Book 5 — Footnotes (continued 2)

567.

The collection of Canons approved by the Council of Chalcedon, translated into Latin by Dionysius Exiguus (early in the sixth century, cf. V, 21, p. 369, note) and adopted by the Western Church.

568.

This place used to be identified with Cliff-at-Hoe near Rochester, but the theory rests mainly on the similarity of name. As in the recorded Councils of Clovesho the supremacy of Mercia is clearly indicated, it is generally assumed that the place must have been either in Mercia or a kingdom subject to it, as Kent was at the time. Except one Council in 716, we find none mentioned as having taken place at Clovesho till seventy years after this time (747), but councils were held at other places.

569.

The subdivision of the great bishoprics was an important part of Theodore's policy, and though at this Council he failed to carry his point, possibly through the opposition of Wilfrid's representatives, in the succeeding years he effected a great change in the organization of the episcopate, creating dioceses co-extensive with tribal territories.

570.

III, 29; IV, 1.

571.

Cc. 22, 26.

572.

His original name was Bertgils, v. III, 20.

573.

Theodore availed himself of this opportunity for subdivision. Aecci was appointed to Dunwich and Badwin to the new see of Elmham. Suffolk and Norfolk thus each received a separate bishopric. The Danish invasions broke up this arrangement; Dunwich disappeared as an episcopal see, and the succession to Elmham was interrupted for a time. In 1075 the see of the single East Anglian bishopric was removed to Thetford, and in 1094 to Norwich.

574.

It has been conjectured that he resisted the subdivision of his diocese. For his subsequent adventures, v. III, 24, p. 192, note 4.

575.

This was probably in 675 (Flor. of Wor.). Sexwulf (v. infra c. 12) had been a rich thegn who became a monk and was made first abbot of Medeshamstead.

576.

Peterborough, as the town which grew up around the monastery came to be called in the tenth century, the monastery being dedicated to St. Peter. Peada is said to have planned the foundation (v. Peterborough additions to the Saxon Chronicle), but the accounts are late and untrustworthy.

577.

III, 20, note.

578.

C. 3, p. 219, note 2.

579.

He succeeded Wini (III, 7) in 675 and died about 693. He was canonized. It was in his house that the reconciliation between Theodore and Wilfrid took place. It is said that as a boy he had heard Mellitus preach in London. He was present at the West Saxon Witenagemot which enacted the “Dooms of Ine” (c. 15 and V, 7), and is spoken of as one of Ine's bishops, Essex being probably subject to Wessex at that time.

580.

In III, 30.

581.

Cc. 7-10. She is not to be confused with Ethelberg, daughter of Anna (III, 8), Abbess of Faremoûtier-en-Brie.

582.

Chertsey in Surrey. William of Malmesbury tells us that it was a flourishing monastery till it was destroyed by the Danes.

583.

Barking in Essex, v. infra cc. 7-10. For the preposition, v. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

584.

The plague of 664 has been mentioned in III, 27; IV, 1, 3; but this may have been a later visitation. Barking is generally supposed to have been founded in 666.

585.

Two different dates are given for her succession, 664 and 675. If the former is right, the plague (c. 7) must have been that of 664, and Ethelburg probably died of it. It appears from a letter of St. Boniface that Hildilid was alive in 709. She was one of Aldhelm's numerous women-scholars. He dedicated the prose version of his work in praise of virginity (v. V, 18) to her and others of the sisterhood, and speaks highly of their scholarly attainments.

586.

Apparently a life of St. Ethelburg not known to exist now.

587.

Cf. III, 30; IV, 6.

588.

For Earconwald, v.s. c. 6. Waldhere is the first of a long list of undistinguished bishops of London given by William of Malmesbury. A letter of his to Archbishop Bertwald survives, and there is a charter in which Swefred (v. next note) grants lands at Twickenham to him in 704.

589.

Cf. V, 8, note on Suaebhard.

590.

St. Paul's, London. Sebbi's tomb is believed to have survived till the fire of 1666.

591.

For these bishops, cf. III, 7.

592.

Ibid. He died in 672 (Sax. Chron.). Of the sub-kings the most prominent were Aescwine and Centwine, a brother of Coinwalch. The Saxon Chronicle gives a different account. According to it, Coinwalch's widow, Sexburg, reigned for one year after him and was succeeded by Aescwine, who was succeeded by Centwine.

593.

Cf. III, 7, and for his character, V, 18. The Saxon Chronicle says he succeeded in 676 and died in 703. Bede places his death in 705 (V, 18).

594.

Cc. 15, 16, and V, 7. He was of Ceaulin's line (II, 5) and so belonged to a younger branch of the West Saxon royal house. Welsh writers confuse him with the British king, Caedwalla (II, 20), and with his son, Cadwalader.

595.

A son of Penda. He succeeded his brother Wulfhere in 675. In 704 he became a monk (V, 24) and afterwards Abbot of Bardney Monastery (cf. III, 11), which he is said to have founded. His invasion of Kent was probably provoked by an attempt on the part of that kingdom, at Wulfhere's death, to resume a position of independence towards Mercia. In spite of his conduct on this raid, Theodore, Florence of Worcester, and others, speak of the saintliness of his character.

596.

Cc. 2 (and note), 5.

597.

C. 6, and note, and infra, p. 244.

598.

The dates of these changes in the episcopate are uncertain. Probably Gebmund was consecrated in 678. For his death, v. V, 8 ad fin., and note.

599.

This was Wilfrid's first expulsion (v. V, 19). Bede's reticence on the subject is noteworthy. Egfrid's hostility to his former friend, Wilfrid, was doubtless caused by Wilfrid's encouragement of Queen Ethelthryth (cc. 19, 20) in her desire to take the veil. It was probably increased by Egfrid's second wife, Eormenburg, who is said to have resented Wilfrid's power and magnificence. Theodore, carrying out his policy of subdivision, availed himself of the opportunity afforded by this dissension. He consulted some of his suffragans (we do not know who they were; it was apparently at a mixed council of ecclesiastics and laymen), but did not communicate with Wilfrid, being, no doubt, conscious of the uselessness of trying to get his consent. Wilfrid, after demanding an explanation from the archbishop and the king in a Northumbrian “gemot,” and receiving no satisfaction, appealed to Rome (cf. V, 19, p. 351). For the importance of this step, v. Bright, “Early English Church History,” pp. 323-326.

600.

Probably the intention was that Wilfrid should keep the larger part of Deira, with his see at York, and that three new dioceses should be formed. But, on his departure to appeal to Rome, it was assumed that he had resigned his bishopric, and Bosa was consecrated Bishop of Deira with his see at York, Eata, Bishop of the Bernicians, with the option of fixing his see either at Lindisfarne or Hagustald (Hexham). These two were “substituted for him.” Lindsey, which at this time belonged to Northumbria, became for the first time a separate diocese. When it passed again to Mercia in 679 it was included in the subdivision of the Mercian bishopric, and Ethelwin (v. infra note 6) became its bishop with his see at Sidnacaestir (generally identified with Stow, but the locality is unknown).

601.

He was one of the bishops educated in Hilda's monastery (v. c. 23). Bede speaks highly of him (V, 3, 20), and Alcuin calls him “vir sine fraude bonus.” He retired from York when Wilfrid was restored, but appears to have been reinstated on Wilfrid's second expulsion.

602.

Abbot of Melrose, afterwards of Lindisfarne (III, 26, and note; IV, 27; V, 9).

603.

III, 28, and this Chapter, ad fin., and note.

604.

In 675. Lindsey which had been Northumbrian under Edwin and Oswald, had passed through many vicissitudes. Penda conquered it, Oswy recovered it (in 655), Wulfhere conquered it again, Egfrid recovered it (675). It passed finally to Mercia under Ethelred in 679 (v. infra this Chapter, ad fin.).

605.

III, 11, 27.

606.

He was still Bishop of Lindsey in 706, when he signed a charter of Ethelward, “subregulus” of the Hwiccas.

607.

Preface, p. 4, and V, 23. Simeon of Durham says that he died in 732.

608.

Lindsey was at that time subject to Mercia. Sexwulf was expelled when Egfrid conquered it in 675. When the Mercian diocese was subdivided, he retained his see at Lichfield (v.s. c. 3, p. 219, note) as Bishop of the Mercians proper.

609.

By Theodore alone. The suffragans did not take part in the consecration.

610.

In 681 a fresh subdivision took place. The Bernician diocese was divided, Eata retaining Lindisfarne and giving up Hexham to Tunbert. Afterwards Eata retired from Lindisfarne in favour of Cuthbert and took Hexham (v. infra c. 28). Tunbert had been Abbot of Gilling (In Getlingum, III, 14, 24). He was deposed by Theodore from Hexham three years after his consecration (v. infra c. 28), like Wynfrid, “pro culpa cujusdam inobedientiae” (Vita Eatae in “Miscellanea Biographica,” Surtees Society).

611.

His see was not at Whitern among the Picts of Galloway, as has been supposed (Florence of Worcester, Richard of Hexham, and others), but at the monastery of Abercorn on the Forth (I, 12; IV, 26), the Picts north of the Forth being at this time subject to Northumbria. After Egfrid's disastrous expedition in 685, they freed themselves from Northumbrian rule, the see was abandoned, and Trumwine retired to Whitby (c. 26). We hear of him as one of the deputation to Cuthbert in 684 (c. 28).

612.

In 679; v.s., p. 243, note 5.

613.

Whether Ripon became for a time an episcopal see seems doubtful. In III, 28, Bede says distinctly that Eadhaed became “praesul” of the church there, and it does not seem consistent with his use to understand it as = abbot. Probably there was an attempt to subdivide the diocese of Deira (Eddius mentions it as one of Wilfrid's grievances), but the scheme was abandoned when Wilfrid was restored in 705. Ripon did not finally become an episcopal see till 1836.

614.

For a fuller account, v. V, 19, and notes.

615.

For the early importance of this kingdom under Aelli, v. II, 5. It had become a small insignificant nation, cut off from its neighbours by forests (the “Andredsweald”) and marshes, and though we read (III, 20) that Damian, bishop of Rochester, was of the South Saxon race, it was almost untouched by Christian influences.

616.

Cf. infra c. 15.

617.

He also brought about the reconversion of the East Saxons by sending Bishop Jaruman to them. Cf. III, 30.

618.

Wulfhere had invaded Wessex, probably in 661 (Sax. Chron.), and conquered the Isle of Wight and the district of the Meanware, i.e., the district from Southampton Water to the South Downs. The inhabitants were Jutes. The name survives in the hundreds, Meonstoke, and East and West Meon. For the termination “ware” = dwellers, cf. Lindisfari, Cantuarii, Boructuari, etc.

619.

Cf. c. 14.

620.

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

621.

They were probably joint kings of the Hwiccas.

622.

“Scottish,” as usual, means Irish. There is another Dicul mentioned in III, 19. Stevenson suggests the identification of this Dicul with the Irish monk who wrote a geographical work, the “De Mensura Orbis Terrae,” but he lived in the ninth century.

623.

Bosham, near Chichester. It was the favourite South Saxon abode of Harold and Godwine (Freeman, “Norman Conquest”).

624.

Selsey, the island of the seal (“sea-calf”), south of Chichester. It was a royal “vill.” It became the episcopal see for the South Saxons at some time about 709 (cf. V, 18, ad fin. and note), transferred to Chichester in 1075.

625.

Egfrid fell at the battle of Nechtansmere in 685 (v. c. 26), and Wilfrid was restored to his bishopric “in the second year of Aldfrid,” Egfrid's successor (V, 19, p. 353). He was in Wessex with Caedwalla for part of the year 686 (cf. c. 16).

626.

III, 13, note.

627.

C. 13.

628.

This English equivalent for “viaticum” is used by Stapleton in his translation (1565).

629.

Calendars to show the proper days for commemorative Masses, cf. infra “chronicle” (“annale”). The burial was generally on the day of death, hence “depositio” of the festival of a saint.

630.

It must be remembered that this was a monastery of Northumbrians. But Oswald is said to have held an “imperium” over all England except Kent (II, 5).

631.

C. 12, note.

632.

The West Saxons, v. II, 5 and note. Cf. III, 7.

633.

C. 13.

634.

v. V, 7 ad fin. Like Caedwalla, a descendant of Ceaulin, “A king who deserves the name of great” (Bright), great both as a conqueror and a legislator. He was probably the first king to introduce written law into Wessex, viz., his famous “Dooms,” enacted by a West Saxon witenagemot in the early years of his reign.

635.

Winchester. At this time Haedde was bishop there (c. 12). For the creation of a South Saxon bishopric v. V, 18 ad fin.

636.

Eddius says that Caedwalla sent for him and made him his counsellor; Wilfrid had befriended him when in exile.

637.

Roger of Wendover calls him a subregulus.

638.

Cf. I, 15.

639.

Stoneham on the Itchen, near Southampton. For the preposition, cf. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

640.

Redbridge in Hampshire.

641.

Pref., p. 3 and note; V, 18.

642.

The Solent.

643.

The Hamble.

644.

Eutyches was Archimandrite of a monastery near Constantinople. He was condemned by the synod of Constantinople in 448, and by the council of Chalcedon in 451. He was the originator of the Monophysite heresy which denied the existence of the two natures, the Divine and human, in the Incarnate Son. Monothelitism, which was the subject of the controversy alluded to here, arose out of an attempt to reconcile the Monophysites by the assertion of one will and operation (activity, ἐνέργεια) in our Lord. It was condemned in the General Council of Constantinople, 680-681. In anticipation of this council various provincial synods were held, as well as the synod at Rome assembled by Pope Agatho, at which Wilfrid represented the English church (v. V. 19).

645.

The year was 680 (cf. V, 24), but it falls in the eighth year of Hlothere of Kent, who succeeded in July, 673. For Egfrid, v.s. c. 5, ad init. Probably he succeeded in 671. Ethelred of Mercia succeeded in 675 (V, 24), so that Sept., 680, might easily fall in his sixth year; Aldwulf, of East Anglia, in 663 or 664 (v. II, 15; IV, 23). The eighth indiction, whether Cæsarean or Pontifical (v.s. c. 5, note), includes Sept. 17, 680.

646.

Generally identified with Hatfield in Hertfordshire, but T. Kerslake (“Vestiges of the supremacy of Mercia”) supposes it to be Clovesho (Cliff-at-Hoe); v.s. c. 5, and note.

647.

The five Oecumenical Councils which had been held before this time, viz., Nicaea, in 325; Constantinople, in 381-382; Ephesus, in 431; Chalcedon, in 451; Constantinople, in 553. For the Arian heresy, v. I, 8 (and note), where “madness” (“vesania”) is, as here, the word used to describe it. Macedonius was a “semi-Arian,” Eudoxius an Arian; both were bishops of Constantinople. Nestorius was consecrated Bishop of Constantinople in 428. He popularized the heresy which originated with Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, 392-428. It consisted in emphasizing the human element in our Lord's Nature to the practical exclusion of the Divine, as a reaction against Apollinarianism which explained away His real Humanity. “The Christ of Nestorius was, after all, simply a deified man, not God incarnate” (Gore, “Bampton Lectures”). Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus in Syria (died 457) and Ibas, Bishop of Edessa, 435-457, were disciples of Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia, and opponents of Cyril of Alexandria, who is accused of Apollinarianism in the letter of Ibas.

648.

Justinian I, 527-565.

649.

The first Lateran Council, in 649, against the Monothelites. Martin I, Pope 649-655, died in the Crimea, exiled and imprisoned by the Emperor Constans II in consequence of his resistance to the heresy.

650.

Constantine IV, more generally known as Constans II, 641-688.

651.

We have here, under the auspices of an Eastern Archbishop, a clear enunciation of the doctrine which afterwards divided the east and west: the Double Procession of the Holy Spirit. The “filioque” clause, which formed no part of the Nicene Creed, nor of its Constantinopolitan recension, had been formally adopted at the Third Council of Toledo in 589 and at subsequent Spanish councils. The English prelates at Hatfield were probably influenced by this precedent.

652.

Cf. Bede's “History of the Abbots,” § 6.

653.

I.e., St. Peter's at Rome. The Monastery of St. Martin was on the Esquiline. It was founded by Pope Symmachus in honour of SS. Sylvester and Martin.

654.

Cf. c. 1, notes. (For his life, v. Bede's “History of the Abbots,” and the Anon. “History of the Abbots.”) He has not been mentioned before in this history. His ecclesiastical surname was Benedict, “Baducing” was probably his patronymic. He was of noble birth and a thegn of King Oswy, born in 628. He was the companion of Wilfrid on his first journey to Rome (V, 19). In his native province of Northumbria he founded the monasteries of Wearmouth (in 674) and Jarrow (circ. 681), where Bede's life was passed, and enriched them with furniture, vestments, relics, pictures, and a library of valuable books which he brought from the Continent. The rule which he framed for his monasteries was Benedictine, compiled from seventeen different monasteries which he had visited. He died Jan. 12, 689.

655.

Cf. V, 21. Bede's “History of the Abbots,” and Anon. “History of the Abbots.” He added to Benedict's library. He had been a monk at Ripon under Wilfrid, became Abbot of Jarrow in 681, and of Wearmouth in addition to Jarrow in 688. In 716 he resigned and set out for Rome, but died at Langres in the same year. Bede was trained under him (V, 24) and was probably the little boy left alone with him to recite the offices when the pestilence of 686 swept away the monks. (Anon. Hist. Abb. § 14.)

656.

Cf. II, 20, ad fin., note.

657.

Cf. c. 17, and note.

658.

In the Council of Constantinople, 680-681 (v.s. c. 17 ad init., note.)

659.

To St. Martin's own church at Tours, where, as Abbot of St. Martin's monastery at Rome, it was specially fitting that he should find burial.

660.

Cf. III, 7, note.

661.

“Princeps,” A.S. Ealdorman. The county of the Southern Gyrwas was South Cambridgeshire. Cf. III, 20, note.

662.

Cf. c. 25. Bede tells us in the “Life of Cuthbert,” that she was a half sister of Oswy's on the mother's side. Her name survives in Ebchester on the Derwent, where she founded a nunnery; in St. Abb's Head, near which she afterwards founded the double monastery of Coldingham; and in St. Ebbe's, Oxford. She was the friend of Cuthbert, and it was to her exhortations to Egfrid that Wilfrid owed his release from prison.

663.

Coldingham in Berwickshire. It was a mixed monastery. Cf. c. 25.

664.

Ely. The Isle of Ely was her jointure from her first husband. She received the help and support of Aldwulf, king of East Anglia (II, 15; IV, 17, 23), her cousin (he was the son of Ethelhere and nephew of Anna). The monastery was founded in 673. It was exempted from the jurisdiction of the East Anglian bishop, and subject to Wilfrid.

665.

III, 8, cf. III, 7, note. After her husband's death she acted as regent for a time, then founded a monastery in the Isle of Sheppey, and became abbess of it. Thence she retired to Ely, where, after being a simple nun, she succeeded Ethelthryth as abbess. She was herself succeeded first at Sheppey, and afterwards at Ely, by her daughter Ermingild, widow of Wulfhere of Mercia.

666.

Grantchester, near Cambridge.

667.

A Roman sarcophagus. A number of fragments of very ancient stone coffins have been found there, built into the wall of the church (Mayor and Lumby).

668.

“Audrey” is the popular form of the name Ethelthryth. A “tawdry lace” (i.e. St. Audrey lace) is a necklace; cf. “Winter's Tale,” iv. 3. Hence our word “tawdry,” which possibly only derives its meaning from the cheap necklaces, etc., sold at St. Audrey's fair at Ely on the saint's day, October 17 (the day of her translation), but may also be a reminiscence of this anecdote.

669.

The poem is (1) alphabetical; i.e., the first letters of the hexameter lines form the alphabet, and there are four additional couplets at the end, in which the first letters form the word “Amen”; (2) “serpentine,” reciprocal or echoing; i.e., the last half of the pentameter repeats the first two and a half feet of the hexameter. Such verses are common in mediaeval Latin, and are doubtless a development from the occasional instances of echoing lines which occur in the classical poets (e.g., Martial VIII, xxi, 1-2; IX, 97; Ovid, Fasti IV, 365-366), as the extreme form of that impulse to give emphasis by iteration which is a marked feature of Latin poetry, particularly of the Ovidian elegiac.

670.

Agatha suffered 5th February, 251 a.d., in the Decian persecution, according to her “Acta” (the Diocletian, according to the Martyrology and Aldhelm). Eulalia was burnt to death at the age of twelve in the Diocletian persecution, having denounced herself. The legend tells that a white dove hovered over her ashes till snow fell and covered them. Tecla, the disciple of St. Paul, is said to have been the first virgin martyr. She was miraculously saved from her martyrdom and died in peace long after. Euphemia was torn by wild beasts at Chalcedon in 307 a.d. in the Diocletian persecution. Asterius, Bishop of Amasea, 400 a.d., says that he saw a tablet in the church at Chalcedon depicting her sufferings. We have thus very early evidence for her history. Agnes is said to have been beheaded in 304 a.d., in the Diocletian persecution, at the age of twelve or thirteen. The date of St. Cecilia is very uncertain; Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, says that she died circ. 176-180 a.d., but another account places her martyrdom as late as the time of Diocletian. Her connection with music does not appear in the legends, and is probably due to the fact that Pope Paschal endowed the monastery which he built in connection with her church at Rome to provide for musical services at her tomb day and night.

671.

She had not been a queen twelve years. The dates are probably these: she was born about 630 at Ermynge (Ixning) in Suffolk, and married to Tondbert in 652. Tondbert died in 655, and she was married to Egfrid (who must then have been only fifteen) in 660. Egfrid succeeded to the throne in 670 or 671, and it must have been in 672 that she retired to Coldingham. She was, therefore, queen for not more than two years, though perhaps we may accept the statement of the Liber Eliensis that Egfrid was sub-king of Deira for some years before his accession.

672.

I.e., she had been buried sixteen years; v.s. c. 19.

673.

Literally the water snake, ὕδρος, used generally for any serpent, and so = the Devil; Chelydrus is similarly used (v. Ducange).

674.

The Battle of the Trent in 679 (cf. V, 24). It was on the anniversary of Wilfrid's expulsion; he is said to have foretold a calamity. The place may, perhaps, be identified with Elford-on-Trent, in Staffordshire; it is supposed that the name may be a reminiscence of Aelfwine. By this battle Mercia regained Lindsey, which never again became Northumbrian (cf. c. 12, ad fin.).

675.

Cf. c. 22, where he is called “King Aelfwine,” as also twice in Eddius. He may have been sub-king of Deira.

676.

III, 11; V, 24. When Wilfrid took refuge in Mercia in 681, she and her husband expelled him “pro adulatione Egfridi regis” (Eddius).

677.

The “Wergild,” i.e., pecuniary value set upon every man's life according to his status (v. Stubbs, “Constitutional History”).

678.

“Comes,” A.S. “gesith.” Above, Imma is described as “de militia ejus juvenis,” i.e., a young “king's thegn” (the term applied to him in the A.S. version).

679.

Towcester (“Tovecester,” in Domesday Book) in Northamptonshire, Doncaster, and Littleborough have all been suggested, but the place has not been identified. The name indicates that it had been a Roman station.

680.

Sexburg. Cf. III, 8; IV, 19, p. 261, and note.

681.

Cf. III, 24, 25; IV, 24; V, 24.

682.

Ibid.

683.

Cf. infra, this Chapter. He was the son of Edwin's elder brother, who died in exile after the invasion of Deira by Ethelric, king of Bernicia, in 589.

684.

II, 9, foll.

685.

Her sister, Heresuid, had married Ethelhere, brother of Anna, of East Anglia, whom he succeeded. In 647, when Hilda took the veil, Anna was still king.

686.

III, 8, note.

687.

Cf. II, 15; IV, 17.

688.

A small cell, not otherwise known.

689.

Hartlepool, v. III, 24, p. 190, note.

690.

Bede is the sole authority for her life. A fifteenth century gloss on one of the MSS. has led to her being wrongly identified with the Irish Bega, the supposed foundress of St. Bees.

691.

A Roman station on the Wharfe, now Tadcaster. Probably the nunnery was at Healaugh (Heiu's laeg = territory), three miles north of Calcaria. A gravestone bearing Heiu's name has been found there.

692.

Cf. c. 12.

693.

His name does not appear in any of the lists of bishops. There is no evidence that a see of Dorchester (cf. III, 7, and note) existed at this time, except from this passage and the statement of Florence of Worcester to the effect that a fivefold division of the Mercian diocese took place in 679, that Dorchester was included in Mercia, and that Aetla was appointed as its bishop. Probably this latter statement is derived from Bede. It has been proposed to identify Aetla with Haedde, Bishop of the West Saxons (III, 7; IV, 12; V, 18), but it seems unlikely that Bede should not have mentioned their identity. The most probable explanation seems to be that a see was established about 679 at Dorchester (which may have been under Mercia at the time) and that Aetla was its bishop, but that it had only a very short existence.

694.

Cf. infra, notes.

695.

John of Beverley, “Inderauuda” (v. V, 2). He and Berthun (ibid.) are said to have founded Beverley. He was consecrated Bishop of Hexham, probably in 687, transferred to York 705, when Wilfrid was restored to Hexham, and died in 721, soon after his retirement to Beverley (V, 6, ad fin.). As Bishop of Hexham he ordained Bede both deacon and priest (V. 24). He had been a pupil of Archbishop Theodore (cf. V. 3).

696.

Wilfrid II, Bishop of York. He succeeded John (V, 6) in 718, and was still Bishop of York in 731 when Bede finished the History (cf. V, 23). In 732 he resigned and was succeeded by Egbert (to whom Bede addressed the Ep. ad Egb., and who in 735 received the pallium as Archbishop of York). Wilfrid died in 745 (v. Continuation, 732, 735, and 745). His character is highly praised by Alcuin (De Sanct. Ebor.).

697.

Hartlepool and Whitby, both apparently double monasteries.

698.

Cf. II, 2, p. 84.

699.

Dr. Stubbs suggests that this sub-king of the Hwiccas may possibly be the same as Osric of Northumbria, v. V, 23, and note.

700.

The see was at Worcester. The foundation of the bishopric is assigned by Florence of Worcester to the year 679, the date of the alleged fivefold division of the Mercian diocese (v.s. p. 272, note 2), Bosel being appointed bishop.

701.

Cf. c. 12 and note.

702.

The consecration of Oftfor is generally placed in 691. It was after Wilfrid's second expulsion, when he was acting as Bishop of Leicester. Theodore had died in 690, and Bertwald was not consecrated till 693 (v. V, 8).

703.

So Florence of Worcester.

704.

He was king of the Britons of Loidis and Elmet. It was probably to avenge the death of his nephew, Hereric, that Edwin conquered Loidis and drove out Cerdic.

705.

Cf. c. 14, note.

706.

Hackness, thirteen miles from Whitby and three to the west of Scarborough. It was a cell belonging to Whitby. At the dissolution under Henry VIII, it contained only four monks, of the Benedictine order (Dugdale, “Monasticon”).

707.

She has been confused with Heiu and with Bega, v.s. p. 271, note 7.

708.

I.e., the Prioress.

709.

Obviously ballads, probably of a warlike character, existed before Caedmon, but he is regarded as the father of English sacred poetry. It is a question how far the new impulse arose independently among the Anglo-Saxons, or is to be connected with Old Saxon religious poetry of which the “Heliand” is the only extant specimen (cf. Plummer, ad loc.). Of the mass of poetry attributed to Caedmon, much must be regarded as not his actual work. The fragment translated here by Bede has been accepted as genuine by most critics. It exists in the Northumbrian dialect at the end of the Moore MS. of Bede, and in a West Saxon form in other MSS., as well as in the Anglo-Saxon translation of Bede's History, the Northumbrian version being the oldest.

710.

“Villicus,” A.S. “tun-gerefa” = town-reeve, i.e., headman of the township. Cædmon was apparently a herdsman on a farm belonging to the monastery.

711.

Cf. Levit., xi, 3, and Deut., xiv, 6.

712.

Apparently reserved and kept in the Infirmary for the Communion of the dying.

713.

Matins were sung soon after midnight.

714.

Coldingham, v.s. c. 19 and note.

715.

Not the Abbot of Iona who wrote the the life of St. Columba (V, 15, 21). This Adamnan is found in the Martyrology of Wilson, in Colgan's “Lives of the Irish Saints,” and in Bollandus, “Acta Sanctorum.”

716.

From the Vulgate, Ps. xciv, 2. (xcv in our Psalter.)

717.

C. 19 and note.

718.

The detached dwellings built round the principal buildings of the community. Irish monasteries were built after this fashion.

719.

Wearmouth and Jarrow.

720.

For Berct, cf. V, 24 (sub 698), note. The circumstances which led to the invasion are not known.

721.

The Picts north of the Forth, cf. c. 12, ad fin. Their king at this time was Bruide mac Bili, who was Egfrid's distant kinsman. In 672 Egfrid had crushed a rising of Picts under the same king.

722.

Cf. cc. 27-32. He had a mysterious intimation of the disaster at the hour of the king's defeat and death, and warned the queen (Eormenburg), who was with him at Carlisle (v. Bede's Life of Cuthbert, and the Anonymous Life). He is also said to have prophesied the king's death a year before to Elfled, Egfrid's sister (v. III, 24).

723.

At Nechtansmere or Dunnechtan, identified with Dunnichen, near Forfar. Egfrid was buried in Iona, where Adamnan, the friend of his successor, was Abbot.

724.

Cf. c. 5 ad init., note. If he succeeded in February, 670, this would be his sixteenth year.

725.

III, 4, 27; IV, 3; V, 9, 10, 22, 24. His English birth and long residence in Ireland fitted him to be a mediator.

726.

Vergil, Aen. II, 169.

727.

The Dalriadic Scots (Cf. I, 1, note; I, 34) and the Britons of Strathclyde.

728.

Cf. c. 12.

729.

Abercorn on the Forth, cf. I, 12; IV, 12, and note.

730.

III, 24, 25; IV, 23; V, 24.

731.

Cf. III, 24, p. 190.

732.

III, 24, and note. Elfled succeeded Hilda as abbess, and apparently ruled jointly with her mother.

733.

Cf. V, passim, and Bede's two lives of Cuthbert. His mother's name is said by the Irish authorities to have been Fina. He had lived among the Irish islands (“in insulis Scottorum,” and “in regionibus Scottorum”) for the sake of study, according to Bede, but William of Malmesbury implies that Egfrid may have been responsible for his exile. He was a man of great learning and of scholarly tastes. In Bede's “History of the Abbots,” we are told that he gave eight hides of land for a MS. which Benedict Biscop had brought from Rome.

734.

Cc. 5, 17, 22.

735.

Cc. 1, 5.

736.

Apparently at one time joint-king with Hlothere. Certain dooms are ascribed to them both. According to Thomas of Elmham, he was killed in war against Caedwalla, king of Wessex, and his brother, Mul, who were at this time encroaching on Kent.

737.

Mul seems to have usurped the throne for a time.

738.

In 692 we find him reigning as joint-king with Swaebhard (V, 8 ad fin.). He must have succeeded in 690, if Bede's dates are correct; cf. V, 23, where it is said that he died on April 23, 725, after a reign of thirty-four and a half years.

739.

I.e., 685.

740.

C. 26 and note.

741.

Cf. III, 16 and note.

742.

As a boy he had been remarkable for his high spirits and love of athletic exercises. The rebuke of a little boy of three is said to have turned his thoughts to a more serious life, and a vision which he saw as he watched his sheep on the Lammermuir Hills on the night of Aidan's death, led him to form the resolve of entering a monastery. (Bede's Life of Cuthbert.)

743.

Melrose; cf. III, 26 and note.

744.

Ibid. and V, 9.

745.

C. 12, p. 243, note 1.

746.

C. 28; V, 9. Probably here “sacerdos” = priest, A.S. version: “masse-preost.” But Aelfric calls him bishop. The town of St. Boswells on the Tweed is called after him. For an instance of his prophetic spirit, v. infra, c. 28. It was his fame which drew Cuthbert to Melrose. When he saw the youth on his arrival, he exclaimed, “Behold a servant of the Lord!” He is generally supposed to have been carried off by the plague of 664. For an account of his last days spent in reading the Gospel of St. John with Cuthbert, v. Bede's Prose Life of Cuthbert. The “codex” which they used was extant in Durham in Simeon of Durham's time.

747.

Cf. III, 3, p. 139, note 3.

748.

Cf. I, 27 ad init.

749.

Much of the account given here is from the prose life.

750.

The synod of Twyford, a mixed assembly of clergy and laity, met in the autumn of 684. The place is “perhaps where the Aln is crossed by two fords near Whittingham” (in Northumberland) (Bright). This is another instance of the preposition prefixed to the name, cf. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.

751.

Cc. 12, 26.

752.

Cf. c. 27, p. 288.

753.

In 685.

754.

Cf. c. 12 and note.

755.

Ibid.

756.

Soon after Christmas, 686. In February, 687, his last illness began.

757.

St. Herbert's Island in Derwentwater. Strictly speaking, the Derwent flows through Derwentwater: it rises in Borrowdale. An indulgence of forty days was granted by Thomas Appleby, Bishop of Carlisle, in 1374 to pilgrims who visited the island.

758.

Carlisle, called also Luel by Simeon of Durham.

759.

In 687.

760.

In St. Peter's Church. In 875, when the monks fled from Lindisfarne before the Danes, his relics were removed, first to Chester-le-Street, then to Ripon, and eventually to Durham. Simeon of Durham says the body was found to be uncorrupted, when it was placed in the new Cathedral there in 1104.

761.

The year in which he administered the bishopric falls between his restoration to York, Hexham, and the monastery of Ripon, and his second expulsion.

762.

Cf. III, 25, ad init., and infra c. 30. In the life of Cuthbert he is described as a man “magnarum virtutum” (miraculous powers?). Alcuin tells that he calmed the winds by his prayers.

763.

698 a.d.

764.

The Dacre, a small stream near Penrith. There are the ruins of a castle, and Smith says there is a tradition of a monastery on its banks.

765.

Not the missionary in V, 11.

766.

“Innumera miracula” are ascribed to him by Florence of Worcester.

767.

III, 16, and note; IV, 27-30.

768.

Ripon, v. III, 25, p. 194; V, 19.

769.

Cuthbert and Eadbert (IV, 29, 30). His relics were removed with Cuthbert's and finally interred at Durham.

770.

IV, 26, and V, 18. He reigned from 685 to 705.

771.

III, 26; IV, 12, 27, 28. He died in 686.

772.

John of Beverley, v. IV, 23, p. 273, and note. Wilfrid administered the bishopric during the vacancy between Eata's death and John's consecration in 687.

773.

Cf. ibid.

774.

Beverley. The present name is said to be derived from a colony of beavers in the Hull river. In 866 the minster was destroyed by the Danes, but it was repaired three years later. In 925 Athelstan restored it and made it collegiate, giving it lands and various privileges. (For the preposition, v. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.)

775.

Supposed to have been at St. John's Lee, near Hexham. The old name is Erneshow or Herneshaw. (Richard of Hexham, Folcard.)

776.

The reading of the best MSS., “Clymeterium” (v. ll. clymiterium, climiterium, clymitorium) seems inexplicable. Smith reads “coemeterium,” probably on the authority of a gloss (“id est cimeterium”) on some of the later MSS., and it has generally been translated “cemetery.” The AS. version has “gebæd hus 7 ciricean” = oratory and church.

777.

Acts, iii, 2-8.

778.

This was Wilfrid's second restoration. He recovered Hexham and the monastery of Ripon at the Synod on the Nidd in 705.

779.

Bosa (IV, 12, 23) died circ. 705.

780.

Watton in the East Riding of Yorkshire. (“Hodie Watton, i.e., humida villa ex aquis et paludibus quibus septa est.” Smith.) It is called Betendune by Folcard, the biographer of Bishop John.

781.

For “studium” = medical treatment, v. Plummer, ad loc. Under the verb, studere, Ducange gives instances of this meaning: “Iussitque rex, ut studeretur a medicis”; Greg. Turon., vi, 32. “Episcopus, adhibito mulomedico, jussit ei (equo) studium impendere, quo scilicet sanari potuisset”; St. Audoënus, lib. 2; Vit. St. Eligii, 44.

782.

Bishop John had studied under Theodore. Cf. IV, 23, note.

783.

Note the tendency to hereditary succession in monasteries (v. Haddan and Stubbs, III, 337-338). Instances are, however, rare in England, though common in Ireland, where the clan system affected ecclesiastical preferments. Eanfled and Elfled at Whitby are not a case in point, as Eanfled did not precede her daughter, but was only associated with her in some way in the government of the monastery.

784.

This “vill” was at South Burton (Folcard), now called Bishop Burton, between two and three miles from Beverley.

785.

To redeem his fast, as the A.S. version explains.

786.

St. Matt., viii, 14-15; St. Mark, i, 30-31; St. Luke, iv, 38-39.

787.

At North Burton (Dugdale, “Monasticon”).

788.

He lived till 745, according to Simeon of Durham.

789.

There were probably two monasteries at Tynemouth, the one mentioned here, and another (v. Bede's “Life of Cuthbert”), which had been a house of monks, but afterwards, when Bede wrote, had become a nunnery.

790.

Breathing on the face and catechizing were practised in order to exorcise evil spirits from the hearts of catechumens (Bede, Opp. viii, 106).

791.

The Saxon Chronicle is very exact: “Thirty-three years, eight months, and thirteen days.” This would date his episcopate from August, 687, to May, 721, for May 7th was observed as the day of his festival at Beverley.

792.

Cf. c. 2.

793.

Wilfrid II: v. IV, 23, p. 273, and note.

794.

I.e., in 688. For Caedwalla, v. IV, 12 (and note), 15, 16.

795.

Sergius I, 687-701.

796.

Cf. II, 9, 14 and notes.

797.

Cf. II, 14 and note.

798.

By Benedictus Crispus, Archbishop of Milan. He died in 725.

799.

I.e., Sergius was his godfather (cf. III, 7, where Oswald stands sponsor for Cynegils). The Saxon Chronicle says he also baptized him.

800.

Justinian II. He succeeded in 685 and died in 711.

801.

Cf. IV, 15, and note. Thus, according to Bede's reckoning, he reigned from 688 to 725, but the date of his abdication is variously given.

802.

Gregory II., 715-731, v. Preface, p. 2.

803.

He was consecrated 26th March, 668, and died, as Bede says here, on 19th September, 690.

804.

The church of SS. Peter and Paul. Cf. II, 3, p. 90.

805.

They are elegiacs. Cf. I, 10.

806.

Cf. II, 3, and infra 19, 23.

807.

The old Roman town Reculver, in Kent. A charter of 679 exists (the oldest original English charter extant) by which King Hlothere of Kent grants land in Thanet to Bertwald and his monastery.

808.

Said to be the Inlade.

809.

The see was, therefore, vacant for two years, possibly owing to the political troubles of the time, cf. IV, 26, ad fin. The further delay of a year between Bertwald's election and consecration may have been caused by his desire to obtain greater weight as consecrated by the Primate of a neighbouring Church (Haddan and Stubbs, III, 229).

810.

For Wictred, v. IV, 26, and note. Thomas of Elmham tries to identify Suaebhard with Suefred, son of Sebbi, king of the East Saxons (v. IV, 11, ad fin.), and says that he made himself king of Kent by violence, but this seems very improbable.

811.

He was Archbishop of Lyons. The Church of Lyons did not obtain the primacy over other metropolitan churches till the eleventh century, but apparently it held a leading position even before this time.

812.

He was trained under Theodore and Hadrian in the School of Canterbury; cf. V, 23, ad init. The date of Gebmund's death and the succession of Tobias cannot be earlier than 696, as Gebmund (v. IV, 12) appears to have been present at the Kentish Witenagemot of Bersted in that year. (Haddan and Stubbs, III, 238, 241.) Tobias died in 726.

813.

III, 4, 27; IV, 3, 26, and infra cc. 10, 22, 23, 24.

814.

The name does not occur in any Celtic literature which we possess. All the evidence seems to show that the Celts have always called the English “Saxons.” “Ellmyn,” for Allemanni, occurs sometimes in Welsh poetry (Rhŷs, “Celtic Britain”).

815.

The Frisians at this time occupied the coastland from the Maas to the region beyond the Ems. The Rugini are probably the Rugii (v. Tacitus, Germania, Chapter XLIII). They were on the shores of the Baltic, probably about the mouth of the Oder (the name survives in Rügen and Rügenwalde). They are found with other North German tribes in the army of Attila, and afterwards formed a settlement on the Lower Danube. The Danes were mainly in Jutland, Fünen, and the extreme south of Scandinavia. The Huns, who appeared in Europe towards the end of the fourth century and menaced both the Eastern and Western Empires, were, after Attila's death, driven eastwards, and settled near the Pontus, disappearing among the Bulgarians and other kindred tribes. The Old Saxons, or Saxons of the Continent (cf. I, 15), occupied both sides of the Elbe. The name Saxon does not occur in the oldest accounts of the Germans. Probably it was a new name for a union of nations which comprised the Cherusci, Chauci, Angrivarii (and perhaps other tribes) of Tacitus. The Boructuari are the Bructeri in Westphalia (v. Zeuss, “Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme”).

816.

Cf. IV, 27 (note) and 28.

817.

Melrose; cf. III, 26; IV, 27, and infra c. 12.

818.

IV, 27. Cf. III, 26; IV, 12, 28; V, 2.

819.

Cf. III, 3, 4, and notes; i.e., the monasteries which owed their origin to Columba and were included in the “province” of Iona. They are distinguished from those which are mentioned in c. 15 as “ab Hiensium dominio liberi.”

820.

His baptismal name was Colum (columba = a dove). He is said to have acquired the name of Colum-cille, because in his youth he was so constantly in the “cell” or oratory.

821.

Jonah, i, 12.

822.

Nothing more is known of him. Alcuin mentions him in his life of Wilbrord. His name is included in a list of the eleven companions of Wilbrord given in a life of St. Suidbert (v. infra c. 11), but no value is to be attached to it (v. Haddan and Stubbs, III, 225). Bede distinctly says that he retired from missionary efforts after this unsuccessful attempt.

823.

The story is told that at one time Rathbed was about to receive baptism at the hands of St. Wulfram, Archbishop of Sens, but drew back on being told that his ancestors were among the lost, refusing to go to Heaven without them. His perpetual wars with the Franks ended in his defeat and expulsion, and he died in 719.

824.

The authority for Wilbrord's life is Alcuin, who wrote it both in prose and verse. Wilbrord was born in 657 or 658 in Northumbria, and was handed over by his mother to the monks at Ripon in his infancy. His father, Wilgils, became a hermit on a promontory at the mouth of the Humber. At the age of twenty he went to Ireland for the sake of study and a stricter life. In 690 he set out for Frisland with eleven others, landed at Katwyk and went to Utrecht, which was afterwards his episcopal see (v. infra c. 11).

825.

They turned aside to Pippin on finding Rathbed obdurate. Pippin of Heristal, Mayor of the Palace of the Austrasian kings, had defeated the Neustrians at Testry in 687 and was now the actual ruler of the Franks, though it was his grandson, Pippin the Short, who first assumed royal power.

826.

Cf. c. 9, p. 319, and note.

827.

Roger of Wendover places their mission in 695. It must have been later than Wilbrord's in 690.

828.

“Satrap,” cf. Stubbs, Constitutional History, i, pp. 41-42. From this passage and similar notices of the Continental Saxons he infers that they had remained free from Roman influences and from any foreign intermixture of blood or institutions. “They had preserved the ancient features of German life in their purest forms.... King Alfred, when he translated Bede had no difficulty in recognizing in the satrap the ealdorman, in the villicus the tungerefa, in the vicus the tunscipe of his own land.”

829.

The year cannot be fixed.

830.

The Church of St. Cunibert, Cologne (Gallican Martyrology, quoted by Smith).

831.

Sergius I: v.s. c. 7.

832.

Alcuin tells how he killed some of the sacred cattle of the god Fosite, a son of Balder, in Heligoland, and baptized three men in his well.

833.

A life of him by Marcellinus (v.s. c. 9, note on Wictbert) is worthless historically. Besides what we learn from Bede, we have the date of his death (713) given by the “Annales Francorum.”

834.

This was after Wilfrid's second expulsion (V, 19). Bertwald was elected in July, 692, and returned from the Continent in August, 693 (v.s. c. 8).

835.

The usual form of the name is Plectrude.

836.

Kaiserwerth on the Rhine, where it is believed that his relics still remain in a silver shrine in the thirteenth-century church. (For the preposition, v. II, 14, p. 119, note 5.)

837.

This was Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. The festival is 22nd November. As to the year, Mr. Plummer considers that an entry in an old calendar belonging to Epternach, near Trèves, Wilbrord's own monastery, giving the date 695, is almost certainly by Wilbrord himself.

838.

Utrecht. A distinction has been drawn between the two places, Wiltaburg, or Wiltenburg, being a village near Utrecht, but the names appear to be interchangeable.

839.

The Church of St. Saviour. He also rebuilt a small church which had been destroyed by the pagans, and consecrated it in honour of St. Martin (Letter of St. Boniface to Pope Stephen). The cathedral stands on the site of this church.

840.

Bede writes in 731. As Alcuin says Wilbrord lived to be eighty-one years of age, he must have died in 738 or 739. Boniface is fairly accurate when he says that he preached for fifty years.

841.

Mr. Skene (“Celtic Scotland,” i., p. 219) has shown that the place cannot be Cunningham in Ayrshire, which was not in Northumbria, but in Strathclyde, and not at that time subject to Northumbria. He suggests Tininghame in East Lothian, which Simeon of Durham calls Intiningaham, and places in the diocese of Lindisfarne (C being a scribe's error for T). Chester-le-Street (Saxon: Cunungaceaster) has also been suggested.

842.

Melrose, v. III, 26; IV, 27; V, 9.

843.

Cf. III, 19. On mediaeval visions, cf. Plummer, ad loc., and Bright, p. 144.

844.

Vergil, Aen. VI, 268.

845.

IV, 26; V. 1.

846.

Cf. c. 23. He began life in the service of St. Cuthbert. He became first Prior, or Provost, then Abbot of Melrose, and succeeded Eadfrid, who died in 721, as Bishop of Lindisfarne. He enriched Lindisfarne with two treasures of art: a beautiful stone cross which he erected there, and a cover of gold and jewels for the Lindisfarne Gospels, written by Eadfrid in honour of St. Cuthbert. The book is now in the British Museum, but the cover is lost.

847.

704-709. Cf. infra, c. 19, pp. 345, 356, and c. 24. He was the son of Wulfhere, but being a boy at the time of his father's death, was passed over in favour of Ethelred, Wulfhere's brother.

848.

Ps. xxxi, 1, in the Vulgate (xxxii in our Psalter).

849.

Bishop of Whitern; v. infra, cc. 18, 23.

850.

Cf. 1 John, v, 16.

851.

Acts, vii, 56.

852.

The northern Irish, and of them only those who were independent of Iona (v. infra). The southern Irish had conformed much earlier; cf. III, 3, and note.

853.

It is not clear whether Bede means that any Britons were converted by Adamnan. If so, they must have been Britons of Strathclyde. The Welsh only conformed 755-777. The reference may be to those of the Cornish Britons, subject to the West Saxons, who were led in 705 by Aldhelm's letter to Geraint to adopt the Catholic Easter (v. infra, c. 18).

854.

Ninth Abbot of Iona, 679-704, the author of the Life of St. Columba.

855.

Of Northumbria. Aldfrid, who had studied in Iona during his exile, was his friend. Adamnan visited the king twice, first, circ. 686, when he obtained the release of the sixty Irish prisoners taken to England by Berct in 684 (v. IV, 26 ad init.) and again two years later (cf. infra c. 21, p. 372, note 2).

856.

The Irish annals mention two voyages to Ireland subsequent to that in 686 with the prisoners, viz., in 692 and 697, after which he probably stayed there till after Easter, 704.

857.

On 23rd September, 704. (The dates are those of Tighernach and the “Annales Cambriae.”)

858.

Adamnan's “De Locis Sanctis,” and Bede's account here, are the only sources of information with regard to this bishop. Adamnan's book is based on the narrative of Arculf compared with other authorities. Bede, again, in his own work on the the same subject, made selections from Adamnan, using also other authorities, e.g. Josephus.

859.

I.e., he had copies made of it.

860.

Nevertheless he quotes his own book rather than Adamnan's.

861.

Cf. Warren and Conder, “Survey of Western Palestine”: “Bethlehem, a well-built stone town, standing on a narrow ridge which runs east and west ... towards the east is the open market place, and, beyond this, the convent in which is the fourth century church of St. Mary, including the Grotto of the Nativity beneath the main apse.”

862.

“Vulturnus” seems to be distinguished from its Greek equivalent, “Eurus.”

863.

The Basilica of the Anastasis was completed by Constantine in 335 a.d., and destroyed in 614 by Chosroes II, King of Persia. Other ancient travellers besides Arculf describe the Holy Places. Eucherius, writing about 427-440, mentions the Martyrium, Golgotha and the Anastasis, and describes their respective sites in similar terms. Theodorus (about 530 a.d.) alludes to the Invention of the Holy Cross by Helena, but the earliest authorities do not connect her with it.

864.

“Brucosa.” The adjective is not found in the dictionaries. But Ducange has the following words from which one may, perhaps, infer an adjective of kindred meaning: “Brua, idem quod supra Brossa, silvula, dumetum,” “Bruarium, ericetum,” and “Broca, ager incultus, dumetum.”

865.

The Basilica of the Ascension, on the summit of Mount Olivet, is mentioned by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux who was in Jerusalem in 333 a.d. No traces of the church have been found. He also speaks of the Anastasis, which was being built at the time.

866.

Saewulf (1102 a.d.) writes: “Below is the place called Golgotha, where Adam is said to have been raised to life by the Blood of our Lord which fell upon him, as is said in the Passion, ‘And many bodies of the saints which slept arose.’ But in the sentences of St. Augustine we read that he was buried in Hebron, where also the three patriarchs were afterwards buried with their wives, Abraham with Sarah, Isaac with Rebecca, and Jacob with Leah, as well as the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel carried with them from Egypt.”

867.

He died at Driffield (supposed to mean the “field of Deira”), in the East Riding of Yorkshire, on 14th December, 705 (Saxon Chronicle).

868.

Bede and the Chronicle do not mention the usurper Eadwulf, who held the sovereignty for eight weeks. With Aldfrid the greatness of Northumbria, which had begun to decline after Egfrid's defeat and death, passed away, except for a brief revival in the time of Eadbert and his brother, Archbishop Egbert. Osred was a tyrannical and lawless boy, and a period of political and ecclesiastical trouble set in (cf. Bede, “Epistola ad Egbertum”; Boniface, Ep. 62, etc.).

869.

III, 7; IV, 12.

870.

Infra c. 23. He has been mentioned, c. 13, ad fin. He studied under Aldhelm at Malmesbury (v. infra).

871.

The greatest scholar of his time and the man of widest influence as a teacher. He was a West Saxon, of royal blood, born about 639; he studied first under Hadrian in the School of Canterbury, then under Maildufus (v. infra), was ordained priest by Bishop Hlothere (Leutherius, v. III, 7), and about the year 675 became Abbot of Malmesbury, which under his rule grew to be a place of importance and attracted crowds of students. On one occasion he went by invitation of Pope Sergius to Rome. He became Bishop of Sherborne, when in 705 the West Saxon diocese was divided (v. infra). He died in 709 in the little church of Doulting in Somerset and was buried in St. Michael's Church at Malmesbury. He greatly strengthened the Church in Wessex by his influence with King Ini and his zeal in building churches and monasteries in various places. His widespread influence, as well as his generous use of it, is shown by his letter to Wilfrid's clergy after the Council of Estrefeld, exhorting them to remain faithful to their bishop (v. Haddan and Stubbs, III, 254).

872.

In 705. The bishopric of the West Saxons was the only one which Theodore did not subdivide. The delay may have been due to the political disturbances of the time, and these had come to an end under the rule of Ini. Haedde's death removed a further difficulty. He seems to have resisted Bertwald's attempt to divide the diocese, for we find in 704 a council threatening the West Saxons with excommunication if the division is not carried out. Hampshire, Surrey, and, for a time, Sussex, were assigned to Winchester; Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire to Sherborne (Haddan and Stubbs, III, 276), but the authorities differ on this point. After the Conquest, the combined bishoprics of Sherborne and Ramsbury (founded in 909 for Wiltshire) had their see established at Old Sarum.

873.

Cf. Preface, p. 3, and note, and IV, 16. In 744 he resigned his see and died in 745. It appears from a letter of Boniface to him that he became blind in his old age.

874.

Malmesbury. It was founded by an Irish monk and scholar, Maildufus (Irish “Maelduib”), as a small settlement living under monastic rule (v.s. note on Aldhelm).

875.

His letter to Geraint or Gerontius, king of Dumnonia (Devon and Cornwall). A West Saxon synod in 705 appointed Aldhelm to write a book, “quo maligna haeresis Britonum destrueretur” (Faricius, Life of Aldhelm). He appears to have influenced only those Britons who were subject to the West Saxons. Devon and Cornwall did not finally conform to the Catholic Easter till early in the tenth century.

876.

Cf. IV, 10 (note on Hildilid).

877.

A poet of the fifth century (circ. 450), author of a poem called “Carmen Paschale.” He translated it into prose and called it “Opus Paschale.” Aldhelm wrote his prose work first.

878.

His style is turgid and grandiloquent, and, owing to the high estimation in which he was held, his influence in this respect on contemporary writing was harmful.

879.

Cf. infra c. 23. A letter to him from Archbishop Bertwald is extant. We do not know how long he lived. We have his signature to a charter of 739.

880.

Cf. IV, 15. The see was established at Selsey. The date of this event is not known (Matthew of Westminster is the only authority for 711). Bede indicates it very vaguely (“quibus administrantibus”), and does not make it clear to whose administration he alludes. The more obvious reference is surely to Daniel and Aldhelm, the passage about Forthere being parenthetical, but the other view has the authority of Haddan and Stubbs (III, 296), viz., that he means Daniel and Forthere, and that thus the date is fixed to some time after Aldhelm's death (709).

881.

Selsey, cf. IV, 13, 14.

882.

The vacancy was filled in 733 by the appointment of Sigfrid (v. Continuation).

883.

Cf. c. 18, ad init. His fourth year was 709.

884.

C. 13 and infra c. 19 ad fin., and c. 24. For a similar action, cf. Caedwalla and Ini (v.s. c. 7) and (infra) Offa.

885.

Constantine I, 708-715.

886.

709-716. St. Boniface (Letter to Ethelbald) gives Ceolred a very bad character, and says that he died impenitent at a banquet, seized with sudden madness. He alludes to him and Osred of Northumbria as the first kings who tampered with the privileges of the Church.

887.

III, 30, and IV, 6. Sighere reigned jointly with Sebbi. They were succeeded by Sebbi's sons, Sighard and Swefred (IV, 11). Offa probably succeeded them just before this time (709); William of Malmesbury says he reigned for a short time. He was succeeded by Selred (d. 746).

888.

St. Matt., xix, 29; St. Mark, x, 30; St. Luke, xviii, 30.

889.

Oundle in Northamptonshire, where he had a monastery on land given him by Wulfhere of Mercia. For the form of the name, cf. infra, “in provincia Undalum.” Here the preposition is prefixed as often; v. II, 14, note. Wilfrid died on a Thursday in October: there is some uncertainty about the day of the month.

890.

Cf. the epitaph (infra) and c. 24, where Bede places his consecration in 664. This is supported by William of Malmesbury, but Eddius says he was bishop for forty-six years.

891.

Ripon, v. infra, p. 56. In the tenth century, Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, removed certain relics to Canterbury, believing them to be the body of Wilfrid. At Ripon it was maintained that the relics were those of Wilfrid II.

892.

Our main authority for the life of Wilfrid is Eddius (v. IV, 2). Bede's account is remarkable for its omissions, though it gives a few facts which Eddius omits.

893.

His birth must be placed in 634 (cf. infra, his consecration at the age of thirty). His father was a Northumbrian thegn. He is said to have had an unkind stepmother. He was sent by his father to the court of Oswy, thence, by Eanfled (cf. II, 9, 20; III, 15, 24, et saep.) to Lindisfarne, at that time under the rule of Aidan.

894.

III, 8. He was the son of Eadbald (II, 5, 6, 9, et saep.). Eanfled's mother was the sister of Eadbald, the Kentish princess Ethelberg (“Tata”), wife of Edwin (II, 9, 11, 20).

895.

II, 18 et saep.

896.

IV, 18, and note.

897.

Cf. III, 25. Annemundus was the name of the Archbishop. Dalfinus, Count of Lyons, was his brother. Eddius makes the same mistake.

898.

A daughter of the Count.

899.

He presented Wilfrid to the Pope, Eugenius I. A leaden “bulla” with the name of Boniface, Archdeacon, inscribed upon it was found at Whitby not long ago.

900.

I.e., to Annemundus.

901.

This seems to be another mistake in which Bede follows Eddius. It was probably Ebroin (v. IV, 1, note), Mayor of the Palace to her infant son Clothaire III, who put Annemundus to death. Baldhild was, however, regent at the time. Eddius calls her a Jezebel, but all that we know of her shows her to have been a most pious and charitable lady, and she has been canonized by the Church. She was especially active in her efforts to stop the traffic in slaves. She herself, though she is said to have been of noble English birth, had been sold as a slave into Gaul. She was married first to Ercinwald, Mayor of the Palace, the predecessor of Ebroin (v. III, 19), and afterwards to Clovis II, King of Neustria and Burgundy, 638-656. Baldhild ended her life in the monastery of Chelles (v. III, 8, and note).

902.

III, 14, 21, 24, 25, 28. He was a friend of Coinwalch of Wessex, from whom, as Eddius says, he learned to love the Roman rules.

903.

Possibly Stamford, in Lincolnshire; more probably, since the land belonged to Alchfrid, Stamford Bridge, on the Derwent, in Yorkshire.

904.

Cf. III, 25, where the extent is given as forty families, i.e., “hides.”

905.

Cf. III, 7, 25, 28; IV, 1, 12. For the Gewissae, v. II, 5 and note.

906.

At the synod of Whitby, 664 (III, 25).

907.

Tuda (III, 26) had died of the plague of 664. For Wilfrid's consecration, v. III, 28, ad init., and note. Agilbert was not Bishop of Paris till 666 (cf. III, 25, p. 194, note).

908.

Cf. III, 28, and note. Wilfrid did not return to Britain till 666. Bede omits the story of his shipwreck on the coast of Sussex, and says nothing of the three years spent as Abbot of Ripon, whither he retired on finding Ceadda installed in his place. During this time he acted occasionally as Bishop for Mercia, where the see was vacant by the death of Jaruman in 667, and for Kent, during part of the vacancy between the death of Deusdedit in 664 and Theodore's arrival in 669.

909.

The same Witan which elected Wilfrid decided to transfer the Northumbrian see from Lindisfarne back to York, where Paulinus had originally established it.

910.

In 678, v. IV, 12, and note. Bede passes over nine years of ceaseless activity in the diocese. It was during this time that Wilfrid built his great churches.

911.

Eddius says that he went there by his own wish. This is not the occasion referred to in III, 13 (v. note, ad loc.). Ebroin, from motives of private enmity (Wilfrid had helped his enemy, Dagobert II of Austrasia), attempted to bribe Aldgils to kill or surrender Wilfrid, but his offer was indignantly rejected.

912.

Cc. 10, 11; cf. III, 13.

913.

On the way he visited Dagobert II of Austrasia, and Perctarit, king of the Lombards.

914.

At a council of fifty bishops held in the Lateran in 679. Theodore had sent documents stating his side of the case in charge of a monk named Coenwald. For Agatho, v. IV, 18. The decision was that Wilfrid should be reinstated in his bishopric and the intruding bishops removed, but that afterwards he should appoint coadjutors who should be consecrated by the Archbishop.

915.

This council was held in 680 in preparation for the Council at Constantinople in 680-681, against the Monothelites (cf. IV, 17, 18, and notes).

916.

In 680. Here Bede strangely omits important events. On Wilfrid's return to Northumbria he was accused of having procured his acquittal by bribery and was imprisoned for nine months, first at Bromnis (unidentified) and then at Dunbar. Being released at the request of Aebba, Abbess of Coldingham (v. IV, 19, 25), who was Egfrid's aunt, he went first to Mercia and then to Wessex, but was expelled from both provinces. Egfrid's sister Osthryth was the wife of Ethelred of Mercia, and in Wessex the king, Centwine, had married a sister of the Northumbrian queen, Eormenburg.

917.

IV, 13.

918.

IV, 13, 16. His connection with Caedwalla of Wessex is to be placed here (IV, 16).

919.

In 686 he was restored to the bishopric of York and the monastery of Ripon. The diocese over which he was now placed was greatly circumscribed. Lindsey and Abercorn, besides having been detached by the subdivision, had both ceased to belong to Northumbria; Lindisfarne and Hexham were separate bishoprics and were merely administered by Wilfrid till the appointment of Eadbert to Lindisfarne and of John to Hexham. The restoration of Wilfrid was brought about by Theodore who had become reconciled to him and induced Aldfrid to allow him to be reinstated.

920.

This was his second expulsion, in 691. Dissensions had arisen about various matters. The most important were the attempt, resisted by Wilfrid, to form Ripon into a separate see, and the requirement that he should accept the decrees of Theodore of 678. To accept these would have been equivalent to a rejection of the Pope's judgement in his case.

921.

Bede omits here Wilfrid's second sojourn in Mercia (eleven years), when he acted temporarily as Bishop of the Middle English (he alludes to it in IV, 23), and the great Council, representative of the whole English Church, summoned by Aldfrid in 702 and held at a place in Northumbria (unidentified; possibly Austerfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire) called by Eddius “Ouestraefelda” and “Aetswinapathe” (supposed to mean “at the swine's path,” or “Edwinspath”). At this Council Wilfrid was excommunicated and deprived of all his possessions except the monastery of Ripon. He appealed again to the Apostolic see and returned to Mercia. Probably in the following year he set out for Rome, visiting Wilbrord in Frisia by the way (cf. III, 13).

922.

John VI, 701-705. Bertwald had sent envoys to represent Wilfrid's opponents. The investigation took four months, during which seventy sittings of the Council were held.

923.

Bertwald was admonished to hold a synod and come to an agreement with Wilfrid. In the event of failure, both parties were to appear in Rome. The letter is cautious and conciliatory in tone.

924.

Cf. supra, p. 352.

925.

Cf. supra, p. 349.

926.

Meaux, cf. IV, 1 (Meldi).

927.

III, 13, and note; infra c. 20.

928.

Ethelred of Mercia had resigned his throne and was now Abbot of Bardney; cf. III, 11, and IV, 12, p. 241, note.

929.

Cc. 13 and 19, ad init.; cf. c. 24.

930.

Cf. c. 18, ad init. He received his envoys courteously, but refused to alter his decision for any “alleged writings from the Apostolic see.” But Eddius says he repented on his deathbed.

931.

Ibid.

932.

In 705. It was a Northumbrian council, not, like Estrefeld, representative of the whole Church. Bertwald was present and adopted a conciliatory line.

933.

He was restored only to Hexham and to his monastery at Ripon. Bishop John, on the death of Bosa about this time, was transferred to York; v.s. c. 3, ad init.

934.

Oundle, v.s. p. 346, note 4.

935.

Or Cudwald. A Cuthbald succeeded Sexwulf (IV, 6) as Abbot at Medeshamstead. He is, perhaps, identical with the Abbot of Oundle.

936.

Cf. supra, p. 346, and III, 25.

937.

I.e. 710. But Hadrian left Rome in 668 (v. IV, 1), and Bede says he died forty-one years after that event. This would be in 709.

938.

Cf. Preface and IV, 1.

939.

Ibid.

940.

St. Augustine's, Canterbury; cf. IV, 1, ad fin.

941.

Cf. Preface and note.

942.

III, 13, and note.

943.

A.S. version: Mafa. For the Roman style of Church music, cf. II, 20, ad fin.

944.

IV, 12, 23; V, 3.

945.

In 710. Naiton, or Nechtan mac Derili, succeeded in 706. The northern Picts had received Christianity through Columba (III, 4). Naiton is said to have been converted to Roman usages by a missionary named Boniface, who was probably an Irishman, St. Cuiritin. Naiton did not succeed in forcing all his people to adopt them, but in 717 he expelled the Columban clergy who refused to conform.

946.

IV, 18 and note.

947.

Wearmouth (ibid.) and Jarrow, Bede's own monastery (v. infra, c. 24). Though they were some distance apart, Wearmouth and Jarrow formed together one monastery.

948.

IV, 18.

949.

II, 2, p. 85, note.

950.

Wood being the usual material, cf. III, 4, “Candida Casa.” The locality of the church is not known. Rosemarkie, on the Moray Frith, and, more probably, Restennet, near Forfar, have been suggested.

951.

The letter has been supposed to have been written by Bede himself.

952.

Plato, Rep. 473, D.

953.

Exod., xii, 1-3. (The quotations are from the Vulgate.)

954.

Exod., xii, 6.

955.

Ibid., xii, 15.

956.

Exod., xii, 15.

957.

Ibid., xii, 17.

958.

Numbers, xxxiii, 13.

959.

Exod., xii, 17-19.

960.

1 Cor., v, 7.

961.

St. John, i, 29.

962.

Levit., xxiii, 5-7.

963.

Cf. Bede's “Expositio in Marci Evangelium” (Opp. X, 2), where he says that St. Mark founded the Church in Alexandria, and taught the canonical observance of Easter; and Opp. VI, 235 (De Temp. Rat.).

964.

Levit., xxiii, 8.

965.

This was an error of the Latins in the fifth century. The object was to make it possible for Good Friday to fall on the fourteenth of the month Nisan, which they believed to be the actual day of the Crucifixion, and to keep Easter Day entirely clear of the Jewish festival.

966.

I.e. Alexandrians.

967.

Gen., i, 16.

968.

The Itala.

969.

Mal., iv, 2.

970.

Habak., iii, 11 (from the Itala).

971.

The Pelagians; I, 10, and note; cf. I, 17.

972.

The reference must be to p. 364, “the apostolic tradition.” For the nineteen years' cycle, cf. III, 3 (Anatolius).

973.

The celebrated Bishop of Caesarea, called also Eusebius Pamphili, a name which he adopted from devotion to his friend, Pamphilus. How much he had to do with the nineteen years' cycle seems altogether uncertain. He took a leading part in the Council of Nicaea (325 a.d.), but there is no proof that the Council formally adopted the cycle, as has been supposed. It had been in use long before, but it may have received authoritative sanction at Nicaea. Eusebius wrote a treatise on Easter, of which a fragment is extant.

974.

A presbyter of Caesarea, the founder of the famous library in that place. He was martyred in 309 a.d. Eusebius wrote his life, but the work is lost.

975.

Archbishop of Alexandria, 385-412. He made a cycle of 418 years (19 × 22) for Theodosius, and reckoned the days on which Easter would fall for 100 years from the first year of the consulate of Theodosius (380 a.d.).

976.

The great Archbishop of Alexandria, 412-444. He shortened the cycle of Theophilus, making a cycle of ninety-five years (19 × 5), for the sake of convenience. Part of his “Computus Paschalis” remains.

977.

A monk of the Western Church in the sixth century. The surname, “Exiguus,” refers, not to his stature, but to his humbleness of heart. Our method of dating from the Birth of Christ was begun by him. He revived the cycle of Victorius (or Victorinus) of Aquitaine (463 a.d.), hence called Dionysian. It was a cycle of 532 years, i.e. the lunar cycle of 19 × the solar cycle of 28.

978.

Cf. p. 369, note 5.

979.

Job, i, 20.

980.

Gen., xli, 14.

981.

St. Matt., xvi, 18.

982.

Acts, viii, 20 (Vulgate). The origin of this form of tonsure was attributed to Simon Magus.

983.

Gal., v, 24.

984.

St. James, i, 12.

985.

Cf. c. 15 and notes. It is uncertain whether this incident is to be connected with Adamnan's first or second visit to King Aldfrid.

986.

I.e., Ireland; cf. c. 15.

987.

Cf. supra, p. 359, note 1.

988.

Cf. c. 18 and note; cc. 19, 20, 24. He was killed in battle, but neither the locality nor the war is known.

989.

He reigned two years, v. infra c. 23. He belonged to a younger branch of the royal house of Northumbria. His father's name was Cuthwine, and Ceolwulf, who succeeded Osric (c. 23), was his brother.

990.

Or, perhaps, “bishop;” cf. III, 4, note. For the circumstances which led Egbert to undertake his work among the Columban monasteries, v.s. c. 9. As the events narrated there were prior to 690 (Wilbrord's mission to Frisia), we may, perhaps, assume that he had been labouring during this long interval among the Columban monasteries in Ireland. In III, 4, Bede places Egbert's arrival in Iona a year earlier.

991.

Rom., x, 2.

992.

Cf. p. 372. This seems to be the meaning of the somewhat obscure sentence, “... celebrationem, ut diximus, praecipuae solemnitatis sub figura coronae perpetis agere perdocuit.”

993.

For the conversion of the Britons to Roman usages, v. cc. 15 and 18, notes.

994.

This is accurate enough in round numbers. Aidan's mission (v. III, 3) was probably in 635.

995.

I.e., 24th April. According to the Celtic rule, Easter Day could never have been so late, 21st April being the latest possible day, while the Romans might celebrate as late as 25th April.

996.

Osric had succeeded in 718. Simeon of Durham says he was a son of King “Alfrid.” It has been suggested (Dr. Stubbs, in Dict. of Christian Biog.) that this may mean Alchfrid, son of Oswy (III, 14, et saep.), further, that this Osric is to be identified with the Hwiccian sub-king, mentioned in IV, 23, who may have found a refuge in Mercia, when Alchfrid was disinherited. Against this it has been maintained that the statement of Simeon of Durham may, with greater probability, be referred to Aldfrid, the successor of Egfrid and father of Osred.

997.

Cf. IV, 26, and V, 8.

998.

From Bede we should infer that they all succeeded in 725, and the evidence of charters goes to show that Eadbert and Ethelbert began to reign jointly in that year. Florence of Worcester makes Eadbert and Ethelbert reign successively, and William of Malmesbury gives successive reigns of considerable length to all three brothers. This prolongs Alric's life beyond probability, and as his reign rests on no early evidence, Dr. Stubbs is inclined to set it aside altogether.

999.

Cf. c. 8.

1000.

Cf. II, 3 and note; III, 14.

1001.

Consecrated in 727 (Saxon Chronicle) and died in 739 (Simeon of Durham).

1002.

This must refer to the battle of Tours in 732, in which Charles Martel defeated the Saracens. As the Ecclesiastical History was finished in 731, this passage must be regarded as a later insertion. For Bede's view with regard to the Saracens, v. his theological works passim. He believed them to be the descendants of Ishmael.

1003.

In 729; v.s. c. 22.

1004.

Cf. supra, this chapter, ad init.

1005.

Cf. Preface, note 1, and the Continuation.

1006.

Cf. c. 22, ad init and note.

1007.

I.e., since 29th June, 693; v.s. c. 8, ad fin.

1008.

He received the pall in 733 and died in 734; cf. Continuation.

1009.

Bredon in Worcestershire.

1010.

Cf. Preface; IV, 16; V, 18.

1011.

I.e., of the East Saxons. He died in 745; v. Continuation.

1012.

Called also Worr. In the Act of the Council of Clovesho in 716 he signs as Bishop of Lichfield (to which at this time Leicester was united) along with his predecessor, Hedda, but the authenticity of the Act is not fully established, and it is generally supposed that he succeeded in 721. At his death in 737 (Simeon of Durham) Leicester was finally separated from Lichfield.

1013.

Cf. supra, p. 378.

1014.

The following list of the English bishoprics at the time when Bede closed his history [731 a.d.], will enable the reader to recognize those which belonged to each separate kingdom: KINGDOMS; SEES; PRELATES. Kent; Canterbury; Tatwine. Rochester; Aldwulf. East Saxons; London; Ingwald. East Angles; Dunwich; Aldbert. Elmham; Hadulac. West Saxons; Winchester; Daniel. Sherborne; Forthere. Mercia; Lichfield (to which Leicester had been reunited in 705); Aldwin. Hereford; Walhstod. Worcester; Wilfrid. Lindsey (Sidnacester); Cynibert. South Saxons; Selsey; Vacant. Northumbria; York; Wilfrid II. Lindisfarne; Ethelwald. Hexham; Acca. Whitern; Pechthelm.

1015.

Aldbert was Bishop of Dunwich, Hadulac of Elmham.

1016.

Cf. c. 18.

1017.

Cf. supra, p. 379, note 6.

1018.

I.e., in Herefordshire. It is not certain when the see of Hereford was founded. Besides Putta (v. IV, 2, and note), Florence of Worcester mentions Tyrhtel and Torthere as predecessors of Walhstod.

1019.

This is Wilfrid, Bishop of Worcester, contemporary with Wilfrid II of York (v. IV, 23; V, 6). He succeeded St. Egwin, whom Bede strangely omits to mention, the successor of Oftfor (IV, 23). For the Hwiccas, v. II, 2, p. 84, and for the see of Worcester, IV, 23, p. 273, note 7.

1020.

Cf. Preface, p. 4, and IV, 12. For Lindsey as a separate bishopric, ibid.

1021.

Cf. IV, 16.

1022.

Cf. c. 18, ad fin., and notes.

1023.

He was a son of Penda's brother, Alweo. He had lived at one time in retirement near the hermitage of St. Guthlac, flying from the enmity of Ceolred, but on the death of the latter in 716, he succeeded to the throne. Though he is not included in Bede's list of Bretwaldas (II, 5), he established the supremacy of Mercia for twenty years over all England south of the Humber, till in 754 Wessex freed itself in the battle of Burford. For his wars with Wessex and Northumbria, v. Continuation, sub 740 and 750. There is a charter of his dated 749 in which he grants certain ecclesiastical privileges, “pro expiatione delictorum suorum.” His oppression of the Church and his private life are rebuked in the letter of Boniface and five German bishops addressed to him (v. Haddan and Stubbs, III, 350).

1024.

Wilfrid II, v. IV, 23, and note; cf. V, 6.

1025.

Cf. c. 12, p. 331, and note.

1026.

III, 13, and note; cf. IV, 14; V, 20.

1027.

Cf. cc. 13, 18. For the “White House” (Whitern), v. III, 4, and note. About this time (the exact date is not known) it became an Anglian see, a fact which indicates that in spite of the defeat of Egfrid in 685, which freed the Northern Picts, the Picts of Galloway were still subject to Northumbria. The bishopric came to an end about the close of the century, when the Northumbrian power had fallen into decay.

1028.

The Scots of Dalriada (I, 1). They had recovered their liberty after the defeat and death of Egfrid; cf. IV, 26.

1029.

Cf. ibid., and p. 376, note 1.

1030.

External peace apparently. For the internal state of Northumbria, v.s. p. 378.

1031.

For the accuracy of these dates, cf. the notes on the events as they occur in the narrative.

1032.

The length of his pontificate is not mentioned in the narrative.

1033.

This and the two following entries are not in the narrative.

1034.

Ida was the first king of Bernicia, and one of the leaders of the English invasion. He conquered the country about Bamborough, which he is said to have founded (cf. III, 6), and settled his people here. Deira, which was for a time a separate kingdom, was finally united to Bernicia under the strong rule of Oswald, Ida's great grandson (ib. ad fin.), who through his mother, Acha, was descended also from the royal house of Deira.

1035.

By Scotland, as usual, Ireland is meant.

1036.

Wulfhere's death is not mentioned in the narrative.

1037.

This is not in the narrative. For Osthryth cf. III, 11; IV, 21.

1038.

Not in the narrative. Berctred is probably to be identified with Berct in IV, 26 ad init. (Ulster Annals: “Brectrid”; Sax. Chron.: “Briht.”)

1039.

Above it is said that he succeeded in 675, making his reign twenty-nine years, and this agrees with the Saxon Chronicle. Wilfrid, on his return to England in 705, found him already an abbot. (V, 19.)

1040.

Not in the narrative. Bertfrid was Osred's chief ealdorman, and was besieged with him in Bamborough by the usurper Eadwulf; cf. p. 342, note 2. We find him acting as spokesman in the Council on the Nidd (V, 19, p. 356) in demanding to have the Papal letters translated into English.

1041.

For Bede's life, v. Introduction.

1042.

IV, 18, p. 257, note 3.

1043.

Ibid.

1044.

Ibid., note 4, cf. V, 21.

1045.

John of Beverley, IV, 23; V, 2-6.

1046.

For a full account of Bede's works, v. Plummer, vol. I, Introduction, or Dictionary of Christian Biography, s.v. “Beda.” Besides the works mentioned in this list, the following are certainly genuine: The short “Epistola ad Albinum” (sent with a copy of the Ecclesiastical History). “Retractationes in Acta.” “Epistola ad Egberctum.” “De locis Sanctis” (to which Bede alludes in V. 17). A number of other works, some certainly, others probably spurious, and a few possibly genuine, have been attributed to him.

1047.

An answer to questions put to him by Nothelm (v. Preface, p. 2, note 4, and Continuation, sub 735).

1048.

“Parabolae” = comparisons. “Parabolae Salomonis” are the first words of the Book of Proverbs in the Vulgate.

1049.

I.e., St. Paul.

1050.

Isa., xxiv, 22.

1051.

III, 3, note; cf. III, 25, p. 198.

1052.

A priest of Nola in Campania. He was of Syrian extraction, but born at Nola, and ordained priest circ. 250 a.d. He was persecuted under Decius, and again under Valerian, but escaped. His history is told in the poems of Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (409-431).

1053.

This work is not known to exist. Probably the saint is Anastasius the Younger, Patriarch of Antioch, killed in 610 by the Jews in a sedition on 21st December, and in the Roman martyrology honoured on that day as a martyr (v. Butler, “Lives of the Saints”).

1054.

Cf. IV, 26-32.

1055.

For Benedict and Ceolfrid, v. IV, 18. Huaetbert belonged to the monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow from his earliest childhood, and succeeded Ceolfrid as abbot in 716. He survived Bede. The latter dedicated his commentary on the Apocalypse and the De temp. Rat. to him under his name of Eusebius given him for his piety (v. Bede's Hist. Abb. and Anon., Hist. Abb.).

1056.

(Only names which have not occurred in the narrative are annotated; references for those already mentioned will be found in the Index.) The Continuation is by a later hand. But Mr. Plummer considers that the entries under the years 731, 732, 733 and 734, may have been added by Bede himself. They appear in the great Moore MS., and those for 733 and 734 also in another eighth century MS. The entries enclosed in square brackets are found in a fifteenth century MS.

1057.

He succeeded Wilfrid II, and two years later became Archbishop of York (v. infra under 735). It was to him that Bede addressed the “Epist. ad Egberctum.”

1058.

Bishop of Lindsey.

1059.

Bishop of Selsey.

1060.

I.e., of York.

1061.

Bishop of Hexham.

1062.

Bishop of Whitern.

1063.

The early authorities differ as to the year, but this is the traditional date, and is usually accepted.

1064.

King of Northumbria 737-758 (v. infra); died in 768. He was a son of Eata, called by Nennius, Eata “Glinmaur,” a descendant of Ida, and was the brother of Archbishop Egbert. Under him the Northumbrian power revived for a period.

1065.

He was the kinsman and predecessor of Cuthred (v. infra).

1066.

Archbishop of Canterbury in succession to Nothelm. The first archbishop not buried in St. Augustine's, v. II, 3, p. 90, note.

1067.

Bishop of Lindisfarne in succession to Ethelwald (V, 12, ad fin., note).

1068.

Probably a son of that Eadwulf who usurped the throne of Northumbria at Aldfrid's death (V, 18); cf. Simeon of Durham, II, 38 (Rolls Series), “Arwine filius Eadulfi.”

1069.

Not known.

1070.

Charles Martel.

1071.

Pippin the Short. Carloman resigned in 747, and became a monk.

1072.

There is a letter of Boniface (v. Haddan and Stubbs III, 358) to a priest, Herefrid, who is supposed to be the man mentioned here.

1073.

This seems confused and obscure. The West Saxons under Cuthred threw off the Mercian yoke in the insurrection which culminated in the battle of Burford (v. V. 23, p. 380, note 9). Oengus or Angus (the Brythonic form is Ungust), son of Fergus, was a Pictish king who crushed the Dalriadic Scots, and, in alliance with Eadbert of Northumbria, conquered the Britons of Strathclyde. But this does not explain the strange statement which brings him into connection with Ethelbald of Mercia. Nor is it told who Eanred was. Theudor was a king of the Britons of Strathclyde. Kyle is a district in Ayrshire.

1074.

Adopting the emendation “quinto Idus” (Hussey). The date is thus right for the eclipses, but the year is the sixteenth of Eadbert. Probably the numeral (XVI) has fallen out, and the passage ought to run: “anno regni Eadbercti XVI, quinto Id. Ian.”

1075.

The great missionary bishop of Germany, a West Saxon by birth. He crossed to the Continent circ. 716, and, supported by Charles Martel and his sons, evangelized Central Europe, became Archbishop of Mainz, and founded sees throughout Germany. Finally he was martyred in Frisland. Lul, a West Saxon, was his successor, not Redger, but it has been suggested that this may be another name for him. The pope is Stephen III.

1076.

He is said by William of Malmesbury to have been the murderer of Ethelbald. After a year of anarchy Offa succeeded, and retrieved the position of Mercia.

1077.

He was killed in an insurrection in 784. (Sax. Chron.)

1078.

St. Matt. xi, 12. After Eadbert, Northumbria fell into a state of anarchy, obscure kings contending for the throne.

1079.

Cf. supra, sub 750.

1080.

An aetheling killed by Moll, king of Northumbria, at a place called Edwin's Cliff (Sax. Chron.).

1081.

Of Northumbria.