No More Learning

Bede omits the story of his shipwreck on the coast of Sussex, and
says nothing of the three years spent as Abbot of Ripon, whither he
retired on finding Ceadda installed in his place. During this time
he acted occasionally as Bishop for Mercia, where the see was vacant
by the death of Jaruman in 667, and for Kent, during part of the
vacancy between the death of Deusdedit in 664 and Theodore’s arrival
in 669.

909 The same Witan which elected Wilfrid decided to transfer the
Northumbrian see from Lindisfarne back to York, where Paulinus had
originally established it.

910 In 678, _v. _ IV, 12, and note. Bede passes over nine years of
ceaseless activity in the diocese. It was during this time that
Wilfrid built his great churches.

911 Eddius says that he went there by his own wish. This is not the
occasion referred to in III, 13 (_v. _ note, _ad loc. _). Ebroin, from
motives of private enmity (Wilfrid had helped his enemy, Dagobert II
of Austrasia), attempted to bribe Aldgils to kill or surrender
Wilfrid, but his offer was indignantly rejected.

912 Cc. 10, 11; cf. III, 13.

913 On the way he visited Dagobert II of Austrasia, and Perctarit, king
of the Lombards.

914 At a council of fifty bishops held in the Lateran in 679. Theodore
had sent documents stating his side of the case in charge of a monk
named Coenwald. For Agatho, _v. _ IV, 18. The decision was that
Wilfrid should be reinstated in his bishopric and the intruding
bishops removed, but that afterwards he should appoint coadjutors
who should be consecrated by the Archbishop.

915 This council was held in 680 in preparation for the Council at
Constantinople in 680-681, against the Monothelites (cf. IV, 17, 18,
and notes).

916 In 680. Here Bede strangely omits important events. On Wilfrid’s
return to Northumbria he was accused of having procured his
acquittal by bribery and was imprisoned for nine months, first at
Bromnis (unidentified) and then at Dunbar. Being released at the
request of Aebba, Abbess of Coldingham (_v. _ IV, 19, 25), who was
Egfrid’s aunt, he went first to Mercia and then to Wessex, but was
expelled from both provinces. Egfrid’s sister Osthryth was the wife
of Ethelred of Mercia, and in Wessex the king, Centwine, had married
a sister of the Northumbrian queen, Eormenburg.

917 IV, 13.

918 IV, 13, 16. His connection with Caedwalla of Wessex is to be placed
here (IV, 16).

919 In 686 he was restored to the bishopric of York and the monastery of
Ripon. The diocese over which he was now placed was greatly
circumscribed. Lindsey and Abercorn, besides having been detached by
the subdivision, had both ceased to belong to Northumbria;
Lindisfarne and Hexham were separate bishoprics and were merely
administered by Wilfrid till the appointment of Eadbert to
Lindisfarne and of John to Hexham. The restoration of Wilfrid was
brought about by Theodore who had become reconciled to him and
induced Aldfrid to allow him to be reinstated.

920 This was his second expulsion, in 691. Dissensions had arisen about
various matters. The most important were the attempt, resisted by
Wilfrid, to form Ripon into a separate see, and the requirement that
he should accept the decrees of Theodore of 678. To accept these
would have been equivalent to a rejection of the Pope’s judgement in
his case.

921 Bede omits here Wilfrid’s second sojourn in Mercia (eleven years),
when he acted temporarily as Bishop of the Middle English (he
alludes to it in IV, 23), and the great Council, representative of
the whole English Church, summoned by Aldfrid in 702 and held at a
place in Northumbria (unidentified; possibly Austerfield in the West
Riding of Yorkshire) called by Eddius “Ouestraefelda” and
“Aetswinapathe” (supposed to mean “at the swine’s path,” or
“Edwinspath”). At this Council Wilfrid was excommunicated and
deprived of all his possessions except the monastery of Ripon. He
appealed again to the Apostolic see and returned to Mercia. Probably
in the following year he set out for Rome, visiting Wilbrord in
Frisia by the way (cf. III, 13).

922 John VI, 701-705. Bertwald had sent envoys to represent Wilfrid’s
opponents. The investigation took four months, during which seventy
sittings of the Council were held.

923 Bertwald was admonished to hold a synod and come to an agreement
with Wilfrid. In the event of failure, both parties were to appear
in Rome. The letter is cautious and conciliatory in tone.

924 Cf. _supra_, p. 352.

925 Cf. _supra_, p. 349.

926 Meaux, cf. IV, 1 (Meldi).

927 III, 13, and note; _infra_ c. 20.

928 Ethelred of Mercia had resigned his throne and was now Abbot of
Bardney; cf. III, 11, and IV, 12, p. 241, note.

929 Cc. 13 and 19, _ad init. _; cf. c. 24.

930 Cf. c. 18, _ad init. _ He received his envoys courteously, but
refused to alter his decision for any “alleged writings from the
Apostolic see. ” But Eddius says he repented on his deathbed.

_ 931 Ibid. _

932 In 705. It was a Northumbrian council, not, like Estrefeld,
representative of the whole Church. Bertwald was present and adopted
a conciliatory line.

933 He was restored only to Hexham and to his monastery at Ripon. Bishop
John, on the death of Bosa about this time, was transferred to York;
_v. s. _ c. 3, _ad init. _

934 Oundle, _v. s. _ p. 346, note 4.

935 Or Cudwald. A Cuthbald succeeded Sexwulf (IV, 6) as Abbot at
Medeshamstead. He is, perhaps, identical with the Abbot of Oundle.

936 Cf. _supra_, p. 346, and III, 25.

_ 937 I. e. _ 710. But Hadrian left Rome in 668 (_v. _ IV, 1), and Bede says
he died forty-one years after that event. This would be in 709.

938 Cf. Preface and IV, 1.

_ 939 Ibid. _

940 St. Augustine’s, Canterbury; cf. IV, 1, _ad fin. _

941 Cf. Preface and note.

942 III, 13, and note.

943 A. S. version: Mafa. For the Roman style of Church music, cf. II, 20,
_ad fin. _

944 IV, 12, 23; V, 3.

945 In 710. Naiton, or Nechtan mac Derili, succeeded in 706. The
northern Picts had received Christianity through Columba (III, 4).
Naiton is said to have been converted to Roman usages by a
missionary named Boniface, who was probably an Irishman, St.
Cuiritin. Naiton did not succeed in forcing all his people to adopt
them, but in 717 he expelled the Columban clergy who refused to
conform.

946 IV, 18 and note.

947 Wearmouth (_ibid. _) and Jarrow, Bede’s own monastery (_v. infra_, c.
24). Though they were some distance apart, Wearmouth and Jarrow
formed together one monastery.

948 IV, 18.

949 II, 2, p. 85, note.

950 Wood being the usual material, cf. III, 4, “Candida Casa. ” The
locality of the church is not known. Rosemarkie, on the Moray Frith,
and, more probably, Restennet, near Forfar, have been suggested.

951 The letter has been supposed to have been written by Bede himself.

952 Plato, Rep. 473, D.

953 Exod. , xii, 1-3. (The quotations are from the Vulgate. )

954 Exod. , xii, 6.

_ 955 Ibid. _, xii, 15.

956 Exod. , xii, 15.

_ 957 Ibid. _, xii, 17.

958 Numbers, xxxiii, 13.

959 Exod. , xii, 17-19.

960 1 Cor. , v, 7.

961 St. John, i, 29.

962 Levit. , xxiii, 5-7.

963 Cf. Bede’s “Expositio in Marci Evangelium” (Opp. X, 2), where he
says that St. Mark founded the Church in Alexandria, and taught the
canonical observance of Easter; and Opp. VI, 235 (De Temp. Rat. ).

964 Levit. , xxiii, 8.

965 This was an error of the Latins in the fifth century. The object was
to make it possible for Good Friday to fall on the fourteenth of the
month Nisan, which they believed to be the actual day of the
Crucifixion, and to keep Easter Day entirely clear of the Jewish
festival.

_ 966 I. e. _ Alexandrians.

967 Gen. , i, 16.

968 The Itala.

969 Mal. , iv, 2.

970 Habak. , iii, 11 (from the Itala).

971 The Pelagians; I, 10, and note; cf. I, 17.

972 The reference must be to p. 364, “the apostolic tradition. ” For the
nineteen years’ cycle, cf. III, 3 (Anatolius).

973 The celebrated Bishop of Caesarea, called also Eusebius Pamphili, a
name which he adopted from devotion to his friend, Pamphilus. How
much he had to do with the nineteen years’ cycle seems altogether
uncertain. He took a leading part in the Council of Nicaea (325
A. D. ), but there is no proof that the Council formally adopted the
cycle, as has been supposed. It had been in use long before, but it
may have received authoritative sanction at Nicaea. Eusebius wrote a
treatise on Easter, of which a fragment is extant.

974 A presbyter of Caesarea, the founder of the famous library in that
place. He was martyred in 309 A. D. Eusebius wrote his life, but the
work is lost.

975 Archbishop of Alexandria, 385-412. He made a cycle of 418 years (19
× 22) for Theodosius, and reckoned the days on which Easter would
fall for 100 years from the first year of the consulate of
Theodosius (380 A. D. ).

976 The great Archbishop of Alexandria, 412-444. He shortened the cycle
of Theophilus, making a cycle of ninety-five years (19 × 5), for the
sake of convenience.
Part of his “Computus Paschalis” remains.

977 A monk of the Western Church in the sixth century. The surname,
“Exiguus,” refers, not to his stature, but to his humbleness of
heart. Our method of dating from the Birth of Christ was begun by
him. He revived the cycle of Victorius (or Victorinus) of Aquitaine
(463 A. D. ), hence called Dionysian. It was a cycle of 532 years,
_i. e. _ the lunar cycle of 19 × the solar cycle of 28.

978 Cf. p. 369, note 5.

979 Job, i, 20.

980 Gen. , xli, 14.

981 St. Matt. , xvi, 18.

982 Acts, viii, 20 (Vulgate). The origin of this form of tonsure was
attributed to Simon Magus.

983 Gal. , v, 24.

984 St. James, i, 12.

985 Cf. c. 15 and notes. It is uncertain whether this incident is to be
connected with Adamnan’s first or second visit to King Aldfrid.

_ 986 I. e. _, Ireland; cf. c. 15.

987 Cf. _supra_, p. 359, note 1.

988 Cf. c. 18 and note; cc. 19, 20, 24. He was killed in battle, but
neither the locality nor the war is known.

989 He reigned two years, _v. infra_ c. 23. He belonged to a younger
branch of the royal house of Northumbria. His father’s name was
Cuthwine, and Ceolwulf, who succeeded Osric (c. 23), was his
brother.

990 Or, perhaps, “bishop;” cf. III, 4, note. For the circumstances which
led Egbert to undertake his work among the Columban monasteries,
_v. s. _ c. 9. As the events narrated there were prior to 690
(Wilbrord’s mission to Frisia), we may, perhaps, assume that he had
been labouring during this long interval among the Columban
monasteries in Ireland. In III, 4, Bede places Egbert’s arrival in
Iona a year earlier.

991 Rom. , x, 2.

992 Cf. p. 372. This seems to be the meaning of the somewhat obscure
sentence, “. . . celebrationem, ut diximus, praecipuae solemnitatis
sub figura coronae perpetis agere perdocuit. ”

993 For the conversion of the Britons to Roman usages, _v. _ cc. 15 and
18, notes.

994 This is accurate enough in round numbers. Aidan’s mission (_v. _ III,
3) was probably in 635.

_ 995 I. e. _, 24th April. According to the Celtic rule, Easter Day could
never have been so late, 21st April being the latest possible day,
while the Romans might celebrate as late as 25th April.

996 Osric had succeeded in 718. Simeon of Durham says he was a son of
King “Alfrid. ” It has been suggested (Dr. Stubbs, in Dict. of
Christian Biog. ) that this may mean Alchfrid, son of Oswy (III, 14,
_et saep. _), further, that this Osric is to be identified with the
Hwiccian sub-king, mentioned in IV, 23, who may have found a refuge
in Mercia, when Alchfrid was disinherited. Against this it has been
maintained that the statement of Simeon of Durham may, with greater
probability, be referred to Aldfrid, the successor of Egfrid and
father of Osred.

997 Cf. IV, 26, and V, 8.

998 From Bede we should infer that they all succeeded in 725, and the
evidence of charters goes to show that Eadbert and Ethelbert began
to reign jointly in that year. Florence of Worcester makes Eadbert
and Ethelbert reign successively, and William of Malmesbury gives
successive reigns of considerable length to all three brothers. This
prolongs Alric’s life beyond probability, and as his reign rests on
no early evidence, Dr. Stubbs is inclined to set it aside
altogether.

999 Cf. c. 8.

1000 Cf. II, 3 and note; III, 14.

1001 Consecrated in 727 (Saxon Chronicle) and died in 739 (Simeon of
Durham).

1002 This must refer to the battle of Tours in 732, in which Charles
Martel defeated the Saracens. As the Ecclesiastical History was
finished in 731, this passage must be regarded as a later insertion.
For Bede’s view with regard to the Saracens, _v. _ his theological
works _passim_. He believed them to be the descendants of Ishmael.

1003 In 729; _v. s. _ c. 22.

1004 Cf. _supra_, this chapter, _ad init. _

1005 Cf. Preface, note 1, and the Continuation.

1006 Cf. c. 22, _ad init_ and note.

_ 1007 I. e. _, since 29th June, 693; _v. s. _ c. 8, _ad fin. _

1008 He received the pall in 733 and died in 734; cf. Continuation.

1009 Bredon in Worcestershire.

1010 Cf. Preface; IV, 16; V, 18.

_ 1011 I. e. _, of the East Saxons. He died in 745; _v. _ Continuation.

1012 Called also Worr. In the Act of the Council of Clovesho in 716 he
signs as Bishop of Lichfield (to which at this time Leicester was
united) along with his predecessor, Hedda, but the authenticity of
the Act is not fully established, and it is generally supposed that
he succeeded in 721. At his death in 737 (Simeon of Durham)
Leicester was finally separated from Lichfield.

1013 Cf. _supra_, p. 378.

1014 The following list of the English bishoprics at the time when Bede
closed his history [731 A. D. ], will enable the reader to recognize
those which belonged to each separate kingdom:

KINGDOMS; SEES; PRELATES.
Kent; Canterbury; Tatwine.
Rochester; Aldwulf.
East Saxons; London; Ingwald.
East Angles; Dunwich; Aldbert.
Elmham; Hadulac.
West Saxons; Winchester; Daniel.
Sherborne; Forthere.
Mercia; Lichfield (to which Leicester had been reunited in 705);
Aldwin.
Hereford; Walhstod.
Worcester; Wilfrid.
Lindsey (Sidnacester); Cynibert.
South Saxons; Selsey; Vacant.
Northumbria; York; Wilfrid II.
Lindisfarne; Ethelwald.
Hexham; Acca.
Whitern; Pechthelm.

1015 Aldbert was Bishop of Dunwich, Hadulac of Elmham.

1016 Cf. c. 18.

1017 Cf. _supra_, p. 379, note 6.

_ 1018 I. e. _, in Herefordshire. It is not certain when the see of Hereford
was founded. Besides Putta (_v. _ IV, 2, and note), Florence of
Worcester mentions Tyrhtel and Torthere as predecessors of Walhstod.

1019 This is Wilfrid, Bishop of Worcester, contemporary with Wilfrid II
of York (_v. _ IV, 23; V, 6). He succeeded St. Egwin, whom Bede
strangely omits to mention, the successor of Oftfor (IV, 23). For
the Hwiccas, _v. _ II, 2, p. 84, and for the see of Worcester, IV,
23, p. 273, note 7.

1020 Cf. Preface, p. 4, and IV, 12. For Lindsey as a separate bishopric,
_ibid. _

1021 Cf. IV, 16.

1022 Cf. c. 18, _ad fin. _, and notes.

1023 He was a son of Penda’s brother, Alweo. He had lived at one time in
retirement near the hermitage of St. Guthlac, flying from the enmity
of Ceolred, but on the death of the latter in 716, he succeeded to
the throne. Though he is not included in Bede’s list of Bretwaldas
(II, 5), he established the supremacy of Mercia for twenty years
over all England south of the Humber, till in 754 Wessex freed
itself in the battle of Burford. For his wars with Wessex and
Northumbria, _v. _ Continuation, _sub_ 740 and 750. There is a
charter of his dated 749 in which he grants certain ecclesiastical
privileges, “pro expiatione delictorum suorum. ” His oppression of
the Church and his private life are rebuked in the letter of
Boniface and five German bishops addressed to him (_v. _ Haddan and
Stubbs, III, 350).

1024 Wilfrid II, _v. _ IV, 23, and note; cf. V, 6.

1025 Cf. c. 12, p. 331, and note.

1026 III, 13, and note; cf. IV, 14; V, 20.