No More Learning

“Not very far from our monastery,” he said, “to wit,
about two miles off, was the township(784) of one Puch, a thegn, whose
wife had lain sick of a very grievous disease for nearly forty days,
insomuch that for three weeks she could not be carried out of the chamber
where she lay. It happened that the man of God was, at that time, called
thither by the thegn to consecrate a church; and when that was done, the
thegn desired him to come into his house and dine. The bishop declined,
saying that he must return to the monastery, which was very near. The
thegn, entreating him more earnestly, vowed he would also give alms to the
poor, if so be that the bishop would vouchsafe to enter his house that day
and break his fast. I joined my entreaties to his, promising in like
manner to give alms for the relief of the poor,(785) if he would but go
and dine at the thegn’s house, and give his blessing. Having at length,
with much difficulty, prevailed, we went in to refresh ourselves. The
bishop had sent to the woman that lay sick some of the holy water, which
he had blessed for the consecration of the church, by one of the brothers
who had come with me, ordering him to give her some to drink, and wash
that part of her where he found that her pain was greatest, with some of
the same water. This being done, the woman immediately got up whole and
sound, and perceiving that she had not only been delivered from her long
sickness, but at the same time had recovered the strength which she had
lost for so great a time, she presented the cup to the bishop and to us,
and continued serving us with meat and drink as she had begun, till dinner
was over; following the example of the blessed Peter’s wife’s mother, who,
having been sick of a fever, arose at the touch of our Lord’s hand, and
having forthwith received health and strength, ministered to them. ”(786)




Chap. V. How he likewise recalled by his prayers a thegn’s servant from
death.


At another time also, being called to consecrate the church(787) of a
thegn named Addi, when he had performed the required duty, he was
entreated by the thegn to go in to one of his servants, who lay
dangerously ill, insomuch that having lost all use of his limbs, he seemed
to be at the point of death; and moreover the coffin had been made ready
wherein to bury him after his death. The thegn urged his entreaties with
tears, earnestly beseeching him that he would go in and pray for the
servant, because his life was of great moment to him; and he believed that
if the bishop would lay his hand upon him and give him his blessing, he
would soon mend. So the bishop went in, and saw him very near death, and
by his side the coffin in which he was to be laid for his burial, whilst
all mourned. He said a prayer and blessed him, and going out, spake the
wonted words of comfort, “Good health be yours and that speedily. ”
Afterwards, when they were sitting at table, the servant sent to his lord,
desiring that he would let him have a cup of wine, because he was thirsty.
The thegn, rejoicing greatly that he could drink, sent him a cup of wine,
blessed by the bishop; and, as soon as he had drunk it, he immediately got
up, and, shaking off the heaviness of his infirmity, dressed himself and
went forth, and going in to the bishop, saluted him and the other guests,
saying that he also would gladly eat and drink with them. They bade him
sit down with them at table, greatly rejoicing at his recovery. He sat
down, ate and drank and made merry, and behaved himself like the rest of
the company; and living many years after, continued in the same health
which he had gained. The aforesaid abbot says this miracle was not wrought
in his presence, but that he had it from those who were present.




Chap. VI. How, both by his prayers and blessing, he recalled from death
one of his clerks, who had bruised himself by a fall.


Nor do I think that this miracle, which Herebald,(788) the servant of
Christ, says was wrought upon himself by the bishop, is to be passed over
in silence. He was then one of that bishop’s clergy, but now presides as
abbot in the monastery at the mouth of the river Tyne. (789) “Living with
him,” said he, “and being very well acquainted with his course of life, I
found it to be in all points worthy of a bishop, as far as it is lawful
for men to judge; but I have known by the experience of others, and more
particularly by my own, how great his merit was before Him Who seeth the
heart; having been by his prayer and blessing recalled from the threshold
of death and brought back to the way of life. For, when in the prime of my
youth, I lived among his clergy, applying myself to reading and singing,
but not having yet altogether withdrawn my heart from youthful pleasures,
it happened one day that, as we were travelling with him, we came into a
plain and open road, well fitted for galloping. The young men that were
with him, and especially the laymen, began to entreat the bishop to give
them leave to gallop, and make trial of their horses one with another. He
at first refused, saying that it was an idle request; but at last,
overcome by the unanimous desire of so many, ‘Do so,’ said he, ‘if you
will, but let Herebald have no part in the trial. ’ Then I earnestly prayed
that I might have leave to compete with the rest, for I relied on an
excellent horse, which he had himself given me, but I could in no wise
obtain my request.

“When they had several times galloped backwards and forwards, the bishop
and I looking on, my wanton humour prevailed, and I could no longer
refrain, but though he forbade me, I struck in among them at their sport,
and began to ride with them at full speed; whereat I heard him call after
me with a groan, ‘Alas! how much you grieve me by riding after that
manner. ’ Though I heard him, I went on against his command; but
immediately the fiery horse taking a great leap over a hollow place in the
way, I fell, and at once lost all sense and motion, like one dying; for
there was in that place a stone, level with the ground, covered with only
a thin coating of turf, and no other stone was to be found in all that
expanse of plain; and it happened by chance, or rather by Divine
Providence so ordering it, to punish my disobedience, that my head and my
hand, which in falling I had put under my head, struck upon that stone, so
that my thumb was broken and my skull fractured, and I became, as I said,
like one dead.

“And because I could not move, they stretched a tent there for me to lie
in. It was about the seventh hour of the day, and having lain still and as
it were dead from that time till the evening, I then revived a little, and
was carried home by my companions, and lay speechless all the night,
vomiting blood, because something was broken within me by the fall. The
bishop was very much grieved at my fall and my misfortune, for he bore me
extraordinary affection. Nor would he stay that night, as he was wont,
among his clergy; but spent it alone in watching and prayer, imploring the
Divine goodness, as I suppose, for my preservation. Coming to me early in
the morning, and having said a prayer over me, he called me by my name,
and when I awoke as it were out of a heavy sleep, he asked whether I knew
who it was that spoke to me? I opened my eyes and said, ‘Yes; you are my
beloved bishop. ’—‘Can you live? ’ said he. I answered, ‘I can, through your
prayers, if the Lord will. ’

“He then laid his hand on my head, with the words of blessing, and
returned to prayer; when he came again to see me, in a short time, he
found me sitting and able to talk; and, being moved by Divine inspiration,
as it soon appeared, began to ask me, whether I knew for certain that I
had been baptized? I answered that I knew beyond all doubt that I had been
washed in the font of salvation, for the remission of sins, and I named
the priest by whom I knew that I had been baptized. He replied, ‘If you
were baptized by that priest, your baptism is not perfect; for I know him,
and that when he was ordained priest, he could in no wise, by reason of
the dulness of his understanding, learn the ministry of catechizing and
baptizing; for which reason I enjoined upon him altogether to desist from
presuming to exercise that ministry, which he could not duly perform. ’
This said, he set himself to catechize me that same hour; and it came to
pass that when he breathed on my face,(790) straightway I felt better. He
called the surgeon and ordered him to set and bind up my skull where it
was fractured; and presently having received his blessing, I was so much
better that I mounted on horseback the next day, and travelled with him to
another place; and being soon after perfectly recovered, I was washed in
the water of life. ”

He continued in his bishopric thirty-three years,(791) and then ascending
to the heavenly kingdom, was buried in St. Peter’s Chapel, in his own
monastery, which is called, “In the wood of the Deiri,”(792) in the year
of our Lord 721. For having, by his great age, become unable to govern his
bishopric, he ordained Wilfrid,(793) his priest, bishop of the church of
York, and retired to the aforesaid monastery, and there ended his days in
godly conversation.




Chap. VII. How Caedwalla, king of the West Saxons, went to Rome to be
baptized; and his successor Ini, also devoutly journeyed to the same
threshold of the holy Apostles. [688 A. D. ]


In the third year of the reign of Aldfrid,(794) Caedwalla, king of the
West Saxons, having most vigorously governed his nation for two years,
quitted his crown for the sake of the Lord and an everlasting kingdom, and
went to Rome, being desirous to obtain the peculiar honour of being
cleansed in the baptismal font at the threshold of the blessed Apostles,
for he had learned that in Baptism alone the entrance into the heavenly
life is opened to mankind; and he hoped at the same time, that being made
clean by Baptism, he should soon be freed from the bonds of the flesh and
pass to the eternal joys of Heaven; both which things, by the help of the
Lord, came to pass according as he had conceived in his mind. For coming
to Rome, at the time that Sergius(795) was pope, he was baptized on the
Holy Saturday before Easter Day,(796) in the year of our Lord 689, and
being still in his white garments,(797) he fell sick, and was set free
from the bonds of the flesh on the 20th of April, and obtained an entrance
into the kingdom of the blessed in Heaven. At his baptism, the aforesaid
pope had given him the name of Peter, to the end, that he might be also
united in name to the most blessed chief of the Apostles, to whose most
holy body his pious love had led him from the utmost bounds of the earth.
He was likewise buried in his church, and by the pope’s command an
epitaph(798) was written on his tomb, wherein the memory of his devotion
might be preserved for ever, and the readers or hearers thereof might be
stirred up to give themselves to religion by the example of what he had
done.

The epitaph was this:—

“High estate, wealth, offspring, a mighty kingdom, triumphs, spoils,
chieftains, strongholds, the camp, a home; whatsoever the valour of his
sires, whatsoever himself had won, Caedwal, mighty in war, left for the
love of God, that, a pilgrim king, he might behold Peter and Peter’s seat,
receive at his font pure waters of life, and in bright draughts drink of
the shining radiance whence a quickening glory streams through all the
world. And even as he gained with eager soul the prize of the new life, he
laid aside barbaric rage, and, changed in heart, he changed his name with
joy. Sergius the Pope bade him be called Peter, himself his father,(799)
when he rose born anew from the font, and the grace of Christ, cleansing
him, bore him forthwith clothed in white raiment to the heights of Heaven.
O wondrous faith of the king, but greatest of all the mercy of Christ,
into whose counsels none may enter! For he came in safety from the ends of
the earth, even from Britain, through many a nation, over many a sea, by
many a path, and saw the city of Romulus and looked upon Peter’s sanctuary
revered, bearing mystic gifts. He shall walk in white among the sheep of
Christ in fellowship with them; for his body is in the tomb, but his soul
on high. Thou mightest deem he did but change an earthly for a heavenly
sceptre, whom thou seest attain to the kingdom of Christ. ”

“Here was buried Caedwalla, called also Peter, king of the Saxons, on the
twentieth day of April, in the second indiction, aged about thirty years,
in the reign of our most pious lord, the Emperor Justinian,(800) in the
fourth year of his consulship, in the second year of the pontificate of
our Apostolic lord, Pope Sergius. ”

When Caedwalla went to Rome, Ini(801) succeeded to the kingdom, being of
the blood royal; and having reigned thirty-seven years over that nation,
he in like manner left his kingdom and committed it to younger men, and
went away to the threshold of the blessed Apostles, at the time when
Gregory(802) was pope, being desirous to spend some part of his pilgrimage
upon earth in the neighbourhood of the holy places, that he might obtain
to be more readily received into the fellowship of the saints in heaven.
This same thing, about that time, was wont to be done most zealously by
many of the English nation, nobles and commons, laity and clergy, men and
women.




Chap. VIII. How, when Archbishop Theodore died, Bertwald succeeded him as
archbishop, and, among many others whom he ordained, he made the learned
Tobias bishop of the church of Rochester. [690 A. D. ]


The year after that in which Caedwalla died at Rome, that is, 690 after
the Incarnation of our Lord, Archbishop Theodore, of blessed memory,
departed this life, being old and full of days, for he was eighty-eight
years of age; which number of years he had been wont long before to
foretell to his friends that he should live, the same having been revealed
to him in a dream. He held the bishopric twenty-two years,(803) and was
buried in St. Peter’s church,(804) where all the bodies of the bishops of
Canterbury are buried. Of whom, as well as of his fellows of the same
degree, it may rightly and truly be said, that their bodies are buried in
peace, and their names shall live to all generations. For to say all in
few words, the English Churches gained more spiritual increase while he
was archbishop, than ever before. His character, life, age, and death, are
plainly and manifestly described to all that resort thither, by the
epitaph on his tomb, in thirty-four heroic verses. (805) The first whereof
are these:

“Here in the tomb rests the body of the holy prelate, called now in the
Greek tongue Theodore. Chief pontiff, blest high priest, pure doctrine he
set forth to his disciples. ”

The last are as follow:

“For September had reached its nineteenth day, when his spirit went forth
from the prison-bars of the flesh. Mounting in bliss to the gracious
fellowship of the new life, he was united to the angelic citizens in the
heights of Heaven. ”

Bertwald(806) succeeded Theodore in the archbishopric, being abbot of the
monastery called Racuulfe,(807) which stands at the northern mouth of the
river Genlade. (808) He was a man learned in the Scriptures, and perfectly
instructed in ecclesiastical and monastic teaching, yet in no wise to be
compared to his predecessor. He was chosen bishop in the year of our Lord
692,(809) on the first day of July, when Wictred and Suaebhard were kings
in Kent;(810) but he was ordained the next year, on Sunday the 29th of
June, by Godwin, metropolitan bishop of Gaul,(811) and was enthroned on
Sunday the 31st of August. Among the many bishops whom he ordained was
Tobias,(812) a man instructed in the Latin, Greek, and Saxon tongues, and
otherwise of manifold learning, whom he consecrated in the stead of
Gedmund, bishop of the Church of Rochester, who had died.




Chap. IX. How the holy man, Egbert, would have gone into Germany to
preach, but could not; and how Wictbert went, but because he availed
nothing, returned into Ireland, whence he came. [Circ. 688 A. D. ]


At that time the venerable servant of Christ, and priest, Egbert,(813) who
is to be named with all honour, and who, as was said before, lived as a
stranger and pilgrim in Ireland to obtain hereafter a country in heaven,
purposed in his mind to profit many, taking upon him the work of an
apostle, and, by preaching the Gospel, to bring the Word of God to some of
those nations that had not yet heard it; many of which tribes he knew to
be in Germany, from whom the Angles or Saxons, who now inhabit Britain,
are known to have derived their race and origin; for which reason they are
still corruptly called “Garmans”(814) by the neighbouring nation of the
Britons. Such are the Frisians, the Rugini, the Danes, the Huns, the Old
Saxons, and the Boructuari. (815) There are also in the same parts many
other peoples still enslaved to pagan rites, to whom the aforesaid soldier
of Christ determined to go, sailing round Britain, if haply he could
deliver any of them from Satan, and bring them to Christ; or if this might
not be, he was minded to go to Rome, to see and adore the thresholds of
the holy Apostles and martyrs of Christ.

But a revelation from Heaven and the working of God prevented him from
achieving either of these enterprises; for when he had made choice of most
courageous companions, fit to preach the Word, inasmuch as they were
renowned for their good deeds and their learning, and when all things
necessary were provided for the voyage, there came to him on a certain day
early in the morning one of the brethren, who had been a disciple of the
priest, Boisil,(816) beloved of God, and had ministered to him in Britain,
when the said Boisil was provost of the monastery of Mailros,(817) under
the Abbot Eata, as has been said above. (818) This brother told him a
vision which he had seen that night. “When after matins,” said he, “I had
laid me down in my bed, and was fallen into a light slumber, Boisil, that
was sometime my master and brought me up in all love, appeared to me, and
asked, whether I knew him? I said, ‘Yes, you are Boisil. ’ He answered, ‘I
am come to bring Egbert a message from our Lord and Saviour, which must
nevertheless be delivered to him by you. Tell him, therefore, that he
cannot perform the journey he has undertaken; for it is the will of God
that he should rather go to teach the monasteries of Columba. ’ ”(819) Now
Columba was the first teacher of the Christian faith to the Picts beyond
the mountains northward, and the first founder of the monastery in the
island of Hii, which was for a long time much honoured by many tribes of
the Scots and Picts. The said Columba is now by some called Columcille,
the name being compounded from “Columba” and “Cella. ”(820) Egbert, having
heard the words of the vision, charged the brother that had told it him,
not to tell it to any other, lest haply it should be a lying vision. But
when he considered the matter secretly with himself, he apprehended that
it was true, yet would not desist from preparing for his voyage which he
purposed to make to teach those nations.

A few days after the aforesaid brother came again to him, saying that
Boisil had that night again appeared to him in a vision after matins, and
said, “Why did you tell Egbert so negligently and after so lukewarm a
manner that which I enjoined upon you to say? Yet, go now and tell him,
that whether he will or no, he must go to Columba’s monasteries, because
their ploughs are not driven straight; and he must bring them back into
the right way. ” Hearing this, Egbert again charged the brother not to
reveal the same to any man. Though now assured of the vision, he
nevertheless attempted to set forth upon his intended voyage with the
brethren. When they had put aboard all that was requisite for so long a
voyage, and had waited some days for fair winds, there arose one night so
violent a storm, that part of what was on board was lost, and the ship
itself was left lying on its side in the sea. Nevertheless, all that
belonged to Egbert and his companions was saved. Then he, saying, in the
words of the prophet, “For my sake this great tempest is upon you,”(821)
withdrew himself from that undertaking and was content to remain at home.

But one of his companions, called Wictbert,(822) notable for his contempt
of the world and for his learning and knowledge, for he had lived many
years as a stranger and pilgrim in Ireland, leading a hermit’s life in
great perfection, took ship, and arriving in Frisland, preached the Word
of salvation for the space of two whole years to that nation and to its
king, Rathbed;(823) but reaped no fruit of all his great labour among his
barbarous hearers. Returning then to the chosen place of his pilgrimage,
he gave himself up to the Lord in his wonted life of silence, and since he
could not be profitable to strangers by teaching them the faith, he took
care to be the more profitable to his own people by the example of his
virtue.




Chap. X. How Wilbrord, preaching in Frisland, converted many to Christ;
and how his two companions, the Hewalds, suffered martyrdom. [690 A. D. ]


When the man of God, Egbert, perceived that neither he himself was
permitted to go and preach to the nations, being withheld for the sake of
some other advantage to the holy Church, whereof he had been forewarned by
a revelation; nor that Wictbert, when he went into those parts, had
availed to do anything; he nevertheless still attempted to send holy and
industrious men to the work of the Word, among whom the most notable was
Wilbrord,(824) a man eminent for his merit and rank as priest. They
arrived there, twelve in number, and turning aside to Pippin,(825) duke of
the Franks, were gladly received by him; and as he had lately subdued the
nearer part of Frisland, and expelled King Rathbed,(826) he sent them
thither to preach, supporting them at the same time with his sovereign
authority, that none might molest them in their preaching, and bestowing
many favours on those who consented to receive the faith. Thus it came to
pass, that with the help of the Divine grace, in a short time they
converted many from idolatry to the faith of Christ.

Following their example, two other priests of the English nation, who had
long lived as strangers in Ireland, for the sake of the eternal country,
went into the province of the Old Saxons, if haply they could there win
any to Christ by their preaching. They were alike in name as in devotion,
Hewald being the name of both, with this distinction, that, on account of
the different colour of their hair, the one was called Black Hewald and
the other White Hewald. (827) They were both full of religious piety, but
Black Hewald was the more learned of the two in Scripture. When they came
into the province, these men took up their lodging in the guesthouse of a
certain township-reeve, and asked of him that he would conduct them to the
ealdorman(828) who was over him, for that they had a message concerning
matters of importance to communicate to him. For those Old Saxons have no
king, but many ealdormen set over their nation; and when any war is on the
point of breaking out, they cast lots indifferently, and on whomsoever the
lot falls, him they all follow and obey during the time of war; but as
soon as the war is ended, all those ealdormen are again equal in power. So
the reeve received and entertained them in his house some days, promising
to send them to the ealdorman who was over him, as they desired.

But when the barbarians perceived that they were of another religion,—for
they continually gave themselves to singing of psalms and prayer, and
daily offered up to God the Sacrifice of the saving Victim, having with
them sacred vessels and a consecrated table for an altar,—they began to
grow suspicious of them, lest if they should come into the presence of
their ealdorman, and converse with him, they should turn his heart from
their gods, and convert him to the new religion of the Christian faith;
and thus by degrees all their province should be forced to change its old
worship for a new. Wherefore on a sudden they laid hold of them and put
them to death; and White Hewald they slew outright with the sword; but
they put Black Hewald to lingering torture and tore him limb from limb in
horrible fashion, and they threw their bodies into the Rhine. The
ealdorman, whom they had desired to see, hearing of it, was very angry
that strangers who desired to come to him had not been suffered to come;
and therefore he sent and put to death all those villagers and burned
their village. The aforesaid priests and servants of Christ suffered on
the 3rd of October. (829)

Miracles from Heaven were not lacking at their martyrdom. For their dead
bodies, having been cast into the river by the pagans, as has been said,
were carried against the stream for the space of almost forty miles, to
the place where their companions were. Moreover, a long ray of light,
reaching up to heaven, shone every night above them wheresoever they
chanced to be, and that too in the sight of the very pagans that had slain
them. Moreover, one of them appeared in a vision by night to one of his
companions, whose name was Tilmon, a man of renown and of noble birth in
this world, who having been a thegn had become a monk, telling him that he
might find their bodies in that place, where he should see rays of light
reaching from heaven to the earth. And so it befell; and their bodies
being found, were buried with the honour due to martyrs; and the day of
their passion or of the finding of their bodies, is celebrated in those
parts with fitting veneration. Finally, Pippin, the most glorious duke of
the Franks, learning these things, caused the bodies to be brought to him,
and buried them with much honour in the church of the city of Cologne, on
the Rhine. (830) And it is said that a spring burst forth in the place
where they were killed, which to this day affords a plentiful stream in
that same place.




Chap. XI. How the venerable Suidbert in Britain, and Wilbrord at Rome,
were ordained bishops for Frisland. [692 A. D. ]


At their first coming into Frisland, as soon as Wilbrord found that he had
leave given him by the prince to preach there, he made haste to go to
Rome, where Pope Sergius(831) then presided over the Apostolic see, that
he might undertake the desired work of preaching the Gospel to the
nations, with his licence and blessing; and hoping to receive of him some
relics of the blessed Apostles and martyrs of Christ; to the end, that
when he destroyed the idols,(832) and erected churches in the nation to
which he preached, he might have the relics of saints at hand to put into
them, and having deposited them there, might accordingly dedicate each of
those places to the honour of the saint whose relics they were. He desired
also there to learn or to receive many other things needful for so great a
work. Having obtained his desire in all these matters, he returned to
preach.

At which time, the brothers who were in Frisland, attending on the
ministry of the Word, chose out of their own number a man of sober life,
and meek of heart, called Suidbert,(833) to be ordained bishop for them.
He, being sent into Britain, was consecrated, at their request, by the
most reverend Bishop Wilfrid, who, having been driven out of his country,
chanced then to be living in banishment among the Mercians;(834) for Kent
had no bishop at that time, Theodore being dead, and Bertwald, his
successor, who had gone beyond the sea to be ordained, having not yet
returned to his episcopal see.

The said Suidbert, being made bishop, returned from Britain, and not long
after departed to the Boructuari; and by his preaching brought many of
them into the way of truth; but the Boructuari being not long after
subdued by the Old Saxons, those who had received the Word were dispersed
abroad; and the bishop himself with certain others went to Pippin, who, at
the request of his wife, Blithryda,(835) gave him a place of abode in a
certain island on the Rhine, called in their tongue, Inlitore;(836) there
he built a monastery, which his successors still possess, and for a time
dwelt in it, leading a most continent life, and there ended his days.

When they who had gone thither had spent some years teaching in Frisland,
Pippin, with the consent of them all, sent the venerable Wilbrord to Rome,
where Sergius was still pope, desiring that he might be consecrated
archbishop over the nation of the Frisians; which was accordingly done, as
he had made request, in the year of our Lord 696. He was consecrated in
the church of the Holy Martyr Cecilia,(837) on her festival; and the said
pope gave him the name of Clement, and forthwith sent him back to his
bishopric, to wit, fourteen days after his arrival in the city.

Pippin gave him a place for his episcopal see, in his famous fort, which
in the ancient language of those people is called Wiltaburg, that is, the
town of the Wilts; but, in the Gallic tongue, Trajectum. (838) The most
reverend prelate having built a church there,(839) and preaching the Word
of faith far and near, drew many from their errors, and built many
churches and not a few monasteries. For not long after he himself
constituted other bishops in those parts from the number of the brethren
that either came with him or after him to preach there; of whom some are
now fallen asleep in the Lord; but Wilbrord himself, surnamed Clement, is
still living, venerable for his great age, having been thirty-six years a
bishop, and now, after manifold conflicts of the heavenly warfare, he
longs with all his heart for the recompense of the reward in Heaven. (840)




Chap. XII. How one in the province of the Northumbrians, rose from the
dead, and related many things which he had seen, some to be greatly
dreaded and some to be desired. [Circ. 696 A. D. ]


At this time a memorable miracle, and like to those of former days, was
wrought in Britain; for, to the end that the living might be roused from
the death of the soul, a certain man, who had been some time dead, rose
again to the life of the body, and related many memorable things that he
had seen; some of which I have thought fit here briefly to describe. There
was a certain householder in that district of the Northumbrians which is
called Incuneningum,(841) who led a godly life, with all his house. This
man fell sick, and his sickness daily increasing, he was brought to
extremity, and died in the beginning of the night; but at dawn he came to
life again, and suddenly sat up, whereat all those that sat about the body
weeping fled away in great terror, only his wife, who loved him better,
though trembling and greatly afraid, remained with him. And he comforting
her, said, “Fear not, for I am now in very deed risen from death whereof I
was holden, and permitted again to live among men; nevertheless, hereafter
I must not live as I was wont, but after a very different manner. ” Then
rising immediately, he went to the oratory of the little town, and
continuing in prayer till day, forthwith divided all his substance into
three parts; one whereof he gave to his wife, another to his children, and
the third, which he kept himself, he straightway distributed among the
poor. Not long after, being set free from the cares of this world, he came
to the monastery of Mailros,(842) which is almost enclosed by the winding
of the river Tweed, and having received the tonsure, went apart into a
place of abode which the abbot had provided, and there he continued till
the day of his death, in so great contrition of mind and mortifying of the
body, that even if his tongue had been silent, his life would have
declared that he had seen many things either to be dreaded or coveted,
which were hidden from other men.

Thus he related what he had seen. (843) “He that led me had a countenance
full of light, and shining raiment, and we went in silence, as it seemed
to me, towards the rising of the summer sun. And as we walked we came to a
broad and deep valley of infinite length; it lay on our left, and one side
of it was exceeding terrible with raging flames, the other no less
intolerable for violent hail and cold snows drifting and sweeping through
all the place. Both sides were full of the souls of men which seemed to be
tossed from one side to the other as it were by a violent storm; for when
they could no longer endure the fervent heat, the hapless souls leaped
into the midst of the deadly cold; and finding no rest there, they leaped
back again to be burnt in the midst of the unquenchable flames. Now
whereas an innumerable multitude of misshapen spirits were thus tormented
far and near with this interchange of misery, as far as I could see,
without any interval of rest, I began to think that peradventure this
might be Hell, of whose intolerable torments I had often heard men talk.
My guide, who went before me, answered to my thought, saying, ‘Think not
so, for this is not the Hell you believe it to be. ’

“When he had led me farther by degrees, sore dismayed by that dread sight,
on a sudden I saw the place before us begin to grow dark and filled with
shadows. When we entered into them, the shadows by degrees grew so thick,
that I could see nothing else, save only the darkness and the shape and
garment of him that led me. As we went on ‘through the shades in the lone
night,’(844) lo! on a sudden there appeared before us masses of foul flame
constantly rising as it were out of a great pit, and falling back again
into the same. When I had been led thither, my guide suddenly vanished,
and left me alone in the midst of darkness and these fearful sights. As
those same masses of fire, without intermission, at one time flew up and
at another fell back into the bottom of the abyss, I perceived that the
summits of all the flames, as they ascended were full of the spirits of
men, which, like sparks flying upwards with the smoke, were sometimes
thrown on high, and again, when the vapours of the fire fell, dropped down
into the depths below. Moreover, a stench, foul beyond compare, burst
forth with the vapours, and filled all those dark places.

“Having stood there a long time in much dread, not knowing what to do,
which way to turn, or what end awaited me, on a sudden I heard behind me
the sound of a mighty and miserable lamentation, and at the same time
noisy laughter, as of a rude multitude insulting captured enemies. When
that noise, growing plainer, came up to me, I beheld a crowd of evil
spirits dragging five souls of men, wailing and shrieking, into the midst
of the darkness, whilst they themselves exulted and laughed. Among those
human souls, as I could discern, there was one shorn like a clerk, one a
layman, and one a woman. The evil spirits that dragged them went down into
the midst of the burning pit; and it came to pass that as they went down
deeper, I could no longer distinguish between the lamentation of the men
and the laughing of the devils, yet I still had a confused sound in my
ears. In the meantime, some of the dark spirits ascended from that flaming
abyss, and running forward, beset me on all sides, and with their flaming
eyes and the noisome fire which they breathed forth from their mouths and
nostrils, tried to choke me; and threatened to lay hold on me with fiery
tongs, which they had in their hands, yet they durst in no wise touch me,
though they assayed to terrify me. Being thus on all sides encompassed
with enemies and shades of darkness, and casting my eyes hither and
thither if haply anywhere help might be found whereby I might be saved,
there appeared behind me, on the way by which I had come, as it were, the
brightness of a star shining amidst the darkness; which waxing greater by
degrees, came rapidly towards me: and when it drew near, all those evil
spirits, that sought to carry me away with their tongs, dispersed and
fled.

“Now he, whose approach put them to flight, was the same that led me
before; who, then turning towards the right, began to lead me, as it were,
towards the rising of the winter sun, and having soon brought me out of
the darkness, led me forth into an atmosphere of clear light. While he
thus led me in open light, I saw a vast wall before us, the length on
either side, and the height whereof, seemed to be altogether boundless. I
began to wonder why we went up to the wall, seeing no door in it, nor
window, nor any way of ascent. But when we came to the wall, we were
presently, I know not by what means, on the top of it, and lo! there was a
wide and pleasant plain full of such fragrance of blooming flowers that
the marvellous sweetness of the scents immediately dispelled the foul
stench of the dark furnace which had filled my nostrils. So great was the
light shed over all this place that it seemed to exceed the brightness of
the day, or the rays of the noontide sun. In this field were innumerable
companies of men clothed in white, and many seats of rejoicing multitudes.
As he led me through the midst of bands of happy inhabitants, I began to
think that this perchance might be the kingdom of Heaven, of which I had
often heard tell. He answered to my thought, saying, ‘Nay, this is not the
kingdom of Heaven, as you think. ’

“When we had also passed those mansions of blessed spirits, and gone
farther on, I saw before me a much more beautiful light than before, and
therein heard sweet sounds of singing, and so wonderful a fragrance was
shed abroad from the place, that the other which I had perceived before
and thought so great, then seemed to me but a small thing; even as that
wondrous brightness of the flowery field, compared with this which I now
beheld, appeared mean and feeble. When I began to hope that we should
enter that delightful place, my guide, on a sudden stood still; and
straightway turning, led me back by the way we came.

“In our return, when we came to those joyous mansions of the white-robed
spirits, he said to me, ‘Do you know what all these things are which you
have seen?
’ I answered, ‘No,’ and then he said, ‘That valley which you
beheld terrible with flaming fire and freezing cold, is the place in which
the souls of those are tried and punished, who, delaying to confess and
amend their crimes, at length have recourse to repentance at the point of
death, and so go forth from the body; but nevertheless because they, even
at their death, confessed and repented, they shall all be received into
the kingdom of Heaven at the day of judgement; but many are succoured
before the day of judgement, by the prayers of the living and their alms
and fasting, and more especially by the celebration of Masses. Moreover
that foul flaming pit which you saw, is the mouth of Hell, into which
whosoever falls shall never be delivered to all eternity. This flowery
place, in which you see this fair and youthful company, all bright and
joyous, is that into which the souls of those are received who, indeed,
when they leave the body have done good works, but who are not so perfect
as to deserve to be immediately admitted into the kingdom of Heaven; yet
they shall all, at the day of judgement, behold Christ, and enter into the
joys of His kingdom; for such as are perfect in every word and deed and
thought, as soon as they quit the body, forthwith enter into the kingdom
of Heaven; in the neighbourhood whereof that place is, where you heard the
sound of sweet singing amidst the savour of a sweet fragrance and
brightness of light. As for you, who must now return to the body, and
again live among men, if you will seek diligently to examine your actions,
and preserve your manner of living and your words in righteousness and
simplicity, you shall, after death, have a place of abode among these
joyful troops of blessed souls which you behold. For when I left you for
awhile, it was for this purpose, that I might learn what should become of
you. ’ When he had said this to me, I much abhorred returning to the body,
being delighted with the sweetness and beauty of the place which I beheld,
and with the company of those I saw in it. Nevertheless, I durst not ask
my guide anything; but thereupon, on a sudden, I found myself, I know not
how, alive among men. ”

Now these and other things which this man of God had seen, he would not
relate to slothful men, and such as lived negligently; but only to those
who, being terrified with the dread of torments, or ravished with the hope
of everlasting joys, would draw from his words the means to advance in
piety. In the neighbourhood of his cell lived one Haemgils, a monk, and
eminent in the priesthood, whose good works were worthy of his office: he
is still living, and leading a solitary life in Ireland, supporting his
declining age with coarse bread and cold water. He often went to that man,
and by repeated questioning, heard of him what manner of things he had
seen when out of the body; by whose account those few particulars which we
have briefly set down came also to our knowledge. And he related his
visions to King Aldfrid,(845) a man most learned in all respects, and was
by him so willingly and attentively heard, that at his request he was
admitted into the monastery above-mentioned, and received the crown of the
monastic tonsure; and the said king, whensoever he came into those parts,
very often went to hear him. At that time the abbot and priest
Ethelwald,(846) a man of godly and sober life, presided over that
monastery. He now occupies the episcopal see of the church of Lindisfarne,
leading a life worthy of his degree.

He had a place of abode assigned him apart in that monastery, where he
might give himself more freely to the service of his Creator in continual
prayer. And inasmuch as that place was on the banks of the river, he was
wont often to go into the same for the great desire he had to do penance
in his body, and oftentimes to plunge in it, and to continue saying psalms
or prayers in the same as long as he could endure it, standing still,
while the waves flowed over him, sometimes up to the middle, and sometimes
even to the neck in water; and when he went ashore, he never took off his
cold, wet garments till they grew warm and dry on his body. And when in
the winter the cracking pieces of ice were floating about him, which he
had himself sometimes broken, to make room to stand or plunge in the
river, and those who beheld it would say, “We marvel, brother Drythelm
(for so he was called), that you are able to endure such severe cold;” he
answered simply, for he was a simple and sober-spirited man, “I have seen
greater cold. ” And when they said, “We marvel that you choose to observe
so hard a rule of continence,” he replied, “I have seen harder things. ”
And so, until the day of his calling hence, in his unwearied desire of
heavenly bliss, he subdued his aged body with daily fasting, and forwarded
the salvation of many by his words and life.




Chap. XIII. How another contrarywise before his death saw a book
containing his sins, which was shown him by devils. [704-709 A. D. ]


But contrarywise there was a man in the province of the Mercians, whose
visions and words, but not his manner of life, were of profit to others,
though not to himself. In the reign of Coenred,(847) who succeeded
Ethelred, there was a layman who was a king’s thegn, no less acceptable to
the king for his outward industry, than displeasing to him for his neglect
of his own soul. The king diligently admonished him to confess and amend,
and to forsake his evil ways, lest he should lose all time for repentance
and amendment by a sudden death. But though frequently warned, he despised
the words of salvation, and promised that he would do penance at some
future time. In the meantime, falling sick he betook himself to his bed,
and was tormented with grievous pains. The king coming to him (for he
loved the man much) exhorted him, even then, before death, to repent of
his offences. But he answered that he would not then confess his sins, but
would do it when he was recovered of his sickness, lest his companions
should upbraid him with having done that for fear of death, which he had
refused to do in health. He thought he spoke very bravely, but it
afterwards appeared that he had been miserably deceived by the wiles of
the Devil.

The disease increasing, when the king came again to visit and instruct
him, he cried out straightway with a lamentable voice, “What will you now?
What are you come for? for you can no longer do aught for my profit or
salvation. ” The king answered, “Say not so; take heed and be of sound
mind. ” “I am not mad,” replied he, “but I now know the worst and have it
for certain before my eyes. ” “What is that? ” said the king. “Not long
since,” said he, “there came into this room two fair youths, and sat down
by me, the one at my head, and the other at my feet. One of them drew
forth a book most beautiful, but very small, and gave it me to read;
looking into it, I there found all the good actions I had ever done in my
life written down, and they were very few and inconsiderable. They took
back the book and said nothing to me. Then, on a sudden, appeared an army
of evil spirits of hideous countenance, and they beset this house without,
and sitting down filled the greater part of it within. Then he, who by the
blackness of his gloomy face, and his sitting above the rest, seemed to be
the chief of them, taking out a book terrible to behold, of a monstrous
size, and of almost insupportable weight, commanded one of his followers
to bring it to me to read. Having read it, I found therein most plainly
written in hideous characters, all the crimes I ever committed, not only
in word and deed, but even in the least thought; and he said to those
glorious men in white raiment who sat by me, ‘Why sit ye here, since ye
know of a surety that this man is ours? ’ They answered, ‘Ye speak truly;
take him and lead him away to fill up the measure of your damnation. ’ This
said, they forthwith vanished, and two wicked spirits arose, having in
their hands ploughshares, and one of them struck me on the head, and the
other on the foot. And these ploughshares are now with great torment
creeping into the inward parts of my body, and as soon as they meet I
shall die, and the devils being ready to snatch me away, I shall be
dragged into the dungeons of hell. ”

Thus spoke that wretch in his despair, and soon after died, and now in
vain suffers in eternal torments that penance which he failed to suffer
for a short time with the fruits of forgiveness. Of whom it is manifest,
that (as the blessed Pope Gregory writes of certain persons) he did not
see these things for his own sake, since they did not avail him, but for
the sake of others, who, knowing of his end, should be afraid to put off
the time of repentance, whilst they have leisure, lest, being prevented by
sudden death, they should perish impenitent. And whereas he saw diverse
books laid before him by the good and evil spirits, this was done by
Divine dispensation, that we may keep in mind that our deeds and thoughts
are not scattered to the winds, but are all kept to be examined by the
Supreme Judge, and will in the end be shown us either by friendly angels
or by the enemy. And whereas the angels first drew forth a white book, and
then the devils a black one; the former a very small one, the latter one
very great; it is to be observed, that in his first years he did some good
actions, all which he nevertheless obscured by the evil actions of his
youth. If, contrarywise, he had taken care in his youth to correct the
errors of his boyhood, and by well-doing to put them away from the sight
of God, he might have been admitted to the fellowship of those of whom the
Psalm says, “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose
sins are covered. ”(848) This story, as I learned it of the venerable
Bishop Pechthelm,(849) I have thought good to set forth plainly, for the
salvation of such as shall read or hear it.




Chap. XIV. How another in like manner, being at the point of death, saw
the place of punishment appointed for him in Hell.


I myself knew a brother, would to God I had not known him, whose name I
could mention if it were of any avail, dwelling in a famous monastery, but
himself living infamously. He was oftentimes rebuked by the brethren and
elders of the place, and admonished to be converted to a more chastened
life; and though he would not give ear to them, they bore with him long
and patiently, on account of their need of his outward service, for he was
a cunning artificer. But he was much given to drunkenness, and other
pleasures of a careless life, and more used to stop in his workshop day
and night, than to go to church to sing and pray and hear the Word of life
with the brethren. For which reason it befell him according to the saying,
that he who will not willingly humble himself and enter the gate of the
church must needs be led against his will into the gate of Hell, being
damned. For he falling sick, and being brought to extremity, called the
brethren, and with much lamentation, like one damned, began to tell them,
that he saw Hell opened, and Satan sunk in the depths thereof; and
Caiaphas, with the others that slew our Lord, hard by him, delivered up to
avenging flames. “In whose neighbourhood,” said he, “I see a place of
eternal perdition prepared for me, miserable wretch that I am. ” The
brothers, hearing these words, began diligently to exhort him, that he
should repent even then, whilst he was still in the flesh. He answered in
despair, “There is no time for me now to change my course of life, when I
have myself seen my judgement passed. ”

Whilst uttering these words, he died without having received the saving
Viaticum, and his body was buried in the farthest parts of the monastery,
nor did any one dare either to say Masses or sing psalms, or even to pray
for him. (850) Oh how far asunder hath God put light from darkness! The
blessed Stephen, the first martyr, being about to suffer death for the
truth, saw the heavens opened, and the glory of God, and Jesus standing on
the right hand of God;(851) and where he was to be after death, there he
fixed the eyes of his mind, that he might die the more joyfully. But this
workman, of darkened mind and life, when death was at hand, saw Hell
opened, and witnessed the damnation of the Devil and his followers; he saw
also, unhappy wretch! his own prison among them, to the end that,
despairing of salvation, he might himself die the more miserably, but
might by his perdition afford cause of salvation to the living who should
hear of it. This befell of late in the province of the Bernicians, and
being noised abroad far and near, inclined many to do penance for their
sins without delay. Would to God that this also might come to pass through
the reading of our words!




Chap. XV. How divers churches of the Scots, at the instance of Adamnan,
adopted the Catholic Easter; and how the same wrote a book about the holy
places. [703 A. D. ]


At this time a great part of the Scots in Ireland,(852) and some also of
the Britons in Britain,(853) by the grace of God, adopted the reasonable
and ecclesiastical time of keeping Easter. For when Adamnan,(854) priest
and abbot of the monks that were in the island of Hii, was sent by his
nation on a mission to Aldfrid, king of the English,(855) he abode some
time in that province, and saw the canonical rites of the Church.
Moreover, he was earnestly admonished by many of the more learned sort,
not to presume to live contrary to the universal custom of the Church,
either in regard to the observance of Easter, or any other ordinances
whatsoever, with those few followers of his dwelling in the farthest
corner of the world. Wherefore he so changed his mind, that he readily
preferred those things which he had seen and heard in the English
churches, to the customs which he and his people had hitherto followed.
For he was a good and wise man, and excellently instructed in knowledge of
the Scriptures. Returning home, he endeavoured to bring his own people
that were in Hii, or that were subject to that monastery, into the way of
truth, which he had embraced with all his heart; but he could not prevail.
He sailed over into Ireland,(856) and preaching to those people, and with
sober words of exhortation making known to them the lawful time of Easter,
he brought back many of them, and almost all that were free from the
dominion of those of Hii, from the error of their fathers to the Catholic
unity, and taught them to keep the lawful time of Easter.

Returning to his island, after having celebrated the canonical Easter in
Ireland, he was instant in preaching the Catholic observance of the season
of Easter in his monastery, yet without being able to achieve his end; and
it so happened that he departed this life before the next year came
round,(857) the Divine goodness so ordaining it, that as he was a great
lover of peace and unity, he should be taken away to everlasting life
before he should be obliged, on the return of the season of Easter, to be
at greater variance with those that would not follow him into the truth.

This same man wrote a book concerning the holy places, of great profit to
many readers; his authority was the teaching and dictation of Arculf, a
bishop of Gaul,(858) who had gone to Jerusalem for the sake of the holy
places; and having wandered over all the Promised Land, travelled also to
Damascus, Constantinople, Alexandria, and many islands in the sea, and
returning home by ship, was cast upon the western coast of Britain by a
great tempest. After many adventures he came to the aforesaid servant of
Christ, Adamnan, and being found to be learned in the Scriptures, and
acquainted with the holy places, was most gladly received by him and
gladly heard, insomuch that whatsoever he said that he had seen worthy of
remembrance in the holy places, Adamnan straightway set himself to commit
to writing. Thus he composed a work, as I have said, profitable to many,
and chiefly to those who, being far removed from those places where the
patriarchs and Apostles lived, know no more of them than what they have
learnt by reading. Adamnan presented this book to King Aldfrid, and
through his bounty it came to be read by lesser persons. (859) The writer
thereof was also rewarded by him with many gifts and sent back into his
country. I believe it will be of advantage to our readers if we collect
some passages from his writings, and insert them in this our History. (860)




Chap. XVI. The account given in the aforesaid book of the place of our
Lord’s Nativity, Passion, and Resurrection.


He wrote concerning the place of the Nativity of our Lord, after this
manner:(861) “Bethlehem, the city of David, is situated on a narrow ridge,
encompassed on all sides with valleys, being a mile in length from west to
east, and having a low wall without towers, built along the edge of the
level summit. In the eastern corner thereof is a sort of natural half
cave, the outward part whereof is said to have been the place where our
Lord was born; the inner is called the manger of our Lord. This cave
within is all covered with rich marble, and over the particular spot where
our Lord is said to have been born, stands the great church of St. Mary. ”
He likewise wrote about the place of His Passion and Resurrection in this
manner: “Entering the city of Jerusalem on the north side, the first place
to be visited, according to the disposition of the streets, is the church
of Constantine, called the Martyrium. It was built by the Emperor
Constantine, in a royal and magnificent manner, because the Cross of our
Lord was said to have been found there by his mother Helena. Thence, to
the westward, is seen the church of Golgotha, in which is also to be found
the rock which once bore the Cross to which the Lord’s body was nailed,
and now it upholds a large silver cross, having a great brazen wheel with
lamps hanging over it. Under the place of our Lord’s Cross, a crypt is
hewn out of the rock, in which the Sacrifice is offered on an altar for
the dead that are held in honour, their bodies remaining meanwhile in the
street. To the westward of this church is the round church of the
Anastasis or Resurrection of our Lord, encompassed with three walls, and
supported by twelve columns. Between each of the walls is a broad passage,
which contains three altars at three different points of the middle wall;
to the south, the north, and the west. It has eight doors or entrances in
a straight line through the three walls; four whereof face the south-east,
and four the east. (862) In the midst of it is the round tomb of our Lord
cut out of the rock, the top of of which a man standing within can touch
with his hand; on the east is the entrance, against which that great stone
was set. To this day the tomb bears the marks of the iron tools within,
but on the outside it is all covered with marble to the very top of the
roof, which is adorned with gold, and bears a large golden cross. In the
north part of the tomb the sepulchre of our Lord is hewn out of the same
rock, seven feet in length, and three hand-breadths above the floor; the
entrance being on the south side, where twelve lamps burn day and night,
four within the sepulchre, and eight above on the edge of the right side.
The stone that was set at the entrance to the tomb is now cleft in two;
nevertheless, the lesser part of it stands as an altar of hewn stone
before the door of the tomb; the greater part is set up as another altar,
four-cornered, at the east end of the same church, and is covered with
linen cloths. The colour of the said tomb and sepulchre is white and red
mingled together. ”(863)




Chap. XVII. What he likewise wrote of the place of our Lord’s Ascension,
and the tombs of the patriarchs.


Concerning the place of our Lord’s Ascension, the aforesaid author writes
thus. “The Mount of Olives is equal in height to Mount Sion, but exceeds
it in breadth and length; it bears few trees besides vines and olives, and
is fruitful in wheat and barley, for the nature of that soil is not such
as to yield thickets,(864) but grass and flowers. On the very top of it,
where our Lord ascended into heaven, is a large round church,(865) having
round about it three chapels with vaulted roofs. For the inner building
could not be vaulted and roofed, by reason of the passage of our Lord’s
Body; but it has an altar on the east side, sheltered by a narrow roof. In
the midst of it are to be seen the last Footprints of our Lord, the place
where He ascended being open to the sky; and though the earth is daily
carried away by believers, yet still it remains, and retains the same
appearance, being marked by the impression of the Feet. Round about these
lies a brazen wheel, as high as a man’s neck, having an entrance from the
west, with a great lamp hanging above it on a pulley and burning night and
day. In the western part of the same church are eight windows; and as many
lamps, hanging opposite to them by cords, shine through the glass as far
as Jerusalem; and the light thereof is said to thrill the hearts of the
beholders with a certain zeal and compunction. Every year, on the day of
the Ascension of our Lord, when Mass is ended, a strong blast of wind is
wont to come down, and to cast to the ground all that are in the church. ”

Of the situation of Hebron, and the tombs of the fathers,(866) he writes
thus. “Hebron, once a habitation and the chief city of David’s kingdom,
now only showing by its ruins what it then was, has, one furlong to the
east of it, a double cave in the valley, where the sepulchres of the
patriarchs are encompassed with a wall four-square, their heads lying to
the north. Each of the tombs is covered with a single stone, hewn like the
stones of a church, and of a white colour, for the three patriarchs.
Adam’s is of meaner and poorer workmanship, and he lies not far from them
at the farthest end of the northern part of that wall. There are also some
poorer and smaller monuments of the three women. The hill Mamre is a mile
from these tombs, and is covered with grass and flowers, having a level
plain on the top. In the northern part of it, the trunk of Abraham’s oak,
being twice as high as a man, is enclosed in a church. ”

Thus much, gathered from the works of the aforesaid writer, according to
the sense of his words, but more briefly and in fewer words, we have
thought fit to insert in our History for the profit of readers. Whosoever
desires to know more of the contents of that book, may seek it either in
the book itself, or in that abridgement which we have lately made from it.




Chap. XVIII. How the South Saxons received Eadbert and Eolla, and the West
Saxons, Daniel and Aldhelm, for their bishops; and of the writings of the
same Aldhelm. [705 A. D. ]


In the year of our Lord 705, Aldfrid, king of the Northumbrians, died(867)
before the end of the twentieth year of his reign. His son Osred,(868) a
boy about eight years of age, succeeding him in the throne, reigned eleven
years. In the beginning of his reign, Haedde, bishop of the West
Saxons,(869) departed to the heavenly life; for he was a good man and a
just, and his life and doctrine as a bishop were guided rather by his
innate love of virtue, than by what he had gained from books. The most
reverend bishop, Pechthelm, of whom we shall speak hereafter in the proper
place,(870) and who while still deacon or monk was for a long time with
his successor Aldhelm,(871) was wont to relate that many miracles of
healing have been wrought in the place where he died, through the merit of
his sanctity; and that the men of that province used to carry the dust
thence for the sick, and put it into water, and the drinking thereof, or
sprinkling with it, brought health to many sick men and beasts; so that
the holy dust being frequently carried away, a great hole was made there.

Upon his death, the bishopric of that province was divided into two
dioceses. (872) One of them was given to Daniel,(873) which he governs to
this day; the other to Aldhelm, wherein he presided most vigorously four
years; both of them were fully instructed, as well in matters touching the
Church as in the knowledge of the Scriptures. Aldhelm, when he was as yet
only a priest and abbot of the monastery which is called the city of
Maildufus,(874) by order of a synod of his own nation, wrote a notable
book(875) against the error of the Britons, in not celebrating Easter at
the due time, and in doing divers other things contrary to the purity of
doctrine and the peace of the church; and through the reading of this book
many of the Britons, who were subject to the West Saxons, were led by him
to adopt the Catholic celebration of our Lord’s Paschal Feast. He likewise
wrote a famous book on Virginity,(876) which, after the example of
Sedulius,(877) he composed in twofold form, in hexameters and in prose. He
wrote some other books, being a man most instructed in all respects, for
he had a polished style,(878) and was, as I have said, of marvellous
learning both in liberal and ecclesiastical studies. On his death,
Forthere(879) was made bishop in his stead, and is living at this time,
being likewise a man very learned in the Holy Scriptures.

Whilst they administered the bishopric, it was determined by a synodal
decree, that the province of the South Saxons, which till that time
belonged to the diocese of the city of Winchester, where Daniel then
presided, should itself have an episcopal see, and a bishop of its
own. (880) Eadbert, at that time abbot of the monastery of Bishop Wilfrid,
of blessed memory, called Selaeseu,(881) was consecrated their first
bishop. On his death, Eolla succeeded to the office of bishop. He also
died some years ago, and the bishopric has been vacant to this day. (882)




Chap. XIX. How Coinred, king of the Mercians, and Offa, king of the East
Saxons, ended their days at Rome, in the monastic habit; and of the life
and death of Bishop Wilfrid. [709 A. D. ]


In the fourth year of the reign of Osred,(883) Coenred,(884) who had for
some time nobly governed the kingdom of the Mercians, much more nobly
quitted the sceptre of his kingdom. For he went to Rome, and there
receiving the tonsure and becoming a monk, when Constantine(885) was pope,
he continued to his last hour in prayer and fasting and alms-deeds at the
threshold of the Apostles. He was succeeded in the throne by Ceolred,(886)
the son of Ethelred, who had governed the kingdom before Coenred. With him
went the son of Sighere,(887) the king of the East Saxons whom we
mentioned before, by name Offa, a youth of a most pleasing age and
comeliness, and greatly desired by all his nation to have and to hold the
sceptre of the kingdom. He, with like devotion, quitted wife, and lands,
and kindred and country, for Christ and for the Gospel, that he might
“receive an hundred-fold in this life, and in the world to come life
everlasting. ”(888) He also, when they came to the holy places at Rome,
received the tonsure, and ending his life in the monastic habit, attained
to the vision of the blessed Apostles in Heaven, as he had long desired.

The same year that they departed from Britain, the great bishop, Wilfrid,
ended his days in the province called Inundalum,(889) after he had been
bishop forty-five years. (890) His body, being laid in a coffin, was
carried to his monastery, which is called Inhrypum,(891) and buried in the
church of the blessed Apostle Peter, with the honour due to so great a
prelate. Concerning whose manner of life, let us now turn back, and
briefly make mention of the things which were done. (892) Being a boy of a
good disposition, and virtuous beyond his years, he conducted himself so
modestly and discreetly in all points, that he was deservedly beloved,
respected, and cherished by his elders as one of themselves. (893) At
fourteen years of age he chose rather the monastic than the secular life;
which, when he had signified to his father, for his mother was dead, he
readily consented to his godly wishes and desires, and advised him to
persist in that wholesome purpose. Wherefore he came to the isle of
Lindisfarne, and there giving himself to the service of the monks, he
strove diligently to learn and to practise those things which belong to
monastic purity and piety; and being of a ready wit, he speedily learned
the psalms and some other books, having not yet received the tonsure, but
being in no small measure marked by those virtues of humility and
obedience which are more important than the tonsure; for which reason he
was justly loved by his elders and his equals. Having served God some
years in that monastery, and being a youth of a good understanding, he
perceived that the way of virtue delivered by the Scots was in no wise
perfect, and he resolved to go to Rome, to see what ecclesiastical or
monastic rites were in use at the Apostolic see. When he told the
brethren, they commended his design, and advised him to carry out that
which he purposed. He forthwith went to Queen Eanfled, for he was known to
her, and it was by her counsel and support that he had been admitted into
the aforesaid monastery, and he told her of his desire to visit the
threshold of the blessed Apostles. She, being pleased with the youth’s
good purpose, sent him into Kent, to King Earconbert,(894) who was her
uncle’s son, requesting that he would send him to Rome in an honourable
manner. At that time, Honorius,(895) one of the disciples of the blessed
Pope Gregory, a man very highly instructed in ecclesiastical learning, was
archbishop there. When he had tarried there for a space, and, being a
youth of an active spirit, was diligently applying himself to learn those
things which came under his notice, another youth, called Biscop, surnamed
Benedict,(896) of the English nobility, arrived there, being likewise
desirous to go to Rome, of whom we have before made mention.

The king gave him Wilfrid for a companion, and bade Wilfrid conduct him to
Rome. When they came to Lyons, Wilfrid was detained there by
Dalfinus,(897) the bishop of that city; but Benedict hastened on to Rome.
For the bishop was delighted with the youth’s prudent discourse, the grace
of his comely countenance, his eager activity, and the consistency and
maturity of his thoughts; for which reason he plentifully supplied him and
his companions with all necessaries, as long as they stayed with him; and
further offered, if he would have it, to commit to him the government of
no small part of Gaul, to give him a maiden daughter of his own
brother(898) to wife, and to regard him always as his adopted son. But
Wilfrid thanked him for the loving-kindness which he was pleased to show
to a stranger, and answered, that he had resolved upon another course of
life, and for that reason had left his country and set out for Rome.

Hereupon the bishop sent him to Rome, furnishing him with a guide and
supplying plenty of all things requisite for his journey, earnestly
requesting that he would come that way, when he returned into his own
country. Wilfrid arriving at Rome, and daily giving himself with all
earnestness to prayer and the study of ecclesiastical matters, as he had
purposed in his mind, gained the friendship of the most holy and learned
Boniface, the archdeacon,(899) who was also counsellor to the Apostolic
Pope, by whose instruction he learned in their order the four Gospels, and
the true computation of Easter; and many other things appertaining to
ecclesiastical discipline, which he could not learn in his own country, he
acquired from the teaching of that same master. When he had spent some
months there, in successful study, he returned into Gaul, to
Dalfinus;(900) and having stayed with him three years, received from him
the tonsure, and Dalfinus esteemed him so highly in love that he had
thoughts of making him his heir; but this was prevented by the bishop’s
cruel death, and Wilfrid was reserved to be a bishop of his own, that is,
the English, nation. For Queen Baldhild(901) sent soldiers with orders to
put the bishop to death; whom Wilfrid, as his clerk, attended to the place
where he was to be beheaded, being very desirous, though the bishop
strongly opposed it, to die with him; but the executioners, understanding
that he was a stranger, and of the English nation, spared him, and would
not put him to death with his bishop.

Returning to Britain, he won the friendship of King Alchfrid,(902) who had
learnt to follow always and love the catholic rules of the Church; and
therefore finding him to be a Catholic, he gave him presently land of ten
families at the place called Stanford;(903) and not long after, the
monastery, with land of thirty families, at the place called
Inhrypum;(904) which place he had formerly given to those that followed
the doctrine of the Scots, to build a monastery there. But, forasmuch as
they afterwards, being given the choice, had rather quit the place than
adopt the Catholic Easter and other canonical rites, according to the
custom of the Roman Apostolic Church, he gave the same to him whom he
found to be instructed in better discipline and better customs.

At the same time, by the said king’s command, he was ordained priest in
the same monastery, by Agilbert,(905) bishop of the Gewissae
above-mentioned, the king being desirous that a man of so much learning
and piety should attend him constantly as his special priest and teacher;
and not long after, when the Scottish sect had been exposed and
banished,(906) as was said above, he, with the advice and consent of his
father Oswy, sent him into Gaul, to be consecrated as his bishop,(907)
when he was about thirty years of age, the same Agilbert being then bishop
of the city of Paris. Eleven other bishops met at the consecration of the
new bishop, and that function was most honourably performed. Whilst he yet
tarried beyond the sea, the holy man, Ceadda,(908) was consecrated bishop
of York(909) by command of King Oswy, as has been said above; and having
nobly ruled that church three years, he retired to take charge of his
monastery of Laestingaeu, and Wilfrid was made bishop of all the province
of the Northumbrians.

Afterwards, in the reign of Egfrid, he was expelled from his bishopric,
and others were consecrated bishops in his stead, of whom mention has been
made above. (910) Designing to go to Rome, to plead his cause before the
Apostolic Pope, he took ship, and was driven by a west wind into
Frisland,(911) and honourably received by that barbarous people and their
King Aldgils, to whom he preached Christ, and he instructed many thousands
of them in the Word of truth, washing them from the defilement of their
sins in the Saviour’s font. Thus he began there the work of the Gospel
which was afterwards finished with great devotion by the most reverend
bishop of Christ, Wilbrord. (912) Having spent the winter there
successfully among this new people of God, he set out again on his way to
Rome,(913) where his cause being tried before Pope Agatho and many
bishops,(914) he was by the judgement of them all acquitted of all blame,
and declared worthy of his bishopric.

At the same time, the said Pope Agatho assembling a synod at Rome, of one
hundred and twenty-five bishops, against those who asserted that there was
only one will and operation in our Lord and Saviour,(915) ordered Wilfrid
also to be summoned, and, sitting among the bishops, to declare his own
faith and the faith of the province or island whence he came; and he and
his people being found orthodox in their faith, it was thought fit to
record the same among the acts of that synod, which was done in in this
manner: “Wilfrid, the beloved of God, bishop of the city of York,
appealing to the Apostolic see, and being by that authority acquitted of
every thing, whether specified against him or not, and being appointed to
sit in judgement with one hundred and twenty-five other bishops in the
synod, made confession of the true and catholic faith, and confirmed the
same with his subscription in the name of all the northern part of Britain
and Ireland, and the islands inhabited by the nations of the English and
Britons, as also by the Scots and Picts. ”

After this, returning into Britain,(916) he converted the province of the
South Saxons from their idolatrous worship to the faith of Christ. (917) He
also sent ministers of the Word to the Isle of Wight;(918) and in the
second year of Aldfrid, who reigned after Egfrid, was restored to his see
and bishopric by that king’s invitation. (919) Nevertheless, five years
after, being again accused, he was deprived of his bishopric by the same
king and certain bishops. (920) Coming to Rome,(921) he was allowed to make
his defence in the presence of his accusers, before a number of bishops
and the Apostolic Pope John. (922) It was shown by the judgement of them
all, that his accusers had in part laid false accusations to his charge;
and the aforesaid Pope wrote to the kings of the English, Ethelred and
Aldfrid, to cause him to be restored to his bishopric, because he had been
unjustly condemned. (923)

His acquittal was much forwarded by the reading of the acts of the synod
of Pope Agatho,(924) of blessed memory, which had been formerly held, when
Wilfrid was in Rome and sat in council among the bishops, as has been said
before. For the acts of that synod being, as the case required, read, by
order of the Apostolic Pope, before the nobility and a great number of the
people for some days, they came to the place where it was written,
“Wilfrid, the beloved of God, bishop of the city of York, appealing to the
Apostolic see, and being by that authority acquitted of everything,
whether specified against him or not,” and the rest as above stated. This
being read, the hearers were amazed, and the reader ceasing, they began to
ask of one another, who that Bishop Wilfrid was. Then Boniface, the Pope’s
counsellor,(925) and many others, who had seen him there in the days of
Pope Agatho, said that he was the same bishop that lately came to Rome, to
be tried by the Apostolic see, being accused by his people, and “who, said
they, having long since come here upon the like accusation, the cause and
contention of both parties being heard and examined, was proved by Pope
Agatho, of blessed memory, to have been wrongfully expelled from his
bishopric, and was held in such honour by him, that he commanded him to
sit in the council of bishops which he had assembled, as a man of
untainted faith and an upright mind. ” This being heard, the Pope and all
the rest said, that a man of so great authority, who had held the office
of a bishop for nearly forty years, ought by no means to be condemned, but
being altogether cleared of the faults laid to his charge, should return
home with honour.

When he came to Gaul, on his way back to Britain, on a sudden he fell
sick, and the sickness increasing, he was so weighed down by it, that he
could not ride, but was carried in his bed by the hands of his servants.
Being thus come to the city of Maeldum,(926) in Gaul, he lay four days and
nights, as if he had been dead, and only by his faint breathing showed
that he had any life in him.