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Bedethe Venerable

       Bede was an English Roman Catholic monkat the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in theKingdom of Northumbria of the Angles. He is well known as an author andscholar, and his most famous work Ecclesiastical History of the English Peoplegained him the tile “the Father of English History”.

 

EcclesiasticalHistory of the English People, CHAPTER I

OFTHE SITUATION OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND, AND OF THEIR ANCIENT INHABITANTS

BRITAIN, an island inthe ocean, formerly called Albion, is situated between the north and west,facing, though at a considerable distance, the coasts of Germany, France, andSpain, which form the greatest part of Europe. It extends 800 miles in length towardsthe north, and is 200 miles in breadth, except where several promontoriesextend further in breadth, by which its compass is made to be 3675 miles. Tothe south, as you pass along the nearest shore of the Belgic Gaul, the firstplace in Britain which opens to the eye is the city of Rutubi Portus, by theEnglish corrupted into Reptacestir. The distance from hence across the sea toGessoriacum, the nearest shore of the Morini, is fifty miles, or as somewriters say, 450 furlongs.

 On the back of the island, where it opens uponthe boundless ocean, it has the islands called Orcades. Britain excels forgrain and trees, and is well adapted for feeding cattle and beasts of burden.It also produces vines in some places, and has plenty of land and waterfowls ofseveral sorts; it is remarkable also for rivers abounding in fish, andplentiful springs. It has the greatest plenty of salmon and eels; seals arealso frequently taken, and dolphins, as also whales; besides many sorts ofshellfish, such as muscles, in which are often found excellent pearls of allcolours, red, purple, violet, and green, but mostly white. There is also agreat abundance of cockles, of which the scarlet dye is made; a most beautifulcolour, which never fades with the heat of the sun or the washing of the rain;but the older it is, the more beautiful it becomes. It has both salt and hotsprings, and from them flow rivers which furnish hot baths, proper for all agesand sexes, and arranged according. For water, as St. Basil says, receives theheating quality, when it runs along certain metals, and becomes not only hotbut scalding. Britain has also many veins of metals, as copper, iron, lead, andsilver; it has much and excellent jet, which is black and sparkling, glitteringat the fire, and when heated, drives away serpents; being warmed with rubbing,it holds fast whatever is applied to it, like amber. The island was formerlyembellished with twenty eight noble cities, besides innumerable castles, whichwere all strongly secured with walls, towers, gates, and locks. And, from itslying almost under the North Pole, the nights are light in summer, so that atmidnight the beholders are often in doubt whether the evening twilight stillcontinues, or that of the morning is coming on; for the sun, in the night,returns under the earth, through the northern regions at no great distance fromthem.

 For this reason the days are of a great lengthin summer, as, on the contrary, the nights are in winter, for the sun thenwithdraws into the southern parts, so that the nights are eighteen hours long.Thus the nights are extraordinarily short in summer, and the days in winter,that is, of only six equinoctial hours. Whereas, in Armenia, Macedonia, Italy,and other countries of the same latitude, the longest day or night extends butto fifteen hours, and the shortest to nine.

 

This island at present,following the number of the books in which the Divine law was written, containsfive nations, the English, Britons, Scots, Picts, and Latins, each in its ownpeculiar dialect cultivating the sublime study of Divine truth. The Latintongue is, by the study of the Scriptures, become common to all the rest. Atfirst this island had no other inhabitants but the Britons, from whom itderived its name, and who, coming over into Britain, as is reported, fromArmorica, possessed themselves of the southern parts thereof. When they,beginning at the south, had made themselves masters of the greatest part of theisland, it happened, that the nation of the Picts, from Scythia, as isreported, putting to sea, in a few long ships, were driven by the winds beyondthe shores of Britain, and arrived on the northern coast of Ireland, where,finding the nation of the Scots, they begged to be allowed to settle amongthem, but could not succeed in obtaining their request. Ireland is the greatestisland next to Britain, and lies to the west of it; but as it is shorter thanBritain to the north, so, on the other hand, it runs out far beyond it to thesouth, opposite to the northern parts of Spain, though a spacious sea liesbetween them. The Picts, as has been said, arriving in this island by sea,desired to have a place granted them in which they might settle. The Scotsanswered that the island could not contain them both; but "We can give yougood advice," said they, "what to do; we know there is another island,not far from ours, to the eastward, which we often see at a distance, when thedays are clear. if you will go thither, you will obtain settlements; or, ifthey should oppose you, you shall have our assistance." The Picts,accordingly, sailing over into Britain, began to inhabit the northern partsthereof, for the Britons were possessed of the southern. Now the Picts had nowives, and asked them of the Scots; who would not consent to grant them uponany other terms, than that when any difficulty should arise, they should choosea king from the female royal race rather than from the male: which custom, asis well known, has been observed among the Picts to this day. In process oftime, Britain, besides the Britons and the Picts, received a third nation theScots, who, migrating from Ireland under their leader, Reuda, either by fairmeans, or by force of arms, secured to themselves those settlements among thePicts which they still possess. From the name of their commander, they are tothis day called Dalreudins; for, in their language, Dal signifies a part.

Ireland, in breadth, andfor wholesomeness and serenity of climate, far surpasses Britain; for the snowscarcely ever lies there above three days: no man makes hay in the summer forwinter's provision, or builds stables for his beasts of burden. No reptiles arefound there, and no snake can live there; for, though often carried thither outof Britain, as soon as the ship comes near the shore, and the scent of the airreaches them, they die. On the contrary, almost all things in the island aregood against poison. In short, we have known that when some persons have beenbitten by serpents, the scrapings of leaves of books that were brought out ofIreland, being put into water, and given them to drink, have immediatelyexpelled the spreading poison, and assuaged the swelling. The island abounds inmilk and honey, nor is there any want of vines, fish, or fowl; and it isremarkable for deer and goats. It is properly the country of the Scots, who,migrating from thence, as has been said, added a third nation in Britain to theBritons and the Picts. There is a very large gulf of the sea, which formerlydivided the nation of the Picts from the Britons; which gulf runs from the westvery far into the land, where, to this day, stands the strong city of theBritons, called Aicluith. The Scots, arriving on the north side of this bay,settled themselves there.

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CHAPTERXXXIII

AUGUSTINEREPAIRS THE CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR, AND BUILDS THE MONASTERY OF ST. PETER THEAPOSTLE; PETER THE FIRST ABBOT OF THE SAME. [A.D. 602.]

AUGUSTINE having hisepiscopal see granted him in the royal city, as has been said, and beingsupported by the king, recovered therein a church, which he was informed hadbeen built by the ancient Roman Christians, and consecrated it in the name ourholy Saviour, God and Lord, Jesus Christ, and there established a residence forhimself and his successors. He also built a monastery not far from the city tothe eastward, in which, by his advice, Ethelbert erected from the foundationthe church of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and enriched it withseveral donations; wherein the bodies of the same Angustine, and of all thebishops of Canterbury, and of the kings of Kent, might be buried. However,Augustine himself did not consecrate that church, but Laurentius, hissuccessor.

The first abbot of thatmonastery was the priest Peter, who, being sent ambassador into France, wasdrowned in a bay of the sea, which is called Amfleat, and privately buried bythe inhabitants of the place; but Almighty God, to show how deserving a man hewas, caused a light to be seen over his grave every night; till the neighbourswho saw it, perceiving that he had been a holy man that was buried there,inquiring who, and from whence he was, carried away the body, and interred itin the church, in the city of Boulogne, with the honour due to so great aperson.

 

CHAPTERXXXIV

ETHELFRID,KING OF THE NORTHUMBRIANS, HAVING VANQUISHED THE NATIONS OF THE SCOTS, EXPELSTHEM FROM THE TERRITORIES OF THE ENGLlSH. [A.D. 603.]

ATthis time, Ethelfrid, a most worthy king, and ambitious of glory, governed thekingdom of the Northumbrians, and ravaged the Britons more than all the greatmen of the English, insomuch that he might be compared to Saul, once king ofthe Israelites, excepting only this, that he was ignorant of the true religion.For he conquered more territories from the Britons, either making themtributary, or driving the inhabitants clean out, and planting English in theirplaces, than any other king or tribune. To him might justly be applied thesaying of the patriarch blessing his son in the person of Saul, "Benjaminshall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night heshall divide the spoil." Hereupon, Ædan, king of the Scots that inhabitBritain, being concerned at his success, came against him with an immense andmighty army; but was beaten by an inferior force, and put to flight; for almostall his army was slain at a famous place, called Degsastan, that is,Degsastone. In which battle also Theodbaid, brother to Ethelfrid, was killed,with almost all the forces he commanded. This war Etheifrid put an end to inthe year 603 after the incarnation of our Lord, the eleventh of his own reign,which lasted twenty-four years, and the first year of the reign of Phocas, whothe governed the Roman empire. From that time, no king the Scots durst comeinto Britain to make war on the English to this day.