by Bede
Turbatis itaque rebus Nordanhymbrorum huius articulo cladis, cum nil alicubi praesidii nisi in fuga esse uideretur, Paulinus adsumta secum regina Aedilberge, quam pridem adduxerat, rediit Cantiam nauigio, atque ab Honorio archiepiscopo et rege Eadbaldo multum honorifice susceptus est. Uenit autem illuc duce Basso milite regis Ãduini fortissimo, habens secum Eanfledam filiam, et Uuscfrean filium atduini, nec non et Yffi filium Osfridi filii eius, quos postea mater metu Eadbaldi et Osualdi regum misit in Galliam nutriendos regi Daegberecto, qui erat amicus illius, ibique ambo in infantia defuncti, et iuxta honorem uel regiis pueris uel innocentibus Christi congruum in ecclesia sepulti sunt. Attulit quoque secum uasa pretiosa Aeduini regis perplura, in quibus et crucem magnam auream, et calicem aureum consecratum ad ministerium altaris, quae hactenus in ecclesia Cantiae conseruata monstrantur.
Quo in tempore Hrofensis ecclesia pastorem minime habebat, eo quod Romanus praesul illius ad Honorium papam a Iusto archiepiscopo legatarius missus absortus fuerat fluctibus Italici maris; ac per hoc curam illius praefatus Paulinus inuitatione Honorii antistitis et Eadbaldi regis suscepit ac tenuit, usque dum et ipse suo tempore ad caelestia regna cum gloriosi fructu laboris ascendit. In qua ecclesia moriens pallium quoque, quod a Romano papa acceperat, reliquit.
Reliquerat autem in ecclesia sua Eburaci Iacobum diaconum, uirum utique ecclesiasticum et sanctum, qui multo exhinc tempore in ecclesia manens, magnas antiquo hosti praedas docendo et baptizando eripuit; cuius nomine uicus, in quo maxime solebat habitare, iuxta Cataractam, usque hodie cognominatur. Qui, quoniam cantandi in ecclesia erat peritissimus, recuperata postmodum pacein prouincia, et crescente numero fidelium, etiam magister ecclesiasticae cantionis iuxta morem Romanorum siue Cantuariorum multis coepit existere; et ipse senex ac plenus dierum, iuxta scripturas, patrum uiam secutus est.
Chap. XX.
How Edwin being slain, Paulinus returned into Kent, and had the bishopric of Rochester conferred upon him. [633 a.d.]
Edwin reigned most gloriously seventeen years over the nations of the English and the Britons, six whereof, as has been said, he also was a soldier in the kingdom of Christ. Caedwalla, king of the Britons, rebelled against him, being supported by the vigorous Penda, of the royal race of the Mercians, who from that time governed that nation for twenty-two years with varying success. A great battle being fought in the plain that is called Haethfelth, Edwin was killed on the 12th of October, in the year of our Lord 633, being then forty-eight years of age, and all his army was either slain or dispersed. In the same war also, Osfrid, one of his sons, a warlike youth, fell before him; Eadfrid, another of them, compelled by necessity, went over to King Penda, and was by him afterwards slain in the reign of Oswald, contrary to his oath. At this time a great slaughter was made in the Church and nation of the Northumbrians; chiefly because one of the chiefs, by whom it was carried on, was a pagan, and the other a barbarian, more cruel than a pagan; for Penda, with all the nation of the Mercians, was an idolater, and a stranger to the name of Christ; but Caedwalla, though he professed and called himself a Christian, was so barbarous in his disposition and manner of living, that he did not even spare women and innocent children, but with bestial cruelty put all alike to death by torture, and overran all their country in his fury for a long time, intending to cut off all the race of the English within the borders of Britain. Nor did he pay any respect to the Christian religion which had sprung up among them; it being to this day the custom of the Britons to despise the faith and religion of the English, and to have no part with them in anything any more than with pagans. King Edwin’s head was brought to York, and afterwards taken into the church of the blessed Peter the Apostle, which he had begun, but which his successor Oswald finished, as has been said before. It was laid in the chapel of the holy Pope Gregory, from whose disciples he had received the word of life.
The affairs of the Northumbrians being thrown into confusion at the moment of this disaster, when there seemed to be no prospect of safety except in flight, Paulinus, taking with him Queen Ethelberg, whom he had before brought thither, returned into Kent by sea, and was very honourably received by the Archbishop Honorius and King Eadbald. He came thither under the conduct of Bassus, a most valiant thegn of King Edwin, having with him Eanfled, the daughter, and Wuscfrea, the son of Edwin, as well as Yffi, the son of Osfrid, Edwin’s son. Afterwards Ethelberg, for fear of the kings Eadbald and Oswald, sent Wuscfrea and Yffi over into Gaul to be bred up by King Dagobert, who was her friend; and there they both died in infancy, and were buried in the church with the honour due to royal children and to Christ’s innocents. He also brought with him many rich goods of King Edwin, among which were a large gold cross, and a golden chalice, consecrated to the service of the altar, which are still preserved, and shown in the church of Canterbury.
At that time the church of Rochester had no pastor, for Romanus, the bishop thereof, being sent on a mission to Pope Honorius by Archbishop Justus, was drowned in the Italian Sea; and thus Paulinus, at the request of Archbishop Honorius and King Eadbald, took upon him the charge of the same, and held it until he too, in his own time, departed to heaven, with the fruits of his glorious labours; and, dying in that Church, he left there the pall which he had received from the Pope of Rome. He had left behind him in his Church at York, James, the deacon, a true churchman and a holy man, who continuing long after in that Church, by teaching and baptizing, rescued much prey from the ancient enemy; and from him the village, where he chiefly dwelt, near Cataract, has its name to this day. He had great skill in singing in church, and when the province was afterwards restored to peace, and the number of the faithful increased, he began to teach church music to many, according to the custom of the Romans, or of the Cantuarians. And being old and full of days, as the Scripture says, he went the way of his fathers.
LIBER TERTIUS — BOOK III
CHAP. 1
At interfecto in pugna Aduino, suscepit pro illo regnum Deirorum, de qua prouincia ille generis prosapiam et primordia regni habuerat, filius patrui eius Aelfrici, uocabulo Osric, qui ad praedicationem Paulini fidei erat sacramentis inbutus. Porro regnum Berniciorum, nam in has duas prouincias gens Nordanhymbrorum antiquitus diuisa erat, suscepit filius Aedilfridi, qui de illa prouincia generis et regni originem duxerat, nomine Eanfrid. Siquidem tempore toto, quo regnauit Aduini, filii praefati regis Aedilfridi, qui ante illum regnauerat, cum magna nobilium iuuentute apud Scottos siue Pictos exulabant, ibique ad doctrinam Scottorum cathecizati, et baptismatis sunt gratia recreati. Qui ut, mortuo rege inimico, patriam sunt redire permissi, accepit primus eorum, quem diximus, Eanfrid regnum Berniciorum. Qui uterque rex, ut terreni regni infulas sortitus est, sacramenta regni caelestis, quibus initiatus erat, anathematizando prodidit, ac se priscis idolatriae sordibus polluendum perdendumque restituit.
Nec mora, utrumque rex Brettonum Ceadualla impia manu, sed iusta ultione peremit. Et primo quidem proxima aestate Osricum, dum se in oppido municipio temerarie obsedisset, erumpens subito cum suis omnibus inparatum cum toto exercitu deleuit. Dein cum anno integro prouincias Nordanhymbrorum, non ut rex uictor possideret, sed quasi tyrannus saeuiens disperderet, ac tragica caede dilaceraret, tandem Eanfridum inconsulte ad se cum XII lectis militibus postulandae pacis gratia uenientem, simili sorte damnauit. Infaustus ille annus, et omnibus bonis exosus usque hodie permanet, tam propter apostasiam regum Anglorum, qua se fidei sacramentis exuerant, quam propter uesanam Brettonici regis tyrannidem. Unde cunctis placuit regum tempora computantibus, ut, ablata de medio regum perfidorum memoria, idem annus sequentis regis, id est Osualdi, uiri Deo dilecti, regno adsignaretur; quo, post occisionem fratris Eanfridi, superueniente cum paruo exercitu, sed fide Christi munito, infandus Brettonum dux cum inmensis illis copiis, quibus nihil resistere posse iactabat, interemtus est in loco, qui lingua Anglorum Denisesburna, id est riuus Denisi, uocatur.
Chap. I.
How King Edwin’s next successors lost both the faith of their nation and the kingdom; but the most Christian King Oswald retrieved both. [633 a.d
.]
Edwin being slain in battle, the kingdom of the Deiri, to which province his family belonged, and where he first began to reign, passed to Osric, the son of his uncle Aelfric, who, through the preaching of Paulinus, had also received the mysteries of the faith. But the kingdom of the Bernicians — for into these two provinces the nation of the Northumbrians was formerly divided — passed to Eanfrid, the son of Ethelfrid, who derived his origin from the royal family of that province. For all the time that Edwin reigned, the sons of the aforesaid Ethelfrid, who had reigned before him, with many of the younger nobility, lived in banishment among the Scots or Picts, and were there instructed according to the doctrine of the Scots, and were renewed with the grace of Baptism. Upon the death of the king, their enemy, they were allowed to return home, and the aforesaid Eanfrid, as the eldest of them, became king of the Bernicians. Both those kings, as soon as they obtained the government of their earthly kingdoms, abjured and betrayed the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom to which they had been admitted, and again delivered themselves up to defilement and perdition through the abominations of their former idolatry.
But soon after, the king of the Britons, Caedwalla, the unrighteous instrument of rightful vengeance, slew them both. First, in the following summer, he put Osric to death; for, being rashly besieged by him in the municipal town, he sallied out on a sudden with all his forces, took him by surprise, and destroyed him and all his army. Then, when he had occupied the provinces of the Northumbrians for a whole year, not ruling them like a victorious king, but ravaging them like a furious tyrant, he at length put an end to Eanfrid, in like manner, when he unadvisedly came to him with only twelve chosen soldiers, to sue for peace. To this day, that year is looked upon as ill-omened, and hateful to all good men; as well on account of the apostacy of the English kings, who had renounced the mysteries of the faith, as of the outrageous tyranny of the British king. Hence it has been generally agreed, in reckoning the dates of the kings, to abolish the memory of those faithless monarchs, and to assign that year to the reign of the following king, Oswald, a man beloved of God. This king, after the death of his brother Eanfrid, advanced with an army, small, indeed, in number, but strengthened with the faith of Christ; and the impious commander of the Britons, in spite of his vast forces, which he boasted nothing could withstand, was slain at a place called in the English tongue Denisesburna, that is, the brook of Denis.
CHAP. 2
Ostennditur autem usque hodie, et in magna ueneratione habetur locus ille, ubi uenturus ad hanc pugnam Osuald signum sanctae crucis erexit, ac flexis genibus Deum deprecatus est, ut in tanta rerum necessitate suis cultoribus caelesti succurreret auxilio. Denique fertur, quia facta citato opere cruce, ac fouea praeparata, in qua statui deberet, ipse fide feruens hanc arripuerit, ac foueae inposuerit, atque utraque manu erectam tenuerit, donec adgesto a militibus puluere terrae figeretur; et hoc facto, elata in altum uoce cuncto exercitui proclamauerit: ‘Flectamus omnes genua, et Deum omnipotentem, uiuum, ac uerum in commune deprecemur, ut nos ab hoste superbo ac feroce sua miseratione defendat; scit enim ipse, quia iusta pro salute gentis nostrae bella suscepimus.’ Fecerunt omnes, ut iusserat, et sic incipiente diluculo in hostem progressi, iuxta meritum suae fidei uictoria potiti sunt. In cuius loco orationis innumerae uirtutes sanitatum noscuntur esse patratae, ad indicium uidelicet ac memoriam fidei regis. Nam et usque hodie multi de ipso ligno sacrosanctae crucis astulas excidere solent, quas cum in aquas miserint, eisque languentes homines aut pecudes potauerint, siue asperserint, mox sanitati restituuntur.
Uocatur locus ille lingua Anglorum Hefenfelth, quod dici potest latine caelestis campus, quod certo utique praesagio futurorum antiquitus nomen accepit; significans nimirum, quod ibidem caeleste erigendum tropaeum, caelestis inchoanda uictoria, caelestia usque hodie forent miracula celebranda. Est autem locus iuxta murum illum ad aquilonem, quo Romani quondam ob arcendos barbarorum impetus totam a mari ad mare praecinxere Brittaniam, ut supra docuimus. In quo uidelicet loco consuetudinem multo iam tempore fecerant fratres Hagustaldensis ecclesiae, quae non longe abest, aduenientes omni anno pridie quam postea idem rex Osuald occisus est, uigilias pro salute animae eius facere, plurimaque psalmorum laude celebrata, uictimam pro eo mane sacrae oblationis offerre. Qui etiam crescente bona consuetudine, nuper ibidem ecclesia constructa, sacratiorem et cunctis honorabiliorem omnibus locum fecere. Nec inmerito, quia nullum, ut conperimus, fidei Christianae signum, nulla ecclesia, nullum altare in tota Berniciorum gente erectum est, priusquam hoc sacrae crucis uexillum nouus militiae ductor, dictante fidei deuotione, contra hostem inmanissimum pugnaturus statueret.
Nec ab re est unum e pluribus, quae ad hanc crucem patrata sunt, uirtutis miraculum enarrare. Quidam de fratribus eiusdem Hagustaldensis ecclesiae, nomine Bothelm qui nunc usque superest, ante paucos annos, dum incautius forte noctu in glacie incederet, repente conruens, brachium contriuit, ac grauissima fracturae ipsius coepit molestia fatigari; ita ut ne ad os quidem adducere ipsum brachium ullatenus dolore arcente ualeret. Qui cum die quadam mane audiret unum de fratribus ad locum eiusdem sanctae crucis ascendere disposuisse, rogauit, ut aliquam sibi partem de illo ligno uenerabili rediens adferret, credere se dicens, quia per hoc, donante Domino, salutem posset consequi. Fecit ille, ut rogatus est, et reuersus ad uesperam, sedentibus iam ad mensam fratribus, obtulit ei aliquid de ueteri musco, quo superficies ligni erat obsita. Qui cum sedens ad mensam non haberet ad manum, ubi oblatum sibi munus reponeret, misit hoc in sinum sibi. Et dum iret cubitum, oblitus hoc alicubi deponere, permisit suo in sinu permanere. At medio noctis tempore, cum euigilaret, sensit nescio quid frigidi suo lateri adiacere, admotaque manu requirere quid esset, ita sanum brachium manumque repperit, ac si nihil umquam tanti langoris habuisset.
Chap. II.
How, among innumerable other miracles of healing wrought by the wood of the cross, which King Oswald, being ready to engage against the barbarians, erected, a certain man had his injured arm healed. [634 a.d.]
The place is shown to this day, and held in much veneration, where Oswald, being about to engage in this battle, erected the symbol of the Holy Cross, and knelt down and prayed to God that he would send help from Heaven to his worshippers in their sore need. Then, we are told, that the cross being made in haste, and the hole dug in which it was to be set up, the king himself, in the ardour of his faith, laid hold of it and held it upright with both his hands, till the earth was heaped up by the soldiers and it was fixed. Thereupon, uplifting his voice, he cried to his whole army, “Let us all kneel, and together beseech the true and living God Almighty in His mercy to defend us from the proud and cruel enemy; for He knows that we have undertaken a just war for the safety of our nation.” All did as he had commanded, and accordingly advancing towards the enemy with the first dawn of day, they obtained the victory, as their faith deserved. In the place where they prayed very many miracles of healing are known to have been wrought, as a token and memorial of the king’s faith; for even to this day, many are wont to cut off small splinters from the wood of the holy cross, and put them into water, which they give to sick men or cattle to drink, or they sprinkle them therewith, and these are presently restored to health.
The place is called in the English tongue Hefenfelth, or the Heavenly Field, which name it undoubtedly received of old as a presage of what was afterwards to happen, denoting, that the heavenly trophy was to be erected, the heavenly victory begun, and heavenly miracles shown forth to this day. The place is near the wall in the north which the Romans formerly drew across the whole of Britain from sea to sea, to restrain the onslaught of the barbarous nations, as has been said before. Hither also the brothers of the church of Hagustald, which is not far distant, long ago made it their custom to resort every year, on the day before that on which King Oswald was afterwards slain, to keep vigils there for the health of his soul, and having sung many psalms of praise, to offer for him in the morning the sacrifice of the Holy Oblation. And since that good custom has spread, they have lately built a church there, which
has attached additional sanctity and honour in the eyes of all men to that place; and this with good reason; for it appears that there was no symbol of the Christian faith, no church, no altar erected throughout all the nation of the Bernicians, before that new leader in war, prompted by the zeal of his faith, set up this standard of the Cross as he was going to give battle to his barbarous enemy.
Nor is it foreign to our purpose to relate one of the many miracles that have been wrought at this cross. One of the brothers of the same church of Hagulstald, whose name is Bothelm, and who is still living, a few years ago, walking carelessly on the ice at night, suddenly fell and broke his arm; he was soon tormented with a most grievous pain in the broken part, so that he could not lift his arm to his mouth for the anguish. Hearing one morning that one of the brothers designed to go up to the place of the holy cross, he desired him, on his return, to bring him a piece of that sacred wood, saying, he believed that with the mercy of God he might thereby be healed. The brother did as he was desired; and returning in the evening, when the brothers were sitting at table, gave him some of the old moss which grew on the surface of the wood. As he sat at table, having no place to bestow the gift which was brought him, he put it into his bosom; and forgetting, when he went to bed, to put it away, left it in his bosom. Awaking in the middle of the night, he felt something cold lying by his side, and putting his hand upon it to feel what it was, he found his arm and hand as sound as if he had never felt any such pain.