Chap. I. Of the death of the blessed Pope Gregory.(143) [604 A.D.]
At this time, that is, in the year of our Lord 605,(144) the blessed Pope
Gregory, after having most gloriously governed the Roman Apostolic see
thirteen years, six months, and ten days, died, and was translated to an
eternal abode in the kingdom of Heaven. Of whom, seeing that by his zeal
he converted our nation, the English, from the power of Satan to the faith
of Christ, it behoves us to discourse more at large in our Ecclesiastical
History, for we may rightly, nay, we must, call him our apostle; because,
as soon as he began to wield the pontifical power over all the world, and
was placed over the Churches long before converted to the true faith, he
made our nation, till then enslaved to idols, the Church of Christ, so
that concerning him we may use those words of the Apostle; “if he be not
an apostle to others, yet doubtless he is to us; for the seal of his
apostleship are we in the Lord.”(145)
He was by nation a Roman, son of Gordianus, tracing his descent from
ancestors that were not only noble, but religious. Moreover Felix, once
bishop of the same Apostolic see, a man of great honour in Christ and in
the Church, was his forefather.(146) Nor did he show his nobility in
religion by less strength of devotion than his parents and kindred. But
that nobility of this world which was seen in him, by the help of the
Divine Grace, he used only to gain the glory of eternal dignity; for soon
quitting his secular habit, he entered a monastery, wherein he began to
live with so much grace of perfection that (as he was wont afterwards with
tears to testify) his mind was above all transitory things; that he rose
superior to all that is subject to change; that he used to think of
nothing but what was heavenly; that, whilst detained by the body, he broke
through the bonds of the flesh by contemplation; and that he even loved
death, which is a penalty to almost all men, as the entrance into life,
and the reward of his labours. This he used to say of himself, not to
boast of his progress in virtue, but rather to bewail the falling off
which he imagined he had sustained through his pastoral charge. Indeed,
once in a private conversation with his deacon, Peter, after having
enumerated the former virtues of his soul, he added sorrowfully, “But now,
on account of the pastoral charge, it is entangled with the affairs of
laymen, and, after so fair an appearance of inward peace, is defiled with
the dust of earthly action. And having wasted itself on outward things, by
turning aside to the affairs of many men, even when it desires the inward
things, it returns to them undoubtedly impaired. I therefore consider what
I endure, I consider what I have lost, and when I behold what I have
thrown away, that which I bear appears the more grievous.”
So spake the holy man constrained by his great humility. But 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,
and chiefly because, whilst holding the pontifical office, he set about
organizing his house like a monastery. And when first drawn from the
monastery, ordained to the ministry of the altar, and sent to
Constantinople as representative(147) of the Apostolic see, though he now
took part in the secular affairs of the palace, yet he did not abandon the
fixed course of his heavenly life; for some of the brethren of his
monastery, who had followed him to the royal city in their brotherly love,
he employed for the better observance of monastic rule, to the end that at
all times, by their example, as he writes himself, he might be held fast
to the calm shore of prayer, as it were, with the cable of an anchor,
whilst he should be tossed up and down by the ceaseless waves of worldly
affairs; and daily in the intercourse of studious reading with them,
strengthen his mind shaken with temporal concerns. By their company he was
not only guarded against the assaults of the world, but more and more
roused to the exercises of a heavenly life.
For they persuaded him to interpret by a mystical exposition the book of
the blessed Job,(148) which is involved in great obscurity; nor could he
refuse to undertake that work, which brotherly affection imposed on him
for the future benefit of many; but in a wonderful manner, in five and
thirty books of exposition, he taught how that same book is to be
understood literally; how to be referred to the mysteries of Christ and
the Church; and in what sense it is to be adapted to every one of the
faithful. This work he began as papal representative in the royal city,
but finished it at Rome after being made pope. Whilst he was still in the
royal city, by the help of the grace of Catholic truth, he crushed in its
first rise a new heresy which sprang up there, concerning the state of our
resurrection. For Eutychius,(149) bishop of that city, taught, that our
body, in the glory of resurrection, would be impalpable, and more subtile
than wind and air. The blessed Gregory hearing this, proved by force of
truth, and by the instance of the Resurrection of our Lord, that this
doctrine was every way opposed to the orthodox faith. For the Catholic
faith holds that our body, raised by the glory of immortality, is indeed
rendered subtile by the effect of spiritual power, but is palpable by the
reality of nature; according to the example of our Lord’s Body, concerning
which, when risen from the dead, He Himself says to His disciples, “Handle
Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me
have.”(150) In maintaining this faith, the venerable Father Gregory so
earnestly strove against the rising heresy, and with the help of the most
pious emperor, Tiberius Constantine,(151) so fully suppressed it, that
none has been since found to revive it.
He likewise composed another notable book, the “Liber Pastoralis,” wherein
he clearly showed what sort of persons ought to be preferred to rule the
Church; how such rulers ought to live; with how much discrimination they
ought to instruct the different classes of their hearers, and how
seriously to reflect every day on their own frailty. He also wrote forty
homilies on the Gospel, which he divided equally into two volumes; and
composed four books of Dialogues, in which, at the request of his deacon,
Peter, he recounted the virtues of the more renowned saints of Italy, whom
he had either known or heard of, as a pattern of life for posterity; to
the end that, as he taught in his books of Expositions what virtues men
ought to strive after, so by describing the miracles of saints, he might
make known the glory of those virtues. Further, in twenty-two homilies, he
showed how much light is latent in the first and last parts of the prophet
Ezekiel, which seemed the most obscure. Besides which, he wrote the “Book
of Answers,”(152) to the questions of the holy Augustine, the first bishop
of the English nation, as we have shown above, inserting the same book
entire in this history; and the useful little “Synodical Book,”(153) which
he composed with the bishops of Italy on necessary matters of the Church;
as well as private letters to certain persons. And it is the more
wonderful that he could write so many lengthy works, seeing that almost
all the time of his youth, to use his own words, he was frequently
tormented with internal pain, constantly enfeebled by the weakness of his
digestion, and oppressed by a low but persistent fever. But in all these
troubles, forasmuch as he carefully reflected that, as the Scripture
testifies,(154) “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth,” the more
severely he suffered under those present evils, the more he assured
himself of his eternal hope.
Thus much may be said of his immortal genius, which could not be crushed
by such severe bodily pains. Other popes applied themselves to building
churches or adorning them with gold and silver, but Gregory was wholly
intent upon gaining souls. Whatsoever money he had, he took care to
distribute diligently and give to the poor, that his righteousness might
endure for ever, and his horn be exalted with honour; so that the words of
the blessed Job might be truly said of him,(155) “When the ear heard me,
then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that
had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came
upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on
righteousness, and it clothed me; my judgement was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the
poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out. And I brake the jaws
of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.” And a little
after: “If I have withheld,” says he, “the poor from their desire; or have
caused the eyes of the widow to fail; or have eaten my morsel myself
alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof: (for from my youth
compassion grew up with me, and from my mother’s womb it came forth with
me.”(156))
To his works of piety and righteousness this also may be added, that he
saved our nation, by the preachers he sent hither, from the teeth of the
old enemy, and made it partaker of eternal liberty. Rejoicing in the faith
and salvation of our race, and worthily commending it with praise, he
says, in his exposition of the blessed Job, “Behold, the tongue of
Britain, which only knew how to utter barbarous cries, has long since
begun to raise the Hebrew Hallelujah to the praise of God! Behold, the
once swelling ocean now serves prostrate at the feet of the saints; and
its wild upheavals, which earthly princes could not subdue with the sword,
are now, through the fear of God, bound by the lips of priests with words
alone; and the heathen that stood not in awe of troops of warriors, now
believes and fears the tongues of the humble! For he has received a
message from on high and mighty works are revealed; the strength of the
knowledge of God is given him, and restrained by the fear of the Lord, he
dreads to do evil, and with all his heart desires to attain to everlasting
grace.” In which words the blessed Gregory shows us this also, that St.
Augustine and his companions brought the English to receive the truth, not
only by the preaching of words, but also by showing forth heavenly signs.
The blessed Pope Gregory, among other things, caused Masses to be
celebrated in the churches of the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, over
their bodies. And in the celebration of Masses, he added three petitions
of the utmost perfection: “And dispose our days in thy peace, and bid us
to be preserved from eternal damnation, and to be numbered in the flock of
thine elect.”(157)
He governed the Church in the days of the Emperors Mauritius and Phocas,
and passing out of this life in the second year of the same Phocas,(158)
he departed to the true life which is in Heaven. His body was buried in
the church of the blessed Apostle Peter before the sacristy, on the 12th
day of March, to rise one day in the same body in glory with the rest of
the holy pastors of the Church. On his tomb was written this epitaph:
Receive, O Earth, his body taken from thine own; thou canst
restore it, when God calls to life. His spirit rises to the stars;
the claims of death shall not avail against him, for death itself
is but the way to new life. In this tomb are laid the limbs of a
great pontiff, who yet lives for ever in all places in countless
deeds of mercy. Hunger and cold he overcame with food and raiment,
and shielded souls from the enemy by his holy teaching. And
whatsoever he taught in word, that he fulfilled in deed, that he
might be a pattern, even as he spake words of mystic meaning. By
his guiding love he brought the Angles to Christ, gaining armies
for the Faith from a new people. This was thy toil, thy task, thy
care, thy aim as shepherd, to offer to thy Lord abundant increase
of the flock. So, Consul of God, rejoice in this thy triumph, for
now thou hast the reward of thy works for evermore.
Nor must we pass by in silence the story of the blessed Gregory, handed
down to us by the tradition of our ancestors, which explains his earnest
care for the salvation of our nation. It is said that one day, when some
merchants had lately arrived at Rome, many things were exposed for sale in
the market place, and much people resorted thither to buy: Gregory himself
went with the rest, and saw among other wares some boys put up for sale,
of fair complexion, with pleasing countenances, and very beautiful hair.
When he beheld them, he asked, it is said, from what region or country
they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, and that the
inhabitants were like that in appearance. He again inquired whether those
islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of paganism,
and was informed that they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the
bottom of his heart, “Alas! what pity,” said he, “that the author of
darkness should own men of such fair countenances; and that with such
grace of outward form, their minds should be void of inward grace.” He
therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation? and was answered,
that they were called Angles. “Right,” said he, “for they have an angelic
face, and it is meet that such should be co-heirs with the Angels in
heaven. What is the name of the province from which they are brought?” It
was replied, that the natives of that province were called Deiri.(159)
“Truly are they _De ira_,” said he, “saved from wrath, and called to the
mercy of Christ. How is the king of that province called?” They told him
his name was Aelli;(160) and he, playing upon the name, said, “Allelujah,
the praise of God the Creator must be sung in those parts.”
Then he went to the bishop of the Roman Apostolic see(161) (for he was not
himself then made pope), and entreated him to send some ministers of the
Word into Britain to the nation of the English, that it might be converted
to Christ by them; declaring himself ready to carry out that work with the
help of God, if the Apostolic Pope should think fit to have it done. But
not being then able to perform this task, because, though the Pope was
willing to grant his request, yet the citizens of Rome could not be
brought to consent that he should depart so far from the city, as soon as
he was himself made Pope, he carried out the long-desired work, sending,
indeed, other preachers, but himself by his exhortations and prayers
helping the preaching to bear fruit. This account, which we have received
from a past generation, we have thought fit to insert in our
Ecclesiastical History.
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.]
In the meantime, Augustine, with the help of King Ethelbert, drew together
to a conference the bishops and doctors of the nearest province of the
Britons, at a place which is to this day called, in the English language,
Augustine’s Ác, that is, Augustine’s Oak,(162) on the borders of the
Hwiccas(163) and West Saxons; and began by brotherly admonitions to
persuade them to preserve Catholic peace with him, and undertake the
common labour of preaching the Gospel to the heathen for the Lord’s sake.
For they did not keep Easter Sunday at the proper time, but from the
fourteenth to the twentieth moon; which computation is contained in a
cycle of eighty-four years.(164) Besides, they did many other things which
were opposed to the unity of the church.(165) When, after a long
disputation, they did not comply with the entreaties, exhortations, or
rebukes of Augustine and his companions, but preferred their own
traditions before all the Churches which are united in Christ throughout
the world, the holy father, Augustine, put an end to this troublesome and
tedious contention, saying, “Let us entreat God, who maketh men to be of
one mind in His Father’s house, to vouchsafe, by signs from Heaven, to
declare to us which tradition is to be followed; and by what path we are
to strive to enter His kingdom. Let some sick man be brought, and let the
faith and practice of him, by whose prayers he shall be healed, be looked
upon as hallowed in God’s sight and such as should be adopted by all.” His
adversaries unwillingly consenting, a blind man of the English race was
brought, who having been presented to the British bishops, found no
benefit or healing from their ministry; at length, Augustine, compelled by
strict necessity, bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying that He would restore his lost sight to the blind man, and by the
bodily enlightenment of one kindle the grace of spiritual light in the
hearts of many of the faithful. Immediately the blind man received sight,
and Augustine was proclaimed by all to be a true herald of the light from
Heaven. The Britons then confessed that they perceived that it was the
true way of righteousness which Augustine taught; but that they could not
depart from their ancient customs without the consent and sanction of
their people. They therefore desired that a second time a synod might be
appointed, at which more of their number should be present.
This being decreed, there came, it is said, seven bishops of the
Britons,(166) and many men of great learning, particularly from their most
celebrated monastery, which is called, in the English tongue,
Bancornaburg,(167) and over which the Abbot Dinoot(168) is said to have
presided at that time. They that were to go to the aforesaid council,
betook themselves first to a certain holy and discreet man, who was wont
to lead the life of a hermit among them, to consult with him, whether they
ought, at the preaching of Augustine, to forsake their traditions. He
answered, “If he is a man of God, follow him.”—“How shall we know that?”
said they. He replied, “Our Lord saith, Take My yoke upon you, and learn
of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; if therefore, Augustine is meek
and lowly of heart, it is to be believed that he bears the yoke of Christ
himself, and offers it to you to bear. But, if he is harsh and proud, it
is plain that he is not of God, nor are we to regard his words.” They said
again, “And how shall we discern even this?”—“Do you contrive,” said the
anchorite, “that he first arrive with his company at the place where the
synod is to be held; and if at your approach he rises up to you, hear him
submissively, being assured that he is the servant of Christ; but if he
despises you, and does not rise up to you, whereas you are more in number,
let him also be despised by you.”
They did as he directed; and it happened, that as they approached,
Augustine was sitting on a chair. When they perceived it, they were angry,
and charging him with pride, set themselves to contradict all he said. He
said to them, “Many things ye do which are contrary to our custom, or
rather the custom of the universal Church, and yet, if you will comply
with me in these three matters, to wit, to keep Easter at the due time; to
fulfil the ministry of Baptism, by which we are born again to God,
according to the custom of the holy Roman Apostolic Church;(169) and to
join with us in preaching the Word of God to the English nation, we will
gladly suffer all the other things you do, though contrary to our
customs.” They answered that they would do none of those things, nor
receive him as their archbishop; for they said among themselves, “if he
would not rise up to us now, how much more will he despise us, as of no
account, if we begin to be under his subjection?” Then the man of God,
Augustine, is said to have threatened them, that if they would not accept
peace with their brethren, they should have war from their enemies; and,
if they would not preach the way of life to the English nation, they
should suffer at their hands the vengeance of death. All which, through
the dispensation of the Divine judgement, fell out exactly as he had
predicted.
For afterwards the warlike king of the English, Ethelfrid,(170) of whom we
have spoken, having raised a mighty army, made a very great slaughter of
that heretical nation, at the city of Legions,(171) which by the English
is called Legacaestir, but by the Britons more rightly Carlegion. Being
about to give battle, he observed their priests, who were come together to
offer up their prayers to God for the combatants, standing apart in a
place of greater safety; he inquired who they were, and what they came
together to do in that place. Most of them were of the monastery of
Bangor,(172) in which, it is said, there was so great a number of monks,
that the monastery being divided into seven parts, with a superior set
over each, none of those parts contained less than three hundred men, who
all lived by the labour of their hands. Many of these, having observed a
fast of three days, had come together along with others to pray at the
aforesaid battle, having one Brocmail(173) for their protector, to defend
them, whilst they were intent upon their prayers, against the swords of
the barbarians. King Ethelfrid being informed of the occasion of their
coming, said, “If then they cry to their God against us, in truth, though
they do not bear arms, yet they fight against us, because they assail us
with their curses.” He, therefore, commanded them to be attacked first,
and then destroyed the rest of the impious army, not without great loss of
his own forces. About twelve hundred of those that came to pray are said
to have been killed, and only fifty to have escaped by flight. Brocmail,
turning his back with his men, at the first approach of the enemy, left
those whom he ought to have defended unarmed and exposed to the swords of
the assailants. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the holy Bishop
Augustine, though he himself had been long before taken up into the
heavenly kingdom, that the heretics should feel the vengeance of temporal
death also, because they had despised the offer of eternal salvation.
Chap. III. How St. Augustine made Mellitus and Justus bishops; and of his
death. [604 A.D.]
In the year of our Lord 604, Augustine, Archbishop of Britain, ordained
two bishops, to wit, Mellitus and Justus;(174) Mellitus to preach to the
province of the East-Saxons, who are divided from Kent by the river
Thames, and border on the Eastern sea. Their metropolis is the city of
London, which is situated on the bank of the aforesaid river, and is the
mart of many nations resorting to it by sea and land. At that time,
Sabert, nephew to Ethelbert through his sister Ricula, reigned over the
nation, though he was under subjection to Ethelbert, who, as has been said
above, had command over all the nations of the English as far as the river
Humber. But when this province also received the word of truth, by the
preaching of Mellitus, King Ethelbert built the church of St. Paul the
Apostle,(175) in the city of London, where he and his successors should
have their episcopal see. As for Justus, Augustine ordained him bishop in
Kent, at the city of Dorubrevis, which the English call
Hrofaescaestrae,(176) from one that was formerly the chief man of it,
called Hrof. It is about twenty-four miles distant from the city of
Canterbury to the westward, and in it King Ethelbert dedicated a church to
the blessed Apostle Andrew,(177) and bestowed many gifts on the bishops of
both those churches, as well as on the Bishop of Canterbury, adding lands
and possessions for the use of those who were associated with the bishops.
After this, the beloved of God, our father Augustine, died,(178) and his
body was laid outside, close by the church of the blessed Apostles, Peter
and Paul, above spoken of, because it was not yet finished, nor
consecrated, but as soon as it was consecrated,(179) the body was brought
in, and fittingly buried in the north chapel(180) thereof; wherein also
were interred the bodies of all the succeeding archbishops, except two
only, Theodore and Bertwald, whose bodies are in the church itself,
because the aforesaid chapel could contain no more.(181) Almost in the
midst of this chapel is an altar dedicated in honour of the blessed Pope
Gregory, at which every Saturday memorial Masses are celebrated for the
archbishops by a priest of that place. On the tomb of Augustine is
inscribed this epitaph:
“Here rests the Lord Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, who, being
of old sent hither by the blessed Gregory, Bishop of the city of Rome, and
supported by God in the working of miracles, led King Ethelbert and his
nation from the worship of idols to the faith of Christ, and having ended
the days of his office in peace, died the 26th day of May, in the reign of
the same king.”
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.
Laurentius(182) succeeded Augustine in the bishopric, having been ordained
thereto by the latter, in his lifetime, lest, upon his death, the Church,
as yet in so unsettled a state, might begin to falter, if it should be
destitute of a pastor, though but for one hour. Wherein he also followed
the example of the first pastor of the Church, that is, of the most
blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles, who, having founded the Church of
Christ at Rome, is said to have consecrated Clement to help him in
preaching the Gospel, and at the same time to be his successor.
Laurentius, being advanced to the rank of archbishop, laboured
indefatigably, both by frequent words of holy exhortation and constant
example of good works to strengthen the foundations of the Church, which
had been so nobly laid, and to carry it on to the fitting height of
perfection. In short, he not only took charge of the new Church formed
among the English, but endeavoured also to bestow his pastoral care upon
the tribes of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, as also of the Scots,
who inhabit the island of Ireland,(183) which is next to Britain. For when
he understood that the life and profession of the Scots in their aforesaid
country, as well as of the Britons in Britain, was not truly in accordance
with the practice of the Church in many matters, especially that they did
not celebrate the festival of Easter at the due time, but thought that the
day of the Resurrection of our Lord ought, as has been said above, to be
observed between the 14th and 20th of the moon; he wrote, jointly with his
fellow bishops, a hortatory epistle, entreating and conjuring them to keep
the unity of peace and Catholic observance with the Church of Christ
spread throughout the world. The beginning of which epistle is as follows:
“_To our most dear brethren, the Lords Bishops and Abbots throughout all
the country of the Scots,_(_184_)_ Laurentius, Mellitus, and Justus,
Bishops, servants of the servants of God._ When the Apostolic see,
according to the universal custom which it has followed elsewhere, sent us
to these western parts to preach to pagan nations, and it was our lot to
come into this island, which is called Britain, before we knew them, we
held both the Britons and Scots in great esteem for sanctity, believing
that they walked according to the custom of the universal Church; but
becoming acquainted with the Britons, we thought that the Scots had been
better. Now we have learnt from Bishop Dagan,(185) who came into this
aforesaid island, and the Abbot Columban,(186) in Gaul, that the Scots in
no way differ from the Britons in their walk; for when Bishop Dagan came
to us, not only did he refuse to eat at the same table, but even to eat in
the same house where we were entertained.”
Also Laurentius with his fellow bishops wrote a letter to the bishops of
the Britons, suitable to his degree, by which he endeavoured to confirm
them in Catholic unity; but what he gained by so doing the present times
still show.
About this time, Mellitus, bishop of London, went to Rome, to confer with
the Apostolic Pope Boniface about the necessary affairs of the English
Church. And the same most reverend pope, assembling a synod of the bishops
of Italy,(187) to prescribe rules for the life and peace of the monks,
Mellitus also sat among them, in the eighth year of the reign of the
Emperor Phocas, the thirteenth indiction, on the 27th of February,(188) to
the end that he also might sign and confirm by his authority whatsoever
should be regularly decreed, and on his return into Britain might carry
the decrees to the Churches of the English, to be committed to them and
observed; together with letters which the same pope sent to the beloved of
God, Archbishop Laurentius, and to all the clergy; as likewise to King
Ethelbert and the English nation. This pope was Boniface, the fourth after
the blessed Gregory, bishop of the city of Rome. He obtained for the
Church of Christ from the Emperor Phocas the gift of the temple at Rome
called by the ancients Pantheon, as representing all the gods; wherein he,
having purified it from all defilement, dedicated a church to the holy
Mother of God, and to all Christ’s martyrs, to the end that, the company
of devils being expelled, the blessed company of the saints might have
therein a perpetual memorial.(189)
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.]
In the year of our Lord 616, which is the twenty-first year after
Augustine and his company were sent to preach to the English nation,
Ethelbert, king of Kent, having most gloriously governed his temporal
kingdom fifty-six years, entered into the eternal joys of the kingdom of
Heaven. He was the third of the English kings who ruled over all the
southern provinces that are divided from the northern by the river Humber
and the borders contiguous to it;(190) but the first of all that ascended
to the heavenly kingdom. The first who had the like sovereignty was Aelli,
king of the South-Saxons; the second, Caelin, king of the West-Saxons,
who, in their own language, is called Ceaulin; the third, as has been
said, was Ethelbert, king of Kent; the fourth was Redwald, king of the
East-Angles, who, even in the life-time of Ethelbert, had been acquiring
the leadership for his own race. The fifth was Edwin, king of the
Northumbrian nation, that is, of those who live in the district to the
north of the river Humber; his power was greater; he had the overlordship
over all the nations who inhabit Britain, both English and British, except
only the people of Kent; and he reduced also under the dominion of the
English, the Mevanian Islands(191) of the Britons, lying between Ireland
and Britain; the sixth was Oswald, the most Christian king of the
Northumbrians, whose kingdom was within the same bounds; the seventh, his
brother Oswy, ruled over a kingdom of like extent for a time, and for the
most part subdued and made tributary the nations of the Picts and Scots,
who occupy the northern parts of Britain: but of that hereafter.
King Ethelbert died on the 24th day of the month of February, twenty-one
years after he had received the faith,(192) and was buried in St. Martin’s
chapel within the church of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, where
also lies his queen, Bertha. Among other benefits which he conferred upon
his nation in his care for them, he established, with the help of his
council of wise men,(193) judicial decisions, after the Roman model; which
are written in the language of the English, and are still kept and
observed by them. Among which, he set down first what satisfaction should
be given by any one who should steal anything belonging to the Church, the
bishop, or the other clergy, for he was resolved to give protection to
those whom he had received along with their doctrine.
This Ethelbert was the son of Irminric, whose father was Octa, whose
father was Oeric, surnamed Oisc, from whom the kings of Kent are wont to
be called Oiscings.(194) His father was Hengist, who, being invited by
Vortigern, first came into Britain, with his son Oisc, as has been said
above.
But after the death of Ethelbert, the accession of his son Eadbald proved
very harmful to the still tender growth of the new Church; for he not only
refused to accept the faith of Christ, but was also defiled with such
fornication, as the Apostle testifies, as is not so much as named among
the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.(195) By both which
crimes he gave occasion to those to return to their former uncleanness,
who, under his father, had, either for favour or fear of the king,
submitted to the laws of the faith and of a pure life. Nor did the
unbelieving king escape without the scourge of Divine severity in
chastisement and correction; for he was troubled with frequent fits of
madness, and possessed by an unclean spirit. The storm of this disturbance
was increased by the death of Sabert, king of the East Saxons, who
departing to the heavenly kingdom, left three sons, still pagans, to
inherit his temporal crown. They immediately began openly to give
themselves up to idolatry, which, during their father’s lifetime, they had
seemed somewhat to abandon, and they granted free licence to their
subjects to serve idols. And when they saw the bishop, whilst celebrating
Mass in the church, give the Eucharist to the people, filled, as they
were, with folly and ignorance, they said to him, as is commonly reported,
“Why do you not give us also that white bread, which you used to give to
our father Saba (for so they were wont to call him), and which you still
continue to give to the people in the church?” To whom he answered, “If
you will be washed in that font of salvation, in which your father was
washed, you may also partake of the holy Bread of which he partook; but if
you despise the laver of life, you can in no wise receive the Bread of
life.” They replied, “We will not enter into that font, because we know
that we do not stand in need of it, and yet we will be refreshed by that
bread.” And being often earnestly admonished by him, that this could by no
means be done, nor would any one be admitted to partake of the sacred
Oblation without the holy cleansing, at last, they said, filled with rage,
“If you will not comply with us in so small a matter as that which we
require, you shall not stay in our province.” And they drove him out and
bade him and his company depart from their kingdom. Being driven thence,
he came into Kent, to take counsel with his fellow bishops, Laurentius and
Justus, and learn what was to be done in that case; and with one consent
they determined that it was better for them all to return to their own
country, where they might serve God in freedom of mind, than to continue
to no purpose among barbarians, who had revolted from the faith. Mellitus
and Justus accordingly went away first, and withdrew into the parts of
Gaul, intending there to await the event. But the kings, who had driven
from them the herald of the truth, did not continue long unpunished in
their worship of devils. For marching out to battle against the nation of
the Gewissi,(196) they were all slain with their army. Nevertheless, the
people, having been once turned to wickedness, though the authors of it
were destroyed, would not be corrected, nor return to the unity of faith
and charity which is in Christ.
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.]
Laurentius, being about to follow Mellitus and Justus, and to quit
Britain, ordered his bed to be laid that night in the church of the
blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, which has been often mentioned before;
wherein having laid himself to rest, after he had with tears poured forth
many prayers to God for the state of the Church, he fell asleep; in the
dead of night, the blessed chief of the Apostles appeared to him, and
scourging him grievously a long time, asked of him with apostolic
severity, why he was forsaking the flock which he had committed to him? or
to what shepherd he was leaving, by his flight, Christ’s sheep that were
in the midst of wolves? “Hast thou,” he said, “forgotten my example, who,
for the sake of those little ones, whom Christ commended to me in token of
His affection, underwent at the hands of infidels and enemies of Christ,
bonds, stripes, imprisonment, afflictions, and lastly, death itself, even
the death of the cross, that I might at last be crowned with Him?”
Laurentius, the servant of Christ, roused by the scourging of the blessed
Peter and his words of exhortation, went to the king as soon as morning
broke, and laying aside his garment, showed the scars of the stripes which
he had received. The king, astonished, asked who had presumed to inflict
such stripes on so great a man. And when he heard that for the sake of his
salvation the bishop had suffered these cruel blows at the hands of the
Apostle of Christ, he was greatly afraid; and abjuring the worship of
idols, and renouncing his unlawful marriage, he received the faith of
Christ, and being baptized, promoted and supported the interests of the
Church to the utmost of his power.
He also sent over into Gaul, and recalled Mellitus and Justus, and bade
them return to govern their churches in freedom. They came back one year
after their departure, and Justus returned to the city of Rochester, where
he had before presided; but the people of London would not receive Bishop
Mellitus, choosing rather to be under their idolatrous high priests; for
King Eadbald had not so much authority in the kingdom as his father, and
was not able to restore the bishop to his church against the will and
consent of the pagans. But he and his nation, after his conversion to the
Lord, sought to obey the commandments of God. Lastly, he built the church
of the holy Mother of God,(197) in the monastery of the most blessed chief
of the Apostles, which was afterwards consecrated by Archbishop Mellitus.
Chap. VII. How Bishop Mellitus by prayer quenched a fire in his city. [619
A.D.]
In this king’s reign, the blessed Archbishop Laurentius was taken up to
the heavenly kingdom: he was buried in the church and monastery of the
holy Apostle Peter, close by his predecessor Augustine, on the 2nd day of
the month of February.(198) Mellitus, who was bishop of London, succeeded
to the see of Canterbury, being the third archbishop from Augustine;
Justus, who was still living, governed the church of Rochester. These
ruled the Church of the English with much care and industry, and received
letters of exhortation from Boniface,(199) bishop of the Roman Apostolic
see, who presided over the Church after Deusdedit, in the year of our Lord
619. Mellitus laboured under the bodily infirmity of gout, but his mind
was sound and active, cheerfully passing over all earthly things, and
always aspiring to love, seek, and attain to those which are celestial. He
was noble by birth, but still nobler by the elevation of his mind.
In short, that I may give one instance of his power, from which the rest
may be inferred, it happened once that the city of Canterbury, being set
on fire through carelessness, was in danger of being consumed by the
spreading conflagration; water was thrown on the fire in vain; a
considerable part of the city was already destroyed, and the fierce flames
were advancing towards the bishop’s abode, when he, trusting in God, where
human help failed, ordered himself to be carried towards the raging masses
of fire which were spreading on every side. The church of the four crowned
Martyrs(200) was in the place where the fire raged most fiercely. The
bishop, being carried thither by his servants, weak as he was, set about
averting by prayer the danger which the strong hands of active men had not
been able to overcome with all their exertions. Immediately the wind,
which blowing from the south had spread the conflagration throughout the
city, veered to the north, and thus prevented the destruction of those
places that had been exposed to its full violence, then it ceased entirely
and there was a calm, while the flames likewise sank and were
extinguished. And because the man of God burned with the fire of divine
love, and was wont to drive away the storms of the powers of the air, by
his frequent prayers and at his bidding, from doing harm to himself, or
his people, it was meet that he should be allowed to prevail over the
winds and flames of this world, and to obtain that they should not injure
him or his.
This archbishop also, having ruled the church five years, departed to
heaven in the reign of King Eadbald, and was buried with his fathers in
the monastery and church, which we have so often mentioned, of the most
blessed chief of the Apostles, in the year of our Lord 624, on the 24th
day of April.
Chap. VIII. How Pope Boniface sent the Pall and a letter to Justus,
successor to Mellitus. [624 A.D.]
Justus, bishop of the church of Rochester, immediately succeeded Mellitus
in the archbishopric. He consecrated Romanus bishop of that see in his own
stead, having obtained authority to ordain bishops from Pope Boniface,
whom we mentioned above as successor to Deusdedit: of which licence this
is the form:
“_Boniface, to his most beloved brother Justus._ We have learnt not only
from the contents of your letter addressed to us, but from the fulfilment
granted to your work, how faithfully and vigilantly you have laboured, my
brother, for the Gospel of Christ; for Almighty God has not forsaken
either the mystery of His Name, or the fruit of your labours, having
Himself faithfully promised to the preachers of the Gospel, ‘Lo! I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world’;(201) which promise His mercy
has particularly manifested in this ministry imposed upon you, opening the
hearts of the nations to receive the wondrous mystery of your preaching.
For He has blessed with a rich reward your Eminence’s acceptable course,
by the support of His loving kindness; granting a plentiful increase to
your labours in the faithful management of the talents committed to you,
and bestowing it on that which you might confirm to many generations.(202)
This is conferred on you by that recompense whereby, constantly
persevering in the ministry imposed upon you, you have awaited with
praiseworthy patience the redemption of that nation, and that they might
profit by your merits, salvation has been bestowed on them. For our Lord
Himself says, ‘He that endureth to the end shall be saved.’(203) You are,
therefore, saved by the hope of patience, and the virtue of endurance, to
the end that the hearts of unbelievers, being cleansed from their natural
disease of superstition, might obtain the mercy of their Saviour: for
having received letters from our son Adulwald,(204) we perceive with how
much knowledge of the Sacred Word you, my brother, have brought his mind
to the belief in true conversion and the certainty of the faith.
Therefore, firmly confiding in the long-suffering of the Divine clemency,
we believe that, through the ministry of your preaching, there will ensue
most full salvation not only of the nations subject to him, but also of
their neighbours; to the end, that as it is written, the recompense of a
perfect work may be conferred on you by the Lord, the Rewarder of all the
just; and that the universal confession of all nations, having received
the mystery of the Christian faith, may declare, that in truth ‘Their
sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the
world.’(205)
“We have also, my brother, moved by the warmth of our goodwill, sent you
by the bearer of these presents, the pall, giving you authority to use it
only in the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries; granting to you likewise
to ordain bishops when there shall be occasion, through the Lord’s mercy;
that so the Gospel of Christ, by the preaching of many, may be spread
abroad in all the nations that are not yet converted. You must, therefore,
endeavour, my brother, to preserve with unblemished sincerity of mind that
which you have received through the kindness of the Apostolic see, bearing
in mind what it is that is represented by the honourable vestment which
you have obtained to be borne on your shoulders. And imploring the Divine
mercy, study to show yourself such that you may present before the
tribunal of the Supreme Judge that is to come, the rewards of the favour
granted to you, not with guiltiness, but with the benefit of souls.
“God preserve you in safety, most dear brother!”
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.]
At this time the nation of the Northumbrians, that is, the English tribe
dwelling on the north side of the river Humber, with their king,
Edwin,(206) received the Word of faith through the preaching of
Paulinus,(207) of whom we have before spoken. This king, as an earnest of
his reception of the faith, and his share in the heavenly kingdom,
received an increase also of his temporal realm, for he reduced under his
dominion all the parts of Britain(208) that were provinces either of the
English, or of the Britons, a thing which no English king had ever done
before; and he even subjected to the English the Mevanian islands, as has
been said above.(209) The more important of these, which is to the
southward, is the larger in extent, and more fruitful, containing nine
hundred and sixty families, according to the English computation; the
other contains above three hundred.
The occasion of this nation’s reception of the faith was the alliance by
marriage of their aforesaid king with the kings of Kent, for he had taken
to wife Ethelberg, otherwise called Tata,(210) daughter to King Ethelbert.
When he first sent ambassadors to ask her in marriage of her brother
Eadbald, who then reigned in Kent, he received the answer, “That it was
not lawful to give a Christian maiden in marriage to a pagan husband, lest
the faith and the mysteries of the heavenly King should be profaned by her
union with a king that was altogether a stranger to the worship of the
true God.” This answer being brought to Edwin by his messengers, he
promised that he would in no manner act in opposition to the Christian
faith, which the maiden professed; but would give leave to her, and all
that went with her, men and women, bishops and clergy, to follow their
faith and worship after the custom of the Christians. Nor did he refuse to
accept that religion himself, if, being examined by wise men, it should be
found more holy and more worthy of God.
So the maiden was promised, and sent to Edwin, and in accordance with the
agreement, Paulinus, a man beloved of God, was ordained bishop, to go with
her, and by daily exhortations, and celebrating the heavenly Mysteries, to
confirm her and her company, lest they should be corrupted by intercourse
with the pagans. Paulinus was ordained bishop by the Archbishop Justus, on
the 21st day of July, in the year of our Lord 625, and so came to King
Edwin with the aforesaid maiden as an attendant on their union in the
flesh. But his mind was wholly bent upon calling the nation to which he
was sent to the knowledge of truth; according to the words of the Apostle,
“To espouse her to the one true Husband, that he might present her as a
chaste virgin to Christ.”(211) Being come into that province, he laboured
much, not only to retain those that went with him, by the help of God,
that they should not abandon the faith, but, if haply he might, to convert
some of the pagans to the grace of the faith by his preaching. But, as the
Apostle says, though he laboured long in the Word, “The god of this world
blinded the minds of them that believed not, lest the light of the
glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them.”(212)
The next year there came into the province one called Eumer, sent by the
king of the West-Saxons, whose name was Cuichelm,(213) to lie in wait for
King Edwin, in hopes at once to deprive him of his kingdom and his life.
He had a two-edged dagger, dipped in poison, to the end that, if the wound
inflicted by the weapon did not avail to kill the king, it might be aided
by the deadly venom. He came to the king on the first day of the Easter
festival,(214) at the river Derwent, where there was then a royal
township,(215) and being admitted as if to deliver a message from his
master, whilst unfolding in cunning words his pretended embassy, he
started up on a sudden, and unsheathing the dagger under his garment,
assaulted the king. When Lilla, the king’s most devoted servant, saw this,
having no buckler at hand to protect the king from death, he at once
interposed his own body to receive the blow; but the enemy struck home
with such force, that he wounded the king through the body of the
slaughtered thegn. Being then attacked on all sides with swords, in the
confusion he also slew impiously with his dagger another of the thegns,
whose name was Forthhere.
On that same holy Easter night, the queen had brought forth to the king a
daughter, called Eanfled. The king, in the presence of Bishop Paulinus,
gave thanks to his gods for the birth of his daughter; and the bishop, on
his part, began to give thanks to Christ, and to tell the king, that by
his prayers to Him he had obtained that the queen should bring forth the
child in safety, and without grievous pain. The king, delighted with his
words, promised, that if God would grant him life and victory over the
king by whom the murderer who had wounded him had been sent, he would
renounce his idols, and serve Christ; and as a pledge that he would
perform his promise, he delivered up that same daughter to Bishop
Paulinus, to be consecrated to Christ. She was the first to be baptized of
the nation of the Northumbrians, and she received Baptism on the holy day
of Pentecost, along with eleven others of her house.(216) At that time,
the king, being recovered of the wound which he had received, raised an
army and marched against the nation of the West-Saxons; and engaging in
war, either slew or received in surrender all those of whom he learned
that they had conspired to murder him. So he returned victorious into his
own country, but he would not immediately and unadvisedly embrace the
mysteries of the Christian faith, though he no longer worshipped idols,
ever since he made the promise that he would serve Christ; but first took
heed earnestly to be instructed at leisure by the venerable Paulinus, in
the knowledge of faith, and to confer with such as he knew to be the
wisest of his chief men, inquiring what they thought was fittest to be
done in that case. And being a man of great natural sagacity, he often sat
alone by himself a long time in silence, deliberating in the depths of his
heart how he should proceed, and to which religion he should adhere.
Chap. X. How Pope Boniface, by letter, exhorted the same king to embrace
the faith. [_Circ._ 625 A.D.]
At this time he received a letter from Pope Boniface(217) exhorting him to
embrace the faith, which was as follows:
COPY OF THE LETTER OF THE MOST BLESSED AND APOSTOLIC POPE OF THE
CHURCH OF THE CITY OF ROME, BONIFACE, ADDRESSED TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
EDWIN, KING OF THE ENGLISH.
“_To the illustrious Edwin, king of the English, Bishop Boniface,
the servant of the servants of God._ Although the power of the
Supreme Deity cannot be expressed by the function of human speech,
seeing that, by its own greatness, it so consists in invisible and
unsearchable eternity, that no keenness of wit can comprehend or
express how great it is; yet inasmuch as His Humanity, having
opened the doors of the heart to receive Himself, mercifully, by
secret inspiration, puts into the minds of men such things as It
reveals concerning Itself,(218) we have thought fit to extend our
episcopal care so far as to make known to you the fulness of the
Christian faith; to the end that, bringing to your knowledge the
Gospel of Christ, which our Saviour commanded should be preached
to all nations, we might offer to you the cup of the means of
salvation.(219)
“Thus the goodness of the Supreme Majesty, which, by the word
alone of His command, made and created all things, the heaven, the
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, disposing the order by
which they should subsist, hath, ordaining all things, with the
counsel of His co-eternal Word, and the unity of the Holy Spirit,
made man after His own image and likeness, forming him out of the
mire of the earth; and granted him such high privilege of
distinction, as to place him above all else; so that, preserving
the bounds of the law of his being, his substance should be
established to eternity. This God,—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the undivided Trinity,—from the east unto the west, through faith
by confession to the saving of their souls, men worship and adore
as the Creator of all things, and their own Maker; to Whom also
the heights of empire and the powers of the world are subject,
because the pre-eminence of all kingdoms is granted by His
disposition. It hath pleased Him, therefore, in the mercy of His
loving kindness, and for the greater benefit of all His
creatures,(220) by the fire of His Holy Spirit wonderfully to
kindle the cold hearts even of the nations seated at the
extremities of the earth in the knowledge of Himself.
“For we suppose, since the two countries are near together, that
your Highness has fully understood what the clemency of our
Redeemer has effected in the enlightenment of our illustrious son,
King Eadbald, and the nations under his rule; we therefore trust,
with assured confidence that, through the long-suffering of
Heaven, His wonderful gift will be also conferred on you; since,
indeed, we have learnt that your illustrious consort, who is
discerned to be one flesh with you, has been blessed with the
reward of eternity, through the regeneration of Holy Baptism. We
have, therefore, taken care by this letter, with all the goodwill
of heartfelt love, to exhort your Highness, that, abhorring idols
and their worship, and despising the foolishness of temples, and
the deceitful flatteries of auguries, you believe in God the
Father Almighty, and His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, to
the end that, believing and being released from the bonds of
captivity to the Devil, you may, through the co-operating power of
the Holy and undivided Trinity, be partaker of the eternal life.
“How great guilt they lie under, who adhere in their worship to
the pernicious superstition of idolatry, appears by the examples
of the perishing of those whom they worship. Wherefore it is said
of them by the Psalmist, ‘All the gods of the nations are
devils,(221) but the Lord made the heavens.’ And again, ‘Eyes have
they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses
have they, but they smell not; they have hands, but they handle
not; feet have they, but they walk not. Therefore they are made
like unto those that place the hope of their confidence in
them.’(222) For how can they have power to help any man, that are
made out of corruptible matter, by the hands of your inferiors and
subjects, and on which, by employing human art, you have bestowed
a lifeless similitude of members? which, moreover, unless they be
moved by you, will not be able to walk; but, like a stone fixed in
one place, being so formed, and having no understanding, sunk in
insensibility, have no power of doing harm or good. We cannot,
therefore, by any manner of discernment conceive how you come to
be so deceived as to follow and worship those gods, to whom you
yourselves have given the likeness of a body.
“It behoves you, therefore, by taking upon you the sign of the
Holy Cross, by which the human race has been redeemed, to root out
of your hearts all the accursed deceitfulness of the snares of the
Devil, who is ever the jealous foe of the works of the Divine
Goodness, and to put forth your hands and with all your might set
to work to break in pieces and destroy those which you have
hitherto fashioned of wood or stone to be your gods. For the very
destruction and decay of these, which never had the breath of life
in them, nor could in any wise receive feeling from their makers,
may plainly teach you how worthless that was which you hitherto
worshipped. For you yourselves, who have received the breath of
life from the Lord, are certainly better than these which are
wrought with hands, seeing that Almighty God has appointed you to
be descended, after many ages and through many generations, from
the first man whom he formed. Draw near, then, to the knowledge of
Him Who created you, Who breathed the breath of life into you, Who
sent His only-begotten Son for your redemption, to save you from
original sin, that being delivered from the power of the Devil’s
perversity and wickedness, He might bestow on you a heavenly
reward.
“Hearken to the words of the preachers, and the Gospel of God,
which they declare to you, to the end that, believing, as has been
said before more than once, in God the Father Almighty, and in
Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Ghost, and the indivisible
Trinity, having put to flight the thoughts of devils, and driven
from you the temptations of the venomous and deceitful enemy, and
being born again of water and the Holy Ghost, you may, through the
aid of His bounty, dwell in the brightness of eternal glory with
Him in Whom you shall have believed.
“We have, moreover, sent you the blessing of your protector, the
blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles, to wit, a shirt of proof
with one gold ornament, and one cloak of Ancyra, which we pray
your Highness to accept with all the goodwill with which it is
sent by us.”
Chap. XI. How Pope Boniface advised the king’s consort to use her best
endeavours for his salvation. [_Circ._ 625 A.D.]
The same pope also wrote to King Edwin’s consort, Ethelberg, to this
effect:
THE COPY OF THE LETTER OF THE MOST BLESSED AND APOSTOLIC BONIFACE,
POPE OF THE CITY OF ROME, TO ETHELBERG, KING EDWIN’S QUEEN.
“_To the illustrious lady his daughter, Queen Ethelberg, Boniface,
bishop, servant of the servants of God._ The goodness of our
Redeemer has in His abundant Providence offered the means of
salvation to the human race, which He rescued, by the shedding of
His precious Blood, from the bonds of captivity to the Devil; to
the end that, when He had made known His name in divers ways to
the nations, they might acknowledge their Creator by embracing the
mystery of the Christian faith. And this the mystical purification
of your regeneration plainly shows to have been bestowed upon the
mind of your Highness by God’s gift. Our heart, therefore, has
greatly rejoiced in the benefit bestowed by the bounty of the
Lord, for that He has vouchsafed, in your confession, to kindle a
spark of the orthodox religion, by which He might the more easily
inflame with the love of Himself the understanding, not only of
your illustrious consort, but also of all the nation that is
subject to you.
“For we have been informed by those, who came to acquaint us with
the laudable conversion of our illustrious son, King Eadbald, that
your Highness, also, having received the wonderful mystery of the
Christian faith, continually excels in the performance of works
pious and acceptable to God; that you likewise carefully refrain
from the worship of idols, and the deceits of temples and
auguries, and with unimpaired devotion, give yourself so wholly to
the love of your Redeemer, as never to cease from lending your aid
in spreading the Christian faith. But when our fatherly love
earnestly inquired concerning your illustrious consort, we were
given to understand, that he still served abominable idols, and
delayed to yield obedience in giving ear to the voice of the
preachers. This occasioned us no small grief, that he that is one
flesh with you still remained a stranger to the knowledge of the
supreme and undivided Trinity. Whereupon we, in our fatherly care,
have not delayed to admonish and exhort your Christian Highness,
to the end that, filled with the support of the Divine
inspiration, you should not defer to strive, both in season and
out of season, that with the co-operating power of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, your husband also may be added to the number
of Christians; that so you may uphold the rights of marriage in
the bond of a holy and unblemished union. For it is written, ‘They
twain shall be one flesh.’(223) How then can it be said, that
there is unity in the bond between you, if he continues a stranger
to the brightness of your faith, separated from it by the darkness
of detestable error?
“Wherefore, applying yourself continually to prayer, do not cease
to beg of the long-suffering of the Divine Mercy the benefits of
his illumination; to the end, that those whom the union of carnal
affection has manifestly made in a manner to be one body, may,
after this life continue in perpetual fellowship, by the unity of
faith. Persist, therefore, illustrious daughter, and to the utmost
of your power endeavour to soften the hardness of his heart by
carefully making known to him the Divine precepts; pouring into
his mind a knowledge of the greatness of that mystery which you
have received by faith, and of the marvellous reward which, by the
new birth, you have been made worthy to obtain. Inflame the
coldness of his heart by the message of the Holy Ghost, that he
may put from him the deadness of an evil worship, and the warmth
of the Divine faith may kindle his understanding through your
frequent exhortations; and so the testimony of Holy Scripture may
shine forth clearly, fulfilled by you, ‘The unbelieving husband
shall be saved by the believing wife.’(224) For to this end you
have obtained the mercy of the Lord’s goodness, that you might
restore with increase to your Redeemer the fruit of faith and of
the benefits entrusted to your hands. That you may be able to
fulfil this task, supported by the help of His loving kindness we
do not cease to implore with frequent prayers.
“Having premised thus much, in pursuance of the duty of our
fatherly affection, we exhort you, that when the opportunity of a
bearer shall offer, you will with all speed comfort us with the
glad tidings of the wonderful work which the heavenly Power shall
vouchsafe to perform by your means in the conversion(225) of your
consort, and of the nation subject to you; to the end, that our
solicitude, which earnestly awaits the fulfilment of its desire in
the soul’s salvation of you and yours, may, by hearing from you,
be set at rest; and that we, discerning more fully the light of
the Divine propitiation shed abroad in you, may with a joyful
confession abundantly return due thanks to God, the Giver of all
good things, and to the blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles.
“We have, moreover, sent you the blessing of your protector, the
blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles, to wit, a silver
looking-glass, and a gilded ivory comb, which we pray your
Highness to accept with all the goodwill with which it is sent by
us.”
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.]
Thus wrote the aforesaid Pope Boniface for the salvation of King Edwin and
his nation. But a heavenly vision, which the Divine Goodness was pleased
once to reveal to this king, when he was in banishment at the court of
Redwald, king of the Angles,(226) was of no little use in urging him to
receive and understand the doctrines of salvation. For when Paulinus
perceived that it was a difficult task to incline the king’s proud mind to
the humility of the way of salvation and the reception of the mystery of
the life-giving Cross, and at the same time was employing the word of
exhortation with men, and prayer to the Divine Goodness, for the salvation
of Edwin and his subjects; at length, as we may suppose, it was shown him
in spirit what the nature of the vision was that had been formerly
revealed from Heaven to the king. Then he lost no time, but immediately
admonished the king to perform the vow which he had made, when he received
the vision, promising to fulfil it, if he should be delivered from the
troubles of that time, and advanced to the throne.
The vision was this. When Ethelfrid,(227) his predecessor, was persecuting
him, he wandered for many years as an exile, hiding in divers places and
kingdoms, and at last came to Redwald, beseeching him to give him
protection against the snares of his powerful persecutor. Redwald
willingly received him, and promised to perform what was asked of him. But
when Ethelfrid understood that he had appeared in that province, and that
he and his companions were hospitably entertained by Redwald, he sent
messengers to bribe that king with a great sum of money to murder him, but
without effect. He sent a second and a third time, offering a greater
bribe each time, and, moreover, threatening to make war on him if his
offer should be despised. Redwald, whether terrified by his threats, or
won over by his gifts, complied with this request, and promised either to
kill Edwin, or to deliver him up to the envoys. A faithful friend of his,
hearing of this, went into his chamber, where he was going to bed, for it
was the first hour of the night; and calling him out, told him what the
king had promised to do with him, adding, “If, therefore, you are willing,
I will this very hour conduct you out of this province, and lead you to a
place where neither Redwald nor Ethelfrid shall ever find you.” He
answered, “I thank you for your good will, yet I cannot do what you
propose, and be guilty of being the first to break the compact I have made
with so great a king, when he has done me no harm, nor shown any enmity to
me; but, on the contrary, if I must die, let it rather be by his hand than
by that of any meaner man. For whither shall I now fly, when I have for so
many long years been a vagabond through all the provinces of Britain, to
escape the snares of my enemies?” His friend went away; Edwin remained
alone without, and sitting with a heavy heart before the palace, began to
be overwhelmed with many thoughts, not knowing what to do, or which way to
turn.
When he had remained a long time in silent anguish of mind, consumed with
inward fire,(228) on a sudden in the stillness of the dead of night he saw
approaching a person, whose face and habit were strange to him, at sight
of whom, seeing that he was unknown and unlooked for, he was not a little
startled. The stranger coming close up, saluted him, and asked why he sat
there in solitude on a stone troubled and wakeful at that time, when all
others were taking their rest, and were fast asleep. Edwin, in his turn,
asked, what it was to him, whether he spent the night within doors or
abroad. The stranger, in reply, said, “Do not think that I am ignorant of
the cause of your grief, your watching, and sitting alone without. For I
know of a surety who you are, and why you grieve, and the evils which you
fear will soon fall upon you. But tell me, what reward you would give the
man who should deliver you out of these troubles, and persuade Redwald
neither to do you any harm himself, nor to deliver you up to be murdered
by your enemies.” Edwin replied, that he would give such an one all that
he could in return for so great a benefit. The other further added, “What
if he should also assure you, that your enemies should be destroyed, and
you should be a king surpassing in power, not only all your own ancestors,
but even all that have reigned before you in the English nation?” Edwin,
encouraged by these questions, did not hesitate to promise that he would
make a fitting return to him who should confer such benefits upon him.
Then the other spoke a third time and said, “But if he who should truly
foretell that all these great blessings are about to befall you, could
also give you better and more profitable counsel for your life and
salvation than any of your fathers or kindred ever heard, do you consent
to submit to him, and to follow his wholesome guidance?” Edwin at once
promised that he would in all things follow the teaching of that man who
should deliver him from so many great calamities, and raise him to a
throne.
Having received this answer, the man who talked to him laid his right hand
on his head saying, “When this sign shall be given you, remember this
present discourse that has passed between us, and do not delay the
performance of what you now promise.” Having uttered these words, he is
said to have immediately vanished. So the king perceived that it was not a
man, but a spirit, that had appeared to him.
Whilst the royal youth still sat there alone, glad of the comfort he had
received, but still troubled and earnestly pondering who he was, and
whence he came, that had so talked to him, his aforesaid friend came to
him, and greeting him with a glad countenance, “Rise,” said he, “go in;
calm and put away your anxious cares, and compose yourself in body and
mind to sleep; for the king’s resolution is altered, and he designs to do
you no harm, but rather to keep his pledged faith; for when he had
privately made known to the queen his intention of doing what I told you
before, she dissuaded him from it, reminding him that it was altogether
unworthy of so great a king to sell his good friend in such distress for
gold, and to sacrifice his honour, which is more valuable than all other
adornments, for the love of money.” In short, the king did as has been
said, and not only refused to deliver up the banished man to his enemy’s
messengers, but helped him to recover his kingdom. For as soon as the
messengers had returned home, he raised a mighty army to subdue Ethelfrid;
who, meeting him with much inferior forces, (for Redwald had not given him
time to gather and unite all his power,) was slain on the borders of the
kingdom of Mercia, on the east side of the river that is called Idle.(229)
In this battle, Redwald’s son, called Raegenheri, was killed. Thus Edwin,
in accordance with the prophecy he had received, not only escaped the
danger from his enemy, but, by his death, succeeded the king on the
throne.
King Edwin, therefore, delaying to receive the Word of God at the
preaching of Paulinus, and being wont for some time, as has been said, to
sit many hours alone, and seriously to ponder with himself what he was to
do, and what religion he was to follow, the man of God came to him one
day, laid his right hand on his head, and asked, whether he knew that
sign? The king, trembling, was ready to fall down at his feet, but he
raised him up, and speaking to him with the voice of a friend, said,
“Behold, by the gift of God you have escaped the hands of the enemies whom
you feared. Behold, you have obtained of His bounty the kingdom which you
desired. Take heed not to delay to perform your third promise; accept the
faith, and keep the precepts of Him Who, delivering you from temporal
adversity, has raised you to the honour of a temporal kingdom; and if,
from this time forward, you shall be obedient to His will, which through
me He signifies to you, He will also deliver you from the everlasting
torments of the wicked, and make you partaker with Him of His eternal
kingdom in heaven.”
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.]
The king, hearing these words, answered, that he was both willing and
bound to receive the faith which Paulinus taught; but that he would confer
about it with his chief friends and counsellors, to the end that if they
also were of his opinion, they might all together be consecrated to Christ
in the font of life. Paulinus consenting, the king did as he said; for,
holding a council with the wise men,(230) he asked of every one in
particular what he thought of this doctrine hitherto unknown to them, and
the new worship of God that was preached? The chief of his own priests,
Coifi, immediately answered him, “O king, consider what this is which is
now preached to us; for I verily declare to you what I have learnt beyond
doubt, that the religion which we have hitherto professed has no virtue in
it and no profit. For none of your people has applied himself more
diligently to the worship of our gods than I; and yet there are many who
receive greater favours from you, and are more preferred than I, and are
more prosperous in all that they undertake to do or to get. Now if the
gods were good for any thing, they would rather forward me, who have been
careful to serve them with greater zeal. It remains, therefore, that if
upon examination you find those new doctrines, which are now preached to
us, better and more efficacious, we hasten to receive them without any
delay.”
Another of the king’s chief men, approving of his wise words and
exhortations, added thereafter: “The present life of man upon earth, O
king, seems to me, in comparison with that time which is unknown to us,
like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the house wherein you sit at
supper in winter, with your ealdormen and thegns, while the fire blazes in
the midst, and the hall is warmed, but the wintry storms of rain or snow
are raging abroad. The sparrow, flying in at one door and immediately out
at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry tempest; but
after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your
sight, passing from winter into winter again. So this life of man appears
for a little while, but of what is to follow or what went before we know
nothing at all. If, therefore, this new doctrine tells us something more
certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed.” The other elders and
king’s counsellors, by Divine prompting, spoke to the same effect.
But Coifi added, that he wished more attentively to hear Paulinus
discourse concerning the God Whom he preached. When he did so, at the
king’s command, Coifi, hearing his words, cried out, “This long time I
have perceived that what we worshipped was naught; because the more
diligently I sought after truth in that worship, the less I found it. But
now I freely confess, that such truth evidently appears in this preaching
as can confer on us the gifts of life, of salvation, and of eternal
happiness. For which reason my counsel is, O king, that we instantly give
up to ban and fire those temples and altars which we have consecrated
without reaping any benefit from them.” In brief, the king openly assented
to the preaching of the Gospel by Paulinus, and renouncing idolatry,
declared that he received the faith of Christ: and when he inquired of the
aforesaid high priest of his religion, who should first desecrate the
altars and temples of their idols, with the precincts that were about
them, he answered, “I; for who can more fittingly than myself destroy
those things which I worshipped in my folly, for an example to all others,
through the wisdom which has been given me by the true God?” Then
immediately, in contempt of his vain superstitions, he desired the king to
furnish him with arms and a stallion, that he might mount and go forth to
destroy the idols; for it was not lawful before for the high priest either
to carry arms, or to ride on anything but a mare. Having, therefore, girt
a sword about him, with a spear in his hand, he mounted the king’s
stallion, and went his way to the idols. The multitude, beholding it,
thought that he was mad; but as soon as he drew near the temple he did not
delay to desecrate it by casting into it the spear which he held; and
rejoicing in the knowledge of the worship of the true God, he commanded
his companions to tear down and set on fire the temple, with all its
precincts. This place where the idols once stood is still shown, not far
from York, to the eastward, beyond the river Derwent, and is now called
Godmunddingaham,(231) where the high priest, by the inspiration of the
true God, profaned and destroyed the altars which he had himself
consecrated.(232)
Chap. XIV. How King Edwin and his nation became Christians; and where
Paulinus baptized them. [627 A.D.]
King Edwin, therefore, with all the nobility of the nation, and a large
number of the common sort, received the faith, and the washing of holy
regeneration, in the eleventh year of his reign, which is the year of our
Lord 627, and about one hundred and eighty after the coming of the English
into Britain. He was baptized at York, on the holy day of Easter,(233)
being the 12th of April, in the church of St. Peter the Apostle, which he
himself had built of timber there in haste, whilst he was a catechumen
receiving instruction in order to be admitted to baptism. In that city
also he bestowed upon his instructor and bishop, Paulinus, his episcopal
see. But as soon as he was baptized, he set about building, by the
direction of Paulinus, in the same place a larger and nobler church of
stone, in the midst whereof the oratory which he had first erected should
be enclosed.(234) Having, therefore, laid the foundation, he began to
build the church square, encompassing the former oratory. But before the
walls were raised to their full height, the cruel death(235) of the king
left that work to be finished by Oswald his successor. Paulinus, for the
space of six years from this time, that is, till the end of the king’s
reign, with his consent and favour, preached the Word of God in that
country, and as many as were foreordained to eternal life believed and
were baptized. Among them were Osfrid and Eadfrid, King Edwin’s sons who
were both born to him, whilst he was in banishment, of Quenburga, the
daughter of Cearl, king of the Mercians.
Afterwards other children of his, by Queen Ethelberg, were baptized,
Ethelhun and his daughter Ethelthryth, and another, Wuscfrea, a son; the
first two were snatched out of this life whilst they were still in the
white garments of the newly-baptized,(236) and buried in the church at
York. Yffi,(237) the son of Osfrid, was also baptized, and many other
noble and royal persons. So great was then the fervour of the faith, as is
reported, and the desire for the laver of salvation among the nation of
the Northumbrians, that Paulinus at a certain time coming with the king
and queen to the royal township, which is called Adgefrin,(238) stayed
there with them thirty-six days, fully occupied in catechizing and
baptizing; during which days, from morning till night, he did nothing else
but instruct the people resorting from all villages and places, in
Christ’s saving Word; and when they were instructed, he washed them with
the water of absolution in the river Glen,(239) which is close by. This
township, under the following kings, was abandoned, and another was built
instead of it, at the place called Maelmin.(240)
These things happened in the province of the Bernicians; but in that of
the Deiri also, where he was wont often to be with the king, he baptized
in the river Swale, which runs by the village of Cataract;(241) for as yet
oratories, or baptisteries, could not be built in the early infancy of the
Church in those parts. But in Campodonum,(242) where there was then a
royal township, he built a church which the pagans, by whom King Edwin was
slain, afterwards burnt, together with all the place. Instead of this
royal seat the later kings built themselves a township in the country
called Loidis.(243) But the altar, being of stone, escaped the fire and is
still preserved in the monastery of the most reverend abbot and priest,
Thrydwulf, which is in the forest of Elmet.(244)
Chap. XV. How the province of the East Angles received the faith of
Christ. [627-628 A.D.]
Edwin was so zealous for the true worship, that he likewise persuaded
Earpwald, king of the East Angles, and son of Redwald, to abandon his
idolatrous superstitions, and with his whole province to receive the faith
and mysteries of Christ. And indeed his father Redwald had long before
been initiated into the mysteries of the Christian faith in Kent, but in
vain; for on his return home, he was seduced by his wife and certain
perverse teachers, and turned aside from the sincerity of the faith; and
thus his latter state was worse than the former; so that, like the
Samaritans of old, he seemed at the same time to serve Christ and the gods
whom he served before; and in the same temple he had an altar for the
Christian Sacrifice, and another small one at which to offer victims to
devils. Aldwulf,(245) king of that same province, who lived in our time,
testifies that this temple had stood until his time, and that he had seen
it when he was a boy. The aforesaid King Redwald was noble by birth,
though ignoble in his actions, being the son of Tytilus, whose father was
Uuffa, from whom the kings of the East Angles are called Uuffings.(246)
Earpwald, not long after he had embraced the Christian faith, was slain by
one Ricbert, a pagan; and from that time the province was in error for
three years, till Sigbert succeeded to the kingdom,(247) brother to the
same Earpwald, a most Christian and learned man, who was banished, and
went to live in Gaul during his brother’s life, and was there initiated
into the mysteries of the faith, whereof he made it his business to cause
all his province to partake as soon as he came to the throne. His
exertions were nobly promoted by Bishop Felix,(248) who, coming to
Honorius, the archbishop,(249) from the parts of Burgundy, where he had
been born and ordained, and having told him what he desired, was sent by
him to preach the Word of life to the aforesaid nation of the Angles. Nor
were his good wishes in vain; for the pious labourer in the spiritual
field reaped therein a great harvest of believers, delivering all that
province (according to the inner signification of his name) from long
iniquity and unhappiness, and bringing it to the faith and works of
righteousness, and the gifts of everlasting happiness. He had the see of
his bishopric appointed him in the city Dommoc,(250) and having presided
over the same province with pontifical authority seventeen years, he ended
his days there in peace.
Chap. XVI. How Paulinus preached in the province of Lindsey; and of the
character of the reign of Edwin. [_Circ._ 628 A.D.]
Paulinus also preached the Word to the province of Lindsey,(251) which is
the first on the south side of the river Humber, stretching as far as the
sea; and he first converted to the Lord the reeve of the city of Lincoln,
whose name was Blaecca, with his whole house. He likewise built, in that
city, a stone church of beautiful workmanship; the roof of which has
either fallen through long neglect, or been thrown down by enemies, but
the walls are still to be seen standing, and every year miraculous cures
are wrought in that place, for the benefit of those who have faith to seek
them. In that church, when Justus had departed to Christ, Paulinus
consecrated Honorius bishop in his stead, as will be hereafter mentioned
in its proper place.(252) A certain priest and abbot of the monastery of
Peartaneu,(253) a man of singular veracity, whose name was Deda, told me
concerning the faith of this province that an old man had informed him
that he himself had been baptized at noon-day, by Bishop Paulinus, in the
presence of King Edwin, and with him a great multitude of the people, in
the river Trent, near the city, which in the English tongue is called
Tiouulfingacaestir;(254) and he was also wont to describe the person of
the same Paulinus, saying that he was tall of stature, stooping somewhat,
his hair black, his visage thin, his nose slender and aquiline, his aspect
both venerable and awe-inspiring. He had also with him in the ministry,
James, the deacon,(255) a man of zeal and great fame in Christ and in the
church, who lived even to our days.
It is told that there was then such perfect peace in Britain, wheresoever
the dominion of King Edwin extended, that, as is still proverbially said,
a woman with her new-born babe might walk throughout the island, from sea
to sea, without receiving any harm. That king took such care for the good
of his nation, that in several places where he had seen clear springs near
the highways, he caused stakes to be fixed, with copper drinking-vessels
hanging on them, for the refreshment of travellers; nor durst any man
touch them for any other purpose than that for which they were designed,
either through the great dread they had of the king, or for the affection
which they bore him. His dignity was so great throughout his dominions,
that not only were his banners borne before him in battle, but even in
time of peace, when he rode about his cities, townships, or provinces,
with his thegns, the standard-bearer was always wont to go before him.
Also, when he walked anywhere along the streets, that sort of banner which
the Romans call Tufa,(256) and the English, Thuuf, was in like manner
borne before him.
Chap. XVII. How Edwin received letters of exhortation from Pope Honorius,
who also sent the pall to Paulinus. [634 A.D.]
At that time Honorius, successor to Boniface, was Bishop of the Apostolic
see. When he learned that the nation of the Northumbrians, with their
king, had been, by the preaching of Paulinus, converted to the faith and
confession of Christ, he sent the pall to the said Paulinus, and with it
letters of exhortation to King Edwin, with fatherly love inflaming his
zeal, to the end that he and his people should persist in belief of the
truth which they had received. The contents of which letter were as
follow:
“_To his most noble son, and excellent lord, Edwin king of the Angles,
Bishop Honorius, servant of the servants of God, greeting._ The
wholeheartedness of your Christian Majesty, in the worship of your
Creator, is so inflamed with the fire of faith, that it shines out far and
wide, and, being reported throughout the world, brings forth plentiful
fruits of your labours. For the terms of your kingship you know to be
this, that taught by orthodox preaching the knowledge of your King and
Creator, you believe and worship God, and as far as man is able, pay Him
the sincere devotion of your mind. For what else are we able to offer to
our God, but our readiness to worship Him and to pay Him our vows,
persisting in good actions, and confessing Him the Creator of mankind?
And, therefore, most excellent son, we exhort you with such fatherly love
as is meet, to labour to preserve this gift in every way, by earnest
striving and constant prayer, in that the Divine Mercy has vouchsafed to
call you to His grace; to the end that He, Who has been pleased to deliver
you from all errors, and bring you to the knowledge of His name in this
present world, may likewise prepare a place for you in the heavenly
country. Employing yourself, therefore, in reading frequently the works of
my lord Gregory, your Evangelist, of apostolic memory, keep before your
eyes that love of his doctrine, which he zealously bestowed for the sake
of your souls; that his prayers may exalt your kingdom and people, and
present you faultless before Almighty God. We are preparing with a willing
mind immediately to grant those things which you hoped would be by us
ordained for your bishops, and this we do on account of the sincerity of
your faith, which has been made known to us abundantly in terms of praise
by the bearers of these presents. We have sent two palls to the two
metropolitans, Honorius and Paulinus;(257) to the intent, that when either
of them shall be called out of this world to his Creator, the other may,
by this authority of ours, substitute another bishop in his place; which
privilege we are induced to grant by the warmth of our love for you, as
well as by reason of the great extent of the provinces which lie between
us and you; that we may in all things support your devotion and likewise
satisfy your desires. May God’s grace preserve your Highness in safety!”
Chap. XVIII. How Honorius, who succeeded Justus in the bishopric of
Canterbury, received the pall and letters from Pope Honorius. [634 A.D.]
In the meantime, Archbishop Justus was taken up to the heavenly kingdom,
on the 10th of November,(258) and Honorius, who was elected to the see in
his stead, came to Paulinus to be ordained, and meeting him at Lincoln was
there consecrated the fifth prelate of the Church of Canterbury from
Augustine. To him also the aforesaid Pope Honorius sent the pall, and a
letter, wherein he ordains the same that he had before ordained in his
epistle to King Edwin, to wit, that when either the Archbishop of
Canterbury or of York shall depart this life, the survivor, being of the
same degree, shall have power to ordain another bishop in the room of him
that is departed; that it might not be necessary always to undertake the
toilsome journey to Rome, at so great a distance by sea and land, to
ordain an archbishop. Which letter we have also thought fit to insert in
this our history:
“_Honorius to his most beloved brother Honorius:_ Among the many good
gifts which the mercy of our Redeemer is pleased to bestow on His servants
He grants to us in His bounty, graciously conferred on us by His goodness,
the special blessing of realizing by brotherly intercourse, as it were
face to face, our mutual love. For which gift we continually render thanks
to His Majesty; and we humbly beseech Him, that He will ever confirm your
labour, beloved, in preaching the Gospel, and bringing forth fruit, and
following the rule of your master and head, the holy Gregory; and that,
for the advancement of His Church, He may by your means raise up further
increase; to the end, that through faith and works, in the fear and love
of God, what you and your predecessors have already gained from the seed
sown by our lord Gregory, may grow strong and be further extended; that so
the promises spoken by our Lord may hereafter be brought to pass in you;
and that these words may summon you to everlasting happiness: ‘Come unto
Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.’(259)
And again, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord.’(260) And we, most beloved brothers, sending you
first these words of exhortation out of our enduring charity, do not fail
further to grant those things which we perceive may be suitable for the
privileges of your Churches.
“Wherefore, in accordance with your request, and that of the kings our
sons,(261) we do hereby in the name of the blessed Peter, chief of the
Apostles, grant you authority, that when the Divine Grace shall call
either of you to Himself, the survivor shall ordain a bishop in the room
of him that is deceased. To which end also we have sent a pall to each of
you, beloved, for celebrating the said ordination; that by the authority
which we hereby commit to you, you may make an ordination acceptable to
God; because the long distance of sea and land that lies between us and
you, has obliged us to grant you this, that no loss may happen to your
Church in any way, on any pretext whatever, but that the devotion of the
people committed to you may increase the more. God preserve you in safety,
most dear brother! Given the 11th day of June, in the reign of these our
lords and emperors, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Heraclius,
and the twenty-third after his consulship; and in the twenty-third of his
son Constantine, and the third after his consulship; and in the third year
of the most prosperous Caesar, his son Heraclius,(262) the seventh
indiction; that is, in the year of our Lord, 634.”
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.]
The same Pope Honorius also wrote to the Scots,(263) whom he had found to
err in the observance of the holy Festival of Easter, as has been shown
above, with subtlety of argument exhorting them not to think themselves,
few as they were, and placed in the utmost borders of the earth, wiser
than all the ancient and modern Churches of Christ, throughout the world;
and not to celebrate a different Easter, contrary to the Paschal
calculation and the decrees of all the bishops upon earth sitting in
synod. Likewise John,(264) who succeeded Severinus, successor to the same
Honorius, being yet but Pope elect, sent to them letters of great
authority and erudition for the purpose of correcting the same error;
evidently showing, that Easter Sunday is to be found between the fifteenth
of the moon and the twenty-first, as was approved in the Council of
Nicaea.(265) He also in the same epistle admonished them to guard against
the Pelagian heresy,(266) and reject it, for he had been informed that it
was again springing up among them. The beginning of the epistle was as
follows:
“_To our most beloved and most holy Tomianus, Columbanus, Cromanus,
Dinnaus, and Baithanus, bishops; to __ Cromanus, Ernianus, Laistranus,
Scellanus, and Segenus, priests; to Saranus and the rest of the Scottish
doctors and abbots, Hilarus, the arch-presbyter, and vice-gerent of the
holy Apostolic See; John, the deacon, and elect in the name of God;
likewise John, the chief of the notaries and vice-gerent of the holy
Apostolic See, and John, the servant of God, and counsellor of the same
Apostolic See._(267) The writings which were brought by the bearers to
Pope Severinus, of holy memory, were left, when he departed from the light
of this world, without an answer to the questions contained in them. Lest
any obscurity should long remain undispelled in a matter of so great
moment, we opened the same, and found that some in your province,
endeavouring to revive a new heresy out of an old one, contrary to the
orthodox faith, do through the darkness of their minds reject our Easter,
when Christ was sacrificed; and contend that the same should be kept with
the Hebrews on the fourteenth of the moon.”(268)
By this beginning of the epistle it evidently appears that this heresy
arose among them in very late times, and that not all their nation, but
only some of them, were involved in the same.
After having laid down the manner of keeping Easter, they add this
concerning the Pelagians in the same epistle:
“And we have also learnt that the poison of the Pelagian heresy again
springs up among you; we, therefore, exhort you, that you put away from
your thoughts all such venomous and superstitious wickedness. For you
cannot be ignorant how that execrable heresy has been condemned; for it
has not only been abolished these two hundred years, but it is also daily
condemned by us and buried under our perpetual ban; and we exhort you not
to rake up the ashes of those whose weapons have been burnt. For who would
not detest that insolent and impious assertion, ‘That man can live without
sin of his own free will, and not through the grace of God?’ And in the
first place, it is blasphemous folly to say that man is without sin, which
none can be, but only the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ
Jesus, Who was conceived and born without sin; for all other men, being
born in original sin, are known to bear the mark of Adam’s transgression,
even whilst they are without actual sin, according to the saying of the
prophet, ‘For behold, I was conceived in iniquity; and in sin did my
mother give birth to me.’ ”(269)
Chap. XX. How Edwin being slain, Paulinus returned into Kent, and had the
bishopric of Rochester conferred upon him. [633 A.D.]
Edwin reigned most gloriously seventeen years over the nations of the
English and the Britons, six whereof, as has been said, he also was a
soldier in the kingdom of Christ. Caedwalla,(270) king of the Britons,
rebelled against him, being supported by the vigorous Penda, of the royal
race of the Mercians, who from that time governed that nation for
twenty-two years with varying success. A great battle being fought in the
plain that is called Haethfelth,(271) Edwin was killed on the 12th of
October, in the year of our Lord 633, being then forty-eight years of age,
and all his army was either slain or dispersed. In the same war also,
Osfrid,(272) one of his sons, a warlike youth, fell before him;
Eadfrid,(273) another of them, compelled by necessity, went over to King
Penda, and was by him afterwards slain in the reign of Oswald, contrary to
his oath. At this time a great slaughter was made in the Church and nation
of the Northumbrians; chiefly because one of the chiefs, by whom it was
carried on, was a pagan, and the other a barbarian, more cruel than a
pagan; for Penda, with all the nation of the Mercians, was an idolater,
and a stranger to the name of Christ; but Caedwalla, though he professed
and called himself a Christian, was so barbarous in his disposition and
manner of living, that he did not even spare women and innocent children,
but with bestial cruelty put all alike to death by torture, and overran
all their country in his fury for a long time, intending to cut off all
the race of the English within the borders of Britain. Nor did he pay any
respect to the Christian religion which had sprung up among them; it being
to this day the custom of the Britons to despise the faith and religion of
the English, and to have no part with them in anything any more than with
pagans. King Edwin’s head was brought to York, and afterwards taken into
the church of the blessed Peter the Apostle, which he had begun, but which
his successor Oswald finished, as has been said before. It was laid in the
chapel of the holy Pope Gregory, from whose disciples he had received the
word of life.(274)
The affairs of the Northumbrians being thrown into confusion at the moment
of this disaster, when there seemed to be no prospect of safety except in
flight, Paulinus, taking with him Queen Ethelberg, whom he had before
brought thither, returned into Kent by sea, and was very honourably
received by the Archbishop Honorius and King Eadbald. He came thither
under the conduct of Bassus, a most valiant thegn of King Edwin, having
with him Eanfled, the daughter, and Wuscfrea, the son of Edwin, as well as
Yffi, the son of Osfrid, Edwin’s son.(275) Afterwards Ethelberg, for fear
of the kings Eadbald and Oswald,(276) sent Wuscfrea and Yffi over into
Gaul to be bred up by King Dagobert,(277) who was her friend; and there
they both died in infancy, and were buried in the church with the honour
due to royal children and to Christ’s innocents. He also brought with him
many rich goods of King Edwin, among which were a large gold cross, and a
golden chalice, consecrated to the service of the altar, which are still
preserved, and shown in the church of Canterbury.
At that time the church of Rochester had no pastor, for Romanus,(278) the
bishop thereof, being sent on a mission to Pope Honorius by Archbishop
Justus, was drowned in the Italian Sea; and thus Paulinus, at the request
of Archbishop Honorius and King Eadbald, took upon him the charge of the
same, and held it until he too, in his own time, departed to heaven, with
the fruits of his glorious labours; and, dying in that Church, he left
there the pall which he had received from the Pope of Rome. He had left
behind him in his Church at York, James, the deacon,(279) a true churchman
and a holy man, who continuing long after in that Church, by teaching and
baptizing, rescued much prey from the ancient enemy; and from him the
village, where he chiefly dwelt, near Cataract,(280) has its name to this
day. He had great skill in singing in church, and when the province was
afterwards restored to peace, and the number of the faithful increased, he
began to teach church music to many, according to the custom of the
Romans, or of the Cantuarians.(281) And being old and full of days, as the
Scripture says, he went the way of his fathers.