Chap. I. How King Edwin’s next successors lost both the faith of their
nation and the kingdom; but the most Christian King Oswald retrieved both.
[633 A.D.]
Edwin being slain in battle, the kingdom of the Deiri, to which province
his family belonged, and where he first began to reign, passed to Osric,
the son of his uncle Aelfric, who, through the preaching of Paulinus, had
also received the mysteries of the faith. But the kingdom of the
Bernicians—for into these two provinces the nation of the Northumbrians
was formerly divided(282)—passed to Eanfrid, the son of Ethelfrid,(283)
who derived his origin from the royal family of that province. For all the
time that Edwin reigned, the sons of the aforesaid Ethelfrid, who had
reigned before him, with many of the younger nobility, lived in banishment
among the Scots or Picts, and were there instructed according to the
doctrine of the Scots, and were renewed with the grace of Baptism. Upon
the death of the king, their enemy, they were allowed to return home, and
the aforesaid Eanfrid, as the eldest of them, became king of the
Bernicians. Both those kings,(284) as soon as they obtained the government
of their earthly kingdoms, abjured and betrayed the mysteries of the
heavenly kingdom to which they had been admitted, and again delivered
themselves up to defilement and perdition through the abominations of
their former idolatry.
But soon after, the king of the Britons, Caedwalla,(285) the unrighteous
instrument of rightful vengeance, slew them both. First, in the following
summer, he put Osric to death; for, being rashly besieged by him in the
municipal town,(286) he sallied out on a sudden with all his forces, took
him by surprise, and destroyed him and all his army. Then, when he had
occupied the provinces of the Northumbrians for a whole year,(287) not
ruling them like a victorious king, but ravaging them like a furious
tyrant, he at length put an end to Eanfrid, in like manner, when he
unadvisedly came to him with only twelve chosen soldiers, to sue for
peace. To this day, that year is looked upon as ill-omened, and hateful to
all good men; as well on account of the apostacy of the English kings, who
had renounced the mysteries of the faith, as of the outrageous tyranny of
the British king. Hence it has been generally agreed, in reckoning the
dates of the kings, to abolish the memory of those faithless monarchs, and
to assign that year to the reign of the following king, Oswald, a man
beloved of God. This king, after the death of his brother Eanfrid,(288)
advanced with an army, small, indeed, in number, but strengthened with the
faith of Christ; and the impious commander of the Britons, in spite of his
vast forces, which he boasted nothing could withstand, was slain at a
place called in the English tongue Denisesburna, that is, the brook of
Denis.(289)
Chap. II. How, among innumerable other miracles of healing wrought by the
wood of the cross, which King Oswald, being ready to engage against the
barbarians, erected, a certain man had his injured arm healed. [634 A.D.]
The place is shown to this day, and held in much veneration, where Oswald,
being about to engage in this battle, erected the symbol of the Holy
Cross, and knelt down and prayed to God that he would send help from
Heaven to his worshippers in their sore need. Then, we are told, that the
cross being made in haste, and the hole dug in which it was to be set up,
the king himself, in the ardour of his faith, laid hold of it and held it
upright with both his hands, till the earth was heaped up by the soldiers
and it was fixed. Thereupon, uplifting his voice, he cried to his whole
army, “Let us all kneel, and together beseech the true and living God
Almighty in His mercy to defend us from the proud and cruel enemy; for He
knows that we have undertaken a just war for the safety of our nation.”
All did as he had commanded, and accordingly advancing towards the enemy
with the first dawn of day, they obtained the victory, as their faith
deserved. In the place where they prayed very many miracles of healing are
known to have been wrought, as a token and memorial of the king’s faith;
for even to this day, many are wont to cut off small splinters from the
wood of the holy cross, and put them into water, which they give to sick
men or cattle to drink, or they sprinkle them therewith, and these are
presently restored to health.
The place is called in the English tongue Hefenfelth, or the Heavenly
Field,(290) which name it undoubtedly received of old as a presage of what
was afterwards to happen, denoting, that the heavenly trophy was to be
erected, the heavenly victory begun, and heavenly miracles shown forth to
this day. The place is near the wall in the north which the Romans
formerly drew across the whole of Britain from sea to sea, to restrain the
onslaught of the barbarous nations, as has been said before. Hither also
the brothers of the church of Hagustald,(291) which is not far distant,
long ago made it their custom to resort every year, on the day before that
on which King Oswald was afterwards slain, to keep vigils there for the
health of his soul, and having sung many psalms of praise, to offer for
him in the morning the sacrifice of the Holy Oblation. And since that good
custom has spread, they have lately built a church there, which has
attached additional sanctity and honour in the eyes of all men to that
place;(292) and this with good reason; for it appears that there was no
symbol of the Christian faith, no church, no altar erected throughout all
the nation of the Bernicians, before that new leader in war, prompted by
the zeal of his faith, set up this standard of the Cross as he was going
to give battle to his barbarous enemy.
Nor is it foreign to our purpose to relate one of the many miracles that
have been wrought at this cross. One of the brothers of the same church of
Hagulstald, whose name is Bothelm, and who is still living, a few years
ago, walking carelessly on the ice at night, suddenly fell and broke his
arm; he was soon tormented with a most grievous pain in the broken part,
so that he could not lift his arm to his mouth for the anguish. Hearing
one morning that one of the brothers designed to go up to the place of the
holy cross, he desired him, on his return, to bring him a piece of that
sacred wood, saying, he believed that with the mercy of God he might
thereby be healed. The brother did as he was desired; and returning in the
evening, when the brothers were sitting at table, gave him some of the old
moss which grew on the surface of the wood. As he sat at table, having no
place to bestow the gift which was brought him, he put it into his bosom;
and forgetting, when he went to bed, to put it away, left it in his bosom.
Awaking in the middle of the night, he felt something cold lying by his
side, and putting his hand upon it to feel what it was, he found his arm
and hand as sound as if he had never felt any such pain.
Chap. III. How the same king Oswald, asking a bishop of the Scottish
nation, had Aidan sent him, and granted him an episcopal see in the Isle
of Lindisfarne. [635 A.D.]
The same Oswald, as soon as he ascended the throne, being desirous that
all the nation under his rule should be endued with the grace of the
Christian faith, whereof he had found happy experience in vanquishing the
barbarians, sent to the elders of the Scots,(293) among whom himself and
his followers, when in banishment, had received the sacrament of Baptism,
desiring that they would send him a bishop, by whose instruction and
ministry the English nation, which he governed, might learn the privileges
and receive the Sacraments of the faith of our Lord. Nor were they slow in
granting his request; for they sent him Bishop Aidan, a man of singular
gentleness, piety, and moderation; having a zeal of God, but not fully
according to knowledge; for he was wont to keep Easter Sunday according to
the custom of his country, which we have before so often mentioned,(294)
from the fourteenth to the twentieth of the moon; the northern province of
the Scots, and all the nation of the Picts, at that time still celebrating
Easter after that manner, and believing that in this observance they
followed the writings of the holy and praiseworthy Father Anatolius.(295)
Whether this be true, every instructed person can easily judge. But the
Scots which dwelt in the South of Ireland had long since, by the
admonition of the Bishop of the Apostolic see, learned to observe Easter
according to the canonical custom.(296)
On the arrival of the bishop, the king appointed him his episcopal see in
the island of Lindisfarne,(297) as he desired. Which place, as the tide
ebbs and flows, is twice a day enclosed by the waves of the sea like an
island; and again, twice, when the beach is left dry, becomes contiguous
with the land. The king also humbly and willingly in all things giving ear
to his admonitions, industriously applied himself to build up and extend
the Church of Christ in his kingdom; wherein, when the bishop, who was not
perfectly skilled in the English tongue, preached the Gospel, it was a
fair sight to see the king himself interpreting the Word of God to his
ealdormen and thegns, for he had thoroughly learned the language of the
Scots during his long banishment. From that time many came daily into
Britain from the country of the Scots, and with great devotion preached
the Word to those provinces of the English, over which King Oswald
reigned, and those among them that had received priest’s orders,(298)
administered the grace of Baptism to the believers. Churches were built in
divers places; the people joyfully flocked together to hear the Word;
lands and other property were given of the king’s bounty to found
monasteries; English children, as well as their elders, were instructed by
their Scottish teachers in study and the observance of monastic
discipline. For most of those who came to preach were monks. Bishop Aidan
was himself a monk, having been sent out from the island called Hii,(299)
whereof the monastery was for a long time the chief of almost all those of
the northern Scots,(300) and all those of the Picts, and had the direction
of their people. That island belongs to Britain, being divided from it by
a small arm of the sea, but had been long since given by the Picts, who
inhabit those parts of Britain, to the Scottish monks, because they had
received the faith of Christ through their preaching.
Chap. IV. When the nation of the Picts received the faith of Christ. [565
A.D.]
In the year of our Lord 565, when Justin, the younger, the successor of
Justinian, obtained the government of the Roman empire, there came into
Britain from Ireland a famous priest and abbot, marked as a monk by habit
and manner of life, whose name was Columba,(301) to preach the word of God
to the provinces of the northern Picts, who are separated from the
southern parts belonging to that nation by steep and rugged mountains. For
the southern Picts, who dwell on this side of those mountains, had, it is
said, long before forsaken the errors of idolatry, and received the true
faith by the preaching of Bishop Ninias,(302) a most reverend and holy man
of the British nation, who had been regularly instructed at Rome in the
faith and mysteries of the truth; whose episcopal see, named after St.
Martin the bishop, and famous for a church dedicated to him (wherein
Ninias himself and many other saints rest in the body), is now in the
possession of the English nation. The place belongs to the province of the
Bernicians, and is commonly called the White House,(303) because he there
built a church of stone, which was not usual among the Britons.
Columba came into Britain in the ninth year of the reign of Bridius, who
was the son of Meilochon,(304) and the powerful king of the Pictish
nation, and he converted that nation to the faith of Christ, by his
preaching and example. Wherefore he also received of them the gift of the
aforesaid island whereon to found a monastery. It is not a large island,
but contains about five families, according to the English computation;
his successors hold it to this day; he was also buried therein, having
died at the age of seventy-seven, about thirty-two years after he came
into Britain to preach.(305) Before he crossed over into Britain, he had
built a famous monastery in Ireland, which, from the great number of oaks,
is in the Scottish tongue called Dearmach—The Field of Oaks.(306) From
both these monasteries, many others had their beginning through his
disciples, both in Britain and Ireland; but the island monastery where his
body lies, has the pre-eminence among them all.
That island has for its ruler an abbot, who is a priest, to whose
jurisdiction all the province, and even the bishops, contrary to the usual
method, are bound to be subject, according to the example of their first
teacher, who was not a bishop, but a priest and monk;(307) of whose life
and discourses some records are said to be preserved by his disciples. But
whatsoever he was himself, this we know for certain concerning him, that
he left successors renowned for their continence, their love of God, and
observance of monastic rules. It is true they employed doubtful cycles in
fixing the time of the great festival, as having none to bring them the
synodal decrees for the observance of Easter, by reason of their being so
far away from the rest of the world; but they earnestly practised such
works of piety and chastity as they could learn from the Prophets, the
Gospels and the Apostolic writings. This manner of keeping Easter
continued among them no little time, to wit, for the space of 150 years,
till the year of our Lord 715.
But then the most reverend and holy father and priest, Egbert,(308) of the
English nation, who had long lived in banishment in Ireland for the sake
of Christ, and was most learned in the Scriptures, and renowned for long
perfection of life, came among them, corrected their error, and led them
to observe the true and canonical day of Easter; which, nevertheless, they
did not always keep on the fourteenth of the moon with the Jews, as some
imagined, but on Sunday, although not in the proper week.(309) For, as
Christians, they knew that the Resurrection of our Lord, which happened on
the first day of the week, was always to be celebrated on the first day of
the week; but being rude and barbarous, they had not learned when that
same first day after the Sabbath, which is now called the Lord’s day,
should come. But because they had not failed in the grace of fervent
charity, they were accounted worthy to receive the full knowledge of this
matter also, according to the promise of the Apostle, “And if in any thing
ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”(310) Of
which we shall speak more fully hereafter in its proper place.
Chap. V. Of the life of Bishop Aidan. [635 A.D.]
From this island, then, and the fraternity of these monks, Aidan was sent
to instruct the English nation in Christ, having received the dignity of a
bishop. At that time Segeni,(311) abbot and priest, presided over that
monastery. Among other lessons in holy living, Aidan left the clergy a
most salutary example of abstinence and continence; it was the highest
commendation of his doctrine with all men, that he taught nothing that he
did not practise in his life among his brethren; for he neither sought nor
loved anything of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately
among the poor whom he met whatsoever was given him by the kings or rich
men of the world. He was wont to traverse both town and country on foot,
never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity; to the end
that, as he went, he might turn aside to any whomsoever he saw, whether
rich or poor, and call upon them, if infidels, to receive the mystery of
the faith, or, if they were believers, strengthen them in the faith, and
stir them up by words and actions to giving of alms and the performance of
good works.
His course of life was so different from the slothfulness of our times,
that all those who bore him company, whether they were tonsured or laymen,
had to study either reading the Scriptures, or learning psalms. This was
the daily employment of himself and all that were with him, wheresoever
they went; and if it happened, which was but seldom, that he was invited
to the king’s table, he went with one or two clerks, and having taken a
little food, made haste to be gone, either to read with his brethren or to
pray. At that time, many religious men and women, led by his example,
adopted the custom of prolonging their fast on Wednesdays and Fridays,
till the ninth hour, throughout the year, except during the fifty days
after Easter. Never, through fear or respect of persons, did he keep
silence with regard to the sins of the rich; but was wont to correct them
with a severe rebuke. He never gave money to the powerful men of the
world, but only food, if he happened to entertain them; and, on the
contrary, whatsoever gifts of money he received from the rich, he either
distributed, as has been said, for the use of the poor, or bestowed in
ransoming such as had been wrongfully sold for slaves. Moreover, he
afterwards made many of those he had ransomed his disciples, and after
having taught and instructed them, advanced them to priest’s orders.
It is said, that when King Oswald had asked a bishop of the Scots to
administer the Word of faith to him and his nation, there was first sent
to him another man of more harsh disposition,(312) who, after preaching
for some time to the English and meeting with no success, not being gladly
heard by the people, returned home, and in an assembly of the elders
reported, that he had not been able to do any good by his teaching to the
nation to whom he had been sent, because they were intractable men, and of
a stubborn and barbarous disposition. They then, it is said, held a
council and seriously debated what was to be done, being desirous that the
nation should obtain the salvation it demanded, but grieving that they had
not received the preacher sent to them. Then said Aidan, who was also
present in the council, to the priest in question, “Methinks, brother,
that you were more severe to your unlearned hearers than you ought to have
been, and did not at first, conformably to the Apostolic rule, give them
the milk of more easy doctrine, till, being by degrees nourished with the
Word of God, they should be capable of receiving that which is more
perfect and of performing the higher precepts of God.” Having heard these
words, all present turned their attention to him and began diligently to
weigh what he had said, and they decided that he was worthy to be made a
bishop, and that he was the man who ought to be sent to instruct the
unbelieving and unlearned; since he was found to be endued preeminently
with the grace of discretion, which is the mother of the virtues. So they
ordained him and sent him forth to preach; and, as time went on, his other
virtues became apparent, as well as that temperate discretion which had
marked him at first.
Chap. VI. Of King Oswald’s wonderful piety and religion. [635-642 A.D.]
King Oswald, with the English nation which he governed, being instructed
by the teaching of this bishop, not only learned to hope for a heavenly
kingdom unknown to his fathers, but also obtained of the one God, Who made
heaven and earth, a greater earthly kingdom than any of his ancestors. In
brief, he brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of
Britain, which are divided into four languages, to wit, those of the
Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the English.(313) Though raised to that
height of regal power, wonderful to relate, he was always humble, kind,
and generous to the poor and to strangers.
To give one instance, it is told, that when he was once sitting at dinner,
on the holy day of Easter, with the aforesaid bishop, and a silver dish
full of royal dainties was set before him, and they were just about to put
forth their hands to bless the bread, the servant, whom he had appointed
to relieve the needy, came in on a sudden, and told the king, that a great
multitude of poor folk from all parts was sitting in the streets begging
alms of the king; he immediately ordered the meat set before him to be
carried to the poor, and the dish to be broken in pieces and divided among
them. At which sight, the bishop who sat by him, greatly rejoicing at such
an act of piety, clasped his right hand and said, “May this hand never
decay.” This fell out according to his prayer, for his hands with the arms
being cut off from his body, when he was slain in battle, remain
uncorrupted to this day, and are kept in a silver shrine, as revered
relics, in St. Peter’s church in the royal city,(314) which has taken its
name from Bebba, one of its former queens. Through this king’s exertions
the provinces of the Deiri and the Bernicians, which till then had been at
variance, were peacefully united and moulded into one people. He was
nephew to King Edwin through his sister Acha; and it was fit that so great
a predecessor should have in his own family such an one to succeed him in
his religion and sovereignty.
Chap. VII. How the West Saxons received the Word of God by the preaching
of Birinus; and of his successors, Agilbert and Leutherius. [635-670 A.D.]
At that time, the West Saxons, formerly called Gewissae,(315) in the reign
of Cynegils,(316) received the faith of Christ, through the preaching of
Bishop Birinus,(317) who came into Britain by the counsel of Pope
Honorius;(318) having promised in his presence that he would sow the seed
of the holy faith in the farthest inland regions of the English, where no
other teacher had been before him. Hereupon at the bidding of the Pope he
received episcopal consecration from Asterius, bishop of Genoa;(319) but
on his arrival in Britain, he first came to the nation of the Gewissae,
and finding all in that place confirmed pagans, he thought it better to
preach the Word there, than to proceed further to seek for other hearers
of his preaching.
Now, as he was spreading the Gospel in the aforesaid province, it happened
that when the king himself, having received instruction as a catechumen,
was being baptized together with his people, Oswald, the most holy and
victorious king of the Northumbrians, being present, received him as he
came forth from baptism, and by an honourable alliance most acceptable to
God, first adopted as his son, thus born again and dedicated to God, the
man whose daughter(320) he was about to receive in marriage. The two kings
gave to the bishop the city called Dorcic,(321) there to establish his
episcopal see; where having built and consecrated churches, and by his
pious labours called many to the Lord, he departed to the Lord, and was
buried in the same city; but many years after, when Haedde was
bishop,(322) he was translated thence to the city of Venta,(323) and laid
in the church of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul.
When the king died, his son Coinwalch(324) succeeded him on the throne,
but refused to receive the faith and the mysteries of the heavenly
kingdom; and not long after he lost also the dominion of his earthly
kingdom; for he put away the sister of Penda, king of the Mercians, whom
he had married, and took another wife; whereupon a war ensuing, he was by
him deprived of his kingdom, and withdrew to Anna, king of the East
Angles, where he lived three years in banishment, and learned and received
the true faith; for the king, with whom he lived in his banishment, was a
good man, and happy in a good and saintly offspring, as we shall show
hereafter.(325)
But when Coinwalch was restored to his kingdom, there came into that
province out of Ireland, a certain bishop called Agilbert,(326) a native
of Gaul, but who had then lived a long time in Ireland, for the purpose of
reading the Scriptures. He attached himself to the king, and voluntarily
undertook the ministry of preaching. The king, observing his learning and
industry, desired him to accept an episcopal see there and remain as the
bishop of his people. Agilbert complied with the request, and presided
over that nation as their bishop for many years. At length the king, who
understood only the language of the Saxons, weary of his barbarous tongue,
privately brought into the province another bishop, speaking his own
language, by name Wini,(327) who had also been ordained in Gaul; and
dividing his province into two dioceses, appointed this last his episcopal
see in the city of Venta, by the Saxons called Wintancaestir.(328)
Agilbert, being highly offended, that the king should do this without
consulting him, returned into Gaul, and being made bishop of the city of
Paris, died there, being old and full of days. Not many years after his
departure out of Britain, Wini was also expelled from his bishopric by the
same king, and took refuge with Wulfhere, king of the Mercians, of whom he
purchased for money the see of the city of London,(329) and remained
bishop thereof till his death. Thus the province of the West Saxons
continued no small time without a bishop.
During which time, the aforesaid king of that nation, sustaining
repeatedly very great losses in his kingdom from his enemies, at length
bethought himself, that as he had been before expelled from the throne for
his unbelief, he had been restored when he acknowledged the faith of
Christ; and he perceived that his kingdom, being deprived of a bishop, was
justly deprived also of the Divine protection. He, therefore, sent
messengers into Gaul to Agilbert, with humble apologies entreating him to
return to the bishopric of his nation. But he excused himself, and
protested that he could not go, because he was bound to the bishopric of
his own city and diocese; notwithstanding, in order to give him some help
in answer to his earnest request, he sent thither in his stead the priest
Leutherius,(330) his nephew, to be ordained as his bishop, if he thought
fit, saying that he thought him worthy of a bishopric. The king and the
people received him honourably, and asked Theodore, then Archbishop of
Canterbury, to consecrate him as their bishop. He was accordingly
consecrated in the same city, and many years diligently governed the whole
bishopric of the West Saxons by synodical authority.
Chap. VIII. How Earconbert, King of Kent, ordered the idols to be
destroyed; and of his daughter Earcongota, and his kinswoman Ethelberg,
virgins consecrated to God. [640 A.D.]
In the year of our Lord 640, Eadbald,(331) king of Kent, departed this
life, and left his kingdom to his son Earconbert, who governed it most
nobly twenty-four years and some months. He was the first of the English
kings that of his supreme authority commanded the idols throughout his
whole kingdom to be forsaken and destroyed, and the fast of forty days to
be observed; and that the same might not be lightly neglected, he
appointed fitting and condign punishments for the offenders. His daughter
Earcongota, as became the offspring of such a parent, was a most virtuous
virgin, serving God in a monastery in the country of the Franks, built by
a most noble abbess, named Fara, at a place called In Brige;(332) for at
that time but few monasteries had been built in the country of the Angles,
and many were wont, for the sake of monastic life, to repair to the
monasteries of the Franks or Gauls; and they also sent their daughters
there to be instructed, and united to their Heavenly Bridegroom,
especially in the monasteries of Brige, of Cale,(333) and Andilegum.(334)
Among whom was also Saethryth,(335) daughter of the wife of Anna, king of
the East Angles, above mentioned; and Ethelberg,(336) the king’s own
daughter; both of whom, though strangers, were for their virtue made
abbesses of the monastery of Brige. Sexburg,(337) that king’s elder
daughter, wife to Earconbert, king of Kent, had a daughter called
Earcongota,(338) of whom we are about to speak.
Many wonderful works and miracles of this virgin, dedicated to God, are to
this day related by the inhabitants of that place; but for us it shall
suffice to say something briefly of her departure out of this world to the
heavenly kingdom. The day of her summoning drawing near, she began to
visit in the monastery the cells of the infirm handmaidens of Christ, and
particularly those that were of a great age, or most noted for their
virtuous life, and humbly commending herself to their prayers, she let
them know that her death was at hand, as she had learnt by revelation,
which she said she had received in this manner. She had seen a band of
men, clothed in white, come into the monastery, and being asked by her
what they wanted, and what they did there, they answered, “They had been
sent thither to carry away with them the gold coin that had been brought
thither from Kent.” Towards the close of that same night, as morning began
to dawn, leaving the darkness of this world, she departed to the light of
heaven. Many of the brethren of that monastery who were in other houses,
declared they had then plainly heard choirs of singing angels, and, as it
were, the sound of a multitude entering the monastery. Whereupon going out
immediately to see what it might be, they beheld a great light coming down
from heaven, which bore that holy soul, set loose from the bonds of the
flesh, to the eternal joys of the celestial country. They also tell of
other miracles that were wrought that night in the same monastery by the
power of God; but as we must proceed to other matters, we leave them to be
related by those whose concern they are. The body of this venerable virgin
and bride of Christ was buried in the church of the blessed protomartyr,
Stephen. It was thought fit, three days after, to take up the stone that
covered the tomb, and to raise it higher in the same place, and whilst
they were doing this, so sweet a fragrance rose from below, that it seemed
to all the brethren and sisters there present, as if a store of balsam had
been opened.
Her aunt also, Ethelberg, of whom we have spoken, preserved the glory,
acceptable to God, of perpetual virginity, in a life of great self-denial,
but the extent of her virtue became more conspicuous after her death.
Whilst she was abbess, she began to build in her monastery a church, in
honour of all the Apostles, wherein she desired that her body should be
buried; but when that work was advanced half way, she was prevented by
death from finishing it, and was buried in the place in the church which
she had chosen. After her death, the brothers occupied themselves with
other things, and this structure was left untouched for seven years, at
the expiration whereof they resolved, by reason of the greatness of the
work, wholly to abandon the building of the church, and to remove the
abbess’s bones thence to some other church that was finished and
consecrated. On opening her tomb, they found the body as untouched by
decay as it had been free from the corruption of carnal concupiscence, and
having washed it again and clothed it in other garments, they removed it
to the church of the blessed Stephen, the Martyr. And her festival is wont
to be celebrated there with much honour on the 7th of July.
Chap. IX. How miracles of healing have been frequently wrought in the
place where King Oswald was killed; and how, first, a traveller’s horse
was restored and afterwards a young girl cured of the palsy. [642 A.D.]
Oswald, the most Christian king of the Northumbrians, reigned nine years,
including that year which was held accursed for the barbarous cruelty of
the king of the Britons and the reckless apostacy of the English kings;
for, as was said above,(339) it is agreed by the unanimous consent of all,
that the names and memory of the apostates should be erased from the
catalogue of the Christian kings, and no year assigned to their reign.
After which period, Oswald was killed in a great battle, by the same pagan
nation and pagan king of the Mercians, who had slain his predecessor
Edwin, at a place called in the English tongue Maserfelth,(340) in the
thirty-eighth year of his age, on the fifth day of the month of
August.(341)
How great his faith was towards God, and how remarkable his devotion, has
been made evident by miracles even after his death; for, in the place
where he was killed by the pagans, fighting for his country, sick men and
cattle are frequently healed to this day. Whence it came to pass that many
took up the very dust of the place where his body fell, and putting it
into water, brought much relief with it to their friends who were sick.
This custom came so much into use, that the earth being carried away by
degrees, a hole was made as deep as the height of a man. Nor is it
surprising that the sick should be healed in the place where he died; for,
whilst he lived, he never ceased to provide for the poor and the sick, and
to bestow alms on them, and assist them. Many miracles are said to have
been wrought in that place, or with the dust carried from it; but we have
thought it sufficient to mention two, which we have heard from our elders.
It happened, not long after his death, that a man was travelling on
horseback near that place, when his horse on a sudden fell sick, stood
still, hung his head, and foamed at the mouth, and, at length, as his pain
increased, he fell to the ground; the rider dismounted, and taking off his
saddle,(342) waited to see whether the beast would recover or die. At
length, after writhing for a long time in extreme anguish, the horse
happened in his struggles to come to the very place where the great king
died. Immediately the pain abated, the beast ceased from his frantic
kicking, and, after the manner of horses, as if resting from his
weariness, he rolled from side to side, and then starting up, perfectly
recovered, began to graze hungrily on the green herbage. The rider
observing this, and being an intelligent man, concluded that there must be
some wonderful sanctity in the place where the horse had been healed, and
he marked the spot. After which he again mounted his horse, and went on to
the inn where he intended to stop. On his arrival he found a girl, niece
to the landlord, who had long been sick of the palsy; and when the members
of the household, in his presence, lamented the girl’s grievous calamity,
he gave them an account of the place where his horse had been cured. In
brief, she was put into a wagon and carried to the place and laid down
there. At first she slept awhile, and when she awoke, found herself healed
of her infirmity. Upon which she called for water, washed her face,
arranged her hair, put a kerchief on her head, and returned home on foot,
in good health, with those who had brought her.
Chap. X. How the dust of that place prevailed against fire. [After 642
A.D.]
About the same time, another traveller, a Briton, as is reported, happened
to pass by the same place, where the aforesaid battle was fought.
Observing one particular spot of ground greener and more beautiful than
any other part of the field, he had the wisdom to infer that the cause of
the unusual greenness in that place must be that some person of greater
holiness than any other in the army had been killed there. He therefore
took along with him some of the dust of that piece of ground, tying it up
in a linen cloth, supposing, as was indeed the case, that it would be of
use for curing sick people, and proceeding on his journey, came in the
evening to a certain village, and entered a house where the villagers were
feasting at supper. Being received by the owners of the house, he sat down
with them at the entertainment, hanging the cloth, with the dust which he
had carried in it, on a post in the wall. They sat long at supper and
drank deep. Now there was a great fire in the middle of the room, and it
happened that the sparks flew up and caught the roof of the house, which
being made of wattles and thatch, was suddenly wrapped in flames; the
guests ran out in panic and confusion, but they were not able to save the
burning house, which was rapidly being destroyed. Wherefore the house was
burnt down, and only that post on which the dust hung in the linen cloth
remained safe and untouched by the fire. When they beheld this miracle,
they were all amazed, and inquiring into it diligently, learned that the
dust had been taken from the place where the blood of King Oswald had been
shed. These wonderful works being made known and reported abroad, many
began daily to resort to that place, and received the blessing of health
for themselves and their friends.
Chap. XI. How a light from Heaven stood all night over his relics, and how
those possessed with devils were healed by them. [679-697 A.D.]
Among the rest, I think we ought not to pass over in silence the miracles
and signs from Heaven that were shown when King Oswald’s bones were found,
and translated into the church where they are now preserved. This was done
by the zealous care of Osthryth, queen of the Mercians,(343) the daughter
of his brother Oswy, who reigned after him, as shall be said hereafter.
There is a famous monastery in the province of Lindsey, called
Beardaneu,(344) which that queen and her husband Ethelred greatly loved
and venerated, conferring upon it many honours. It was here that she was
desirous to lay the revered bones of her uncle. When the wagon in which
those bones were carried arrived towards evening at the aforesaid
monastery, they that were in it were unwilling to admit them, because,
though they knew him to be a holy man, yet, as he was a native of another
province, and had obtained the sovereignty over them, they retained their
ancient aversion to him even after his death. Thus it came to pass that
the relics were left in the open air all that night, with only a large
tent spread over the wagon which contained them. But it was revealed by a
sign from Heaven with how much reverence they ought to be received by all
the faithful; for all that night, a pillar of light, reaching from the
wagon up to heaven, was visible in almost every part of the province of
Lindsey. Hereupon, in the morning, the brethren of that monastery who had
refused it the day before, began themselves earnestly to pray that those
holy relics, beloved of God, might be laid among them. Accordingly, the
bones, being washed, were put into a shrine which they had made for that
purpose, and placed in the church, with due honour; and that there might
be a perpetual memorial of the royal character of this holy man, they hung
up over the monument his banner of gold and purple. Then they poured out
the water in which they had washed the bones, in a corner of the
cemetery.(345) From that time, the very earth which received that holy
water, had the power of saving grace in casting out devils from the bodies
of persons possessed.
Lastly, when the aforesaid queen afterwards abode some time in that
monastery, there came to visit her a certain venerable abbess, who is
still living, called Ethelhild, the sister of the holy men, Ethelwin(346)
and Aldwin, the first of whom was bishop in the province of Lindsey, the
other abbot of the monastery of Peartaneu;(347) not far from which was the
monastery of Ethelhild. When this lady was come, in a conversation between
her and the queen, the discourse, among other things, turning upon Oswald,
she said, that she also had that night seen the light over his relics
reaching up to heaven. The queen thereupon added, that the very dust of
the pavement on which the water that washed the bones had been poured out,
had already healed many sick persons. The abbess thereupon desired that
some of that health-bringing dust might be given her, and, receiving it,
she tied it up in a cloth, and, putting it into a casket, returned home.
Some time after, when she was in her monastery, there came to it a guest,
who was wont often in the night to be on a sudden grievously tormented
with an unclean spirit; he being hospitably entertained, when he had gone
to bed after supper, was suddenly seized by the Devil, and began to cry
out, to gnash his teeth, to foam at the mouth, and to writhe and distort
his limbs. None being able to hold or bind him, the servant ran, and
knocking at the door, told the abbess. She, opening the monastery door,
went out herself with one of the nuns to the men’s apartment, and calling
a priest, desired that he would go with her to the sufferer. Being come
thither, and seeing many present, who had not been able, by their efforts,
to hold the tormented person and restrain his convulsive movements, the
priest used exorcisms, and did all that he could to assuage the madness of
the unfortunate man, but, though he took much pains, he could not prevail.
When no hope appeared of easing him in his ravings, the abbess bethought
herself of the dust, and immediately bade her handmaiden go and fetch her
the casket in which it was. As soon as she came with it, as she had been
bidden, and was entering the hall of the house, in the inner part whereof
the possessed person was writhing in torment, he suddenly became silent,
and laid down his head, as if he had been falling asleep, stretching out
all his limbs to rest. “Silence fell upon all and intent they gazed,”(348)
anxiously waiting to see the end of the matter. And after about the space
of an hour the man that had been tormented sat up, and fetching a deep
sigh, said, “Now I am whole, for I am restored to my senses.” They
earnestly inquired how that came to pass, and he answered, “As soon as
that maiden drew near the hall of this house, with the casket she brought,
all the evil spirits that vexed me departed and left me, and were no more
to be seen.” Then the abbess gave him a little of that dust, and the
priest having prayed, he passed that night in great peace; nor was he,
from that time forward, alarmed by night, or in any way troubled by his
old enemy.
Chap. XII. How a little boy was cured of a fever at his tomb.
Some time after, there was a certain little boy in the said monastery, who
had been long grievously troubled with a fever; he was one day anxiously
expecting the hour when his fit was to come on, when one of the brothers,
coming in to him, said, “Shall I tell you, my son, how you may be cured of
this sickness? Rise, enter the church, and go close to Oswald’s tomb; sit
down and stay there quiet and do not leave it; do not come away, or stir
from the place, till the time is past, when the fever leaves you: then I
will go in and fetch you away.” The boy did as he was advised, and the
disease durst not assail him as he sat by the saint’s tomb; but fled in
such fear that it did not dare to touch him, either the second or third
day, or ever after. The brother that came from thence, and told me this,
added, that at the time when he was talking with me, the young man was
then still living in the monastery, on whom, when a boy, that miracle of
healing had been wrought. Nor need we wonder that the prayers of that king
who is now reigning with our Lord, should be very efficacious with Him,
since he, whilst yet governing his temporal kingdom, was always wont to
pray and labour more for that which is eternal. Nay, it is said, that he
often continued in prayer from the hour of morning thanksgiving(349) till
it was day; and that by reason of his constant custom of praying or giving
thanks to God, he was wont always, wherever he sat, to hold his hands on
his knees with the palms turned upwards. It is also commonly affirmed and
has passed into a proverb, that he ended his life in prayer; for when he
was beset with the weapons of his enemies, and perceived that death was at
hand, he prayed for the souls of his army. Whence it is proverbially said,
“ ‘Lord have mercy on their souls,’ said Oswald, as he fell to the
ground.”
Now his bones were translated to the monastery which we have mentioned,
and buried therein: but the king who slew him commanded his head, and
hands, with the arms, to be cut off from the body, and set upon stakes.
But his successor in the throne, Oswy, coming thither the next year with
his army, took them down, and buried his head in the cemetery of the
church of Lindisfarne,(350) and the hands and arms in his royal city.(351)
Chap. XIII. How a certain person in Ireland was restored, when at the
point of death, by his relics.
Nor was the fame of the renowned Oswald confined to Britain, but,
spreading rays of healing light even beyond the sea, reached also to
Germany and Ireland. For the most reverend prelate, Acca,(352) is wont to
relate, that when, in his journey to Rome,(353) he and his bishop Wilfrid
stayed some time with Wilbrord,(354) the holy archbishop of the Frisians,
he often heard him tell of the wonders which had been wrought in that
province at the relics of that most worshipful king. And he used to say
that in Ireland, when, being yet only a priest, he led the life of a
stranger and pilgrim for love of the eternal country, the fame of that
king’s sanctity was already spread far and near in that island also. One
of the miracles, among the rest, which he related, we have thought fit to
insert in this our history.
“At the time,” said he, “of the plague which made such widespread havoc in
Britain and Ireland, among others, a certain scholar of the Scottish race
was smitten with the disease, a man learned in the study of letters, but
in no way careful or studious of his eternal salvation; who, seeing his
death near at hand, began to fear and tremble lest, as soon as he was
dead, he should be hurried away to the prison-house of Hell for his sins.
He called me, for I was near, and trembling and sighing in his weakness,
with a lamentable voice made his complaint to me, after this manner: ‘You
see that my bodily distress increases, and that I am now reduced to the
point of death. Nor do I question but that after the death of my body, I
shall be immediately snatched away to the everlasting death of my soul,
and cast into the torments of hell, since for a long time, amidst all my
reading of divine books, I have suffered myself to be ensnared by sin,
instead of keeping the commandments of God. But it is my resolve, if the
Divine Mercy shall grant me a new term of life, to correct my sinful
habits, and wholly to devote anew my mind and life to obedience to the
Divine will. But I know that I have no merits of my own whereby to obtain
a prolongation of life, nor can I hope to have it, unless it shall please
God to forgive me, wretched and unworthy of pardon as I am, through the
help of those who have faithfully served him. We have heard, and the
report is widespread, that there was in your nation a king, of wonderful
sanctity, called Oswald, the excellency of whose faith and virtue has been
made famous even after his death by the working of many miracles. I
beseech you, if you have any relics of his in your keeping, that you will
bring them to me; if haply the Lord shall be pleased, through his merits,
to have mercy on me.’ I answered, ‘I have indeed a part of the stake on
which his head was set up by the pagans, when he was killed, and if you
believe with steadfast heart, the Divine mercy may, through the merits of
so great a man, both grant you a longer term of life here, and render you
worthy to be admitted into eternal life.’ He answered immediately that he
had entire faith therein. Then I blessed some water, and put into it a
splinter of the aforesaid oak, and gave it to the sick man to drink. He
presently found ease, and, recovering of his sickness, lived a long time
after; and, being entirely converted to God in heart and deed, wherever he
went, he spoke of the goodness of his merciful Creator, and the honour of
His faithful servant.”
Chap. XIV. How on the death of Paulinus, Ithamar was made bishop of
Rochester in his stead; and of the wonderful humility of King Oswin, who
was cruelly slain by Oswy. [644-651 A.D.]
Oswald being translated to the heavenly kingdom, his brother Oswy,(355) a
young man of about thirty years of age, succeeded him on the throne of his
earthly kingdom, and held it twenty-eight years with much trouble, being
attacked by the pagan nation of the Mercians, that had slain his brother,
as also by his son Alchfrid,(356) and by his nephew Oidilwald,(357) the
son of his brother who reigned before him. In his second year, that is, in
the year of our Lord 644, the most reverend Father Paulinus, formerly
Bishop of York, but at that time Bishop of the city of Rochester, departed
to the Lord, on the 10th day of October, having held the office of a
bishop nineteen years, two months, and twenty-one days; and was buried in
the sacristy of the blessed Apostle Andrew,(358) which King Ethelbert had
built from the foundation, in the same city of Rochester. In his place,
Archbishop Honorius ordained Ithamar,(359) of the Kentish nation, but not
inferior to his predecessors in learning and conduct of life.
Oswy, during the first part of his reign, had a partner in the royal
dignity called Oswin, of the race of King Edwin, and son to Osric(360) of
whom we have spoken above, a man of wonderful piety and devotion, who
governed the province of the Deiri seven years in very great prosperity,
and was himself beloved by all men. But Oswy, who governed all the other
northern part of the nation beyond the Humber, that is, the province of
the Bernicians, could not live at peace with him; and at last, when the
causes of their disagreement increased, he murdered him most cruelly. For
when each had raised an army against the other, Oswin perceived that he
could not maintain a war against his enemy who had more auxiliaries than
himself, and he thought it better at that time to lay aside all thoughts
of engaging, and to reserve himself for better times. He therefore
disbanded the army which he had assembled, and ordered all his men to
return to their own homes, from the place that is called
Wilfaraesdun,(361) that is, Wilfar’s Hill, which is about ten miles
distant from the village called Cataract, towards the north-west. He
himself, with only one trusty thegn, whose name was Tondhere, withdrew and
lay concealed in the house of Hunwald, a noble,(362) whom he imagined to
be his most assured friend. But, alas! it was far otherwise; for Hunwald
betrayed him, and Oswy, by the hands of his reeve, Ethilwin, foully slew
him and the thegn aforesaid. This happened on the 20th of August, in the
ninth year of his reign, at a place called Ingetlingum, where afterwards,
to atone for this crime, a monastery was built,(363) wherein prayers
should be daily offered up to God for the redemption of the souls of both
kings, to wit, of him that was murdered, and of him that commanded the
murder.
King Oswin was of a goodly countenance, and tall of stature, pleasant in
discourse, and courteous in behaviour; and bountiful to all, gentle and
simple alike; so that he was beloved by all men for the royal dignity of
his mind and appearance and actions, and men of the highest rank came from
almost all provinces to serve him. Among all the graces of virtue and
moderation by which he was distinguished and, if I may say so, blessed in
a special manner, humility is said to have been the greatest, which it
will suffice to prove by one instance.
He had given a beautiful horse to Bishop Aidan, to use either in crossing
rivers, or in performing a journey upon any urgent necessity, though the
Bishop was wont to travel ordinarily on foot. Some short time after, a
poor man meeting the Bishop, and asking alms, he immediately dismounted,
and ordered the horse, with all his royal trappings, to be given to the
beggar; for he was very compassionate, a great friend to the poor, and, in
a manner, the father of the wretched. This being told to the king, when
they were going in to dinner, he said to the Bishop, “What did you mean,
my lord Bishop, by giving the poor man that royal horse, which it was
fitting that you should have for your own use? Had not we many other
horses of less value, or things of other sorts, which would have been good
enough to give to the poor, instead of giving that horse, which I had
chosen and set apart for your own use?” Thereupon the Bishop answered,
“What do you say, O king? Is that son of a mare more dear to you than that
son of God?” Upon this they went in to dinner, and the Bishop sat in his
place; but the king, who had come in from hunting, stood warming himself,
with his attendants, at the fire. Then, on a sudden, whilst he was warming
himself, calling to mind what the bishop had said to him, he ungirt his
sword, and gave it to a servant, and hastened to the Bishop and fell down
at his feet, beseeching him to forgive him; “For from this time forward,”
said he, “I will never speak any more of this, nor will I judge of what or
how much of our money you shall give to the sons of God.” The bishop was
much moved at this sight, and starting up, raised him, saying that he was
entirely reconciled to him, if he would but sit down to his meat, and lay
aside all sorrow. The king, at the bishop’s command and request, was
comforted, but the bishop, on the other hand, grew sad and was moved even
to tears. His priest then asking him, in the language of his country,
which the king and his servants did not understand, why he wept, “I know,”
said he, “that the king will not live long; for I never before saw a
humble king; whence I perceive that he will soon be snatched out of this
life, because this nation is not worthy of such a ruler.” Not long after,
the bishop’s gloomy foreboding was fulfilled by the king’s sad death, as
has been said above. But Bishop Aidan himself was also taken out of this
world, not more than twelve days after the death of the king he loved, on
the 31st of August,(364) to receive the eternal reward of his labours from
the Lord.
Chap. XV. How Bishop Aidan foretold to certain seamen that a storm would
arise, and gave them some holy oil to calm it. [Between 642 and 645 A.D.]
How great the merits of Aidan were, was made manifest by the Judge of the
heart, with the testimony of miracles, whereof it will suffice to mention
three, that they may not be forgotten. A certain priest, whose name was
Utta,(365) a man of great weight and sincerity, and on that account
honoured by all men, even the princes of the world, was sent to Kent, to
bring thence, as wife for King Oswy, Eanfled,(366) the daughter of King
Edwin, who had been carried thither when her father was killed. Intending
to go thither by land, but to return with the maiden by sea, he went to
Bishop Aidan, and entreated him to offer up his prayers to the Lord for
him and his company, who were then to set out on so long a journey. He,
blessing them, and commending them to the Lord, at the same time gave them
some holy oil, saying, “I know that when you go on board ship, you will
meet with a storm and contrary wind; but be mindful to cast this oil I
give you into the sea, and the wind will cease immediately; you will have
pleasant calm weather to attend you and send you home by the way that you
desire.”
All these things fell out in order, even as the bishop had foretold. For
first, the waves of the sea raged, and the sailors endeavoured to ride it
out at anchor, but all to no purpose; for the sea sweeping over the ship
on all sides and beginning to fill it with water, they all perceived that
death was at hand and about to overtake them. The priest at last,
remembering the bishop’s words, laid hold of the phial and cast some of
the oil into the sea, which at once, as had been foretold, ceased from its
uproar. Thus it came to pass that the man of God, by the spirit of
prophecy, foretold the storm that was to come to pass, and by virtue of
the same spirit, though absent in the body, calmed it when it had arisen.
The story of this miracle was not told me by a person of little credit,
but by Cynimund, a most faithful priest of our church,(367) who declared
that it was related to him by Utta, the priest, in whose case and through
whom the same was wrought.
Chap. XVI. How the same Aidan, by his prayers, saved the royal city when
it was fired by the enemy [Before 651 A.D.]
Another notable miracle of the same father is related by many such as were
likely to have knowledge thereof; for during the time that he was bishop,
the hostile army of the Mercians, under the command of Penda, cruelly
ravaged the country of the Northumbrians far and near, even to the royal
city,(368) which has its name from Bebba, formerly its queen. Not being
able to take it by storm or by siege, he endeavoured to burn it down; and
having pulled down all the villages in the neighbourhood of the city, he
brought thither an immense quantity of beams, rafters, partitions, wattles
and thatch, wherewith he encompassed the place to a great height on the
land side, and when he found the wind favourable, he set fire to it and
attempted to burn the town.
At that time, the most reverend Bishop Aidan was dwelling in the Isle of
Farne,(369) which is about two miles from the city; for thither he was
wont often to retire to pray in solitude and silence; and, indeed, this
lonely dwelling of his is to this day shown in that island. When he saw
the flames of fire and the smoke carried by the wind rising above the city
walls, he is said to have lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and
cried with tears, “Behold, Lord, how great evil is wrought by Penda!”
These words were hardly uttered, when the wind immediately veering from
the city, drove back the flames upon those who had kindled them, so that
some being hurt, and all afraid, they forebore any further attempts
against the city, which they perceived to be protected by the hand of God.
Chap. XVII. How a prop of the church on which Bishop Aidan was leaning
when he died, could not be consumed when the rest of the Church was on
fire; and concerning his inward life. [651 A.D.]
Aidan was in the king’s township, not far from the city of which we have
spoken above, at the time when death caused him to quit the body, after he
had been bishop sixteen(370) years; for having a church and a chamber in
that place, he was wont often to go and stay there, and to make excursions
from it to preach in the country round about, which he likewise did at
other of the king’s townships, having nothing of his own besides his
church and a few fields about it. When he was sick they set up a tent for
him against the wall at the west end of the church, and so it happened
that he breathed his last, leaning against a buttress that was on the
outside of the church to strengthen the wall. He died in the seventeenth
year of his episcopate, on the 31st of August.(371) His body was thence
presently translated to the isle of Lindisfarne, and buried in the
cemetery of the brethren. Some time after, when a larger church was built
there and dedicated in honour of the blessed prince of the Apostles, his
bones were translated thither, and laid on the right side of the altar,
with the respect due to so great a prelate.
Finan,(372) who had likewise been sent thither from Hii, the island
monastery of the Scots, succeeded him, and continued no small time in the
bishopric. It happened some years after, that Penda, king of the Mercians,
coming into these parts with a hostile army, destroyed all he could with
fire and sword, and the village where the bishop died, along with the
church above mentioned, was burnt down; but it fell out in a wonderful
manner that the buttress against which he had been leaning when he died,
could not be consumed by the fire which devoured all about it. This
miracle being noised abroad, the church was soon rebuilt in the same
place, and that same buttress was set up on the outside, as it had been
before, to strengthen the wall. It happened again, some time after, that
the village and likewise the church were carelessly burned down the second
time. Then again, the fire could not touch the buttress; and,
miraculously, though the fire broke through the very holes of the nails
wherewith it was fixed to the building, yet it could do no hurt to the
buttress itself. When therefore the church was built there the third time,
they did not, as before, place that buttress on the outside as a support
of the building, but within the church, as a memorial of the miracle;
where the people coming in might kneel, and implore the Divine mercy. And
it is well known that since then many have found grace and been healed in
that same place, as also that by means of splinters cut off from the
buttress, and put into water, many more have obtained a remedy for their
own infirmities and those of their friends.(373)
I have written thus much concerning the character and works of the
aforesaid Aidan, in no way commending or approving his lack of wisdom with
regard to the observance of Easter; nay, heartily detesting it, as I have
most manifestly proved in the book I have written, “De Temporibus”;(374)
but, like an impartial historian, unreservedly relating what was done by
or through him, and commending such things as are praiseworthy in his
actions, and preserving the memory thereof for the benefit of the readers;
to wit, his love of peace and charity; of continence and humility; his
mind superior to anger and avarice, and despising pride and vainglory; his
industry in keeping and teaching the Divine commandments, his power of
study and keeping vigil; his priestly authority in reproving the haughty
and powerful, and at the same time his tenderness in comforting the
afflicted, and relieving or defending the poor. To be brief, so far as I
have learnt from those that knew him, he took care to neglect none of
those things which he found in the Gospels and the writings of Apostles
and prophets, but to the utmost of his power endeavoured to fulfil them
all in his deeds.
These things I greatly admire and love in the aforesaid bishop, because I
do not doubt that they were pleasing to God; but I do not approve or
praise his observance of Easter at the wrong time, either through
ignorance of the canonical time appointed, or, if he knew it, being
prevailed on by the authority of his nation not to adopt it.(375) Yet this
I approve in him, that in the celebration of his Easter, the object which
he had at heart and reverenced and preached was the same as ours, to wit,
the redemption of mankind, through the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension
into Heaven of the Man Christ Jesus, who is the mediator between God and
man. And therefore he always celebrated Easter, not as some falsely
imagine, on the fourteenth of the moon, like the Jews, on any day of the
week, but on the Lord’s day, from the fourteenth to the twentieth of the
moon; and this he did from his belief that the Resurrection of our Lord
happened on the first day of the week, and for the hope of our
resurrection, which also he, with the holy Church, believed would truly
happen on that same first day of the week, now called the Lord’s day.
Chap. XVIII. Of the life and death of the religious King Sigbert. [_Circ._
631 A.D.]
At this time, the kingdom of the East Angles, after the death of Earpwald,
the successor of Redwald, was governed by his brother Sigbert,(376) a good
and religious man, who some time before had been baptized in Gaul, whilst
he lived in banishment, a fugitive from the enmity of Redwald. When he
returned home, as soon as he ascended the throne, being desirous to
imitate the good institutions which he had seen in Gaul, he founded a
school wherein boys should be taught letters, and was assisted therein by
Bishop Felix, who came to him from Kent, and who furnished them with
masters and teachers after the manner of the people of Kent.(377)
This king became so great a lover of the heavenly kingdom, that at last,
quitting the affairs of his kingdom, and committing them to his kinsman
Ecgric, who before had a share in that kingdom, he entered a monastery,
which he had built for himself, and having received the tonsure, applied
himself rather to do battle for a heavenly throne. A long time after this,
it happened that the nation of the Mercians, under King Penda, made war on
the East Angles; who finding themselves no match for their enemy,
entreated Sigbert to go with them to battle, to encourage the soldiers. He
was unwilling and refused, upon which they drew him against his will out
of the monastery, and carried him to the army, hoping that the soldiers
would be less afraid and less disposed to flee in the presence of one who
had formerly been an active and distinguished commander. But he, still
mindful of his profession, surrounded, as he was, by a royal army, would
carry nothing in his hand but a wand, and was killed with King Ecgric; and
the pagans pressing on, all their army was either slaughtered or
dispersed.
They were succeeded in the kingdom by Anna,(378) the son of Eni, of the
blood royal, a good man, and the father of good children, of whom, in the
proper place, we shall speak hereafter. He also was afterwards slain like
his predecessors by the same pagan chief of the Mercians.
Chap. XIX. How Fursa built a monastery among the East Angles, and of his
visions and sanctity, to which, his flesh remaining uncorrupted after
death bore testimony. [_Circ._ 633 A.D.]