Complete Works of Bede

by Bede

  Sic etenim Constantinus quondam piissimus imperator Romanam rempuplicam a peruersis idolorum cultibus reuocans omnipotenti Deo Domino nostro Iesu Christo secum subdidit, seque cum subiectis populis tota ad eum mente conuertit. Unde factum est, ut antiquorum principum nomen suis uir ille laudibus uinceret, et tanto in opinione praecessores suos, quanto et in bono opere superaret. Et nunc itaque uestra gloria cognitionem unius Dei, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, regibus ac populis sibimet subiectis festinet infundere, ut et antiquos gentis suac reges laudibus ac meritis transeat, et quanto in subiectis suis etiam aliena peccata deterserit, tanto etiam de peccatis propriis ante omnipotentis Dei terribile examen securior fiat.

  Reuerentissimus frater noster Augustinus episcopus in monasterii regula edoctus, sacrae scripturae scientia repletus, bonis auctore Deo operibus praeditus, quaeque uos ammonet, libenter audite, deuote peragite, studiose in memoria reseruate; quia, si uos eum in eo, quod pro omnipotente Deo loquitur, auditis, isdem omnipotens Deus hunc pro uobis exorantem celerius exaudit. Si enim, quod absit, uerba eius postponitis, quando eum omnipotens Deus poterit audire pro uobis, quem uos neglegitis audire pro Deo? Tota igitur mente cum eo uos in feruore fidei stringite, atque adnisum illius uirtute, quam uobis diui nitas tribuit, adiuuate, ut regni sui uos ipse faciat esse participes, cuius uos fidem in regno uestro recipi facitis et custodiri.

  Praeterea scire uestram gloriam uolumus, quia, sicut in scriptura sacra ex uerbis Domini omnipotentis agnoscimus, praesentis mundi iam terminus iuxta est, et sanctorum regnum uenturum est, quod nullo umquam poterit fine terminari. Adpropinquante autem eodem mundi termino, multa inminent, quae antea non fuerunt; uidelicet immutationes aeris, terroresque de caelo, et contra ordinationem temporum tempestates, bella, fames, pestilentiae, terrae motus per loca; quae tamen non omnia nostris diebus uentura sunt, sed post nostros dies omnia subsequentur. Uos itaque, siqua ex his euenire in terra uestra cognoscitis, nullo modo uestrum animum perturbetis;

  quia idcirco haec signa de fine saeculi praemittuntur, ut de animabus nostris debeamus esse solliciti, de mortis hora suspecti, et uenturo Iudici in bonis actibus inueniamur esse praeparati. Haec nunc, gloriose fili, paucis locutus sum, ut cum Christiana fides in regno uestro excreuerit, nostra quoque apud uos locutio latior excrescat, et tanto plus loqui libeat, quanto se in mente nostra gaudia de gentis uestrae perfecta conuersione multiplicant.

  Parua autem exenia transmisi, quae uobis parua non erunt, cum a uobis ex beati Petri apostoli fuerint benedictione suscepta.

  Omnipotens itaque Deus in uobis gratiam suam, quam coepit, perficiat, atque uitam uestram et hic per multorum annorum curricula extendat, et post longa tempora in caelestis uos patriae congregatione recipiat. Incolumem excellentiam uestram gratia superna custodiat, domine fili.

  Data die X. Kalendarum Iuliarum, imperante domino nostro Mauricio Tiberio piissimo Augusto anno XVIIII, post consulatum eiusdem domini anno XVIII, indictione IIII.

  Chap. XXXII.

  How Pope Gregory sent letters and gifts to King Ethelbert. [601 a.d.]

  The same blessed Pope Gregory, at the same time, sent a letter to King Ethelbert, with many gifts of divers sorts; being desirous to glorify the king with temporal honours, at the same time that he rejoiced that through his own labour and zeal he had attained to the knowledge of heavenly glory. The copy of the said letter is as follows:

  “To the most glorious lord, and his most excellent son, Ethelbert, king of the English, Bishop Gregory. Almighty God advances good men to the government of nations, that He may by their means bestow the gifts of His loving-kindness on those over whom they are placed. This we know to have come to pass in the English nation, over whom your Highness was placed, to the end, that by means of the blessings which are granted to you, heavenly benefits might also be conferred on your subjects. Therefore, my illustrious son, do you carefully guard the grace which you have received from the Divine goodness, and be eager to spread the Christian faith among the people under your rule; in all uprightness increase your zeal for their conversion; suppress the worship of idols; overthrow the structures of the temples; establish the manners of your subjects by much cleanness of life, exhorting, terrifying, winning, correcting, and showing forth an example of good works, that you may obtain your reward in Heaven from Him, Whose Name and the knowledge of Whom you have spread abroad upon earth. For He, Whose honour you seek and maintain among the nations, will also render your Majesty’s name more glorious even to posterity.

  “For even so the most pious emperor, Constantine, of old, recovering the Roman commonwealth from the false worship of idols, brought it with himself into subjection to Almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and turned to Him with his whole mind, together with the nations under his rule. Whence it followed, that his praises transcended the fame of former princes; and he excelled his predecessors in renown as much as in good works. Now, therefore, let your Highness hasten to impart to the kings and peoples that are subject to you, the knowledge of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; that you may surpass the ancient kings of your nation in praise and merit, and while you cause the sins of others among your own subjects to be blotted out, become the more free from anxiety with regard to your own sins before the dread judgement of Almighty God.

  “Willingly hear, devoutly perform, and studiously retain in your memory, whatsoever counsel shall be given you by our most reverend brother, Bishop Augustine, who is trained up in the monastic rule, full of the knowledge of Holy Scripture, and, by the help of God, endued with good works; for if you give ear to him when he speaks on behalf of Almighty God, the sooner will Almighty God hear his prayers for you. But if (which God forbid!) you slight his words, how shall Almighty God hear him on your behalf, when you neglect to hear him on behalf of God? Unite yourself, therefore, to him with all your mind, in the fervour of faith, and further his endeavours, by that virtue which God has given you, that He may make you partaker of His kingdom, Whose faith you cause to be received and maintained in your own.

  “Besides, we would have your Highness know that, as we find in Holy Scripture from the words of the Almighty Lord, the end of this present world, and the kingdom of the saints, which will never come to an end, is at hand. But as the end of the world draws near, many things are about to come upon us which were not before, to wit, changes in the air, and terrors from heaven, and tempests out of the order of the seasons, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes in divers places; which things will not, nevertheless, all happen in our days, but will all follow after our days. If, therefore, you perceive that any of these things come to pass in your country, let not your mind be in any way disturbed; for these signs of the end of the world are sent before, for this reason, that we may take heed to our souls, and be watchful for the hour of death, and may be found prepared with good works to meet our Judge. Thus much, my illustrious son, I have said in few words, with intent that when the Christian faith is spread abroad in your kingdom, our discourse to you may also be more copious, and we may desire to say the more, as joy for the full conversion of your nation is increased in our mind.

  “I have sent you some small gifts, which will not appear small to you, when received by you with the blessing of the blessed Apostle, Peter. May Almighty God, therefore, perfect in you His grace which He has begun, and prolong your life here through a course of many years, and in the fulness of time receive you into the congregation of the heavenly country. May the grace of God preserve you in safety, my most excellent lord and son.

  “Given the 22nd day of June, in the nineteenth year of the reign of our most religious lord, Mauritius Tiberius Augustus, in the eighteenth year after his consulship, and the fourth indiction.”

  CHAP. 33

  At Augustinus, ubi in regia ciuitate sedem episcopalem, ut praediximus, accepit, recuperauit in ea, regio fultus adminiculo, ecclesiam, quam inibi antiquo Romanorum fidelium opere factam fuisse didicerat, et eam in nomine sancti Saluatoris Dei et Domini nostri Iesu Christi sacrauit, atque ibidem sibi habitationem statuit et cunct
is successoribus suis. Fecit autem et monasterium non longe ab ipsa ciuitate ad orientem, in quo, eius hortatu, Aedilberct ecclesiam beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli a fundamentis construxit, ac diuersis donis ditauit, in qua et ipsius Augustini, et omnium episcoporum Doruuernensium, simul et regum Cantiae poni corpora possent. Quam tamen ecclesiam non ipse Augustinus, sed successor eius Laurentius consecrauit.

  Primus autem eiusdem monasterii abbas Petrus presbiter fuit, qui legatus Galliam missus demersus est in sinu maris, qui uocatur Amfleat, et ab incolis loci ignobili traditus sepulturae; sed omnipotens Deus ut, qualis meriti uir fuerit, demonstraret, omni nocte supra sepulchrum eius lux caelestis apparuit, donec animaduertentes uicini, qui uidebant, sanctum fuisse uirum, qui ibi esset sepultus, et inuestigantes, unde uel quis esset, abstulerunt corpus, et in Bononia ciuitate iuxta honorem tanto uiro congruum in ecclesia posuerunt.

  Chap. XXXIII.

  How Augustine repaired the church of our Saviour, and built the monastery of the blessed Peter the Apostle; and concerning Peter the first abbot of the same.

  Augustine having had his episcopal see granted him in the royal city, as has been said, recovered therein, with the support of the king, a church, which he was informed had been built of old by the faithful among the Romans, and consecrated it in the name of the Holy Saviour, our Divine Lord Jesus Christ, and there established a residence for himself and all his successors. He also built a monastery not far from the city to the eastward, in which, by his advice, Ethelbert erected from the foundation the church of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, and enriched it with divers gifts; wherein the bodies of the same Augustine, and of all the bishops of Canterbury, and of the kings of Kent, might be buried. Nevertheless, it was not Augustine himself who consecrated that church, but Laurentius, his successor.

  The first abbot of that monastery was the priest Peter, who, being sent on a mission into Gaul, was drowned in a bay of the sea, which is called Amfleat, and committed to a humble tomb by the inhabitants of the place; but since it was the will of Almighty God to reveal his merits, a light from Heaven was seen over his grave every night; till the neighbouring people who saw it, perceiving that he had been a holy man that was buried there, and inquiring who and whence he was, carried away the body, and interred it in the church, in the city of Boulogne, with the honour due to so great a person.

  CHAP. 34

  His temporibus regno Nordanhymbrorum praefuit rex fortissimus et gloriae cupidissimus Aedilfrid, qui plus omnibus Anglorum primatibus gentem uastauit Brettonum; ita ut Sauli quondam regi Israeliticae gentis conparandus uideretur, excepto dumtaxat hoc, quod diuinae erat religionis ignarus. Nemo enim in tribunis, nemo in regibus plures eorum terras, exterminatis uel subiugatis indigenis, aut tributarias genti Anglorum, aut habitabiles fecit. Cui merito poterat illud, quod benedicens filium patriarcha in personam Saulis dicebat, aptari: ‘Beniamin lupus rapax, mane comedet praedam et uespere diuidet spolia.’

  Unde motus eius profectibus Aedan rex Scottorum, qui Brittaniam inhabitant, uenit contra eum cum inmenso ac forti exercitu; sed cum paucis uictus aufugit. Siquidem in loco celeberrimo, qui dicitur Degsastann, id est Degsa lapis, omnis pene eius est caesus exercitus. In qua etiam pugna Theodbald frater Aedilfridi cum omni illo, quem ipse ducebat, exercitu peremtus est. Quod uidelicet bellum Aedilfrid anno ab incarnatione Domini DCIII, regni autem sui, quod XX et IIII annis tenuit, anno XI, perfecit; porro anno Focatis, qui tum Romani regni apicem tenebat, primo. Neque ex eo tempore quisquam regum Scottorum in Brittania aduersus gentem Anglorum usque ad hanc diem in proelium uenire audebat.

  Chap. XXXIV.

  How Ethelfrid, king of the Northumbrians, having vanquished the nations of the Scots, expelled them from the territories of the English. [603 a.d.]

  At this time, the brave and ambitious king, Ethelfrid, governed the kingdom of the Northumbrians, and ravaged the Britons more than all the chiefs of the English, insomuch that he might be compared to Saul of old, king of the Israelites, save only in this, that he was ignorant of Divine religion. For he conquered more territories from the Britons than any other chieftain or king, either subduing the inhabitants and making them tributary, or driving them out and planting the English in their places. To him might justly be applied the saying of the patriarch blessing his son in the person of Saul, “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” Hereupon, Aedan, king of the Scots that dwell in Britain, being alarmed by his success, came against him with a great and mighty army, but was defeated and fled with a few followers; for almost all his army was cut to pieces at a famous place, called Degsastan, that is, Degsa Stone. In which battle also Theodbald, brother to Ethelfrid, was killed, with almost all the forces he commanded. This war Ethelfrid brought to an end in the year of our Lord 603, the eleventh of his own reign, which lasted twenty-four years, and the first year of the reign of Phocas, who then was at the head of the Roman empire. From that time, no king of the Scots durst come into Britain to make war on the English to this day.

  LIBER SECUNDUS — BOOK II

  CHAP. 1

  His temporibus, id est anno dominicae incarnationis DCV, beatus papa Gregorius, postquam sedem Romanae et apostolicae ecclesiae XIII annos, menses VI, et dies X gloriosissime rexit, defunctus est, atque ad aeternam regni caelestis sedem translatus.

  De quo nos conuenit, quia nostram, id est Anglorum, gentem de potestate Satanae ad fidem Christi sua industria conuertit, latiorem in nostra historia ecclesiastica facere sermonem, quem recte nostrum appellare possumus et debemus apostolum. Quia, cum primum in toto orbe gereret pontificatum, et conuersis iam dudum ad fidem ueritatis esset praelatus ecclesiis, nostram gentem eatenus idolis mancipatam Christi fecit ecclesiam, ita ut apostolicum illum de eo liceat nobis proferre sermonem: quia etsi aliis non est apostolus, sed tamen nobis est; nam signaculum apostolatus eius nos sumus in Domino.

  Erat autem natione Romanus, a patre Gordiano, genus a proauis non solum nobile, sed et religiosum ducens. Denique Felix eiusdem apostolicae sedis quondam episcopus, uir magnae gloriae in Christo et ecclesia, eius fuit atauus. Sed ipse nobilitatem religionis non minore quam parentes et cognati uirtute deuotionis exercuit.

  Nobilitatem uero illam, quam ad saeculum uidebatur habere, totam ad nanciscendam supernae gloriam dignitatis diuina gratia largiente conuertit. Nam mutato repente habitu saeculari monasterium petiit, in quo tanta perfectionis gratia coepit conuersari, ut, sicut ipse postea flendo solebat adtestari, animo illius labentia cuncta subteressent, ut rebus omnibus, quae uoluuntur, emineret, ut nulla nisi caelestia cogitare soleret, ut etiam retentus corpore ipsa iam carnis claustra contemplatione transiret, ut mortem quoque, quae pene cunctis poena est, uidelicet ut ingressum uitae, et laboris sui praemium amaret. Haec autem ipse de se, non profectum iactando uirtutum, sed deflendo potius defectum, quem sibi per curam pastoralem incurrisse uidebatur, referre consuerat. Denique tempore quodam secreto, cum diacono suo Petro conloquens, enumeratis animi sui uirtutibus priscis, mox dolendo subiunxit: ‘At nunc ex occasione curae pastoralis saecularium hominum negotia patitur, et post tam pulchram quietis suae speciem terreni actus puluere fedatur. Cumque se pro condescensione multorum ad exteriora sparserit, etiam cum interiora appetit, ad haec procul dubio minor redit. Perpendo itaque, quid tolero, perpendo, quid amisi; dumque intueor illud, quod perdidi, fit hoc grauius, quod porto.’

  Haec quidem sanctus uir ex magnae humilitatis intentione dicebat;

  sed nos credere decet nihil eum monachicae perfectionis perdidisse occasione curae pastoralis, immo potiorem tunc sumsisse profectum de labore conuersionis multorum, quam de propriae quondam quiete conuersationis habuerat; maxime quia et pontificali functus officio domum suam monasterium facere curauit; et dum primo de monasterio abstractus, ad ministerium altaris ordinatus, atque Constantinopolim apocrisiarius ab apostolica sede directus est, non tamen in terreno conuersatus palatio propositum uitae caelestis intermisit. Nam quosdam fratrum ex monasterio suo, qui eum gratia germanae caritatis ad reg
iam urbem secuti sunt, in tutamentum coepit obseruantiae regularis habere; uidelicet ut eorum semper exemplo, sicut ipse scribit, ad orationis placidum litus, quasi anchorae fune restringeretur, cum incessabili causarum saecularium inpulsu fluctuaret, concussamque saeculi actibus mentem inter eos cotidie per studiosae lectionis roboraret alloquium. Horum ergo consortio non solum a terrenis est munitus incursibus, uerum etiam ad caelestis exercitia uitae magis magisque succensus.

  Nam hortati sunt eum, ut librum beati Iob magnis inuolutum obscuritatibus mystica interpretatione discuteret; neque negare potuit opus, quod sibi fraternus amor multis utile futurum inponebat. Sed eundem librum, quomodo iuxta litteram intellegendus, qualiter ad Christi et ecclesiae sacramenta referendus, quo sensu unicuique fidelium sit aptandus, per XXX et V libros expositionis miranda ratione perdocuit. Quod uidelicet opus in regia quidem urbe apocrisiarius inchoauit, Romae autem iam pontifex factus expleuit.

  Qui cum adhuc esset regia in urbe positus, nascentem ibi nouam heresim de statu nostrae resurrectionis, cum ipso, quo exorta est, initio, iuuante se gratia catholicae ueritatis, attriuit. Siquidem Eutycius eiusdem urbis episcopus dogmatizabat corpus nostrum in illa resurrectionis gloria inpalpabile, uentis aereque subtilius esse futurum; quod ille audiens, et ratione ueritatis, et exemplo dominicae resurrectionis, probauit hoc dogma orthodoxae fidei omnimodis esse contrarium. Catholica etenim fides habet, quod corpus nostrum illa inmortalitatis gloria sublimatum subtile quidem sit per effectum spiritalis potentiae, sed palpabile per ueritatem naturae;