire, with his brother Honorius, held it thirteen years. In his time, Pelagius,64 a Briton, spread far and near the infection of his perfidi-ous doctrine, denying the assistance of the Divine grace, being seconded therein by his associate Julianus of Campania,65 who was impelled by an uncontrolled desire to recover his bishopric, of which he had been deprived. St. Augustine, and the other orthodox fathers, quoted many thousand catholic authorities against them, but failed to amend their folly; nay, more, their madness being rebuked was rather increased by contradiction than suffered by them to be purified through adherence to the truth; which Prosper, the rhetorician,66 has beautifully expressed thus in heroic67 verse:--
They tell that one, erewhile consumed with gnawing spite, snake-like attacked Augustine in his writings. Who urged the wretched viper to raise from the ground his head, howsoever hidden in dens of darkness? Either the sea-girt Britons reared him with the fruit of their soil, or fed on Campanian pastures his heart swells with pride.
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Chap. XI. How during the reign of Honorius, Gratian and Constantine were created tyrants in Britain; and soon after the former was
slain in Britain, and the latter in Gaul.
In the year of our Lord 407,68 Honorius, the younger son of Theodosius, and the forty-fourth from Augustus, being emperor, two years before the invasion of Rome by Alaric, king of the Goths, when the nations of the Alani, Suevi, Vandals, and many others with them, having defeated the Franks and passed the Rhine, ravaged all Gaul, Gratianus, a citizen of the country, was set up as tyrant in Britain and killed. In his place, Constantine, one of the meanest soldiers, only for the hope afforded by his name, and without any worth to recommend him, was chosen emperor. As soon as he had taken upon him the command, he crossed over into Gaul, where being often imposed upon by the barbarians with untrustworthy treaties, he did more harm than good to the Commonwealth.69
