Note 864 — Chapter VIII · THE BISHOP.

Lingard attributes this to the intrigues of Wini, whose simoniacal bargain for the see of London does certainly not give a favourable impression of his character. “The influence of the stranger was secretly undermined by the intrigues of Wini, a Saxon ecclesiastic, who possessed the advantage of conversing with the king in his native tongue.” Anglos. Church, i. 90. But Beda says nothing of this: he merely hints that Coinwalh was disgusted with the difficulties which arose from Ægilberht’s ignorance of the Anglosaxon language. The whole transaction is thus related in the Hist. Eccl. iii. 7:—“Cum vero restitutus esset in regnum Coinwalch, venit in provinciam de Hibernia pontifex quidam nomine Agilberctus, natione quidem Gallus, sed tunc legendarum gratia Scripturarum in Hibernia non parvo tempore demoratus, coniunxitque se regi, sponte ministerium praedicandi adsumens: cuius eruditionem atque industriam videns rex rogavit eum, accepta ibi sede episcopali, suae genti manere pontificem. Qui precibus eius adnuens, multis annis eidem genti sacerdotali iure praefuit. Tandem rex, qui Saxonum tantum linguam noverat, pertaesus barbarae loquelae, subintroduxit in provinciam alium suae linguae episcopum vocabulo Uini, et ipsum in Gallia ordinatum: dividensque in duas parochias provinciam, huic in civitate Venta, quae a gente Saxonum Uintancestir appellatur, sedem episcopalem tribuit; unde offensus graviter Agilberctus, quod hoc ipso inconsulto ageret rex, rediit Galliam, et accepto episcopatu Parisiacae civitatis, ibidem senex et plenus dierum obiit. Non multis autem annis post abcessum eius a Britannia transactis, pulsus est Uini ab eodem rege de episcopatu; qui secedens ad regem Merciorum, vocabulo Uulfheri, emit pretio ab eodem sedem Lundoniae civitatis, eiusque episcopus usque ad vitae suae terminum mansit.” Wessex then remained for some time without a bishop, till Coinwalh sent to Ægilberht and invited him to return. The Frankish prelate replied that he could not desert his church and see, but recommended his nephew Lothaire, as a proper person to be ordained to Wessex: and he was accordingly consecrated by Theodore: “Quo honorifice a populo et a rege suscepto, rogaverunt Theodorum, tunc archiepiscopum Doruvernensis ecclesiae, ipsum sibi antistitem consecrari.” Hist. Eccl. iii. 27. See also Will. Malm. de Gest. Pontif. lib. ii.