[CONVERSION OF MERCIA.] utriusque populi utilitate confecit. Nam et suam gentem ab hostili paganorum depopulatione liberavit, et ipsam gentem Merciorum finitimarumque provinciarum, desecto capite perfido, ad fidei Christianæ gratiam convertit. Primus autem in provincia Merciorum simul et Lindisfarorum ac Mediterraneorum Anglorum factus est Episcopus Diuma, ut supra diximus, qui apud Mediterraneos Anglos defunctus ac sepultus est. [M. H. B. 197, 198; S. I. 144; W. IV. App. 738.] SEE OF CANTERBURY VACANT Sept. 30, A.D. 653-March 26, [DEUSDEDIT ARCHBISHOP.] VI. DEUSDEDIT, A.D. 655-664. [First Saxon Archbishopa: a West Saxon (B. III. 20), by name Frithonas (Elmham, ed. Hardwick, 192b). Consecrated by Ithamar of Rochester, alone, at Canterbury, March 26, A.D. 655 (B. III. 20). Turning-point of the Scottish schism in England at the Conference of Whitby, before July A.D. 664. Deusdedit dies July 14, A.D. 664d (B. III. 20, IV. 1), and is buried in the porch of S. Peter's, Canterbury (B. III. 3).] There a The A. S. Chronicle, a. 690, erroneously assigns this distinction to Brihtwald. is no proof whatever that Deusdedit was a monk. b So also Gotselinus, Vita Deusdedit (ap. Capgrave). There was at this time in England another Bishop, Boniface of East Anglia, of Canterbury consecration, besides Agilbert of Wessex, against whose ecclesiastical position d If the dates in Bede of Deusdedit's accession and death are correct, then the duration of his Archbishopric, also in Bede (III. 20), viz. nine years seven (aliter four) months and two days, is not so. A.D. 655 × 664. Foundation in a Witenagemot (A.D. 655 × 657), and consecration (A.D. 664), of Peterborough Abbey. BÆD. IV. 6.—Qui (Sexuulfus) erat constructor et abbas monasterii quod dicitur Medeshamstedi, in regione Gyrviorum. [M. H. B. 217.] A. S. C. a. 655.-On his timea pa comon togadere heo (Peada, king of the Middle Angles) and Oswiu Oswaldes broðor cyningas and sprecon þæt hi wolden an mynstre areren Criste to loue and Sancte Petre to wurdminte. And hi swa diden, and nama hit gauen Medeshamstede. [M. H. B. 312; W. I. 36.] A. S. C. a. 657.—Ɖab man halgode se mynstre; þa was seo kyning Wulfere þær and his broder Æpelred, and his swustre Kyneburg and Kynesuuith: and seo mynstre halgode seo arcebiscop Deusdedit of Cantwarbyrig and seo biscop of Rofecastre Ithamar and seo biscop of Lundone pe was Wina gehaten, and seo Myrcene biscop Jeruman was gehaten and Tuda biscop. And þær was Wilfrid preost, þe siddon was biscop, and þær wæron ælle his þegnas pe wæron on his kynerice. [M. H. B. 313, 314.] [CONFERENCE AT WHITBY, ON EASTER.] a Peada was King from A.D. 655-657 (A. S. C.). b The A. S. Chronicle (the Laud MS. 636) dates this vaguely in Wulfhere's reign, although mentioning it under the year of his accession, A.D. 657. The spurious act of Wulfhere (K. C. D. DCCCCLXXXIV.) gives A.D. 664 as the date; and if the other details of the story could be trusted, and Bishop Ithamar's name omitted, the date would be fixed to A.D. 664: for at no other time except the middle of A.D. 664 could it possibly be true that Deusdedit was still alive, Tuda a Bishop, and Wilfrid still a priest and in England. The A. S. Chronicle in the one MS. of it supposed to have belonged to Peterborough, and which alone contains these notices of the abbey, adds to the few lines in the text an abstract of the spurious charter of A.D. 664. But Ithamar of Rochester died shortly after A.D. 655 (B. III. 20; and see Wharton, A. S. I. 330), and Damian his successor must have died before Synodus Pha rensis. Deusdedit, that is, before July 14, A.D. 664; while Tuda was not Bishop until after the Whitby Conference in A.D. 664, and died in the course of the same year. Jaruman was not Bishop until A.D. 662, nor Wini until A.D. 660 (A. S. C. and Flor. Wig.). Moreover Wini was Bishop of Winchester in A.D. 664 (B. III. 28), and did not become Bishop of London until A.D. 666 (Flor. Wig.; and see Wharton, A. S. I. 192: also the account of the discovery of the documents after the Danes had destroyed the monastery, in A.D. 963, A. S. C. ad ann.). However, the minster was consecrated no doubt about this time, and possibly by Deusdedit: although all the details are untrustworthy, and their authority not older probably than the 12th century. For Agatho's spurious grant of privileges see below, under the year 680. A spurious rescript of Vitalian containing Wulfhere's charter is also given in the Chronicle under the year 657. A.D. 664, before July. Conference at Whitby respecting Eastera. BÆD. III. 25, 26.-His temporibus quæstio facta est frequens et magna, de observatione Paschæ, confirmantibus eis qui de Cantia, vel de Galliis advenerant, quod Scotti Dominicum Paschæ diem contra universalis ecclesiæ morem celebrarent. Erat in his acerrimus veri Paschæ defensor, nomine Ronan, natione quidem Scottus, sed in Galliæ vel Italiæ partibus regulam ecclesiasticæ veritatis edoctus; qui cum Finano confligens, multos quidem correxit, vel ad sollertiorem veritatis inquisitionem accendit: nequaquam tamen Finanum emendare potuit; quin potius, quod esset homo ferocis animi, acerbiorem castigando, et apertum veritatis adversarium reddidit. Observabat autem Jacob diaconus quondam, ut supra docuimus, venerabilis Archiepiscopi Paulini, verum et catholicum Pascha, cum omnibus quos ad correctiorem viam erudire poterat. Observabat et regina Eanfled cum suis, juxta quod in Cantia fieri viderat, habens secum de Cantia presbyterum catholicæ observationis, nomine Romanum: unde nonnunquam contigisse fertur illis temporibus, ut bis in anno uno Pascha celebraretur. Et cum rex Pascha Dominicum solutis jejuniis faceret, tunc regina cum suis persistens adhuc in jejunio Diem Palmarum celebraret. Hæc autem dissonantia Paschalis observantiæ vivente Ædano patienter ab omnibus tolerabatur, qui patenter intellexerant, quia etsi Pascha contra morem eorum qui ipsum miserant facere non potuit, opera tamen fidei, pietatis, et [CONFERENCE AT WHITBY, ON EASTER.] dilectionis, juxta morem omnibus sanctis consuetum, diligenter exsequi curavit: unde ab omnibus etiam his qui de Pascha aliter sentiebant, merito diligebatur: nec solum a mediocribus, verum ab ipsis quoque Episcopis, Honorio Cantuariorum, et Felice Orientalium Anglorum, venerationi habitus est. Defuncto autem Finano qui post illum fuit, cum Colmanus in Episcopatum succederet, et ipse missus a Scottia, gravior de observatione Pascha necnon et de aliis ecclesiasticæ vitæ disciplinis controversia nata est: unde movit hæc quæstio sensus et corda multorum, timentium ne forte accepto Christianitatis vocabulo, in vacuum currerent, aut cucurrissent. Pervenit et ad ipsas principum aures, Osuiu videlicet Regis et filii ejus Alchfridi; qui nimirum Osuiu a Scottis edoctus ac baptizatus, illorum etiam lingua optime imbutus, nihil melius quam quod illi docuissent autumabat. Porro Alchfrid magistrum habens eruditionis Christianæ Vilfridum virum doctissimum: nam et Romam prius propter doctrinam ecclesiasticam adierat, et apud Dalfinum Archiepiscopum Galliarum Lugduni multum temporis egerat, a quo etiam tonsuræ ecclesiasticæ coronam susceperat hujus doctrinam omnibus Scottorum traditionibus jure præferendam sciebat: unde ei etiam donaverat monasterium quadraginta familiarum in loco qui dicitur Inhrypum; quem videlicet locum paulo ante eis qui Scottos sequebantur in possessionem monasterii dederat. Sed quia illi postmodum data sibi optione, magis loco cedere quam suam mutare consuetudinem volebant, dedit eum illi qui dignam loco et doctrinam haberet, et vitam. Venerat eo tempore Agilberctus, Occidentalium Saxonum Episcopus, cujus supra meminimus, amicus Alchfridi regis, et Vilfridi abbatis, ad provinciam Nordanhymbrorum, et apud eos aliquandiu demorabatur; qui etiam Vilfridum, rogatu Alchfridi, in præfato suo monasterio presbyterum fecit. Habebat autem secum ipse presbyterum nomine Agathonem. Mota ergo ibi quæstione de Pascha, vel tonsura, vel aliis rebus ecclesiasticis, dispositum est ut in monasterio quod dicitur Strenæshalch, quod interpretatur Sinus Fari, cui tunc Hild abbatissa Deo devota femina præfuit, synodus fieri et hæc quæstio terminari deberet. Veneruntque illo reges ambo, pater scilicet et filius; Episcopi, Colman cum clericis suis de Scottia, Agilberctus cum Agathone et Vilfrido presbyteris. Jacobus et Romanus in horum parte erant: Hild abbatissa cum suis in parte Scottorum, in qua erat etiam venerabilis Episcopus Cedd, jamdudum ordinatus a Scottis, ut supra [CONFERENCE AT WHITBY, ON EASTER.] docuimus, qui et interpres in eo concilio vigilantissimus utriusque partis exstitit. Primusque rex Osuiu præmissa præfatione, quod oporteret eos qui una Deo servirent, unam vivendi regulam tenere, nec discrepare in celebratione sacramentorum cælestium, qui unum omnes in cælis regnum exspectarent; inquirendum potius quæ esset verior traditio, et hanc ab omnibus communiter esse sequendam: jussit primo dicere Episcopum suum Colmanum, qui esset ritus, et unde originem ducens ille quem ipse sequeretur. Tunc Colmanus: "Pascha," inquit, "hoc quod agere soleo, a majoribus meis accepi, qui me huc Episcopum miserunt, quod omnes patres nostri, viri Deo dilecti, eodem modo celebrasse noscuntur. Quod ne cui contemnendum et reprobandum esse videatur, ipsum est quod beatus evangelista Johannes discipulus specialiter Domino dilectus, cum omnibus quibus præerat ecclesiis, celebrasse legitur." Quo hæc et his similia dicente, jussit rex et Agilberctum proferre in medium morem suæ observationis, unde initium haberet, vel qua hunc auctoritate sequeretur. Respondit Agilberctus: "Loquatur, obsecro, vice mea discipulus meus Vilfrid presbyter, quia unum ambo sapimus cum cæteris qui hic adsident ecclesiasticæ traditionis cultoribus; et ille melius ac manifestius ipsa lingua Anglorum, quam ego per interpretem, potest explanare quæ sentimus." Tunc Vilfrid jubente rege ut diceret, ita exorsus est: "Pascha quod facimus," inquit, "vidimus Romæ ubi beati Apostoli Petrus et Paulus vixere, docuere, passi sunt et sepulti, ab omnibus celebrari: hoc in Italia, hoc in Gallia, quas discendi vel orandi studio pertransivimus, ab omnibus agi conspeximus: hoc Africam, Asiam, Ægyptum, Græciam, et omnem orbem, quacumque Christi Ecclesia diffusa est, per diversas nationes et linguas, uno ac non diverso temporis ordine gerere comperimus: præter hos tantum, et obstinationis eorum complices, Pictos dico et Brittones, cum quibus de duabus ultimis oceani insulis, et his non totis, contra totum orbem stulto labore pugnant." Cui hæc dicenti respondit Colmanus: "Mirum quare stultum appellare velitis laborem nostrum, in quo tanti apostoli qui super pectus Domini recumbere dignus fuit, exempla sectamur; cum ipsum sapientissime vixisse omnis mundus noverit." At Vilfridus: "Absit," inquit, "ut Johannem stultitiæ reprehendamus, cum scita legis Mosaicæ juxta literam servaret, judaizante adhuc in multis Ecclesia, nec subito valentibus apostolis omnem legis observantiam quæ a Deo instituta est, abdicare. Quomodo simulacra quæ a dæmonibus inventa |