Contents
BOOK I
Preface To the most glorious King Ceolwulph, Bede, the servant of Christ and Priest
I. Of the situation of Britain and Ireland, and of their ancient inhabitants
II. Caius Julius Caesar, the first Roman that came into Britain
III. Claudius, the second of the Romans who
came into Britain, brought the Islands Orcades into subjection to the Roman
Empire; and Vespian, sent by him, reduced the
Isle of Wight under their dominion
IV. Lucius, king of Britain, writing to Pope Eleutherus, desires to be made a Christian
V. How the Emperor Severus divided that part of Britain, which he subdued, from the rest by a rampart
VI. The reign of Diocletian, and how he persecuted the Christians
VII. The passion of St. Alban and his companions, who at that time shed their blood for our Lord [A.D. 305]
VIII. The persecution ceasing, the church in Britain enjoys peace till the time of the Arian heresy [A.D. 307337]
IX. How during the reign of Gratian, Maximus, being created emperor in Britain, returned into Gaul with a mighty army [A.D. 383]
X. How, in the reign of Arcadius, Pelagius, a Briton, insolently impugned the grace of God
XI. How, during the reign of Honorus, Gratian and Constantine were created tyrants in Britain; and soon after the former was slain in Britain, and the latter in Gaul
XII. The Britons, being ravaged by the Scots
and Picts, sought succor from the Romans, who, coming a second time, built
a wall across the island; but the Britons being
again invaded by the aforesaid enemies, were
reduced to greater distress than before
XIII. In the reign of Theodosius the younger,
Palladius was sent to the Scots that believed in Christ; the Bretons begging
assistance of Ætius, the consul, could not obtain it
[A.D. 446]
XIV. The Britons, compelled by famine, drove
the barbarians out of their territories; soon after there ensued plenty
of corn, luxury, plague, and the subversion of the nation
[A.D. 426447]
XV. The Angles, being invited into Britain,
at first obliged the enemy to retire to a distance; but not long after,
joining in league with them, turned their weapons upon their
confederates [A.D. 450456]
XVI. The Bretons obtained their first victory over the Angles, under the command of Ambrosius, a Roman
XVII. How Germanicus the bishop, sailing into Britain with Lupus, first quelled the tempest of the sea, and afterward that of the Pelagians, by divine power [A.D. 429]
XVIII. The same holy man gave sight to the
blind daughter of a tribune, and then coming to St. Alban's, there received
some of his relics, and left others of the blessed
apostles, and other martyrs
XIX. How the same holy man, being detained
there by an indisposition, by his prayers quenched a fire that had broken
out among the houses, and was himself cured of a
distemper by a vision [A.D. 429]
XX. How the same bishops procured the Britons assistance from Heaven in a battle, and then returned home [A.D. 429]
XXI. The Pelagian heresy again reviving, Germanus,
returning into Britain with Severus, first healed a lame youth, then having
condemned or converted the heretics, they
restored spiritual health to the people of
God [A.D. 447]
XXII. The Britons, being for a time delivered from foreign invasions, wasted themselves by civil wars, and then gave themselves up to more heinous crimes
XXIII. How Pope Gregory sent Augustine, with
other monks, to preach to the English nation, and encouraged them by a
letter of exhortation, not to cease from their labour
[A.D. 596]
XXIV. How he wrote to the Bishop of Arles to entertain them [A.D. 596]
XXV. Augustine, coming into Britain, first
preached in the Isle of Thanet to King Ethelbert, and having obtained licence,
entered the kingdom of Kent, in order to preach
therein [A.D. 597]
XXVI. St. Augustine in Kent followed the doctrine and manner of living of the primitive church, and settled his episcopal see in the royal city [A.D. 597]
XXVII. St. Augustine, being made bishop, sends
to acquaint Pope Gregory with what has been done, and receives his answer
to the doubts he had proposed to him [A.D.
597]
XXVIII. Pope Gregory writes to the Bishop of Arles to assist Augustine in the work of God [A.D. 601]
XXIX. The same Pope sends Augustine the pall, an epistle, and several ministers of the Word [A.D. 601]
XXX. A copy of the letter which Pope Gregory sent to the Abbot Mellitus, then going into Britain [A.D. 601]
XXXI. Pope Gregory, by letter, exhorts Augustine not to glory in his miracles [A.D. 601]
XXXII. Pope Gregory send letters and presents to King Ethelbert
XXXIII. Augustine repairs the church of our Saviour, and builds the monastery of St. Peter the Apostle; Peter the first abbot of the same [A.D. 602]
XXXIV. Ethelfrid, king of the Northumbrians,
having vanquished the nations of the Scots, expels them from the territories
of the English [A.D. 603]
THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY of THE ENGLISH NATION
PREFACE
TO THE MOST GLORIOUS KING CEOLWULPH, BEDE, THE SERVANT OF CHRIST AND PRIEST
FORMERLY, at your request, most readily transmitted
to you the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which I had newly
published, for you to read, and give it your
approbation; and I now send it again to be
transcribed and more fully considered at your leisure. And I cannot but
recommend the sincerity and zeal, with which you not only
diligently give ear to hear the words of the
Holy Scripture, but also industriously take care to become acquainted with
the actions and sayings of former men of renown,
especially of our own nation. For if history
relates good things of good men, the attentive hearer is excited to imitate
that which is good; or if it mentions evil things of wicked
persons, nevertheless the religious and pious
hearer or reader, shunning that which is hurtful and perverse, is the more
earnestly excited to perform those things which he
knows to be good, and worthy of God. Of which
you also being deeply sensible, are desirous that the said history should
be more fully made familiar to yourself, and to
those over whom the Divine Authority has appointed
you governor, from your great regard to their general welfare. But to the
end that I may remove all occasion of
doubting what I have written, both from yourself
and other readers or hearers of this history, I will take care briefly
to intimate from what authors I chiefly learned the same.
My principal authority and aid in this work
was the learned and reverend Abbot Albinus; who, educated in the Church
of Canterbury by those venerable and learned men,
Archbishop Theodore of blessed memory, and
the Abbot Adrian, transmitted to me by Nothelm, the pious priest of the
Church of London, either in writing, or word of
mouth of the same Nothelm, all that he though
worthy of memory, that had been done in the province of Kent, or the adjacent
parts, by the disciples of the blessed Pope
Gregory, as he had learned the same either
from written records, or the traditions of his ancestors. The same Notheim,
afterwards going to Rome, having, with leave of the
present Pope Gregory, searched into the archives
of the holy Roman Church, found there some epistles of the blessed Pope
Gregory, and other popes and returning home,
by the advice of the aforesaid most reverend
father Albinus, brought them to me, to be inserted in my history. Thus,
from the beginning of this volume to the time when the
English nation received the the faith of Christ,
have we collected the writings of our predecessors and from them gathered
matter for our history; but from that time till the
present, what was transacted in Church of
Canterbury, by the disciples of St. Gregory or their successors, and under
what kings the same happened, has been conveyed to
us by Nothelm through the industry of the
aforesaid Abbot Albinus. They also partly informed me by what bishops and
under what kings the provinces of the East and West
Saxons, as also of the East Angles, and of
the Northumbrians, received the faith of Christ. In short I was chiefly
encouraged to undertake this work by the persuasions of the
same Albinus. In like manner, Daniel, the
most reverend Bishop of the West Saxons, who is still living, communicated
to me in writing some things relating to the
Ecclesiastical History of that province, and
the next adjoining to it of the South Saxons, as also of the Isle of Wight.
But now, by the pious ministry of Cedd and Ceadda, the
province of the Mercians was brought to the
faith of Christ, which they knew not before, and how that of the East Saxons
recovered the same, after having expelled it, and
how those fathers lived and died, we learned
from the brethren of the monastery, which was built by them, and is called
Lastingham. What ecclesiastical transactions took
place in the province of the East Angles,
was partly made known to us from the writings and tradition of our ancestors,
and partly by relation of the most reverend Abbot
Esius. What was done towards promoting the
faith, and what was the sacerdotal succession in the province of Lindsey,
we had either from the letters of the most reverend
prelate Cunebert, or by word of mouth from
other persons of good credit. But what was done in the Church throughout
the province of the Northumbians, from the time
when they received the faith of Christ till
this present, I received not from any particular author, but by the faithful
testimony of innumerable witnesses, who might know or
remember the same, besides what I had of my
own knowledge. Wherein it is to be observed, that what I have written concerning
our most holy father, Bishop Cuthbert,
either in this volume, or in my treatise on
his life and actions, I partly took, and faithfully copied from what I
found written of him by the brethren of the Church of Lindisfarne;
but at the same time took care to add such
things as I could myself have knowledge of by the faithful testimony of
such as knew him. And I humbly entreat the reader, that, if
he shall in this that we have written find
anything not delivered according to the truth, he will not impute the same
to me, who, as the true rule of history requires, have
laboured sincerely to commit to writing such
things as I could gather from common report, for the instruction of posterity.
Moreover, I beseech all men who shall hear
or read this history of our nation, that for my manifold infirmities both
of mind and body, they will offer up frequent supplications
to the throne of Grace. And I further pray,
that in recompense for the labour wherewith I have recorded in the several
countries and cities those events which were most
worthy of note, and most grateful to the ears
of their inhabitants, I may for my reward have the benefit of their pious
prayers.
BOOK I
CHAPTER I
OF THE SITUATION OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND, AND OF THEIR ANCIENT INHABITANTS
BRITAIN, an island in the ocean, formerly called
Albion, is situated between the north and west, facing, though at a considerable
distance, the coasts of Germany, France,
and Spain, which form the greatest part of
Europe. It extends 800 miles in length towards the north, and is 200 miles
in breadth, except where several promontories extend
further in breadth, by which its compass is
made to be 3675 miles. To the south, as you pass along the nearest shore
of the Belgic Gaul, the first place in Britain which opens
to the eye is the city of Rutubi Portus, by
the English corrupted into Reptacestir. The distance from hence across
the sea to Gessoriacum, the nearest shore of the Morini, is
fifty miles, or as some writers say, 450 furlongs.
On the back of the island, where it opens upon the boundless ocean, it
has the islands called Orcades. Britain excels for
grain and trees, and is well adapted for feeding
cattle and beasts of burden. It also produces vines in some places, and
has plenty of land and waterfowls of several sorts; it is
remarkable also for rivers abounding in fish,
and plentiful springs. It has the greatest plenty of salmon and eels; seals
are also frequently taken, and dolphins, as also whales;
besides many sorts of shellfish, such as muscles,
in which are often found excellent pearls of all colours, red, purple,
violet, and green, but mostly white. There is also a great
abundance of cockles, of which the scarlet
dye is made; a most beautiful colour, which never fades with the heat of
the sun or the washing of the rain; but the older it is, the
more beautiful it becomes. It has both salt
and hot springs, and from them flow rivers which furnish hot baths, proper
for all ages and sexes, and arranged according. For
water, as St. Basil says, receives the heating
quality, when it runs along certain metals, and becomes not only hot but
scalding. Britain has also many veins of metals, as
copper, iron, lead, and silver; it has much
and excellent jet, which is black and sparkling, glittering at the fire,
and when heated, drives away serpents; being warmed with
rubbing, it holds fast whatever is applied
to it, like amber. The island was formerly embellished with twentyeight
noble cities, besides innumerable castles, which were all
strongly secured with walls, towers, gates,
and locks. And, from its lying almost under the North Pole, the nights
are light in summer, so that at midnight the beholders are
often in doubt whether the evening twilight
still continues, or that of the morning is coming on; for the sun, in the
night, returns under the earth, through the northern regions at
no great distance from them. For this reason
the days are of a great length in summer, as, on the contrary, the nights
are in winter, for the sun then withdraws into the
southern parts, so that the nights are eighteen
hours long. Thus the nights are extraordinarily short in summer, and the
days in winter, that is, of only six equinoctial hours.
Whereas, in Armenia, Macedonia, Italy, and
other countries of the same latitude, the longest day or night extends
but to fifteen hours, and the shortest to nine.
This island at present, following the number
of the books in which the Divine law was written, contains five nations,
the English, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins, each in its
own peculiar dialect cultivating the sublime
study of Divine truth. The Latin tongue is, by the study of the Scriptures,
become common to all the rest. At first this island had no
other inhabitants but the Britons, from whom
it derived its name, and who, coming over into Britain, as is reported,
from Armorica, possessed themselves of the southern
parts thereof. When they, beginning at the
south, had made themselves masters of the greatest part of the island,
it happened, that the nation of the Picts, from Scythia, as is
reported, putting to sea, in a few long ships,
were driven by the winds beyond the shores of Britain, and arrived on the
northern coast of Ireland, where, finding the nation of
the Scots, they begged to be allowed to settle
among them, but could not succeed in obtaining their request. Ireland is
the greatest island next to Britain, and lies to the west
of it; but as it is shorter than Britain to
the north, so, on the other hand, it runs out far beyond it to the south,
opposite to the northern parts of Spain, though a spacious sea
lies between them. The Picts, as has been
said, arriving in this island by sea, desired to have a place granted them
in which they might settle. The Scots answered that the
island could not contain them both; but "We
can give you good advice," said they, "what to do; we know there is another
island, not far from ours, to the eastward, which
we often see at a distance, when the days
are clear. if you will go thither, you will obtain settlements; or, if
they should oppose you, you shall have our assistance." The Picts,
accordingly, sailing over into Britain, began
to inhabit the northern parts thereof, for the Britons were possessed of
the southern. Now the Picts had no wives, and asked
them of the Scots; who would not consent to
grant them upon any other terms, than that when any difficulty should arise,
they should choose a king from the female royal
race rather than from the male: which custom,
as is well known, has been observed among the Picts to this day. In process
of time, Britain, besides the Britons and the Picts,
received a third nation the Scots, who, migrating
from Ireland under their leader, Reuda, either by fair means, or by force
of arms, secured to themselves those settlements
among the Picts which they still possess.
From the name of their commander, they are to this day called Dalreudins;
for, in their language, Dal signifies a part.
Ireland, in breadth, and for wholesomeness
and serenity of climate, far surpasses Britain; for the snow scarcely ever
lies there above three days: no man makes hay in the
summer for winter's provision, or builds stables
for his beasts of burden. No reptiles are found there, and no snake can
live there; for, though often carried thither out of
Britain, as soon as the ship comes near the
shore, and the scent of the air reaches them, they die. On the contrary,
almost all things in the island are good against poison. In
short, we have known that when some persons
have been bitten by serpents, the scrapings of leaves of books that were
brought out of Ireland, being put into water, and
given them to drink, have immediately expelled
the spreading poison, and assuaged the swelling. The island abounds in
milk and honey, nor is there any want of vines, fish, or
fowl; and it is remarkable for deer and goats.
It is properly the country of the Scots, who, migrating from thence, as
has been said, added a third nation in Britain to the
Britons and the Picts. There is a very large
gulf of the sea, which formerly divided the nation of the Picts from the
Britons; which gulf runs from the west very far into the land,
where, to this day, stands the strong city
of the Britons, called Aicluith. The Scots, arriving on the north side
of this bay, settled themselves there.
CHAPTER II
CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR, THE FIRST ROMAN THAT CAME INTO BRITAIN
BRITAIN had never been visited by the Romans,
and was, indeed, entirely unknown to them before the time of Caius Julius
Caesar, who, in the year 693 after the building
of Rome, but the sixtieth year before the
incarnation of our Lord, was consul with Lucius Bibulus, and afterwards
while he made war upon the Germans and the Gauls, which
were divided only by the river Rhine, came
into the province of the Morini, from whence is the nearest and shortest
passage into Britain. Here, having provided about eighty
ships of burden and vessels with oars, he
sailed over into Britain; where, being first roughly handled in a battle,
and then meeting with a violent storm, he lost a considerable
part of his fleet, no small number of soldiers,
and almost all his horses. Returning into Gaul, he put his legions into
winter quarters, and gave orders for building six hundred
sail of both sorts. With these he again passed
over early in spring into Britain, but, whilst he was marching with a large
army towards the enemy, the ships, riding at anchor,
were, by a tempest either dashed one against
another, or driven upon the sands and wrecked. Forty of them perished,
the rest were, with much difficulty, repaired. Caesar's
cavalry was, at the first charge, defeated
by the Britons, and Labienus, the tribune, slain. In the second engagement,
he, with great hazard to his men, put the Britons to flight.
Thence he proceeded to the river Thames, where
an immense multitude of the enemy had posted themselves on the farthest
side of the river, under the command of
Cassibellaun, and fenced the bank of the river
and almost all the ford under water with sharp stakes: the remains of these
are to be seen to this day, apparently about the
thickness of a man's thigh, and being cased
with lead, remain fixed immovably in the bottom of the river. This, being
perceived and avoided by the Romans, the barbarians
not able to stand the shock of the legions,
hid themselves in the woods, whence they grievously galled the Romans with
repeated sallies. In the meantime, the strong city of
Trinovantum, with its commander Androgeus,
surrendered to Caesar, giving him forty hostages. Many other cities, following
their example, made a treaty with the Romans.
By their assistance, Caesar at length, with
much difficulty, took Cassibellaun's town, situated between two marshes,
fortified by the adjacent woods, and plentifully furnished
with all necessaries. After this, Caesar returned
into Gaul, but he had no sooner put his legions into winter quarters, than
he was suddenly beset and distracted with wars and
tumults raised against him on every side.
CHAPTER III
CLAUDIUS, THE SECOND OF THE ROMANS WHO CAME
INTO BRITAIN, BROUGHT THE ISLANDS ORCADES INTO SUBJECTION TO THE ROMAN
EMPIRE; AND VESPASIAN, SENT BY HIM REDUCED
THE ISLE OF WIGHT UNDER THEIR DOMINION
IN the year of Rome 798, Claudius, fourth emperor
from Augustus, being desirous to approve himself a beneficial prince to
the republic, and eagerly bent upon war and
conquest, undertook an expedition into Britain,
which seemed to be stirred up to rebellion by the refusal of the Romans
to give up certain deserters. He was the only one,
either before or after Julius Caesar, who
had dared to land upon the island; yet, within a very few days, without
any fight or bloodshed, the greatest part of the island was
surrendered into his hands. He also added
to the Roman empire the Orcades, which lie in the ocean beyond Britain,
and then, returning to Rome the sixth month after his
departure, he gave his son the title of Britannicus.
This war he concluded in the fourth year of his empire, which is the fortysixth
from the incarnation of our Lord. In which
year there happened a most grievous famine
in Syria, which, in the Acts of the Apostles is recorded to have been foretold
by the prophet Agabus. Vespasian, who was
emperor after Nero, being sent into Britain
by the same Claudius, brought also under the Roman dominion the Isle of
Wight, which is next to Britain on the south, and is
about thirty miles in length from east to
west, and twelve from north to south; being six miles distant from the
Southern coast of Britain at the east end, and three only at the
west. Nero, succeeding Claudius in the empire,
attempted nothing in martial affairs; and, therefore, among other innumerable
detriments brought upon the Roman state, he
almost lost Britain; for under him two most
noble towns were there taken and destroyed.
CHAPTER IV
LUCIUS, KING OF BRITAIN, WRITING TO POPE ELEUTHERUS, DESIRES TO BE MADE A CHRISTIAN
IN the year of our Lord's incarnation 156,
Marcus Antoninus Verus, the fourteenth from Augustus, was made emperor,
together with his brother, Aurelius Commodus. In
their time, whilst Eleutherus, a holy man,
presided over the Roman church, Lucius, king of the Britons, Sent a letter
to him, entreating that by his command he might be made
a Christian. He soon obtained his pious request,
and the Britons preserved the faith, which they had received, uncorrupted
and entire, in peace and tranquillity until the time
of the Emperor Diocletian.
CHAPTER V
HOW THE EMPEROR SEVERUS DIVIDED THAT PART OF BRITAIN, WHICH HE SUBDUED, FROM THE REST BY A RAMPART
IN the year of our Lord 189, Severus, an African,
born at Leptis, in the province of Tripolis, received the imperial purple.
He was the Seventeenth from Augustus, and
reigned seventeen years. Being naturally stern,
and engaged in many wars, he governed the state vigorously, but with much
trouble. Having been victorious in all the grievous
civil wars which happened in his time, he
was drawn into Britain by the revolt of almost all the confederate tribes;
and, after many great and dangerous battles, he thought fit
to divide that part of the island, which he
had recovered from the other unconquered nations, not with a wall, as some
imagine, but with a rampart. For a wall is made of
stones, but a rampart, with which camps are
fortified to repel the assaults of enemies, is made of sods, cut out of
the earth, and raised above the ground all round like a wall,
having in front of it the ditch whence the
sods were taken, and strong stakes of wood fixed upon its top. Thus Severus
drew a great ditch and strong rampart, fortified with
several towers, from sea to sea; and was afterwards
taken sick and died at York, leaving two sons, Bassianus and Geta; of whom
Geta died, adjudged a public enemy; but
Bassianus, having taken the surname of Antoninus,
obtained the empire.
CHAPTER VI
THE REIGN OF DIOCLETIAN, AND HOW HE PERSECUTED THE CHRISTIANS
IN the year of our Lord's incarnation 286,
Diocletian, the thirtythird from Augustus, and chosen emperor by the
army, reigned twenty years, and created Maximian,
surnamed Herculius, his colleague in the empire.
In their time, one Carausius, of very mean birth, but an expert and able
soldier, being appointed to guard the seacoasts,
then infested by the Franks and Saxons, acted
more to the prejudice than to the advantage of the commonwealth; and from
his not restoring to its owners the booty taken
from the robbers, but keeping all to himself,
it was suspected that by intentional neglect he suffered the enemy to infest
the frontiers. Hearing, therefore, that an order was
sent by Maximian that he should be put to
death, took upon him the imperial robes, and possessed himself of Britain,
and having most valiantly retained it for the space of
seven years, he was at length put to death
by the treachery of his associate, Allectus. The usurper, having thus got
the island from Carausius, held it three years, and was then
vanquished by Asclepiodotus, the captain of
the Praetorian bands, who thus at the end of ten years restored Britain
to the Roman empire. Meanwhile, Diocletian in the east,
and Maximian Herculius in the west, commanded
the churches to be destroyed, and the Christians to be slain. This persecution
was the tenth since the reign of Nero, and
was more lasting and bloody than all the others
before it; for it was carried on incessantly for the space of ten years,
with burning of churches, outlawing of innocent persons,
and the slaughter of martyrs. At length, it
reached Britain also, and many persons, with the constancy of martyrs,
died in the confession of their faith.
CHAPTER VII
THE PASSION OF ST. ALBAN AND HIS COMPANIONS, WHO AT THAT TIME SHED THEIR BLOOD FOR OUR LORD. [A.D. 305.]
AT that time suffered St. Alban, of whom the
priest Fortunatus, in the Praise of Virgins, where he makes mention of
the blessed martyrs that came to the Lord from all parts
of the world, says
In Britain's isle was holy Alban born.
This Alban, being yet a pagan, at the time
when the cruelties of wicked princes were raging against Christians, gave
entertainment in his house to a certain clergyman, flying
from the persecutors. This man he observed
to be engaged in continual prayer and watching day and night; when on a
sudden the Divine grace shining on him, he began to
imitate the example of faith and piety which
was set before him, and being gradually instructed by his wholesome admonitions,
he cast off the darkness of idolatry, and
became a Christian in all sincerity of heart.
The aforesaid clergyman having been some days entertained by him, it came
to the ears of the wicked prince, that this holy
confessor of Christ, whose time of martyrdom
had not yet come, was concealed at Alban's house. Whereupon he sent some
soldiers to make a strict search after him. When
they came to the martyr's house, St. Alban
immediately presented himself to the soldiers, instead of his guest and
master, in the habit or long coat which he wore, and was
led bound before the judge.
It happened that the judge, at the time when
Alban was carried before him, was standing at the altar, and offering sacrifice
to devils. When he saw Alban, being much
enraged that he should thus, of his own accord,
put himself into the hands of the soldiers, and incur such danger in behalf
of his guest, he commanded him to be dragged up
to the images of the devils, before which
he stood, saying, "Because you have chosen to conceal a rebellious and
sacrilegious person, rather than to deliver him up to the
soldiers, that his contempt of the gods might
meet with the penalty due to such blasphemy, you shall undergo all the
punishment that was due to him, if, you abandon the
worship of our religion." But St. Alban, who
had voluntarily declared himself a Christian to the persecutors of the
faith, was not at all daunted at the prince's threats, but
putting on the armour of spiritual warfare,
publicly declared that he would not obey the command. Then said the judge,
"Of what family or race are you?" "What does it
concern you," answered Alban, "of what stock
I am? If you desire to hear the truth of my religion be it known to you,
that I am now a Christian, and bound by Christian
duties." "I ask your name," said the
judge; "tell me it immediately." "I am called Alban by my parents,"
replied he; "and I worship and adore the true and living God, who
created all things." Then the judge, inflamed
with anger, said, "If you will enjoy the happiness of eternal life, do
not delay to offer sacrifice to the great gods." Alban rejoined,
"These sacrifices, which by you are offered
to devils, neither can avail the subjects, nor answer the wishes or desires
of those that offer up their supplications to them. On the
contrary, whosoever shall offer sacrifice
to these images shall receive the everlasting pains of hell for his reward."
The judge, hearing these words, and being much
incensed, ordered this holy confessor of God to be scourged by the executioners,
believing he might by stripes shake that
constancy of heart, on which he could not
prevail by words. He, being most cruelly tortured, bore the same patiently,
or rather joyfully, for our Lord's sake. When the judge
perceived that he was not to be overcome by
tortures, or withdrawn from the exercise of the Christian religion, he
ordered him to be put to death. Being led to execution, he
came to a river, which, with a most rapid
course, ran between the wall of the town and the arena where he was to
be executed. He there saw a multitude. of persons of both
sexes, and of several ages and conditions,
who were doubtlessly assembled by Divine instinct, to attend the blessed
confessor and martyr, and had so taken up the bridge on
the river, that he could scarce pass over
that evening. In short, almost all had gone out, so that the judge remained
in the city without attendance. St Alban, therefore, urged
by an ardent and devout wish to arrive quickly
at martyrdom, drew near to the stream, and on lifting up his eyes to heaven,
the channel was immediately dried up, and he
perceived that the water had departed and
made way for him to pass. Among the rest, the executioner, who was to have
put him to death, observed this, and moved by
Divine inspiration hastened to meet him at
the place of execution, and casting down the sword which he had carried
ready drawn, fell at his feet, praying that he might rather
suffer with the martyr, whom was ordered to
execute or, if possible, instead of him.
While he thus from a persecutor was become
a companion in the faith, and the other executioners hesitated to take
up the sword which was lying on the ground, the
reverend confessor, accompanied by the multitude,
ascended a hill, about 500 paces from the place, adorned, or, rather clothed
with all kinds of flowers, having its sides
neither perpendicular, nor even craggy, but
sloping down into a most beautiful plain, worthy from its lovely appearance
to be the scene of a martyr's sufferings. On the top of
this hill, St. Alban prayed that God would
give him water, and immediately a living spring broke out before his feet,
the course being confined, so that all men perceived that
the river also had been dried up in consequence
of the martyr's presence. Nor was it likely that the martyr, who had left
no water remaining in the river, should want some on
the top of the hill, unless he thought it
suitable to the occasion. The river having performed the holy service,
returned to its natural course, leaving a testimony of its obedience.
Here, therefore, the head of most courageous
martyr was struck off, and here he received the crown of life, which God
has promised to those who love Him. But he who
gave the wicked stroke, was not permitted
to rejoice over the deceased; for his eyes dropped upon the ground together
with the blessed martyr's head.
At the same time was also beheaded the soldier,
who before, through the Divine admonition, refused to give the stroke to
the holy confessor. Of whom it is apparent, that
though he was not regenerated by baptism,
yet he was cleansed by the washing of his own blood, and rendered worthy
to enter the kingdom of heaven. Then the judge,
astonished at the novelty of so many heavenly
miracles, ordered the persecution to cease immediately, beginning to honour
the death of the saints, by which he before
thought they might have been diverted from
the Christian faith. The blessed Alban suffered death on the twentysecond
day of June, near the city of Verulam, which is now
by the English nation called Verlamacestir,
or Varlingacestir, where afterwards, when peaceable Christian times were
restored, a church of wonderful workmanship, and
suitable to his martyrdom, was erected. In
which place, there ceases not to this day the cure of sick persons, and
the frequent working of wonders.
At the same time suffered Aaron and Julius,
citizens of Chester, and many more of both sexes in several places; who,
when they had endured sundry torments, and their
limbs had been torn after an unheardof
manner, yielded their souls up, to enjoy in the heavenly city a reward
for the sufferings which they had passed through.
CHAPTER VIII
THE PERSECUTION CEASING, THE CHURCH IN BRITAIN ENJOYS PEACE TILL THE TIME OF THE ARIAN HERESY. [A.D. 307337.]
WHEN the storm of persecution ceased, the faithful
Christians, who, during the time of danger, had hidden themselves in woods
and deserts, and secret caves, appearing in
public, rebuilt the churches which had been
levefled with the ground; founded, erected, and finished the temples of
the holy martyrs, and, as it were, displayed their
conquering ensigns in all places; they celebrated
festivals, and performed their sacred rites with clean hearts and mouths.
This peace continued in the churches of Britain until
whole world, infected this island also, so
far removed fr time of the Arian madness, which, having corrupted the rest
of the globe, with the poison of its arrows; when the
plague was thus conveyed across the sea, all
the venom of every heresy immediately rushed into the island, ever fond
of something new, and never holding firm to anything.
At this time, Constantius, who, whilst Diocletian
was alive, governed Gaul and Spain, a man of extraordinary meekness and
courtesy, died in Britain. This man left his son
Constantine, born of Helen his concubine,
emperor of the Gauls. Eutropius writes, that Constantine, being created
emperor in Britain, succeeded his father in the sovereignty.
In his time the Arian heresy broke out, and
although it was detected and condemned in the Council of Nice, yet it nevertheless
infected not only all the churches of the
continent, but even those of the islands,
with its pestilent and fatal doctrines.
CHAPTER IX
HOW DURING THE REIGN OF GRATIAN, MAXIMUS, BEING
CREATED EMPEROR IN BRITAIN, RETURNED INTO GAUL WITH A MIGHTY ARMY.
[A.D. 383.]
IN the year of our Lord's incarnation, 377,
Gratian, the fortieth from Augustus, held the empire six years after the
death of Valens; though he had long before reigned with his
uncle Valens, and his brother Valentinian.
Finding the state of the commonwealth much impaired, and almost gone to
ruin, he looked around for some one whose abilities
might remedy the existing evils; and his choice
fell on Theodosius, a Spaniard. Him he invested at Sirmium with the royal
robes, and made him emperor of Thrace and the
Eastern provinces. At which time, Maximus,
a man of valour and probity, and worthy to be an emperor, if he had not
broken the oath of allegiance which he had taken, was
made emperor by the army, passed over into
Gaul, and there by treachery slew the Emperor Gratian, who was in a consternation
at his sudden invasion, and attempting to
escape into Italy. His brother, Valentinian,
expelled from Italy, fled into the East, where he was entertained by Theodosius
with fatherly affection, and soon restored to the
empire. Maximus the tyrant, being shut up
in Aquileia, was there taken and put to death.
CHAPTER X
HOW, IN THE REIGN OF ARCADIUS, PELAGIUS, A BRITON, INSOLENTLY IMPUGNED THE GRACE OF GOD
IN the year of our Lord 394, Arcadius, the
son of Theodosius, the fortythird from Augustus, taking the empire
upon him, with his brother Honorius, held it thirteen years. In
his time, Pelagius, a Briton, spread far and
near the infection of his perfidious doctrine against the assistance of
the Divine grace, being seconded therein by his associate
Julianus of Campania, whose anger was kindled
by the loss of his bishopric, of which he had been just deprived. St. Augustine,
and the other orthodox fathers, quoted many
thousand catholic authorities against them,
yet they would not Correct their madness; but, or the contrary, their folly
was rather increased by contradiction, and they refused
to embrace the truth; which Prosper, the rhetorician,
has beautifully expressed thus in heroic verse
"A scribbler vile, inflamed with hellish spite,
Against the great Augustine dared to Write;
Presumptuous serpent! from what midnight den
Durst thou to crawl on earth and look at men?
Sure thou wast fed on Britain's sea-girt plains,
Or in thy breast Vesuvian sulphur reigns."
CHAPTER XI
HOW DURING THE REIGN OF HONORIUS, GRATIAN AND
CONSTANTINE WERE CREATED TYRANTS IN BRITAIN; AND 500 AFTER THE FORMER
WAS SLAIN IN BRITAIN, AND THE LATTER IN GAUL
IN the year 407, Honorius, the younger Son
of Theodosius and the fortyfourth from Augustus, being emperor, two
years before the invasion of Rome by Alaric, king of the
Goths, when the nations of the Alani, Suevi,
Vandals, and many others with them, having defeated the Franks and passed
the Rhine, ravaged all Gaul, Gratianus Municeps
was set up as tyrant and killed. In his place,
Constantine, one of the meanest soldiers, only for his name's sake, and
without any worth to recommend him, was chosen
emperor. As soon as he had taken upon him
the command, he passed over into France, where being often imposed upon
by the barbarians with faithless treaties, he caused
much injury to the Commonwealth. Whereupon
Count Constantius by the command of Honorius, marching into Gaul with an
army, besieged him in the City of Arles, and put
him to death. His son Constans, whom of a
monk he had created Caesar, was also put to death by his own Count Gerontius,
at Vienne.
Rome was taken by the Goths, in the year from
its foundation, 1164. Then the Romans ceased to rule in Britain, almost
470 years after Caius Julius Caesar entered the
island. They resided within the rampart, which,
as we have mentioned, Severus made across the island, on the south side
of it, as the cities, temples, bridges, and paved
roads there made, testify to this day; but
they had a right of dominion over the farther parts of Britain, as also
over the islands that are beyond Britain.
CHAPTER XII
THE BRITONS, BEING RAVAGED BY THE SCOTS AND
PICTS, SOUGHT SUCCOUR FROM THE ROMANS, WHO, COMING A SECOND TIME, BUILT
A WALL ACROSS THE ISLAND; BUT THE BRITONS
BEING AGAIN INVADED BY THE AFORESAID ENEMIES, WERE REDUCED TO GREATER
DISTRESS THAN BEFORE
FROM that time, the south part of Britain,
destitute of armed soldiers, of martial stores, and of all its active youth,
which had been led away by the rashness of the tyrants,
never to return, was wholly exposed to rapine,
as being totally ignorant of the use of weapons. Whereupon they suffered
many years under two very savage foreign nations,
the Scots from the west, and the Picts from
the north. We call these foreign nations, not on account of their being
seated out of Britain, but because they were remote from
that part of it which was possessed by the
Britons; two inlets of the sea lying between them, one of which runs in
far and broad into the land of Britain, from the Eastern
Ocean, and the other from the Western, though
they do not reach so as touch one another. The eastern has in the midst
of it the city Giudi. The western has on it, that is, on
the right hand thereof, the city Alcluith,
which in their language signifies the Rock Cluith, for it is close by the
river of that name.
On account of the irruption of these nations,
the Britons sent messengers to Rome with letters in mournful manner, praying
for succours, and promising perpetual subjection,
provided that the impending enemy should be
driven away. An armed legion was immediately sent them, which, arriving
in the island, and engaging the enemy, slew a great
multitude of them, drove the rest out of the
territories of their allies, and having delivered them from their cruel
oppressors, advised them to build a wall between the two seas
across the island, that it might secure them,
and keep off the enemy; and thus they returned home with great triumph.
The islanders raising the wall, as they had been directed,
not of stone, as having no artist capable
of such a work, but of sods, made it of no use. However, they drew it for
many miles between the two bays or inlets of the seas,
which we have spoken of; to the end that where
the defense of the water was wanting, they might use the rampart to defend
their borders from the irruptions of the enemies.
Of which work there erected, that is, of a
rampart of extraordinary breadth and height, there are evident remains
to be seen at this day. It begins at about two miles' distance
from the monastery of Abercurnig, on the west,
at a place called in the Pictish language, Peanfahel, but in the English
tongue, Penneltun, and running to the westward, ends
near the city Alcluith.
But the former enemies, when they perceived
that the Roman soldiers were gone, immediately coming by sea, broke into
the borders, trampled and overran all places, and
like men mowing ripe corn, bore down all before
them. Hereupon messengers are again sent to Rome, imploring aid, lest their
wretched country should be utterly extirpated,
and the name of a Roman province, so long
renowned among them, overthrown by the cruelties of barbarous foreigners,
might become utterly contemptible. A legion is
accordingly sent again, and, arriving unexpectedly
in autumn, made great slaughter of the enemy. obliging all those that could
escape, to flee beyond the sea; whereas before,
they were wont yearly to carry off their booty
without any opposition. Then the Romans declared to the Britons, that they
could not for the future undertake such
troublesome expeditions for their sake, advising
them rather to handle their weapons like men, and undertake themselves
the charge of engaging their enemies, who would
not prove too powerful for them, unless they
were deterred by cowardice; and, thinking that it might be some help to
the allies, whom they were forced to abandon, they
built a strong stone wall from sea to sea,
in a straight line between the towns that had been there built for fear
of the enemy, and not far from the trench of Severus. This
famous wall, which is still to be seen, was
built at the public and private expense, the Britons also lending their
assistance. It is eight feet in breadth, and twelve in height, in a
straight line from east to west, as is still
visible to beholders. This being finished, they gave that dispirited people
good advice, with patterns to furnish them with arms.
Besides, they built towers on the seacoast
to the southward, at proper distances, where their ships were, because
there also the irruptions of the barbarians were
apprehended, and so took leave of their friends,
never to return again.
After their departure, the Scots and Picts,
understanding that they had declared they would come no more, speedily
returned, and growing more confident than they had
been before, occupied all the northern and
farthest part of the island, as far as the wall. Hereupon a timorous guard
was placed upon the wall, where they pined away day
and night in the utmost fear. On the other
side, the enemy attacked them with hooked weapons, by which the cowardly
defenders were dragged from the wall, and dashed
against the ground. At last, the Britons,
forsaking their cities and wall, took to flight and were dispersed. The
enemy pursued, and the slaughter was greater than on any
former occasion; for the wretched natives
were torn in pieces by their enemies, as lambs are torn by wild beasts.
Thus, being expelled their dwellings and possessions, they
saved themselves from starvation, by robbing
and plundering one another, adding to the calamities occasioned by foreigners,
by their own domestic broils, till the whole
country was left destitute of food, except
such as could be procured in the chase.
CHAPTER XIII
IN THE REIGN OF THEODOSIUS THE YOUNGER, PALLADIUS
WAS SENT TO THE SCOTS THAT BELIEVED IN CHRIST; THE BRITONS BEGGING
ASSISTANCE OF ÆTIUS, THE CONSUL, COULD
NOT OBTAIN IT. [A.D. 446.]
IN the year of our Lord 423, Theodosius the
younger, next to Honorius, being the fortyfifth from Augustus, governed
the Roman empire twentysix years. In the eighth year
of his reign, Palladius was sent by Celestinus,
the Roman pontiff, to the Scots that believed in Christ, to be their first
bishop. In the twentythird year of his reign, Ætius, a
renowned person, being also a patrician, discharged
his third consulship with Symmachus for his colleague. To him the wretched
remains of the Britons sent a letter, which
began thus "To Ætius, thrice Consul,
the groans of the Britons." And in the sequel of the letter they thus expressed
their calamities "The barbarians drive us to the sea; the
sea drives us back to the barbarians: between
them we are to two sorts of death; we are either slain or drowned." Yet
neither could all this procure any assistance from him,
as he was then engaged in most dangerous wars
with Bledla and Attila, kings of the Huns. And, though the year before
this, Bledla had been murdered by the treachery of
his brother Attila, yet Attila himself remained
so intolerable an enemy to the Republic, that he ravaged almost all Europe,
invading and destroying cities and castles. At the
same time there was a famine at Constantinople,
and shortly after, a plague followed, and a great part of the walls of
that city, with fiftyseven towers, fell to the ground.
Many cities also went to ruin, and the famine
and pestilential state of the air destroyed thousands of men and cattle.
CHAPTER XIV
THE BRITONS, COMPELLED BY FAMINE, DROVE THE
BARBARIANS OUT OF THEIR TERRITORIES; SOON AFTER THERE ENSUED PLENTY OF
CORN, LUXURY, PLAGUE, AND THE SUBVERSION OF
THE NATION. [A.D. 426447.]
IN the meantime, the aforesaid famine distressing
the Britons more and more, and leaving to posterity lasting memorials of
its mischievous effects, obliged many of them to
submit themselves to the depredators; though
others still held out, confiding in the Divine assistance, when none was
to be had from men. These continually made excursions
from the mountains, caves, and woods, and,
at length, began to inflict severe losses on their enemies, who had been
for so many years plundering the country. The Irish
robbers thereupon returned home, in order
to come again soon after. The Picts, both then and afterwards, remained
quiet in the farthest part of the island, save that
sometimes they would do some mischief, and
carry off booty from the Britons.
When however, the ravages of the enemy at length
ceased, the island began to abound with such plenty of grain as had never
been known in any age before; with plenty,
luxury increased, and this was immediately
attended with all sorts of crimes; in particular, cruelty, hatred of truth,
and love of falsehood; insomuch, that if any one among
them happened to be milder than the rest,
and inclined to truth, all the rest abhorred and persecuted him, as if
he had been the enemy of his country. Nor were the laity only
guilty of these things, but even our Lord's
own flock, and his pastors also, addicting themselves to drunkenness, animosity,
litigiousness, contention, envy, and other such like
crimes, and casting off the light yoke of
Christ. In the meantime, on a sudden, a severe plague fell upon that corrupt
generation, which soon destroyed such numbers of them,
that the living were scarcely sufficient to
bury the dead: yet, those that survived, could not be withdrawn from the
spiritual death, which their sins had incurred, either by the
death of their friends, or the fear of their
own. Whereupon, not long after, a more severe vengeance, for their horrid
wickedness, fell upon the sinful nation. They consulted
what was to be done, and where they should
seek assistance to prevent or repel the cruel and frequent incursions of
the northern nations; and they all agreed with their King
Vortigern to call over to their aid, from
the parts beyond the sea, the Saxon nation; which, as the event still more
evidently showed, appears to have been done by the
appointment of our Lord Himself, that evil
might fall upon them for their wicked deeds.
CHAPTER XV
THE ANGLES, BEING INVITED INTO BRITAIN, AT
FIRST OBLIGED THE ENEMY TO RETIRE TO A DISTANCE; BUT NOT LONG AFTER, JOINING
IN
LEAGUE WITH THEM, TURNED THEIR WEAPONS UPON
THEIR CONFEDERATES. [A.D. 450-456.]
IN the year of our Lord 449, Martian being
made emperor with Valentinian, and the fortysixth from Augustus, ruled
the empire seven years. Then the nation of the Angles,
or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid
king, arrived in Britain with three long ships, and had a place assigned
them to reside in by the same king, in the eastern part of the
island, that they might thus appear to be
fighting for their country, whilst their real intentions were to enslave
it. Accordingly they engaged with the enemy, who were come
from the north to give battle, and obtained
the victory; which, being known at home in their own country, as also the
fertility of the country, and the cowardice of the Britons,
a more considerable fleet was quickly sent
over, bringing a still greater number of men, which, being added to the
former, made up an invincible army. The newcomers
received of the Britons a place to inhabit,
upon condition that they should wage war against their enemies for the
peace and security of the country, whilst the Britons agreed
to furnish them with pay. Those who came over
were of the three most powerful nations of Germany Saxons, Angles,
and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people
of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and those
also in the province of the West Saxons who are to this day called Jutes,
seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. From the Saxons,
that is, the country which is now called Old
Saxony, came the East Saxons, the South Saxons, and the West Saxons. From
the Angles, that is, the country which is called
Anglia, and which is said, from that time,
to remain desert to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes and the
Saxons, are descended the East Angles, the Midland
Angles, Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians,
that is, of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber,
and the other nations of the English. The two
first commanders are said to have been Hengist
and Horsa. Of whom Horsa, being afterwards slain in battle by the Britons,
was buried in the eastern parts of Kent, where a
monument, bearing his name, is still in existence.
They were the sons of Victgilsus, whose father was Vecta, son of Woden;
from whose stock the royal race of many
provinces deduce their original. In a short
time, swarms of the aforesaid nations came over into the island, and they
began to increase so much, that they became terrible to
the natives themselves who had invited them.
Then, having on a sudden entered into league with the Picts, whom they
had by this time repelled by the force of their arms,
they began to turn their weapons against their
confederates. At first, they obliged them to furnish a greater quantity
of provisions; and, seeking an occasion to quarrel,
protested, that unless more plentiful supplies
were brought them, they would break the confederacy, and ravage all the
island; nor were they backward in putting their threats
in execution. In short, the fire kindled by
the hands of these pagans proved God's just revenge for the crimes of the
people; not unlike that which, being once lighted by the
Chaldeans, consumed the walls and city of
Jerusalem. For the barbarous conquerors acting here in the same manner,
or rather the just Judge ordaining that they should so
act, they plundered all the neighbouring cities
and country, spread the conflagration from the eastern to the western sea,
without any opposition, and covered almost every
part of the devoted island. Public as well
as private structures were overturned; the priests were everywhere slain
before the altars; the prelates and the people, without any
respect of persons, were destroyed with fire
and sword; nor was there any to bury those who had been thus cruelly slaughtered.
Some of the miserable remainder, being
taken in the mountains, were butchered in
heaps; others, spent with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to
the enemy for food, being destined to undergo perpetual
servitude, if they were not killed even upon
the spot some, with sorrowful hearts, fled beyond the seas. Others, continuing
in their own country, led a miserable life among the
woods, rocks, and mountains, with scarcely
enough food to support life, and expecting every moment to be their last.
CHAPTER XVI
THE BRITONS OBTAINED THEIR FIRST VICTORY OVER THE ANGLES, UNDER THE COMMAND OF AMBROSIUS, A ROMAN
WHEN the victorious army, having destroyed
and dispersed the natives, had returned home to their own settlements,
the Britons began by degrees to take heart, and gather
strength, sallying out of the lurking places
where they had concealed themselves, and unanimously imploring the Divine
assistance, that they might not utterly be destroyed.
They had at that time for their leader, Ambrosius
Aurelius, a modest man, who alone, by chance, of the Roman nation had survivcd
the storm, in which his parents, who
were of the royal race, had perished. Under
him the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by the help
of God, came off victorious. From that day, sometimes the
natives, and sometimes their enemies, prevailed,
till the year of the siege of Baddesdownhill, when they made no small
slaughter of those invaders, about fortyfour years
after their arrival in England. But of this
hereafter.
CHAPTER XVII
HOW GERMANUS THE BISHOP, SAILING INTO BRITAIN
WITH LUPUS, FIRST QUELLED THE TEMPEST OF THE SEA, AND AFTERWARDS THAT OF
THE PELAGIANS, BY DIVINE POWER, [A.D. 429.]
SOME few years before their arrival, the Pelagian
heresy brought over by Agricola, the son of Severianus, a Pelagian bishop,
had sadly corrupted the faith of the Britons But
whereas they absolutely refused to embrace
that perverse doctrine, so blasphemous against the grace of Christ, and
were not able of themselves to confute its subtlety by
force of argument, they thought of an excellent
plan, which was to crave aid of the Gallican prelates in that spiritual
war. Hereupon having gathered a great synod, they
consulted together what persons should be
sent thither, and by unanimous consent, choice was made of the apostolical
priests, Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus of
Troyes, to go into Britain to confirm it in
the faith. They readily complied with the request and commands of the holy
Church, and putting to sea, sailed half way over from
Gaul to Britain with a fair wind. There on
a sudden they were obstructed by the malevolence of demons, who were jealous
that such men should be sent to bring back the
Britons to the faith. They raised storms,
and darkened the sky with clouds. The sails could not bear the fury of
the winds, the sailors' skill was forced to give way, the ship
was sustained by prayer, not by strength,
and as it happened, their spiritual commander and bishop, being spent with
weariness, had fallen asleep. Then the tempest, as if the
person that opposed it had given way, gathered
strength, and the ship, overpowered by the waves, was ready to sink. Then
the blessed Lupus and all the rest awakened
their elder, that he might oppose the raging
elements. He, showing himself the more resolute in proportion to the greatness
of the danger, called upon Christ, and having, in
the name of the Holy Trinity, sprinkled a
little water, quelled the raging waves, admonished his companion, encouraged
all, and all unanimously fell to prayer. The Deity heard
their cry, the enemies were put to flight,
a calm ensued, the winds veering about applied themselves to forward their
voyage, and having soon traversed the ocean, they
enjoyed the quiet of the wished for shore.
A multitude flocking thither from all parts, received the priests, whose
coming had been foretold by the predictions even of their
adversaries. For the wicked spirits declared
what they feared, and when the priests afterwards expelled them from the
bodies they had taken possession of, they made
known the nature of the tempest, and the dangers
they had occasioned, and that they had been overcome by the merits and
authority of the saints.
In the meantime, the apostolical priests filled
the island of Britain with the fame of their preaching and virtues; and
the word of God was by them daily administered, not only
in the churches, but even in the streets and
fields, so that the Catholics were everywhere confirmed, and those who
had gone astray, corrected. Likewise the apostles, they
had honour and authority through a good conscience,
obedience to their doctrine through their sound learning, whilst the reward
of virtue attended upon their numerous
merits. Thus the generality of the people
readily embraced their opinions; the authors of the erroneous doctrines
kept themselves in the background, and, like evil spirits,
grieved for the loss of the people that were
rescued from them. At length, after mature deliberation they had the boldness
to enter the lists, and appeared for public
disputation, conspicuous for riches, glittering
in apparel, and supported by the flatteries of many; choosing rather to
hazard the combat, than to undergo the dishonour among
the people of having been silenced, lest they
should seem by saying nothing to condemn themselves. An immense multitude
was there assembled with their wives and
children. The people stood round as spectators
and judges; but the parties present differed much in appearance; on the
one side was Divine faith, on the other human
presumption; on the one side piety, on the
other pride; on the one side Pelagius on the other Christ. The holy priests,
Germanus and Lupus, permitted their adversaries to
speak first, who long took up the time, and
filled the ears with empty words. Then the venerable prelates poured forth
the torrent of their apostolical and evangelical
eloquence. Their discourse was interspersed
with scriptural sentences, and they supported their most weighty assertions
by reading the written testimonies of famous writers.
Vanity was convinced, and perfidiousness confuted;
so, that at every objection made against them, not being able to reply,
they confessed their errors. The people, who
were judges, could scarcely refrain from violence,
but signified their judgment by their acclamations.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE SAME HOLY MAN GAVE SIGHT TO THE BLIND DAUGHTER
OF A TRIBUNE, AND THEN COMING TO ST. ALBAN'S, THERE RECEIVED SOME
OF HIS RELICS AND LEFT OTHERS OF THE BLESSED
APOSTLES, AND OTHER MARTYRS
AFTER this, a certain man, who had the quality
of a tribune, came forward with his wife, and presented his blind daughter,
ten years of age, for the priests to cure. they
ordered her to be set before their adversaries,
who, being convinced by guilt of conscience, joined their entreaties to
those of the child's parents, and besought the priests
that she might be cured. The priests, therefore,
perceiving their adversaries to yield, made a short prayer, and then Germanus,
full of the Holy Ghost, invoked the Trinity, and
taking into his hands a casket with relics
of saints, which hung about his neck, applied it to the girl's eyes, which
were immediately delivered from darkness and filled with the
light of truth. The parents rejoiced, and
the people were astonished at the miracle; after which, the wicked opinions
were so fully obliterated from the minds of all, that they
ardently embraced the doctrine of the priests.
This damnable heresy being thus suppressed,
and the authors thereof confuted, and all the people's hearts settled in
the purity of the faith, the priests repaired to the tomb the
martyr, St. Alban, to give thanks to God through
him. There Germanus, having with him relics of all the Apostles, and of
several martyrs, after offering up his prayers,
commanded the tomb to be opened, that he might
lay up therein some precious gifts; judging it convenient, that the limbs
of saints brought together from several countries, as
their equal merits had procured them admission
into heaven, should he preserved in one tomb. These being honourably deposited,
and laid together, he took up a parcel of
dust from the place where the martyr's blood
had been shed, to carry away with him, which dust having retained the blood,
it appeared that the slaughter of the martyrs had
communicated a redness to it, whilst the persecutor
was struck pale. In consequence of these things, an innumerable multitude
of people was that day converted to the Lord.
CHAPTER XIX
HOW THE SAME HOLY MAN, BEING DETAINED THERE
BY AN INDISPOSITION, BY HIS PRAYERS QUENCHED A FIRE THAT HAD BROKEN OUT
AMONG THE HOUSES, AND WAS HIMSELF CURED OF
A DISTEMPER BY A VISION. [A.D. 429.]
AS they were returning from thence, Germanus
fell and broke his leg, by the contrivance of the Devil, who did not know
that, like Job, his merits would be enhanced by the
affliction of his body. Whilst he was thus
detained some time in the same place by illness, a fire broke out in a
cottage neighbouring to that in which he was; and having
burned down the other houses which were thatched
with reed, was carried on by the wind to the dwelling in which he lay.
The people all flocked to the prelate, entreating
that they might lift him in their arms, and
save him from the impending danger. He, however, rebuked them, and relying
on faith, would not suffer himself to be removed. The
multitude, in despair, ran to oppose the conflagration;
however, for the greater manifestation of the Divine power, whatsoever
the crowd endeavoured to save, was
destroyed; but what he who was disabled and
motionless occupied, the flame avoided, sparing the house that gave entertainment
to the holy man, and raging about on every
side of it; whilst the house in which he lay
appeared untouched, amid the general conflagration. The multitude rejoiced
at the miracle, and praised the superior power of God.
An infinite number of the poorer sort watched
day and night before the cottage; some to heal their souls, and some their
bodies. It is impossible to relate what Christ wrought
by his servant, what wonders the sick man
performed: for whilst he would suffer no medicines to be applied to his
distemper, he one night saw a person in garments as white
as snow, standing by him, who reaching out
his hand, seemed to raise him up, and ordered him to stand boldly upon
his feet; from which time his pain ceased, and he was so
perfectly restored, that when the day came
on, he, without any hesitation, set forth upon his journey.
CHAPTER XX
HOW THE SAME BISHOPS PROCURED THE BRITONS ASSISTANCE FROM HEAVEN IN A BATTLE, AND THEN RETURNED HOME. [A.D. 429.]
IN the meantime, the Saxons and Picts, with
their united forces, made war upon the Britons, who, being thus by fear
and necessity compelled to take up arms, and thinking
themselves unequal to their enemies, implored
the assistance of the holy bishops; who, hastening to them as they had
promised, inspired so much courage into these fearful
people, that one would have thought they had
been joined by a mighty army. Thus, by these holy apostolic men, Christ
Himself commanded in their camp. The holy days of
Lent were also at hand, and were rendered
more religious by the presence of the priests, insomuch that the people
being instructed by daily sermons, resorted in crowds to
be baptized; for most of the army desired
admission to the saving water; a church was prepared with boughs for the
feast of the resurrection of our Lord, and so fitted up in
that martial camp, as if it were in a city.
The army advanced, still wet with the baptismal water; the faith of the
people was strengthened and whereas human power had
before been despaired of, the Divine assistance
was now relied upon. The enemy received advice of the state of the army,
and not questioning their success against an
unarmed multitude, hastened forwards, but
their approach was, by the scouts, made known to the Britons; the greater
part of whose forces being just come from the font,
after the celebration of Easter, and preparing
to arm and carry on the war, Germanus declared he would be their leader.
He picked out the most active, viewed the country
round about, and observed, in the way by which
the enemy was expected, a valley encompassed with hills. In that place
he drew up his inexperienced troops, himself acting
as their general. A multitude of fierce enemies
appeared, whom as soon as those that lay in ambush saw a Pp roaching, Germanus,
bearing in his hands the standard
instructed his men all in a loud voice to
repeat his words, and the enemy advancing securely, as thinking to take
them by surprise, the priests three times cried, Hallelujah. A
universal shout of the same word followed,
and the hills resounding the echo on all sides, the enemy was struck with
dread, fearing, that not only the neighbouring rocks, but
even the very skies were falling upon them
and such was their terror, that their feet were not swift enough to deliver
them from it. They fled in disorder, casting away their
arms, and well satisfied if, with their naked
bodies, they could escape the danger; many of them, in their precipitate
and hasty flight, were swallowed up by the river which
they were passing. The Britons, without the
loss of a man, beheld their vengeance complete, and became inactive spectators
of their victory. The scattered spoils were
gathered up, and the pious soldiers rejoiced
in the success which heaven had granted them. The prelates thus triumphed
over the enemy without bloodshed, and gained a
victory by faith, without the aid of human
force and, having settled the affairs of the Island, and restored tranquillity
by the defeat, as well as of the invisible; as of the carnal
enemies, prepared to return home. Their own
merits, and the intercession of the holy martyr Alban, obtained them a
safe passage, and the happy vessel restored them in
peace to their rejoicing people.
CHAPTER XXI
THE PELAGIAN HERESY AGAIN REVIVING, GERMANUS,
RETURNING INTO BRITAIN WITH SEVERUS, FIRST HEALED A LAME YOUTH, THEN
HAVING CONDEMNED OR CONVERTED THE HERETICS,
THEY RESTORED SPIRITUAL HEALTH TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. [A.D. 447.]
NOT long after, advice was brought from the
same island that certain persons were again attempting to set forth and
spread abroad the Pelagian heresy. The holy Germanus
was entreated by all the priests, that he
would again defend the cause of God, which he had before asserted. He speedily
complied with their request; and taking with him
Severus, a man of singular sanctity who was
disciple to the most holy father, Lupus, bishop of Troyes, and afterwards,
as bishop of Treves, preached the word of God in the
adjacent parts of Germany, put to sea, and
was calmly wafted over into Britain.
In the meantime, the wicked spirits flying
about the whole island, foretold by constraint that Germanus was coming,
insomuch that one Elafius, a chief of that region, hastened
to meet the holy men, without having received
any certain news, carrying with him his son, who laboured under a weakness
of his limbs in the very flower of his youth; for the
nerves being withered, his leg was so contracted
that the limb was useless, and he could not walk. All the country followed
this Elafius. The priests arrived, and were met by
the ignorant multitude, whom they blessed,
and preached the word of God to them. They found the people constant in
the faith as they had left them; and learning that but
few had gone astray, they found out the authors,
and condemned them. Then Elafius cast himself at the feet of the priests,
presenting his son, whose distress was visible, and
needed no words to express it. All were grieved,
but especially the priests, who put up their prayers for him before the
throne of mercy; and Germanus, causing the youth to
sit down, gently passed his healing hand over
the leg which was contracted; the limb recovered its strength and soundness
by the power of his touch, the withered nerves
were restored, and the youth was, in the presence
of all the people delivered whole to his father. The multitude was amazed
at the miracle, and the Catholic faith was firmly
planted in the minds of all; after which,
they were, in a sermon warned and exhorted to make amends for their errors.
By the judgment of all, the spreaders of the heresy,
who had been expelled the island, were brought
before the priests, to be conveyed up into the continent, that the country
might be rid of them, and they corrected of their
errors. Thus the faith in those parts continued
long after pure and untainted. All things being settled, he blessed prelates
returned home as prosperously as they came.
But Germanus, after this, went to Ravenna to
intercede for the tranquillity of the Armoricans, where, being very honourably
received by Valentinian and his mother, Placidia,
he departed to Christ; his body was conveyed
to his own city with a splendid retinue, and numberless deeds of charity
accompanied him to the grave. Not long after,
Valentinian was murdered by the followers
of Ætius, the Patrician; whom he had put to death, in the sixth year
of the reign of Marcianus, and with him ended the empire of
the West.
CHAPTER XXII
THE BRITONS, BEING FOR A TIME DELIVERED FROM
FOREIGN INVASIONS, WASTED THEMSELVES BY CIVIL WARS, AND THEN GAVE
THEMSELVES UP TO MORE HEINOUS CRIMES
IN the meantime, in Britain, there was some
respite from foreign, but not from civil war. There still remained the
ruins of cities destroyed by the enemy, and abandoned; and
the natives, who had escaped the enemy, now
fought against each other. However, the kings, priests, private men, and
the nobility, still remembering the late calamities and
slaughters, in some measure kept within bounds;
but when these died, and another generation succeeded, which knew nothing
of those times, and was only acquainted with
the present peaceable state of things, all
the bonds of sincerity and justice were so entirely broken, that there
was not only no trace of them remaining, but few persons
seemed to be aware that such virtues had ever
existed. Among other most wicked actions, not to be expressed, which their
own historian, Gildas, mournfully takes notice of,
they added this that they never preached
the faith to the Saxons, or English, who dwelt amongst them; however, the
goodness of God did not forsake his people whom He
foreknew, but sent to the aforesaid nation
much more worthy preachers, to bring it to the faith.
CHAPTER XXIII
HOW POPE GREGORY SENT AUGUSTINE, WITH OTHER
MONKS, TO PREACH TO THE ENGLISH NATION, AND ENCOURAGED THEM BY A
LETTER OF EXHORTATION, NOT TO CEASE FROM THEIR
LABOUR. [A.D. 596.]
IN the year of our Lord 582, Maurice, the fiftyfourth
from Augustus, ascended the throne, and reigned twentyone years. In
the tenth year of his reign, Gregory, a man
renowned for learning and behaviour, was promoted
to the apostolical see of Rome, and presided over it thirteen years, six
months and ten days. He, being moved by Divine
inspiration, in the fourteenth year of the
same emperor, and about the one hundred and fiftieth after the coming of
the English into Britain, sent the servant of God, Augustine,
and with him several other monks, who feared
the Lord, to preach the word of God to the English nation. they having,
in obedience to the pope's commands, undertaken
that work, were, on their journey, seized
with a sudden fear, and began to think of returning home, rather than proceed
to a barbarous, fierce, and unbelieving nation, to
whose very language they were strangers; and
this they unanimously agreed was the safest course. In short, they sent
back. Augustine, who had been appointed to be
consecrated bishop in case they were received
by the English, that he might, by humble entreaty, obtain of the Holy Gregory,
that they should not be compelled to undertake
so dangerous, toilsome, and uncertain a journey.
The pope, in reply, sent them a hortatory epistle, persuading them to proceed
in the work of the Divine word, and rely on
the assistance of the Almighty. The purport
of which letter was as follows
"Gregory, the servant of the servants of God,
to the servants of our Lord. Forasmuch as it had been better not to begin
a good work, than to think of desisting from
that which has been begun, it behooves you,
my beloved sons, to fulfil the good work, which, by the help of our Lord,
you have undertaken. Let not, therefore, the toil of the
journey, nor the tongues of evil speaking
men, after you; but with all possible earnestness and zeal perform that
which, by God's direction, you have undertaken; being
assured, that much labour is followed by an
eternal reward. When Augustine, your chief, returns, whom we also constitute
your abbot, humbly obey him in all things;
knowing, that whatsoever you shall do by his
direction, will, in all respects, be available to your souls. Almighty
God protect you with his grace, and grant that I may, in the
heavenly country, see the fruits of your labour.
In Inasmuch as, though I cannot labour with you, I shall partake in the
joy of the reward, because I am willing to labour. God
keep you in safety, my most beloved sons.
Dated the 23rd of July, in the fourteenth year of the reign of our pious
and most august lord, Mauritius Tiberius, the thirteenth year
after the consulship of our said lord. The
fourteenth indiction."
CHAPTER XXIV
HOW HE WROTE TO THE BISHOP OF ARLES TO ENTERTAIN THEM. [A.D. 596.]
THE same venerable pope also sent a letter
to Ætheriuis, bishop of Arles, exhorting him to give favourable entertainment
to Augustine on his way to Britain; which letter was
in these words
"To his most reverend and holy brother and
fellow bishop Ætherius, Gregory, the servant of the servants God.
Although religious men stand in need of no
recommendation with priests who have the charity
which is pleasing to God; yet as a proper opportunity is offered to write,
we have thought fit to send you this our letter, to
inform you, that we have directed thither,
for the good of souls, the bearer of these presents, Augustine, the servant
of God, of whose industry we are assured, with other
servants of God, whom it is requisite that
your holiness assist with priestly affection, and afford him all the comfort
in your power. And to the end that you may be the more
ready in your assistance, we have enjoined
him particularly to inform you of the occasion of his coming; knowing,
that when you are acquainted with it, you will as the matter
requires, for the sake of God, zealously afford
him your relief. We also in all things recommend to your charity, Candidus,
the priest, our common son, whom we have
transferred to the government of a small patrimony
in our church. God keep you in safety, most reverend brother. Dated the
23rd day of July, in the fourteenth year of the
reign of our most pious and august lord, Mauritius
Tiberius, the thirteenth ycar after the consulship of our lord aforesaid.
The fourteenth indiction."
CHAPTER XXV
AUGUSTINE, COMING INTO BRITAIN, FIRST PREACHED
IN THE ISLE OF THANET TO KING ETHELBERT, AND HAVING OBTAINED LICENCE,
ENTERED THE KINGDOM OF KENT, IN ORDER TO PREACH
THEREIN. [A.D. 597.]
AUGUSTINE, thus strengthened by the confirmation
of the blessed Father Gregory, returned to the work of the word of God,
with the servants of Christ, and arrived in
Britain. The powerful Ethelbert was at that
time king of Kent; he had extended his dominions as far as the great river
Humber, by which the Southern Saxons are divided
from the Northern. On the east of Kent is
the large Isle of Thanet containing according to the English way of reckoning,
600 families, divided from the other land by the river
Wantsum, which is about three furlongs over,
and fordable only in two places, for both ends of it run into the sea.
In this island landed the servant of our Lord, Augustine,
and his companions, being, as is reported,
nearly forty men. They had, by order of the blessed Pope Gregory, taken
interpreters of the nation of the Franks, and sending to
Ethelbert, signified that they were come from
Rome, and brought a joyful message, which most undoubtedly assured to all
that took advantage of it everlasting joys in heaven
and a kingdom that would never end with the
living and true God. The king having heard this, ordered them to stay in
that island where they had landed, and that they should
be furnished with all necessaries, till he
should consider what to do with them. For he had before heard of the Christian
religion, having a Christian wife of the royal family of
the Franks, called Bertha; whom he had received
from her parents, upon condition that she should be permitted to practice
her religion with the Bishop Luidhard, who was
sent with her to preserve her faith. Some
days after, the king came into the island, and sitting in the open air,
ordered Augustine and his companions to be brought into his
presence. For he had taken precaution that
they should not come to him in any house, lest, according to an ancient
superstition, if they practiced any magical arts, they might
impose upon him, and so get the better of
him. But they came furnished with Divine, not with magic virtue, bearing
a silver cross for their banner, and the image of our Lord
and Saviour painted on a board; and singing
the litany, they offered up their prayers to the Lord for the eternal salvation
both of themselves and of those to whom they were
come. When he had sat down, pursuant to the
king's commands, and preached to him and his attendants there present,
the word of life, the king answered thus: "Your
words and promises are very fair, but as they
are new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them so far
as to forsake that which I have so long followed with
the whole English nation. But because you
are come from far into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to
impart to us those things which you believe to be true, and
most beneficial, we will not molest you, but
give you favourable entertainment, and take care to supply you with your
necessary sustenance; nor do we forbid you to preach
and gain as many as you can to your religion."
Accordingly he permitted them to reside in the city of Canterbury, which
was the metropolis of all his dominions, and, pursuant
to his promise, besides allowing them sustenance,
did not refuse them liberty to preach. It is reported that, as they drew
near to the city, after their manner, with the holy
cross, and the image of our sovereign Lord
and King, Jesus Christ, they, in concert, sung this litany: "We beseech
Thee, O Lord, in all Thy mercy, that thy anger and wrath
be turned away from this city, and from the
holy house, because we have sinned. Hallelujah."
CHAPTER XXVI
ST. AUGUSTINE IN KENT FOLLOWED THE DOCTRINE
AND MANNER OF LIVING OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH, AND SETTLED HIS EPISCOPAL
SEE IN THE ROYAL CITY. [A.D. 597.]
As soon as they entered the dwellingplace
assigned them they began to imitate the course of life practiced in the
primitive church; applying themselves to frequent prayer,
watching and fasting; preaching the word of
life to as many as they could; despising all worldly things, as not belonging
to them; receiving only their necessary food from
those they taught; living themselves in all
respects conformably to what they prescribed to others, and being always
disposed to suffer any adversity, and even to die for that
truth which they preached. In short, several
believed and were baptized, admiring the simplicity of their innocent life,
and the sweetness of their heavenly doctrine. There was
on the east side of the city a church dedicated
to the honour of St. Martin, built whilst the Romans were still in the
island, wherein the queen, who, as has been said before,
was a Christian, used to pray. In this they
first began to meet, to sing, to pray, to say mass, to preach, and to baptize,
till the king, being converted to the faith, allowed them
to preach openly, and build or repair churches
in all places.
When he, among the rest, induced by the unspotted
life of these holy men, and their delightful promises, which, by many miracles,
they proved to be most certain, believed
and was baptized, greater numbers began daily
to flock together to hear the word, and, forsaking their heathen rites,
to associate themselves, by believing, to the unity of the
church of Christ. Their conversion the king
so far encouraged, as that he compelled none to embrace Christianity, but
only showed more affection to the believers, as to his
fellowcitizens in the heavenly kingdom.
for he had learned from his instructors and leaders to salvation, that
the service of Christ ought to be voluntary, not by compulsion.
Nor was it long before he gave his preachers
a settled residence in his metropolis of Canterbury, with such possessions
of different kinds as were necessary for their
subsistence.
CHAPTER XXVII
ST. AUGUSTINE, BEING MADE BISHOP, SENDS TO
ACQUAINT POPE GREGORY WITH WHAT HAD BEEN DONE, AND RECEIVES HIS ANSWER
TO
THE DOUBTS HE HAD PROPOSED TO HIM. [A.D. 597.]
IN the meantime, Augustine, the man of God,
repaired to Arles, and, pursuant to the orders received from the holy Father
Gregory, was ordained archbishop of the English
nation, by Ætherius, archbishop of that
city. Then returning into Britain, he sent Laurentius the priest, and Peter
the monk, to Rome, to acquaint Pope Gregory, that the nation
of the English had received the faith of Christ,
and that he was himself made their bishop. At the same time, he desired
his solution of some doubts that occurred to him. He
soon received proper answers to his questions
which we have also thought fit to insert in this, our history
The First Question of Augustine, Bishop of
the Church of Canterbury. Concerning bishops, how they are to behave
themselves towards their clergy? or into how many
portions the things given by the faithful
to the altar are to he divided? and how the bishop is to act in the church?
Gregory, Pope of the City of Rome, answers.
Holy Writ, which no doubt you are well versed in, testifies, and
particularly St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy, wherein he
endeavours to instruct him how he should behave
himself in the house of God; but it is the custom of the apostolic see
to prescribe rules to bishops newly ordained, that all
emoluments which accrue, are to he divided
into four portions; one for the bishop and his family, because of
hospitality and entertainments; another for the clergy; a third
for the poor; and the fourth for the repair
of churches. But in regard that you, my brother, being brought up under
monastic rules, are not to live apart from your clergy in the
English church, which, by God's assistance,
has been lately brought to the faith; you are to follow that course of
life which our forefathers did in the time of the primitive
church, when none of them said anything that
he possessed was his own, but all things were in common among them.
But if there are any clerks not received into
holy orders who cannot live continent, they are to take wives, and receive
their stipends abroad; because we know it is written,
that out of the same portions abovementioned
a distribution was, made to each of them according to every one's wants;
Care is also to be taken of their stipends, and
provision to be made, and they are to be kept
under ecclesiastical rules, that they may live orderly and attend to singing
of psalms, and, by the help of God, preserve their
hearts, and tongues, and bodies from all that
is unlawful. But as for those that live in common, why need we say anything
of making portions, or keeping hospitality and
exhibiting mercy? inasmuch as all that can
be spared is to be spent in pious and religious works, according to the
commands of Him who is the Lord and Master of all, "Give
alms of such things as you have, and behold
all things are clean unto you."
Augustine's Second Question. Whereas
the faith is one and the same, why are there different customs in different
churches? and why is one custom of masses observed in
the holy Roman church, and another in the
Gailican church?
Pope Gregory answers. You know, my brother,
the custom of the Roman church in which you remember you were bred up.
But it pleases me, that if you have found
anything, either in the Roman, or the Gallican,
or any other church, which may be more acceptable to Almighty God, you
carefully make choice of the same, and sedulously
teach the church of the English, which as
yet is new ln the faith, whatsoever you can gather from the several churches.
For things are not to be loved for the sake of places,
but places for the sake of good things. Choose,
therefore, from every church those things that are pious, religious, and
upright, and when you have, as it were, made them up
into one body, let the minds of the English
be accustomed thereto.
Augustine's Third Question. I beseech you to inform me, what punishment must be inflicted, if any one shall take anything by stealth from the church?
Gregory answers. You may judge, my brother,
by the person of the thief, in what manner he is to be corrected. For there
are some, who, having substance, commit theft;
and there are others, who transgress in this
point through want. Wherefore it is requisite, that some be punished in
their purses, others with stripes; some with more severity,
and some more mildly. And when the severity
is more, it is to proceed from charity, not from passion; because this
is done to him who is corrected, that he may not be
delivered up to hellfire. For it behooves
us to maintain discipline among the faithful, as good parents do with their
carnal children, whom they punish with stripes for their
faults, and yet design to make those their
heirs whom they chastise; and they preserve what they possess for those
whom they seem in anger to persecute. This charity is,
therefore, to be kept in mind, and it dictates
the measure of the punishment, so that the mind may do nothing beyond the
rule of reason. You may add, that they are to
restore those things which they have stolen
from the church. But, God forbid, that the church should make profit from
those earthly things which it seems to lose, or seek gain
out of such vanities.
Augustine's Fourth Question. Whether two brother may marry two sisters, which are of a family far removed from them?
Gregory answers. This may lawfully be done; for nothing is found in holy writ that seems to contradict it.
Augustine's Fifth Question. O what degree may the faithful marry with their kindred? and whether it is lawful for men to marry their stepmother and relations?
Gregory answers. A certain worldly law
in the Roman commonwealth allows, that the son and daughter of a brother
and sister, or of two brothers, or two sisters, may be
joined in matrimony; but we have found, by
experience, that no offspring can come of such wedlock; and the Divine
Law forbids a man to "uncover the nakedness of his
kindred." Hence of necessity it must be the
third or fourth generation of the faithful, that can be lawfully joined
in matrimony; for the second, which we have mentioned, must
altogether abstain from one another. To marry
with one's stepmother is a heinous crime, because is written in the Law,
"Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father":
now the son, indeed, cannot uncover his father's
nakedness; but in regard that it is written, "They shall be two in one
flesh," he that presumes to uncover the nakedness of his
stepmother, who was one flesh with his father,
certainly uncovers the nakedness of his father. It is also prohibited to
marry with a sisterinlaw, because by the former union
she is become the brother's flesh. For which
thing also John the Baptist was beheaded, and ended his life in holy martyrdom.
For, though he was not ordered to deny Christ,
and indeed was killed for confessing Christ,
yet in regard that the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, said, "I am the Truth,"
because John was killed for the truth, be also shed his
blood for Christ.
But forasmuch as there are many of the English,
who whilst they were still in infidelity, are said to have been joined
in this execrable matrimony, when they come to the faith
they are to be admonished to abstain, and
be made to know that this is a grievous sin. Let them fear the dreadful
judgment of God, lest, for the gratification of their carnal
appetites, they incur the torments. of eternal
punishment. Yet they are not on this account to be deprived of the communion
of the body and blood of Christ, lest they seem
to be punished for those things which they
did through ignorance before they had received baptism. For at this time
the Holy Church chastises some things through zeal, and
tolerates some through meekness, and connives
at some things through discretion, that so she may often, by this forbearance
and connivance, suppress the evil which she
disapproves. But all that come to the Faith
are to be admonished not to do such things. And if any shall be guilty
of them, they are to be excluded from the communion of the
body and blood of Christ. For as the offence
is, in some measure, to be tolerated in those who did it through ignorance,
so it is to be strenuously prosecuted in those who do
not fear to sin knowingly.
Augustine's Sixth Question. Whether a
bishop may be ordained without other bishops being present, in case there
be so great a distance between them, that they cannot
easily come together?
Gregory answers. As for the church of
England, in which you are as yet the only bishop, you can no otherwise
ordain a bishop than in the absence of other bishops; unless
some bishops should come over from Gaul, that
they may be present as witnesses to you in ordaining a bishop. But we would
have you, my brother, to ordain bishops in
such a manner, that the said bishops may not
be far asunder, that when a new bishop is to he ordained, there be no difficulty,
but that other bishops, and pastors also, whose
presence is necessary, may easily come together.
Thus, when, by the help of God, bishops shall be so constituted in places
everywhere near to one another, no ordination of
a bishop is to be performed without assembling
three or four bishops. For, even in spiritual affairs, we may take example
by the temporal, that they may he wisely and
discreetly conducted. It is certain, that
when marriages are celebrated in the world, some married persons are assembled,
that those who went before in the way of
matrimony, may also partake in the joy of
the succeeding couple. Why, then, at this spiritual ordination, wherein,
by means of the sacred ministry, man is joined to God,
should not such persons be assembled, as may
either rejoice in the advancement of the new bishop, or jointly pour forth
their prayers to Almighty God for his preservation?
Augustine's Seventh Question. How are we to deal with the bishops of France and Britain?
Gregory answers. We give you no authority
over the bishops of France, because the bishop of Aries received the pall
in ancient times from my predecessor, and we are
not to deprive him of the authority he has
received. If it shall therefore happen, my brother, that you go over into
the province of France, you are to concert with the said
bishop of Aries, how, if there be any faults
among the bishops, they may be amended. And if he shall be lukewarm in
keeping up discipline, he is to be corrected by your
zeal; to whom we have also written, that when
your holiness shall be in France, he may also use all his endeavours to
assist you, and put away from the behaviour of the
bishops all that shall be opposite to the
command of our Creator. But you, of your own authority, shall not have
power to judge the bishops of France, but by persuading,
soothing, and showing good works for them
to imitate; you shall reform the minds of wicked men to the pursuit of
holiness; for it is written in the Law, "When thou comest
into the standing corn of thy neighbours,
then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move
a sickle unto thy neighbours' standing corn. For thou
mayest not apply the sickle of judgment in
the harvest which seems to have been committed to another; but by the effect
of good works thou shalt clear the Lord's wheat of
the chaff of their vices, and convert them
into the body of the Church, as it were, by eating. But whatsoever is to
be done by authority, must be transacted with the aforesaid
bishop of Aries, lest that should be omitted,
which the ancient institution of the fathers has appointed. But as for
all the bishops of Britain, we commit them to your care, that
the unlearned may be taught, the weak stregthened
by persuasion, and the perverse corrected by authority.
Augustine's Eighth Question. Whether
a woman with child ought to be baptized? Or how long after she has brought
forth, may she come into the church? As also, after
how many days the infant born may be baptized,
lest he be prevented by death? Or how long after her husband may have carnal
knowledge of her? Or whether it is lawful
for her to come into the church when she has
her courses? Or to receive the holy sacrament of communion? Or whether
a man, under certain circumstances, may come into
the church before he has washed with water?
Or approach to receive the mystery of the holy communion? All which things
are requisite to be known by the rude nation of
the English.
Gregory answers. I do not doubt but that
these questions have been put to you, my brother, and I think I have already
answered you therein. But I believe you would
wish the opinion which you yourself might
give to be confirmed by mine also. Why should not a woman with child be
baptized, since the fruitfulness of the flesh is no
difference in the eyes of Almighty God? For
when our first parents sinned in Paradise, they forfeited the immortality
which they had received, by the just judgment of God.
Because, therefore, Almighty God would not
for their fault wholly destroy the human race, He both deprived man of
immortality for his sin, and, at the same time, of his great
goodness, reserved to him the power of propagating
his race after him. On what account then can that which is preserved to
the human race, by the free gift of Almighty
God, be excluded from the privilege of baptism?
For it is very foolish to imagine that the gift of grace opposes that mystery
in which all sin is blotted out. When a woman is
delivered, after how many days she may come
into the church, you have been informed by reading the Old Testament, viz.
that she is to abstain for a male child thirtythree
days, and sixtysix for a female. Now
you must know that this is to be taken in a mystery; for if she enters
the church the very hour that she is delivered, to return thanks, she
is not guilty of any sin; because the pleasure
of the flesh is in fault, and not the pain; but the pleasure is in the
copulation of the flesh, whereas there is pain in bringing forth the
child. Wherefore it is said to the first mother
of all, "In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children." If, therefore, we
forbid a woman that has brought forth, to enter the church, we
make a crime of her very punishment. To baptize
either a woman who has brought forth, if there be danger of death, even
the very hour that she brings forth, or that which
she has brought forth the very hour it is
born, is no way prohibited, because, as the grace of the holy mystery is
to be with much discretion provided for the living and
understanding, so is it to be without any
delay offered to the dying; lest, while a further time is sought to confer
the mystery of redemption, a small delay intervening, the
person that is to be redeemed is dead and
gone.
Her husband is not to approach her, till the
infant born be weaned. A bad custom is sprung up in the behaviour of married
people, that is, that women disdain to suckle the
children which they bring forth, and give
them to other women to suckle; which seems to have been invented on no
other account but incontinency; because, as they will not
be continent, they will not suckle the children
which they bear. Those women, therefore, who, from bad custom, give their
children to others to bring up, must not approach
their husbands till the time of purification
is past. For even when there has been no childbirth, women are forbidden
to do so, whilst they have their monthly courses,
insomuch that the Law condemns to death any
man that shall approach unto a woman during her uncleanness. Yet the woman,
nevertheless, must not be forbidden to come
into the church whilst she has her monthly
courses; because the superfluity of nature cannot be imputed to her as
a crime; and it is not just that she should be refused
admittance into the church, for that which
she suffers against her will. For we know, that the woman who had the issue
of blood, humbly approaching behind our Lord's
back, touched the hem of his garment, and
her distemper immediately departed from her. If, therefore, she that had
an issue of blood might commendably touch the garment
of our Lord, why may not she, who has the
monthly courses, lawfully enter into the church of God? But you may say,
Her distemper compelled her, whereas these we speak
of are bound by custom. Consider, then, most
dear brother, that all we suffer in this mortal flesh, through the infirmity
of our nature, is ordained by the just judgment of God
after the fall; for to hunger, to thirst,
to be hot, to be cold, to be weary, is from the infirmity of our nature;
and what else is it to seek food against hunger, drink against thirst,
air against heat, clothes against cold, rest
against weariness, than to procure a remedy against distempers? Thus to
a woman her monthly courses are a distemper. If,
therefore, it was a commendable boldness in
her, who in her disease touched our Lord's garment, why may not that which
is allowed to one infirm person, be granted to all
women, who, through the fault of their nature,
are distempered?
She must not, therefore, be forbidden to receive
the mystery of the holy communion during those days. But if any one out
of profound respect does not presume to do it, she
is to be commended; yet if she receives it,
she is not to be judged. For it is the part of noble minds in some manner
to acknowledge their faults, even where there is no
offence; because very often that is done without
a fault, which, nevertheless, proceeded from a fault. Therefore, when we
are hungry, it is no crime to eat; yet our being
hungry proceeds from the sin of the first
man. The monthly courses are no crime in women; because they naturally
happen; however, because our nature itself is so
depraved, that it appears to be so without
the concurrence of the will, the fault proceeds from sin, and thereby human
nature may herself know what she is become by
judgment. And let man, who wilfully committed
the offence, bear the guilt of that offence. And, therefore, let women
consider with themselves, and if they do not presume,
during their monthly courses, to approach
the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord, they are to be commended
for their praiseworthy consideration; but when they
are carried away with love of the same mystery
to receive it out of the usual custom of religious life, they are not to
be restrained, as we said before. For as in the Old
Testament the outward works are observed,
so in the New Testament, that which is outwardly done, is not so diligently
regarded as that which is inwardly thought, in order
to punish it by a discerning judgment. For
whereas the Law forbids the eating of many things as unclean, yet our Lord
says in the Gospel, "Not that which goeth into the
mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh
out of the mouth, this defileth a man." And presently after He added, expounding
the same, "Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts." Where it is sufficiently shown,
that that is declared by Almighty God to be polluted in fact, which proceeds
from the root of a polluted thought. Whence also Paul
the Apostle says, "Unto the pure all things
are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure."
And presently after, declaring the cause of that
defilement, he adds, "For even their mind
and conscience is defiled." If, therefore, meat is not unclean to him who
has a clean mind, why shall that which a clean woman
suffers according to nature, be imputed to
her as uncleanness?
A man who has approached his own wife is not
to enter the church unless washed with water, nor is he to enter immediately
although washed. The Law prescribed to the
ancient people, that a man in such cases should
be washed with water, and not enter into the church before the setting
of the sun. Which, nevertheless, may be understood
spiritually, because a man acts so when the
mind is led by the imagination to unlawful concupiscence; for unless the
fire of concupiscence be first driven from his mind, he is
not to think himself worthy of the congregation
of the brethren, whilst he thus indulges an unlawful passion. For though
several nations have different opinions concerning this
affair, and seem to observe different rules,
it was always the custom of the Romans, from ancient times, for such an
one to be cleansed by washing, and for some time
respectfully to forbear entering the church.
Nor do we, in so saying, assign matrimony to be a fault; but forasmuch
as lawful intercourse cannot be had without the pleasure of
the flesh, it is proper to forbear entering
the holy place, because the pleasure itself cannot be without a fault.
For he was not born of adultery or fornication, but of lawful
marriage, who said, "Behold I was conceived
in iniquity, and in sin my mother brought me forth." For he who knew himself
to have been conceived in iniquity, lamented that
he was born from sin, because the tree in
its bough bears the moisture it drew from the root. In which words, however,
he does not call the union of the married couple
iniquity, but the pleasure of the copulation.
For there are many things which are proved to be lawful, and yet we are
somewhat defiled in doing them. As very often by being
angry we correct faults, and at the same time
disturb our own peace of mind; and though that which we do is right, yet
it is not to be approved that our mind should be
discomposed. For he who said "My eye was disturbed
with anger," had been angry at the vices of those who had offended. Now,
in regard that only a sedate mind can
apply itself to contemplation, he grieved
that his eye was disturbed with anger; because, whilst he was correcting
evil actions below, he was obliged to be withdrawn and
disturbed from the contemplation of things
above. Anger against vice is, therefore, commendable, and yet painful to
a man, because he thinks that by his mind being agitated,
he has incurred some guilt. Lawful commerce,
therefore, must be for the sake of children, not of pleasure; and must
be to procure offspring, not to satisfy vices. But if any
man is led not by the desire of pleasure,
but only for the sake of getting children, such a man is certainly to be
left to his own judgment, either as to entering the church, or as
to receiving the mystery of the body and blood
of our Lord, which he, who being placed in the fire cannot burn, is not
to be forbidden by us to receive. But when, not the
love of getting children, but of pleasure
prevails, the pair have cause to lament their deed. For this the holy preaching
allows them, and yet fills the mind with dread of the very
allowance. For when Paul the Apostle said,
"Let him that cannot contain, have his wife;" he presently took care to
subjoin, "But this I say by way of indulgence, not by way
of command." For this is not granted by way
of indulgence which is lawful, because it is just; and, therefore, that
which he said he indulged, he showed to be an offence.
It is seriously to be considered, that when
God was to speak to the people on Mount Sinai, He first commanded them
to abstain from women. And if so much cleanness of
body was there required, where God spoke to
the people by the means of a subject creature, that those who were to hear
the words of God should not do so; how much
more ought women, who receive the body of
Almighty God, to preserve themselves in cleanness of flesh, lest they be
burdened with the very greatness of that unutterable
mystery? For this reason, it was said to David,
concerning his men, by the priest, that if they were clean in this particular,
they should receive the shewbread, which they
would not have received at all, had not David
first declared them to be clean. Then the man, who, afterwards, has been
washed with water, is also capable of receiving the
mystery of the holy communion, when it is
lawful for him, according to what has been before declared, to enter the
church.
Augustine's Ninth Question. - Whether after
an illusion such as happens in a dream, any man may receive the body of
our Lord, or if he be a priest, celebrate the Divine
mysteries?
Gregory answers. - The Testament of the Old
Law, as has been said already in the article above, calls such a man polluted,
and allows him not to enter into the church till
the evening after being washed with water.
Which, nevertheless, spiritual people, taking in another sense, will understand
in the same manner as above; because he is
imposed upon as it were in a dream, who, being
tempted with filthiness, is defiled by real representations in thought,
and he is to be washed with water, that he may cleanse
away the sins of thought with tears; and unless
the fire of temptation depart before, may know himself to be guilty as
it were until the evening. But discretion is very necessary
in that illusion, that one may seriously consider
what causes it to happen in the mind of the person sleeping; for sometimes
it proceeds from excess of eating or drinking;
sometimes from the superfluity or infirmity
of nature, and sometimes from the thoughts. And when it happens, either
through superfluity or infirmity of nature, such an illusion
is not to be feared, because it is rather
to be lamented, that the mind of the person, who knew nothing of it, suffers
the same, than that he occasioned it. But when the
appetite of gluttony commits excess in food,
and thereupon the receptacles of the humours are oppressed, the mind from
thence contracts some guilt; yet not so much as to
obstruct the receiving of the holy mystery,
or celebrating mass, when a holy day requires it, or necessity obliges
the sacrament to be administered, because there is no other
priest in the place; for if there be others
who can perform the ministry, the illusion proceeding from overeating is
not to exclude a man from receiving the sacred mystery; but
I am of opinion he ought humbly to abstain
from offering the sacrifice of the mystery; but not from receiving it,
unless the mind of the person sleeping has been filled with
some foul imagination. For there are some,
who for the most part so suffer the illusion, that their mind, even during
the sleep of the body, is not defiled with filthy thoughts. In
which case, one thing is evident, that the
mind is guilty even in its own judgment; for though it does not remember
to have seen any thing whilst the body was sleeping, yet it
calls to mind that when waking it fell into
bodily gluttony. But if the sleeping illusion proceeds from evil thoughts
when waking, then the guilt is manifest to the mind; for the
man perceives from whence that filth sprung,
because what he had knowingly thought of, that he afterwards unwittingly
revealed. But it is to be considered, whether that
thought was no more than a suggestion, or
proceeded to enjoyment, or, which is still more criminal, consented to
sin. For all sin is fulfilled in three ways, viz., by suggestion,
by delight, and by consent. Suggestion is
occasioned by the Devil, delight is from the flesh, and consent from the
mind. For the serpent suggested the first offence, and Eve,
as flesh; was delighted with it, but Adam
consented, as the spirit, or mind. And much discretion is requisite for
the mind to sit as judge between suggestion and delight, and
between delight and consent. For if the evil
spirit suggest a sin to the mind, if there ensue no delight in the sin,
the sin is in no way committed; but when the flesh begins to be
delighted, then sin begins to grow. But if
it deliberately consents, then the sin is known to be perfected. The beginning,
therefore, of sin is in the suggestion, the nourishing of it
in delight, but in the consent is its perfection.
And it often happens that what the evil spirit sows in the thought, the
flesh draws to delight, and yet the soul does not consent to
that delight. And whereas the flesh cannot
be delighted without the mind, yet the mind struggling against the pleasures
of the flesh is somewhat unwillingly tied down by the
carnal delight, so that through reason it
contradicts, and does not consent, yet being influenced by delight, it
grievously laments its being so bound. Wherefore that principal
soldier of our Lord's host, sighing, said,
"I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my
members." Now if he was a captive, he did
not fight; but if he did fight, how was he a captive? he therefore fought
against the law of the mind, which the law that is in the
members opposed; if he fought so, he was no
captive. Thus, then, man is, as I may say, a captive and yet free. Free
on account of justice, which he loves, a captive by the
delight which he unwillingly bears within
him.
CHAPTER XXVIII
POPE GREGORY WRITES TO THE BISHOP OF ARLES TO ASSIST AUGUSTINE IN THE WORK OF GOD. [A.D. 601.]
THUS far the answers of the holy Pope Gregory,
to the questions of the most reverend prelate, Augustine. But the epistle,
which he says he had written to the bishop of
Aries, was directed to Vergilius, successor
to Ætherius, the copy whereof follows -
"To his most reverend and holy brother and
fellow bishop, Vergilius; Gregory, servant of the servants of God. With
how much affection brethren, coming of their
own accord, are to be entertained, is well
known, by their being for the most. part invited on account of charity.
Therefore, if our common brother, Bishop Augustine, shall
happen to come to you, I desire your love
will, as is becoming, receive him so kindly and affectionately, that he
may be supported by the honour of your consolation, and
others be informed how brotherly charity is
to be cultivated. And, since it often happens that those who are at a distance,
sooner than others, understand the things that need
correction, if any crimes of priests or others
shall happen to be laid before you, you will, in conjunction with him sharply
inquire into the same. And do you both act so strictly
and carefully against those things which offend
God, and provoke his wrath, that for the amendment of others, the punishment
may fall upon the guilty, and the innocent may
not suffer an ill name. God keep you in safety,
most reverend brother. Given the 22nd day of June, in the nineteenth year
of the reign of our pious and august emperor,
Mauritius Tiberius, and the eighteenth year
after the consulship of our said lord. The fourth indiction."
CHAPTER XXIX
THE SAME POPE SENDS AUGUSTINE THE PALL, AN EPISTLE AND SEVERAL MINISTERS OF THE WORD. [A.D. 601.]
MOREOVER, the same Pope Gregory, hearing from
Bishop Augustine, that he had a great harvest, and but few labourers, sent
to him, together with his aforesaid
messengers, several fellow labourers and ministers
of the word of whom the first and principal were Mellitus, Justus, Paulinus,
and Rufinianus, and by them all things in
general that were necessary for the worship
and service of the church, viz., sacred vessels and vestments for the altars,
also ornaments for the churches, and vestments for
the priests and clerks, as likewise relics
of the holy apostles and martyrs; besides many books. He also sent letters,
wherein he signified that he had transmitted the pall to
him, and at the same time directed how he
should constitute bishops in Britain. The letters were in these words -
"To his most reverend and holy brother and
fellow bishop, Augustine; Gregory, the servant of the servants of God.
Though it be certain, that the unspeakable
rewards of the eternal kingdom are reserved
for those who labour for Almighty God, yet it is requisite that we bestow
on them the advantage of honours, to the end that they
may by this recompense be enabled the more
vigorously to apply themselves to the care of their spiritual work. And,
in regard that the new church of the English is, through
the goodness of the Lord, and your labours,
brought to the grace of God, we grant you the use of the pall in the same,
only for the performing of the solemn service of the
mass; so that you in several places ordain
twelve bishops, who shall be subject to your jurisdiction, so that the
bishop of London shall, for the future, be always consecrated
by his own synod, and that he receive the
honour of the pall from this holy and apostolical see, which I, by the
grace of God, now serve. But we will have you send to the
city of York such a bishop as you shall think
fit to ordain; yet so, if that city, with the places adjoining, shall receive
the word of God, that bishop shall also ordain twelve
bishops, and enjoy the honour of a metropolitan;
for we design, if we live, by the help of God, to bestow on him also the
pall; and yet we will have him to be subservient to
your authority; but after your decease, he
shall so preside over the bishops he shall ordain, as to be in no way subject
to the jurisdiction of the bishop of London. But for the
future let this distinction be between the
bishops of the cities of London and York that he may have the precedence
who shall be first ordained. But let them unanimously
dispose, by common advice and uniform conduct,
whatsoever is to be done for the zeal of Christ; let them judge rightly,
and perform what they judge convenient in a uniform
manner.
"But to you, my brother, shall, by the authority
of our God, and Lord Jesus Christ, be subject not only those bishops you
shall ordain, and those that shall be ordained by the
bishop of York, but also all the priests in
Britain; to the end that from the mouth and life of your holiness they
may learn the rule of believing rightly, and living well, and
fulfilling their office in faith and good
manners, they may, when it shall please the Lord, attain the heavenly kingdom.
God preserve you in safety, most reverend brother.
"Dated the 22nd of June, in the nineteenth
year of the reign of our most pious lord and emperor, Mauritius Tiberius,
the eighteenth year after the consulship of our said lord.
The fourth indiction."
CHAPTER XXX
A COPY OF THE LETTER WHICH POPE GREGORY SENT TO THE ABBOT MELLITUS, THEN GOING INTO BRITAIN. [A.D. 601.]
THE aforesaid messengers being departed, the
holy father, Gregory, sent after them letters worthy to be preserved in
memory, wherein he plainly shows what care he took
of the salvation of our nation. The letter
was as follows -
"To his most beloved son, the Abbot Mellitus;
Gregory, the servant of the servants of God. We have been much concerned,
since the departure of our congregation
that is with you, because we have received
no account of the success of your journey. When, therefore, Almighty God
shall bring you to the most reverend Bishop
Augustine, our brother, tell him what I have,
upon mature deliberation on the affair of the English, determined upon,
viz., that the temples of the idols in that nation ought not
to be destroyed; but let the idols that are
in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in the said
temples, let altars be erected, and relics placed. For if those
temples are well built, it is requisite that
they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true
God; that the nation, seeing that their temples are not
destroyed, may remove error from their hearts,
and knowing and adoring the true God, may the more familiarly resort to
the places to which they have been accustomed.
And because they have been used to slaughter
many oxen in the sacrifices to devils, some solemnity must be exchanged
for them on this account, as that on the day of the
dedication, or the nativities of the holy
martyrs, whose relics are there deposited, they may build themselves huts
of the boughs of trees, about those churches which have
been turned to that use from temples, and
celebrate the solemnity with religious feasting, and no more offer beasts
to the Devil, but kill cattle to the praise of God in their
eating, and return thanks to the Giver of
all things for their sustenance; to the end that, whilst some gratifications
are outwardly permitted them, they may the more easily
consent to the inward consolations of the
grace of God. For there is no doubt that it is impossible to efface everything
at once from their obdurate minds; because he who
endeavours to ascend to the highest place,
rises by degrees or steps, and not by leaps. Thus the Lord made Himself
known to the people of Israel in Egypt; and yet He
allowed them the use of the sacrifices which
they were wont to offer to the Devil, in his own worship; so as to command
them in his sacrifice to kill beasts, to the end that,
changing their hearts, they might lay aside
one part of the sacrifice, whilst they retained another; that whilst they
offered the same beasts which they were wont to offer, they
should offer them to God, and not to idols;
and thus they would no longer be the same sacrifices. This it behooves
your affection to communicate to our aforesaid brother,
that he, being there present, may consider
how he is to order all things. God preserve you in safety, most beloved
son.
"Given the 17th of June, in the nineteenth
year of the reign of our lord, the most pious emperor, Mauritius Tiberius,
the eighteenth year after the consulship of our said lord.
The fourth indiction."
CHAPTER XXXI
POPE GREGORY, BY LETTER, EXHORTS AUGUSTINE NOT TO GLORY IN HIS MIRACLES. [A.D. 601.]
AT which time he also sent Augustine a letter
concerning the miracles that he had heard had been wrought by him; wherein
he admonishes him not to incur the danger of
being puffed up by the number of them. The
letter was in these words -
"I know, most loving brother, that Almighty
God, by means of your affection, shows great miracles in the nation which
He has chosen. Wherefore it is necessary that you
rejoice with fear, and tremble whilst you
rejoice, on account of the same heavenly gift; viz., that you may rejoice
because the souls of the English are by outward miracles
drawn to inward grace; but that you fear,
lest, amidst the wonders that are wrought, the weak mind may be puffed
up in its own presumption, and as it is externally raised to
honour, it may thence inwardly fall by vainglory.
For we must call to mind, that when the disciples returned with joy after
preaching, and said to their heavenly Master, 'Lord,
in thy name, even the devils are subject to
us;' they were presently told, 'Do not rejqice on this account, but rather
rejoice for that your names are written in heaven.' For they
placed their thoughts on private and temporal
joy , when they rejoiced in miracles; but they are recalled from the private
to the public, and from the temporal to the eternal
joy, when it is said to them, 'Rejoice for
this, because your names are written in heaven.' For all the elect do not
work miracles, and yet the names of all are written in
heaven. For these who are disciples of the
truth ought not to rejoice, save for that good thing which all men enjoy
as well as they, and of which their enjoyment shall be
without end.
"It remains, therefore, most dear brother,
that amidst those things, which through the working of our Lord, you outwardly
perform, you always inwardly strictly judge
yourself, and clearly understand both what
you are yourself, and how much grace is in that same nation, for the conversion
of which you have also received the gift of
working miracles. And if you remember that
you have at any time offended our Creator, either by word or deed, that
you always call it to mind, to the end that the
remembrance of your guilt may crush the vanity
which rises in your heart. And whatsoever you shall receive, or have received,
in relation to working miracles, that you
consider the same, not as conferred on you,
but on those for whose salvation it has been given you."
CHAPTER XXXII
POPE GREGORY SENDS LETTERS AND PRESENTS TO KING ETHELBERT
THE same holy Pope Gregory, at the same time,
sent a letter to King Ethelbert, with many presents of several sorts; being
desirous to glorify the king with temporal honours,
at the same time that he rejoiced that through
his labour and zeal he had attained the knowledge of the heavenly glory.
The copy of the said letter is as follows -
"To the most glorious Lord, and his most excellent
son, Ethelbert, king of the English, Bishop Gregory. Almighty God advances
all good men to the government of
nations, that He may by their means bestow
the gifts of his mercy on those over whom they are placed. This we know
to have been done in the English nation, over whom
your glory was therefore placed, that by means
of the goods which are granted to you, heavenly benefits might also be
conferred on the nation that is subject to you.
Therefore, my illustrious son, do you carefully
preserve the grace which you have received from the Divine goodness, and
hasten to promote the Christian faith, which you
have embraced, among the people under your
subjection; multiply the zeal of your uprightness in their conversion;
suppress the worship of idols; overthrow the structures of
the temples; edify the manners of your subjects
by much cleanness of life, exhorting, terrifying, soothing, correcting,
and giving examples of good works, that you may find
Him your rewarder in heaven, whose name and
knowledge you shall spread abroad upon earth. For He also will render the
fame of your honour more glorious to posterity,
whose honour you seek and maintain among the
nations.
"For even so Constantine, our most pious emperor,
recovering the Roman commonwealth from the perverse worship of idols, subjected
the same with himself to our
Almighty God and Lord Jesus Christ, and was
himself, with the people under his subjection, entirely converted to Him.
Whence it followed, that his praises transcended the
fame of former princes; and he as much excelled
his predecessors in renown as he did in good works. Now, therefore, let
your glory hasten to infuse into the kings and
people that are subject to you, the knowledge
of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; that you may both surpass the
ancient kings of your nation in praise and merit, and
become by so much the more secure against
your own sins before the dreadful judgment of Almighty God, as you shall
wipe away the sins of others in your subjects.
"Willingly hear, devoutly perform, and studiously
retain in your memory, whatsoever you shall be advised by our most reverend
brother, Bishop Augustine, who is instructed
in the monastical rule, full of the knowledge
of the holy Scripture, and, by the help of God, endued with good works;
for if you give ear to him in what he speaks for Almighty
God, the same Almighty God will the sooner
hear him praying for you. But if (which God avert!) you slight his words,
how shall Almighty God hear him in your behalf, when
you neglect to hear him for God? Unite yourself,
therefore, to him with all your mind, in the fervour of faith, and further
his endeavours, through the assistance of that virtue
which the Divinity affords you, that He may
make you partaker of his kingdom, whose faith you cause to be received
and maintained in your own.
"Besides, we would have your glory know, we
find in the holy Scripture, from the words of the Almighty Lord, that the
end of this present world, and the kingdom of the
saints, is about to come, which will never
terminate. But as the same end of the world approaches, many things are
at hand which were not before, viz. changes of air, and
terrors from heaven, and tempests out of the
order of the seasons, wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes in several places;
which things will not, nevertheless, happen in our
days, but will all follow after our days.
If you, therefore, find any of these things to happen in your country,
let not your mind be in any way disturbed; for these signs of the
end of the world are sent before, for this
reason, that we may be solicitous for our souls, suspicious of the hour
of death, and may be found prepared with good works to
meet our Judge. Thus much, my illustrious
son, I have said in few words, to the end that when the Christian faith
shall increase in your kingdom, our discourse to you may
also be more copious, and we may be pleased
to say the more, in proportion as joy for the conversion of your nation
is multiplied in our mind.
"I have sent you some small presents, which
will not appear small, when received by you with the blessing of the holy
apostle, Peter. May Almighty God, therefore, perfect in
you his grace which He has begun, and prolong
your life here through a course of many years, and after a time receive
you into the congregation of the heavenly country.
May heavenly grace preserve your excellency
in safety.
"Given the 22nd day of June, in the nineteenth year of the reign of the most pious emperor, Mauritius Tiberius, in the eighteenth year after his consulship. Fourth indiction."
CHAPTER XXXIII
AUGUSTINE REPAIRS THE CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR,
AND BUILDS THE MONASTERY OF ST. PETER THE APOSTLE; PETER THE FIRST ABBOT
OF THE SAME. [A.D. 602.]
AUGUSTINE having his episcopal see granted
him in the royal city, as has been said, and being supported by the king,
recovered therein a church, which he was informed
had been built by the ancient Roman Christians,
and consecrated it in the name our holy Saviour, God and Lord, Jesus Christ,
and there established a residence for himself
and his successors. He also built a monastery
not far from the city to the eastward, in which, by his advice, Ethelbert
erected from the foundation the church of the blessed
apostles, Peter and Paul, and enriched it
with several donations; wherein the bodies of the same Angustine, and of
all the bishops of Canterbury, and of the kings of Kent,
might be buried. However, Augustine himself
did not consecrate that church, but Laurentius, his successor.
The first abbot of that monastery was the priest
Peter, who, being sent ambassador into France, was drowned in a bay of
the sea, which is called Amfleat, and privately
buried by the inhabitants of the place; but
Almighty God, to show how deserving a man he was, caused a light to be
seen over his grave every night; till the neighbours who
saw it, perceiving that he had been a holy
man that was buried there, inquiring who, and from whence he was, carried
away the body, and interred it in the church, in the city
of Boulogne, with the honour due to so great
a person.
CHAPTER XXXIV
ETHELFRID, KING OF THE NORTHUMBRIANS, HAVING
VANQUISHED THE NATIONS OF THE SCOTS, EXPELS THEM FROM THE TERRITORIES
OF THE ENGLlSH. [A.D. 603.]
AT this time, Ethelfrid, a most worthy king,
and ambitious of glory, governed the kingdom of the Northumbrians, and
ravaged the Britons more than all the great men of the
English, insomuch that he might be compared
to Saul, once king of the Israelites, excepting only this, that he was
ignorant of the true religion. For he conquered more
territories from the Britons, either making
them tributary, or driving the inhabitants clean out, and planting English
in their places, than any other king or tribune. To him might
justly be applied the saying of the patriarch
blessing his son in the person of Saul, "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf;
in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall
divide the spoil." Hereupon, Ædan, king
of the Scots that inhabit Britain, being concerned at his success, came
against him with an immense and mighty army; but was beaten
by an inferior force, and put to flight; for
almost all his army was slain at a famous place, called Degsastan, that
is, Degsastone. In which battle also Theodbaid, brother to
Ethelfrid, was killed, with almost all the
forces he commanded. This war Etheifrid put an end to in the year 603 after
the incarnation of our Lord, the eleventh of his own
reign, which lasted twenty-four years, and
the first year of the reign of Phocas, who the governed the Roman empire.
From that time, no king the Scots durst come into
Britain to make war on the English to this
day.
Bibliography
A few suggestions of books for more research.
Edition
Bede, the Venerable,
Saint, 673-735.:Bede's ecclesiastical history of the English people; edited
by Bertram Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors. (Oxford, Clarendon
Press., 1969)
[Reprinted with corrections]. (Oxford ; New York: Clarendon Press, 1992.)
Parallel Latin
text and English translation with English notes.
Literature
Bonner, Gerald.
Church and faith in the patristic tradition : Augustine, Pelagianism, and
early Christian Northumbria, (Brookfield, Vt. : Variorum, 1996)
Brown, George
Hardin, Bede, the Venerable, (Boston : Twayne, c1987)
Goffart, Walter
A., The narrators of barbarian history (A.D. 550-800) : Jordanes, Gregory
of Tours, Bede, and Paul the Deacon, (Princeton, N.J. : Princeton
University Press,
c1988.)
Harrison, Kenneth,
The framework of Anglo-Saxon history, to A.D. 900, (London ; New York :
Cambridge University Press, 1976.)
Higham, N. J.,
An English empire : Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon kings, (Manchester ;
New York : Manchester University Press ; New York 1995)
McCready, William
D. (William David), Miracles and the Venerable Bede, (Toronto, Ont., Canada
: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, c1994)
Moorsom, Norman,
Saint Hilda of Whitby: historical notes, (Middlesborough, N. Moorsom, 1970)
Wallace-Hadrill,
J. M. (John Michael), Bede's Ecclesiastical history of the English people
: a historical commentary, (Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York :
Oxford University
Press, 1988)
Ward, Benedicta,
The Venerable Bede, (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1990)
Notes
Source:
Bede, The Ecclesiastical
History of the English Nation, translator not clearly indicated (But it
seems to be L.C. Jane's 1903 Temple Classics translation),
introduction
by Vida D. Scudder, (London: J.M. Dent; New York E.P. Dutton, 1910)
Book I, prepared for the Internet Medieval Sourcebook by
Alexander Pyle, aepyle@lamar.colostate.edu
Colorado State University.
A few spellings have been changed from the
printed text:
abbat - abbot
behoves - behooves
levelled - leveled
subtilty - subtilety
the number of
hyphens in the text was reduced as seemed prudent.
This text is part of the Internet Medieval
Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted
texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic
form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic
copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate
the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial
use.
© Paul Halsall, February 1998
halsall@murray.fordham.edu