No More Learning

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

434 The wife of Penda.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

446 Cf. c. 14.

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

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

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

450 Cf. _supra_ and c. 21.

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

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

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

_ 454 I. e. _, Ireland.

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

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

457 Nothing certain is known of him.

458 II, 16, 20; IV, 2.

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

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

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

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

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

464 We hear nothing more of this priest.

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

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

467 Cc. 21, 22, 23.

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

469 Acts, xvi, 3.

_ 470 Ibid. _, xxi, 26.

_ 471 Ibid. _, xviii, 18.

_ 472 Ibid. _, xxi, 20.

473 Cf. II, 19, note.

474 Cf. c. 3, note.

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

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

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

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

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

_ 480 I. e. _, Ireland.

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

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

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

484 Really on the 1st.

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

486 Cf. c. 26, p. 201.

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

488 Cf. c. 4.

489 Cf. c. 11; IV, 12.
490 Said, on doubtful authority, to be Melfont, or Mellifont, in County
Louth.

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

492 In 664. This was the young “Fainéant” king of Neustria, Clothaire
III. Wilfrid was probably sent abroad at his own request. Doubtless
he desired to have the canonical number of three bishops at his
consecration, and Boniface of Dunwich (c. 20; IV, 5) was the only
prelate in England whose orders he would have regarded as entirely
satisfactory, for Wini might be considered a usurper, and Cedd and
Jaruman had been consecrated by schismatics. Archbishop Deusdedit
was dead (III, 20, note) and so probably was Damian of Rochester.

493 He was Wilfrid’s friend: _v. s. _ c. 25, pp. 194-5.

494 Cf. _ibid. _, note.

495 Compiègne, a royal “villa. ” For the preposition, _v. _ II, 14, note.
The ceremony was a specially magnificent one, Wilfrid being carried
in a golden chair by twelve bishops in choral procession, according
to an ancient custom of the Gallican Church.

496 Preface, III, 23, _et saep. _ Why Oswy, who had consented to
Wilfrid’s consecration (_v. _ V, 19) acted in this manner is not
clear. Probably it implies that the Celtic party, during Wilfrid’s
prolonged absence, had to some extent recovered their ascendency;
and, if it was at this time that Alchfrid (who is not heard of
again) rebelled against his father (_v. s. _ c. 14, _ad init. _) and
was deprived of his kingdom, Wilfrid would have lost his warmest
supporter.

497 He retired to Ripon from Lindsey, of which he was the first separate
bishop, when Ethelred recovered that province for Mercia in 679. But
cf. IV, 12, _ad fin. _, note, for the statement that he was “Bishop”
of Ripon.

498 King of Northumbria, _v. s. _ c. 24, p. 188, note 3.

499 It does not appear why Boniface (Bertgils) of Dunwich, Bishop of the
East Angles, 652-669 (c. 20, IV, 5), is ignored. Ceadda’s
consecration was afterwards regarded as of doubtful validity and was
completed by Theodore (_v. _ IV, 12). The British (probably Cornish)
bishops were schismatical, and Wini’s position was irregular.
Moreover, the see to which Ceadda was consecrated was not vacant.

500 IV, 1.

501 Consecrated in 657—died in 672.

502 Isaiah, xi, 10.

_ 503 Ibid. _, xlix, 1.

_ 504 Ibid. _, 6.

_ 505 Ibid. _, 7.

_ 506 Ibid. _, 8-9.

_ 507 Ibid. _, xlii, 6-7. The readings are from the Vulgate.

508 It has not been stated that Oswy and Egbert asked the Pope to
provide an archbishop, failing Wighard. But this seems to be implied
in IV, 1: “episcopum, quem petierant. ” Or, as is generally supposed,
Vitalian may have arbitrarily assumed this to be the intention of
their letter.

509 There were several martyrs of the name of Laurentius, but the best
known is the Roman deacon, St. Laurence, who suffered at Rome in 258
A. D. He was buried in the Via Tiburtina, where a church dedicated to
him is said to have been founded by Constantine the Great. On the
site stands the present Church of S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura, the
older part of which dates from the sixth century at least. One of
Aldhelm’s foundations (V, 18) was a little church dedicated to St.
Laurence at Bradford-on-Avon in 705, probably the small Saxon church
which still stands there. There were many martyrs named John and
Paul, and more than one Gregory. St. Pancras was a boy-martyr, a
Phrygian by birth, who suffered at Rome in 304 A. D. , when he was
only fourteen years of age. His martyrdom was widely celebrated, and
miraculous powers were attributed to his tomb outside the walls of
Rome. An old British church at Canterbury, which had been desecrated
by the heathen invaders, was restored for Christian use and
dedicated to St. Pancras by Augustine.

510 Eanfled, _v. s. _ c. 15 and note.

511 St. Matt. , vi, 33.

512 Cf. IV, 6. Sighere was the son, Sebbi the brother, of Sigbert the
Little (_v. s. _ c. 22, _ad init. _).

513 C. 22, _ad fin. _

514 C. 24, _ad fin. _; IV, 3.

515 664 A. D. : cf. III, 27, _ad init. _

516 Cf. III, 26, _ad init. _

517 Cf. III, 20 and note.

518 Cf. III, 8; V, 19, p. 348.

519 Cf. III, 29. From Bede’s “History of the Abbots” we learn that he
was a pupil of Pope Gregory’s Roman disciples in Kent.

520 III, 29.

_ 521 Ibid. _, and note.

522 Cf. Preface, p. 2, note 3.

523 He was probably chaplain of the nunnery.

524 Cf. Preface, p. 2, note 2.

525 Cf. Bright, cc. 252, 253. He sees here an allusion to the
Monothelite controversy.

_ 526 I. e. _, the Eastern, which consisted in shaving the whole head. This
method was supposed to have the authority of St. Paul (an idea
derived from Acts, xviii, 18), and of St. James “the Less. ” Cf. II,
2, p. 85, note.

527 They were accompanied by Benedict Biscop (_v. _ c. 18) whom Vitalian
had asked to act as their guide and interpreter (“Hist. Abb. ,” § 3).

528 Archbishop of Arles, 658-675.

529 From this it has been inferred that Arles belonged to Neustria. The
king was Clothaire III, king of Neustria. Ebroin had succeeded
Ercinwald (_v. _ III, 19, _ad fin. _) as Mayor of the Palace. He was
murdered in 681.

530 III, 7, 25, 26, 28.

531 Called also Emmo, or Haymo; Bishop of Sens, 658-675.

532 Or Burgundofarus, Bishop of Meaux, 626-672. He was brother of Fara,
mentioned III, 8.

533 “Praefectus. ”

534 Etaples in Picardy; “Quentae (or ‘ad Quantiam’) vicus” = the village
at the mouth of the Canche. It was an important commercial town and
port.

535 SS. Peter and Paul (St. Augustine’s): cf. I, 33. Theodore had placed
Benedict Biscop over it while Hadrian was still abroad.

536 II, 16, 20.

537 Eddius, the biographer of Wilfrid. He mentions himself (“Life of
Wilfrid,” Chapter XIV) as a “cantor. ”

538 Bede can scarcely mean to impeach the orthodoxy of the bishops of
native birth prior to Wilfrid. Probably the reference is mainly to
the prominent part he took in bringing about the decision at Whitby.

539 Cf. III, 28, note.

540 Cf. III, 20, and note.

541 Cc. 5, 12. Florence of Worcester mentions a Putta, Bishop of
Hereford, who died in 688, but it is very doubtful whether he can be
identified with the above. Bede’s words in Chapter 12 do not imply
that Putta, Bishop of Rochester, became Bishop of Hereford. Hereford
was not one of the five sees into which Florence tells us that
Theodore divided the great Mercian bishopric, but it appears soon
after as a separate see for Hecana (Herefordshire). Possibly Putta,
who is traditionally reckoned as its first bishop, may have acted as
Sexwulf’s deputy there.

542 Cf. II, 20 _ad fin. _, note.

543 III, 24, 30. He had probably died two years before Chad’s
appointment, _i. e. _, in 667, and the see had been vacant in the
interval, for Wilfrid, then in retirement at Ripon, is said (by
Eddius) to have discharged episcopal functions for the Mercians.

544 Lastingham. Cf. Preface, p. 3; III, 23, 28.

545 Lindsey at this time belonged to Mercia. Cf. c. 12, p. 243, note 5.

546 Smith believed this place to be Barton-on-Humber. It is now
generally identified with Barrow in Lincolnshire. For the
preposition, cf. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

547 It had not previously been an episcopal see, though Wulfhere had
wished to establish Wilfrid there during the vacancy in the Mercian
bishopric (p. 218, note 4). When the bishopric of Mercia and Lindsey
was subdivided by Theodore in 679, Lichfield remained the see of the
bishopric of Mercia proper. In 787, under Offa, King of Mercia, with
the consent of Pope Hadrian, it was raised into a separate
archbishopric for Mercia and East Anglia, but in 802 Canterbury was
re-established as the sole archbishopric for the Southern Province.