[CONVERSION OF SOUTH SAXONS.] omnium et caro omnium exultaverunt in Deum vivum: intelligentes, eum, qui verus est Deus, et interioribus se bonis et exterioribus cælesti gratia ditasse. Nam et antistes cum venisset in provinciam, tantamque ibi famis poenam videret, docuit eos piscando victum quærere. Namque mare et flumina eorum piscibus abundabant; sed piscandi peritia genti nulla nisi ad anguillas tantum inerat. Collectis. ergo undecumque retibus anguillaribus, homines antistitis miserunt in mare, et Divina se juvante gratia mox cepere pisces diversi generis trecentos: quibus trifariam divisis, centum pauperibus dederunt, centum his a quibus retia acceperant, centum in suos usus habebant. Quo beneficio multum antistes cor omnium in suum convertit amorem, et libentius eo prædicante cælestia sperare cœperunt, cujus ministerio temporalia bona sumpserunt. Quo tempore Rex Ædilvalch donavit reverentissimo antistiti Vilfrido terram octoginta septem familiarum, ubi suos homines qui exules vagabantur, recipere posset, vocabulo Selæseu, quod dicitur Latine Insula Vituli Marini. Est enim locus ille undique mari circumdatus præter ab occidente, unde habet ingressum amplitudinis quasi jactus fundæ qualis locus a Latinis peninsula, a Græcis solet cherronesos vocari. Hunc ergo locum cum accepisset Episcopus Vilfrid, fundavit ibi monasterium, ac regulari vita instituit, maxime ex his quos secum adduxerat fratribus: quod usque hodie successores ejus tenere noscuntur. Nam ipse illis in partibus annos quinque, id est, usque ad mortem Ecgfridi regis, merito omnibus honorabilis, officium Episcopatus et verbo exercebat et opere. Et quoniam illi rex cum præfata loci possessione, omnes qui ibidem erant, facultates cum agris et hominibus donavit, omnes fide Christi institutos, unda baptismatis abluit; inter quos, servos et ancillas ducentos quinquaginta: quos omnes ut baptizando a servitute dæmonica salvavit, etiam libertate donando humanæ jugo servitutis absolvit. [M. H. B. 223, 224; S. I. 178, 179; W. IV. App. 742.] Isle of Wight. BÆD. H. E. IV. 16-Postquam ergo Cædualla regno potitus est Geuissorum, cepit et insulam Vectam, quæ eatenus erat tota idolatriæ dedita; tragica cæde omnes indigenas exterminare, ac suæ provinciæ homines pro his substituere contendit, voto se obligans, quamvis necdum regeneratus, ut ferunt, in Christo, quia, si cepisset insulam, quartem partem ejus, simul et prædæ, Domino daret. Quod ita solvit, ut hanc Vilfrido Episcopo, qui tunc forte de gente sua superveniens aderat, utendam pro Domino offerret. Est autem men [SYNOD OF BURFORD.] sura ejusdem insulæ, juxta æstimationem Anglorum, mille ducentarum familiarum: unde data est Episcopo possessio terræ trecentarum familiarum. At ipse partem quam accepit, commendavit cuidam de clericis suis, cui nomen Bernuini, et erat filius sororis ejus, dans illi presbyterum nomine Hiddila, qui omnibus qui salvari vellent, verbum ac lavacrum vitæ ministraret. **** Hoc ergo ordine, postquam omnes Brittaniarum provinciæ fidem Christi susceperant, suscepit et insula Vecta, in qua tamen ob ærumnam externæ subjectionis, nemo gradum ministerii ac sedis Episcopalis ante Danihelem, qui nunc Occidentalium Saxonum est Episcopus, accepit. [M. H. B. 226; S. I. 180, 181; W. IV. App. 743.] Wilfrid, set free at the request of Egfrid's wife and mother, fled to Mercia, was driven thence by King Ethelred to please Egfrid, and fled to Kentwin in Wessex; driven again from Wessex, he took refuge with King Ethelwalch, then lately converted (B. IV. 13), in Sussex, which was still pagan (Edd. XXXVIII.-XL.). In A.D. 684 or 685 Wilfrid appears to have appealed again to the Pope, Benedict II., and, according to his biographer's statement, to have obtained a sentence, but a fruitless one, in his favour (Edd. XLIX. L.). Cadwalla of Wessex, a heathen, or at least not baptized (B. V. 7), took up his cause on his accession to the West-Saxon throne in A.D. 685. A.D. 685, July 30. A Mercian Synod at Berghford (Burford, Oxon), witnesses a grant of land made by King Berhtwald to Aldhelm and the Abbey of Malmesbury, according to a questionable charter of that date. [K. C. D. XXVI.] a Berhtwald, the grantor, was an under-king of Ethelred of Mercia, the same that gave refuge to Wilfrid until Ethelred forced him away (Edd. XXXIX.). The deed purports to have been "actum publice in synodo juxta vadum Berghford, mense Julio, tricesima die mensis ejusdem, Indictione XIII., anno ab incarnatione Domini sexcentesimo XXXV. ;" and it records the assent of Ethelred, King of Mercia. Kemble seems to remove all ground of suspicion from it by suggesting that an L has been dropped in writing the date, and reading "sexcentesimo LXXXV." This, as he says, would reconcile the indiction with the year, and account for the mention of Ethelred. A.D. 686, June. Theodore witnesses a Charter of Eadric, King of Kent, to S. Peter's (S. Augustin's) Monastery at Canterbury. [K. C. D.XXVII.] A.D. 686. Theodore, reconciled to Wilfrid, procures his restoration, but to the Bishopric of York only a, as limited by Theodore's divisions of A.D. 678 and 681; those divisions remaining intact. I. Interview at London between Theodore and Wilfrid, in the presence of Erkenwald, Bishop of London. Theodore, ac EDD. V. Wilfr. XLII.-Eodem quoque tempore Theocording to Ed- dorus, gratia Dei Archiepiscopus, auctoritatem apostolicæ dius, ration, and offers death. [FIRST RESTORATION OF WILFRID.] acknow. sedis, à qua missus erat, metu agitante honorificans, cum ledges himself beato Wilfrido Episcopo nostro diu exule spoliato vere in the wrong, promises to seek amicitiam inire diutius moratus non distulit. Nam cum Wilfrid's resto- Theodorus Archiepiscopus in senecta uberi frequenti into procure him firmitate anxiatus est, ad Lundoniam civitatem Wilthe Archbishop- fridum, et Erconwaldum suos Episcopos ad se invitavit: bury on his own venientibus autem illis Archiepiscopus sapienter totius vitæ suæ cursum cum confessione coram Domino pure revelavit, dicens: "Et hoc maxime scrupulum me premit, quod in te, sanctissime Episcope, commisi, consentiens Regibus, sine causa peccati, propriis substantiis spoliantibus te, et, morentibus subjectis tuis, in longum exilium exterminantibus (heu pro dolor) omnis, omnis mali. Et nunc confiteor Domino et Sancto Petro Apostolo; et vos, Coepiscopi mei, testes estote, ut cunctos amicos meos regales et principes eorum ubique ad amicitiam tuam, pro remissione peccati mei, per omnem modum volentes nolentesque constringens adtraho. Scio enim post hunc annum, appropinquantem vitæ meæ terminum secundum Domini revelationem, et ideo adjuro te per Deum, et sanctum Petrum, mihi consentire, ut in sedem meam Archiepiscopalem superstitem et hæredem vivens te constituam: quia veraciter in omni sapientia et in judiciis Romanorum eruditissimum te vestræ gentis agnovi." Tunc sanctus Wilfridus Episcopus dixit: "Det tibi Dominus et Sanctus Petrus remissionem omnis controversiæ in me commissæ, et ero pro tua confessione orans pro te amicus in perpetuum: et modo primum mitte nuntios cum litteris ubique ad amicos tuos, ut nostram reconciliationem in Domino, et me olim innoxium exspoliatum agnoscant; et mihi per tuam adjurationem in Domino secundumque præceptum Apostolicæ sedis partem aliquam substantiæ meæ restituant; et postea, Deo volente, quis dignus sit sedem Episcopalem post te accipere, cum consensu tuo in majori consilio consiliemur.” Deinde Archiepiscopus, post pactum veræ pacis initum, ad Aldfrithum Regem Aquilonalium misit litteras, per quas adjuravit eum, ut propter timorem Domini, præceptisque apostolicæ sedis præsulum, et pro redemptione animæ Ecfrithi Regis, qui primus Episcopum nostrum privatum omnibus de patria innocentem exterminavit, reconciliari sub foedere pacis ad multorum salutem cum eo dignatus sit. Non solum autem hunc regem Archiepiscopus ad concordiam excitavit : sed sibi ubique amicos, quasi prius inimicos, facere diligenter excogitavit. Nam ad Elfledam sanctam Virginem et abbatissam [FIRST RESTORATION OF WILFRID.] suas litteras emittens, in quibus commendans secundum auctoritatem apostolicæ sedis, ut pacem cum sancto Wilfrido Episcopo sine dubio iniret: nec non Ethelredum Regem Merciorum adjurans, et in sua et Christi caritate, secundum quod prius in mente habebat, suscipere eum his sequentibus dictis præcepit. [Ed. Gale, p. 73; see W. I. 64.] a The Bishopric of York which Wilfrid governed from A.D. 669 to 678, and that to which he was restored in A.D. 686, were by no means the same; and in accepting the latter he gave up the whole question of the division of the bishopric, and accepted the limits laid down by Theodore in A.D. 678 and 681. 1. Lindsey had been cut off, by the result of its recovery by Mercia, as well as by the division of A.D. 678; and 2. Abercorn in the same way, by its reconquest by the Picts, as well as by the act of A.D. 681. 3. Lindisfame remained in Cuthbert's hands, and was merely administered for a year by Wilfrid, on Cuthbert's death, until a successor was consecrated; and 4. Hexham, to which Eata had been transferred from Lindisfarne in A.D..685, was, upon Eata's death in A.D. 686, held by Wilfrid for a year only (much as he just afterwards held Lindisfarne), until John of Beverley was consecrated to it (B. IV. 2) in A.D. 687 (B. V. 7). Florence indeed (ad an. 686) affirms Wilfrid to have been restored, on this his first restoration, to Hexham only; but Eddius is the best authority on such a point, and Florence seems simply to have confounded the first with the second restoration. He dates the death of Bosa, and the translation of John from Hexham to York, in A.D. 686; and omits the second restoration in A.D. 705 altogether. John of Beverley was certainly Bishop of Hexham in A.D. 691 (B. V. 24). William of Malmesbury, indeed, asserts that both Bosa was expelled from York and John from Hexham to make way for Wilfrid (G. P. III.); but John's consecration, as calculated by the specified duration of his pontificate, only dates from A.D. 687. Hexham was vacant in A.D. 686, by the death of Eata. II. A.D. 686. Letter of Theodore a to Ethelred, King of Mercia, « Gloriosissimo et excellentissimo Ethelredo Regi Merciorum THEODORUS, GRATIA DEI ARCHIEPISCOPUS, IN DOMINO PERENNEM SALUTEM. Cognoscat itaque, fili mi dilectissime, tua miranda sanctitas, pacem me in Christo habere cum venerando Episcopo Wilfrido, et idcirco te carissime, paterna dilectione ammoneo, et in Christi caritate tibi præcipio, ut ejus sanctæ devotioni, quantum vires adjuvant, præstante Deo patrocinium, sicut semper fecisti, quamdiu vivas, impendas : quia longo tempore propriis orbatus substantiis inter paganos in Domino multum laboravit. Et idcirco ego Theodorus, humilis Episcopus, decrepita ætate hoc tuæ beatitudini suggero: quia apostolica hoc velut sanctis commendat auctoritas, ut vir ille supra nominatus sanctissimus in patientia sua, sicut dicit Scriptura, possideat animam suam, et injuriarum sibi injuste inrogatarum [immemor] humilis et mitis caput suum Dominum Salvatorem sequens, et medicinam expetens, et si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, licet tibi pro longinquitate itineris durum esse videatur, oculi mei faciem tuam jocundam videant, et benedicat tibi anima mea, antequam moriar. Age ergo, [FIRST RESTORATION OF WILFRID.] fili mi, fili mi, taliter de illo suprafato viro sanctissimo, sicut te deprecatus sum. Quod si patri tuo non longe de hoc sæculo recessuro obedieris, multum tibi proficiet ad salutem. Vale in pace, vive in Christo, dege in Domino, Dominus sit tecum." Ethelred yields. Quid plura dicam? Postquam Ethelredus Rex propter auctoritatem beatissimorum pontificum, Agathonis scilicet et Benedicti Sergiique, percipientium dignitatem Apostolicæ sedis, canonice et libenter pontificem nostrum suscipiens, multa monasteria, et regiones proprii juris reddens, habensque illum in summo honore dignitatis, usque ad finem vitæ fidelis amicus indesinenter perseveravit b. [Edd. XLII., ed. Gale, p. 74; and from him, W. Malm. G.P. III.; see W. I. 64.] a The other letters, mentioned above by Eddius, to Ealdfrith of Northumbria and to the Abbess Elfleda, are not preserved. Eddius is guilty of an oversight in mentioning Sergius, who was Pope from A.D. 687 to 701, unless he means that Ethelred (k. 675-704, d. 716) in the latter part of his life paid respect to the judgment of Sergius as well as of the other Popes mentioned. Wilfrid appeals to the decisions of the three Popes here named, in the subsequent council of Onestrefeld, A.D. 702; and in his petition to John IV., A.D. 704 (see below). Eddius may have got into the habit of naming the three together in this matter. III. A.D. 686. Restoration of Wilfrid by King Ealdfrith to the See of York, as limited by Theodore, and to his other possessions a. Wilfrid restored, first to Hexham, which he holds then to EDD. V. Wilfr. XLIII.—Aldfrithus Rex . . . sanctum vacant by the Wilfridum Episcopum nostrum de exilio, secundo anno death of Eata, regni sui, venerabiliter secundum præceptum Archiepionly for a year; Scopi ad se invitavit ; et primum Coenobium cum possesthe sionibus adhærentibus in Hagustaldesie indulgens, et post Bishopric of York and the intervallum temporis, secundum beatissimi Agathonis Monastery of Ripon; and for Apostolicæ sedis præsulis, et sanctæ synodi judicium, one year, A.D. propriam sedem Episcopalem in Eboraca civitate, et 687-688, Cuth- monasterium in Hrypis cum redditibus suis reddidit, exdeath pulsis de ea alienis Episcopis. [Ed. Gale, p. 74; see cration of his also B. V. 19; W. I. 65.] tween bert's be and the conse bert, to Lindis farne. successor Ead- BÆD. H. E. IV. 29.-Episcopatum ecclesiæ illius (Lindisfarne) anno uno servabat venerabilis antistes Vilfrid, donec eligeretur qui pro Cuthbercto antistes ordinari deberet. [M. H. B. 246.] a The beginning of the reign of Cadwalla of Wessex (Edd. XLII.), who began to reign A.D. 685 (A. S. C.), and the mention of the second year of Ealdfrith of Northumbria, who also began to reign in A.D. 685 (B. IV. 26), fix the date of this the first restoration of Wilfrid. b The expelled Bishops were Bosa of York, and Eadhad, who, since A.D. 679, had ruled the monastery of Ripon. |