Note 482 — Chapter XI
Reading edition
William of Malmesbury, Gest. Reg. Angl. 24, a. Some of the jewels of curious manufacture which Bishop Sighelm brought home were to be seen among the treasures of the church at Sherbourne; and Asser says that King Alfred one morning gave him a silk robe, and as much frankincense (incense) as a man could carry; from which it may be inferred that, after the visit of Sighelm, a trade was opened out between England and India, or with other countries of the East, where frankincense was produced or stored. For the Christians in Malabar, see a curious story in the “Legenda Aurea;” in Buchanan’s “Christian Researches;” in the Journal of Bishop Heber; and in Thomas’s “Prinsep’s Indian Essays,” vol. ii. p. 214. Sighelm, who had previously been sent to Rome by King Alfred, is thought by Pauli to have been a layman, as his name is not found in the episcopal registers of Sherbourne.—Life of Alfred, p. 146.