by Bede
CHAP. 22
Eo tempore etiam Orientales Saxones fidem, quam olim, expulso Mellito antistite, abiecerant, instantia regis Osuiu receperunt.
Erat enim rex eiusdem gentis Sigberct, qui post Sigberctum cognomento Paruum regnauit, amicus eiusdem Osuiu regis, qui, cum frequenter ad eum in prouinciam Nordanhymbrorum ueniret, solebat eum hortari ad intellegendum deos esse non posse, qui hominum manibus facti essent; dei creandi materiam lignum uel lapidem esse non posse, quorum recisurae uel igni absumerentur, uel in uasa quaelibet humani usus formarentur, uel certe dispectui habita foras proicerentur, et pedibus conculcata in terram uerterentur. Deum potius intellegendum maiestate inconprehensibilem, humanis oculis inuisibilem, omnipotentem, aeternum, qui caelum et terram et humanum genus creasset, regeret, et iudicaturus esset orbem in aequitate;
cuius sedes aeterna non in uili et caduco metallo, sed in caelis esset credenda; meritoque intellegendum, quia omnes, qui uoluntatem eius, a quo creati sunt, discerent et facerent, aeterna ab illo praemia essent percepturi. Haec et huiusmodi multa cum rex Osuiu regi Sigbercto amicali et quasi fraterno consilio saepe inculcaret, tandem iuuante amicorum consensu credidit, et, facto cum suis consilio, cum exhortatione, fauentibus cunctis et adnuentibus fidei, baptizatus est cum eis a Finano episcopo in uilla regia, cuius supra meminimus, quae cognominatur Ad Murum. Est enim iuxta murum, quo olim Romani Brittaniam insulam praecinxere, XII milibus passuum a mari orientali secreta.
Igitur rex Sigberct aeterni regni iam ciuis effectus, temporalis sui regni sedem repetiit, postulans ab Osuiu rege, ut aliquos sibi doctores daret, qui gentem suam ad fidem Christi conuerterent, ac fonte salutari abluerent. At ille mittens ad prouinciam Mediterraneorum Anglorum clamauit ad se uirum Dei Cedd, et dato illi socio altero quodam presbytero, misit praedicare uerbum genti Orientalium Saxonum. Ubi cum omnia perambulantes multam Domino ecclesiam congregassent, contigit tempore quodam eundem Cedd redire domum, ac peruenire ad ecclesiam Lindisfaronensem propter conloquium Finani episcopi. Qui ubi prosperatum ei opus euangelii conperit, fecit eum episcopum in gentem Orientalium Saxonum, uocatis ad se in ministerium ordinationis aliis duobus episcopis. Qui accepto gradu episcopatus rediit ad prouinciam, et maiore auctoritate coeptum opus explens, fecit per loca ecclesias, presbyteros et diaconos ordinauit, qui se in uerbo fidei et ministerio baptizandi adiuuarent, maxime in ciuitate, quae lingua Saxonum Ythancaestir appellatur, sed et in illa, quae Tilaburg cognominatur; quorum prior locus est in ripa Penta amnis, secundus in ripa Tamensis. In quibus, collecto examine famulorum Christi, disciplinam uitae regularis, in quantum rudes adhuc capere poterant, custodiri docuit.
Cumque tempore non pauco in praefata prouincia, gaudente rege, congaudente uniuerso populo, uitae caelestis institutio cotidianum sumeret augmentum, contigit ipsum regem instigante omnium bonorum inimico, propinquorum suorum manu interfici. Erant autem duo germani fratres, qui hoc facinus patrarunt; qui cum interrogarentur, quare hoc facerent, nil aliud respondere potuerunt, nisi ob hoc se iratos fuisse et inimicos regi, quod ille nimium suis parcere soleret inimicis, et factas ab eis iniurias mox obsecrantibus placida mente dimitteret. Talis erat culpa regis, pro qua occideretur, quod euangelica praecepta deuoto corde seruaret. In qua tamen eius morte innoxia, iuxta praedictum uiri Dei, uera est eius culpa punita. Habuerat enim unus ex his, qui eum occiderunt, comitibus inlicitum coniugium; quod cum episcopus prohibere et corrigere non posset, excommunicauit eum atque omnibus, qui se audire uellent, praecepit, ne domum eius intrarent, neque de cibis illius acciperent. Contemsit autem rex praeceptum, et rogatus a comite, intrauit epulaturus domum eius. Qui cum abisset, obuiauit ei antistes. At rex intuens eum, mox tremefactus desiluit equo, ceciditque ante pedes eius, ueniam reatus postulans. Nam et episcopus pariter desiluit; sederat enim et ipse in equo. Iratus autem tetigit regem iacentem uirga, quam tenebat manu, et pontificali auctoritate protestatus: ‘Dico tibi,’
inquit, ‘quia noluisti te continere a domu perditi et damnati illius, tu in ipsa domu mori habes.’ Sed credendum est, quia talis mors uiri religiosi non solum talem culpam diluerit, sed etiam meritum eius auxerit; quia nimirum ob causam pietatis, quia propter obseruantiam mandatorum Christi contigit.
Successit autem Sigbercto in regnum Suidhelm, filius Sexbaldi, qui baptizatus est ab ipso Cedde in prouincia Orientalium Anglorum, in uico regio, qui dicitur Rendlasham, id est mansio Rendili;
suscepitque eum ascendentem de fonto sancto Aediluald rex ipsius gentis Orientalium Anglorum, frater Anna regis eorundem.
Chap. XXII.
How under King Sigbert, through the preaching of Cedd, the East Saxons again received the faith, which they had before cast off. [653 a.d.]
At that time, also, the East Saxons, at the instance of King Oswy, again received the faith, which they had formerly cast off when they expelled Mellitus, their bishop. For Sigbert, who reigned next to Sigbert surnamed The Little, was then king of that nation, and a friend to King Oswy, who, when Sigbert came to the province of the Northumbrians to visit him, as he often did, used to endeavour to convince him that those could not be gods that had been made by the hands of men; that a stock or a stone could not be proper matter to form a god, the residue whereof was either burned in the fire, or framed into any vessels for the use of men, or else was cast out as refuse, trampled on and turned into dust. That God is rather to be understood as incomprehensible in majesty and invisible to human eyes, almighty, eternal, the Creator of heaven and earth and of mankind; Who governs and will judge the world in righteousness, Whose eternal abode must be believed to be in Heaven, and not in base and perishable metal; and that it ought in reason to be concluded, that all those who learn and do the will of Him by Whom they were created, will receive from Him eternal rewards. King Oswy having often, with friendly counsel, like a brother, said this and much more to the like effect to King Sigbert, at length, aided by the consent of his friends, he believed, and after he had consulted with those about him, and exhorted them, when they all agreed and assented to the faith, he was baptized with them by Bishop Finan, in the king’s township above spoken of, which is called At the Wall, because it is close by the wall which the Romans formerly drew across the island of Britain, at the distance of twelve miles from the eastern sea.
King Sigbert, having now become a citizen of the eternal kingdom, returned to the seat of his temporal kingdom, requesting of King Oswy that he would give him some teachers, to convert his nation to the faith of Christ, and cleanse them in the fountain of salvation. Wherefore Oswy, sending into the province of the Midland Angles, summoned the man of God, Cedd, and, giving him another priest for his companion, sent them to preach the Word to the East Saxons. When these two, travelling to all parts of that country, had gathered a numerous Church to the Lord, it happened once that Cedd returned home, and came to the church of Lindisfarne to confer with Bishop Finan; who, finding that the work of the Gospel had prospered in his hands, made him bishop of the nation of the East Saxons, calling to him two other bishops to assist at the ordination. Cedd, having received the episcopal dignity, returned to his province, and pursuing the work he had begun with more ample authority, built churches in divers places, and ordained priests and deacons to assist him in the Word of faith, and the ministry of Baptism, especially in the city which, in the language of the Saxons, is called Ythancaestir, as also in that which is named Tilaburg. The first of these places is on the bank of the Pant, the other on the bank of the Thames. In these, gathering a flock of Christ’s servants, he taught them to observe the discipline of a rule of life, as far as those rude people were then capable of receiving it.
Whilst the teaching of the everlasting life was thus, for no small time, making daily increase in that province to the joy of the king and of all the people, it happened that the king, at the instigation of the enemy of all good men, was murdered by his own kindred. They were two brothers who did this wicked deed; and being asked what had moved them to it, they had nothing else to answer, but that they had been incensed against the king, and hated him, because he was too apt t
o spare his enemies, and calmly forgave the wrongs they had done him, upon their entreaty. Such was the crime for which the king was killed, because he observed the precepts of the Gospel with a devout heart; but in this innocent death his real offence was also punished, according to the prediction of the man of God. For one of those nobles that murdered him was unlawfully married, and when the bishop was not able to prevent or correct the sin, he excommunicated him, and commanded all that would give ear to him not to enter this man’s house, nor to eat of his meat. But the king made light of this command, and being invited by the noble, went to a banquet at his house. As he was going thence, the bishop met him. The king, beholding him, immediately dismounted from his horse, trembling, and fell down at his feet, begging pardon for his offence; for the bishop, who was likewise on horseback, had also alighted. Being much incensed, he touched the prostrate king with the rod he held in his hand, and spoke thus with the authority of his office: “I tell thee, forasmuch as thou wouldest not refrain from the house of that sinful and condemned man, thou shalt die in that very house.” Yet it is to be believed, that such a death of a religious man not only blotted out his offence, but even added to his merit; because it happened on account of his piety and his observance of the commands of Christ.
Sigbert was succeeded in the kingdom by Suidhelm, the son of Sexbald, who was baptized by the same Cedd, in the province of the East Angles, in the royal township, called Rendlaesham, that is, Rendil’s Dwelling; and Ethelwald, king of the East Angles, brother to Anna, king of the same people, received him as he came forth from the holy font.
CHAP. 23
Solebat autem idem uir Domini, cum apud Orientales Saxones episcopatus officio fungeretur, saepius etiam suam, id est Nordanhymbrorum, prouinciam exhortandi gratia reuisere: quem cum Oidiluald, filius Osualdi regis, qui in Derorum partibus regnum habebat, uirum sanctum et sapientem, probumque moribus uideret, postulauit eum possessionem terrae aliquam a se ad construendum monasterium accipere, in quo ipse rex et frequentius ad deprecandum Dominum uerbumque audiendum aduenire, et defunctus sepeliri deberet.
Nam et se ipsum fideliter credidit multum iuuari eorum orationibus cotidianis, qui illo in loco Domino seruirent. Habuerat autem idem rex secum fratrem germanum eiusdem episcopi, uocabulo Caelin, uirum aeque Deo deuotum, qui ipsi ac familiae ipsius uerbum et sacramenta fidei, erat enim presbyter, ministrare solebat, per cuius notitiam maxime ad diligendum noscendumque episcopum peruenit. Fauens ergo uotis regis antistes elegit sibi locum monasterii construendi in montibus arduis ac remotis, in quibus latronum magis latibula, ac lustra ferarum, quam habitacula fuisse uidebantur hominum; ut, iuxta prophetiam Isaiae, ‘in cubilibus, in quibus prius dracones habitabant, oriretur uiror calami et iunci,’ id est fructus bonorum operum ibi nascerentur, ubi prius uel bestiae commorari, uel homines bestialiter uiuere consuerant.
Studens autem uir Domini acceptum monasterii locum primo precibus ac ieiuniis a pristina flagitiorum sorde purgare, et sic in eo monasterii fundamenta iacere, postulauit a rege, ut sibi totum XLmae tempus, quod instabat, facultatem ac licentiam ibidem orationis causa demorandi concederet. Quibus diebus cunctis, excepta dominica, ieiunium ad uesperam usque iuxta morem protelans, ne tunc quidem nisi panis permodicum, et unum ouum gallinaceum cum paruo lacte aqua mixto percipiebat. Dicebat enim hanc esse consuetudinem eorum, a quibus normam disciplinae regularis didicerat, ut accepta nuper loca ad faciendum monasterium uel ecclesiam, prius orationibus ac ieiuniis Domino consecrent. Cumque X dies XLmae restarent, uenit qui clamaret eum ad regem. At ille, ne opus religiosum negotiorum regalium causa intermitteretur, petiit presbyterum suum Cynibillum, qui etiam frater germanus erat ipsius, pia coepta conplere. Cui cum ille libenter adquiesceret, expleto studio ieiuniorum et orationis, fecit ibi monasterium, quod nunc Laestingaeu uocatur, et religiosis moribus iuxta ritus Lindisfarnensium, ubi educatus erat, instituit.
Qui cum annis multis et in praefata prouincia episcopatum administraret, et huius quoque monasterii statutis propositis curam gereret, casu contigit, ut ad ipsum monasterium tempore mortalitatis adueniens, tactus ibidem infirmitate corporis obiret. Qui primo quidem foris sepultus est; tempore autem procedente, in eodem monasterio ecclesia est in honorem beatae Dei genetricis de lapide facta, et in illa corpus ipsius ad dexteram altaris reconditum.
Dedit autem episcopus regendum post se monasterium fratri suo Ceadda, qui postea episcopus factus est, ut in sequentibus dicemus. IIII siquidem hi, quos diximus, germani fratres, Cedd, et Cynibill, et Caelin, et Ceadda, quod raro inuenitur, omnes sacerdotes Domini fuere praeclari, et duo ex eis etiam summi sacerdotii gradu functi sunt. Cum ergo episcopum defunctum ac sepultum in prouincia Nordanhymbrorum audirent fratres, qui in monasterio eius erant in prouincia Orientalium Saxonum, uenerunt illo de suo monasterio homines circiter XXX, cupientes ad corpus sui patris, aut uiuere, si sic Deo placeret, aut morientes ibi sepeliri. Qui libenter a suis fratribus et conmilitonibus suscepti, omnes ibidem superueniente praefatae pestilentiae clade defuncti sunt, excepto uno puerulo, quem orationibus patris sui a morte constat esse seruatum. Nam cum multo post haec tempore uiueret, et scripturis legendis operam daret, tandem didicit se aqua baptismatis non esse regeneratum, et mox fonte lauacri salutaris ablutus, etiam postmodum ad ordinem presbyterii promotus est, multisque in ecclesia utilis fuit; de quo dubitandum non crediderim, quin intercessionibus, ut dixi, sui patris, ad cuius corpus dilectionis ipsius gratia uenerat, sit ab articulo mortis retentus, ut et ipse sic mortem euaderet aeternam, et aliis quoque fratribus ministerium uitae ac salutis docendo exhiberet.
Chap. XXIII.
How Bishop Cedd, having a place for building a monastery given him by King Ethelwald, consecrated it to the Lord with prayer and fasting; and concerning his death. [659-664 a.d.]
The same man of God, whilst he was bishop among the East Saxons, was also wont oftentimes to visit his own province, Northumbria, for the purpose of exhortation. Oidilwald, the son of King Oswald, who reigned among the Deiri, finding him a holy, wise, and good man, desired him to accept some land whereon to build a monastery, to which the king himself might frequently resort, to pray to the Lord and hear the Word, and where he might be buried when he died; for he believed faithfully that he should receive much benefit from the daily prayers of those who were to serve the Lord in that place. The king had before with him a brother of the same bishop, called Caelin, a man no less devoted to God, who, being a priest, was wont to administer to him and his house the Word and the Sacraments of the faith; by whose means he chiefly came to know and love the bishop. So then, complying with the king’s desires, the Bishop chose himself a place whereon to build a monastery among steep and distant mountains, which looked more like lurking-places for robbers and dens of wild beasts, than dwellings of men; to the end that, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, “In the habitation of dragons, where each lay, might be grass with reeds and rushes;” that is, that the fruits of good works should spring up, where before beasts were wont to dwell, or men to live after the manner of beasts.
But the man of God, desiring first to cleanse the place which he had received for the monastery from stain of former crimes, by prayer and fasting, and so to lay the foundations there, requested of the king that he would give him opportunity and leave to abide there for prayer all the time of Lent, which was at hand. All which days, except Sundays, he prolonged his fast till the evening, according to custom, and then took no other sustenance than a small piece of bread, one hen’s egg, and a little milk and water. This, he said, was the custom of those of whom he had learned the rule of regular discipline, first to consecrate to the Lord, by prayer and fasting, the places which they had newly received for building a monastery or a church. When there were ten days of Lent still remaining, there came a messenger to call him to the king; and he, that the holy work might not be intermitted, on account of the king’s affairs, entreated his priest, Cynibill, who was also his own brother, to complete his pious undertaking. Cynibill readily consented, and when the duty of fasting and prayer was over, he there
built the monastery, which is now called Laestingaeu, and established therein religious customs according to the use of Lindisfarne, where he had been trained.
When Cedd had for many years held the office of bishop in the aforesaid province, and also taken charge of this monastery, over which he placed provosts, it happened that he came thither at a time when there was plague, and fell sick and died. He was first buried without the walls; but in the process of time a church was built of stone in the monastery, in honour of the Blessed Mother of God, and his body was laid in it, on the right side of the altar.
The bishop left the monastery to be governed after him by his brother Ceadda, who was afterwards made bishop, as shall be told hereafter. For, as it rarely happens, the four brothers we have mentioned, Cedd and Cynibill, and Caelin and Ceadda, were all celebrated priests of the Lord, and two of them also came to be bishops. When the brethren who were in his monastery, in the province of the East Saxons, heard that the bishop was dead and buried in the province of the Northumbrians, about thirty men of that monastery came thither, being desirous either to live near the body of their father, if it should please God, or to die and be buried there. Being gladly received by their brethren and fellow soldiers in Christ, all of them died there struck down by the aforesaid pestilence, except one little boy, who is known to have been saved from death by the prayers of his spiritual father. For being alive long after, and giving himself to the reading of Scripture, he was told that he had not been regenerated by the water of Baptism, and being then cleansed in the laver of salvation, he was afterwards promoted to the order of priesthood, and was of service to many in the church. I do not doubt that he was delivered at the point of death, as I have said, by the intercession of his father, to whose body he had come for love of him, that so he might himself avoid eternal death, and by teaching, offer the ministry of life and salvation to others of the brethren.