by Bede
Aduenerant autem de tribus Germaniae populis fortioribus, id est Saxonibus, Anglis, Iutis. De Iutarum origine sunt Cantuarii et Uictuarii, hoc est ea gens, quae Uectam tenet insulam, et ea, quae usque hodie in prouincia Occidentalium Saxonum Iutarum natio nominatur, posita contra ipsam insulam Uectam. De Saxonibus, id est ea regione, quae nunc Antiquorum Saxonum cognominatur, uenere Orientales Saxones, Meridiani Saxones, Occidui Saxones. Porro de Anglis, hoc est de illa patria, quae Angulus dicitur, et ab eo tempore usque hodie manere desertus inter prouincias Iutarum et Saxonum perhibetur, Orientales Angli, Mediterranei Angli, Merci, tota Nordanhymbrorum progenies, id est illarum gentium, quae ad Boream Humbri fluminis inhabitant, ceterique Anglorum populi sunt orti. Duces fuisse perhibentur eorum primi duo fratres Hengist et Horsa; e quibus Horsa postea occisus in bello a Brettonibus, hactenus in orientalibus Cantiae partibus monumentum habet suo nomine insigne. Erant autem filii Uictgilsi, cuius pater Uitta, cuius pater Uecta, cuius pater Uoden, de cuius stirpe multarum prouinciarum regium genus originem duxit.
Non mora ergo, confluentibus certatim in insulam gentium memoratarum cateruis, grandescere populus coepit aduenarum, ita ut ipsis quoque, qui eos aduocauerant, indigenis essent terrori. Tum subito inito ad tempus foedere cum Pictis, quos longius iam bellando pepulerant, in socios arma uertere incipiunt. Et primum quidem annonas sibi eos affluentius ministrare cogunt, quaerentesque occasionem diuortii, protestantur, nisi profusior sibi alimentorum copia daretur, se cuncta insulae loca rupto foedere uastaturos. Neque aliquanto segnius minas effectibus prosequuntur. Siquidem, ut breuiter dicam, accensus manibus paganorum ignis, iustas de sceleribus populi Dei ultiones expetiit, non illius inpar, qui quondam a Chaldaeis succensus, Hierosolymorum moenia, immo aedificia cuncta consumsit.
Sic enim et hic agente impio uictore, immo disponente iusto Iudice, proximas quasque ciuitates agrosque depopulans, ab orientali mari usque ad occidentale, nullo prohibente, suum continuauit incendium, totamque prope insulae pereuntis superficiem obtexit. Ruebant aedificia puplica simul et priuata, passim sacerdotes inter altaria trucidabantur, praesules cum populis sine ullo respectu honoris, ferro pariter et flammis absumebantur; nec erat, qui crudeliter interemtos sepulturae traderet. Itaque nonnulli de miserandis reliquiis in montibus conprehensi, aceruatim iugulabantur; alii fame confecti procedentes manus hostibus dabant, pro accipiendis alimentorum subsidiis aeternum subituri seruitium, si tamen non continuo trucidarentur; alii transmarinas regiones dolentes petebant; alii perstantes in patria trepidi pauperem uitam in montibus, siluis, uel rupibus arduis suspecta semper mente agebant.
Chap. XV.
How the Angles, being invited into Britain, at first drove off the enemy; but not long after, making a league with them, turned their weapons against their allies.
In the year of our Lord 449, Marcian, the forty-sixth from Augustus, being made emperor with Valentinian, ruled the empire seven years. Then the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king, arrived in Britain with three ships of war and had a place in which to settle assigned to them by the same king, in the eastern part of the island, on the pretext of fighting in defence of their country, whilst their real intentions were to conquer it. Accordingly they engaged with the enemy, who were come from the north to give battle, and the Saxons obtained the victory. When the news of their success and of the fertility of the country, and the cowardice of the Britons, reached their own home, a more considerable fleet was quickly sent over, bringing a greater number of men, and these, being added to the former army, made up an invincible force. The newcomers received of the Britons a place to inhabit among them, upon condition that they should wage war against their enemies for the peace and security of the country, whilst the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay. Those who came over were of the three most powerful nations of Germany — Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, including those in the province of the West-Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. From the Saxons, that is, the country which is now called Old Saxony, came the East-Saxons, the South-Saxons, and the West-Saxons. From the Angles, that is, the country which is called Angulus, and which is said, from that time, to have remained desert to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes and the Saxons, are descended the East-Angles, the Midland-Angles, the Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber, and the other nations of the Angles. The first commanders are said to have been the two brothers Hengist and Horsa. Of these Horsa was afterwards slain in battle by the Britons, and a monument, bearing his name, is still in existence in the eastern parts of Kent. They were the sons of Victgilsus, whose father was Vitta, son of Vecta, son of Woden; from whose stock the royal race of many provinces trace their descent. In a short time, swarms of the aforesaid nations came over into the island, and the foreigners began to increase so much, that they became a source of terror to the natives themselves who had invited them. Then, having on a sudden entered into league with the Picts, whom they had by this time repelled by force of arms, they began to turn their weapons against their allies. At first, they obliged them to furnish a greater quantity of provisions; and, seeking an occasion of quarrel, protested, that unless more plentiful supplies were brought them, they would break the league, and ravage all the island; nor were they backward in putting their threats into execution. In short, the fire kindled by the hands of the pagans, proved God’s just vengeance for the crimes of the people; not unlike that which, being of old lighted by the Chaldeans, consumed the walls and all the buildings of Jerusalem. For here, too, through the agency of the pitiless conqueror, yet by the disposal of the just Judge, it ravaged all the neighbouring cities and country, spread the conflagration from the eastern to the western sea, without any opposition, and overran the whole face of the doomed island. Public as well as private buildings were overturned; the priests were everywhere slain before the altars; no respect was shown for office, the prelates with the people were destroyed with fire and sword; nor were there any left to bury those who had been thus cruelly slaughtered. Some of the miserable remnant, being taken in the mountains, were butchered in heaps. Others, spent with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to the enemy, to undergo for the sake of food perpetual servitude, if they were not killed upon the spot. Some, with sorrowful hearts, fled beyond the seas. Others, remaining in their own country, led a miserable life of terror and anxiety of mind among the mountains, woods and crags.
CHAP. 16
At ubi hostilis exercitus exterminatis dispersisque insulae indigenis, domum reuersus est, coeperunt et illi paulatim uires animosque resumere, emergentes de latibulis, quibus abditi fuerant, et unanimo consensu auxilium caeleste precantes, nc usque ad internicionem usquequaque delerentur. Utebantur eo tempore duce Ambrosio Aureliano, uiro modesto, qui solus forte Romanae gentis praefatae tempestati superfuerat, occisis in eadem parentibus regium nomen et insigne ferentibus. Hoc ergo duce uires capessunt Brettones, et uictores prouocantes ad proelium, uictoriam ipsi Deo fauente suscipiunt. Et ex eo temporc nunc ciues, nunc hostes uincebant, usque ad annum obsessionis Badonici montis, quando non minimas eisdem hostibus strages dabant, XLmo circiter et IIIIo anno aduentus eorum in Brittaniam. Sed haec postmodum.
Chap. XVI.
How the Britons obtained their first victory over the Angles, under the command of Ambrosius, a Roman.
When the army of the enemy, having destroyed and dispersed the natives, had returned home to their own settlements, the Britons began by degrees to take heart, and gather strength, sallying out of the lurking places where they had concealed themselves, and with one accord imploring the Divine help, that they might not utterly be destroyed. They had at that time for their leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, a man of worth, who alone, by chance, of the Roman nation had survived the storm, in which his parents, who were of the royal race, had perished. Under him the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by
the help of God, gained the victory. From that day, sometimes the natives, and sometimes their enemies, prevailed, till the year of the siege of Badon-hill, when they made no small slaughter of those enemies, about forty-four years after their arrival in England. But of this hereafter.
CHAP. 17
Ante paucos sane aduentus eorum annos heresis Pelagiana per Agricolam inlata, Seueriani episcopi Pelagiani filium, fidem Brittaniarum feda peste commaculauerat. Uerum Brittanni, cum neque suscipere dogma peruersum gratiam Christi blasphemando ullatenus uellent, neque uersutiam nefariae persuasionis refutare uerbis certando sufficerent, inueniunt salubre consilium, ut a Gallicanis antistitibus auxilium belli spiritalis inquirant. Quam ob causam collecta magna synodo quaerebatur in commune, qui illic ad succurrendum fidei mitti deberent; atque omnium iudicio electi sunt apostolici sacerdotes Germanus Autissidorensis et Lupus Trecasenae ciuitatis episcopi, qui ad confirmandam fidem gratiae caelestis Brittanias uenirent. Qui cum promta deuotione preces et iussa sanctae ecclesiae suscepissent, intrant oceanum et usque ad medium itineris, quo a Gallico sinu Brittanias usque tenditur, secundis flatibus nauis tuta uolabat. Tum subito occurrit pergentibus inimica uis daemonum, qui tantos talesque uiros ad recuperandam tendere populorum salutem inuiderent; concitant procellas, caelum diemque nubium nocte subducunt; uentorum furores uela non sustinent;
cedebant ministeria uicta nautarum; ferebatur nauigium oratione, non uiribus; et casu dux ipse uel pontifex fractus corpore, lassitudine ac sopore resolutus est. Tum uero, quasi repugnatore cessante, tempestas excitata conualuit, et iam nauigium superfusis fluctibus mergebatur. Tum beatus Lupus omnesque turbati excitant seniorem elementis furentibus obponendum; qui periculi inmanitate constantior, Christum inuocat, et adsumto in nomine sanctae Trinitatis leui aquae spargine fluctus saeuientes obprimit, collegam commonet, hortatur uniuersos, oratio uno ore et clamore profunditur;
adest diuinitas, fugantur inimici, tranquillitas serena subsequitur, uenti e contrario ad itineris ministeria reuertuntur, decursisque breui spatiis pelagi, optati littoris quiete potiuntur. Ibi conueniens ex diuersis partibus multitudo excepit sacerdotes, quos uenturos etiam uaticinatio aduersa praedixerat. Nuntiabant enim sinistri spiritus, quod timebant, qui imperio sacerdotum dum ab obsessis corporibus detruduntur, et tempestatis ordinem, et pericula, quae intulerant, fatebantur, uictosque se eorum meritis et imperio non negabant.
Interea Brittaniarum insulam apostolici sacerdotes raptim opinione, praedicatione, uirtutibus impleuerunt; diuinusque per eos sermo cotidie non solum in ecclesiis, uerum etiam per triuia, per rura praedicabatur; ita ut passim et fideles catholici firmarentur, et deprauati uiam correctionis agnoscerent. Erat illis apostolorum instar et gloria et auctoritas per conscientiam, doctrina per litteras, uirtutes ex meritis. Itaque regionis uniuersitas in eorum sententiam promta transierat. Latebant abditi sinistrae persuasionis auctores, et more maligni spiritus, gemebant perire sibi populos euadentes; ad extremum, diuturna meditatione concepta, praesumunt inire conflictum. Procedunt conspicui diuitiis, ueste fulgentes, circumdati adsentatione multorum; discrimenque certaminis subire maluerunt, quam in populo, quem subuerterant, pudorem taciturnitatis incurrere, ne uiderentur se ipsi silentio damnauisse. Illic plane inmensa multitudo etiam cum coniugibus ac liberis excita conuenerat, aderat populus expectator, futurus et iudex, adstabant partes dispari condicione dissimiles; hinc diuina fides, inde humana praesumtio; hinc pietas, inde superbia: inde Pelagius auctor, hinc Christus. Primo in loco beatissimi sacerdotes praebuerunt aduersariis copiam disputandi, quae sola nuditate uerborum diu inaniter et aures occupauit, et tempora; deinde antistites uenerandi torrentes eloquii sui cum apostolicis et euangelicis imbribus profuderunt; miscebatur sermo proprius cum diuino, et adsertiones molestissimas lectionum testimonia sequebantur. Conuincitur uanitas, perfidia confutatur; ita ut ad singulas uerborum obiectiones errare se, dum respondere nequiit, fateretur; populus arbiter uix manus continet, iudicium tamen clamore testatur.
Chap. XVII.
How Germanus the Bishop, sailing into Britain with Lupus, first quelled the tempest of the sea, and afterwards that of the Pelagians, by Divine power. [429 a.d.]
Some few years before their arrival, the Pelagian heresy, brought over by Agricola, the son of Severianus, a Pelagian bishop, had corrupted with its foul taint the faith of the Britons. But whereas they absolutely refused to embrace that perverse doctrine, and blaspheme the grace of Christ, yet were not able of themselves to confute the subtilty of the unholy belief by force of argument, they bethought them of wholesome counsels and determined to crave aid of the Gallican prelates in that spiritual warfare. Hereupon, these, having assembled a great synod, consulted together to determine what persons should be sent thither to sustain the faith, and by unanimous consent, choice was made of the apostolic prelates, Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, to go into Britain to confirm the people’s faith in the grace of God. With ready zeal they complied with the request and commands of the Holy Church, and put to sea. The ship sped safely with favouring winds till they were halfway between the coast of Gaul and Britain. There on a sudden they were obstructed by the malevolence of demons, who were jealous that men of such eminence and piety should be sent to bring back the people to salvation. They raised storms, and darkened the sky with clouds. The sails could not support the fury of the winds, the sailors’ skill was forced to give way, the ship was sustained by prayer, not by strength, and as it happened, their spiritual leader and bishop, being spent with weariness, had fallen asleep. Then, as if because resistance flagged, the tempest gathered strength, and the ship, overwhelmed by the waves, was ready to sink. Then the blessed Lupus and all the rest, greatly troubled, awakened their elder, that he might oppose the raging elements. He, showing himself the more resolute in proportion to the greatness of the danger, called upon Christ, and having, in the name of the Holy Trinity, taken and sprinkled a little water, quelled the raging waves, admonished his companion, encouraged all, and all with one consent uplifted their voices in prayer. Divine help was granted, the enemies were put to flight, a cloudless calm ensued, the winds veering about set themselves again to forward their voyage, the sea was soon traversed, and they reached the quiet of the wished-for shore. A multitude flocking thither from all parts, received the bishops, whose coming had been foretold by the predictions even of their adversaries. For the evil spirits declared their fear, and when the bishops expelled them from the bodies of the possessed, they made known the nature of the tempest, and the dangers they had occasioned, and confessed that they had been overcome by the merits and authority of these men.
In the meantime the bishops speedily filled the island of Britain with the fame of their preaching and miracles; and the Word of God was by them daily preached, not only in the churches, but even in the streets and fields, so that the faithful and Catholic were everywhere confirmed, and those who had been perverted accepted the way of amendment. Like the Apostles, they acquired honour and authority through a good conscience, learning through the study of letters, and the power of working miracles through their merits. Thus the whole country readily came over to their way of thinking; the authors of the erroneous belief kept themselves in hiding, and, like evil spirits, grieved for the loss of the people that were rescued from them. At length, after long deliberation, they had the boldness to enter the lists. They came forward in all the splendour of their wealth, with gorgeous apparel, and supported by a numerous following; choosing rather to hazard the contest, than to undergo among the people whom they had led astray, the reproach of having been silenced, lest they should seem by saying nothing to condemn themselves. An immense multitude had been attracted thither with their wives and children. The people were present as spectators and judges; the two parties stood there in very different case; on the one side was Divine faith, on the other human presumption; on the one side piety, on the other pride; on the one side Pelagius, the founder of their faith, on the other Christ. The blessed bishops permitted their adversaries to speak first, and their empty speech l
ong took up the time and filled the ears with meaningless words. Then the venerable prelates poured forth the torrent of their eloquence and showered upon them the words of Apostles and Evangelists, mingling the Scriptures with their own discourse and supporting their strongest assertions by the testimony of the written Word. Vainglory was vanquished and unbelief refuted; and the heretics, at every argument put before them, not being able to reply, confessed their errors. The people, giving judgement, could scarce refrain from violence, and signified their verdict by their acclamations.
CHAP. 18
Tum subito quidam tribuniciae potestatis cum coniuge procedit in medium, filiam X annorum caecam curandam sacerdotibus offerens, quam illi aduersariis offerri praeceperunt; sed hi conscientia puniente deterriti, iungunt cum parentibus preces, et curationem paruulae a sacerdotibus deprecantur; qui inclinatos animo aduersarios intuentes, orationem breuiter fundunt, ac deinde Germanus plenus Spiritu Sancto inuocat Trinitatem; nec mora, adherentem lateri suo capsulam cum sanctorum reliquiis collo auulsam manibus conprehendit, eamque in conspectu omnium puellae oculis adplicauit, quos statim euacuatos tenebris lumen ueritatis impleuit.
Exultant parentes, miraculum populus contremescit; post quam diem ita ex animis omnium suasio iniqua deleta est, ut sacerdotum doctrinam sitientibus desideriis sectarentur.
