Chapter XXXIII: Book III (3)

[103] Boniface, whose original name was Winfred, after unwearied labour in the conversion of various nations in Germany, by which he acquired the honourable appellation of Apostle of the Germans, at length suffered martyrdom in Friesland. A collected edition of his works forms volumes xv. and xvi. of PATRES ECCLESIÆ ANGLICANÆ by the editor of this work. One of the original churches, built by him in Saxony, still exists in the Duchy of Gotha, at a little village called Gierstedt.

[104] See this epistle at length in Spelmanni Concilia, vol. i. page 232, and reprinted by Wilkins, Concilia, i. 87, also in Bonifacii Opera, &c.

[105] The Winedi were seated on the western bank of the Vistula, near the Baltic. In Wilkins, it is “apud Persas,” among the Persians.

[106] Lullus was appointed his successor by Boniface, on setting out for Friesland, in 755; he died A.D. 785.

[107] The value of the mancus is doubtful; sometimes it appears to mean the same with the mark, at others it is supposed equal to thirty pence of the money of that time. The gold manca is supposed to be eight to the pound, which was probably the coin sent to the pope.

[108] See this entire, Usserii Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge, epist. 18. p. 36; and Alcuini Opera, tom. i. p. 6, epist. 3.

[109] The dalmatic was a garment worn by the clergy, and sometimes by princes. Its name is said to have been derived from its invention in Dalmatia. The pall here apparently signifies an upper vesture also, in form resembling a cloak without sleeves; but it has a variety of meanings. See Du Cange, and note at p. 44, of Bede’s Eccles. History.

[110] Kenulf made Cuthred king of Kent, A.D. 798. Eadbert had been dreadfully mutilated by having his eyes put out and his hands cut off. See chap. i.

[111] “Qui agros non habebant.” These words refer to an inferior class of gentry, as he mentions the people at large, “populus,” afterwards.

[112] Redwald was not the first king of East Anglia, but the first who became distinguished. In the year 571, Uffa assumed the title of king: he was succeeded by his son, Titil, in 578 who was followed by Redwald, his son. See Bede, b. ii. c. 15.

[113] According to the Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 921, that is, the 21st of Edward the Elder, and the fiftieth from the murder of king Edmund. Now following this statement, as Edward succeeded his father, Alfred A.D. 901, the expulsion of the Danes would be the twentieth of his reign. In Florence of Worcester the union of the kingdoms under Edward the Elder is assigned to the year 918.--HARDY.

[114] Sleda was not the first, but their times are uncertain. See Florence of Worcester, who calls him the son of Escwine, whom Henry of Huntingdon considers to have been the first king of Essex.

[115] Brother to St. Chad, bishop of Lichfield. See Bede, b. iii. c. 22.

[116] Here seems an oversight which may be supplied from Florence of Worcester. “Swithed succeeded Selred, and held the sovereignty some years; after whom few native kings ruled in Essex, for in the same year that Egbert conquered Kent, they surrendered to his power.” Selred died 746; their submission took place 823. It would appear, however, from the authorities adduced by Mr. Turner, Hist. of Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 318, that Selred was in fact king of East Anglia.

[117] The kingdom of Sussex was founded by Ælla, who arrived in Britain with three vessels, and accompanied by his three sons, A.D. 477. He seems to have attained a very high degree of power, and was succeeded by his son Cissa.--The affairs of this kingdom are extremely obscure; it appears to have been sometimes dependent on Kent and sometimes on Wessex until finally united to the latter by Egbert, A.D. 823.

[118] The early adventures of Egbert are found only in Malmesbury. He does not observe the order in which these events happened.

[119] The printed text of the former editions places the battle of Hellendun, A.D. 806. Several MSS. have 826, one 825, and two only appear to adopt the correct year 824, as inserted above. These are--The Arundel MS. No. 35, Brit. Mus. and the MS. in Trinity Coll. Cam. R. 14. The place is variously conjectured: Wilton in Wiltshire; Hillingdon in Middlesex; and near Highworth in Wilts.

[120] Malmesbury, in following the Saxon Chronicle, is two years earlier than the Northern Chronicles.

[121] See Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 823-825.

[122] Roger, bishop of Salisbury, seized it in like manner to his own use, A.D. 1118, and held it till his death, 1159.

[123] Alluding to the Rome-scot, or Peter’s-pence, a penny from each house, paid on the festival of St. Peter. Its origin and application seem obscure: Higden interpolates Malmesbury, as assigning its first grant to Ina: Henry of Huntingdon says, Offa. This grant is supposed by Spelman to have been made in a General Council of the nation. A similar payment appears to have been made by other nations. It is to be observed that Asser mentions only Ethelwulf’s donation of three hundred mancuses.

[124] Asser relates that pope Leo stood sponsor for, and confirmed Alfred, who had been sent to Rome by his father the preceding year.

[125] The conflagration here named seems that mentioned by Anastasius, who tells us, that, shortly after the accession of Pope Leo the fourth, a fire broke out in the Saxon street, but the pope, making the sign of the cross with his fingers, put a stop to it. (Anastas. Biblioth. p. 319.) From this author’s account it appears to have been a street or quarter of considerable extent, and near to St. Peter’s. There were schools of this kind belonging to various nations at Rome. Matt. Westminster says it was founded by Ina, with the consent and approbation of Pope Gregory, that priests, nobles, prelates, or kings, of the English nation, might be entertained there during their stay for the purpose of being thoroughly instructed in the Catholic faith; for that, from the time of Augustine, the doctrine and schools of the English had been interdicted by the popes on account of the various heresies which had sprung up among them; that, moreover, Ina bestowed a penny from each house, or Rome-scot, for the support of these persons. (Matt. West. A.D. 727.) It was destroyed by fire in the year 816, and partially again A.D. 854. Our text, therefore, is at variance with the account given by Anastasius, and the latter is probably incorrect.

[126] The divisions of France were liable to considerable variation: but it may be sufficient to observe, that Aquitaine lay between the Garonne and Loire; Vasconia, from the Garonne to the Pyrenees; Gothia, from the Pyrenees along the coast to the eastward; Austrasia or East France, besides various tracts beyond the Rhine, lay between that river and the Meuse; Neustria or West France, from the Channel to the Loire with the exception of Brittany.

[127] The battle of Fontenai is considered as the most calamitous in the French annals; more than one hundred thousand men having, it is said, perished in it. It was fought on the 25th of June, A.D. 841, a memorable month in the annals of France.

[128] Cornu-guallia, i.e. the Horn of Gaul from the projection of Brittany.

[129] Some pretend that he was accidentally wounded by Bertholde, one of his attendants; and that the story of the boar was invented in order to screen him from punishment. Malmesbury, however, follows Asser, the Saxon Chron., &c.

[130] This vision is copied from Hariulfe’s Chronicle, lib. iii. cap. 21. The Annals ascribed to Asser also recite the vision, sub anno 886.--_See Mr. Hardy’s Note_, vol. i. p. 160.

[131] Asser had conversed with many persons who afterwards saw her begging for a subsistence in Pavia, where she died.

[132] One hundred were for the pope, and the other two hundred to be divided between the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, to provide lights on Easter-eve.

[133] Ingulf, who likewise gives this charter, reads, “laicis miseris,” the poor laity.

[134] Manse implies generally a dwelling and a certain quantity of land annexed; sometimes it is synonymous with a hide, or plough-land.

[135] Ingulf has A.D. 855: 3 indict, which agrees with Asser, who assigns that year for the grant. It appears to be the charter which Malmesbury before referred to on the king’s going to Rome, and has given rise to much controversy; some holding that it conveyed the tithes of the land only, while others maintain that it was an actual transfer of the tenth part of all lands in the kingdom. See Carte, vol. i. 293. Both opinions are attended with considerable difficulties. Mr. Carte very inadvertently imagines this charter and the copy in Ingulf to be distinct grants: the latter being, he says, a confirmation and extension of the former, after Ethelwulf’s return from Rome: but the false date in Malmesbury is of no importance, some MSS. having even 814, and 855 was the year of his departure, not of his return.

[136] Jordanes, or Jornandes, was secretary to the kings of the Goths in Italy. He was afterwards bishop of Ravenna, and wrote, _De Rebus Gothicis_; and also, _De Regnorum et Temporum Successione_.--HARDY.

[137] A similar list of the genealogy of the West Saxon kings, will be found in the Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 855.

[138] Malmesbury’s Chronology to the accession of Edward the Elder, is a year later than the Saxon Chronicle, Asser, and Florence of Worcester. His computation rests on fixing the death of Ethelwulf in 857, who went to Rome in 855, stayed there a year, and died in the second year after his return. Allowing ten years for Ethelbald and Ethelbert, it brings the accession of Ethelred to 867, and five years added to this give 872 for Alfred’s accession. After the death of Ethelbald Judith returned to France. She left no children; but marrying afterwards Baldwin, count of Flanders, she bore him Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror.

[139] Supposed Aston, near Wallingford, Berks. Others think Ashendon in Bucks. The Latin and Saxon names, _Mons Fraxini_, and Eschendun, seem to favour the latter.

[140] This legend will be found in the curious “account of the translation of the body of St. Cuthbert from Lindisfarne to Durham,” which we shall give in “Anglo-Saxon Letters, Biographies,” &c. It is taken from the Acta Sanctorum, iii. March, p. 127.

[141] This story rests upon the authority of Ingulf and William of Malmesbury. Asser does not notice it.

[142] This seems a mistake as far relates to Northumbria. The Saxon Chronicle has “Northerna,” and Florence of Worcester “Rex Northmanicus,” which at a first glance might easily be converted into Northumbria.

[143] Asser, the faithful friend and biographer of this great king. His Life of Alfred, alike honourable to his master and himself, is free from flattery. It is given in one of the volumes of our Series.

[144] It has been printed by Gale, Oxon, 1681.

[145] John the Scot is generally supposed to have died in France before A.D. 877, as the letter of Anastasius (Usher’s Sylloge, Ep. 24,) addressed to Charles the Bald, who died in that year, seems strongly to imply that he was not then living. There is, however, no positive notice of the time of his death. The story indeed has so much the air of one told in Asser of John abbat of Athelney, that one would almost suspect it was formed from it: especially as Malmesbury seems to speak in a very hesitating manner on the subject. V. Asser, à Wise, p. 62.

[146] Asser says he first began his literary education, Nov. 11, 887.

[147] Alfred’s Manual, from the description which Asser gives of it, appears to have contained psalms, prayers, texts of Scripture, etc.: Malmesbury, however, in his Lives of the Bishops, quotes anecdotes of Aldhelm from it also.

[148] Plegmund is said to have written part of the Saxon Chronicle; Asser was archbishop of St. David’s, and biographer of Alfred; Grimbald, abbat of St. Omers; and John of Corvey, a German Saxon, whom Alfred invited into England.

[149] Asser says he devoted one half of his income “to God;” which part was afterwards subdivided for the poor, for the two monasteries he had founded, for the school he had established, for other monasteries and churches, domestic and foreign.

[150] This proportion was for both teachers and pupils in the school he founded for the young nobility.--_Lappenberg_, vol. i. p. 340.

[151] Matilda, queen of William the First, was daughter of Baldwin earl of Flanders, the fifth in descent from Ethelswitha. See note, p. 110.

[152] On its removal called Hyde Abbey.

[153] The popular notion was, that the devil re-animated the corpse, and played a variety of pranks by its agency; and that the only remedy was to dig up and consume the body with fire. See Will. Neubrig v. 22.

[154] Virg. Æneid, x. 641.

[155] By West-Angles he probably intends the people of Essex or East-Saxons. See Florence of Worcester.

[156] Charles the Simple had one son by her, Louis II., surnamed D’Outremer.

[157] Surnamed the Great: father of Hugh Capet: she had no issue by him.

[158] Henry, surnamed the Fowler, father of Otho the Great. She had a son and daughter by him. One of Edward’s daughters, called Adela, is said to have been married to Ebles, earl of Poitiers, by whom she had two sons. See L’Art de Verifier les Dates, ii. 312.

[159] This seems to have been Lewis the Blind, king of Arles: and if so, she must have been one of the elder daughters, as he appears not to have survived A.D. 930. She had, at least, one son by him, Charles Constantine, earl of Vienne. See L’Art de Verifier les Dates, ii. 429.

[160] This is a mistake: Hugh is confounded with his father, who married Edward’s daughter. There is no notice of this exploit of Hugh’s in Bouquet, though Isembard is mentioned as the nephew of Lewis, who, being unjustly banished, returns accompanied by a large body of Danes and Normans, but is defeated. Bouquet, Recueil, &c. tom. ix. 58. Lewis, however, left issue, and it was on the death of his grandson Lewis, that Hugh Capet became king of France.

[161] This story of pope Formosus and the seven bishops is to be found verbatim in a MS. (Bodley, 579) which was given to the cathedral of Exeter by bishop Leofric, who died A.D. 1073. Its difficulties therefore are not to be imputed to our author. But though it may not be easy to assign a rational motive for the invention of such an instrument, it is a decided forgery; and all the ecclesiastical writers, from Baronius to Wilkins, [See Concilia, i. p. 201,] have utterly failed in their conjectural attempts to uphold it: even the temperate, the acute, the learned Henry Wharton [Anglia Sacra, i. 554, 5], who rejects decidedly the epistle, gives but an unsatisfactory solution of the seven vacant sees. Its repugnancies will be seen at a glance, when it is recollected, that Formosus died A.D. 896; Edward did not reign till A.D. 901; and Frithstan did not become bishop of Winchester before A.D. 910.

[162] Matt. ix. 37.

[163] In the Saxon Chronicle it is called Brumby. [See Chronicles of the Anglo-Saxons, in Bohn’s Antiquarian Library, pp. 376, 377.] Its site is not exactly known, but it was probably not far from the Humber.

[164] Said to be Werstan, bishop of Sherborne. See Malmesbury’s Gesta Pontificum; or, Lives of the Bishops, to be hereafter translated and published in this series.

[165] This passage is thought to prove the existence of knights as a distinct order among the Saxons; and, coupled with the case of Hereward, it has very much that air. See Mr. Turner’s Anglo-Saxons, 4, 171, et inf. But perhaps in the present instance, it may amount to nothing more than bestowing his first arms on him. Lewis the Debonnaire received his arms, “ense accinctus est,” at thirteen years old.--Duchesne, t. ii. 289.

[166] Cornu Galliæ, a fanciful etymology.

[167] Improperly called king: it was Hugh the Great, father of Hugh Capet. Malmesbury was probably deceived by a blunder of Ingulf’s.

[168] This is a mistake, she was daughter of Alfred. See chap. iv. p. 117.

[169] The legend of St. Longinus makes the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, the person who pierced the side of our Lord; with many other fabulous additions. See Jac. a Voragine, Legenda Sanctorum.

[170] The Theban legion refusing, in the Diocletian persecution, to bring the Christians to execution, were ordered to be decimated; and on their persisting in the same resolution at the instigation of Maurice, the commander of the legion, they were, together with him, put to cruel deaths. V. Acta Sanctor. 22 Sept.

[171] He has, apparently, the oppressions of bishop Roger constantly before him.

[172] Reginald was not the son of Gurmund, but of Guthferth, who was driven out of Northumberland by Athelstan. See Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 927-944.

[173] The exact meaning of some of these terms is not easily attainable, but they are generally understood to imply--jurisdiction over the burgh, or town--hundred court--oaths and ordeals--thieves taken within the jurisdiction--housebreakers--breach of peace--offences committed on the highways, or forestalling--tolls--warranty, or a right of reclaiming villains who had absconded. The charter therefore conveys a right to hold various courts, and consequently to try, and receive all mulcts arising from the several offences enumerated, which being generally redeemable by fine, produced considerable sums; besides, what was perhaps of more importance, exemption from the vexations of the king’s officers.

[174] Duke is often used in charters, &c. as synonymous with earl.

[175] In Gloucestershire.

[176] See Will. Gemeticensis, lib. iii. c. 11.

[177] These were a woollen shirt and cowl. Will. Gemet. lib. iii. c. 12.

[178] Edred is described by Bridferth as being constantly oppressed with sickness; and of so weak a digestion, as to be unable to swallow more than the juices of the food he had masticated, to the great annoyance of his guests. Vita Dunstani, Act. Sanct. 19 Maii.

[179] A quibble on his name, as compounded of “hill” and “stone.”

[180] Much variation prevails among the earliest writers concerning Elfgiva. Bridferth (Act. Sanct. 19 Maii) says, there were two women, mother and daughter, familiar with Edwy. A contemporary of Bridferth (MS. Cott. Nero, E. I.) asserts, that he was married, but fell in love with, and carried off, another woman. A MS. Saxon Chron. (Cott. Tib. b. iv.) says, they were separated, as being of kin. Osberne, Edmer, and Malmesbury, in his Life of Dunstan (MS.), all repeat the story of the two women.

[181] Dunstan, learning that he was dead, and that the devils were about to carry off his soul in triumph by his prayers obtained his release. A curious colloquy between the abbat and the devils on the subject, may be found in Osberne’s Life of Dunstan, Anglia Sacra, ii. 108.

[182] The Mercians had revolted, and chosen Edgar king.

[183] Osberne’s Life of St. Dunstan is published in the Anglia Sacra, vol. ii.

[184] Wulstan’s Life of Ethelwold is printed by Mabillon, and in the Acta Sanctorum, Antwerp. Aug. tome i.

[185] He erected another church at Worcester, in which he placed monks. The canons finding the people desert them in order to obtain the favour of the new comers, by degrees took the monastic habit. See Malmesbury de Gest. Pontif. lib. iii.

[186] Some MSS. omit from “Edgar of glorious memory, &c.” to “spoken of another. The monastic order,” &c. in page 155, and insert the charter at length, together with what follows it, thus:

“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: although the decrees of pontiffs and the decisions of priests are fixed by irrevocable bonds, like the foundations of the mountains, yet, nevertheless, through the storms and tempests of secular matters, and the corruptions of reprobate men, the institutions of the holy church of God are often convulsed and broken. Wherefore I perceive that it will be advantageous to posterity that I should confirm by writing what has been determined by wholesome counsel and common consent. In consequence, it seems proper that the church of the most blessed mother of God, the eternal virgin Mary, of Glastonbury, inasmuch as it has always possessed the chief dignity in my kingdom, should be honoured by us with some especial and unusual privilege. Dunstan, therefore, and Oswald, archbishops of Canterbury and York, exhorting thereto, and Brithelm, bishop of Wells, and other bishops, abbats, and chiefs assenting and approving, I, Edgar, by the grace of God, king of the English, and ruler and governor of the adjacent nations, in the name of the blessed Trinity, for the soul of my father who reposes there, and of my predecessors, do by this present privilege decree, appoint, and establish, that the aforesaid monastery and all its possessions shall remain free and exonerated from all payments to the Exchequer now and for ever: they shall have soc and sac, on stronde and on wude, on felde, on grithbrice, on burgbrice, hundredsetena, and mortheras, athas, and ordelas, ealle hordas bufan eorthan, and beneothan: infangenetheof, utfangenetheof, flemenefertha, hamsocne, friderbrice, foresteal, toll and team, just as free and peaceably as I have in my kingdom: let the same liberty and power also as I have in my own court, as well in forgiving as in punishing, and in every other matter, be possessed by the abbat and monks of the aforesaid monastery within their court. And should the abbat, or any monk of that place, upon his journey, meet a thief going to the gallows, or to any other punishment of death, they shall have power of rescuing him from the impending danger throughout my kingdom. Moreover, I confirm and establish what has hitherto been scrupulously observed by all my predecessors, that the bishop of Wells and his ministers shall have no power whatever over this monastery, or its parish-churches; that is to say, Street, Miricling [Merlinge], Budecal, Shapwick, Sowy, or their chapels, or even over those contained in the islands, that is to say, Beokery, otherwise called Little Ireland, Godney, Martensia, Patheneberga, Adredseia, and Ferramere, except only when summoned by the abbat for dedications or ordinations, nor shall they cite their priests to their synods or chapters, or to any of their courts, nor shall they suspend them from their holy office, or presume to exercise any right over them whatever. The abbat shall cause any bishop of the same province he pleases to ordain his monks, and the clerks of the aforesaid churches, according to the ancient custom of the church of Glastonbury, and the apostolical authority of archbishop Dunstan, and of all the bishops of my kingdom; but the dedications of the churches we consign to the bishop of Wells, if he be required by the abbat. At Easter let him receive the chrism of sanctification, and the oil from the bishop of Wells, according to custom, and distribute them to his before mentioned churches. This too I command above all other things: on the curse of God, and by my authority, saving the right of the holy Roman church, and that of Canterbury, I inhibit all persons, of whatever dignity, be they king, or bishop, or earl, or prince, or any of my dependants, from daring to enter the bounds of Glastonbury, or of the above named parishes, for the purpose of searching, seizing, holding courts, or doing any thing to the prejudice of the servants of God there residing. The abbat and convent shall alone have power in causes known and unknown, in small and in great, and in every thing as we have before related. And whosoever, upon any occasion, whatever be his dignity, whatever his order, whatever his profession, shall attempt to pervert or nullify the pre-eminency of this my privilege by sacrilegious boldness, let him be aware that he must without a doubt give account thereof, with fear and trembling, before a severe Judge, unless he first endeavour to make reparation by proper satisfaction.” The charter of this privilege the aforesaid king Edgar confirmed by his own signature at London, in the twelfth year of his reign, with the common consent of his nobles; and in the same year, which was the 965th of our Lord’s incarnation, and the 14th of the indiction, pope John, in a general assembly, authorized it at Rome, and made all the men of chief dignity who presided at that council confirm it; and also, from motives of paternal regard, sent a letter to the following effect to earl Alfric, who was then grievously persecuting the aforesaid church:--

“Bishop John, servant of the servants of God, to Alfric the distinguished earl, and our dearly beloved son in the Spirit, perpetual health and apostolical benediction. We have learned, from the report of certain faithful people, that you commit many enormities against the church of the holy mother of God, called Mary of Glastonbury, which is acknowledged to belong solely to, and to be under the protection of, the Roman Pontiff, from the earliest times; and that you have seized with boundless rapacity upon its estates and possessions, and even the churches of Brent and Pilton, which, by the gift of king Ina, it legally possesses, together with other churches, that is to say, Sowy, Martine, Budecal, Shapwick, and that on account of your near residence you are a continual enemy to its interests. It would, however, have been becoming, from your living so near, that by your assistance the holy church of God might have been much benefited and enriched; but, horrible to say! it is impoverished by your hostility, and injured by your deeds of oppression; and since we doubt not that we, though unworthily, have received from St. Peter the apostle the care of all the churches, and solicitude for all things; we therefore admonish your affection, to abstain from plundering it, for the love of the apostles Peter and Paul, and respect to us, invading none of its possessions, churches, chapels, places, and estates; but if you persist, remember, that by the authority of the chief of the apostles, committed unto us, you shall be excommunicated and banished from the company of the faithful, subjected to a perpetual curse, and doomed to eternal fire with the traitor Judas.”

[187] Glastonbury is situated on land which was once an island formed by a stagnation of inland waters, in a low situation.

[188] The twelfth of Edgar was 971.

[189] Here is an omission, apparently, which may be supplied from the Ang. Sac. ii. p. 33. “A piece of ground, to wit, of ten farms (or manors), called Estotun,” &c. G. Malm. de Vita Adhelmi.

[190] Edgar’s laws for the punishment of offenders were horribly severe. The eyes were put out, nostrils slit, ears torn off, hands and feet cut off, and, finally, after the scalp had been torn off, the miserable wretches were left exposed to birds or beasts of prey. V. Acta Sanctor. Jul. 2, in Vita Swythuni.

[191] Whorwell, Hants.

[192] This seems to have been founded on the singular circumstance of his not having been crowned till within two years of his death.

[193] Virg. Æn. ii. 169.

[194] When the question was agitated, whether the monks should be supported or the canons restored, the crucifix is said to have exclaimed, “Far be it from you: you have done well; to change again would be wrong.” See Edmer, and Osberne, Angl. Sacra, ii. 219, 112.

[195] The life of Elphege, by Osberne, is in the Anglia Sacra, ii. 122.

[196] Ulfkytel attacked the Danes near Thetford, A.D. 1004, and though compelled to retreat, yet occasioned so severe a loss to the enemy, that they are said to have acknowledged that they had never endured a more powerful attack. See Flor. Wigorn., and the Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 1004.

[197] At Assingdon in Essex, A.D. 1016.

[198] In several of the manuscripts there is an omission of several words which has made nonsense of the whole paragraph. Its restoration is due to Mr. Hardy, in whose edition of William of Malmesbury it is given correctly from MS. authority.

[199] That is, when he had attained that age when a man settles, or chooses his future line of conduct; or, to years of discretion. This Pythagoras represented by the form of the letter Y, or the Greek _gamma_.

[200] Hermenegild the eldest son of Leovigild. He was invested by his father with the royal diadem and the principality of Bœtica, and contracted an alliance with Ingundis, daughter of Sigebert, king of Austrasia. Ingundis was persecuted, and at length killed by her husband’s mother, on account of her Catholic faith. Leander, archbishop of Seville, easily persuaded Hermenegild to resent the treatment of his bride, and assisted him in an attempt to dethrone his father. Hermenegild was taken and sentenced to death for his rebellion. The inflexible constancy, with which he refused to accept the Arian communion, from which he had been converted by Leander, as the price of his safety, procured for him the honour of being enrolled among the saints of the Romish church.--HARDY.

[201] Isidore was bishop of Seville in the sixth century.

[202] An instrument for making celestial observations. The reader who is conversant with the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments will remember its being frequently mentioned in that amusing book.

[203] The abacus was a counting table: here it seems used metaphorically for arithmetic, Gerbert having written a treatise on arithmetic with that title. The authors of the Hist. Litt. de la France, t. vi. understand him literally, as stealing a book containing the principles of the science, and then confound this supposed book with the conjuring treatise mentioned below. They also seem very much displeased with Malmesbury for relating these tales of their countryman, and attribute them to cardinal Benno; but there is nothing of this kind in his work published by Goldastus, and in Brown’s Fasciculus, t. i.

[204] Ovid. Amor. iii. iv. 17.

[205] This was perhaps a necessary precaution, according to the rules of the necromantic art.

[206] His treatise so called.

[207] Macrob. in Somn. Scip. i. 20.

[208] Josephus Antiq. Jud. 1. vii. c. 15. viii. 2.

[209] In the fabulous Itinerary of St. Peter, falsely attributed to Clemens Romanus, Simon is represented as causing Faustinianus to assume his countenance, by rubbing his face with a medicated unguent, to the great alarm of his sons, who mistook him for Simon, and fled until recalled by St. Peter.

[210] Other MSS. read Otbert.

[211] “Living, formerly called Elfstan, was translated from Wells to Canterbury in the year 1013; he died, 12th June, 1020.”--HARDY.

[212] Malmesbury seems to have fallen into some confusion here. The murder of the Danes took place on St. Brice’s day, A.D. 1002, and accordingly we find Sweyn infesting England in 1003 and the following year (see Saxon Chronicle): but this his second arrival took place, A.D. 1013: so that the avenging the murder of his sister Gunhilda could hardly be the object of his present attack.

[213] Matins were sometimes performed shortly after midnight.

[214] It was customary to hold a chapter immediately after primes.

[215] Sweyn died Feb. 3, A.D. 1014.

[216] The monastery of St. Edmundbury.

[217] He here considers Ledo to imply the spring tide; but others say it means the neap, and express the former by Malina. See Du Cange.

[218] Corsham, in Wiltshire?

[219] March 12th, but the Saxon Chronicle says St. George’s day, 23d April.

[220] In Somersetshire?

[221] Sceorstan is conjectured to be near Chipping Norton.--SHARP. Supposed to be a stone which divided the four counties of Oxford, Gloucester, Worcester and Warwick.--HARDY.

[222] He passed the Thames at Brentford, followed them into Kent, and defeated them at Aylesford. Saxon Chron.

[223] Thought to be either Assingdon, Ashdown in Essex, or Aston in Berkshire.

[224] Henry Huntingdon says they actually engaged, and that Canute finding himself likely to be worsted, proposed the division.--H. Hunt. 1. 6.

[225] “Florence of Worcester and the Saxon Chronicle place his death on the 30th of November, 1016. Florence, however, adds the year of the indiction, which corresponds with A.D. 1017.”--HARDY.

[226] The Danish chiefs were apprehensive that he would excite commotions in their country; in consequence of which he was ultimately despatched.--Ang. Sac. ii. 144.

[227] He returned by the way of Denmark. Florence of Worcester.

[228] St. Angelo in Calabria.

[229] The several princes, through whose territories their passage lay, exacted large sums for permission to pass; apparently in the defiles of the Alps.

[230] A penny for every plough, that is, for as much land as a plough could till, to be distributed to the poor: it was payable in fifteen days from Easter.

[231] Payable at Whitsuntide.

[232] A certain quantity of corn. Though it also implies, occasionally, other kinds of offerings.

[233] A forfeiture to the king, but varying according to the nature of the offence.

[234] This seems to be the meaning: he has probably in view the practice of the early princes of the Norman line, who swore to observe the laws of king Edward.

[235] Dean of Canterbury.

[236] This appears merely intended to express that he received the pall from the pope. The two transactions are inverted; he went to Rome A.D. 1021, and translated Elphege’s body A.D. 1023.

[237] Augustine, bishop of Hippo.

[238] He was bishop of Selsey, which see was afterwards removed to Chichester.

[239] The whole country round Glastonbury is flat and marshy, bearing evident marks of having formerly been covered by water.

[240] “See the letter of Fulbert to king Canute (an. 1020 aut 1021.) No. xliv., p. 466. tom. x. Rec. des Hist. de la France. Fulberti Carnot. Episc. Op. Var. 8vo. par. 1608. Epist. xcvii. p. 92.”--HARDY.

[241] Though several French chronicles give nearly the same account of Odo being the elder brother, the learned editors of the Recueil des Historiens de France insist that the assertion is false.

[242] “After the death of Canute, the kingdom was at first divided: the northern part fell to the share of Harold, and Hardecanute obtained the southern division. In the year 1037, Harold was chosen to reign over all England, (Flor. Wigorn.)”--HARDY.

[243] This he notices, because there was a suspicion that she had imposed the children of a priest and of a cobbler on Canute as her own. V. Flor. Wigorn.

[244] The Saxon Chronicle says March 17: it also makes Hardecanute arrive on the 18th of June.

[245] The printed Saxon Chronicle has no mention of this transaction, but there are two manuscripts which relate it. The story appears true in the main, but it is told with so much variety of time, place, &c., that it is difficult to ascertain its real circumstances. See MSS. Cott. Tib. b. i. and iv.

[246] It seems to mean a page, or personal attendant: some MSS. read “alumnus sturni;” apparently the keeper of her starling. There appears to have been a sort of romance on this subject. The youth is said to have been a dwarf, and therefore named Mimicon: his gigantic adversary was Roddingar. V. Matt. West. and Joh. Brompton.

[247] These people inhabited the country on and near the southern coast of the Baltic.

[248] Clerk was a general term including every degree of orders, from the bishop downwards to the chanter. A story near similar has been told of the celebrated Eginhard and the daughter of Charlemagne. V. Du Chesne, Script. Franc. T. ii.

[249] This brief allusion to Macbeth rather disproves the historical accuracy of Shakespere. See the Saxon Chronicle.

[250] This seems the foundation of the fable of Emma and the Ploughshares: as the first apparent promulgator of it was a constant reader and amplifier of Malmesbury. See Ric. Divisiensis, MS. C. C. C. Cant. No. 339.

[251] “Eadsine was translated from Winchester to Canterbury in 1038. The Saxon Chronicle (p. 416) states, that he consecrated Edward, at Winchester, on Easter day, and before all people well admonished him.”--HARDY.

[252] Eustace II, surnamed _Aux Grenons_. He succeeded his father, Eustace I, in 1049; and married, in 1050, Goda, daughter of king Ethelbert, and widow of Gauthier comte de Mantes, by whom he had no issue; but by his wife Ida he left three sons; Eustace, who succeeded him, Godefroi, created, in 1076, marquis d’Anvers by the emperor Henry IV, and afterwards duc de Bouillon, was elected king of Jerusalem in 1099, (23rd July); and, dying 18th July, 1100, was succeeded by his brother Baudouin, comte d’Edesse.--HARDY.

[253] He means Dover; according to the Saxon Chronicle, from which he borrows the account. Eustace stopped at Canterbury to refresh himself, and his people, and afterwards set out for Dover.--Sax. Chron. page 421.

[254] Earl Godwin’s second wife’s name was Gytha. (Saxon Chron. and Flor. Wigorn.)--HARDY.

[255] Sweyn had debauched an abbess, and being enraged that he was not allowed to retain her as his wife, he fled to Flanders. Shortly after he returned, and intreated Bruno or Beorn to accompany him to the king, and to intercede for his pardon: but it should seem this was a mere pretence; as he forced him on ship-board, and then put him to death. V. Flor. Wigorn, A.D. 1049. Chron. Sax. A.D. 1046, p. 419.

[256] “Pagi places the commencement of Gregory’s papacy in May 1044, but Ughelli cites a charter in which the month of August, 1045, is stated to be in the first year of his pontificate. He was deposed at a council held at Sutri, on Christmas-day, A.D. 1046, for having obtained the holy see by simony. Mr. Sharpe remarks that Malmesbury’s character of this pope is considered as apocryphal. Compare Rodul Glaber, lib. v. c. 5.”--HARDY.

[257] “Steteruntque comæ, et vox faucibus hæsit.”--Virgil, Æneid iii. 48.

[258] There are various stories of this kind in Gregory’s Dialogues.

[259] The original is as follows:

Filius Evandri Pallas, quem lancea Turni
Militis occidit, more suo jacet hic.

I am unable to say who was the author of this epigram, but it is not too hazardous to assert that it was not composed either by Ennius or by any other ancient poet.

[260] There seems no reason to doubt the truth of this circumstance, since the exhibition of the Siamese twins, the most extraordinary _lusus naturæ_ that has occurred in the nineteenth century. Medical science, aided by comparative anatomy, has ascertained that the bodies of both man and the brute creation are susceptible of combinations--not usually occurring in the course of nature,--which in former times were thought impossible, and as such were universally disbelieved.

[261] Sometimes called St. Audry. She was abbess of Ely monastery. St. Werburga was patroness of Chester monastery.

[262] Archbishop of Canterbury, from A.D. 1006 to 1012. See Sax. Chronicle, pp. 402, 403.

[263] Bede, book iv. chap. 14. There are some MSS. which want this chapter. The former editor of Bede accounts for it very satisfactorily; stating that a very ancient MS. in the Cotton Collection has a note marking that a leaf was here wanting; and that those which want the chapter were transcripts of this imperfect MS.

[264] Acca, bishop of Hexham, A.D. 710, and a great friend of venerable Bede, who inscribed to him many of his works.

[265] Or Elbert. See b. i. c. i. p. 15.

[266] He was at the same time bishop of Worcester, and archbishop of York.

[267] See b. i. c. 4, p. 78.

[268] “Concerning St. Wistan, consult MSS. Harl. 2253. _De Martyrio S. Wistani._”--HARDY.

[269] Repton.

[270] Thought to be the Devil’s Dyke, on Newmarket Heath.

[271] He was tied to a tree, and shot to death with arrows. Abbo Floriacensis.

[272] This boundary is said to have been formed by Canute, in consequence of his father Sweyn having been killed by St. Edmund in a vision for attempting to plunder his territory. See Malm. de Gest. Pontif. lib. ii. f. 136, b. edit. Lond.

[273] Faremoutier in Brie.

[274] Hist. Eccl. b. iii. c. 8, p. 122.

[275] In b. i, c. 1, p. 15, it is said the compensation for their murder was made to their mother; but here she is called their sister, which is the general account. When it was left to her to estimate this compensation (i. e. their weregild), she asked as much land as her stag should compass, at one course, in the Isle of Thanet; where she founded the monastery of Minster. Vide W. Thorn. col. 1910, and Natale S. Mildrythæ; (Saxonicè), MS. Cott. Calig. A. xiv. 4.

[276] “Mild” gentle.

[277] In Shropshire.

[278] The Seven Sleepers were inhabitants of Ephesus; six were persons of some consequence, the seventh their servant. During the Decian persecution they retired to a cave, whence they despatched their attendant occasionally to purchase food for them. Decius, hearing this, ordered the mouth of the cave to be stopped up while the fugitives were sleeping. After a lapse of some hundred years, a part of the masonry at the mouth of the cave falling, the light flowing in awakened them. Thinking they had enjoyed a good night’s rest, they despatched their servant to buy provision. He finds all appear strange in Ephesus, and a whimsical dialogue takes place, the citizens accusing him of having found hidden treasure, he persisting that he offered the current coin of the empire. At length the attention of the emperor is excited, and he goes in company with the bishop to visit them. They relate their story and shortly after expire. In consequence of the miracle they were considered as martyrs. See Capgrave, Legenda Nova.

[279] On the Norman conquest many English fled to Constantinople, where they were eagerly received by Alexius, and opposed to the Normans under Robert Guiscard. Orderic. Vitalis, p. 508.

[280] Victor II. succeeded Leo IX. in 1056, and died in 1057. Stephen or Frederic, brother of duke Godefroi, succeeded Victor II. on the second of August, 1057, and Nicolaus became pope in 1059.

[281] That is, of Malmesbury. This Elmer is not to be confounded with Elmer or Ailmer prior of Canterbury.

[282] Died and was buried at St. Paul’s. Sax. Chron. A. 1057.

[283] It is hardly necessary to observe, that the succession of William is one of the most obscure points in our history.

[284] Near Chichester.

[285] It was customary for the king to wear his crown on the solemn festivals of Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas: it being placed on his head in due form by the archbishop.

[286] “Westminster Abbey was consecrated on the 28th of December, 1065. Ailred of Rievaulx, in his Life of Edward, states that the church had been commenced some years before, in performance of a vow the king had made to go to Rome; but being dissuaded from it, he sent to the pope to obtain his dispensation from that journey; the pope granted it, on condition that Edward should, with the money he would have spent in that voyage, build a monastery in honour of St. Peter.”--HARDY.

[287] The battle of Stanford-bridge was fought on the 25th of September, 1066. See Saxon. Chron. p. 440.

[288] What Malmesbury here relates is highly probable, from the shortness of the time which elapsed from William’s landing, to the battle of Hastings,--only fifteen days. In this period, therefore, the intelligence was to be conveyed to York, and Harold’s march into Sussex to be completed; of course few could accompany him, but such as were mounted.

[289] Will. Pictaviensis, to whom he seems here to allude, asserts that Harold had collected immense forces from all parts of England; and that Denmark had supplied him with auxiliaries also. But the circumstances mentioned in the preceding note show the absurdity of this statement.

[290] “Robert’s expedition to Jerusalem was in 1035,” (Bouq. 14, 420.)

[291] Ecclesiast. x. 16.

[292] Geoffrey II., son of Foulques III., earl of Anjou, whom he succeeded, A.D. 1040.

[293] “He was the son of Hugh de Montgomery and Jemima his wife, daughter of Turolf of Pont-Andomare, by Wora, sister of Gunnora, great-grandmother to the Conqueror. He led the centre of the army at the battle of Hastings, and was afterwards governor of Normandy. William the Conqueror gave him the earldoms of Arundel and Shrewsbury. See more of him in Sir H. Ellis’s Introduction to Domesday, vol. i. p. 479.”--HARDY.

[294] “For an account of the earls of Anjou consult the Gesta Consulum Andegavensium, auctore Monacho Benedictino Majoris Monasterii (apud Acherium, tom, iii.)”--HARDY.

[295] To carry a saddle was a punishment of extreme ignominy for certain crimes. See another instance in W. Gemeticensis, Du Chesne, p. 259, and Du Cange, in voce “Sella;” who very justly supposes the disgrace to arise from the offender acknowledging himself a brute, and putting himself entirely in the power of the person he had offended.

[296] “From this passage it is clear that Foulques IV. was still the reigning earl of Anjou, which therefore proves that Malmesbury had finished this work before 1129, in which year Geoffrey le Bel, better known as Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of Foulques, became earl of Anjou.”--HARDY.

[297] Terent. Andr. iv. 1.

[298] “These words seem to imply that the Great Council of the kingdom had never agreed to any settlement of the crown on the duke; and without such sanction no oath made by Harold in favour of William would have been binding.”--HARDY.

[299] Some copies omit from “it is wonderful,” to “But,” and substitute as follows:-- ... “that in the course of a very few years, many, if not all, things were seen changed in either order. The former became, in some respects, more dull but more liberal: the latter, more prudent in every thing, but more penurious; yet both, in defending their country, valiant in battle, provident in counsel; prepared to advance their own fortune, and to depress that of their enemies.”

[300] This passage enables us to ascertain nearly the year in which William of Malmesbury’s work was written.

[301] “There are two places called St. Valeri; one in Picardy, situated at the mouth of the Somme, and formerly called Leugonaus; the other is a large sea-port town, situated in Normandy, in the diocese of Rouen, and was formerly called S. Valeri les Plains, but now S. Valeri en Caux. It seems to be the former place to which Malmesbury here refers, ‘In Pontivo apud S. Walericum in ancoris congrue stare fecit,’ writes William of Jumièges.”--HARDY.

[302] This was said in allusion to the feudal investiture, or formal act of taking possession of an estate by the delivery of certain symbols. “This story, however, is rendered a little suspicious by these words being in exact conformity with those of Cæsar, when he stumbled and fell at his landing in Africa, _Teneo te, Africa_. The silence of William of Poitou, who was the duke’s chaplain, and with him at his landing, makes the truth of it still more doubtful.”--HARDY.

[303] “Whatever may have been the conqueror’s orders, to restrain his army from plundering, it is conclusive, from the Domesday Survey, that they were of no avail. The whole of the country, in the neighbourhood of Hastings, appears to have been laid waste. Sir Henry Ellis, in the last edition of his General Introduction to Domesday, observes, that the destruction occasioned by the conqueror’s army on its first arrival, is apparent more particularly under Hollington, Bexhill, &c. The value of each manor is given as it stood in the reign of the conqueror; afterwards it is said, ‘vastatum fuit;’ and then follows the value at the time of the survey. The situation of those manors evidently shows their devastated state to have been owing to the army marching over it; and this clearly evinces another circumstance relating to the invasion, which is, that William did not land his army at one particular spot, at Bulwerhithe, or Hastings, as is supposed,--but at all the several proper places for landing along the coast, from Bexhill to Winchelsea.”--HARDY.

[304] Lib. v. c. 14.

[305] This is from W. Pictaviensis, who puts it in the mouth of the conqueror, but it is evidently false; for Godwin died A.D. 1053, Siward A.D. 1055, and in 1054 we find Edward the Confessor sending for his nephew from Hungary, to make him his successor in the kingdom, who, accordingly, arrives in A.D. 1057, and dies almost immediately after. He could not, therefore, have made the settlement as here asserted.

[306] As the armour of that time was of mail, this might easily happen.

[307] What this was is not known; but it is supposed to have been a ballad or romance, commemorating the heroic achievements of the pretended nephew of Charlemagne.

[308] “There seems to have been a fabulous story current during the twelfth century, that Harold escaped from the battle of Hastings. Giraldus Cambrensis asserts, that it was believed Harold had fled from the battle-field, pierced with many wounds, and with the loss of his left eye; and that he ended his days piously and virtuously, as an anchorite, at Chester. Both Knighton and Brompton quote this story. W. Pictaviensis says, that William refused the body to his mother, who offered its weight in gold for it, ordering it to be buried on the sea-coast. In the Harleian MS. 3776, before referred to, Girth, Harold’s brother, is said to have escaped alive: he is represented, in his interview with Henry II. to have spoken mysteriously respecting Harold, and to have declared that the body of that prince was not at Waltham. Sir H. Ellis, quoting this MS., justly observes, that the whole was, probably, the fabrication of one of the secular canons, who were ejected at the re-foundation of Waltham Abbey in 1177.”--HARDY.

[309] Four manuscripts read _Exoniam_, and one, namely, that which was used by Savile, read _Oxoniam_. But Matthew Paris also seems to have read _Exoniam_, for such is the text of the two best MSS. of that author. (Reg. 14, c. vii. and Cott. Nero, D. V.) Upon a passage in the Domesday Survey, describing Oxford as containing 478 houses, which were so desolated that they could not pay gold, Sir H. Ellis remarks: “The extraordinary number of houses specified as desolated at Oxford, requires explanation. If the passage is correct, Matthew Paris probably gives us the cause of it, under the year 1067, when William the Conqueror subdued _Oxford_ in his way to York:--‘Eodem tempore rex Willielmus urbem Oxoniam sibi rebellem obsidione vallavit. Super cujus murum quidam, stans, nudato inguine, sonitu partis inferioris auras turbavit, in contemptum videlicet Normannorum; unde Willielmus in iram conversus, civitatem levi negotio subjugavit.’ (Matt. P. ed. Watts, sub ann. 1067, p. 4.) The siege of Exeter in 1067 is also mentioned by Simeon of Durham, col. 197; Hoveden, col. 258; Ralph de Diceto, col. 482; Flor. of Worces. fol. Franc. 1601, p. 635; and by Ordericus Vitalis, p. 510.”--HARDY.

[310] Domesday Book bears ample testimony to this statement; and that which closely follows, viz. that the resources of this once-flourishing province were cut off by fire, slaughter, and devastation; and the ground, for more than sixty miles, totally uncultivated and unproductive, remains bare to the present day. The land, which had belonged to Edwin and Morcar in Yorkshire, almost everywhere in the Survey is stated to be _wasta_; and in Amunderness, after the enumeration of no fewer than sixty-two places, the possessions in which amounted to one hundred and seventy carucates, it is said, ‘Omnes hæ villæ jacent ad Prestune, et tres ecclesiæ. Ex his 16 a paucis incoluntur, sed quot sint habitantes ignoratur. Reliqua sunt wasta.’ Moreover, _wasta_ is added to numerous places belonging to the archbishop of York, St. John of Beverley, the bishop of Durham, and to those lands which had belonged to Waltheof, Gospatric, Siward, and Merlesweyne!--HARDY.

[311] Fordun has a story of Edgar’s being cleared from an accusation of treason against W. Rufus, by one Godwin, in a duel; whose son, Robert, is afterwards described as one of Edgar’s adherents in Scotland. L. v. c. 27-34. “The Saxon Chronicle states, that in the year 1106, he was one of the prisoners taken at the battle of Tinchebrai, in Normandy. Edgar is stated, by Dr. Sayers, in his Disquisitions, 8vo, 1808, p. 296, upon the authority of the Spelman MSS., to have again visited Scotland at a very advanced period of life, and died in that kingdom in the year 1120. If this date can be relied upon, the passage above noted would prove that Malmesbury had written this portion of his history before the close of that year.”--HARDY.

[312] “Earl Waltheof, or Wallef, as he is always styled in Domesday Book, was, according to the Saxon Chronicle, beheaded at Winchester on the 31st May, 1076. The Chronicle of Mailros and Florence of Worcester, however, assign this event to the preceding year.”--HARDY.

[313] “Harold’s master of the horse. He was killed in 1068, in opposing the sons of Harold, when they came upon their expedition from Ireland.”--HARDY.

[314] “W. Fitz-Osberne was only the father-in-law of Ralph de Guader.”--HARDY.

[315] There is considerable difficulty in distinguishing exactly the various meanings of the term “miles.” Sometimes it is, in its legitimate sense, a soldier generally; sometimes it implies a horseman, and frequently it is to be taken in its modern acceptation for a knight; the latter appears to be the meaning here.