Killed at Ramula, 410.
Burhred, king of Mercia, 88.
Cadwalla, king of the Britons, 46.
Cædwalla, king of Wessex, 16.
Baptized, and called Peter, 31.
Caerleon, or Chester, 43.
Cæsarea, siege of, 405.
Cæsar, Julius, subdues Britain, 5.
Calixtus II, pope, his letter on reducing Sutri, 466;
accommodation with the emperor Henry V, 467.
Calne, remarkable accident at, 163.
Canons, secular, expelled Winchester, 149;
Attempt to recover their monasteries, 162.
Canterbury, see of, attempt to remove it to Lichfield, 78;
controversy with see of York, 319.
Canterbury, city of, burnt, 16.
Dreadful outrage at, 218.
Canute, elected king by the Danes, 190;
lands at Sandwich, 192;
divides the kingdom with Edmund Ironside, 195;
assumes the sovereignty of England, 196;
conquers the Swedes and Norwegians, 198;
his epistle from Rome, 199;
his death, 205.
Caradoc of Lancarvon, his Life of Gildas, 22, _note_.
Ceawlin, king of Wessex, his character, 18.
Ceolwulf, king of Northumbria, 53;
becomes a monk, 61.
Centuries, or hundreds, instituted, 117.
Cenric, king of Wessex, his character, 18.
Ceolfrid, abbat of Wearmouth, 51, 55.
Ceols, vessels so called, described, 8, 18.
Cerdic, founds the kingdom of Wessex, 17.
Charles the Great (Charlemagne), 65, 85.
Charles the Bald, king of France, 125.
Charles the Simple, king of France, 124.
Charles the Fat, king of France, 102.
Charters, Ethelbald’s, 76.
Ethelwulf’s, 107.
Edmund’s, to Glastonbury, 141.
Edgar’s, to Glastonbury, 151.
To Malmesbury, 155;
Canute’s, to Glastonbury, 203.
Stephen’s, 493.
Chartres, siege of, 125.
Church of, 204.
Chasuble, meaning of, 473, _note_.
Chester, reduced by Edward the elder, 131.
Chorges, bishop of, account of, 414, 417.
Christianity, introduced into Mercia, 71.
Chronicle, Saxon, 3, 30, 39, 98.
Churchyards, privileges of, 492, _note_.
Circscet, what, 202.
Cissa, king of Sussex, 92, _note_.
Cistertian order, origin of, 347;
observances of, 349.
Clergy, vanity of their dress condemned, 76.
Clerks, two, at Nantes, story of, 268.
Clermont, council of, its enactments, 356.
Clock, mechanical, 175.
Cologne, abp. of, his exemplary conduct, 183.
Comet, appearance of, 251, 343.
Complines, what, 350, _note_.
Constantine the Great, exhausts Britain, 6.
Constantine, elected emperor, and slain, 6.
Constantine, king of Scots, expelled his kingdom, 129;
killed, 130.
Constantinople, described, 372.
Its emperors, 374.
Corbaguath, or Corbanach, commander of the Persian forces, 381.
His death, 421.
Councils, ecclesiastical, civil, &c., 76, 127, 163, 191, 311, 356,
462, 499, 501, 517, 525.
Court, licentiousness of Rufus’s, 337.
Courtiers, their insolence to the clergy, 339.
Crida, king of Mercia, 70, _note_.
Cross, part of our Saviour’s, 118, 136, 390, 411.
Crucifix, said to have spoken, 163.
Celebrated one at Lucca, 332.
At Winchester, 523.
Crusaders, march of, 364.
Their extreme distress, 377.
Their admirable conduct, 387-391.
Cuichelm, king of Wessex, 19, 20.
Cumberland, assigned to Malcolm, 141.
Curfew, supposed abolition of, 428, _note_.
Cuthbert, St. 52.
Appears to Alfred, 113.
His incorruption, 236.
Cuthburga, abbess of Wimborne, 35.
Cuthred, king of West Saxons, 37.
Cynegils, king of Wessex, account of, 20.
Cynewolf, king of West Saxons, 38.
Dancers and profane singers punished, 182.
Danes, invade England, 40, 96.
Ravages of, 69, 112, 167.
Butchered by Ethelred, 169.
Exact tribute, 185.
Danube, the river, described, 374.
Daibert, abp. of Pisa, joins the Crusade, 397.
Made patriarch of Jerusalem, 398.
Dalmatic, garment so called, what, 85.
Danfrunt, siege of, 263.
Castle of, 436.
David, St. 26.
David, tower of, at Jerusalem described, 387.
David, king of Scotland, his character, 434.
Decennaries, or tithings instituted, 117.
Deira, province of, 42.
Den, a monastery so called, 466.
Denmark, succession of its kings, 292.
Devices, on armour or shields, 262, 469.
Devil, visible appearance of, 343.
Dionysius the Areopagite, 119.
Domesday-book, account of, 291.
Drinking by pegs, account of, 148.
Dunstan, abp. of Canterbury, 141, 167, 245.
Durham, privileges of the see of, 303.
Eadbert, king of Northumbria, 61-67.
Eadburga, daughter of Edward the Elder, 125, 244.
Eadburga, queen of Wessex, 106.
Eadbald, king of Kent, 13.
Eadbert Pren, king of Kent, 17, 87.
Eadgaring, meaning of, 64.
Eadmer, the historian, 3, _note_.
Ealstan, bishop of Sherborne, 106, 108.
Earls, their official honours, 496, _note_.
Earthquake, terrible, 342.
East Anglia, kingdom of, 88.
Extent of, 92.
Plundered by the Danes, 112.
Account of, 240.
Ecclesiastics, their property seized at death, 494.
Eclipse, terrific, 488, 511.
Edan, king of Scots, 43.
Edessa, in Mesopotamia, described, 396.
Edgar, king of England, 147-162.
Edgar Etheling, son of Edward the Exile, 253.
His character, 284.
Edgitha, wife of the Confessor, 216.
Edifices, stone, first builders of in England, 54.
Editha, daughter of Edgar, 161, 245.
Edmund, St. king of East Anglia, 89.
Slain, 112.
His incorruption, 236.
His boundary, 242.
Church built in honour of him, 198.
Edmund, king, 141.
His death, 143.
Edmund Ironside, 191-195.
Edred, king of England, 145.
Edric, duke of Mercia, 169, 191, 197.
Edward the Elder, 122.
His issue, 124.
Education of his children, 125.
Edward the Martyr, 162-165.
Edward the Confessor, 213.
Crowned at Winchester, 216.
His character, 247.
His predictions, 251.
Dies, 253.
Edward the Exile comes to England, 253.
Edwin, king of Northumbria, 45.
Edwin, brother of Athelstan, 139.
Edwin, brother of Edmund Ironside, 196.
Edwin and Morcar, earls of Northumbria, 285.
Edwy, king of England, 145-147.
Egbert, king of Kent, 15.
Egbert, archbishop of York, 61.
Egbert, king of Wessex, 94-97.
Egfert, king of Mercia, 86.
Egfrid, king of Northumbria, 51.
Eginhard, his life of Charlemagne, 64, _note_.
Eisc, son of Hengist, king of Kent, 12.
Elbert, and Egelbright, 15, 237, 243.
Eleutherius, bishop of Rome, 21.
Elfred, the rival of king Athelstan, 128;
His singular death, 137.
Elferius, destroys monasteries, 164, 165.
Elfgiva, concubine of king Edwy, 146.
Elfthrida, wife of king Edgar, 159, 161;
Causes the murder of king Edward, 164.
Elmer, a monk, flies like Dædalus, 252.
Elphege, archbishop of Canterbury, 168;
his body translated to Canterbury, 202;
its incorruption, 236.
Elward, or Ethelwerd, abridger of the Saxon Chronicle, 3, _note_.
Ely, church of, made a cathedral, 476.
Emma queen of Ethelred, 187;
her liberality to Winchester, 215;
story of the ploughshares, ib. _note_.
England, divisions of, geographical and ecclesiastical, 91-93;
oppressed state of after the conquest, 235, 253;
its lamentable condition in the time of Stephen, 496, 509.
Erconbert, king of Kent, 14.
Ercongotha, St. 15, 242.
Erie, expelled the kingdom by Canute, 197.
Ermenhilda, St. 242.
Ethelbald, king of Mercia, 73-77.
Ethelbald, king of Wessex, 110.
Ethelbert, king of Kent, 12;
his answer to Augustine, 14;
converted to Christianity, ib.
Ethelbert, St. king of East Anglia, killed, 78.
Ethelbert, king of Kent, Essex, &c., 110.
Ethelbert, son of Ermenred, murdered, 15, 237, 243.
Ethelburga, queen of Ina, her art, 36.
Etheldrida, St. her incorruption, 242.
Ethelfrid, king of Northumbria, 43.
Ethelnoth, archbishop of Canterbury, 203.
Ethelred, king of Mercia, 72.
Ethelred, son of Ermenred, murdered, 15, 237, 243.
Ethelred, or Ethelbert, king of Northumbria, 68.
Ethelred, king of Wessex, 111.
Ethelred II, king of England, 165, 186-193.
Ethelfleda, lady of the Mercians, 123.
Ethered, earl, governor of Mercia, 116.
Ethelric, king of Northumbria, 42.
Ethelwald opposes Edward the Elder, 123.
Ethelwalch, king of Sussex, 30.
Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester, 149.
Ethelwulf, king, 97;
his grant of tithes, 98;
marries Judith, 99;
returns from Rome, 106;
his charter, 107;
his descent, 109.
Euripus, or sea-flood, destroys villages, 191.
Eustace, earl of Boulogne, his affray, 218.
Exeter, fortified and walled by Athelstan, 134;
burnt, 168;
reduced by Wm. I, 281.
Famine, ravages England, 170.
Feudal law, practices connected with, 447, _note_.
Fire, sacred, miracle of, at Jerusalem, 384, 404.
Fitz-Hubert, Robert, 506, 511.
Fitz-Osberne, William, 288.
Flanders, Robert earl of, 366, 436.
Formosus, pope, his pretended epistle, 127.
Forest, New, account of, 306.
Franks, origin of, 63;
their character, 95.
France, recapitulation of kings of, 64, 99.
Frea, wife of Woden, 8.
Frideswide, St. church at Oxford burnt, 191.
Fulcher of Chartres, on Syrian transactions, 395.
Fulbert of Chartres, his character, 204, 314.
Fulda, monastery of, 210;
disease at, 318.
Fulk, earl of Anjou, account of, 265.
Gelasius II, pope, expelled Rome, 464.
Geoffrey, Martel, account of, 267.
Gerbert, pope Sylvester II, 172-181.
German, St. 24;
his miracles, 116.
Gildas, the historian, 22, 67.
Girth, or Gurth, son of Godwin, 222, 275.
Glastonbury, antiquities of, by William of Malmesbury, 51;
account of, 21;
its privileges, 142, 150;
Canute’s presents to, 203;
contention at, 303.
Gosfrith, bishop of Coutances, 328, 329.
Gloucester, Robert earl of, prefatory epistle to, 1.
Conclusion of Regal History addressed to, 477;
his character, 478;
Modern History addressed to, 480;
conduct with respect to Stephen, 492;
with respect to his sister, 497;
arrives in England, 505-531;
his death, 1, _note_.
Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, account of, 365.
Godfrey of Boulogne, account of, 392;
joins the crusade, 394;
chosen king of Jerusalem, 390, 394;
dies, 395.
Godfrey, prior of Winton, account of, 475.
Godwin, earl, defeats the Swedes, 198;
supports Emma, 206;
murders Alfred the son of Ethelred, 207;
his character and death, 221;
his family, 223.
Golgotha, church of, 395, _note_.
Gothrun, a Danish king, baptized, 115.
Gregory I, pope, 42;
dialogues of, 119, 232;
his pastoral translated by Alfred, 120.
Gregory VI, pope, otherwise Gratian, 223-230.
Gregory VII, pope, otherwise Hildebrand, 298.
Gregory VIII, pope, otherwise Maurice Bourdin, 464.
Griffin, king of the Welsh, 214, 256.
Grimbald, abbat of Winton, 118, 120.
Guimund, bp. of Avers, his eloquence, 312.
Guiscard, or Wiscard, Robert, 294, 413.
Gunhilda, married to Hen. III, 207;
accused of adultery, 238.
Gunhildis, sister of Swayne, murdered, 185.
Handboc, Alfred’s, 120, and _note_.
Hardecanute, 205;
dies at Lambeth, 206.
Harold, sends presents to Athelstan, 134.
Harold, son of Canute, 205;
dies, 206.
Harold, son of Godwin, 214;
banished, 220, 254;
seizes the crown of England, 55, 275;
his death, 277-280.
Harold Harfager, king of Norway, 256, 257.
Harding, founder of Cistertians, 347.
Hastings the Dane, his ravages, 115.
Hastings, battle of, 276-280.
Head, magical, formed by Gerbert, 181.
Hegesippus, a Greek author, 378.
Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, 5.
Helias de la Fleche, 341.
Hengist, king of Kent, his origin, 8;
arrives in Britain, 9;
his son and brother arrive at Orkney, 10;
settle in Northumbria, ib.;
his massacre of the British nobles, 11;
death, ib.
Henry I, king of England, 425;
elected king, 427;
marries Matilda of Scotland, 428;
gets possession of Normandy, 431;
his wholesome laws, 434;
his transactions with the Scots, ib.;
subdues the Welsh, 435;
quarrel with earl of Flanders, 436;
interview with pope Calixtus, 440;
passion for exotic animals, 443;
recapitulation of his character, 445;
his person and habits, 446;
espouses Adala of Louvain, 454;
transactions till his death, 483-490.
Henry III, emperor of Germany, 208-212.
Henry IV, emperor, excommunicated, 358.
Henry V, his contest with the pope, 457.
Hereford, Roger earl of, rebels, 288.
Herbert, bishop of Norwich, account of, 353.
Hildebrand, pope Gregory VII, 295;
his conduct to the emperor Henry V, 298.
Hildebert of Mans, verses on Berengar, 312, 367.
Hingwar, the Dane, ravages Northumbria, 240.
Horsa, brother of Hengist, his death, 10.
Horæ, what, 350, _note_.
Hospital, erected at Jerusalem, 385.
Hubba the Dane, brother of Hingwar, 240.
Hugh the Great, brother of Philip, joins the Crusade, 365.
His death, 408.
Hugo, abbat of Clugny, his account of Hildebrand, 296.
Announces the death of Rufus, 344.
Hugo, abp. of Rouen, his letter, 489.
Hunting, right of, restricted by Will. II, 339.
Hyde monastery, Winton, 122;
burnt, 523.
Hyrcanus, digs gold from David’s sepulchre, 177.
Ida, king of Northumbria, 41.
Ina, king of Wessex, 31.
Abdicates and dies at Rome, 37.
His grant to Glastonbury, 32.
Indract, St. account of, 26.
Investiture of churches, 298, 447.
Pope Paschal’s epistle on, 448.
Contests about, 458.
Ipres, William de, his perfidy, 495.
Burns the abbey of Warewell, 523.
Ireland, converted, 24.
Its dependence on England, 443.
Jerusalem, expedition to, or Crusade, 355.
Approach to by Crusaders, 383.
Description of, 384.
Patriarchs of, 385.
Siege of, 387.
Capture of, 389.
Jews, their insolence, 338.
Jewish youth, anecdote of, 338, _note_.
John XIII, pope, his epistle to Alfric, 151.
Confirms the grants to Glastonbury, 153.
John XV, pope, makes peace between Ethelred and Richard duke of
Normandy, 171.
John Fitz-Gilbert, 512.
Joscelyn of St. Bertins, account of, 355.
His translation of St. Augustine, ib.
Jothwel, king of the Welsh, 129.
Joust, meaning of that term, 515, _note_.
Jutes, a German tribe, settled in Britain, 9.
Katigis, son of Vortigern, death of, 10.
Kenelm, St. 87.
Murdered by his sister, 238.
Kenred, king of Northumbria, 53.
Kenred, or Kinred, king of Mercia, 72.
Kent. Its conversion to Christianity, 13.
Annexed to West Saxons, 17.
Ravaged by Ina, 31.
Its extent, 91.
Kentwin, king of Wessex, 30.
Kenwalk, king of Wessex, 20;
his death, 30.
Kenulph, king of Mercia, 79-86.
Kinad, king of Scots, 147, 158.
Knights, order of, among the Anglo-Saxons, 131.
Lambert, abp. of Canterbury, deprived, 78.
Lamp, perpetual, 234.
Lanfranc, abp. of Canterbury, 300, 323.
Lanzo, prior of Lewes, account of, 472.
Laurentius, abp. of Canterbury, chastized by St. Peter, 13.
Legion, Theban, account of, 136, _note_.
Leo III, pope, 79.
His epistle, 82.
Leofa, murders king Edmund, 143.
Leofric, earl of Hereford, 214.
Leonard, St. his peculiar power, 415, _note_.
Leutherius, bishop, founds Malmesbury, 28.
Lewis VI, king of France, account of, 438.
Library, noble one at York, 62;
at Jerusalem, 385.
Libraries formerly attached to churches, 120.
London, ravaged, 97;
granted by Alfred to earl Ethered, 116;
besieged by Danes, 167;
by Canute, 194;
dreadful tempest at, 342.
Longinus, St. legend of, 136, _note_.
Lothere, king of Kent, 15.
Lucius, king of the Britons, baptized, 21.
Luidhard, bishop, exemplary life of, 12.
Mabil, wife of Robert earl of Gloucester, 1, _note_; 433, _note_,
483, 528.
Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians, 147.
Malcolm II, king of Scotland, 199.
Malcolm III, placed on the throne of Scotland, by Edward the
Confessor, 214;
receives the English fugitives, 282;
slain, 283, 333.
Malger, archbp. of Rouen, account of, 300.
Malmesbury, monastery of, founded, 28;
seized by Offa, 78;
by Alstan, 98;
its possessions restored, 86;
monks expelled by Edwy, 146;
seized by Roger bishop of Salisbury, 508;
singular account of one of its monks, 177.
Malmesbury, John abbat of, his character, 509.
Malmesbury, William monk of, his motives for writing history, 1;
his history of Glastonbury, 21;
his love of learning and fondness for books, 93;
of Norman and English parentage, 258;
his diffidence, 414;
first regular historian of the English after Bede, 477;
three small volumes of his works supposed to be lost, 480, _note_;
residence at Malmesbury, 28;
indignation at oppression of his monastery, 78, 98, 146, 508;
his design of writing the lives of the prelates, 148.
Magus, Simon, legend of, 180, _note_.
Mancus, value of, 82, _note_.
Manse, signification of, 108, _note_.
Marchio, its signification, 517, _note_.
Margaret, wife of Malcolm king of Scots, her issue, 253;
her piety and death, 333.
Martin, St. his relics cure a leprous person, 116.
Matilda, wife of William I, 265, 305.
Matilda, wife of Henry I, account of, 253, 428;
her piety, learning, and death, 452.
Matilda, or Maud, married to Henry V, 457;
returns to England, 481;
succession of England settled on her, 482;
married to Fulco earl of Anjou, 483;
succession again confirmed to her, 487;
elected queen, 519;
designs of, 531;
escape from Oxford, 535.
Maurilius of Feschamp, account of, 301.
Mayors of the palace, 64, _note_.
Maximus, assumes the empire, 6;
his expedition to Gaul, and death, ib.
Mellent, Robert earl of, account of, 441.
Mercia, kings of, 70;
extent of, 92;
Mercians unite with the Danes, 112;
their noble stand in favour of Ethelred, 192.
Mice, singular tales concerning, 316, 317.
Milburga, abbess of Wenlock, 243.
Miles, ambiguity of that term, 289, _note_; 499.
Miracles, Oswald’s, 49;
of pope Leo III, 65;
of St. Martin, 116;
St. Edward’s, 164;
of St. Magnus, 182;
of Ethelred and Ethelbert, 238;
of St. Kenelm, ib.;
St. Wistan, 239;
St. Edmund, 240;
St. Milburga, 243;
Eadburga, 244;
Editha, 245;
of Edward the Confessor, 248.
Money, debased state of in time of king Stephen, 511.
Montgomerie, Roger, conspires against William II, 329.
Morcar, son of Elgar, made earl of Northumbria, 223;
defeated by Danes, 256;
his death, 285.
Moreton, William earl of, rebels against Henry I, 431.
Mountain, perforated, tale of, 178.
Murrain, dreadful, 417.
Necromancy, 180, 232.
Nice, in Bithynia, siege of, 366, 377.
Nidering, or Nithing, signification of, 330.
Normandy, granted to Rollo, 125;
distracted state of, 260, 331, 422, 431.
Normandy, William I, duke of, account of, 143.
Normandy, Richard I, duke of, his pacification with Ethelred, 171.
Normandy, Richard II, duke of, account of, 188.
Normandy, Robert I, duke of, account of, 259;
his expedition to Jerusalem, 189.
Normandy, Robert II, Curthose, duke of, pawns his duchy, 339;
joins the crusade, 366, 410;
account of, 420;
arrangement with Henry I, 422;
imprisoned till death, 423.
Normans, subdue part of Gaul, 8;
unjust preference of after the conquest, 253;
dislike to William II, 329;
feuds of with the English, 217;
manners and customs of, 280.
Northumberland, Robert, earl of, 323, 339.
Northumbria, kingdom of, 41;
divided into two provinces, 46;
its extent, 93;
yields to Egbert, 96;
unites with Danes, 112;
subdued by Athelstan, 129.
Norwegian, singular courage of one, 256.
Norway, succession of its kings, 292.
Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, separates Edwy from Elfgiva, 146.
Odo, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent, 307;
rebels against Rufus and is banished, 328.
Offa, king of Mercia, his character, 77;
rapacity, 78;
treaty with Charlemagne, 84.
Offa, king of Essex, becomes a monk, 91.
Ordeal, account of, 22, _note_.
Order, monastic, afflicted by Edwy, 146;
revives under Edgar, 155.
Organ, hydraulic, account of, 175.
Orkney, isles of, subdued by Magnus, 343;
Paul earl of, 443.
Osberne, precentor of Canterbury, his life of Dunstan, 146;
his skill in music, 148.
Osbert, king of Northumbria, 112.
Osred, king of Northumbria, 68.
Oswald, king of Northumbria, 46;
his death, 48;
miracles, 49, 237.
Oswin, king of Northumbria, 50.
Oswy, king of Northumbria, 50, 51.
Otha, brother of Hengist, settles in Northumbria, 40.
Otho, the Great, 66.
Pallas, his body found at Rome, 234.
Palling, a Danish noble murdered, 185.
Palms, assumed by pilgrims, and why, 398.
Palumbus, a priest, 233;
his death, 234.
Paschal II, pope, his letter to Henry I, on investitures, 448;
to Anselm, 450;
contest with the emperor Henry V, 457.
Paschasius, his story of the Host, 314.
Patrick, St. 24.
Patrician of Rome, its office, 462.
Paul, of Samosata, 396.
Paulinus, 26;
converts the Northumbrians, 45.
Penda, king of Mercia, his character, 70;
his death, 71.
Peter the Hermit, account of, 366, 381.
Peter-pence, origin of, 98, 202.
Petrary, meaning of that term, 380, 405.
Philip I, king of France, 206.
His infatuated conduct, 437.
Philip the clerk, account of, 420.
Places, holy, Bede’s account of, 57.
Plegmund, abp. of Canterbury, 120.
Plough-alms, what, 201.
Poison, antidote against, 415.
Poitou, Peter, bishop of, account of, 469.
Poitou, William, earl of, defeated by the Turks, 408.
His licentious conduct, 469.
Prodigy, of the double woman, 235.
Pythagoras, his double path, 172.
Quendrida, murders her brother Kenelm, 87, 238.
Ramula, description of, 383.
Siege of, 409.
Ranulf, or Ralph, bishop of Durham, his character, 336, 476.
Imprisoned, 428.
His escape, 429.
Raymond, earl of St. Giles, joins the crusade, 365.
Account of, 416.
Reading monastery, 447.
Redwald, king of the East Angles, 41, 88.
Repasts, custom concerning in England, changed, 441, _note_.
Richard, son of Will. I, his untimely death, 306.
Ring, with Solomon’s impression, 177.
Ritual, Ambrosian, 350, _note_.
Gregorian, ib.
Robert, archbishop of Canterbury, 217.
He flies, proceeds to Rome, and dies, 221.
Robert, bishop of Chester, account of, 354.
Robert Curthose. See Normandy.
Robert, earl of Moreton, brother of Will. I, 307.
Robert Fitz-Hubert, 511.
Robert Friso, earl of Flanders, account of, 289.
Robert Guiscard, account of, 295.
Robert, king of France, his character, 204.
Robert, son of Godwin, account of, 284.
Roger, bishop of Salisbury, account of, 441.
Imprisoned, 500.
Death and character, 507.
Rollo the Dane, obtains Rouen, 125.
His insolence, 126.
Romans finally quit Britain, 6.
Rome, dreadful state of, 224.
Citizen of, singular story of, 232.
Poetical description of, 367.
Account of its gates, churches, &c., 368.
Schism in church of, 484.
Rome-scot, 98, 202.
Ross, in Wales, Flemings settled at, 435.
Rouen, William, archbishop of, account of, 438.
Sabert, king of East Saxons, baptized, 90.
Saints, incorruption of several, after death, 48, 236.
Salisbury, tempest at, 343;
cathedral, 442.
Saracens, their learning and divination, 173.
Defeat of at Ascalon, 407.
Saxons, invited over from Germany, 7.
Saxons, East, kingdom of, 90.
Its extent, 92.
Saxons, West kingdom of, 17.
Its extent, 92.
Schools instituted in East Anglia, 88.
Scotland, subdued by Canute, 199.
Scots, defeated by the Angles, 9.
Characterized, 364.
Civilized by king David, 434.
Scotus, Johannes, account of, 119.
Scotus, Marianus, account of, 317.
Selsey, monastery of, 92.
Singular circumstance at, 236.
Sepulchre, holy, church of, 384, 389.
Serlo, bishop of Sees, trims the beard of Henry I, 445, _note_.
Serlo, abbat of Gloucester, account of, 471.
Severus, dies in Britain, 5.
Shift of the Virgin, confounds the Danes, 125.
Ship, a magnificent, presented to Athelstan, 134.
Shoes with curved points, 337, _note_.
Sibilla, duchess of Normandy, 421, _note_.
Sigebert, king of Wessex, 38.
His death, ib.
Sigebert, king of East Anglia, 89.
Sighelm, bishop of Sherborne, sent to India by Alfred, 118.
Simony, its extensive spread, 357.
Siric, abp. of Canterbury, 167.
Sithtric, king of Northumbria, 129, 132.
Siward, earl of Northumbria, kills Macbeth, 214.
Supports Edward the Confessor, 219.
Siward, king of Norway, winters in England, 444.
His voyage to Jerusalem, ib.
Slaves, female, prostituted and sent to Denmark, 222.
Custom of selling, 279.
Sleepers, seven, story of, 250, _note_.
Solyman, sovereign of Romania, his army defeated, 376.
Defeats the Franks, 408.
Sow, a warlike engine so called, 388.
Spear of Charlemagne, which pierced our Saviour, 135.
Spike, used at the Crucifixion, 135.
Statue, in the Campus Martius, 176.
Statue, brazen, at Rome, story of, 232.
Stephen, earl of Moreton, account of, 482.
Comes to England and is chosen king, 490.
Crowned, and goes into Scotland, 491.
His character, 495.
His perfidy to Robert, earl of Gloucester, 496.
His violent conduct, 500.
Contest with his brother the legate, 504.
Conflicts with the Empress’s party, 506, 507.
Besieges Lincoln, 514.
Defeated and made captive, 515.
Liberated, 524.
Plunders Wareham, 533.
Burns Oxford, ib.
Stigand, bishop of Winton, 221, 253, 281, 302.
Sugar-cane, account of, 397, _note_.
Suger, abbat of St. Denis, his account of Henry I, 446, _note_.
Sultan, meaning of that term, 379.
Superstition, singular, 122, and _note_.
Sussex, kingdom of, 92, _note_.
Sweyn, king of Denmark, invades England, 185.
His conduct, 189, and death, 190.
Sweyn, son of Godwin, 219, 222.
Goes to Jerusalem and is killed by the Saracens, ib.
Swithun, St., bishop of Winchester, 98.
Sword, miraculous, Athelstan’s, 130;
Constantine’s, 135.
Tancred, prince of Antioch, enters Bethlehem, 383;
his covetousness, 390;
his conduct and death, 419.
Tewkesbury, monastery of, 433.
Thanet, isle of, appropriated to the Angles on their arrival, 9.
Thanet, monastery of, minster, 15.
Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, 15, _note_, 51.
Thorns, crown of, 136.
Thurkill, the Dane, invites Sweyn, to England, 185;
his expulsion and death, 197.
Time, division of by candle, 121.
Tirel, Walter, kills W. Rufus, 345.
Tosty, son of Godwin, expelled by the Northumbrians, 222;
retires to Flanders, 223;
his attempts against Harold, 256;
defeated and slain, 257, 285.
Tower of London, its origin, 341.
Truce of God, why so called, 358, _note_.
Tudites, or Martel, Carolus, 64;
his body carried off by evil spirits, 232.
Turks, their extensive dominion, 360;
crafty mode of fight, 361;
cruelty at the siege of Nice, 376;
at Antioch, 379;
defeated near Berith, 401;
bodies burnt to obtain money they had swallowed, 406, _note_;
besiege Baldwin at Rama, 284.
Ulfkytel, earl of Essex, attacks the Danes at Thetford, 69;
killed at Assingdon, 170, 194.
Urban II, pope, 299;
instigates the first crusade, 357;
his speech at the council of Clermont, 359;
contests with Guibert, 414.
Utred, earl of Northumbria, 192;
defeated and put to death by Canute, 193.
Vavassour, meaning of, 510, _note_.
Vallery, St., his body brought forth to implore a wind, 273.
Ver, Albric de, his harangue in favour of king Stephen, 502.
Vindelici, account of, 208.
Virginity, Aldhelm’s commendation of, 29, 36.
Visions, of Charles king of France, 102;
of Athelstan’s mother, 139;
of Edgar, 156;
of Edward Confessor, 249;
of Constantine the Great, 372.
Vortigern, his character, 7, 11.
Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, 10.
Waher, Ralph de, rebels against William I, 287.
Wales, reduced to a province, 214;
pays tribute to Athelstan, 134.
Walkelin, bishop of Winchester, 302.
Walker, bishop of Durham, murdered, 303.
Walwin, nephew of Arthur, his sepulchre, 315.
Waltheof, earl, account of, 386;
his death, ibid.
Warewell, or Whorwell, 160;
monastery of, ib.
Warwick, Henry earl of, 441.
Welsh, subdued by Edward the Elder, 123;
by Harold, 256;
by Henry I, 435.
Werburga, patroness of Chester, 72, 236, 243.
Werefrith, bishop of Worcester, 118.
Westminster Abbey consecrated, 255.
West-Saxon kings, geneology of, 109.
Wight, Isle of, given to Withgar, 218;
converted to Christianity, 71.
Wilfrid, bishop of Hexham, expelled his see, 51.
William I, king of England, 253;
his early history, 259;
his conquests, 268;
is crowned, 281;
summary of his wars, 282;
his issue, 305;
munificence to monasteries, 308;
death, 310.
William II, king of England, his birth and education, 327:
contentions with his nobles, 328;
seizes castles of Tunbridge and Pevensey, 319;
contests and treaty with his brother Robert, 330;
his expedition against Wales and Scotland, 333;
character, 334, 346;
calamitous events of his reign, 342;
singular tokens and manner of his death, 344.
William of Carilef, bishop of Durham, 304.
William, earl of Arches, 263.
William Fitz-Osberne, account of, 289.
William, son of Henry I, 454.
Winchelcumb, dreadful tempest at, 342.
Winchester, church at, 21, 39;
Canute’s liberality to, 198.
Windows, glass, first makers of in England, 54.
Wistan, St. account of, 239.
Witch, Berkeley, account of, 230.
Witches, two at Rome, account of, 180.
Withlaf, king of Mercia, 88, 96.
Withred, king of Kent, 16.
Woden, account of, 8.
Wolves, tribute of, paid to Edgar, 158.
Woodstock Park, menagerie at, 443.
Worcester, insurrection at, 207.
Wulnod, destroys Ethelred’s fleet, 169.
Wulnod, son of Godwin, 222.
Wulstan, precentor of Winchester, 149;
his book on the harmony of sounds, ib.
Wulstan, archbishop of York, confined by Edred, 145.
Wulstan, bishop of Worcester, account of, 303.
Wulfhere, king of Mercia, 71, 72.
York, city of, burnt, 112;
besieged, 133;
destroyed, 282.
York, see of, controversy with Canterbury, 319;
with Worcester and Dorchester, 323.
Youths, from England, exposed to sale at Rome, 42.
J. HADDON, PRINTER, CASTLE STREET, FINSBURY.
FOOTNOTES
[1] “_Olim_ enim _cum historias lusi_, viridioribus annis rerumque
lætitiæ congruebat rerum jocunditas. Nunc ætas progressior, et fortuna
deterior, aliud dicendi genus expostulant. _Quadragenarius sum hodie_,”
&c. Prol. in expos. Thren. Hierem. MS. Bodl. 868.
[2] “Ista autem avis (struthio) membrorum grandium, pennas quidem
habens, sed volatu carens. Qualem in Angliâ vidimus, _tempore regis
Henrici_ externorum monstrorum appetentissimi.” Ch. iv. v. 31.
[3] He has afforded another notice of time, but not equally precise.
Godfrey is said to have been abbat of Malmesbury from the year 1084
till 1105; and Malmesbury mentions certain transactions which took
place in Godfrey’s time as beyond his memory; and others which happened
when he was a boy. Anglia Sacra, II. 45-7. If Malmesbury wrote the
miracles of St. Andrew, a work which is attributed to him, he was born
the 30th of November.
[4] He says he also collected many books for the monastic library: and
mentions others which he had seen at Canterbury, Bury St. Edmunds, &c.
Gale, tom. iii. pp. 376, 298.
[5] Some notion of his diligence may perhaps be afforded by the
following list of his writings.
1. _De Gestis Regum._ The History of the Kings of England. The first
three books were probably written soon after the year 1120. Malmesbury
intimates that he then hesitated for a time on the expediency of
continuing his history; but at length having determined on prosecuting
his design, he dedicated the fourth and fifth books to Robert earl of
Gloucester; at whose request he afterwards composed
2. _Historiæ Novellæ._ The Modern History. This appears to have been
begun after the death of Henry I; probably not long before 1140.
3. _De Gestis Pontificum._ The History of the Prelates of England
containing, in four books, an account of the bishops, and of the
principal monasteries, from the conversion of the English, by St.
Augustine, to 1123; to which he added a fifth
4. _De Vita Aldhelmi._ The Life of St. Aldhelm: which was completed in
1125. It is very reasonably conjectured that this last was published
separately and some time after the others; as, though there are many
ancient MSS. of the first four books, one copy only has yet been
discovered with the fifth. The former were published by Saville, but
from very faulty and scanty MSS. The latter by H. Wharton, and by Gale;
but also very defectively.
5. _De Vita S. Dunstani._ The Life of S. Dunstan, in two books. MS.
Bodley Rawlinson, 263. This was written at the request of the monks of
Glastonbury, for whom he had previously composed the following three:
6. _Vita S. Patricii._ The Life of S. Patrick, in two books. Leland,
Collectanea, 3, 272, has extracts from it, but no MS. has hitherto
occurred.
7. _Miracula S. Benigni._ The Miracles of S. Benignus. This has not
occurred.
8. _Passio S. Indracti._ The Martyrdom of S. Indract. MS. Bodley Digby,
112. This he translated and abridged from the Anglo-Saxon. Abbreviated
in Capgrave’s Legenda Nova.
9. _De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiæ._ The History of Glastonbury.
It is addressed to Henry bishop of Winchester, and was of course
written after 1129. Printed in Gale’s Collection, t. 3, and by Hearne,
from an interpolated MS.
10. _Vita S. Wulstani Episcopi Wigorniensis._ The Life of S. Wulstan,
Bishop of Worcester. A Translation from the Anglo-Saxon, addressed to
Prior Guarin, between 1124 and 1140. The greater part of it has been
printed. Anglia Sacra, t. 2.
11. _Chronica._ Chronicles, in three books. See p. 480. This work is
probably lost.
12. _Miracula S. Elfgifæ._ The Miracles of Elfgifa, in metre. A
specimen of these rhymes, there printed as prose, may be seen in the De
Gestis Pontif. f. 143: they were apparently written while he was very
young; as, before 1125, he says, “_quondam_ cecini.”
13. _Itinerarium Joannis Abbatis Meldunensis versus Romam._ The
Itinerary of John Abbat of Malmesbury to Rome. This was drawn up,
after 1140, from the relation of another monk of that foundation who
accompanied the abbat. Leland, Collect. 3, 272, ed. 1774, mentions it
as being very curious. It does not occur, but it was formerly in the
possession of Bale.
14. _Expositio Threnorum Hieremiæ._ A Commentary on the Lamentations of
Jeremiah. MS. Bodley, 868. Abridged from Paschasius Radbert, probably
about 1136.
15. _De Miraculis Divæ Mariæ libri quatuor Gul. Cantoris Malmsburie._
The Miracles of the Blessed Virgin, in four books. Leland, Coll. 4. 155.
16. _De Serie Evangelistarum, Carmine._ The Order of the Evangelists,
in verse. Leland, Collect. 4. 157. These two have not occurred.
17. _De Miraculis B. Andreæ._ The Miracles of S. Andrew. MS. Cotton.
Nero, E. 1. Abridged from a very prolix work.
18. _Abbreviatio Amalarii de Ecclesiasticis Officiis._ Amalarius on
Ecclesiastical Offices, abridged. MS. Lambeth. 380.
19. _Epitome Historiæ Aimonis Floriacensis._ The History of Haimo of
Flory, abridged. MS. Bodley, Selden. Arch. B. 32.
Several other works are attributed to him by Tanner, on the authority
of Bale and Pits.
[6] These remarks on the character and style of our author must be
received, as they say, _cum grano salis_. They more justly evince the
zeal of Mr. Sharpe than the merits of Malmesbury’s composition. The
classical reader will probably lament with me that our early historians
should have used a style so cumbersome and uninviting. To this general
censure Malmesbury is certainly no exception. His Latinity is rude and
repulsive, and the true value of his writings arises from the fidelity
with which he has recorded facts, which he had either himself witnessed
or had obtained from eye-witnesses.
[7] This valuable work has been published, together with Bede’s
Ecclesiastical History, in a preceding volume of this series.
[8] See his prologue to the Life of Wulstan, Anglia Sacra, ii. 243.
[9] Some of these allusions are occasionally marked in the notes.
[10] A considerable portion of the present work was printed anonymously
as a continuation of Bede, at Heidelberg, in 1587. The whole,
together with the History of the Prelates, was first printed by Sir
Henry Saville, who appears to have consulted several copies in the
“Scriptores post Bedam,” London, 1596, fol. This was reprinted, but
with many additional errors, at Frankfort, 1601, fol. Saville’s
division into chapters, in the second book more especially, has no
authority; but as it appeared sufficiently convenient, it has been
adopted: the division of the sections is nearly the same throughout all
the MSS.
[11] Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the Mecænas of his age, was a natural
son of Henry I., and a man of great talents and of unshaken fidelity.
He married Mabil, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon, by whom he had a
numerous issue. He died October 31, A.D. 1147.
[12] This alludes to those invaluable records, the Saxon Chronicles.
These, as originally compiled, have been already published in the
present Series of Monkish Historians.
[13] Elward, or Ethelwerd, was a noble Saxon, great-great-grandson
of King Ethelred, brother of Alfred. He abridged and translated the
Saxon Chronicle into Latin, published in the present Series. He lived
apparently in the time of Edgar, towards the close of the tenth century.
[14] Eadmer, a monk and precentor of Christ-Church, Canterbury, and
pupil of Archbishop Anselm, together with a variety of other works,
wrote “Historia Novorum,” or, a history of modern times, from A.D. 1066
to 1122.
[15] MS. Anselmi. Eadmer at first brought down his history to the death
of Archbishop Anselm only, A.D. 1109, but afterwards continued it to
the decease of Ralph, A.D. 1122.
[16] Virgilii Ecl. VI. v. 10.
[17] Helena’s origin has been much contested: Gibbon decides that she
was daughter of an innkeeper. The word “Stabularia,” literally implies
an ostler-wench; and it has been conjectured that it was applied to
her, by the Jews and Gentiles, on account of her building a church on
the spot where stood the stable in which our Lord was born.
[18] Various periods have been assigned for the British settlement
in Armorica, or Bretagne; but the subject is still involved in great
obscurity.
[19] Some MSS. read _juvenilis_, others _militaris_.
[20] Some MSS. read _succensæ_.
[21] These are supposed to be long vessels, somewhat like galleys, and
it would appear, as well from Brompton, col. 897, as from so small
a number containing a body equal to a military enterprise like that
described here and in other places, that they were of considerable
burden.
[22] Bede i. 15. The people of Kent and of the Isle of Wight were
Jutes; the East, South, and West Saxons, were Saxons; and of the Angles
came the East-Angles, Mid-Angles, Mercians, and Northumbrians. For the
limits of the several kingdoms of the Heptarchy, see Chap. VI. The
Cottonian MS. (Claud. ix.) reads, _Wichtis_.
[23] At Aylesford, A.D. 455; at Crayford, 457; at Wippedsfleet
(supposed, but very doubtful, Ebbsfleet, in Thanet), 465; and the
fourth, A.D. 473, the place not mentioned. See Saxon Chronicle, A.D.
465.
[24] Said to be Bannesdown, near Bath. Giraldus Cambrensis says, the
image of the Virgin was fixed on the inside of Arthur’s shield, that he
might kiss it in battle. Bede erroneously ascribes this event to A.D.
493. (Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, b. i. c. 6.)
[25] According to Sprott, Hengist died in 488, and was succeeded by
his son Octa, vel Osca. Osca died A.D. 408, and Esc, his son, ascended
the throne. In the year 522 Ermenric, the father of king Ethelbert,
reigned. Ethelbert became king of Kent in 558.
[26] The difference seems to have arisen from carelessness in the
scribe; as the Saxon Chronicle states him to have ascended the throne
A.D. 560, and to have died 616: which is exactly fifty-six years,
although it asserts him to have reigned only 53.
[27] See Wilkins’s “Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ,” and the Textus Roffensis.
[28] The name of the second queen of Ethelbert is not mentioned,
probably on account of this incest.
[29] St. Peter, it is said, appeared to Laurentius at night, and
reproaching him for his cowardice, severely chastised him with a
scourge; the marks of which had the effect here mentioned the next day.
Bede ii. 6. According to Sprott, St. Laurentius became archbishop of
Canterbury, A.D. 610.
[30] St. Augustine’s, Canterbury, completed, according to Sprott, A.D.
663.
[31] Chelles, near Paris.
[32] Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, was a native of Tarsus in
Cilicia, and a prelate of great learning; but it being apprehended by
Pope Vitalian that he might rather incline to the doctrines of the
Greek Church, Adrian was sent with him, as a kind of superintendent,
and was appointed abbat of St. Augustine’s.
[33] See book ii. chap. 13, “but this and every other,” &c. Some
editions omit this passage altogether.
[34] Wansdike, in Wiltshire.
[35] Virgil, Æn. ii. 390.
[36] Bradford on Avon. See Sax. Chron. A.D. 652.
[37] Pen, in Somersetshire.
[38] Malmesbury wrote a History of Glastonbury, which is printed
in Gale’s Collection, vol. iii. and by Hearne, in the History of
Glastonbury, and from this work he extracts this account. Sharpe gives
it [from “But since,” &c. to “character so munificent” in page 28, line
2], in a note as a various reading of one of the MSS. The note occupies
the greater part of seven pages from 25 to 31 in Sharpe’s original
volume.
[39] There is a Life of Gildas, written not long after this history, by
Caradoc of Lancarvon, in which we are told, that, while he was residing
at Glastonbury, a prince of that country carried off Arthur’s queen and
lodged her there; that Arthur immediately besieged it, but, through the
mediation of the abbat, and of Gildas, consented, at length, to receive
his wife again and to depart peaceably.
[40] The ordeal was an appeal to heaven to decide immediately on the
justice of the cause. There were many modes of this whimsical trial;
as by handling hot iron, plunging the arm into hot water, throwing the
accused into water, &c. If, after three days, the party exhibited no
mark of burning in the two former; or if he did not sink in the latter
experiment, he was considered innocent. The whole was conducted with
great solemnity; the ritual may be seen in Spelman, voce Ordalium.
[41] The Saxon mode of interment appears frequently to have been under
pyramids or obelisks. See Anglia Sacra, ii. 110.
[42] St. Germanus drew up a body of his new converts in a valley
surrounded on every side by mountains, and, on the approach of their
enemies, ordered that on a given signal, all should shout “Hallelujah.”
The sudden sound, being reverberated by the surrounding mountains,
struck their foes with such a panic, that they instantly fled. See
Bede, Hist. Eccl. b. i. c. 20.
[43] Patrick is said to have floated over, from Ireland, on this altar,
and to have landed near Padstow in Cornwall. Gough’s Camden, i. 19.
Malmesbury appears to have been misled by the Glastonbury historian, so
as to confound St. Patrick with St. Petrock. From the latter, the town
of Padstow derives its name, as is proved by Whitaker, in his Ancient
Cathedral of Cornwall.
[44] On their return from a pilgrimage to Rome they designed visiting
Glastonbury, out of respect to St. Patrick; and filled their scrips
with parsley and various other seeds, which they purposed carrying to
Ireland, but their staves being tipped with brass, which was mistaken
for gold, they were murdered for the supposed booty.
[45] It is understood as synonymous with hide, or as much land as one
plough could till.
[46] Cuthred. According to the Saxon Chronicle, he bestowed on him 3000
hides of land.
[47] Bede, in “Chronicles of the Anglo-Saxons,” p. 267.
[48] Where this river was is not known: it has been conjectured it
should be Avon. Malmesbury is also said to have been originally called
Bladon.
[49] De Laudibus Virginitatis. His “Commendation of Virginity,” was
first written in prose: and was printed by H. Wharton, 4to. 1693. He
afterwards versified it with occasional amplifications or omissions.
Some MSS. give the date as 671: others 672; and others again 675.
See Canisius, Antiquæ Lectiones, t. i. 713. Ed. Basnagii. The whole
works of Aldhelm have been collected for the first time by the present
editor, and form vol. i. of PATRES ECCLESIÆ ANGLICANÆ.
[50] Malmesbury afterwards wrote the life of Aldhelm. It ought to form
the fifth book “_de Gentis Pontificum_,” but has never yet been printed
in the same volume with the four preceding books.
[51] See Bede, b. iv. c. 15.
[52] The Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester mention his attacks
on the South Saxons, but do not notice the East Angles.
[53] See Wilkins’s Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ.
[54] Some manuscripts omit all that follows to “Berthwald, archbishop
of Canterbury,” p. 35, and insert in place of it “More especially that
at Glastonbury most celebrated in our days, which he erected in a low
retired situation, in order that the monks might more eagerly thirst
after heavenly, in proportion as they were less affected by earthly
things.” Sharpe inserts the shorter passage in his text, and gives the
longer in a note.
[55] See Kemble’s Charters, vol. i. p. 85.
[56] The Antiquities of Glastonbury were published about the same time
by Gale, vol. iii. and by Hearne.
[57] The 25th of May.
[58] Bede, Eccl. Hist. b. iv. c. 7-10.
[59] All this passage, from “What splendour, p. 35, to persuasion,” is
omitted in some MSS., and is given in a note by Hardy and Sharpe; but
it seems almost necessary to the context.
[60] Malmesbury here perpetuates the error of the transcriber of the
Saxon Chronicle, in assigning thirty-one years to Cynewolf, for as
he came to the throne in 756, and was killed in 784, consequently he
reigned about twenty-nine years. Perhaps he wrote, correctly, “_uno de
triginta annis_,” conjectures Mr. Hardy.
[61] Supposed Dalston near Carlisle, or Dawston near Ichborough.
[62] Malmesbury here confounds the ancient monastery of Banchor, near
Chester, with the more modern see of Bangor in Carnarvonshire.
[63] Ovid. Trist. 1. 9, v. 5.
[64] Cadwalla, king of the Britons, having slain Eanfrid and Osric,
A.D. 634, had usurped the government of Northumbria.
[65] When he was seated at table and just about to commence dinner,
the royal almoner informed the king that a great number of poor were
assembled in the street, asking relief; on which he immediately ordered
the whole of the provisions to be distributed, and the silver dish also
to be cut into pieces, and divided amongst them. See Bede, b. iii. c. 6.
[66] Juv. Sat. vii. 202.
[67] Bambrough in Northumberland. Bede iii. 6, p. 118.
[68] St. Cuthbert is represented as holding the head of Oswald in his
arms. Bede’s bones were afterwards laid in the same coffin.
[69] The horse lay down under his rider in great agony; but recovered
by rolling on the spot and cropping the grass. A person carried away
some of the earth, which he hung up against a post in the wall: the
house caught fire and was burnt with the exception of the timber to
which the bag was tied. See Bede, b. iii. c. 9, 10; and for the other
stories, c. 13.
[70] The principal points in dispute were, the time of celebrating
Easter and the form of the tonsure. See Bede, Eccl. Hist. iii. 25.
[71] See Bede, Hist. Eccl. iii. 29.
[72] Bede’s Life of St. Cuthbert, c. 24.
[73] Ermenburga, the second wife of Egfrid. The first, Etheldrida, was
divorced from him, on account of her love of celibacy, and became a
nun. Wilfrid, bishop of Hexham, was several times expelled his see.
Elected bishop of York, A.D. 664, he was expelled in 678. He was
recalled to Northumbria in 687, and again expelled 692. He died A.D.
709, having been reinstated by the pope. See Bede v. 19. and Sax. Chron.
[74] Virg. Æn. vi. 815.
[75] The country was laid waste by the Danes, A.D. 793, and continued
to be disturbed by them throughout the reigns of Alfred and Ethelred.
The great devastation was made by William the Conqueror A.D. 1069.
[76] This is not quite correct: Jarrow, one of Benedict’s monasteries,
is on the river Tyne.
[77] Benedict surnamed Biscop, a noble Northumbrian, quitted the
service of king Oswy, when he had attained his twenty-fifth year, and
travelled to Rome five several times; occupying himself while there,
either in learning the Roman ritual, or in collecting books, pictures,
and ornaments of various descriptions for the monasteries he had
founded at Wearmouth: he also brought over masons from France to build
a church after the Roman manner; as well as artificers in glass. See
Bede’s Lives of the Abbats of Wearmouth and Jarrow.
[78] “... lapidei tabulatus,” this seems intended to designate
buildings with courses of stone in a regular manner, which is also
implied by him, De Gestis Pontif. lib. iii. f. 148. Bede, whom he here
follows, affords no assistance as to the precise meaning: he merely
states, that Benedict caused a church to be erected after the Roman
model.
[79] The monks of Glastonbury used all possible means to obtain
relics of saints. See the curious account of a contention concerning
the body of St. Dunstan, which those monks asserted they had stolen
from Canterbury, after it had been burnt by the Danes, in the time of
Ethelred, in Whartoni Anglia Sacra, vol. ii. p. 222.
[80] Eccles. Hist., book v. ch. 24.
[81] John of Beverley, bishop of Hexham, A.D. 686. He was made bishop
of York, A.D. 705, and died 7th of May, 722. See Bede, b. v. c. 2-6.
[82] Seneca, Controvers. lib. 1.
[83] Hebrews x. 31.
[84] Romans viii. 18.
[85] Scipio Africanus was accustomed to observe, “that he was never
less idle than when unoccupied, nor never less alone than when by
himself.” _Cicero de Offic._ 1. 3.
[86] These lines are thus rendered into English:
“Beneath this stone Bede’s mortal body lies;
God grant his soul may rest amid the skies.
May he drink deeply, in the realms above,
Of wisdom’s fount, which he on earth did love!”
[87] Called Egbert by some writers.
[88] Paulinus had departed from Northumbria, in consequence of the
confusion which prevailed on the death of Edwin. Bede, b. ii. c. 20. He
died Oct. 10, 644.
[89] Alcuin, a native of Northumbria, and educated at York, through
his learning and talents became the intimate friend and favourite of
Charlemagne, for whom he transcribed, with his own hand, the Holy
Scriptures. This relic is now preserved in the British Museum.
[90] See this epistle at length in Alcuini Op. vol. i. p. 52. Epist. 38.
[91] Others say he was buried at St. Martin’s, at Tours, where he died,
April 18, 804. His works will be included in PATRES ECCLESIÆ ANGLICANÆ.
[92] The Life of Charlemagne, by Eginhard, who was secretary to that
monarch. Du Chesne Script. Franc. tom. ii. It is one of the most
amusing books of the period.
[93] The mayors of the palace seem originally to have merely regulated
the king’s household, but by degrees they acquired so much power,
that Pepin the elder, maternal grandfather of him here mentioned, had
already become in effect, king of France. They first appear to have
usurped the regal power under Clovis II. A.D. 638.
[94] Malmesbury differs from all the best authorities, who assign
only six years to his reign. He ascended the throne A.D. 759, and was
expelled A.D. 765.
[95] Osred, through a conspiracy of his nobles, had been deposed, and,
after receiving the tonsure, was compelled to go into exile. Two years
after, induced by the promises and oaths of certain of the Northumbrian
chiefs, he returned, but being deserted by his forces, he was made
prisoner and put to death by the order of Ethelred. Sim. Dunelm. A.D.
790-2. Osred was expelled from his kingdom, A.D. 790, and Ethelred was
restored after an exile of twelve years.--HARDY.
[96] This letter is not yet published in Alcuini Opera.
[97] Epist. xlii. Op. tom. i. p. 57.
[98] This is not quite correct: Osbald was elected by a party to
succeed him; but after a very short period he was deposed, and the
government devolved on Eardulf. Eardulf after a few years was driven
into exile; went to Rome, and, it would seem, was restored to his
kingdom, by the influence of Charlemagne, A.D. 808. V. Sim. Dunelm.
col. 117, and Eginhardi Annales, Duchesne, 2, 255.
[99] It would appear that Penda was not the first king, but the first
of any note. Hen. Huntingdon assigns the origin of the kingdom to about
the year 584 under Crida, who was succeeded, in the year 600, by Pybba;
Ceorl came to the throne in 610, and Penda in 626. See H. Hunt, f. 181,
184--b.
[100] King of the Britons, see Bede, b. ii. ch. 20. It was by his
assistance that Cadwalla defeated Edwin, king of Northumbria, at
Hatfield, Oct. 12, A.D. 633.
[101] This was by paying to his relatives his weregild, or the legal
price of his blood; for all, from the king to the slave, had their
established value. One moiety, only, of the weregild went to the family
of the murdered person; the other went into the public purse.
[102] Ethelbald had been frequently exhorted by the king to make
confession of his transgressions, but had constantly declined it. At
last being seized with sickness, he appears to have imagined that he
saw two angels approach with a very small volume, in which were written
the few good actions he had ever performed; when immediately a large
company of demons advancing, display another book of enormous bulk and
weight, containing all his evil deeds, which are read to him; after
which, asserting their claim to the sinner against the angels, they
strike him on the head and feet, as symptoms of his approaching end.
Bede, b. v. c. 13.
[103] Boniface, whose original name was Winfred, after unwearied labour
in the conversion of various nations in Germany, by which he acquired
the honourable appellation of Apostle of the Germans, at length
suffered martyrdom in Friesland. A collected edition of his works forms
volumes xv. and xvi. of PATRES ECCLESIÆ ANGLICANÆ by the editor of
this work. One of the original churches, built by him in Saxony, still
exists in the Duchy of Gotha, at a little village called Gierstedt.
[104] See this epistle at length in Spelmanni Concilia, vol. i. page
232, and reprinted by Wilkins, Concilia, i. 87, also in Bonifacii
Opera, &c.
[105] The Winedi were seated on the western bank of the Vistula, near
the Baltic. In Wilkins, it is “apud Persas,” among the Persians.
[106] Lullus was appointed his successor by Boniface, on setting out
for Friesland, in 755; he died A.D. 785.
[107] The value of the mancus is doubtful; sometimes it appears to mean
the same with the mark, at others it is supposed equal to thirty pence
of the money of that time. The gold manca is supposed to be eight to
the pound, which was probably the coin sent to the pope.
[108] See this entire, Usserii Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum
Sylloge, epist. 18. p. 36; and Alcuini Opera, tom. i. p. 6, epist. 3.
[109] The dalmatic was a garment worn by the clergy, and sometimes by
princes. Its name is said to have been derived from its invention in
Dalmatia. The pall here apparently signifies an upper vesture also,
in form resembling a cloak without sleeves; but it has a variety of
meanings. See Du Cange, and note at p. 44, of Bede’s Eccles. History.
[110] Kenulf made Cuthred king of Kent, A.D. 798. Eadbert had been
dreadfully mutilated by having his eyes put out and his hands cut off.
See chap. i.
[111] “Qui agros non habebant.” These words refer to an inferior class
of gentry, as he mentions the people at large, “populus,” afterwards.
[112] Redwald was not the first king of East Anglia, but the first who
became distinguished. In the year 571, Uffa assumed the title of king:
he was succeeded by his son, Titil, in 578 who was followed by Redwald,
his son. See Bede, b. ii. c. 15.
[113] According to the Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 921, that is, the 21st of
Edward the Elder, and the fiftieth from the murder of king Edmund. Now
following this statement, as Edward succeeded his father, Alfred A.D.
901, the expulsion of the Danes would be the twentieth of his reign. In
Florence of Worcester the union of the kingdoms under Edward the Elder
is assigned to the year 918.--HARDY.
[114] Sleda was not the first, but their times are uncertain. See
Florence of Worcester, who calls him the son of Escwine, whom Henry of
Huntingdon considers to have been the first king of Essex.
[115] Brother to St. Chad, bishop of Lichfield. See Bede, b. iii. c. 22.
[116] Here seems an oversight which may be supplied from Florence of
Worcester. “Swithed succeeded Selred, and held the sovereignty some
years; after whom few native kings ruled in Essex, for in the same year
that Egbert conquered Kent, they surrendered to his power.” Selred died
746; their submission took place 823. It would appear, however, from
the authorities adduced by Mr. Turner, Hist. of Anglo-Saxons, vol. i.
p. 318, that Selred was in fact king of East Anglia.
[117] The kingdom of Sussex was founded by Ælla, who arrived in Britain
with three vessels, and accompanied by his three sons, A.D. 477. He
seems to have attained a very high degree of power, and was succeeded
by his son Cissa.--The affairs of this kingdom are extremely obscure;
it appears to have been sometimes dependent on Kent and sometimes on
Wessex until finally united to the latter by Egbert, A.D. 823.
[118] The early adventures of Egbert are found only in Malmesbury. He
does not observe the order in which these events happened.
[119] The printed text of the former editions places the battle of
Hellendun, A.D. 806. Several MSS. have 826, one 825, and two only
appear to adopt the correct year 824, as inserted above. These are--The
Arundel MS. No. 35, Brit. Mus. and the MS. in Trinity Coll. Cam. R. 14.
The place is variously conjectured: Wilton in Wiltshire; Hillingdon in
Middlesex; and near Highworth in Wilts.
[120] Malmesbury, in following the Saxon Chronicle, is two years
earlier than the Northern Chronicles.
[121] See Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 823-825.
[122] Roger, bishop of Salisbury, seized it in like manner to his own
use, A.D. 1118, and held it till his death, 1159.
[123] Alluding to the Rome-scot, or Peter’s-pence, a penny from each
house, paid on the festival of St. Peter. Its origin and application
seem obscure: Higden interpolates Malmesbury, as assigning its first
grant to Ina: Henry of Huntingdon says, Offa. This grant is supposed
by Spelman to have been made in a General Council of the nation. A
similar payment appears to have been made by other nations. It is to be
observed that Asser mentions only Ethelwulf’s donation of three hundred
mancuses.
[124] Asser relates that pope Leo stood sponsor for, and confirmed
Alfred, who had been sent to Rome by his father the preceding year.
[125] The conflagration here named seems that mentioned by Anastasius,
who tells us, that, shortly after the accession of Pope Leo the
fourth, a fire broke out in the Saxon street, but the pope, making
the sign of the cross with his fingers, put a stop to it. (Anastas.
Biblioth. p. 319.) From this author’s account it appears to have been
a street or quarter of considerable extent, and near to St. Peter’s.
There were schools of this kind belonging to various nations at Rome.
Matt. Westminster says it was founded by Ina, with the consent and
approbation of Pope Gregory, that priests, nobles, prelates, or kings,
of the English nation, might be entertained there during their stay
for the purpose of being thoroughly instructed in the Catholic faith;
for that, from the time of Augustine, the doctrine and schools of the
English had been interdicted by the popes on account of the various
heresies which had sprung up among them; that, moreover, Ina bestowed a
penny from each house, or Rome-scot, for the support of these persons.
(Matt. West. A.D. 727.) It was destroyed by fire in the year 816, and
partially again A.D. 854. Our text, therefore, is at variance with the
account given by Anastasius, and the latter is probably incorrect.
[126] The divisions of France were liable to considerable variation:
but it may be sufficient to observe, that Aquitaine lay between the
Garonne and Loire; Vasconia, from the Garonne to the Pyrenees; Gothia,
from the Pyrenees along the coast to the eastward; Austrasia or East
France, besides various tracts beyond the Rhine, lay between that river
and the Meuse; Neustria or West France, from the Channel to the Loire
with the exception of Brittany.
[127] The battle of Fontenai is considered as the most calamitous in
the French annals; more than one hundred thousand men having, it is
said, perished in it. It was fought on the 25th of June, A.D. 841, a
memorable month in the annals of France.
[128] Cornu-guallia, i.e. the Horn of Gaul from the projection of
Brittany.
[129] Some pretend that he was accidentally wounded by Bertholde, one
of his attendants; and that the story of the boar was invented in order
to screen him from punishment. Malmesbury, however, follows Asser, the
Saxon Chron., &c.
[130] This vision is copied from Hariulfe’s Chronicle, lib. iii. cap.
21. The Annals ascribed to Asser also recite the vision, sub anno
886.--_See Mr. Hardy’s Note_, vol. i. p. 160.
[131] Asser had conversed with many persons who afterwards saw her
begging for a subsistence in Pavia, where she died.
[132] One hundred were for the pope, and the other two hundred to be
divided between the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, to provide
lights on Easter-eve.
[133] Ingulf, who likewise gives this charter, reads, “laicis miseris,”
the poor laity.
[134] Manse implies generally a dwelling and a certain quantity of land
annexed; sometimes it is synonymous with a hide, or plough-land.
[135] Ingulf has A.D. 855: 3 indict, which agrees with Asser, who
assigns that year for the grant. It appears to be the charter which
Malmesbury before referred to on the king’s going to Rome, and has
given rise to much controversy; some holding that it conveyed the
tithes of the land only, while others maintain that it was an actual
transfer of the tenth part of all lands in the kingdom. See Carte, vol.
i. 293. Both opinions are attended with considerable difficulties. Mr.
Carte very inadvertently imagines this charter and the copy in Ingulf
to be distinct grants: the latter being, he says, a confirmation and
extension of the former, after Ethelwulf’s return from Rome: but the
false date in Malmesbury is of no importance, some MSS. having even
814, and 855 was the year of his departure, not of his return.