No More Learning

(580) This Earconwald’s life and
conversation, as well when he was bishop as before that time, is said to
have been most holy, as is even now testified by heavenly miracles; for to
this day, his horse-litter, in which he was wont to be carried when sick,
is kept by his disciples, and continues to cure many of fevers and other
ailments; and not only sick persons who are laid under that litter, or
close by it, are cured; but the very splinters cut from it, when carried
to the sick, are wont immediately to bring healing to them.

This man, before he was made bishop, had built two famous monasteries, the
one for himself, and the other for his sister Ethelburg,(581) and
established them both in regular discipline of the best kind. That for
himself was in the district of Sudergeona, by the river Thames, at a place
called Cerotaesei,(582) that is, the Island of Cerot; that for his sister
in the province of the East Saxons, at a place called In Berecingum,(583)
wherein she might be a mother and nurse of women devoted to God. Being put
into the government of that monastery, she showed herself in all respects
worthy of her brother the bishop, by her own holy life and by her regular
and pious care of those under her rule, as was also manifested by heavenly
miracles.




Chap. VII. How it was indicated by a light from heaven where the bodies of
the nuns should be buried in the monastery of Berecingum. [675 A. D. ? ]


In this monastery many miracles were wrought, accounts of which have been
committed to writing by those who were acquainted with them, that their
memory might be preserved, and succeeding generations edified, and these
are in the possession of many persons; some of them we also have taken
pains to include in our History of the Church. At the time of the
pestilence, already often mentioned,(584) which ravaged all the country
far and wide, it had also seized on that part of this monastery where the
men abode, and they were daily hurried away to the Lord. The careful
mother of the community began often to inquire of the sisters, when they
were gathered together; in what part of the monastery they desired to be
buried and a cemetery to be made, when the same affliction should fall
upon that part of the monastery in which the handmaids of the Lord dwelt
together apart from the men, and they should be snatched away out of this
world by the same destruction as the rest. Receiving no certain answer
from the sisters, though she often questioned them, she and all of them
received a most certain answer from the Divine Providence. For one night,
after matins had been sung, and those handmaids of Christ had gone out of
their chapel to the tombs of the brothers who had departed this life
before them, and were singing the customary songs of praise to the Lord,
on a sudden a light from heaven, like a great sheet, came down upon them
all, and struck them with such amazement, that, in consternation, they
even left off singing their hymn. But that resplendent light, in
comparison wherewith the sun at noon-day might seem dark, soon after,
rising from that place, removed to the south side of the monastery, that
is, to the westward of the chapel, and having continued there some time,
and rested upon those parts, in the sight of them all withdrew itself
again to heaven, leaving no doubt in the minds of all, but that the same
light, which was to lead or to receive the souls of those handmaids of
Christ into Heaven, also showed the place in which their bodies were to
rest and await the day of the resurrection. The radiance of this light was
so great, that one of the older brethren, who at the same time was in
their chapel with another younger than himself, related in the morning,
that the rays of light which came in at the crannies of the doors and
windows, seemed to exceed the utmost brightness of daylight.




Chap. VIII. How a little boy, dying in the same monastery, called upon a
virgin that was to follow him; and how another nun, at the point of
leaving her body, saw some small part of the future glory. [675 A. D. ? ]


There was, in the same monastery, a boy, not above three years old, called
Aesica; who, by reason of his tender age, was being brought up among the
virgins dedicated to God, there to learn his lessons. This child being
seized by the aforesaid pestilence, when his last hour was come, called
three times upon one of the virgins consecrated to Christ, speaking to her
by her own name, as if she had been present, Eadgyth! Eadgyth! Eadgyth!
and thus ending his temporal life, entered into that which is eternal. The
virgin, to whom he called, as he was dying, was immediately seized, where
she was, with the same sickness, and departing this life the same day on
which she had been summoned, followed him that called her into the
heavenly kingdom.

Likewise, one of the same handmaids of God, being smitten with the same
disease, and reduced to the last extremity, began on a sudden, about
midnight, to cry out to them that ministered to her, desiring they would
put out the lamp that was lighted there. And, when she had done this many
times, and yet no one did her will, at last she said, “I know that you
think I am raving, when I say this, but be assured that it is not so; for
I tell you truly, that I see this house filled with so great a light, that
that lamp of yours seems to me to be altogether dark. ” And when still no
one replied to what she said, or did her bidding, she added, “Burn your
lamp, then, as long as you will; but know, that it is not my light, for my
light will come to me at the dawn of day. ” Then she began to tell, that a
certain man of God, who had died that same year, had appeared to her,
telling her that at the break of day she should depart to the eternal
light. The truth of which vision was speedily proved by the maiden’s death
as soon as the day appeared.




Chap. IX. Of the signs which were shown from Heaven when the mother of
that community departed this life. [675 A. D. ? ]


Now when Ethelburg herself, the pious mother of that community devoted to
God, was about to be taken out of this world, a wonderful vision appeared
to one of the sisters, called Tortgyth; who, having lived many years in
that monastery, always endeavoured, in all humility and sincerity, to
serve God herself, and to help the mother to maintain regular discipline,
by instructing and reproving the younger ones. Now, in order that her
virtue might, according to the Apostle, be made perfect in weakness, she
was suddenly seized with a most grievous bodily disease, under which,
through the merciful providence of our Redeemer, she was sorely tried for
the space of nine years; to the end, that whatever stain of evil remained
amidst her virtues, either through ignorance or neglect, might all be
purified in the furnace of long tribulation. This woman, going out of the
chamber where she abode one night, at dusk, plainly saw as it were a human
body, which was brighter than the sun, wrapped in fine linen, and lifted
up on high, being taken out of the house in which the sisters used to
sleep. Then looking earnestly to see what it was that drew up that
appearance of the glorious body which she beheld, she perceived that it
was raised on high as it were by cords brighter than gold, until, entering
into the open heavens, it could no longer be seen by her. Reflecting on
this vision, she made no doubt that some one of the community would soon
die, and her soul be lifted up to heaven by the good works which she had
wrought, as it were by golden cords. And so in truth it befell; for a few
days after, the beloved of God, Ethelburg, mother of that community, was
delivered out of the prison of the flesh; and her life is proved to have
been such that no one who knew her ought to doubt that an entrance into
the heavenly country was open to her, when she departed from this life.

There was also, in the same monastery, a certain nun, of noble origin in
this world, and still nobler in the love of the world to come; who had,
for many years, been so disabled in all her body, that she could not move
a single limb. When she heard that the body of the venerable abbess had
been carried into the church, till it should be buried, she desired to be
carried thither, and to be placed bending towards it, after the manner of
one praying; which being done, she spoke to her as if she had been living,
and entreated her that she would obtain of the mercy of our pitiful
Creator, that she might be delivered from such great and long-continued
pains; nor was it long before her prayer was heard: for being delivered
from the flesh twelve days after, she exchanged her temporal afflictions
for an eternal reward.

For three years after the death of her Superior, the aforesaid handmaid of
Christ, Tortgyth, was detained in this life and was so far spent with the
sickness before mentioned, that her bones scarce held together. At last,
when the time of her release was at hand, she not only lost the use of her
other limbs, but also of her tongue; in which state having continued three
days and as many nights, she was, on a sudden, restored by a spiritual
vision, and opened her lips and eyes, and looking up to heaven, began thus
to speak to the vision which she saw: “Very acceptable to me is thy
coming, and thou art welcome! ” Having so said, she was silent awhile, as
it were, waiting for the answer of him whom she saw and to whom she spoke;
then, as if somewhat displeased, she said, “I can in no wise gladly suffer
this;” then pausing awhile, she said again, “If it can by no means be
to-day, I beg that the delay may not be long;” and again holding her peace
a short while, she concluded thus; “If it is certainly so determined, and
the decree cannot be altered, I beg that it may be no longer deferred than
this next night. ” Having so said, and being asked by those about her with
whom she talked, she said, “With my most dear mother, Ethelburg;” by which
they understood, that she was come to acquaint her that the time of her
departure was at hand; for, as she had desired, after one day and night,
she was delivered alike from the bonds of the flesh and of her infirmity
and entered into the joys of eternal salvation.




Chap. X. How a blind woman, praying in the burial-place of that monastery,
was restored to her sight. [675 A. D. ? ]


Hildilid, a devout handmaid of God, succeeded Ethelburg in the office of
abbess and presided over that monastery with great vigour many years, till
she was of an extreme old age,(585) in the observance of regular
discipline, and carefully providing all things for the common use. The
narrowness of the space where the monastery is built, led her to determine
that the bones of the servants and handmaidens of Christ, who had been
there buried, should be taken up, and should all be translated into the
church of the Blessed Mother of God, and interred in one place. How often
a brightness of heavenly light was seen there, when this was done, and a
fragrancy of wonderful sweetness arose, and what other signs were
revealed, whosoever reads will find in the book from which we have taken
these tales. (586)

But in truth, I think it by no means fit to pass over the miracle of
healing, which the same book informs us was wrought in the cemetery of
that community dedicated to God. There lived in that neighbourhood a
certain thegn, whose wife was seized with a sudden dimness in her eyes,
and as the malady increased daily, it became so burdensome to her, that
she could not see the least glimpse of light. Having continued some time
wrapped in the night of this blindness, on a sudden she bethought herself
that she might recover her lost sight, if she were carried to the
monastery of the nuns, and there prayed at the relics of the saints. Nor
did she lose any time in fulfilling that which she had conceived in her
mind: for being conducted by her maids to the monastery, which was very
near, and professing that she had perfect faith that she should be there
healed, she was led into the cemetery, and having long prayed there on her
knees, she did not fail to be heard, for as she rose from prayer, before
she went out of the place, she received the gift of sight which she had
desired; and whereas she had been led thither by the hands of her maids,
she now returned home joyfully without help: as if she had lost the light
of this world to no other end than that she might show by her recovery how
great a light is vouchsafed to the saints of Christ in Heaven, and how
great a grace of healing power.




Chap. XI. How Sebbi, king of the same province, ended his life in a
monastery. [694 A. D. ]


At that time, as the same little book informs us, Sebbi,(587) a very
devout man, of whom mention has been made above, governed the kingdom of
the East Saxons. His mind was set on religious acts, frequent prayer and
pious fruits of almsgiving; he esteemed a private and monastic life better
than all the wealth and honours of his kingdom, and he would have long
before left his kingdom and adopted that life, had not his wife firmly
refused to be divorced from him; for which reason many were of opinion and
often said that a man of such a disposition ought rather to have been made
a bishop than a king. When he had spent thirty years as a king and a
soldier of the heavenly kingdom, he fell into great bodily infirmity, of
which he afterwards died, and he admonished his wife, that they should
then at least together devote themselves to the service of God, since they
could no longer together enjoy, or rather serve, the world. Having with
much difficulty obtained this of her, he went to Waldhere, bishop of
London, who had succeeded Earconwald,(588) and with his blessing received
the religious habit, which he had long desired. He also carried to him a
considerable sum of money, to be given to the poor, reserving nothing to
himself, but rather coveting to remain poor in spirit for the sake of the
kingdom of Heaven.

When the aforesaid sickness increased, and he perceived the day of his
death to be drawing near, being a man of a royal disposition, he began to
apprehend lest, when in great pain, at the approach of death, he might
commit anything unworthy of his character, either by word or gesture.
Wherefore, calling to him the aforesaid bishop of London, in which city he
then was, he entreated him that none might be present at his death,
besides the bishop himself, and two of his own attendants. The bishop
having promised that he would most willingly grant his request, not long
after the man of God composed himself to sleep, and saw a consoling
vision, which took from him all anxiety concerning the aforesaid
uneasiness; and, moreover, showed him on what day he was to end his life.
For, as he afterwards related, he saw three men in shining garments come
to him; one of whom sat down by his bed, whilst his companions who had
come with him stood and inquired about the state of the sick man they had
come to visit, and he said that the king’s soul should quit his body
without any pain, and with a great splendour of light; and told him that
he should die the third day after. Both these things came to pass, as he
had learnt from the vision; for on the third day after, at the ninth hour,
he suddenly fell, as it were, into a light slumber, and without any sense
of pain he gave up the ghost.

A stone coffin had been prepared for his burial, but when they came to lay
him in it, they found his body a span longer than the coffin. Hereupon
they chipped away as much of the stone as they could, and made the coffin
about two inches longer; but not even so would it contain the body.
Wherefore because of this difficulty of entombing him, they had thoughts
either to get another coffin, or else to shorten the body, by bending it
at the knees, if they could, so that the coffin might contain it. But
Heaven interposed and a miracle prevented the execution of either of those
designs; for on a sudden, in the presence of the bishop and Sighard, who
was the son of that same king and monk, and who reigned after him jointly
with his brother Suefred,(589) and of no small number of men, that coffin
was found to fit the length of the body, insomuch that a pillow might even
be put in at the head; and at the feet the coffin was four inches longer
than the body. He was buried in the church of the blessed teacher of the
Gentiles,(590) by whose doctrine he had learned to hope for heavenly
things.




Chap. XII. How Haedde succeeded Leutherius in the bishopric of the West
Saxons; how Cuichelm succeeded Putta in the bishopric of the church of
Rochester, and was himself succeeded by Gebmund; and who were then bishops
of the Northumbrians. [673-681 A. D. ]


Leutherius was the fourth bishop of the West Saxons; for Birinus was the
first, Agilbert the second, and Wini the third. (591) When Coinwalch,(592)
in whose reign the said Leutherius was made bishop, died, the sub-kings
took upon them the government of the nation, and dividing it among
themselves, held it for about ten years; and during their rule he died,
and Haedde(593) succeeded him in the bishopric, having been consecrated by
Theodore, in the city of London. During his episcopate, Caedwalla,(594)
having subdued and removed the sub-kings, took upon himself the supreme
authority. When he had held it for two years, and whilst the same bishop
still governed the church, at length impelled by love of the heavenly
kingdom, he quitted it and, going away to Rome, ended his days there, as
shall be said more fully hereafter.

In the year of our Lord 676, when Ethelred, king of the Mercians,(595)
ravaged Kent with a hostile army, and profaned churches and monasteries,
without regard to pity, or the fear of God, in the general destruction he
laid waste the city of Rochester; Putta,(596) who was bishop, was absent
at that time, but when he understood that his church was ravaged, and
everything taken away from it, he went to Sexwulf, bishop of the
Mercians,(597) and having received of him a certain church, and a small
piece of land, ended his days there in peace; in no way endeavouring to
restore his bishopric, for, as has been said above, he was more
industrious in ecclesiastical than in worldly affairs; serving God only in
that church, and going wherever he was desired, to teach Church music.
Theodore consecrated Cuichelm bishop of Rochester in his stead; but he,
not long after, departing from his bishopric for want of necessaries, and
withdrawing to other parts, Gebmund was put in his place by Theodore. (598)

In the year of our Lord 678, which is the eighth of the reign of Egfrid,
in the month of August, appeared a star, called a comet, which continued
for three months, rising in the morning, and sending forth, as it were, a
tall pillar of radiant flame. The same year a dissension broke out between
King Egfrid and the most reverend prelate, Wilfrid, who was driven from
his see,(599) and two bishops substituted for him, to preside over the
nation of the Northumbrians,(600) namely, Bosa,(601) to govern the
province of the Deiri; and Eata(602) that of the Bernicians; the former
having his episcopal see in the city of York, the latter either in the
church of Hagustald, or of Lindisfarne; both of them promoted to the
episcopal dignity from a community of monks. With them also Eadhaed(603)
was ordained bishop for the province of Lindsey, which King Egfrid had but
newly acquired, having defeated Wulfhere and put him to flight;(604) and
this was the first bishop of its own which that province had; the second
was Ethelwin;(605) the third Edgar;(606) the fourth Cynibert,(607) who is
there at present. Before Eadhaed, Sexwulf(608) was bishop as well of that
province as of the Mercians and Midland Angles; so that, when expelled
from Lindsey, he continued in the government of those provinces. Eadhaed,
Bosa, and Eata, were ordained at York by archbishop Theodore;(609) who
also, three years after the departure of Wilfrid, added two bishops to
their number: Tunbert,(610) appointed to the church of Hagustald, Eata
still continuing in that of Lindisfarne; and Trumwine(611) to the province
of the Picts, which at that time was subject to English rule. Eadhaed
returning from Lindsey, because Ethelred had recovered that province,(612)
was placed by Theodore over the church of Ripon. (613)




Chap. XIII. How Bishop Wilfrid converted the province of the South Saxons
to Christ. [681 A. D. ]


But Wilfrid was expelled from his bishopric, and having long travelled in
many lands, went to Rome,(614) and afterwards returned to Britain. Though
he could not, by reason of the enmity of the aforesaid king, be received
into his own country or diocese, yet he could not be restrained from the
ministry of the Gospel; for, taking his way into the province of the South
Saxons,(615) which extends from Kent to the south and west, as far as the
West Saxons, containing land of 7,000 families, and was at that time still
in bondage to pagan rites, he administered to them the Word of faith, and
the Baptism of salvation. Ethelwalch,(616) king of that nation, had been,
not long before, baptized in the province of the Mercians, at the instance
of King Wulfhere,(617) who was present, and received him as his godson
when he came forth from the font, and in token of this adoption gave him
two provinces, to wit, the Isle of Wight, and the province of the
Meanware, in the country of the West Saxons. (618) The bishop, therefore,
with the king’s consent, or rather to his great joy, cleansed in the
sacred font the foremost ealdormen and thegns of that country; and the
priests, Eappa,(619) and Padda, and Burghelm, and Oiddi, either then, or
afterwards, baptized the rest of the people. The queen, whose name was
Eabae, had been baptized in her own country, the province of the
Hwiccas. (620) She was the daughter of Eanfrid, the brother of
Aenhere,(621) who were both Christians, as were their people; but all the
province of the South Saxons was ignorant of the Name of God and the
faith. But there was among them a certain monk of the Scottish nation,
whose name was Dicul,(622) who had a very small monastery, at the place
called Bosanhamm,(623) encompassed by woods and seas, and in it there were
five or six brothers, who served the Lord in humility and poverty; but
none of the natives cared either to follow their course of life, or hear
their preaching.

But Bishop Wilfrid, while preaching the Gospel to the people, not only
delivered them from the misery of eternal damnation, but also from a
terrible calamity of temporal death. For no rain had fallen in that
district for three years before his arrival in the province, whereupon a
grievous famine fell upon the people and pitilessly destroyed them;
insomuch that it is said that often forty or fifty men, wasted with
hunger, would go together to some precipice, or to the sea-shore, and
there, hand in hand, in piteous wise cast them themselves down either to
perish by the fall, or be swallowed up by the waves. But on the very day
on which the nation received the Baptism of the faith, there fell a soft
but plentiful rain; the earth revived, the fields grew green again, and
the season was pleasant and fruitful. Thus the old superstition was cast
away, and idolatry renounced, the heart and flesh of all rejoiced in the
living God, for they perceived that He Who is the true God had enriched
them by His heavenly grace with both inward and outward blessings. For the
bishop, when he came into the province, and found so great misery from
famine there, taught them to get their food by fishing; for their sea and
rivers abounded in fish, but the people had no skill to take any of them,
except eels alone. The bishop’s men having gathered eel-nets everywhere,
cast them into the sea, and by the blessing of God took three hundred
fishes of divers sorts, which being divided into three parts, they gave a
hundred to the poor, a hundred to those of whom they had the nets, and
kept a hundred for their own use. By this benefit the bishop gained the
affections of them all, and they began more readily at his preaching to
hope for heavenly blessings, seeing that by his help they had received
those which are temporal.

At this time, King Ethelwalch gave to the most reverend prelate, Wilfrid,
land to the extent of eighty-seven families, to maintain his company who
were wandering in exile. The place is called Selaeseu,(624) that is, the
Island of the Sea-Calf; it is encompassed by the sea on all sides, except
the west, where is an entrance about the cast of a sling in width; which
sort of place is by the Latins called a peninsula, by the Greeks, a
cherronesos. Bishop Wilfrid, having this place given him, founded therein
a monastery, chiefly of the brethren he had brought with him, and
established a rule of life; and his successors are known to be there to
this day. He himself, both in word and deed performed the duties of a
bishop in those parts during the space of five years, until the death of
King Egfrid,(625) and was justly honoured by all. And forasmuch as the
king, together with the said place, gave him all the goods that were
therein, with the lands and men, he instructed all the people in the faith
of Christ, and cleansed them in the water of Baptism. Among whom were two
hundred and fifty bondsmen and bondswomen, all of whom he saved by Baptism
from slavery to the Devil, and in like manner, by giving them their
liberty, set them free from slavery to man.




Chap. XIV. How a pestilence ceased through the intercession of King
Oswald. [681-686 A. D. ]


In this monastery, at that time, certain special manifestations of the
heavenly grace are said to have been shown forth; in as much as the
tyranny of the Devil had been recently cast out and Christ had begun to
reign there. Of these I have thought it proper to perpetuate the memory of
one which the most reverend Bishop Acca(626) was wont often to relate to
me, affirming that it had been told him by most creditable brothers of the
same monastery. About the same time that this province had received the
faith of Christ, a grievous pestilence fell upon many provinces of
Britain; which, also, by the Divine dispensation, reached to the aforesaid
monastery, then governed by the most religious priest of Christ,
Eappa;(627) and many, as well of those that had come thither with the
bishop, as of those of the same province of the South Saxons who had been
lately called to the faith, were snatched away out of this world. The
brethren, therefore, thought fit to keep a fast of three days, and humbly
to implore the Divine goodness to vouchsafe to have mercy on them, either
by delivering from instant death those that were in danger by reason of
the disease, or by saving those who were hurried out of this life from the
eternal damnation of their souls.

There was at that time in the monastery, a little boy, of the Saxon
nation, lately called to the faith, who had been attacked by the same
infirmity, and had long kept his bed. On the second day of the aforesaid
fasting and prayer, it happened about the second hour of the day, that
this boy was left alone in the place where he lay sick, when on a sudden,
through the Divine disposition, the most blessed chiefs of the Apostles
vouchsafed to appear to him; for he was a boy of a very simple and gentle
disposition, and with sincere devotion observed the mysteries of the faith
which he had received. The Apostles therefore, greeting him with loving
words, said, “My son, fear not death, concerning which thou art troubled;
for this day we will bring thee to the kingdom of Heaven; but first thou
must needs wait till the Masses are celebrated, that having received thy
voyage provision,(628) the Body and Blood of our Lord, and so being set
free from sickness and death, thou mayest be taken up to the everlasting
joys in Heaven.

“Call therefore to thee the priest, Eappa, and tell him, that the Lord has
heard your prayers, and has favourably looked upon your devotion and your
fast, and not one more shall die of this plague, either in the monastery
or the lands adjacent to it; but all your people who any where labour
under this sickness, shall be raised up from their weakness, and restored
to their former health, saving thee alone, who art this day to be
delivered from death, and to be carried into Heaven, to behold our Lord
Christ, whom thou hast faithfully served. This favour the Divine mercy has
vouchsafed to grant you, through the intercession of the godly King
Oswald, beloved of God, who formerly nobly ruled over the nation of the
Northumbrians, with the authority of a temporal kingdom and the devotion
of Christian piety which leads to the eternal kingdom. For this very day
that king was killed in body by the infidels in war, and straightway taken
up to Heaven to the everlasting joys of souls, and brought into fellowship
with the number of the elect. Let them look in their records,(629) wherein
the burial of the dead is set down, and they will find that he was, this
day, as we have said, taken out of this world. Let them, therefore,
celebrate Masses in all the oratories of this monastery, either in
thanksgiving because their prayers are heard, or else in memory of the
aforesaid King Oswald, who once governed their nation,(630) and therefore
humbly prayed to the Lord for them, as for converts of his nation; and let
all the brethren assemble in the church, and all communicate in the
heavenly Sacrifices, and so let them cease to fast, and refresh the body
also with the food that belongs to it. ”

The boy called the priest, and repeated all these words to him; and the
priest carefully inquired after the habit and form of the men that had
appeared to him. He answered, “Their habit was altogether noble, and their
countenances most pleasant and beautiful, such as I had never seen before,
nor did I think there could be any men so fair and comely. One of them
indeed was shorn like a clerk, the other had a long beard; and they said
that one of them was called Peter, the other Paul; and they were the
servants of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, sent by Him from Heaven to
protect our monastery. ” The priest believed what the boy said, and going
thence immediately, looked in his chronicle, and found that King Oswald
had been killed on that very day. He then called the brethren, ordered
dinner to be provided, Masses to be said, and all of them to communicate
as usual; causing also a part of the same Sacrifice of the Lord’s Oblation
to be carried to the sick boy.

Soon after this, the boy died, on that same day; and by his death proved
that the words which he had heard from the Apostles of Christ were true.
And this moreover bore witness to the truth of his words, that none
besides himself, belonging to the same monastery, was taken away at that
time. And without doubt, by this vision, many that heard of it were
wonderfully excited to implore the Divine mercy in adversity, and to
submit to the wholesome remedy of fasting. From that time, the day of
commemoration of that king and soldier of Christ began to be yearly
honoured with the celebration of Masses, not only in that monastery, but
in many other places.




Chap. XV. How King Caedwalla, king of the Gewissae, having slain
Ethelwalch, wasted that Province with cruel slaughter and devastation.
[685 A. D. ]


In the meantime, Caedwalla,(631) a young man of great vigour, of the royal
race of the Gewissae,(632) an exile from his country, came with an army,
slew Ethelwalch,(633) and wasted that province with cruel slaughter and
devastation; but he was soon expelled by Berthun and Andhun, the king’s
ealdormen, who held in succession the government of the province. The
first of them was afterwards killed by the same Caedwalla, when he was
king of the Gewissae, and the province was reduced to more grievous
slavery: Ini,(634) likewise, who reigned after Caedwalla, oppressed that
country with the like servitude for many years; for which reason, during
all that time, they could have no bishop of their own; but their first
bishop, Wilfrid, having been recalled home, they were subject to the
bishop of the Gewissae, that is, the West Saxons, who were in the city of
Venta. (635)




Chap. XVI. How the Isle of Wight received Christian inhabitants, and two
royal youths of that island were killed immediately after Baptism. [686
A. D. ]


After Caedwalla had obtained possession of the kingdom of the Gewissae, he
took also the Isle of Wight, which till then was entirely given over to
idolatry, and by merciless slaughter endeavoured to destroy all the
inhabitants thereof, and to place in their stead people from his own
province; binding himself by a vow, though it is said that he was not yet
regenerated in Christ, to give the fourth part of the land and of the
spoil to the Lord, if he took the island. He fulfilled this vow by giving
the same for the service of the Lord to Bishop Wilfrid, who happened at
the time to have come thither from his own people. (636) The measure of
that island, according to the computation of the English, is of twelve
hundred families, wherefore an estate of three hundred families was given
to the Bishop. The part which he received, he committed to one of his
clerks called Bernwin, who was his sister’s son, assigning to him a
priest, whose name was Hiddila, to administer the Word and laver of life
to all that would be saved.

Here I think it ought not to be omitted that, as the first fruits of those
of that island who believed and were saved, two royal boys, brothers to
Arwald, king of the island,(637) were crowned with the special grace of
God. For when the enemy approached, they made their escape out of the
island, and crossed over into the neighbouring province of the Jutes. (638)
Coming to the place called At the Stone,(639) they thought to be concealed
from the victorious king, but they were betrayed and ordered to be killed.
This being made known to a certain abbot and priest, whose name was
Cynibert, who had a monastery not far from there, at a place called
Hreutford,(640) that is, the Ford of Reeds, he came to the king, who then
lay in concealment in those parts to be cured of the wounds which he had
received whilst he was fighting in the Isle of Wight, and begged of him,
that if the boys must needs be killed, he might be allowed first to
instruct them in the mysteries of the Christian faith. The king consented,
and the bishop having taught them the Word of truth, and cleansed them in
the font of salvation, assured to them their entrance into the kingdom of
Heaven. Then the executioner came, and they joyfully underwent the
temporal death, through which they did not doubt they were to pass to the
life of the soul, which is everlasting. Thus, after this manner, when all
the provinces of Britain had received the faith of Christ, the Isle of
Wight also received the same; yet because it was suffering under the
affliction of foreign subjection, no man there received the office or see
of a bishop, before Daniel, who is now bishop of the West Saxons. (641)

The island is situated opposite the borders of the South Saxons and the
Gewissae, being separated from it by a sea, three miles wide, which is
called Solvente. (642) In this sea, the two tides of the ocean, which break
upon Britain all round its coasts from the boundless northern ocean, daily
meet in conflict beyond the mouth of the river Homelea,(643) which runs
into the aforesaid sea, through the lands of the Jutes, belonging to the
country of the Gewissae; and after this struggle of the tides, they fall
back and return into the ocean whence they come.




Chap. XVII. Of the Synod held in the plain of Haethfelth, Archbishop
Theodore being president. [680 A. D. ]


About this time, Theodore being informed that the faith of the Church at
Constantinople was much perplexed by the heresy of Eutyches,(644) and
desiring that the Churches of the English, over which he presided, should
remain free from all such taint, convened an assembly of venerable bishops
and many learned men, and diligently inquired into the faith of each. He
found them all of one mind in the Catholic faith, and this he caused to be
committed to writing by the authority of the synod as a memorial, and for
the instruction of succeeding generations; the beginning of which document
is as follows:

“In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, under the rule of our
most pious lords, Egfrid, king of of the Northumbrians, in the tenth year
of his reign, the seventeenth of September, the eighth indiction;
Ethelred, king of the Mercians, in the sixth year of his reign; Aldwulf
king of the East Angles, in the seventeenth year of his reign; and
Hlothere, king of Kent, in the seventh year of his reign;(645) Theodore,
by the grace of God, archbishop of the island of Britain, and of the city
of Canterbury, being president, and the other venerable bishops of the
island of Britain sitting with him, the holy Gospels being laid before
them, at the place which, in the Saxon tongue, is called Haethfelth,(646)
we conferred together, and set forth the right and orthodox faith, as our
Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh delivered the same to His disciples, who
beheld His Presence and heard His words, and as it is delivered by the
creed of the holy fathers, and by all holy and universal synods in
general, and by the consent of all approved doctors of the Catholic
Church. We, therefore, following them, in piety and orthodoxy, and
professing accordance with their divinely inspired doctrine, do believe
agreeably to it, and with the holy fathers confess the Father, and Son,
and Holy Ghost, to be properly and truly a Trinity consubstantial in
Unity, and Unity in Trinity, that is, one God in three Subsistences or
consubstantial persons, of equal glory and honour. ”

And after much more of the same sort, appertaining to the confession of
the right faith, this holy synod added to its document, “We acknowledge
the five holy and general councils(647) of the blessed fathers acceptable
to God; that is, of the 318 assembled at Nicaea, against the most impious
Arius and his tenets; and at Constantinople, of 150, against the madness
of Macedonius and Eudoxius, and their tenets; and at Ephesus, for the
first time, of 200, against the most wicked Nestorius, and his tenets; and
at Chalcedon, of 630, against Eutyches and Nestorius, and their tenets;
and again, at Constantinople, in a fifth council, in the time of Justinian
the younger,(648) against Theodorus, and the epistles of Theodoret and
Ibas, and their tenets in opposition to Cyril. ” And again a little lower,
“the synod held in the city of Rome, in the time of the blessed Pope
Martin,(649) in the eighth indiction, and in the ninth year of the most
pious Emperor Constantine,(650) we also acknowledge. And we glorify our
Lord Jesus Christ, as they glorified Him, neither adding aught nor taking
away; anathematizing with hearts and lips those whom they anathematized,
and receiving those whom they received; glorifying God the Father, Who is
without beginning, and His only-begotten Son, begotten of the Father
before the worlds, and the Holy Ghost proceeding ineffably from the Father
and the Son,(651) even as those holy Apostles, prophets, and doctors, whom
we have above-mentioned, did declare. And all we, who, with Archbishop
Theodore, have thus set forth the Catholic faith, thereto subscribe. ”




Chap. XVIII. Of John, the precentor of the Apostolic see, who came into
Britain to teach. [680 A. D. ]


Among those who were present at this synod, and confirmed the decrees of
the Catholic faith, was the venerable John,(652) archchanter of the church
of the holy Apostle Peter,(653) and abbot of the monastery of the blessed
Martin, who had come lately from Rome, by order of Pope Agatho, together
with the most reverend Abbot Biscop, surnamed Benedict,(654) of whom
mention has been made above. For the said Benedict, having built a
monastery in Britain, in honour of the most blessed chief of the Apostles,
at the mouth of the river Wear, went to Rome with Ceolfrid,(655) his
companion and fellow-labourer in that work, who was after him abbot of the
same monastery; he had been several times before at Rome, and was now
honourably received by Pope Agatho of blessed memory; from whom he also
asked and obtained, in order to secure the immunities of the monastery
which he had founded, a letter of privilege confirmed by apostolic
authority, according to what he knew to be the will and grant of King
Egfrid, by whose consent and gift of land he had built that monastery.

He was also allowed to take the aforesaid Abbot John with him into
Britain, that he might teach in his monastery the system of singing
throughout the year, as it was practised at St. Peter’s at Rome. (656) The
Abbot John did as he had been commanded by the Pope, teaching the singers
of the said monastery the order and manner of singing and reading aloud,
and committing to writing all that was requisite throughout the whole
course of the year for the celebration of festivals; and these writings
are still preserved in that monastery, and have been copied by many others
elsewhere.
The said John not only taught the brothers of that monastery,
but such as had skill in singing resorted from almost all the monasteries
of the same province to hear him, and many invited him to teach in other
places.

Besides his task of singing and reading, he had also received a commission
from the Apostolic Pope, carefully to inform himself concerning the faith
of the English Church, and to give an account thereof on his return to
Rome. For he also brought with him the decision of the synod of the
blessed Pope Martin, held not long before at Rome,(657) with the consent
of one hundred and five bishops, chiefly to refute those who taught that
there is but one operation and will in Christ, and he gave it to be
transcribed in the aforesaid monastery of the most religious Abbot
Benedict. The men who followed such opinion greatly perplexed the faith of
the Church of Constantinople at that time; but by the help of God they
were then discovered and overcome. (658) Wherefore, Pope Agatho, being
desirous to be informed concerning the state of the Church in Britain, as
well as in other provinces, and to what extent it was clear from the
contagion of heretics, gave this matter in charge to the most reverend
Abbot John, then appointed to go to Britain. The synod we have spoken of
having been called for this purpose in Britain, the Catholic faith was
found untainted in all, and a report of the proceedings of the same was
given him to carry to Rome.

But in his return to his own country, soon after crossing the sea, he fell
sick and died; and his body, for the sake of St. Martin, in whose
monastery he presided, was by his friends carried to Tours,(659) and
honourably buried; for he had been kindly entertained by the Church there
on his way to Britain, and earnestly entreated by the brethren, that in
his return to Rome he would take that road, and visit their Church, and
moreover he was there supplied with men to conduct him on his way, and
assist him in the work enjoined upon him. Though he died by the way, yet
the testimony of the Catholic faith of the English nation was carried to
Rome, and received with great joy by the Apostolic Pope, and all those
that heard or read it.




Chap. XIX. How Queen Ethelthryth always preserved her virginity, and her
body suffered no corruption in the grave. [660-696 A. D. ]


King Egfrid took to wife Ethelthryth, the daughter of Anna,(660) king of
the East Angles, of whom mention has been often made; a man of true
religion, and altogether noble in mind and deed. She had before been given
in marriage to another, to wit, Tondbert, ealdorman(661) of the Southern
Gyrwas; but he died soon after he had married her, and she was given to
the aforesaid king. Though she lived with him twelve years, yet she
preserved the glory of perfect virginity, as I was informed by Bishop
Wilfrid, of blessed memory, of whom I inquired, because some questioned
the truth thereof; and he told me that he was an undoubted witness to her
virginity, forasmuch as Egfrid promised to give him many lands and much
money if he could persuade the queen to consent to fulfil her marriage
duty, for he knew the queen loved no man more than himself. And it is not
to be doubted that this might take place in our age, which true histories
tell us happened sometimes in former ages, by the help of the same Lord
who promises to abide with us always, even unto the end of the world. For
the divine miracle whereby her flesh, being buried, could not suffer
corruption, is a token that she had not been defiled by man.

She had long asked of the king that he would permit her to lay aside
worldly cares, and to serve only Christ, the true King, in a monastery;
and having at length with difficulty prevailed, she entered the monastery
of the Abbess Aebba,(662) who was aunt to King Egfrid, at the place called
the city of Coludi,(663) having received the veil of the religious habit
from the hands of the aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid; but a year after she was
herself made abbess in the district called Elge,(664) where, having built
a monastery, she began, by the example of a heavenly life and by her
teaching, to be the virgin mother of many virgins dedicated to God. It is
told of her that from the time of her entering the monastery, she would
never wear any linen but only woollen garments, and would seldom wash in a
hot bath, unless just before the greater festivals, as Easter,
Whitsuntide, and the Epiphany, and then she did it last of all, when the
other handmaids of Christ who were there had been washed, served by her
and her attendants. She seldom ate more than once a day, excepting on the
greater festivals, or some urgent occasion. Always, except when grievous
sickness prevented her, from the time of matins till day-break, she
continued in the church at prayer. Some also say, that by the spirit of
prophecy she not only foretold the pestilence of which she was to die, but
also, in the presence of all, revealed the number of those that should be
then snatched away from this world out of her monastery. She was taken to
the Lord, in the midst of her flock, seven years after she had been made
abbess; and, as she had ordered, was buried among them in a wooden coffin
in her turn, according to the order in which she had passed away.

She was succeeded in the office of abbess by her sister Sexburg,(665) who
had been wife to Earconbert, king of Kent. This abbess, when her sister
had been buried sixteen years, thought fit to take up her bones, and,
putting them into a new coffin, to translate them into the church.
Accordingly she ordered some of the brothers to find a stone whereof to
make a coffin for this purpose. They went on board ship, for the district
of Ely is on every side encompassed with water and marshes, and has no
large stones, and came to a small deserted city, not far from thence,
which, in the language of the English, is called Grantacaestir,(666) and
presently, near the city walls, they found a white marble coffin,(667)
most beautifully wrought, and fitly covered with a lid of the same sort of
stone. Perceiving, therefore, that the Lord had prospered their journey,
they returned thanks to Him and carried it to the monastery.

When the grave was opened and the body of the holy virgin and bride of
Christ was brought into the light of day, it was found as free from
corruption as if she had died and been buried on that very day; as the
aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid, and many others that know it, testify. But the
physician, Cynifrid, who was present at her death, and when she was taken
up out of the grave, had more certain knowledge. He was wont to relate
that in her sickness she had a very great tumour under her jaw. “And I was
ordered,” said he, “to lay open that tumour to let out the noxious matter
in it, which I did, and she seemed to be somewhat more easy for two days,
so that many thought she might recover from her infirmity; but on the
third day she was attacked by the former pains, and being soon snatched
out of the world, she exchanged all pain and death for everlasting life
and health. And when, so many years after, her bones were to be taken out
of the grave, a pavilion being spread over it, and all the congregation,
the brothers on the one side, and the sisters on the other, standing about
it singing, while the abbess, with a few others, had gone within to take
up and wash the bones, on a sudden we heard the abbess within cry out with
a loud voice, ‘Glory be to the name of the Lord. ’ Not long after they
called me in, opening the door of the pavilion, and I found the body of
the holy virgin taken out of the grave and laid on a bed, like one asleep;
then taking off the veil from the face, they also showed me that the
incision which I had made was healed up; so that, in marvellous wise,
instead of the open gaping wound with which she had been buried, there
then appeared only the slightest trace of a scar. Besides, all the linen
clothes in which the body had been wrapped, appeared entire and as fresh
as if they had been that very day put about her chaste limbs. ”

It is said that when she was sore troubled with the aforesaid tumour and
pain in her jaw and neck, she took great pleasure in that sort of
sickness, and was wont to say, “I know of a surety that I deservedly bear
the weight of my trouble on my neck, for I remember that, when I was a
young maiden, I bore on it the needless weight of necklaces;(668) and
therefore I believe the Divine goodness would have me endure the pain in
my neck, that so I may be absolved from the guilt of my needless levity,
having now, instead of gold and pearls, the fiery heat of a tumour rising
on my neck. ” It happened also that by the touch of those same linen
clothes devils were expelled from bodies possessed, and other diseases
were at divers times healed; and the coffin wherein she was first buried
is said to have cured some of infirmities of the eyes, who, praying with
their heads resting upon that coffin, were presently relieved of the pain
or dimness in their eyes. So they washed the virgin’s body, and having
clothed it in new garments, brought it into the church, and laid it in the
sarcophagus that had been brought, where it is held in great veneration to
this day. The sarcophagus was found in a wonderful manner to fit the
virgin’s body as if it had been made purposely for her, and the place for
the head, which was fashioned separately, appeared exactly shaped to the
measurement of her head.

Elge is in the province of the East Angles, a district of about six
hundred families, of the nature of an island, encompassed, as has been
said, with marshes or waters, and therefore it has its name from the great
plenty of eels taken in those marshes; there the aforesaid handmaid of
Christ desired to have a monastery, because, as we have before mentioned,
she came, according to the flesh, of that same province of the East
Angles.




Chap. XX. A Hymn concerning her.


It seems fitting to insert in this history a hymn concerning virginity,
which we composed in elegiac verse many years ago, in praise and honour of
the same queen and bride of Christ, and therefore truly a queen, because
the bride of Christ; and to imitate the method of Holy Scripture, wherein
many songs are inserted in the history, and these, as is well known, are
composed in metre and verse.

“Trinity,(669) Gracious, Divine, Who rulest all the ages; favour my task,
Trinity, Gracious, Divine.

“Let Maro sound the trumpet of war, let us sing the gifts of peace; the
gifts of Christ we sing, let Maro sound the trumpet of war.

“Chaste is my song, no rape of guilty Helen; light tales shall be told by
the wanton, chaste is my song.

“I will tell of gifts from Heaven, not wars of hapless Troy; I will tell
of gifts from Heaven, wherein the earth is glad.

“Lo! the high God comes to the womb of a holy virgin, to be the Saviour of
men, lo! the high God comes.

“A hallowed maid gives birth to Him Who gave the world its being; Mary,
the gate of God, a maiden gives Him birth.

“The company of her fellows rejoices over the Virgin Mother of Him Who
wields the thunder; a shining virgin band, the company of her fellows
rejoices.

“Her honour has made many a blossom to spring from that pure shoot, virgin
blossoms her honour has made to spring.

“Scorched by the fierce flames, the maiden Agatha(670) yielded not; in
like manner Eulalia endures, scorched by the fierce flames.

“The lofty soul of chaste Tecla overcomes the wild beasts; chaste Euphemia
overcomes the accursed wild beasts.

“Agnes joyously laughs at the sword, herself stronger than steel, Cecilia
joyously laughs at the foemen’s sword.

“Many a triumph is mighty throughout the world in temperate hearts;
throughout the world love of the temperate life is mighty.

“Yea, and our day likewise a peerless maiden has blessed; peerless our
Ethelthryth shines.

“Child of a noble sire, and glorious by royal birth, more noble in her
Lord’s sight, the child of a noble sire.

“Thence she receives queenly honour and a sceptre in this world; thence
she receives honour, awaiting higher honour above.

“What need, gracious lady, to seek an earthly lord, even now given to the
Heavenly Bridegroom?

“Christ is at hand, the Bridegroom (why seek an earthly lord? ) that thou
mayst follow even now, methinks, in the steps of the Mother of Heaven’s
King, that thou too mayst be a mother in God.

“Twelve years(671) she had reigned, a bride dedicated to God, then in the
cloister dwelt, a bride dedicated to God.

“To Heaven all consecrated she lived, abounding in lofty deeds, then to
Heaven all consecrated she gave up her soul.

“Twice eight Novembers(672) the maid’s fair flesh lay in the tomb, nor did
the maid’s fair flesh see corruption in the tomb.

“This was Thy work, O Christ, that her very garments were bright and
undefiled even in the grave; O Christ, this was Thy work.

“The dark serpent(673) flies before the honour due to the holy raiment;
disease is driven away, and the dark serpent flies.

“Rage fills the foe who of old conquered Eve; exultant the maiden triumphs
and rage fills the foe.

“Behold, O bride of God, thy glory upon earth; the glory that awaits thee
in the Heavens behold, O bride of God.

“In gladness thou receivest gifts, bright amidst the festal torches;
behold! the Bridegroom comes, in gladness thou receivest gifts.

“And a new song thou singest to the tuneful harp; a new-made bride, thou
exultest in the tuneful hymn.

“None can part her from them which follow the Lamb enthroned on high, whom
none had severed from the Love enthroned on high. ”




Chap. XXI. How Bishop Theodore made peace between the kings Egfrid and
Ethelred. [679 A. D. ]


In the ninth year of the reign of King Egfrid, a great battle(674) was
fought between him and Ethelred, king of the Mercians, near the river
Trent, and Aelfwine,(675) brother to King Egfrid, was slain, a youth about
eighteen years of age, and much beloved by both provinces; for King
Ethelred had married his sister Osthryth. (676) There was now reason to
expect a more bloody war, and more lasting enmity between those kings and
their fierce nations; but Theodore, the bishop, beloved of God, relying on
the Divine aid, by his wholesome admonitions wholly extinguished the
dangerous fire that was breaking out; so that the kings and their people
on both sides were appeased, and no man was put to death, but only the due
mulct(677) paid to the king who was the avenger for the death of his
brother; and this peace continued long after between those kings and
between their kingdoms.




Chap. XXII. How a certain captive’s chains fell off when Masses were sung
for him. [679 A. D. ]


In the aforesaid battle, wherein King Aelfwine was killed, a memorable
incident is known to have happened, which I think ought by no means to be
passed over in silence; for the story will be profitable to the salvation
of many. In that battle a youth called Imma, one of the king’s thegns, was
struck down, and having lain as if dead all that day and the next night
among the bodies of the slain, at length he came to himself and revived,
and sitting up, bound his own wounds as best as he could. Then having
rested awhile, he stood up, and went away to see if he could find any
friends to take care of him; but in so doing he was discovered and taken
by some of the enemy’s army, and carried before their lord, who was one of
King Ethelred’s nobles. (678) Being asked by him who he was, and fearing to
own himself a thegn, he answered that he was a peasant, a poor man and
married, and he declared that he had come to the war with others like
himself to bring provisions to the army. The noble entertained him, and
ordered his wounds to be dressed, and when he began to recover, to prevent
his escaping, he ordered him to be bound at night. But he could not be
bound, for as soon as they that bound him were gone, his bonds were
loosed.

Now he had a brother called Tunna, who was a priest and abbot of a
monastery in the city which is still called Tunnacaestir after him. (679)
This man, hearing that his brother had been killed in the battle, went to
see if haply he could find his body; and finding another very like him in
all respects, he believed it to be his. So he carried it to his monastery,
and buried it honourably, and took care often to say Masses for the
absolution of his soul; the celebration whereof occasioned what I have
said, that none could bind him but he was presently loosed again. In the
meantime, the noble that had kept him was amazed, and began to inquire why
he could not be bound; whether perchance he had any spells about him, such
as are spoken of in stories. He answered that he knew nothing of those
arts; “but I have,” said he, “a brother who is a priest in my country, and
I know that he, supposing me to be killed, is saying frequent Masses for
me; and if I were now in the other life, my soul there, through his
intercession, would be delivered from penalty. ”

When he had been a prisoner with the noble some time, those who
attentively observed him, by his countenance, habit, and discourse, took
notice, that he was not of the meaner sort, as he had said, but of some
quality. The noble then privately sending for him, straitly questioned
him, whence he came, promising to do him no harm on that account if he
would frankly confess who he was. This he did, declaring that he had been
a thegn of the king’s, and the noble answered, “I perceived by all your
answers that you were no peasant. And now you deserve to die, because all
my brothers and relations were killed in that fight; yet I will not put
you to death, that I may not break my promise. ”

As soon, therefore, as he was recovered, he sold him to a certain Frisian
at London, but he could not in any wise be bound either by him, or as he
was being led thither. But when his enemies had put all manner of bonds on
him, and the buyer perceived that he could in no way be bound, he gave him
leave to ransom himself if he could. Now it was at the third hour, when
the Masses were wont to be said, that his bonds were most frequently
loosed. He, having taken an oath that he would either return, or send his
owner the money for the ransom, went into Kent to King Hlothere, who was
son to the sister of Queen Ethelthryth,(680) above spoken of, for he had
once been that queen’s thegn. From him he asked and obtained the price of
his freedom, and as he had promised, sent it to his master for his ransom.

Returning afterwards into his own country, and coming to his brother, he
gave him an exact account of all his misfortunes, and the consolation
afforded to him in them; and from what his brother told him he understood,
that his bonds had been generally loosed at those times when Masses had
been celebrated for him; and he perceived that other advantages and
blessings which had fallen to his lot in his time of danger, had been
conferred on him from Heaven, through the intercession of his brother, and
the Oblation of the saving Sacrifice. Many, on hearing this account from
the aforesaid man, were stirred up in faith and pious devotion to prayer,
or to alms-giving, or to make an offering to God of the Sacrifice of the
holy Oblation, for the deliverance of their friends who had departed this
world; for they knew that such saving Sacrifice availed for the eternal
redemption both of body and soul. This story was also told me by some of
those who had heard it related by the man himself to whom it happened;
therefore, since I had a clear understanding of it, I have not hesitated
to insert it in my Ecclesiastical History.




Chap. XXIII. Of the life and death of the Abbess Hilda. [614-680 A. D. ]


In the year after this, that is the year of our Lord 680, the most
religious handmaid of Christ, Hilda,(681) abbess of the monastery that is
called Streanaeshalch,(682) as we mentioned above, after having done many
heavenly deeds on earth, passed thence to receive the rewards of the
heavenly life, on the 17th of November, at the age of sixty-six years. Her
life falls into two equal parts, for the first thirty-three years of it
she spent living most nobly in the secular habit; and still more nobly
dedicated the remaining half to the Lord in the monastic life. For she was
nobly born, being the daughter of Hereric,(683) nephew to King Edwin, and
with that king she also received the faith and mysteries of Christ, at the
preaching of Paulinus, of blessed memory,(684) the first bishop of the
Northumbrians, and preserved the same undefiled till she attained to the
vision of our Lord in Heaven.

When she had resolved to quit the secular habit, and to serve Him alone,
she withdrew into the province of the East Angles, for she was allied to
the king there;(685) being desirous to cross over thence into Gaul,
forsaking her native country and all that she had, and so to live a
stranger for our Lord’s sake in the monastery of Cale,(686) that she might
the better attain to the eternal country in heaven. For her sister
Heresuid, mother to Aldwulf,(687) king of the East Angles, was at that
time living in the same monastery, under regular discipline, waiting for
an everlasting crown; and led by her example, she continued a whole year
in the aforesaid province, with the design of going abroad; but
afterwards, Bishop Aidan recalled her to her home, and she received land
to the extent of one family on the north side of the river Wear;(688)
where likewise for a year she led a monastic life, with very few
companions.

After this she was made abbess in the monastery called Heruteu,(689) which
monastery had been founded, not long before, by the pious handmaid of
Christ, Heiu,(690) who is said to have been the first woman in the
province of the Northumbrians who took upon her the vows and habit of a
nun, being consecrated by Bishop Aidan; but she, soon after she had
founded that monastery, retired to the city of Calcaria,(691) which is
called Kaelcacaestir by the English, and there fixed her dwelling. Hilda,
the handmaid of Christ, being set over that monastery, began immediately
to order it in all things under a rule of life, according as she had been
instructed by learned men; for Bishop Aidan, and others of the religious
that knew her, frequently visited her and loved her heartily, and
diligently instructed her, because of her innate wisdom and love of the
service of God.

When she had for some years governed this monastery, wholly intent upon
establishing a rule of life, it happened that she also undertook either to
build or to set in order a monastery in the place called Streanaeshalch,
and this work which was laid upon her she industriously performed; for she
put this monastery under the same rule of monastic life as the former; and
taught there the strict observance of justice, piety, chastity, and other
virtues, and particularly of peace and charity; so that, after the example
of the primitive Church, no one there was rich, and none poor, for they
had all things common, and none had any private property. Her prudence was
so great, that not only meaner men in their need, but sometimes even kings
and princes, sought and received her counsel; she obliged those who were
under her direction to give so much time to reading of the Holy
Scriptures, and to exercise themselves so much in works of justice, that
many might readily be found there fit for the priesthood and the service
of the altar.

Indeed we have seen five from that monastery who afterwards became
bishops, and all of them men of singular merit and sanctity, whose names
were Bosa,(692) Aetla,(693) Oftfor,(694) John,(695) and Wilfrid. (696) Of
the first we have said above that he was consecrated bishop of York; of
the second, it may be briefly stated that he was appointed bishop of
Dorchester. Of the last two we shall tell hereafter, that the former was
ordained bishop of Hagustald, the other of the church of York; of the
third, we may here mention that, having applied himself to the reading and
observance of the Scriptures in both the monasteries of the Abbess
Hilda,(697) at length being desirous to attain to greater perfection, he
went into Kent, to Archbishop Theodore, of blessed memory; where having
spent some time in sacred studies, he resolved to go to Rome also, which,
in those days, was esteemed a very salutary undertaking. Returning thence
into Britain, he took his way into the province of the Hwiccas,(698) where
King Osric then ruled,(699) and continued there a long time, preaching the
Word of faith, and showing an example of good life to all that saw and
heard him. At that time, Bosel, the bishop of that province,(700) laboured
under such weakness of body, that he could not himself perform episcopal
functions; for which reason, Oftfor was, by universal consent, chosen
bishop in his stead, and by order of King Ethelred,(701) consecrated by
Bishop Wilfrid,(702) of blessed memory, who was then Bishop of the Midland
Angles, because Archbishop Theodore was dead, and no other bishop ordained
in his place. A little while before, that is, before the election of the
aforesaid man of God, Bosel, Tatfrid,(703) a man of great industry and
learning, and of excellent ability, had been chosen bishop for that
province, from the monastery of the same abbess, but had been snatched
away by an untimely death, before he could be ordained.

Thus this handmaid of Christ, the Abbess Hilda, whom all that knew her
called Mother, for her singular piety and grace, was not only an example
of good life, to those that lived in her monastery, but afforded occasion
of amendment and salvation to many who lived at a distance, to whom the
blessed fame was brought of her industry and virtue. For it was meet that
the dream of her mother, Bregusuid, during her infancy, should be
fulfilled. Now Bregusuid, at the time that her husband, Hereric, lived in
banishment, under Cerdic,(704) king of the Britons, where he was also
poisoned, fancied, in a dream, that he was suddenly taken away from her
and she was seeking for him most carefully, but could find no sign of him
anywhere. After an anxious search for him, all at once she found a most
precious necklace under her garment, and whilst she was looking on it very
attentively, it seemed to shine forth with such a blaze of light that it
filled all Britain with the glory of its brilliance. This dream was
doubtless fulfilled in her daughter that we speak of, whose life was an
example of the works of light, not only blessed to herself, but to many
who desired to live aright.

When she had governed this monastery many years, it pleased Him Who has
made such merciful provision for our salvation, to give her holy soul the
trial of a long infirmity of the flesh, to the end that, according to the
Apostle’s example, her virtue might be made perfect in weakness. Struck
down with a fever, she suffered from a burning heat, and was afflicted
with the same trouble for six years continually; during all which time she
never failed either to return thanks to her Maker, or publicly and
privately to instruct the flock committed to her charge; for taught by her
own experience she admonished all men to serve the Lord dutifully, when
health of body is granted to them, and always to return thanks faithfully
to Him in adversity, or bodily infirmity. In the seventh year of her
sickness, when the disease turned inwards, her last day came, and about
cockcrow, having received the voyage provision(705) of Holy Housel, and
called together the handmaids of Christ that were within the same
monastery, she admonished them to preserve the peace of the Gospel among
themselves, and with all others; and even as she spoke her words of
exhortation, she joyfully saw death come, or, in the words of our Lord,
passed from death unto life.

That same night it pleased Almighty God, by a manifest vision, to make
known her death in another monastery, at a distance from hers, which she
had built that same year, and which is called Hacanos. (706) There was in
that monastery, a certain nun called Begu,(707) who, having dedicated her
virginity to the Lord, had served Him upwards of thirty years in the
monastic life. This nun was resting in the dormitory of the sisters, when
on a sudden she heard in the air the well-known sound of the bell, which
used to awake and call them to prayers, when any one of them was taken out
of this world, and opening her eyes, as she thought, she saw the roof of
the house open, and a light shed from above filling all the place. Looking
earnestly upon that light, she saw the soul of the aforesaid handmaid of
God in that same light, being carried to heaven attended and guided by
angels. Then awaking, and seeing the other sisters lying round about her,
she perceived that what she had seen had been revealed to her either in a
dream or a vision; and rising immediately in great fear, she ran to the
virgin who then presided in the monastery in the place of the abbess,(708)
and whose name was Frigyth, and, with many tears and lamentations, and
heaving deep sighs, told her that the Abbess Hilda, mother of them all,
had departed this life, and had in her sight ascended to the gates of
eternal light, and to the company of the citizens of heaven, with a great
light, and with angels for her guides. Frigyth having heard it, awoke all
the sisters, and calling them to the church, admonished them to give
themselves to prayer and singing of psalms, for the soul of their mother;
which they did earnestly during the remainder of the night; and at break
of day, the brothers came with news of her death, from the place where she
had died. They answered that they knew it before, and then related in
order how and when they had learnt it, by which it appeared that her death
had been revealed to them in a vision that same hour in which the brothers
said that she had died. Thus by a fair harmony of events Heaven ordained,
that when some saw her departure out of this world, the others should have
knowledge of her entrance into the eternal life of souls. These
monasteries are about thirteen miles distant from each other.

It is also told, that her death was, in a vision, made known the same
night to one of the virgins dedicated to God, who loved her with a great
love, in the same monastery where the said handmaid of God died. This nun
saw her soul ascend to heaven in the company of angels; and this she
openly declared, in the very same hour that it happened, to those
handmaids of Christ that were with her; and aroused them to pray for her
soul, even before the rest of the community had heard of her death. The
truth of which was known to the whole community in the morning. This same
nun was at that time with some other handmaids of Christ, in the remotest
part of the monastery, where the women who had lately entered the monastic
life were wont to pass their time of probation, till they were instructed
according to rule, and admitted into the fellowship of the community.




Chap. XXIV. That there was in her monastery a brother, on whom the gift of
song was bestowed by Heaven. (709) [680 A. D. ]


There was in the monastery of this abbess a certain brother, marked in a
special manner by the grace of God, for he was wont to make songs of piety
and religion, so that whatever was expounded to him out of Scripture, he
turned ere long into verse expressive of much sweetness and penitence, in
English, which was his native language. By his songs the minds of many
were often fired with contempt of the world, and desire of the heavenly
life. Others of the English nation after him attempted to compose
religious poems, but none could equal him, for he did not learn the art of
poetry from men, neither was he taught by man, but by God’s grace he
received the free gift of song, for which reason he never could compose
any trivial or vain poem, but only those which concern religion it behoved
his religious tongue to utter. For having lived in the secular habit till
he was well advanced in years, he had never learned anything of
versifying; and for this reason sometimes at a banquet, when it was agreed
to make merry by singing in turn, if he saw the harp come towards him, he
would rise up from table and go out and return home.

Once having done so and gone out of the house where the banquet was, to
the stable, where he had to take care of the cattle that night, he there
composed himself to rest at the proper time. Thereupon one stood by him in
his sleep, and saluting him, and calling him by his name, said, “Cædmon,
sing me something. ” But he answered, “I cannot sing, and for this cause I
left the banquet and retired hither, because I could not sing. ” Then he
who talked to him replied, “Nevertheless thou must needs sing to me. ”
“What must I sing? ” he asked. “Sing the beginning of creation,” said the
other. Having received this answer he straightway began to sing verses to
the praise of God the Creator, which he had never heard, the purport
whereof was after this manner: “Now must we praise the Maker of the
heavenly kingdom, the power of the Creator and His counsel, the deeds of
the Father of glory. How He, being the eternal God, became the Author of
all wondrous works, Who being the Almighty Guardian of the human race,
first created heaven for the sons of men to be the covering of their
dwelling place, and next the earth. ” This is the sense but not the order
of the words as he sang them in his sleep; for verses, though never so
well composed, cannot be literally translated out of one language into
another without loss of their beauty and loftiness. Awaking from his
sleep, he remembered all that he had sung in his dream, and soon added
more after the same manner, in words which worthily expressed the praise
of God.

In the morning he came to the reeve(710) who was over him, and having told
him of the gift he had received, was conducted to the abbess, and bidden,
in the presence of many learned men, to tell his dream, and repeat the
verses, that they might all examine and give their judgement upon the
nature and origin of the gift whereof he spoke. And they all judged that
heavenly grace had been granted to him by the Lord. They expounded to him
a passage of sacred history or doctrine, enjoining upon him, if he could,
to put it into verse. Having undertaken this task, he went away, and
returning the next morning, gave them the passage he had been bidden to
translate, rendered in most excellent verse. Whereupon the abbess,
joyfully recognizing the grace of God in the man, instructed him to quit
the secular habit, and take upon him monastic vows; and having received
him into the monastery, she and all her people admitted him to the company
of the brethren, and ordered that he should be taught the whole course of
sacred history. So he, giving ear to all that he could learn, and bearing
it in mind, and as it were ruminating, like a clean animal,(711) turned it
into most harmonious verse; and sweetly singing it, made his masters in
their turn his hearers. He sang the creation of the world, the origin of
man, and all the history of Genesis, the departure of the children of
Israel out of Egypt, their entrance into the promised land, and many other
histories from Holy Scripture; the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection of
our Lord, and His Ascension into heaven; the coming of the Holy Ghost, and
the teaching of the Apostles; likewise he made many songs concerning the
terror of future judgement, the horror of the pains of hell, and the joys
of heaven; besides many more about the blessings and the judgements of
God, by all of which he endeavoured to draw men away from the love of sin,
and to excite in them devotion to well-doing and perseverance therein. For
he was a very religious man, humbly submissive to the discipline of
monastic rule, but inflamed with fervent zeal against those who chose to
do otherwise; for which reason he made a fair ending of his life.

For when the hour of his departure drew near, it was preceded by a bodily
infirmity under which he laboured for the space of fourteen days, yet it
was of so mild a nature that he could talk and go about the whole time. In
his neighbourhood was the house to which those that were sick, and like to
die, were wont to be carried. He desired the person that ministered to
him, as the evening came on of the night in which he was to depart this
life, to make ready a place there for him to take his rest. The man,
wondering why he should desire it, because there was as yet no sign of his
approaching death, nevertheless did his bidding. When they had lain down
there, and had been conversing happily and pleasantly for some time with
those that were in the house before, and it was now past midnight, he
asked them, whether they had the Eucharist within? (712) They answered,
“What need of the Eucharist? for you are not yet appointed to die, since
you talk so merrily with us, as if you were in good health. ”
“Nevertheless,” said he, “bring me the Eucharist. ” Having received It into
his hand, he asked, whether they were all in charity with him, and had no
complaint against him, nor any quarrel or grudge. They answered, that they
were all in perfect charity with him, and free from all anger; and in
their turn they asked him to be of the same mind towards them. He answered
at once, “I am in charity, my children, with all the servants of God. ”
Then strengthening himself with the heavenly Viaticum, he prepared for the
entrance into another life, and asked how near the time was when the
brothers should be awakened to sing the nightly praises of the Lord? (713)
They answered, “It is not far off. ” Then he said, “It is well, let us
await that hour;” and signing himself with the sign of the Holy Cross, he
laid his head on the pillow, and falling into a slumber for a little
while, so ended his life in silence.

Thus it came to pass, that as he had served the Lord with a simple and
pure mind, and quiet devotion, so he now departed to behold His Presence,
leaving the world by a quiet death; and that tongue, which had uttered so
many wholesome words in praise of the Creator, spake its last words also
in His praise, while he signed himself with the Cross, and commended his
spirit into His hands; and by what has been here said, he seems to have
had foreknowledge of his death.




Chap. XXV. Of the vision that appeared to a certain man of God before the
monastery of the city Coludi was burned down.


At this time, the monastery of virgins, called the city of Coludi,(714)
above-mentioned, was burned down, through carelessness; and yet all that
knew it might have been aware that it happened by reason of the wickedness
of those who dwelt in it, and chiefly of those who seemed to be the
greatest. But there wanted not a warning of the approaching punishment
from the Divine mercy whereby they might have been led to amend their
ways, and by fasting and tears and prayers, like the Ninevites, have
averted the anger of the just Judge.