He seemed much more
concerned
to gain an eternal crown than to rule an earthly kingdom.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
On the death of these
princes, Oswald was regarded as king over Bernicia and Deira. Trusting in
God's providence, and full of courage, he resolved on securing the crown, by
a brave effort, and then to restore the reign of religion and morality among
2
his subjects. 5 However, Cathlon had resolved on the invasion of Nor-
Selecting an advantageous position, the Anglo-Saxon prince drew his men upon a height, known as Denisesburn, having his flank covered by a part of the Roman wall. He had but few Christians in his army, 3° but on the eve
of battle, he was favoured by an extraordinary vision of St. Columba,3« as
2
thumbria, and accordingly, he levied a large army, with which, he devastated thatkingdom. Toopposesuchaforce,Oswaldcouldonlymusterasmall but resolute body of soldiers. The Britons were found to have been carelessly encamped in the neighbourhood of Hexam. 26 Both armies met near that great wall,9? which the Emperor Severus had erected to repel the incursions of the Picts and Scots. That was in the 28 to
year635, according generally received accounts. 9 Portions of the strong rampart were still standing.
already related 3
in our Life of the Apostle of Caledonia. This great patron
2
promised Oswald a glorious victory, in the approaching encounter. On
awaking, the king told his vision to the Saxons, who had joined him, and all
promised to receive baptism, should he return a victor from the field. 33
Then, erecting a large wooden cross, which had been hastily made, the king
set it up with his own hands, while his companions heaped earth around to
keep it in position. Prostrating himself before it, he said to his warriors :
"
Let us all fall on our knees, and together implore of the living and true and Almighty God to defend us in his mercy against the pride and fierceness of our enemy; for that God knows our cause is just, and that we fight for the safety of our nation. Yes, it is for our salvation and for our freedom, that we should fight to-day against those Britons, whom our fathers gloried in challenging, but who now prophesy the extermination of our race. "34 This remarkable event has been commemorated, by the learned and elegant writer Alcuin,35inLatinhexameterverse. 36 Earlyonthefollowingmorning,abattle
25 See Dean
Cressy's
" Church of History
i. , pp. 13
to and notes. 15
Book xv. ,
26 "
M See Rev. S. " Lives of Baring-Gould's
chap, ii. , p. 346.
See Rev. Dr. John Lingard's History
of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 90.
27 In a work by James Raine, "The tury was born in Yorkshire, England, about
Brittany,"
Priory of Hexam," published by the Surtees Society, a particular description of this re- markable battle-field is given. See vol i. ,
preface, p. ix. and appendix ii. , a. d. 1864.
28
See" Annales Monasterii de Waverleia," at that date, in " AnnalesMonastici," edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. ii. , p. 151.
29However,the"AnnalesCambrioe,"edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , have entered it thus : "clxxxvii. Annus. Bellum
Cantscaul, in quo Catguollan (cum suis) "
corruit, p. 7. In this work, the enumeration Prince- Abbot of St. Emmeran, has since
of entries commences at A. D. 444.
30 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
published a more complete edition, at Ratisbon, a. d. 1777, in two folio volumes.
36 The —is thus introduced
king addressing
Moines d' tome Occident,"
liv.
iv. , xiii. ,
chap, i. , p. 60.
31 See his Life, at the 9th of June, in the
Sixth Volume of this work, Art, i.
32 See ibid. , chap. xvii.
33 See Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba,"
edited by William Reeves, D. D. , lib. i. , cap,
his soldiers
"Nunc precor, invictas animis assumite vires,
Auxiliumque Dei, cunctis prsestantius armis,
the Saints," vol. viii. , August 5, pp. 65, 66.
the year 735, or as others state near London, and he was a scholar of the Venerable Bede. Afterwards, he became librarian to Ecbert, Archbishop of York. He then left for France, where he became the friend of the great Charlemagne. He departed this life in the Abbey of St. Martin, at Tours, on the 19th of May, a. d. 804, at the age of seventyyears. Hisworkshavebeencollected and published by Andre Du Chesne, at Paris, a. d. 1617, infol. To this edition his Life has been prefixed. However, Mr. Troben,
35 This celebrated writer of the cen- eighth
:
8o LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS,
[August 5.
began, and it was desperately contested. The British king was full of
confidence in the result, and already had he boasted, that nothing could
resist the forces he led. 3? In forty battles and in sixty single combats,
according to the Welsh traditions, their, British king Cadwallon had been
victorious. 38 In this battle, however, lie was vanquished by the greatly inferior
force opposed to him, and almost at the first encounter. When the Britons
gave way, their great warrior chief Cadwallon was found among the slain. 39
The height on which the battle had been fought was afterwards called Heaven's
Field, by the Saxons, who recognised this memorable engagement, as having
been obtained through a special intervention of Divine Providence. After
that the Britons evacuated Northumbria, and withdrew — great defeat, beyond
the Severn. Those who remained north of the Dee, in that territory dividedintotheCountiesofChester,LancasterandWestmoreland—submitted to the Northumbrian sway. Thenceforward, their dominion extended from the Irish Channel to the North Sea, tracing the line of the east coast so far astheFirthnearEdinburgh. Itisthought,likewise,thataportionofWales must have paid homage to Oswald, and that even Mercia was subject to his rule. Then, however, he became the undisputed sovereign not alone of Northumbria, but his supremacy was recognised over the whole Saxon Hep- tarchy, as the sixth of the Suzerains, who were titled in those times Bretwalda. 4° Not only had Oswald learned to possess in hope that heavenly
kingdom, which his fathers knew not ; but, even in this world, God gave him a kingdom vaster than that possessed by any of his ancestors. He reigned over the four races—who shared Britain among them—the Britons,
the the Picts and the Scots,
Angles. ''
1 No doubt, such was but supremacy
partially acknowledged, especially beyond the limits of the Anglo-Saxon territory. On the father's and on the mother's side, Oswald had a natural right to join the two kingships of Bernicia and Deira ; so that when Nor- thumbria had been united under one sovereign, it could not fail to become at once the chief realm in the Saxon Confederation. He succeeded, more- over, in reconciling and binding together into one state those two distinct races, who had heretofore lived in perpetual conflict and animosity. His first care was to solicit from the Scots a preacher, who might restore the Faith of Christ among the Saxons. However, the one sent, called by some writers Corman,^ does not appear to have been well chosen for the mission that awaited him. At length, finding little result from his labours, that man returned whence he came, and reported at a public meeting, that the people among whom he had been sent were of a rough, barbarous and incorrigible
Poscite, corde pio, precibus vestros
; prosternite
38 " See Le Comte de Montalembert's Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. , chap, i. , p. 10.
39 See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , August 5, p. 66.
40
Before these monarchs, the Tufa or plume of feathers was borne, and this was an emblem of supreme dominion, which rested chiefly among the Northumbrian kings. See Le Comte de Montalembert's "Les Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. , chap, i. , pp. 12, 13.
/'See Venerable Bede's-Historia Eccle-
siast,ca Gentls Ang1("linb lib. ill. , cap. vi. ,
p. 174.
42 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. , chap, i. , p. 16.
Vultus ante crucem, quam vertice montis in isto
Erexi, rutilat quae Christi clara trophaeo, Quae quoque nunc nobis praestabit ab hoste
triumphuni.
Tunc clamor populi fertur super astra
precantis,
Et cruce sic coram, DominumqueDeumque
potentem,
Poplitibus flexis, exercitus omnis adorat. "
-"De Ponificibus et Sanctis Eboracensis," v. 244.
37 See Henrici Archidiaconi "
Ecclesi*
Hunten- dunensis Historia Anglorum," lib. iii. , sect. , 34, p. 91. Thomas Arnold's edition.
since
August 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
nature. 43 He seems to have had a special affection for Bernicia, his father's country ; for, in it he chiefly lived. Its ancient boundaries on the Caledonian side he re-established or extended. He resided usually at Bebbaborough,** now Bamborough, in Northumberland. When Oswald had been securely established on his father's throne, he desired to procure Christian missionaries from Iona, in order to spread the faith among his pagan subjects. Notwith- standing the previous failure, still such an appeal was most favourably received by that Scottish or Irish colony. Soon an Apostle was selected to bear the standard of the cross, into the whole northern region of Saxon Britain. A man of meek and humble spirit charitably pleaded for their conversion, and suggested, that a certain degree of toleration should be extended to the Saxons. This discourse pleased the whole assembly, and he was deemed most suited for that apostolic mission. The holy monk, named Aidants was sent accordingly from the monastic metropolis in Iona, and he was eagerly welcomed by the religious King, to found the church on the north side of the Humber. The new missioner had not yet learned the Saxon language ; but, as the King long lived among the Scots, and thoroughly understood their manners, customs and speech, he willingly assumed the office of interpreter. When Aidan preached in the Celtic tongue, to the great chiefs, thanes and officials of the court, Oswald translated the sermons of the bishop, who, as yet, only spoke very imperfectly the Anglo-Saxon language. The King and the bishop rivalled each other in virtue, piety and ardent charity ; but, above all things, they were anxious to gain souls to Christ, and soon the powerful nobles became converts, while their example wasspeedilyfollowedbycrowdsoftheirretainersanddependents. Great numbers received instruction and the Sacrament of Baptism, as preparatory to the reception of other sacraments. Not alone Oswald, but the North- umbrian nobles, gave lands and gifts to found churches and monasteries, to which schools were added, so that religion and civilization might progress through all parts of that flourishing kingdom. The noble church of St. Peter in York, begun by King Edwin, was finished by Oswald. *6 New missionaries, full of zeal and fervour, soon began to arrive almost daily from Ireland or Scotland, to second the efforts of the King and of the bishop. Those earnest preachers of the Word soon changed the whole face of that country, and in an incredibly short time, paganism disappeared, while the converts to Christianity gave evidence of their sincerity and perseverance. Nothing could exceed the respect and veneration shown by King Oswald towards the first Bishop of Northumbria, while all their work was done in concert, to promote the best interests of religion. One Easter Day, while Bishop Aidan was seated with him at table, a silver dish containing choice food was set before the King. A blessing was about to be asked on the viands, when a servant entered the apartment, and he told the monarch, that a very great multitude of poor persons were without in the streets expecting entertainment. Immediately, the King ordered that meat set before him to be carried to them, and even the silver dish in which it was served, he caused to be broken and to be divided among them. Delighted with such an act of charity, the bishop took hold of the King's right hand, and he then "
43 " See Venerable Bede's
said, may
this hand never Above all else,
Historia Eccle- siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , chap.
be found.
46 See Dean Cressy's
349.
47 See Venerable Bede's
v. , p. 171.
44
It is said to have been so called from Bebba, a former queen.
45 His festival occurs at the 31st of this month, when a further account of him may
"
decay. "*?
things
"
Brittany," book xv. , chap, iii. , num. 17, p.
Historia Eccle- siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , chap, vi. ,
pp. 174, 175.
Church-History of
f
8z LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 5.
Oswald was desirous to set a good example for the imitation of his subjects ; and this influence was not without its fruit and reward. While
ruling his subjects with courage, firmness and justice, he was truly humble, gentle and gracious.
He seemed much more concerned to gain an eternal crown than to rule an earthly kingdom. He was remarkable for the cultivation of the more perfect virtues and of the most pious practices. He loved prayer, and he passed whole nights in that exercise. Furthermore, he was lavish in the distribution of alms ; while his riches were generously and freely bestowed on the poor and forsaken, on pilgrims and strangers, on the sick and infirm. One of Oswald's great acts was to build the celebrated monastery at Lindisfarne, a small island on the coast of Northumberland, between Berwick on the frontiers of England and Scotland, and Bamborough on the south/8 That he richly endowed, and there St. Aidan commenced that foundation of religious men, who conferred such benefits and enlighten- ment on the Northumbrian people. 4 ? At this time, the kingdom of the West Saxons, and known as Wessex, ranked next to Northumbria in power and influence. The kings of that nation were stated to have sprung from the blood of Odin, and they descended from Cerdic, one of the bravest invaders that landed on British soil. The king of Wessex had a daughter named Kinegilsis or Kineburga, and her Oswald wished to take for his wife ; but, previously, he resolved to gain her father and his family over to the Christian
religion.
s° About the same
time,
an Italian had undertaken a mission bishop
there, to endeavour, if possible, to convert the pagans of Wessex. These
efforts Oswald laboured to second ; and he was successful in persuading the
King to receive Christian baptism, while for him, the King of Northumbria
sponsor. Kinegilsis KineburgaS
baptized. Having gained her affections, both were united in the holy bonds to wedlock, in the year 635 or 636. 52 He returned to Northumbria with his young wife, and in due course she bore him a son, yet little worthy of his sire. " This religious Bretwalda54 had a sister known as St. Abba or Ebba, who presided over a community of nuns at Coldingham, in Northumbria. 55 She survived him over forty years, and her death has been assigned to a. d. ,684. Meanwhile, the fierce King of Mercia had viewed with jealousy the growing power of Oswald. He renewed his alliance with the Britons, who were anxious to avenge their former defeat and the death of their renowned kingCadwallon. Pendaplacedhimselfattheheadofthecombinedforces. For two years, a destructive war was waged against Oswald. At last, the opposing armies met at Maserfeld, or Masserfield,56 said to have been on thewesternborderofMerciaandNorthumbria. Somehavesupposedthis
8
place57 to be identical with Oswaldtry, or Oswestry,s meaning Oswald's
stood Inlikemanner or 1 believedandwas
48 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , lib. xiii. ,
chap, i. , p. 20.
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. ,
chap, i. , p. 30.
54 A term applied to the chief ruler among
the early Anglo-Saxon Kings.
$s See notices of her and of this nunnery in
the Firsl Volume of this work, and in the
Life of St. Adamnan of Coldingham, at the
31st of January, Art. iii.
5° In some of the old English Chronicles,
this place is also called Makcrfeld, and sometimes Mezcrfeld.
57 Such is the opinion of Capgrave, Cam- den and others. They think, when Oswald had at first defeated Penda, that then he
added such part of Shropshire to his King- dom.
49
vol. i. Historia Ecclesise I Hinhelmensis, edited by Thomas Arnold, M. A. , p. 7.
See Symeonis Monachi "Opera Omnia,"
50 See Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi "DeGestis Pontificum Anglorum," edited by N. E. S. A. Hamilton, lib. ii. , pp. 157, 158.
51 See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle-
siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. vii.
52 calculations.
According to Alford's Chronological 53 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
August 5. J LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 83
cross,59 a market town, about eighteen miles from Shrewsbury. Others are inclined to believe that place was at Winwick6° in Lancashire, where St. Oswald's well was long visited by devout pilgrims. A desperate battle was fought at Maserfeld, on the 5th of August, a. d. 642. Among those who fell on the side of the Mercians was the brother of Penda, with several of
his chiefs. However, the victory remained for his standard.
61
After a fierce
struggle. Oswald's forces were defeated, when seeing himself surrounded
with enemies, and overwhelmed by numbers, he only thought on the supreme
necessities of his soldiers who fell around him. " My God ! save their souls/' were his last dying words, as a forest of arrows and lances pierced his body.
and 62 Not satisfied with the religion.
Thus he fell for his fighting
country
death of his heroic rival, the savage Penda caused the head and hands of
Oswald to be struck off from the corpse ; and, in order to proclaim his victory to all, they were set up on stakes, as a grim memorial of that issue. 63 However; according to Bishop Aidan's prediction, the arm and hand cut off from the bodyoftheKingremainedincorrupttothetimeofVenerableBede. Various other miracles were wrought at the place where he fell ; while cures were wrought on behalf of persons afflicted with different diseases, and even cattle were healed, when the, pious King's intercession had been invoked. Even the stake on which his head had been set up was afterwards cut away by various persons, who preserved its pieces as so many prized relics. An Irish
priest, on a pilgrimage among the Frisons, told the venerable Bishop Acca,6* who was a guest of St. Willibrord,65 that while the great pestilence raged
throughout Great Britain and Ireland, a Scottish scholastic, who was very learned,hadledasinfullife. Hewasattackedbytheprevailingdistemper,and brought to the last extremity, when he cried out in despair, that should he then die his soul must be eternally lost, but he declared, if the Almighty would deign to spare him, for the future term of life, he should change his whole conduct. Theattendantwhowaspresentthendeclared,thathehadaportion of that wood, and as many miracles had been wrought through the merits of St. Oswald, should t|ie sick man believe in his intercession, he intended to place a little of it in water, and with a benediction to administer it in God's name, The plague-strieken man at once professed his faith in the powerful patronage of St. Oswald, and having taken the draught, he recovered miraculously, and during the whole course of his life which was prolonged, he became a true convert, never ceasing his praise and thanksgiving to the bountiful Creator and
toHisgloriousservant,St. Oswald. 66 ThusperishedtherenownedMonarchof Northumbria, at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight, and afterwards this saintly King was regarded as a martyr. The scene of his death became hallowed, and in after time, a monastery was built at Oswestry, while the
s8 It is now a parish, in the north division of Salop, and the denomination is a corrup- tion of the Saxon Oswaldstre. See an account of it in Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Die-
at a. d. 652, where we find entered " Sanctus Oswaldus rex Northumbriorum passus est," p. 5. See " Annales Monastici," edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. ii.
of
59 The Welsh still call this
°3 See Dean
" Church- of History
tionary
England,"
vol.
iii. , pp. 488, 489.
Cressy's
"
principal Saints," vol. viii. , August v.
6* The feast of this holy prelate is kept On the 20th of October.
6s His festival occurs on the 7th of Novem- ber.
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other
place
Croes
Brittany," 360.
book x
v. , chap, x. ,
num. 12,
p.
Oswald.
60 That the place around was known as
Maserfelte appears from an old inscription in Winwick Church. See Rev. Alban Butler's
61
chap. L, p. 31. num. 40, 41, pp. 101, 102.
66 See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Augusti v. De S. Oswaldo Rege Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , lib. xiii. , ac Mart. Vita Drogoni monachi, cap. v. ,
62
The Annales de Wintonia have this event 6? See Samuel Lewis' ''Topographical Die-
See Le Comte de Montalembert's" Les
84 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 5.
ChurchtherewasknownasBlancMinster. 6' Fortwoyears,thesacredremains of Oswald were exposed in the manner already related, being regarded with
a sorrowful veneration by his Christian friends, while treated with ignominy
and insult by his pagan enemies. The spot where his body fell on the field of
battle was long preserved in popular tradition, and frequent pilgrimages were made to that place. Many of the pilgrims took away the very dust from it, and mixing it with water, great benefit was derived thereby to the sick. This custom had prevailed to such a degree, that in the time of Venerable Bede, a hole had been made there deep as a man's height, although the earth had been carriedawayinseveralsmallportions. Variousmiracleswerewroughtthrough his intercession, and many of these are detailed by that eminent church his- torian. 68 That celebrated battle, in which Oswald, King of the Saxons, fell,
6
has been placed at A. D. 638, in the Annals of Ulster; 9but it has been ante-
dated by fully four years. After his death, King Oswald, who reigned nine years,? was succeeded in Bernicia by his brother Oswy, and in Deira by
1 acousinofthe Edwin. Forsix bothofthoseprinces great King years,
Oswin,?
lived in apparent amity with each other ; but, in the seventh year, their secret
jealousy broke out into open hostilities, and Oswin was slain in 651. At length, his brother Oswy became the avenger of the good King's death, when,
after a restless reign of several years' duration, in 655, the hoary veteran Penda, now in his eightieth year, levied a large army of Mercians, and led his forceagainsttheNorthumbrians. InvaindidOswyendeavourtopropitiate the tyrant, by offering tribute. Roused by despair, Oswy and his son Alchfrid then gathered a small but resolute body of men, and marched to meet the
3 near Leeds, both armies engaged, and the North- umbrians proved victorious. The Mercians in their retreat bore their King Penda along in the disordered ranks. However, he was overtaken by the pursuers and put to death. 73 The head of Oswald was conveyed to the monastery of Lindisfarne, where, with sorrowing respect and yet satisfaction, his friend St. Aidan received such a precious deposit. Afterwards, and it is said owing to a supernatural admonition,? * the head was put in the same shrine
6
with the body of St. Cuthbert,? * in 1104. 7
Radolph, Archbishop of Canterbury, examined the reliquary, and found the remains of the latter holy prelate entire, with the head of St. Oswald, King and Martyr, placed within his arms. " Both sacred relics were transferred from
8
Lindisfarne, as we are informed, and brought to Durham. ?
fortress of Bebbaburgh, now Bamborough, in Northumberland, a chapel had been erected, and one in which the King had often prayed. There his hand and arm were placed in a shrine and religiously preserved. However, the King's arm was afterwards transferred to Peterborough,? and it is said they
invaders. At
Winwidfield,?
tionary of England," vol. iii. , p. 488.
68 See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle-
siastica Gcntis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. ix. , x. ,xi. , xii. , xiii. , pp. 185 to 195.
69 See the ArniAlA Ul<voh, otherwise An- nolo, Senaic, edited with a Translation and Notes, by William M. Hennessy, M. R. I. A. , vol. i. , pp. 106, 107.
Gibson's second edition, vol. ii. , col. 861. "See Rev. Dr. John Lingard's "Hfatory
of England," vol. i. , chap. ii. .
princes, Oswald was regarded as king over Bernicia and Deira. Trusting in
God's providence, and full of courage, he resolved on securing the crown, by
a brave effort, and then to restore the reign of religion and morality among
2
his subjects. 5 However, Cathlon had resolved on the invasion of Nor-
Selecting an advantageous position, the Anglo-Saxon prince drew his men upon a height, known as Denisesburn, having his flank covered by a part of the Roman wall. He had but few Christians in his army, 3° but on the eve
of battle, he was favoured by an extraordinary vision of St. Columba,3« as
2
thumbria, and accordingly, he levied a large army, with which, he devastated thatkingdom. Toopposesuchaforce,Oswaldcouldonlymusterasmall but resolute body of soldiers. The Britons were found to have been carelessly encamped in the neighbourhood of Hexam. 26 Both armies met near that great wall,9? which the Emperor Severus had erected to repel the incursions of the Picts and Scots. That was in the 28 to
year635, according generally received accounts. 9 Portions of the strong rampart were still standing.
already related 3
in our Life of the Apostle of Caledonia. This great patron
2
promised Oswald a glorious victory, in the approaching encounter. On
awaking, the king told his vision to the Saxons, who had joined him, and all
promised to receive baptism, should he return a victor from the field. 33
Then, erecting a large wooden cross, which had been hastily made, the king
set it up with his own hands, while his companions heaped earth around to
keep it in position. Prostrating himself before it, he said to his warriors :
"
Let us all fall on our knees, and together implore of the living and true and Almighty God to defend us in his mercy against the pride and fierceness of our enemy; for that God knows our cause is just, and that we fight for the safety of our nation. Yes, it is for our salvation and for our freedom, that we should fight to-day against those Britons, whom our fathers gloried in challenging, but who now prophesy the extermination of our race. "34 This remarkable event has been commemorated, by the learned and elegant writer Alcuin,35inLatinhexameterverse. 36 Earlyonthefollowingmorning,abattle
25 See Dean
Cressy's
" Church of History
i. , pp. 13
to and notes. 15
Book xv. ,
26 "
M See Rev. S. " Lives of Baring-Gould's
chap, ii. , p. 346.
See Rev. Dr. John Lingard's History
of England," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 90.
27 In a work by James Raine, "The tury was born in Yorkshire, England, about
Brittany,"
Priory of Hexam," published by the Surtees Society, a particular description of this re- markable battle-field is given. See vol i. ,
preface, p. ix. and appendix ii. , a. d. 1864.
28
See" Annales Monasterii de Waverleia," at that date, in " AnnalesMonastici," edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. ii. , p. 151.
29However,the"AnnalesCambrioe,"edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , have entered it thus : "clxxxvii. Annus. Bellum
Cantscaul, in quo Catguollan (cum suis) "
corruit, p. 7. In this work, the enumeration Prince- Abbot of St. Emmeran, has since
of entries commences at A. D. 444.
30 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
published a more complete edition, at Ratisbon, a. d. 1777, in two folio volumes.
36 The —is thus introduced
king addressing
Moines d' tome Occident,"
liv.
iv. , xiii. ,
chap, i. , p. 60.
31 See his Life, at the 9th of June, in the
Sixth Volume of this work, Art, i.
32 See ibid. , chap. xvii.
33 See Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba,"
edited by William Reeves, D. D. , lib. i. , cap,
his soldiers
"Nunc precor, invictas animis assumite vires,
Auxiliumque Dei, cunctis prsestantius armis,
the Saints," vol. viii. , August 5, pp. 65, 66.
the year 735, or as others state near London, and he was a scholar of the Venerable Bede. Afterwards, he became librarian to Ecbert, Archbishop of York. He then left for France, where he became the friend of the great Charlemagne. He departed this life in the Abbey of St. Martin, at Tours, on the 19th of May, a. d. 804, at the age of seventyyears. Hisworkshavebeencollected and published by Andre Du Chesne, at Paris, a. d. 1617, infol. To this edition his Life has been prefixed. However, Mr. Troben,
35 This celebrated writer of the cen- eighth
:
8o LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS,
[August 5.
began, and it was desperately contested. The British king was full of
confidence in the result, and already had he boasted, that nothing could
resist the forces he led. 3? In forty battles and in sixty single combats,
according to the Welsh traditions, their, British king Cadwallon had been
victorious. 38 In this battle, however, lie was vanquished by the greatly inferior
force opposed to him, and almost at the first encounter. When the Britons
gave way, their great warrior chief Cadwallon was found among the slain. 39
The height on which the battle had been fought was afterwards called Heaven's
Field, by the Saxons, who recognised this memorable engagement, as having
been obtained through a special intervention of Divine Providence. After
that the Britons evacuated Northumbria, and withdrew — great defeat, beyond
the Severn. Those who remained north of the Dee, in that territory dividedintotheCountiesofChester,LancasterandWestmoreland—submitted to the Northumbrian sway. Thenceforward, their dominion extended from the Irish Channel to the North Sea, tracing the line of the east coast so far astheFirthnearEdinburgh. Itisthought,likewise,thataportionofWales must have paid homage to Oswald, and that even Mercia was subject to his rule. Then, however, he became the undisputed sovereign not alone of Northumbria, but his supremacy was recognised over the whole Saxon Hep- tarchy, as the sixth of the Suzerains, who were titled in those times Bretwalda. 4° Not only had Oswald learned to possess in hope that heavenly
kingdom, which his fathers knew not ; but, even in this world, God gave him a kingdom vaster than that possessed by any of his ancestors. He reigned over the four races—who shared Britain among them—the Britons,
the the Picts and the Scots,
Angles. ''
1 No doubt, such was but supremacy
partially acknowledged, especially beyond the limits of the Anglo-Saxon territory. On the father's and on the mother's side, Oswald had a natural right to join the two kingships of Bernicia and Deira ; so that when Nor- thumbria had been united under one sovereign, it could not fail to become at once the chief realm in the Saxon Confederation. He succeeded, more- over, in reconciling and binding together into one state those two distinct races, who had heretofore lived in perpetual conflict and animosity. His first care was to solicit from the Scots a preacher, who might restore the Faith of Christ among the Saxons. However, the one sent, called by some writers Corman,^ does not appear to have been well chosen for the mission that awaited him. At length, finding little result from his labours, that man returned whence he came, and reported at a public meeting, that the people among whom he had been sent were of a rough, barbarous and incorrigible
Poscite, corde pio, precibus vestros
; prosternite
38 " See Le Comte de Montalembert's Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. , chap, i. , p. 10.
39 See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , August 5, p. 66.
40
Before these monarchs, the Tufa or plume of feathers was borne, and this was an emblem of supreme dominion, which rested chiefly among the Northumbrian kings. See Le Comte de Montalembert's "Les Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. , chap, i. , pp. 12, 13.
/'See Venerable Bede's-Historia Eccle-
siast,ca Gentls Ang1("linb lib. ill. , cap. vi. ,
p. 174.
42 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. , chap, i. , p. 16.
Vultus ante crucem, quam vertice montis in isto
Erexi, rutilat quae Christi clara trophaeo, Quae quoque nunc nobis praestabit ab hoste
triumphuni.
Tunc clamor populi fertur super astra
precantis,
Et cruce sic coram, DominumqueDeumque
potentem,
Poplitibus flexis, exercitus omnis adorat. "
-"De Ponificibus et Sanctis Eboracensis," v. 244.
37 See Henrici Archidiaconi "
Ecclesi*
Hunten- dunensis Historia Anglorum," lib. iii. , sect. , 34, p. 91. Thomas Arnold's edition.
since
August 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
nature. 43 He seems to have had a special affection for Bernicia, his father's country ; for, in it he chiefly lived. Its ancient boundaries on the Caledonian side he re-established or extended. He resided usually at Bebbaborough,** now Bamborough, in Northumberland. When Oswald had been securely established on his father's throne, he desired to procure Christian missionaries from Iona, in order to spread the faith among his pagan subjects. Notwith- standing the previous failure, still such an appeal was most favourably received by that Scottish or Irish colony. Soon an Apostle was selected to bear the standard of the cross, into the whole northern region of Saxon Britain. A man of meek and humble spirit charitably pleaded for their conversion, and suggested, that a certain degree of toleration should be extended to the Saxons. This discourse pleased the whole assembly, and he was deemed most suited for that apostolic mission. The holy monk, named Aidants was sent accordingly from the monastic metropolis in Iona, and he was eagerly welcomed by the religious King, to found the church on the north side of the Humber. The new missioner had not yet learned the Saxon language ; but, as the King long lived among the Scots, and thoroughly understood their manners, customs and speech, he willingly assumed the office of interpreter. When Aidan preached in the Celtic tongue, to the great chiefs, thanes and officials of the court, Oswald translated the sermons of the bishop, who, as yet, only spoke very imperfectly the Anglo-Saxon language. The King and the bishop rivalled each other in virtue, piety and ardent charity ; but, above all things, they were anxious to gain souls to Christ, and soon the powerful nobles became converts, while their example wasspeedilyfollowedbycrowdsoftheirretainersanddependents. Great numbers received instruction and the Sacrament of Baptism, as preparatory to the reception of other sacraments. Not alone Oswald, but the North- umbrian nobles, gave lands and gifts to found churches and monasteries, to which schools were added, so that religion and civilization might progress through all parts of that flourishing kingdom. The noble church of St. Peter in York, begun by King Edwin, was finished by Oswald. *6 New missionaries, full of zeal and fervour, soon began to arrive almost daily from Ireland or Scotland, to second the efforts of the King and of the bishop. Those earnest preachers of the Word soon changed the whole face of that country, and in an incredibly short time, paganism disappeared, while the converts to Christianity gave evidence of their sincerity and perseverance. Nothing could exceed the respect and veneration shown by King Oswald towards the first Bishop of Northumbria, while all their work was done in concert, to promote the best interests of religion. One Easter Day, while Bishop Aidan was seated with him at table, a silver dish containing choice food was set before the King. A blessing was about to be asked on the viands, when a servant entered the apartment, and he told the monarch, that a very great multitude of poor persons were without in the streets expecting entertainment. Immediately, the King ordered that meat set before him to be carried to them, and even the silver dish in which it was served, he caused to be broken and to be divided among them. Delighted with such an act of charity, the bishop took hold of the King's right hand, and he then "
43 " See Venerable Bede's
said, may
this hand never Above all else,
Historia Eccle- siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , chap.
be found.
46 See Dean Cressy's
349.
47 See Venerable Bede's
v. , p. 171.
44
It is said to have been so called from Bebba, a former queen.
45 His festival occurs at the 31st of this month, when a further account of him may
"
decay. "*?
things
"
Brittany," book xv. , chap, iii. , num. 17, p.
Historia Eccle- siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , chap, vi. ,
pp. 174, 175.
Church-History of
f
8z LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 5.
Oswald was desirous to set a good example for the imitation of his subjects ; and this influence was not without its fruit and reward. While
ruling his subjects with courage, firmness and justice, he was truly humble, gentle and gracious.
He seemed much more concerned to gain an eternal crown than to rule an earthly kingdom. He was remarkable for the cultivation of the more perfect virtues and of the most pious practices. He loved prayer, and he passed whole nights in that exercise. Furthermore, he was lavish in the distribution of alms ; while his riches were generously and freely bestowed on the poor and forsaken, on pilgrims and strangers, on the sick and infirm. One of Oswald's great acts was to build the celebrated monastery at Lindisfarne, a small island on the coast of Northumberland, between Berwick on the frontiers of England and Scotland, and Bamborough on the south/8 That he richly endowed, and there St. Aidan commenced that foundation of religious men, who conferred such benefits and enlighten- ment on the Northumbrian people. 4 ? At this time, the kingdom of the West Saxons, and known as Wessex, ranked next to Northumbria in power and influence. The kings of that nation were stated to have sprung from the blood of Odin, and they descended from Cerdic, one of the bravest invaders that landed on British soil. The king of Wessex had a daughter named Kinegilsis or Kineburga, and her Oswald wished to take for his wife ; but, previously, he resolved to gain her father and his family over to the Christian
religion.
s° About the same
time,
an Italian had undertaken a mission bishop
there, to endeavour, if possible, to convert the pagans of Wessex. These
efforts Oswald laboured to second ; and he was successful in persuading the
King to receive Christian baptism, while for him, the King of Northumbria
sponsor. Kinegilsis KineburgaS
baptized. Having gained her affections, both were united in the holy bonds to wedlock, in the year 635 or 636. 52 He returned to Northumbria with his young wife, and in due course she bore him a son, yet little worthy of his sire. " This religious Bretwalda54 had a sister known as St. Abba or Ebba, who presided over a community of nuns at Coldingham, in Northumbria. 55 She survived him over forty years, and her death has been assigned to a. d. ,684. Meanwhile, the fierce King of Mercia had viewed with jealousy the growing power of Oswald. He renewed his alliance with the Britons, who were anxious to avenge their former defeat and the death of their renowned kingCadwallon. Pendaplacedhimselfattheheadofthecombinedforces. For two years, a destructive war was waged against Oswald. At last, the opposing armies met at Maserfeld, or Masserfield,56 said to have been on thewesternborderofMerciaandNorthumbria. Somehavesupposedthis
8
place57 to be identical with Oswaldtry, or Oswestry,s meaning Oswald's
stood Inlikemanner or 1 believedandwas
48 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , lib. xiii. ,
chap, i. , p. 20.
Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , liv. xiii. ,
chap, i. , p. 30.
54 A term applied to the chief ruler among
the early Anglo-Saxon Kings.
$s See notices of her and of this nunnery in
the Firsl Volume of this work, and in the
Life of St. Adamnan of Coldingham, at the
31st of January, Art. iii.
5° In some of the old English Chronicles,
this place is also called Makcrfeld, and sometimes Mezcrfeld.
57 Such is the opinion of Capgrave, Cam- den and others. They think, when Oswald had at first defeated Penda, that then he
added such part of Shropshire to his King- dom.
49
vol. i. Historia Ecclesise I Hinhelmensis, edited by Thomas Arnold, M. A. , p. 7.
See Symeonis Monachi "Opera Omnia,"
50 See Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi "DeGestis Pontificum Anglorum," edited by N. E. S. A. Hamilton, lib. ii. , pp. 157, 158.
51 See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle-
siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. vii.
52 calculations.
According to Alford's Chronological 53 See Le Comte de Montalembert's " Les
August 5. J LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 83
cross,59 a market town, about eighteen miles from Shrewsbury. Others are inclined to believe that place was at Winwick6° in Lancashire, where St. Oswald's well was long visited by devout pilgrims. A desperate battle was fought at Maserfeld, on the 5th of August, a. d. 642. Among those who fell on the side of the Mercians was the brother of Penda, with several of
his chiefs. However, the victory remained for his standard.
61
After a fierce
struggle. Oswald's forces were defeated, when seeing himself surrounded
with enemies, and overwhelmed by numbers, he only thought on the supreme
necessities of his soldiers who fell around him. " My God ! save their souls/' were his last dying words, as a forest of arrows and lances pierced his body.
and 62 Not satisfied with the religion.
Thus he fell for his fighting
country
death of his heroic rival, the savage Penda caused the head and hands of
Oswald to be struck off from the corpse ; and, in order to proclaim his victory to all, they were set up on stakes, as a grim memorial of that issue. 63 However; according to Bishop Aidan's prediction, the arm and hand cut off from the bodyoftheKingremainedincorrupttothetimeofVenerableBede. Various other miracles were wrought at the place where he fell ; while cures were wrought on behalf of persons afflicted with different diseases, and even cattle were healed, when the, pious King's intercession had been invoked. Even the stake on which his head had been set up was afterwards cut away by various persons, who preserved its pieces as so many prized relics. An Irish
priest, on a pilgrimage among the Frisons, told the venerable Bishop Acca,6* who was a guest of St. Willibrord,65 that while the great pestilence raged
throughout Great Britain and Ireland, a Scottish scholastic, who was very learned,hadledasinfullife. Hewasattackedbytheprevailingdistemper,and brought to the last extremity, when he cried out in despair, that should he then die his soul must be eternally lost, but he declared, if the Almighty would deign to spare him, for the future term of life, he should change his whole conduct. Theattendantwhowaspresentthendeclared,thathehadaportion of that wood, and as many miracles had been wrought through the merits of St. Oswald, should t|ie sick man believe in his intercession, he intended to place a little of it in water, and with a benediction to administer it in God's name, The plague-strieken man at once professed his faith in the powerful patronage of St. Oswald, and having taken the draught, he recovered miraculously, and during the whole course of his life which was prolonged, he became a true convert, never ceasing his praise and thanksgiving to the bountiful Creator and
toHisgloriousservant,St. Oswald. 66 ThusperishedtherenownedMonarchof Northumbria, at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight, and afterwards this saintly King was regarded as a martyr. The scene of his death became hallowed, and in after time, a monastery was built at Oswestry, while the
s8 It is now a parish, in the north division of Salop, and the denomination is a corrup- tion of the Saxon Oswaldstre. See an account of it in Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Die-
at a. d. 652, where we find entered " Sanctus Oswaldus rex Northumbriorum passus est," p. 5. See " Annales Monastici," edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. ii.
of
59 The Welsh still call this
°3 See Dean
" Church- of History
tionary
England,"
vol.
iii. , pp. 488, 489.
Cressy's
"
principal Saints," vol. viii. , August v.
6* The feast of this holy prelate is kept On the 20th of October.
6s His festival occurs on the 7th of Novem- ber.
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other
place
Croes
Brittany," 360.
book x
v. , chap, x. ,
num. 12,
p.
Oswald.
60 That the place around was known as
Maserfelte appears from an old inscription in Winwick Church. See Rev. Alban Butler's
61
chap. L, p. 31. num. 40, 41, pp. 101, 102.
66 See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Augusti v. De S. Oswaldo Rege Moines d'Occident," tome iv. , lib. xiii. , ac Mart. Vita Drogoni monachi, cap. v. ,
62
The Annales de Wintonia have this event 6? See Samuel Lewis' ''Topographical Die-
See Le Comte de Montalembert's" Les
84 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 5.
ChurchtherewasknownasBlancMinster. 6' Fortwoyears,thesacredremains of Oswald were exposed in the manner already related, being regarded with
a sorrowful veneration by his Christian friends, while treated with ignominy
and insult by his pagan enemies. The spot where his body fell on the field of
battle was long preserved in popular tradition, and frequent pilgrimages were made to that place. Many of the pilgrims took away the very dust from it, and mixing it with water, great benefit was derived thereby to the sick. This custom had prevailed to such a degree, that in the time of Venerable Bede, a hole had been made there deep as a man's height, although the earth had been carriedawayinseveralsmallportions. Variousmiracleswerewroughtthrough his intercession, and many of these are detailed by that eminent church his- torian. 68 That celebrated battle, in which Oswald, King of the Saxons, fell,
6
has been placed at A. D. 638, in the Annals of Ulster; 9but it has been ante-
dated by fully four years. After his death, King Oswald, who reigned nine years,? was succeeded in Bernicia by his brother Oswy, and in Deira by
1 acousinofthe Edwin. Forsix bothofthoseprinces great King years,
Oswin,?
lived in apparent amity with each other ; but, in the seventh year, their secret
jealousy broke out into open hostilities, and Oswin was slain in 651. At length, his brother Oswy became the avenger of the good King's death, when,
after a restless reign of several years' duration, in 655, the hoary veteran Penda, now in his eightieth year, levied a large army of Mercians, and led his forceagainsttheNorthumbrians. InvaindidOswyendeavourtopropitiate the tyrant, by offering tribute. Roused by despair, Oswy and his son Alchfrid then gathered a small but resolute body of men, and marched to meet the
3 near Leeds, both armies engaged, and the North- umbrians proved victorious. The Mercians in their retreat bore their King Penda along in the disordered ranks. However, he was overtaken by the pursuers and put to death. 73 The head of Oswald was conveyed to the monastery of Lindisfarne, where, with sorrowing respect and yet satisfaction, his friend St. Aidan received such a precious deposit. Afterwards, and it is said owing to a supernatural admonition,? * the head was put in the same shrine
6
with the body of St. Cuthbert,? * in 1104. 7
Radolph, Archbishop of Canterbury, examined the reliquary, and found the remains of the latter holy prelate entire, with the head of St. Oswald, King and Martyr, placed within his arms. " Both sacred relics were transferred from
8
Lindisfarne, as we are informed, and brought to Durham. ?
fortress of Bebbaburgh, now Bamborough, in Northumberland, a chapel had been erected, and one in which the King had often prayed. There his hand and arm were placed in a shrine and religiously preserved. However, the King's arm was afterwards transferred to Peterborough,? and it is said they
invaders. At
Winwidfield,?
tionary of England," vol. iii. , p. 488.
68 See Venerable Bede's " Historia Eccle-
siastica Gcntis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. ix. , x. ,xi. , xii. , xiii. , pp. 185 to 195.
69 See the ArniAlA Ul<voh, otherwise An- nolo, Senaic, edited with a Translation and Notes, by William M. Hennessy, M. R. I. A. , vol. i. , pp. 106, 107.
Gibson's second edition, vol. ii. , col. 861. "See Rev. Dr. John Lingard's "Hfatory
of England," vol. i. , chap. ii. .
