The event which the foregoing stanzas have attempted to describe laid
the foundation of the future importance and prosperity of the
Cathedral church of Hereford.
"The restless ambition of Offa prompted him to attack the neighbouring
kingdom of the East Angles, with a view of adding it to his dominions;
but in this attempt he was defeated by the successful valour of
Ethelbert. Peace being subsequently concluded, Offa acceded to
proposals of marriage between Ethelbert and his daughter Elfrida;--and
the young and unsuspecting prince attended, invited, at the palace of
Offa (at South Town, now Sutton, near Hereford), with a splendid
retinue, to treat of the intended spousals. The queen of Offa,
Quendreda, is recorded to have prevailed upon her husband to violate
the ties of hospitality and humanity; and Ethelbert was treacherously
murdered, A.D. 793. His guards and retinue were dispersed; his
kingdom, taken by surprise, was annexed to the state of Mercia. The
faithful Elfrida retired to Croyland Abbey; and Offa, seized with
remorse, sought to appease his wounded conscience by actions which, at
that time, were thought to atone for the deepest delinquency. He
caused the body of Ethelbert to be removed from Marden, where it had
been previously interred, to the cathedral of St. Mary, at Hereford,
erecting over him a magnificent tomb, and endowing the church with
valuable gifts, chiefly situated in the immediate vicinity of his own
palace. The known virtues of the murdered prince caused his shrine to
be visited as that of a martyr; and such was the fame of his miracles,
that the city and cathedral attained a degree of opulence from the
pious contributions of devoted pilgrims."
_Wright's History of Hereford._
It is not asserted that Ethelbert was murdered on the day appointed
for his marriage; but poetical license will, it is hoped, be pardoned
for the variation, whilst the principal facts are strictly adhered to.
* * * * *