No More Learning

379 For a full account of St. Fursa and his brothers, and other
companions mentioned in this chapter, _v. _ Miss Margaret Stokes’s
“Three months in the Forests of France, a pilgrimage in search of
vestiges of the Irish Saints in France. ” Bede’s narrative is taken
from an extant ancient Latin life of St. Fursa (or Fursey), the
“libellus de vita ejus conscriptus” to which he refers several times
(_v. infra_).

380 St. Matt. , xxv, 13.

381 Burgh Castle in Suffolk, where there was a Roman fortress,
Garianonum.

_ 382 I. e. _, Irish.

383 His monastery on Lough Corrib. It is obvious from the sequel that
this vision was prior to his journey to Britain, and is distinct
from the vision mentioned above.

384 Ps. lxxxiv, 7; (lxxxiii, 8, in the Vulgate). The reading is that of
the Vulgate and the Gallican Psalter: “Ibunt de virtute in virtutem:
videbitur Deus deorum in Sion. ”

_ 385 Ibid. _

_ 386 I. e. _, Ireland.

387 The monastery at Burgh Castle.

388 Fullan, or Foillan, was apparently a bishop (the others are called
“presbyteri”). He and Ultan after Fursa’s death (_circ. _ 650) went
to South Brabant. Ultan founded a monastery at Fosse in the diocese
of Liège (then of Maestricht), and Fullan laboured in conjunction
with St. Gertrude in the double monastery of Nivelles. Ultan became
abbot, first of Fosse and later of Péronne. The name Gobban occurs
frequently in Irish Church History, Dicull occasionally. There is a
Dicull mentioned in IV, 13.

_ 389 I. e. _, the Mercians; _v. s. _ c. 18.

390 Clovis II, King of Neustria, 638-656. Ercinwald was his Mayor of the
Palace.

391 Lagny on the Marne, near Paris.

392 Péronne on the Somme. The monastery founded there after his death
was called “Perrona Scotorum” from the number of Irish who resorted
to it.

_ 393 Circ. _ 647. The rapid increase in the number of native bishops may
be seen from this chapter. The only one before Thomas was Ithamar
(cf. c. 14, p. 164).

394 The Fen country. The province included part of the counties of
Lincoln, Northampton, Huntingdon, and Cambridge.

395 Such changes of name were frequent: cf. Benedict for Biscop (IV,
18), Boniface for Winfrid (_v. _ “Continuation”), Clement for
Wilbrord (V, 11), and cf. _infra_, “Deusdedit. ”

396 II, 15, note.

397 The first archbishop of English birth. He died in 664 (_v. _ IV, 1).
His original name is said to have been Frithonas; Deusdedit is the
Latin form of Theodore. There was a Pope of the same name, 615-618
(_v. _ II, 7). Similar names were common in the African Church,
_e. g. _, “Adeodatus,” “Habetdeus,” “Quodvultdeus,” “Deogratias. ”

398 Cf. c. 14, and note.

399 Cf. IV, 2. It has been supposed that he died of the plague of 664.
After his death the see was vacant for several years. It is
remarkable that he came of a race which had not yet become
Christian. The South Saxons continued to be pagan till Wilfrid
evangelized them, 681-686 (IV, 13).

400 For their origin, _v. _ I, 15. Their country, which was subject to
Mercia, was the present Leicestershire. They are probably to be
identified with the Southern Mercians; _v. _ c. 24, where we find
Peada confirmed by Oswy in the government of that people.

401 She caused his death by treachery: _v. _ c. 24 _ad fin. _

402 C. 14, _ad init. _, and note.

403 After Alchfrid’s death, she took the veil and ruled the monastery of
Caistor (? Cyneburgacaster) in Northamptonshire. She was one of the
five children of the heathen Penda, who were canonized as saints.

_ 404 Comitibus ac militibus. _ A. S. “geferum” (companions) and “king’s
thegns. ”

405 Cf. c. 22. Variously identified with Walton and Walbottle, both near
Newcastle. For the preposition, _v. _ II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

406 For Cedd, _v. _ Preface, and _infra_ cc. 22, 23, 25, 26. The names of
Adda and Betti do not occur again. For Diuma: _v. infra_ and c. 24.

407 III, 15.

408 Gateshead on the Tyne, opposite Newcastle. For the preposition, cf.
II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

409 Penda was killed in 655. Diuma was probably consecrated in 656.

410 Not identified. Perhaps Repton (Reppington) in Derbyshire, where it
is supposed that Diuma had fixed his see. For the form of the name,
cf. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

411 He probably returned at the time of the rebellion of Mercia in 658;
_v. _ c. 24, _ad fin. _ For Hii, _v. s. _ c. 3, _ad fin. _

412 Abbot of Gilling. He was a kinsman of Oswin: _v. _ c. 24, p. 191.

413 Cf. II, 5. Since then, the East Saxons had remained pagan.

414 Sometimes surnamed the “Good. ” (He must not be confused with
Sigbert, King of the East Angles, II, 15, and III, 18, 19. ) Sigbert
the Little was the successor of the three young kings who expelled
Mellitus (II, 5).

415 C. 21 and note.

416 C. 21 and note.

417 They must have been Celtic bishops, probably of the Irish Church and
subject to the authority of Iona. Cedd seems to have had no fixed
see. He is not called Bishop of London, like Mellitus.

418 Dr. Bright regards this organization as a foreshadowing of the
parochial system, which, however, was not thoroughly established
till long after.

419 Identified with the Roman military station, Othona, on the
Blackwater, formerly called the Pant, in Essex. The town is now
submerged.

420 Tilbury.

_ 421 Comes. _ A. S. “gesith. ”

422 He was his brother probably. But the relationships of these East
Saxon kings are very difficult to determine.

423 Rendlesham in Suffolk.

424 Distinguish from Ethelwald, or Oidilwald, sub-King of Deira (_v. s. _
c. 14, and _infra_ cc. 23, 24). Ethelwald, King of the East Angles,
succeeded his brother, Ethelhere, who was the successor of Anna (cf.
_supra_ cc. 7, 18, 19), and was killed in the battle of the Winwaed
(_v. infra_ c. 24).

425 Cf. _supra_ c. 14; _infra_ c. 24. Apparently he succeeded Oswin as
sub-King of Deira.

426 Isaiah, xxxv, 7.

427 Lastingham (_v. _ Preface). Cedd was its first abbot, though it was
not in his own diocese.

428 Doubtless only one at a time. The “Provost” is the prior of later
times. The charge of the monastery would devolve upon him while Cedd
was absent in his diocese.

429 Or, as he is commonly called, St. Chad, the greatest of this
remarkable group of brothers; _v. _ Preface and _infra passim_.

430 Ythancaestir, or Tilbury (_v. _ c. 22).

431 Oswald; _v. s. _ c. 9.

432 “Ealdormen,” Green, “Making of England,” p. 301. But they probably
included many British chiefs (_v. _ Nennius, and cf. _infra_ “duces
regii”).

433 Oswy’s younger son. He succeeded his father in 670 or 671 (_v. _ IV,
5, and for the events of his reign, IV, V, _passim_).

434 The wife of Penda.

435 Cc. 14 and 23. The reason for his conduct is not explained.
Probably
he had hoped to establish his claims on Northumbria through Penda’s
assistance, but shrank from actually fighting against his country.

436 Cf. c. 22, _ad fin. _, note. How he gave occasion for the war is not
known.

437 The river has not been identified, and there is great uncertainty
even with regard to the district. Below, Bede says that Oswy
concluded the war in the district of “Loidis,” by which he must mean
Leeds, as in II, 14, and most commentators adopt this view. In this
case, the river may be the Aire, or more probably the Went, a
tributary of the Don. Others believe the district to be the
Lothians, following the account in Nennius, who describes Oswy as
taking refuge before the battle in a city called Iudeu, supposed to
be either Edinburgh or Carriden (cf. I, 12, note), and the river has
been supposed to be the Avon in Linlithgow.

438 She is mentioned as joint-abbess with her mother, Eanfled, of the
monastery of Whitby (IV, 26). Eddius calls her “sapientissima
virgo,” “semper totius provinciae consolatrix optimaque
consiliatrix. ” Her influence helped to restore Wilfrid to the
bishopric. She was the friend of St. Cuthbert, who is said to have
wrought a miraculous cure on her behalf. It was to her that he
prophesied the death of her brother Egfrid (IV, 26, p. 285, note).

439 Hartlepool in the county of Durham (cf. IV, 23).

440 For the main facts of her life, _v. _ IV, 23. She was Abbess of
Whitby at the time of the Synod (c. 25).

441 Whitby. It was a mixed monastery (cf. IV, 23).

442 The ancient life of Gregory the Great, by a monk of Whitby, tells
how Edwin’s body was translated thither from the place where he
fell. For the fate of his head, cf. II, 20.

443 In 655: cf. V, 24 (death of Penda).

444 Cf. c. 21, where, however, Lindsey is not mentioned. For the
successive conquests of Lindsey by Northumbria and Mercia, _v. _ IV,
12, p. 243, note. Though it must have passed to Northumbria after
Oswy’s victory, it was still apparently included in the Mercian
diocese.

445 C. 21, _ad fin. _ and note. “Scottia,” as usual, means Ireland, which
includes Iona (cf. II, 4).

446 Cf. c. 14.

_ 447 I. e. _, he confirmed Peada in the government conferred on him by his
father, Penda, if we may assume the Southern Mercians to be
identical with the Middle Angles: cf. c. 21, p. 180.

448 Alchfled, Oswy’s daughter: _v. s. _ _ibid. _

449 He has been already mentioned, cc. 7, 21. He was a vigorous ruler;
he freed Mercia from Northumbria, reconquered Lindsey, established
his supremacy over the East Saxons (cf. c. 30), and curtailed the
power of Wessex. His attempt, however, to extend his power to the
north of the Humber ended in 675 in his disastrous defeat by Egfrid,
King of Northumbria (IV, 12) and his death followed immediately
after. He was the first Christian king of all Mercia, and he was
zealous in putting down idolatry (Florence of Worcester).

450 Cf. _supra_ and c. 21.

451 He succeeded in 662. Cf. c. 30.

452 C. 23, p. 187, and note.

453 IV, 3, 5, 6. He was deposed by Theodore for some act of disobedience
not known (IV, 6), and went to the Continent, where, travelling in
Neustria, he was mistaken for Wilfrid and cruelly ill-treated by the
emissaries of Ebroin (_v. _ V, 19, note), “errore bono unius syllabae
seducti,” as Eddius, the biographer of Wilfrid, remarks.

_ 454 I. e. _, Ireland.

455 He succeeded Cuthbert as Bishop of Lindisfarne; _v. _ IV, 29, 30.

456 Cf. II, 2, p. 84, note 3.

457 Nothing certain is known of him.

458 II, 16, 20; IV, 2.

_ 459 I. e. _, Iona: cf. IV, 4, _ad init. _ Colman succeeded in 661.

460 For his life: _v. _ V, 19.

461 Really Annemundus. He was Archbishop of Lyons. Cf. V, 8, note on
Godwin. He is confused with his brother Dalfinus, Count of Lyons:
_v. _ V, 19, p. 348, note.

462 Ripon. For the preposition, cf. II, 14, p. 119, note 5. The
monastery was first given to Eata (_v. _ c. 26), to be organized by
him, and among the monks he brought with him from Melrose was
Cuthbert (cf. IV, 27). They were forced to retire in 661, but after
the Synod of Whitby they conformed to the Catholic rules.

463 Cf. c. 7, where Bede’s summary account obscures the sequence of
events. Here he is still called Bishop of the West Saxons. It is
probable that he had retired from Wessex by this time, but had not
yet gone to Gaul. He did not become Bishop of Paris before 666, for
in that year we find his predecessor, Importunus, witnessing a
“privilegium” for a nunnery at Soissons.

464 We hear nothing more of this priest.

465 C. 24. The etymology is generally considered impossible. But cf.
Bright, “Early English Church History,” p. 213.

466 C. 24. After the Synod it appears that she conformed to the Catholic
usages. But she continued to be an opponent of Wilfrid till the end
of her life.

467 Cc. 21, 22, 23.

468 The practice of the churches of Asia, traditionally derived from St.
John, was to disregard the day of the week and observe as Easter Day
the 14th of the month Nisan. Therefore the claim to the authority of
St. John, advanced by the Celts, was inaccurate and gives some
colour to the charge, often brought against them, of being
“Quartodecimans. ”

469 Acts, xvi, 3.

_ 470 Ibid. _, xxi, 26.

_ 471 Ibid. _, xviii, 18.

_ 472 Ibid. _, xxi, 20.

473 Cf. II, 19, note.

474 Cf. c. 3, note.

475 St. Matt. , xvi, 18-19.

476 Cf. II, 2, p. 85, note 1.

477 To Iona; _v. _ IV, 4, _ad init. _

478 Fourth Bishop of Lindisfarne and the last of the Irish bishops in
that see. He died of the plague in 664: _v. _ c. 27.

479 Cf. c. 3, p. 139, and note.

_ 480 I. e. _, Ireland.

481 IV, 12, 27, 28; V, 2.

482 Old Melrose, “Quod Tuidi fluminis circumflexu maxima ex parte
clauditur,” V, 12. The more famous monastery is of later date and is
to the west of the older site.

483 Cf. c. 3, _ad fin. _ (where, however, there is only a general
allusion to the instruction of English children). It has been
suggested that they may have been redeemed from slavery. Cf. c. 5,
p. 145.

484 Really on the 1st.

485 Called the “Yellow Pest” from the colour of its victims. It was a
bubonic plague; it probably came from the East and was the same as
that which raged in Europe in Justinian’s reign. There were several
outbreaks in England in the seventh century, but this was the most
virulent. For subsequent visitations, cf. IV, 7, 14, 19.

486 Cf. c. 26, p. 201.

487 The Saxon Chronicle has “on Wagele,” which is supposed to be
Whalley, on the borders of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire, but
the name varies greatly in different chroniclers. Smith considers
that Bede’s form “Paegnalaech” or “Paegnalech” points to Finchale
(Wincanheale, in Simeon of Durham, or Pincahala), near Durham.

488 Cf. c. 4.

489 Cf. c. 11; IV, 12.

490 Said, on doubtful authority, to be Melfont, or Mellifont, in County
Louth.

491 “Acceptum sacerdotii gradum,” A. S. “biscophade onfeng” = he received
the episcopate. Cf. c. 4, note.

492 In 664.