Goscelin of Saint-Bertin: The Hagiography of the Female Saints of Ely 0198208154, 9780198208150

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OXFORD MEDIEVAL TEXTS General Editors ]. W. B I N N S

W. J. B L A I R

D. D ' A V R A Y

M. LAPIDGE

GOSCELIN OF SAINT-BERTIN THE H A G I O G R A P H Y OF THE FEMALE SAINTS OF ELY

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GOSCELIN OF SAINT-BERTIN The Hagiography of the Female Saints of Ely EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY

R O S A L I N D C. LOVE

CLARENDON PRESS

OXFORD

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Rosalind C. Love 2004 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-820815-4 1 3 5 7 9 108 6 4 2 Typeset by Joshua Associates Ltd., Oxford Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddies Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk

PREFACE

This project has been too long in the pipeline, and assuredly it only now sees the light of day thanks to the steady encouragement of others. I should like to record my gratitude to the staff of the various libraries which have enabled me to consult the manuscripts used to prepare these editions, but especially to those at the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College and at Trinity College Library in Cambridge, for kindly tolerating my endless obsessive revisiting of the same manuscript. Part of the research for this book was undertaken while I was the grateful recipient of a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and I had the opportunity to offer some preliminary thoughts on the Ely saints at one of the Academy's symposia for Research Fellows. Among those who have kindly offered advice on various points, I should mention Prof. Simon Keynes, Drs Helen McKee, Julia Crick, and Janet Fairweather. The general editors have been scrupulous in their attentions to my typescript, saving me from many blunders: Dr John Blair in particular has been most generous in offering a whole host of helpful suggestions and references which have improved the historical commentary almost beyond recognition; Professor Timothy Reuter, in what must have been one of the last few tasks he did before his sadly premature death, did much to restrain the excesses of my rambling prose; and Professor Michael Lapidge has advised and supported me in his unfailingly patient way from start to finish, and without his encouragement the edition would long since have foundered on the rocks of procrastination. Nevertheless, the many errors which undoubtedly remain are my own. My husband Nicholas has with loving fortitude endured fractious burning of the candle at both ends, having shared me with the Ely saints all of his married life, and to him this work is fondly dedicated. R.C.L.

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CONTENTS

ABBREVIATED REFERENCES INTRODUCTION I. THE FEMALE SAINTS OF ELY II. THE CULTS OF THE FEMALE SAINTS OF ELY

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Pre-Conquest liturgical calendars The Kentish Royal Legend Later liturgical calendars Other liturgical evidence Church dedications Relics and evidence of popular cult

III. THE MANUSCRIPTS

1. The Ely manuscripts 2. Other manuscripts 3. Lost copies IV. THE LIVES

1. The hagiography of St Æthelthryth 2. Vita S. Werburge 3. The lessons for the feasts of SS Seaxburh and Eormenhild 4. Vita S. Sexburge 5. Vita S. Wihtburge 6. Miracula S. Wihtburge 7. Sources and style 8. Depictions of female sanctity V. INDIRECT WITNESSES AND PREVIOUS EDITIONS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The Liber Eliensis The Ely Breviary-Missal Later hagiographical compilations Later historiographers Previous editions

IX xiii xiii xxiii

xxiii xxvi xxxii xxxiii xl xlvi xlviii

xlviii liii lviii lviii lix

lxxi lxxviii lxxxi lxxxvi xcix ci cvi Cxiii

cxiii cxv cxvi cxvii cxix

Viii i VI.

CONTENTS RELATIONSHIP OF MANUSCRIPTS AND INDIRECT WITNESSES

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. VII.

LectSex and LectEorm Vita S. Sexburge Vita S. Werburge Vita S. Wihtburge æ Miracula S.

EDITORIAL PROCEDURES

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

Goscelin, Lectiones in festiuitate S. Sexburge Goscelin, Lectiones in natale S. Eormenhilde Goscelin, Vita S. Werburge Goscelin, Vita S. Wihtburge Miracula S. æ Vita Beate Sexburge Regine APPENDICES

A. Vita S. æ B. Miracula S. Wihtburge

CXX

cxx cxxi cxxi cxxv cxxvi cxxvi I

1 11 25 53 95

133 191

191

204

INDEX OF CITATIONS, ALLUSIONS, AND PARALLELS

219

GENERAL INDEX

223

ABBREVIATED

AB ActaS

ASC ASE Barlow, The Life Bede, HE

BHL BL BNF BofE

Bradshaw Brooks, Early History

cccc CCCM CCSL Colker, 'Texts'

CSEL DACL

DB De trans. SS. uirg.

REFERENCES

Analecta Bollandiana [Bollandists] Acta Sanctorum (Brussels, 1643- ) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Anglo-Saxon England (Cambridge) F. Barlow (ed. and tr.), The Life of King Edward who rests at Westminster, 2nd edn. (OMT, 1992) Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, ed. B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors (OMT, 1969; rev. edn. 1990) [Bollandists], Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina, 2 vols. (Brussels, 1899-1901), with supplement by H. Fros (1986) British Library Bibliothèque Nationale de France The Buildings of England, general ed. N. Pevsner (Harmondsworth) The Life of St Werburge of Chester by Henry Bradshaw, ed. C. Horstmann, EETS, OS 1xxxvi (1887) N. Brooks, The Early History of the Church of Canterbury (Leicester, 1984) Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis (Turnhout) Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (Turnhout) M. L. Colker (ed.), 'Texts of Jocelyn of Canterbury which relate to the history of Barking Abbey', Studia Monastica, vii (1965), 383-460 Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna) Dictionnaire d'aréheologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. F. Cabrol and H. Leclercq, 15 vols. in 30 (Paris, 1907-53) Domesday Book, general ed. J. Morris, 34 vols. in 40 parts (Chichester, 1974-86) De translatione SS. uirginum Ethelburgae, Hildelithae ac Wlfhildae, ed. Colker, 'Texts', pp. 435-52

x

ABBREVIATED REFERENCES

DMLBS Ecton, Thesaurus

EETS OS

ss EHR Ehwald EPNS Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue

HBC HBS Heads

Hist. maior Hist. minor Hist. mirac. Hist. trans.

JW Kelly, Charters

Kirby, Earliest English Kings

Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources (Oxford, 1975- ) J. Ecton, Thesaurus Rerum Ecclesiasticarum, being an Account of the Valuation of all the Ecclesiastical Benefices in the Several Dioceses of England and Wales, ed. Browne Willis (3rd edn., London, 1763) Early English Text Society Original Series Supplementary Series English Historical Review R. Ehwald, Aldhelmi Opera Omnia, MGH AA, xv (Berlin, 1919) English Place-Name Society (Cambridge) T. D. Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of Materials Relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland to the End of the Reign of Henry VII, 3 vols. in 4, RS (London, 1862-71) Handbook of British Chronology, ed. E. B. Fryde, D. E. Greenway, S. Porter and I. Roy, 3rd edn. (London, 1986) Henry Bradshaw Society Publications (London) The Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales, 940-72/6, ed. D. Knowles and C. N. L. Brooke, and V. C. M. London (Cambridge, 1972; rev. edn. 2001) Historia maior de aduentu S. Augustini, ed. ActaS, Maii, vi. 375-95 Historia minor de aduentu S. Augustini, ed. PL cl. 743-64 Historia maior de miraculis S. Augustini, ed. ActaS, Maii, vi. 397-411 Historia translationis S. Augustini, ed. ActaS, Maii, vi. 411-43 The Chronicle of John of Worcester, ed. and trans. R. R. Darlington, P. McGurk, and J. Bray (OMT, 1995- ) S. E. Kelly (ed.), Charters of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, Anglo-Saxon Charters, iv (Oxford, 1995) D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (London, 1991; rev. edn., 2000)

ABBREVIATED REFERENCES

xi

Knowles and Hadcock, D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious MRH Houses, England and Wales, 2nd edn. (London, 1971) Kentish Royal Legend, ed. Liebermann, Heiligen, KRL pp. 1-9 Lapidge and M. Lapidge and M. Winterbottom (eds.), Wulfstan Winterbottom, of Winchester. The Life of St Æthelwold (OMT, Wulfstan 1991) LC C. H. Talbot (ed.), 'The Liber Confortatorius of Goscelin of Saint Berlin', Analecta Monastica, xxxvii (1955), 1-117 LE Liber Eliensis, ed. E. O. Blake, Camden Third Series, xcii (London, 1962) LectEorm Goscelin, Lectiones in natale S. Eormenhilde, edited below LectSex Goscelin, Lectiones in festiuitate S. Sexburge, edited below C. T. Lewis and C. Short, A Latin Dictionary L&S (Oxford, 1879) Liebermann, Heiligen F. Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands (Hanover, 1889) Love, Saints' Lives R. C. Love (ed. and trans.), Three Eleventh-Century Anglo-Latin Saints' Lives: Vita S. Birini, Vita et Miracula S. Kenelmi, Vita S. Rumrvoldi (OMT, 1996) Macray, Chronicon W. D. Macray (ed.), Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis, RS (1886) MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica AA Auctores Antiquissimi SRM Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum Memorials Memorials of St Dunstan, ed. W. Stubbs, RS (1874) MirÆth Miracula S. Ætheldrethe, edited below NLA C. Horstman (ed.), Nova Legenda Anglie, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1901) NMT Nelson's Medieval Texts (London) OMT Oxford Medieval Texts (Oxford) PL Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844-64) RB Revue bénédictine Ridyard, Royal Saints S. J. Ridyard, The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, ix (Cambridge, 1988) Rollason, Mildrith D. W. Rollason, The Mildrith Legend: A Study in

xii

ABBREVIATED REFERENCES

Early Medieval Hagiography in England (Leicester, 1982) Rollason, 'Goscelin' D. W. Rollason (ed.), 'Goscelin of Canterbury's account of the translation and miracles of St Mildrith: an edition with notes', Mediaeval Studies, xlviii (1986), 139-210 RS Rolls Series (London) S P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography (London, 1968), cited by document number SC Sources chrétiennes (Paris) Swanton, 'Fragmentary M. J. Swanton, 'A fragmentary Life of St Mildred Life' and other Kentish royal saints', Archaeologia Cantiana, xci (1975) 15-27 Talbot, 'The Life' C. H. Talbot (ed.), 'The Life of St Wulsin of Sherborne by Goscelin', RB, xlix (1959), 68-85 Tatton-Brown, T. Tatton-Brown, 'The churches of Canterbury 'Churches' diocese in the eleventh century', in J. Blair (ed.), Minsters and Parish Churches (Oxford, 1988), pp. 105-18. Taylor and Taylor H. M. Taylor and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1965-78) Thacker, 'Kings' A. Thacker, 'Kings, saints, and monasteries in preViking Mercia', Midland History, x (1985), 1-25 Thompson and Stevens, P. A. Thompson and E. Stevens, 'Gregory of Ely's 'Gregory' verse Life and Miracles of St. Æthelthryth', Analecta Bollandiana, cvi (1988), 333-90 VSex Vita S. Sexburge, edited below VWer Goscelin, Vita S. Werburge, edited below VWiht Vita S. Wihtburge, edited below Wilmart, 'La légende' A. Wilmart (ed.), 'La légende de Ste Èdithe en prose et vers par le moine Goscelin', Analecta Bollandiana, lvi (1938), 5-101, 265-307 Wormald, EK F. Wormald, English Kalendars before AD 1100, HBS lxxii (1934)

INTRODUCTION

I.

THE FEMALE SAINTS OF ELY

The group of texts brought together in this edition describes the lives and posthumous miracles of the female saints whose relics were the focus of veneration at Ely in the Middle Ages. They are almost exclusively preserved in a variety of combinations in three twelfthcentury Ely manuscripts, with one notable exception—the Vita S. Werburge—which is transmitted in a total of six manuscripts. The second half of the eleventh century saw a notable surge of interest in hagiography throughout England, which meant that many of the Anglo-Saxon saints of earlier eras were furnished, often for the first time, with a Latin Vita. A prominent contributor to this renaissance was the hagiographer Goscelin of Saint-Bertin and later of St Augustine's, Canterbury, who came to England in the very early IO6OS.1 The number of his known works is large, and, as will be shown, the tendency of earlier scholarship has been to assign to his hand the many anonymously-preserved Lives of Anglo-Saxon saints apparently composed in the decades following the Conquest, including those of the Ely saints. Since, as will be seen, there is good evidence that Goscelin passed through Ely, one of the principal aims of the analysis of the Ely Lives in this introduction will be to establish which of them he may indeed have composed. The analysis of the Lives will be preceded by a discussion of the evidence for the cults of the Ely saints, and of the manuscripts which preserve the texts edited in this volume. Foremost of the holy ladies of Ely was Æthelthryth (Audrey), daughter of Anna, king of the East Angles, who was married twice, first to Tondberht, an ealdorman of the South Gyrwe, and then on his death in about 655, to Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria. With this second marriage unconsummated, she left her husband after twelve years and became a nun at Coldingham (Berwickshire, Scotland), which was under the rule of her aunt Æbbe, before establishing a 1 For an account of Goscelin's career and writings, see Barlow, The Life, appendix C, and A. Wilmart, 'Eve et Goscelin', RB xlvi (1934), 414-38 and 1 (1938), 42-83.

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double monastery in 673 at Ely.2 She died there in 679, and was translated on 17 October, 695, when, according to Bede's account, her body was found to be incorrupt. Æthelthryth's sister Seaxburh oversaw this translation, and Bede stated that she had taken over the rule of Ely on Æthelthryth's death. Æthelthryth's relics, along with those of Seaxburh, Eormenhild, and Wihtburh, remained at Ely until they were lost at the time of the Reformation (except for part of Æthelthryth's hand which is now kept at Ely's Roman Catholic church). The Ely hagiographical dossier includes a prose Vita of Æthelthryth in three recensions (BHL 2634, and 2636d which is printed in an appendix to the present volume), as well as posthumous miracles (BHL 2638, edited here for the first time), along with a versification of the same material (BHL 2639).3 According to her hagiography the eldest of the daughters of King Anna, Seaxburh had been given in marriage to Earconberht, king of Kent, by whom she had two sons (Ecgberht and Hlothhere), and two daughters (Earcongota and Eormenhild). On her husband's death in 664 Seaxburh apparently retired first of all to a monastery at Milton in Kent, and then to her own foundation at Minster-in-Sheppey. She must at some stage have moved from there to Ely, where she probably remained until her death at an unknown date. Bede, in recounting Seaxburh's activities at Ely, mentioned nothing of her Kent foundation, nor did he include any reference to her second daughter Eormenhild, possibly because his sources were not complete, though it is worth noting that he does appear to have had plenty of information about Seaxburh's other daughter Earcongota (see below).4 Ely manuscripts preserve two hagiographical accounts of Seaxburh's life: a set of eight short lessons (BHL 7694), and a much longer Vita (BHL 7693), both of which are edited for the first time in this volume. The lessons are accompanied by a further eight lessons 2 HE iv. 19. On the likelihood that Bede's account of Æthelthryth's virginity was basically an authentic one, see C. Fell, 'Saint Æthelþryð: a historical dichotomy revisited', Nottingham Medieval Studies, xxxviii (1994), 19-34, and P. A. Thompson, 'St. Aethelthryth: The making of history from hagiography' in "Doubt Wisely": Papers in Honour of E. G. Stanley, ed. M. J. Toswell and E. M. Tyler (London, 1996), pp. 475—92; and for an attempt to explain the saint's parting from her husband Ecgfrith as the putting aside of a sterile wife hidden under claims to virginity and non-consummation, see P. Stafford, Queens, Concubines and Dowagers: the King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages (Athens, Ga., 1983), pp. 81-2. 3 Edited by Thompson and Stevens, 'Gregory'. 4 On the likely sources of Bede's information, see D. Whitelock, 'The pre-Viking age church in East Anglia', ASE i (1972), 1-22.

THE F E M A L E S A I N T S OF ELY

XV

in honour of Seaxburh's daughter Eormenhild (BHL 2611), also edited here. The Ely hagiographical dossier presents Eormenhild as the wife of Wulfhere, king of Mercia (659-74), for whom she bore two children: Coenred, the future king of Mercia, and Wærburh. Again, even though Bede described the events of Wulfhere's reign at several points in HE, he never once so much as named Eormenhild (or any wife), or her daughter Wærburh, though he does describe the holiness of Coenred's life.5 According to the hagiography, after Wulfhere's death, Eormenhild followed her mother to Minster-in-Sheppey, and assumed the role of abbess there when Seaxburh moved to Ely, but when Seaxburh died, Eormenhild then succeeded her as abbess there too. There is no surviving record of when she is thought to have died. Bede's silence with regard to these matters raised the suspicions of at least one commentator, Christine Fell, who suggested that it would have been 'almost inconceivable' for Bede not to have mentioned Eormenhild if he had known about her, and that both she and her daughter Wærburh must therefore be seen as 'figments of a tenthcentury imagination', providing an impression of continuity at Ely which never was truly the case.6 Ely tradition held that Wærburh succeeded her mother as abbess of Ely.7 However, the Vita of Wærburh edited in this volume (BHL 8855) never places her explicitly at the head of the community at Ely, suggesting instead that although she may have taken the veil there, her uncle, King Æthelred of Mercia, entrusted her with control of a group of scattered communities in the Midlands, at one of which, probably Threekingham in Lincolnshire, she died (it is not known when).8 Her body was transferred, apparently at her request, for burial at one of her other charges, Hanbury in Staffordshire, an event which, as described in the Vita, reads like a classic relic-theft. The Vita goes on to describe an exhumation which took place at Hanbury nine years later at the instance of King Ceolred of Mercia (709-16), but at the very beginning of the text we are told, without further 5

6 HE v. 19. See Fell, 'Saint Æthelþryð', pp. 33-4. At any rate this is the line offered by the Liber Eliemis (i. 37), the house history completed in the second half of the twelfth century (see below, p. xxii), which will be referred to hereafter as LE. 8 On the identity of Threekingham, see pp. xlii and 46 below. The date of Wasrburh's death is assigned to 690 by Chester tradition; see e.g. the late I3th-cent. Annals of St Werburg's'. R. C. Christie (ed.), Annales Cestrienses, or Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg, at Chester, Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society (London, 1887), p. 10. 7

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explanation, that Wærburh now rests at Chester. This translation cannot now be dated with any confidence. There was certainly a church at Chester dedicated to Wærburh by the mid-tenth century when its familia was in receipt of a grant of land from Edgar.9 Later sources offer details of the translation from Hanbury. The Polychronicon written in the first half of the fourteenth century by Ranulph Higden, a monk of Chester who died in 1363, assigned the exhumation at Hanbury under King Ceolred to 21 June 709 (which would mean that Wærburh had died in 699 or 700), and the translation to Chester to 874, supplying the inhabitants of Hanbury with the motivation that they wished to protect their patroness from attack by the Danes who were dangerously close by at Repton (Derbyshire).10 Obviously drawing on the Polychronicon, Henry Bradshaw, a monk of Chester who composed an English verse Life of Wærburh in the early sixteenth century, repeated the date of 874, describing the folk of Hanbury as 'Dredynge full sore the pagans flagellacions'.11 Higden may well have been guessing at a date for the translation on the basis of the well-attested overwintering of the Danish army at Repton, but as Thacker has noted, Bradshaw went on to record another more convincing context for the translation to Chester, namely the refounding of an ancient minster at Chester by Æthelflæd, 'Lady of the Mercians' (d. 918), and her husband Æthelred, ruler of the Mercians from 879 to 911.12 Chester itself suffered a Danish raid and was described as 'deserted' in 893, but in 907 Æthelflæd and Æthelred refortified the city,13 and could well have had Wærburh's relics moved into a church there which then took her name.14 Whatever the case may be, such events seem to have been of little concern to the author of Wærburh's Vita. Nevertheless, although the family link is plain enough, Wærburh's Vita is at first 9 S 667, ed. J. Tail, The Chartulary or Register of the Abbey of St Werburgh, Chester, Chetham Society Publications, NS lxxix (Manchester, 1920), pp. 8-10. On the origins of St Werburgh's, Chester, see A. T. Thacker, 'Chester and Gloucester: early ecclesiastical organization in two Mercian burhs', Northern History, xviii (1982), 199-211, at pp. 203-4, and see also Thacker, 'Kings', p. 4. 10 Ed. C. Babington and J. R. Lumby, 9 vols., RS xli (1865-86), vi. 176-8, and 366. 11 Bradshaw, ii. 247, 354-6, and 527 (pp. 139, 143, and 149). 12 Bradshaw, ii. 583-9 (pp. 150-1); see Thacker, 'Chester and Gloucester', p. 203. 13 Ibid., p. 200; this event is recorded very tersely ('Her wæs Ligcester geedniwod') only in ASC (B)C, in the separate set of annals for 902-24 called the 'Mercian Register', s.a. 907, but the restoration is attributed explicitly to Æthelflæd and Æthelred by John of Worcester; see JW ii. 362, s.a. 908. 14 Thacker, 'Chester and Gloucester', p. 204.

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sight the least obviously Ely-centred text in the group under present discussion, and at the same time is also, strikingly, the most widelyattested of all, occurring in six surviving manuscripts. The Ely dossier also includes two recensions of the Vita and posthumous miracles of another supposed sister of Æthelthryth, namely Wihtburh (BHL 8979, edited here for the first time), of whom Bede also makes no mention whatsoever. As will be shown below, to judge from the hagiography, together with other evidence, there is reason to suspect that the relationship with Æthelthryth was yet another fiction created at Ely. Certainly Wihtburh's existence is not attested before the late tenth century, but her hagiography claims that she was brought up in Norfolk, at Holkham, and presided over a monastic foundation at East Dereham. Wihtburh's Vita relates how her relics came to Ely, having been removed from her original resting-place at East Dereham by the tenth-century abbot of Ely, Byrhtnoth (on whom see below, p. xviii), in decidedly dubious circumstances. Doubtless the translation was felt to be justified by the fact that, as the LE records, Ely was granted possession of Dereham at about this time (ii. 40).15 The translation is dated to 8 July 974.16 Miracles seem nevertheless to have continued at Dereham after her removal, where a well is supposed to have sprung forth from the site of her burial, as is attested by a twelfth-century account preserved in just one of the Ely hagiographical manuscripts (BHL 8980, printed as an appendix to the present volume). King Anna's fourth daughter, Æthelburh, whose life is briefly related in the HE, went to Faremoutiers-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne, France), where she became abbess and was eventually buried. Although the relevant paragraphs about her from the HE are included in the Ely hagiographical dossiers, she does not seem to have received extensive or widespread veneration. Æthelburh was followed to Brie by her niece, Seaxburh's daughter Earcongota, who is referred to in this context by Bede, whose account was drawn upon verbatim as part of the Ely dossier, again with little sign of the same level of veneration as Æthelthryth, Seaxburh, Eormenhild, and Wihtburh.17 Although it is by no means the intention here to provide a full 15 Although the site of Wihtburh's foundation is only referred to in both the Vita and LE as 'Dyrham', it is generally assumed that this refers to East Dereham; but see T. Williamson, The Origins of Norfolk (Manchester, 1993), p. 146, for the suggestion that in fact West Dereham, also in Norfolk but considerably closer to Ely, should be considered as an alternative identification. 17 16 17 HE iii. 8. See LE ii. 53.

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history of the monastic establishment at Ely,18 it may be appropriate at this point to highlight some of the key events which either relate directly to the texts printed here, or may offer a context for their production. Ely, which looked back to Æthelthryth as its first foundress, was refounded as a Benedictine community by Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester (963-84), probably in 970.19 The first abbot of this reformed community was Byrhtnoth (970-996 or 999), who had previously been prior of Winchester.20 To judge from the story that Byrhtnoth went to East Dereham to fetch away Wihtburh's remains, there was in the newly-reformed community at Ely considerable interest in the cult of relics, a tendency paralleled at other places, such as Winchester, whence Byrhtnoth had come, where at this period the cult of Swithun was beginning to be established.21 Certainly Byrhtnoth appears to have initiated the veneration of Ely's saints as a closely-united group; indeed he may even have had a part in 'inventing' the family ties which link Bede's Æthelthryth and Seaxburh with the more shadowy figures of Eormenhild and Wihtburh (as well as Wærburh). We are told in LE, in a chapter headed 'De industria abbatis Brithnodi' (ii. 6, 'On the industry of abbot Byrhtnoth'), that this abbot had four wooden images of the blessed 'virgins' made (and here the compiler momentarily overlooks the fact that neither Seaxburh nor Eormenhild could reasonably be described as virgins in the strictest sense of the word) and that these were covered in gold and silver and precious gems, and placed next to the high altar, two on each side. Such a gesture makes a strong statement about the extent to which Byrhtnoth wished the community to venerate its saints. An increased veneration may well have fuelled fresh attention to the liturgy relating to Ely's saints. One might have expected this to be accompanied by an attempt to record something up-to-date about the lives and posthumous miracles of the saints, mirroring the burst of hagiographical activity seen, for example, at late tenth-century Winchester. Yet as will be seen in what 18

For a detailed account, see now S. D. Keynes, 'Ely Abbey 672-1109', in Ely Cathedral: a History, ed. P. Meadows and N. Ramsay (Woodbridge, 2003). I am very grateful to Professor Keynes for allowing me to see a copy of this in typescript prior to publication. 19 Æthelwold's refounding of Ely is described in Wulfstan's Vita S. Æthelwoldi c. 23 (Lapidge and Winterbottom, Wulfstan, pp. 39—41). 20 He is named in the chapter of Vita S. Æthelwoldi just mentioned; see also Heads, P. 2144. A very full treatment of this can now be found in M. Lapidge, The Cult of St Swithun, Winchester Studies, 4.2 (Oxford, 2003).

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follows, if any hagiography was produced at this time, it has, probably with one striking exception, apparently long perished (see pp. lxi-lxiv below). Probably the next period of significance for the cults and hagiography of the Ely saints was the abbacy of Simeon, the first postConquest abbot to hold office for long enough to achieve anything of note. Simeon was brother of Walkelin, bishop of Winchester, had been prior of Winchester, and came to Ely in 1082, bringing with him ten Winchester monks, who were to set an example for those at Ely. He remained there until his death in 1093, at the age of 99.22 Not only did Simeon succeed in clawing back some of the lands which had been plundered from Ely immediately after the Conquest,23 but he also oversaw the renewal of the monastic buildings and the start of work on the new Romanesque church (on which, see p. 74 below). More important for our present concerns, however, is the fact that during Simeon's abbacy Goscelin of Saint-Bertin seems to have come briefly to Ely. Part of the narrative of Simeon's regime in LE introduces some posthumous miracles of Æthelthryth including the account of how one of the ten monks from Winchester, Godric, dreamt that he had seen St Æthelthryth standing by the throne of the Almighty, anxiously interceding for her servants on earth, in an attempt to avert imminent divine punishment.24 At that time a plague had overtaken the community at Ely and many of the monks lay sick. Godric had another dream in which he saw Æthelthryth, Wihtburh, Seaxburh and Eormenhild rise from their tombs to minister to the sick in the infirmary. That very night all who had lain ill began to convalesce, even those seemingly at death's door. But the story had an extra miraculous twist. The abbot and the brothers wanted the story to be recorded for the benefit of posterity. And it just so happened that there was present at that time 'monacus quidem, Gocelinus nomine', a certain monk, Goscelin by name, very clever, who all over England was rewriting the lives, miracles, and deeds of saints. At precisely the same moment as Godric was having his vision, Goscelin was burning the midnight oil striving over a 'prosa', presumably a liturgical prose-sequence, for St Æthelthryth. The first line was 'Christo regi sit gloria', and it included the lines 'Astat a dextris 22

Heads, p. 45. His death is described in LE ii. 137. The means by which this was achieved are discussed by Keynes, 'Ely Abbey, 6721109'. 24 LE ii. 133 (ed. Blake, pp. 213-16). 23

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INTRODUCTION

regina, interventrix alta. Hinc dat terris miracula'.25 This was held to be a wonderful, God-inspired coincidence, that Goscelin, without yet having heard the miraculous intervention which brought about universal recovery from illness, had managed to capture the essence of the miracle 'figuraliter'. When he read it out in public, everyone praised God and declared that this 'prosa' should thereafter be sung in commemoration of the event. It is a pity that Goscelin's 'prosa' is, apart from the few lines preserved in LE, apparently lost to us now: it cannot be traced in any published collections of prose-sequences. It is possible that the description of Goscelin in LE, 'disertissimus, undique per Angliam vitas, miracula et gesta sanctorum sanctarum in historiis, in prosis dictando mutavit,' may owe something to William of Malmesbury's account of Goscelin, who observed in his Gesta regum that Goscelin had produced 'innumeras sanctorum uitas' ('innumerable lives of saints'), that he rewrote more elegantly the lives of older ones which had been neglected, and that he was second only to Bede in his efforts on behalf of the saints of England.26 Nevertheless, there does not appear to be any particular reason to doubt the presence of Goscelin at Ely at this time, and the story highlights the reputation he had gained for himself as a hagiographer by the time of the writing of LE. The story is also valuable for the information it furnishes about Goscelin's whereabouts during an itinerant phase of his career. Having come to England in the early 1060s seemingly at the encouragement of Herman, bishop of Ramsbury and Sherborne, he flourished under the bishop's patronage, but a few years after Herman's death in 1078, Goscelin was obliged to leave the Sherborne area, possibly on account of a disagreement with Herman's successor, Osmund, and he then began a bitter life of exile. To use his own words (written to his former pupil Eve, who later become an anchoress in France), 'post decessum patris nostri, consolabar tecum frequentior communem orbitatem, donee surgente rege qui ignorabat Ioseph, uiperina inuidia et uitricali barbarie deuotus tuus coactus est longius peregrinari'.27 His wandering 25 Blake, p. 215: 'The Queen stands at his right hand, intermediary for us on high. Hence she grants miracles to us here on earth'. Compare with this some lines from one of the poems in Goscelin's Vita S. Edithe, no. V (Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 80: 'Regina dextra filia regia/Astat qua rex concupit'). 26 Gesta regum, iv. 342; ed. and trans. R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson, and M. Winterbottom, 2 vols. (OMT, 1998-9). 27 LC, p. 19, 'After our father's death [Herman], I was more frequently with you, consoling our shared loss, until a king rose up who did not know Joseph, and by viper-like envy and step-fatherly cruelty your devoted one was forced to sojourn far away.'

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seems finally to have come to an end when he reached St Augustine's, Canterbury, which he must have done by 1091, when a grand programme of relic-translations took place, the written commemoration of which in suitably grand style occupied Goscelin for several years thereafter.28 The details of Goscelin's period of exile are a matter of some uncertainty, and can only be pieced together on the basis of the hagiographical commissions Goscelin is believed to have fulfilled in those years. For example, the Lives he wrote for the nunnery at Barking were produced as a direct result of a translation which occurred there in 1087,29 and one of them is dedicated to Maurice, bishop of London (1086-1107). At about the same period, he produced a Vita S. Ivonis, which is dedicated to Herbert Losinga, abbot of Ramsey between 1087 and 1091, leading to the supposition that he was at Ramsey at some stage during those years.30 In like fashion, then, Goscelin is to be glimpsed briefly at Ely, possibly in 1087 or 1088. He may conceivably have encountered Simeon at Winchester (one of the places through which it has sometimes been conjectured his itinerant phase may have taken him), and had come to Ely under his patronage. He is here described as working on liturgical material for the cult at Ely, a task which we know was also assigned to him during his time at St Augustine's, Canterbury.31 It is not difficult to imagine that he may at the same time have been commissioned to write prose hagiography for Ely too, since his reputation as a hagiographer would doubtless already have been established by then. The commemoration of local patron saints in texts of fitting style was one of the concerns which seem to have kept authors like Goscelin in business, so to speak, at this period. It is into the context of this phase of Goscelin's life, and the relationships of debt for hospitality or patronage, that I hope to fit some of the Lives of the Ely saints edited here. To revert to this brief account of Ely's history, a lengthy interregnum seems to have followed Simeon's death, until Richard, a monk of Bee, was made abbot in 1 100.32 Although his abbacy was in 28 On the dating of Goscelin's writings for St Augustine's, see R. Sharpe, 'Goscelin's St Augustine and St Mildreth: hagiography and liturgy in context', Journal of Theological Studies, xli (1990), 502—16. 29 30 See Colker, 'Texts', p. 443. PL civ. 84. 31 See Sharpe, 'Goscelin's St Augustine', and also his 'Words and music by Goscelin of Canterbury', Early Music, xix (1991), 94—7. 32 See Heads, p. 45, and LE ii. 141—3.

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some respects rather chequered (he was deposed in 1102, and then restored again the next year, after an appeal to Rome), Richard nevertheless succeeded in resuming the building works on the church at Ely, and was able to preside over a grandiose translation of Æthelthryth, Seaxburh, and Eormenhild in 1106 (Wihtburh had already been moved in 1102).33 This translation, described in VWiht, and also in LE, doubtless gave significant further impetus to the development of Ely's hagiography. On his death in 1107, Richard's successor was Hervey (d. 1131), who had been bishop of Bangor in Wales,34 and obviously had acquired a taste for this status, since it was he who brought about the creation, in 1109, of the bishopric of Ely, carved out of the vast diocese of Lincoln.35 Literary activity at Ely blossomed at this period: Vitae of Æthelthryth in both prose and verse, the Vita of Wihtburh, and a long Vita of Seaxburh were all probably produced in these years. It is also likely that at this time the groundwork was already being laid for Ely's house history, the Liber Eliensis, begun after 1131 and completed in the 1170s (probably before 1174), by a monk of Ely.36 The preface to the second book acknowledges something of a hiatus since the completion of book I, suggesting that the work as a whole represents some years of labour. LE draws extensively on the earlier Ely Lives, placing the material into the wider context of a carefully-constructed picture of an ancient foundation, rich in early-established endowments, both powerful and also powerfully-protected by its saints.37 All of the hagiographical texts enumerated in the foregoing paragraphs represent the version of Ely's saintly past that was constructed, and possibly to some extent fabricated, during the period from Byrhtnoth's abbacy to the regime of Ely's first bishop. Their composition covers a span of, probably, some hundred and fifty years during which Ely saw significant changes in its ecclesiastical 33

34 35 LE, ii. 146, and p. 76 below. See LE iii. i. Ibid. iii. 2-6. This work, already referred to above (n. 7), was edited by E. O. Blake for the Camden Third Series in 1962; in his introduction Blake named two monks of Ely as possible authors or compilers of LE, namely Thomas and Richard, but did not draw a definitive conclusion about the work's authorship (pp. xlvi—xlix). Blake's dating depends on use by LE of an early version of the chronicle by John of Worcester (reaching up to 1131), and upon the fact that no bishop after Nigel (d. 1169) is mentioned (p. xlviii). An English translation of LE has been commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of Ely Cathedral from Dr Janet Fairweather, to be published shortly, and I am very grateful to Dr Fairweather for making a typescript of her translation available, and for discussing the text with me. 37 For a recent assessment of the political significance of LE, see Keynes, 'Ely Abbey 672—1109'. 36

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power structures: the re-establishment of monastic discipline, the coming of a new Norman regime, the creation of a new bishopric. These circumstances shaped the development of Ely's view of her saints and their significance. II.

THE CULTS OF THE FEMALE SAINTS OF ELY

I. Pre-Conquest liturgical calendars The earliest evidence for the cult of St Æthelthryth derives from Bede, who wrote fulsomely in her praise, and described the first translation carried out by her sister Seaxburh sixteen years after her burial. He also included a brief notice of her in his Martyrology, and accordingly, in the ninth century, the anonymous compiler of the Old English Martyrology also included an entry for Æthelthryth.1 The absence of her feast-day from the early eighth-century Calendar of St Willibrord (Paris, BNF, lat. 10837) may imply that Æthelthryth had not yet attained very wide veneration in Bede's time, and the next earliest surviving complete liturgical calendar, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 63, written at an unidentified centre in Northumbria in the second half of the ninth century, shows no acknowledgement of her either.2 However, Bede's praise for St Æthelthryth is probably one of the reasons for the presence of her feast on 23 June in most other liturgical calendars from the pre-Conquest period. The first example is the calendar preserved in Salisbury, Cathedral Library, 150, which marks the depositions of both Æthelthryth and Seaxburh.3 A calendar of possibly similar date, found in the Leofric Missal, has only Æthelthryth's feast.4 The subsidiary cult of St Seaxburh (6 July) does appear, for the most part, to have gained acceptance, possibly also by reason of Bede's acknowledgement of her significant role, and her feast occurs in the majority of liturgical calendars from the eleventh century onwards. Seaxburh's daughter Eormenhild is also 1 Cf. the discussion of the sources for Bede's Martyrology by H. Quentin, Les martyrologes historiques du Moyen Age (Paris, 1908), at p. 106; and see G. Kotzor (ed.), Das altenglische Martyrologium, 2 vols., Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften phil.-hist. Klasse, Abhandlungen lxxxviii (Munich, 1981), ii. 127-9. 2 H. A. Wilson, The Calendar of St. Willibrord, HBS lv (1918), and Wormald, EK, no. i. 3 Ibid., no. 2 (Sherborne, Shaftesbury, or possibly Wilton; s. x3/4). 4 Ibid., no. 4 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 579, dated to between 969 and 987, and associated with Glastonbury, or possibly Canterbury). The feast of Eormenhild on 13 Feb. occurs as an nth-cent, addition.

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commemorated (13 February) in most cases, even though she was not mentioned by Bede; the inclusion of her feast in the calendar in the Bosworth Psalter may well be the earliest surviving reference to her: a possible sign that she was 'interpolated' into Ely's history at about this time.5 A good many calendars include also the date of Æthelthryth's first translation on 17 October, which after 1106 came to be the date of the translation feast of all the Ely saints; the earliest occurrences of this secondary feast are in the calendar in London, BL, Cotton Nero A. ii, which also commemorates Seaxburh (but not Eormenhild),6 and in the calendar found in the so-called Missal of Robert of Jumièges (Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, Y. 6) dated to the first quarter of the eleventh century. The latter has all four feasts, with Æthelthryth's deposition in gold letters, a fact which, taken with other evidence, has led some scholars to assign this sacramentary to Ely.7 All four feasts are also found in calendars from Winchester (where some interest in Ely feasts might be traced to Bishop Æthelwold's close involvement in its refoundation),8 from places further west such as Sherborne and Worcester,9 as well as in liturgical calendars from East Anglian centres such as Bury St Edmunds and Crowland where one might expect to see some consciousness of, and interest in, Ely cults.10 5 Unless the composition of the Kentish Royal Legend could be shown to predate the Bosworth Psalter; see below, p. xxvii. For the Bosworth Psalter, see Wormald, EK, no. 5 (London, BL, Addit. 37517; possibly St Augustine's, s. xex or perhaps third quarter). 6 Ibid., no. 3 (s. xi 2/4 ). Although this calendar was once thought to be from the Nunnaminster, Winchester, or from Shaftesbury, Leominster Priory in Herefordshire has since been very convincingly proposed by J. Hillaby, 'Early Christian and pre-Conquest Leominster', Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, xlv (1987), 557—685, at pp. 628-35. 7 H. A. Wilson (ed.), The Missal of Robert of Jumièges, HBS xi (1896), p. 14; see Wilson's discussion at pp. xxx—xxxi for arguments against an Ely attribution, and for other views of the matter, see J. B. L. Tolhurst, 'Le missel de Robert de Jumièges, sacramentaire d'Ely', in Jumièges: Congrès scientifique du XIIIe Centenaire, 2 vols. (Rouen, 1955), i. 28793, and C. Hohler, 'Les saints insulaires dans le missel de Parchevêque Robert', ibid. 293303.8 Ibid., nos. 10 (Cambridge, Trinity College, R. 15. 32; New Minster, Winchester, s. xi2/4), n (London, BL, Arundel 60; New Minster, Winchester, s. xi2), and 12 (London, BL, Cotton Vitellius E.xviii; Winchester, s. ximed ; this calendar originally had all four feasts, which were subsequently erased, and then restored, except for that of Seaxburh). 9 Ibid., nos. 14 (the Red Book of Darley, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 422; written at Winchester for Sherborne, s. ximed ), 16 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 113; Worcester, s. xi2) and 18 (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 9; Worcester, s. xi1). 10 Ibid., nos. 19 (Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 12, s. xi2/4; perhaps written at Christ Church, Canterbury for Bury), and 20 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce 296, Crowland, s. xime )

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Other calendars present some combination of these four feasts: either leaving out the translation, as for example two calendars from Canterbury,11 and another possibly originating in Canterbury, and one from Worcester,12 or only marking one of the secondary saints, as in one other Winchester calendar, which has both of Æthelthryth's days, along with that of Eormenhild, but not Seaxburh.13 A minimalist position is to be found in a couple of calendars relating to the south-west of England, since that in London, BL, Cotton Vitellius A. xii marks only the two feasts of Æthelthryth, while that in London, BL, Cotton Vitellius A. xviii has only her deposition.14 There is less consistency about the veneration of the other saint who came to be of importance at Ely after the translation of her relics, namely Wihtburh. Her deposition was commemorated on 17 March, and her translation to Ely on 8 July. The earliest identifiable occurrence of the latter (and possibly the earliest surviving reference to the existence of Wihtburh) is in the calendar in the Bosworth Psalter, where at 8 July we find the entry 'Sancti Grimboldi monachi et sancte Wihtburge'.15 This combination of saints may give some hint as to why Wihtburh's translation feast was less widely commemorated. Grimbald (d. 901) was the first abbot of New Minster, Winchester, whose relics were housed there, and so it is no surprise that in calendars from that community, or indeed from others which were influenced by Winchester's pattern of liturgical observance, Grimbald should take precedence over Wihtburh. An isolated example of an attempt to get over this clash may be found in the Winchester/Sherborne calendar in CCCC 422, which transfers commemoration of Wihtburh backwards one day, and places her together with her sister Æthelburh, on 7 July, and then has Grimbald in capital letters on 8 July.16 In the Bosworth Psalter calendar, this time marked separately, we also find the feast of Æthelburh, the less celebrated daughter of King Anna, who ended her days at Faremoutiers-en-Brie. Her feast-day occurs rarely in the pre-Conquest calendars; indeed the only other occurrence of it is in the mid11 Ibid., no. 5 (see n. 5 above), and 13 (London, BL, Arundel 155; Christ Church; s. xiin). 12 Ibid., nos. 6 (Cambridge, University Library Kk. 5. 32; probably Canterbury, but subsequently moved to Glastonbury, s. xiin), and 17 (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 391; Worcester, s. xi3/4). 13 Ibid., no. 9 (London, BL, Cotton Titus D. xxvii; New Minster, Winchester, s. xi2/4). 14 Ibid., nos. 7 (Salisbury, s. xi2), and 8 (south-west England, possibly Wells, s. xi2). 15 16 Ibid., no. 5 (for the date see note 5 above). Ibid., no. 14.

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eleventh-century calendar from Crowland, which is also the only other place where Wihtburh's translation feast is marked.17 Again, one possible explanation is that 7 July is also the feast of Haedde, first bishop of Winchester (d. 705), which may have eclipsed the lesser female saint's feast. The feast of Wihtburh's deposition, on 17 March (the same as the feast of St Patrick), is marked by just a handful of pre-Conquest calendars, occurring for the first time in the 'Missal' of Robert of Jumièges (a piece of evidence which might be used in favour of an attribution of this manuscript to Ely), and then in two calendars from later eleventh-century Worcester.18 The earliest calendar to include commemoration of Wærburh (deposition 3 February) is again that of the Bosworth Psalter, which, as in the case for Wihtburh, may well represent the first extant reference to the saint. The feast is also found in the calendars in London, BL, Cotton Nero A. ii (of probable Leominster origin), in Cambridge, University Library, Kk. 5. 32 (written probably at Canterbury), and in the Crowland calendar.19 One of the Worcester calendars, in Oxford, Bodleian, Hatton 113, elevates Wærburh's feast to slightly higher than ordinary status by marking it in capital letters.20 Both of Wærburh's feasts occur in two other calendars as subsequent additions: 'Sancte Wærburuhe uirginis' was inserted (probably not long after the original copying), at 4 February in CCCC 422, and her name was added to 21 June in a twelfth-century hand.21 The calendar in the 'Portiforium of St Wulfstan', CCCC 391, had both feasts added during the twelfth century, the deposition (3 February) being marked in red capitals.22 Otherwise the feast of the translation of Wærburh's relics to Chester on 21 June does not appear to have gained wide currency beyond Chester itself, where it was marked with a fair.23 2. The Kentish Royal Legend Apart from the pre-Conquest liturgical calendars, additional early evidence for the cult of the female saints of Ely is furnished by the Old English document sometimes referred to as the Kentish Royal 17

Wormald, EK, no. 19. Wilson, Missal of Robert of Jumièges, p. n, Wormald, EK, nos. 16 and 17. 19 Ibid., nos. 3 (on the origin of which see note 6 above), 6 and 19. 20 Ibid., no. 16; other saints accorded this treatment are Archbishop Oswald (both feasts), Ælfheah, Swithun (both feasts), Kenelm, Oswald king and martyr, Credan, 21 Cuthbert, Osgyth, and Ecgwine. Ibid., no. 14. 23 22 Ibid., no. 17. Cf. Tait, The Chartulary, p. xiii. 18

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Legend (hereafter KRL).1 In 1889 Liebermann published this document alongside another, the List of Resting-Places (or Secgan, from the third word of the text's rubric), with which it is preserved in two eleventh-century manuscripts. Subsequently these texts have been subjected to a variety of interpretations and analyses.2 Basing his judgement on a combination of clues within the texts themselves, and on linguistic analysis, Liebermann formed the opinion that both texts were probably composed in the second half of the tenth century; the earlier of the two surviving copies, in London, BL, Stowe 944, has been dated to 1031 or shortly after.3 Although the List of RestingPlaces includes a good many of the best-known saints of Anglo-Saxon England, nevertheless by no means does it present a full conspectus of sites which claimed to house relics, and one notable omission is the absence of references to any of the female saints of Ely.4 This is left to the KRL, whose actual content extends beyond what this modern title might suggest. It is in effect an annotated Resting-Places list which serves at the same time as a genealogy of the Christianized Kentish dynasty (that is, beginning with Æthelberht), highlighting the saints who were part of that dynasty, and tracing its links with saints of the other Anglo-Saxon realms. By reason of its content, but also because the word 'sulung' (c. 12) is used, which is a unit of land characteristic of documents relating to Kent, it has been suggested that Kent was indeed the place from which the text, at least in the form in which it is preserved, originated.5 It may very well be that the KRL includes the earliest reference to Eormenhild and her sister Earcengota in the context of their family relationship: 'Ðonne wæs Ecgbriht cyningc and LøShere cyningc and 1 Ed. Liebermann, Heiligen, pp. I-10. See also D. W. Rollason, 'Lists of saints' restingplaces in Anglo-Saxon England', ASE vii (1978), 61—93, at P. 73. Although the text is also often referred to by the title þa halgan, part of the heading under which it is transmitted ('Her cyð ymbe þa halgan þe on Angelcynne restað), I prefer to use Rollason's term 'Kentish Royal Legend', as more meaningfully descriptive, even if slightly misleading (cf. Rollason's subsequent rejection of the term, in favour of þa halgan, in Mildrith, p. 154 n. 15). 2 Alongside Liebermann's own discussion, and that of Rollason in 1978, already cited, see also Rollason, Mildrith, pp. 20—1, 28, and Ridyard, Royal Saints, p. 50. 3 Heiligen, pp. vii-viii, x. And see also N. R. Ker, A Catalogue of Manuscripts containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford, 1957, repr. with supplement, 1990), pp. 338-9. 4 For an indication of the patchy record offered by the List of Resting Places, see J. Blair, 'A saint for every minster? Local cults in Anglo-Saxon England', in A. Thacker and R. Sharpe (eds.), Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West (Oxford, 2002), pp. 456-94, at 463-7. 5 See Rollason, Mildrith, p. 28.

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sancta Eormenhild and sancta Ercengota—wæron Ercenbrihtes beam and Sexburge his cwene'.6 After this, an account is given of the other branch of the family, namely the descendants of Eormenred of Kent, culminating in the death of St Mildrith and her burial on Thanet. Only then is attention shifted back to Earconberht and more importantly to his wife Seaxburh: 'Ðonne wæs Sexburh Cantwarena cwen . . .'7 Here we find also what seems to be the earliest reference to Seaxburh's founding of Minster-in-Sheppey, 'sancta Marian mynster on Sceapege', a fact which goes entirely unmentioned in Bede's brief account of the saint. The author then places Seaxburh in the context of her blood-family, thus providing what is possibly the first surviving reference to Wihtburh: 'Ðonne wæs sancte Sexburh and sancta Æþeldryð and sancta Wihtburh Annan dohtra Eastengla cyninges.'8 Æthelthryth's marriage to Ecgfrith and subsequent founding of, and burial at, Ely is then recounted in brief, after which we read that Wihtburh 'mid hire nu restað ('now rests with her'). This might suggest that as it stands the KRL was written after 974, the date of Byrhtnoth's translation of Wihtburh's remains from East Dereham to Ely. However, Liebermann, and following him, Rollason, felt that this clause must be an interpolation, on the grounds that when Eormenhild's burial at Ely is mentioned a little further on, it is only stated that she rests 'mid hyre medder and mid hyre moddrian sancte Æþeldryðe' ('with her mother and with her aunt St Æthelthryth'), omitting any reference to Wihtburh's presence at Ely.9 After Wihtburh the author shifts the focus to Eormenhild, describing her marriage to Wulfhere of Mercia, again an event not attested in any surviving document before this. After a passing reference to the conversion of the Mercians under Wulfhere, the following occurs as the first extant reference to St Wærburh: 'And ðar hi [scil. Eormenhild and Wulfhere] begeaton sancta Wærburge, þa 6 Liebermann, Heiligen, p. 3, 'Then there was King Ecgberht, and King Hlothhere and St Eormenhild and St Earcengota—they were the children of Earcenberht and his queen Seaxburh.' It should be pointed out, however, that Eormenhild is named in one rather earlier document, namely S 20, a charter recording the grant of immunity to the churches and monasteries of Kent by Wihtred, archbishop of Canterbury, in which four abbesses, 'Hirminhilda, Irminburga, Aeaba et Nerienda', are said to be present; see Kelly, Charters, pp. 38-44, where it is noted that though the single-sheet version of S 20 is 9th-cent., it is probably a copy of a 7th-cent. original. 7 Liebermann, Heiligen, p. 5, 'Then Seaxburh was queen of the Cantwara.' 8 Ibid., p. s, 'Then there was St Seaxburh and St Æthelthryth and St Wihtburh, daughters of Anna, king of the Eastangles.' 9 Ibid., p. vii, and Rollason, Mildrith, p. 28.

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halgan femnan; and heo wearð bebirged on þam mynstre þe is genemnod Heanburh; heo wearð eft upadon and nu resteð on Legeceastre þare birig'.10 Whatever our uncertainties about the precise dating or purpose of this intriguing text, it does seem to have provided a rich source for at least one later author, namely Goscelin. He may have used it in composing his Vita S. Mildrethe for St Augustine's, Canterbury, but the opening genealogical section of VWer also appears to be indebted to the same source, and, if it can safely be regarded as his work, much the same applies to the 'genealogia' in the as yet unpublished Vita S. Milburge.11 One might wonder where Goscelin could have encountered the KRL, and in what form. At some point in the mid-eleventh century a Latin translation was made, which is preserved in London, BL, Vitellius A. ii, the twelfth-century cartulary of St Augustine's.12 It seems clear that the work was written at that abbey between 1035, when Mildreth's relics were received there, and 1091, when those of Wihtred were moved from the place where the text states that they rest, into the new church, whose construction stimulated the great sequence of translations at St Augustine's which Goscelin was employed to record.13 Thus it may well be that it was only when he reached St Augustine's that Goscelin first came in contact, perhaps in this Latin version, with the KRL. If this were indeed to be the case, the acknowledgement that Goscelin incorporated material from the KRL into VWer has implications for the dating of the latter. But it is also possible that a version of the KRL was preserved, for example, at Ramsey Abbey: having acquired (at some point during the later tenth century) the relics of the two martyred princes Æthelred and Æthelberht, scions of the Kentish dynasty, that house would have an understandable interest in a document which placed those saints in the wider context of their august saintly cousinhood. Ramsey could then have been another library in which Goscelin might have come across the Royal Legend. Given that the Ely saints also feature in that text, which highlights their marriage tie, through Seaxburh, with the 10 Liebermann, Heiligen, p. 7, 'And there they begot St Wasrburh, the holy woman, and she was buried in the minster called Hanbury, and afterwards she was elevated and now rests in the "burh" of Chester.' 11 On which see below, p. lxxxvii. 12 Often referred to as De sanctis, this translation was published by Liebermann in parallel columns with the Old English version, Heiligen, pp. I—10. 13 Liebermann, Heiligen, p. xvii, and Rollason, Mildrith, p. 21.

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Kentish royal line, it is not inconceivable that a copy was likewise acquired for that house. There are three other surviving documents in Old English with some relationship to the KRL, which should detain our attention just a little longer. These are the eleventh-century fragments preserved in London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. xiv (fos. 121v-124v) and London, Lambeth Palace, 427 (fos. 210-11, not originally adjacent), which have sometimes been regarded as the dislocated parts of a single text, not least because they are written in a similar script.14 The fragment in the British Library appears to take the form of a reading for the feast of St Mildrith, headed as it is '.III. IDVS IVLII, NATALE SANCTAE MILDRYDAEVIRGINIS'.In opening with the arrival of St Augustine before the presence of King Æthelberht, whose descendants are then described, this text displays its family resemblance to the KRL, though there is no means of arriving at a precise date for its composition. The first of the Lambeth fragments describes an unnamed mother standing before an altar, receiving her (also unnamed) daughter into a monastic community of which she is already seemingly the abbess. It has been subjected to a variety of interpretations: Cockayne assumed that this was a later part of the Old English Life of Mildrith, who is therefore the unnamed daughter, but Swanson regarded the abbess as being identifiable with Seaxburh, whereas Rollason felt that this fragment could not be linked to the other.15 More recently Stephanie Hollis has argued that this fragment does after all belong with the first one and describes the consecration of Mildrith.16 The second Lambeth fragment, although opening mid-sentence with what appears to be the conclusion of an account of Mildrith and her successor Eadburh, shifts attention almost immediately to the Ely saints, naming Æthelthryth, Seaxburh, and Wihtburh as Anna's daughters, and then providing a telegraphic account of Æthelthryth's life, followed immediately by that of Eormenhild, with a fleeting reference to 14

The most recent edition of these fragments is Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life'; they were first published by T. O. Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early England, 3 vols. RS (1864—6), iii. 422—32. The manuscripts have been dated s. ximed and s. xiex respectively; see Ker, Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon, pp. 173, 343. 15 Swanton, 'Fragmentary life', p. 22 n. 29, and Rollason, Mildrith, p. 29. 16 'The Old English "Ritual of the Admission of Mildrith" (London, Lambeth Palace, 427, fol. 210)'', Journal of English and Germanic Philology, xcvii (1998), 311-21. See also her further discussion of this material in 'The Minster-in-Thanet foundation story', ASE xxvii (1998), 41—64, where it is proposed that the second Lambeth fragment represents the foundation story of Minster-in-Sheppey.

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Wærburh too. As was long ago pointed out, this fragment represents yet another version of the KRL, to which the first half-sentence and the whole of the next paragraph are almost identical in phrasing, though with one or two omissions and variations in order.17 This fragment may lend support to the earlier suggestion that the clause in the KRL concerning Wihtburh's burial at Ely may well be an interpolation into the original version of the Legend, since the corresponding section in the Lambeth fragment omits mention of Wihtburh's presence at Ely. Although the composition of the text of which this is a fragment cannot be securely dated, it may well represent an earlier version of the Royal Legend than that published by Liebermann. Having thus far followed the KRL closely, the second Lambeth fragment then parts company with it, to launch directly into the story of Seaxburh's taking of the veil at Milton in Kent, along with her daughter Eormenhild. This is followed by a description of Seaxburh's decision to found Minster-in-Sheppey, which unfortunately breaks off unfinished. The same event is also recounted rather more briefly in the KRL in a portion which comes between the mention of Eadburh, with which the Lambeth fragment opens, and the listing of King Anna's daughters with which the fragment continues. As Hollis has pointed out, this does seem to be the earliest record of a monastic foundation by a woman, which went unrecorded by Bede, who appears to have had no knowledge of Seaxburh's life before she went to Ely.18 It is upon the foundations of this narrative that VSex, as will be seen further on (below pp. cv-cvi), builds extensively, though also with some variation in detail. This fragment has sometimes been described as an extended version of the KRL as published by Liebermann, turning what is little more than a list of saints into a fuller narrative. Much the same could be said of the British Library fragment. Yet at the same time, the way these two texts use the Royal Legend is quite comparable to the way Goscelin used it in his Vita S. Mildrethe and in VWer, and to the way it is used in the Vita S. Milburge, namely as a genealogical preamble to a fuller account of one particular saint. One factor which counts against the hypothesis that the second Lambeth fragment may represent an attempt at a Life of Seaxburh is the selective content of what little survives of the 17 Swanton, 'Fragmentary life', p. 17, and more recently, Hollis, 'Minster-in-Thanet foundation story', p. 43. 18 Hollis, 'Minster-in-Thanet foundation story', p. 64.

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INTRODUCTION

narrative. As we have noted, the fragment opens in the midst of the equivalent of the KRL's record of Mildrith and Eadburh, which is followed by a brief account of the Ely saints, before detailed attention is given to Seaxburh's activities. Yet we are not told that Seaxburh was only able to take the veil upon the death of her husband Earconberht, who only receives the most fleeting of mentions. Such a cursory treatment of this aspect of Seaxburh's life, which actually put her in a position to found Minster-in-Sheppey in the first place, might seem rather surprising for a text primarily dedicated to an account of her life. This would lend strength to Hollis's hypothesis that the true focus of the text of which this is a fragment was the foundation at Minster-in-Sheppey, to which all details of Seaxburh's earlier life would be merely incidental. 3. Later liturgical calendars The evidence of post-Conquest liturgical calendars from Benedictine establishments shows that Æthelthryth maintained a position among the most widely venerated saints in England.1 The calendars from Ely show the full range of feasts which were kept there: Æthelthryth (deposition and octave, translation and its octave on 23 June and 17 October), Æthelburh (combined with the translation feast of Thomas Becket to make a feast of twelve lessons on 7 July), Eormenhild (deposition on 13 February, and a translation feast on 8 August), Earcengota (of three lessons on 21 February), Seaxburh (deposition on 6 July, and translation on 9 April), Wihtburh (deposition on 17 March, translation on 8 July with its octave, combined with that of the translation of St Swithun to make a feast of twelve lessons), Wærburh (deposition on 3 February; of twelve lessons), and on the two days preceding the translation feast of Æthelthryth, a day for commemorating the Holy Virgins of Ely, and one for the relics housed in the church.2 The calendars from other places testify to Æthelthryth's continuing popularity. In many places the anniversary of her translation was marked as a relatively high status feast (often of twelve lessons), with the day of her deposition generally observed as a feast of three lessons.3 Some, though not all, of these can be accounted for by local interest. 1 F. Wormald (ed.), English Benedictine Kalendars After AD 1100, 2 vols., HBS lxxvii, 2 lxxxi (1939-40). Ibid. ii. 1-19. 3 This is the case in calendars from Abbotsbury (Dorset), St Alban's, Chertsey, Crowland, Deeping (Lines.), Dunster (Somerset), Durham, Gloucester, Malmesbury,

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The feasts of Seaxburh and Eormenhild occur rather less frequently: in the calendars so far printed, they both appear only in those from Abbotsbury and Chertsey, two calendars which seem to be quite conservative in the range of feasts (possibly Winchesterinfluenced) which they preserve, and that of Crowland, perhaps because of local interest. The later calendar of St Augustine's Canterbury commemorates Seaxburh only, perhaps on account of her links with Kent, and that of Chester only Eormenhild (see below). Wihtburh's cult seems to have slipped still further in its standing, since apart from that of Ely, only the calendar from Deeping Priory in Lincolnshire has her feast (March) marked. Deeping was a cell of Thorney Abbey, where an interest in Ely saints should most probably be attributed to geographical proximity.4 Much the same applies to the case of Wærburh, whose principal feast is found only in the calendars from Crowland, Dunster (Somerset), and Worcester.5 The late twelfth-century calendar from St Werburgh's, Chester, gives due significance to the two feasts of the patroness, along with the octave of the deposition in February, as well as the feast of Eormenhild, Wærburh's mother, who is accorded a feast of twelve lessons.6 It is clear from this calendar, however, that veneration of Wærburh was quite divorced from any interest in the other Ely saints, since Æthelthryth's main feast in June is the only one observed at all. 4. Other liturgical evidence The degree of veneration indicated by the calendars should now be placed alongside the evidence from other types of liturgical document. There are no surviving liturgical books for mass or office from Ely which can be dated earlier than the thirteenth century. As far as material for use at mass is concerned, the closest available approximation to evidence for pre-Conquest liturgical practices at Ely may lie in the sacramentary known as the Missal of Robert of Jumièges, although there is no agreement about the place where this book and St Neot's; both feasts are marked also in the calendar of Abingdon but with lower status. Calendars from Christ Church Canterbury, Chester, Evesham, Muchelney and Westminster have only Æthelthryth's deposition. Only the deposition seems to have been included in the I3th-cent. Worcester calendar, in Oxford, Magdalen College, 100; see E. S. Dewick and W. H. Frere (eds.), The Leofric Collectar, 2 vols., HBS xlv, lvi (1914—21), ii. 589-600. 4 5

6

Wormald, English Benedictine Kalendars After AD 1100, i. 129. For the last of these three, see Dewick and Frere, Leofric Collectar, ii. 590. Wormald, English Benedictine Kalendars After AD 1100, i. 95—111.

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INTRODUCTION

was written.1 As has already been stated, Æthelthryth's principal feast is marked by gold letters in the calendar in this book, and this should be considered alongside two other noteworthy features, namely the facts that Æthelthryth, Seaxburh, Wihtburh, and Eormenhild come together in the litany, after the Roman martyr-virgins and Brigit, and are followed by the three saints of Peterborough; and that Æthelthryth's name occurs in the Canon of the Mass, after those of the virgin martyrs Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, and Cecilia, and before that of Gertrude of Nivelles.2 In discussing these features, the editor of the sacramentary, Wilson, arguing for New Minster origins, dismissed earlier suggestions that the book must have been written at Winchester for use at Ely.3 His argument was based on the conclusion that the New Minster had special reasons for the veneration of the saints connected with Ely, because of a link of confraternity, which would adequately account for the first two features. As for the presence of Æthelthryth in the Canon of the Mass, he saw this as reflecting a desire to 'balance the mention of a foreign saint [Gertrude] by the mention of an English one'.4 The sanctorale in this sacramentary includes proper masses for two of the Ely saints, Æthelthryth (two collects, secret, preface, postcommunion) and also Eormenhild (collect, secret, preface and postcommunion).5 If this were indeed an Ely book, it would perhaps be surprising to find no proper mass for Seaxburh, or for Wihtburh who had been so relatively recently translated from East Dereham. Wilson did note that, along with those for Æthelwold, Swithun, and part of the material for those of Botwulf and Oswald (king and martyr), the two masses for Ely saints stand out from the rest of the sanctorale as regards both their vocabulary and their length (their proper prefaces are among the longest in the whole sanctorale), which led him to suggest that they might be the product of a single school.6 The eleventh-century New Minster missal provides the same two Ely masses for Æthelthryth and Eormenhild, along with one for Seaxburh.7 The same mass for Æthelthryth's death (but providing only 1

See above, p. xxiv n. 7. 3 Wilson, Missal of Robert of Jumièges, pp. 289 and 47. Ibid., pp. xxxiv-xl. 5 Ibid., p. xxxviii. Ibid., pp. 181-2 and 163. 6 Ibid., p. lxii. Cf. the suggestion that the liturgical materials for the cult of Æthelwold (including two of the masses found in the Missal of Robert of Jumièges) were the work of Wulfstan in Lapidge and Winterbottom, Wulfstan, pp. cxiii and cxviii. 7 D. H. Turner (ed.), The Missal of New Minster, HBS xciii (1962), pp. 75 (Eormenhild), 108 (Æthelthryth), and 121-2. 2

4

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XXXV

one collect, 'Omnipotens sempiterne deus auctor uirtutis', and no proper preface) occurs also in the late eleventh-century sacramentary, London, BL, Cotton Vitellius A. xviii. This book, sometimes thought to have been made for Bishop Giso of Wells (1061-88), was apparently copied from a Winchester exemplar.8 Also influenced by Winchester practice is a missal produced for Bury St Edmunds, Laon, Bibliotheque Municipale 238, dated to the first half of the twelfth century, which has masses for Æthelthryth and Eormenhild in its sanctorale.9 The 'Portiforium of Wulfstan', written in about 1065-6 at Worcester on the basis of an exemplar from Winchester, has three collects for Æthelthryth (deposition nos. 1815-17; translation no. 1954), one each for Eormenhild (no. 1754) and Seaxburh (no. 1829), and also one for Wærburh (no. 1747).10 Turning to liturgical books relating specifically to the activities of a bishop, we find further evidence of interest in Æthelthryth above all the others. The benedictions for her principal feast are handled in an outstandingly lavish fashion in the Benedictional of Æthelwold, London, BL, Addit. 49598, from Winchester, a volume which was completed between 971 and 984 for Æthelwold's personal use. The 'imago sancte Æþeldryþe abbatisse ac perpetue uirginis' is a full-page presentation (on fo. 90v) of the saint clad in golden veil, gown and shoes, and red mantle, and holding a golden lily-like flower, generally regarded as one of the most sumptuous pages in the whole volume; facing it is the historiated initial O which is the first word of the benediction for her feast, and depicts Christ mirroring Æthelthryth's gesture, presenting himself as her celestial Bridegroom.11 Æthelthryth is also included among the Choir of Virgins depicted on fo. 2r (identifiable by an inscription on the book she holds), as part of the opening cycle of pictures in the manuscript.12 Æthelthryth is one of the few English saints to be included in this benedictional, and the prayers for both her and also Swithun appear to have been composed specially for the purpose, conceivably by Æthelwold himself, or 8 For the masses for English saints in this sacramentary, see F. E. Warren (ed.), The Leofric Missal (Oxford, 1883), pp. 303-7, with Æthelthryth on p. 305. 9 V. Leroquais, Les sacramentaires et les missels manuscrits des Bibliothèques publiques de France, 3 vols., and plates (Paris, 1924), i. 219-20. 10 A. Hughes (ed.), The Portiforium of St Wulstan, 2 vols., HBS lxxxix-xc (1958-60), i. 128-9, 146; 120, 130, and 119. 11 See R. Deshman, The Benedictional of Æthelwold, Studies in Manuscript Illumination, ix (Princeton, 1995), pls. 28—9, discussed in detail on pp. 121—4. 12 Ibid., pl. 3, discussed on pp. 150—1.

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INTRODUCTION

under his guidance.13 It is also noteworthy that Æthelthryth's is the only feast to be adorned with both a miniature and an historiated initial. Æthelthryth's inclusion, with such high status, despite the lack of any direct link with Winchester, has been seen as a token of Æthelwold's very great regard for the saint, stimulated by his personal involvement in the refounding of her community. Robert Deshman has also suggested that Æthelwold's other motive in giving such prominence to Æthelthryth was to lend prestige to the woman of the same name whom he had placed in charge of the reformed nunnery of Nunnaminster, an event which is described immediately prior to the refoundation of Ely in Wulfstan's Vita S. Æthelwoldi.14 Continuing, though slightly less exalted, recognition of the saint is reflected in the Canterbury Benedictional, written in the first half of the eleventh century, which includes three prayers for the feast of Æthelthryth.15 After about the year 1100, commemoration of the Ely saints in the mass is confined except at Ely itself to the feast of Æthelthryth.16 There are masses for her main feast in the Sherborne Missal,17 the Westminster Missal of Nicholas Lytlington,18 the Hereford (deposition and translation; and in the calendar they are of 3 lessons and 9 lessons respectively), Sarum, York and Whitby Missals, and a collect only in the Durham Missal.19 The thirteenth-century Missal of Salisbury (Paris, Bibliotheque de 1'Arsenal, 135) includes a mass for Æthelthryth in its sanctorale.20 Among books for the monastic office, the Hyde Breviary includes a collect for Eormenhild (different from that in the Ely breviary; the calendar marks her feast as one of three lessons), a memorial of Æthelthryth in June, and a set of eight lessons, based on Bede's 13 For a text of both these benedictions, and discussion of Æthelwold's possible authorship, see Lapidge and Winterbottom, Wulfstan, pp. lxxxi—lxxxiii. 14 Deshman, The Benedictional, p. 172; and Lapidge and Winterbottom, Wulfstan, pp. 37-9, for the relevant section of Vita S. Æthelwoldi (c. 22). 15 R. M. Woolley (ed.), The Canterbury Benedictional, HBS li (1917), pp. 97-8. 16 See the conspectus of the contents of post-Conquest missals set out by J. W. Legg, Missale Westmonasterieme, 3 vols., HBS i, v, xii (1891-7), iii. 1406-1628, at 1558. 17 Property of the Duke of Northumberland, on loan to the British Library, Loan 82 (s. xiv/xv). 18 Legg, Missale Westmonasterieme, ii. 837-8. 19 See W. G. Henderson (ed.), Missale ad usum percelebris ecclesiae Herfordensis (Leeds, 1874), pp. 271 and 345; J. W. Legg, The Sarum Missal (Oxford, 1916), p. 280 (deposition only); W. G. Henderson (ed.), Missale ad usum insignis Ecclesiae Eboracensis, Surtees Society (Durham, 1874), and for the last two see Legg, Missale Westmonasteriense, ii. 1558. 20 Leroquais, Les Sacramentaires, ii. 133.

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account, for the translation feast,21 whilst Seaxburh is not commemorated at all. The calendar in the Hereford Breviary marks Æthelthryth's deposition as a feast of three lessons and the translation as one of nine lessons, and the sanctorale provides a cue for the collect on both occasions and states that the rest shall be drawn from the common.22 Both the York and the Sarum breviaries provide three lessons for Æthelthryth's principal feast, drawn from Bede's account,23 and the Sarum Breviary also has a further nine for the translation, again drawn from the HE.24 The Winchcombe Breviary, now Valenciennes, Bibliotheque Municipale 116 (109), datable to the third quarter of the twelfth century, includes Æthelthryth in the calendar as a feast of three lessons, and also her translation feast, but she does not appear in the sanctorale (one of many discrepanices between the sanctorale and the calendar in this breviary).25 Finally, the fifteenth-century breviary of the Duke of Bedford (which represents Salisbury use), Paris, BNF, lat. 17294, includes among its many illuminations some which depict Æthelthryth sitting and reading (fo. 471v); her marriage to King Ecgfrith, attended by Wilfrid; Æthelthryth as abbess, at prayer (fo. 472'); and finally, her deathbed and funeral rites (fo. 472v).26 There is also an antiphoner and diurnal of Salisbury use, Paris, BNF, lat. 12036, dated to the first half of the thirteenth century, and sometimes thought to have originated from Ely. Each includes antiphons, capitula, responses and collects, and psalm- and hymncues but not lessons. The sanctorale includes Æthelthryth (deposition and translation), Eormenhild, Seaxburh, and Wihtburh (both deposition and translation), but not Wærburh, and is in general less full than that of the breviary of the Duke of Bedford.27 Although, as already noted, there are no surviving pre-Conquest liturgical books certainly from Ely, we do have a guide to slightly later practice there, in the form of the thirteenth-century Breviary-Missal 21 J. B. L. Tolhurst (ed.), The Monastic Breviary of Hyde Abbey, Winchester, 6 vols., HBS lxix-lxxi, lxxvi, lxxviii, lxxx (1932-42), iii, 217v, 267v, and iv, 361 r-v . 22 W. H. Frere and L. E. G. Brown (eds.), The Hereford Breviary, 3 vols., HBS xxvi, xl, xlvi (1904—15), pp. 198 and 373. 23 S. W. Lawley (ed.), Breviarium ad usum imignis Ecclesie Eboracemis, 2 vols., Surtees Society, lxxi and lxxv (1880-3), ii. 327-8, and F. Procter and C. Wordsworth, Breviarium in mum imignis Ecclesiae Sarum, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1879—89), iii. 335—8. 24 Ibid. iii. 927-30. 25 V. Leroquais, Les Brèviaires manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France, 5 vols. and plates (Paris, 1934), iv. 283-5. 26 21 Ibid. iii. 271-348. Ibid. iv. 382-4.

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INTRODUCTION

preserved in Cambridge University Library (li. 4. 2o),28 and the evidence from this book can sometimes be corroborated by reference to the antiphoner and diurnal just mentioned. This codex belongs to the type of liturgical book in which the missal intervenes between the temporale and sanctorale of the Breviary. The missal fills fos. 139-207 and includes proper masses for Eormenhild (i88r), Wihtburh (deposition: 189r, translation: fo. 191v), Seaxburh (191 v ), and Æthelthryth (deposition: fo. 190r, translation: 195r). The breviary occupies fos. 1-137v (temporale), and 208-318 (sanctorale). The feasts for which propers are set out in the breviary correspond, in the main, with the provisions of the post-Conquest liturgical calendars from Ely, covering the principal feasts of Seaxburh and of Eormenhild, both the deposition and translation of Wihtburh, and obviously also the deposition and translation of Æthelthryth, as well as the octave: at fo. 237v a 'Hystoria' for recitation during the Octave is set out, then on the octave three lessons concerning posthumous miracles, and another eight for a Sunday within the Octave, also describing miracles. A further office for Æthelthryth is also provided ('In commemoratione sancte Etheldrede uirginis' at fo. 168v), which incorporates a hymn to St Faith specially adapted to fit Æthelthryth.29 The incipits for three hymns apparently composed specifically in honour of Æthelthryth occur at various points.30 It is noteworthy that there was no acknowledgement of the additional translation feasts of Seaxburh (9 April) and Eormenhild (8 August) which are marked in the calendars, nor are there propers—not even a collect or a simple record of commemoration—for the feast of Earcongota. Perhaps more significantly, whereas the calendars suggest that the feast of Wærburh was kept as one of twelve lessons, in the breviary all that is provided is a collect for her principal feast in February (fo. 215r), which implies a relatively low position in the 28 See A Catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of The University of Cambridge, 6 vols. (Cambridge, 1856—64), iii. 456. Cf. also A. Hughes, Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office, Toronto, 1995, P. 404, where Ii. 4. 20 is incorrectly assigned to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. 29 U. Chevalier, Repertorium Hymnologicum, 6 vols. (Louvain, 1892—1921), no. 27867, ed. G. M. Dreves and C. Blume, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, 55 vols. (Leipzig, 18861922), xi. 127-8. 30 Chevalier, Repertorium, nos. 16099, 23205, 12044, printed in Dreves and Blume, Analecta, xi. 121-2. Two of the hymns only referred to here by their incipits occur in full in Paris, BNF, lat. 12036; the third occurs only in the Cambridge breviary. There is no evidence to suggest the date at which these hymns could have been composed, and they are not attested elsewhere.

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hierarchy of feasts. This impression is confirmed by the fact that the missal contains no proper mass for Wærburh's feast-day. In the context of the present editions, one particular question arises about the special liturgical texts preserved in this breviary. LE implies that when Goscelin was at Ely, he had worked late into the night on a 'prosa' in honour of Æthelthryth, and we are told its opening words, 'Christo regi sit gloria', as well as a couple of other lines: 'Astat a dextris regina, interventrix alta. Hinc dat terris miracula'.31 Regrettably Goscelin's prose-sequence does not seem to have survived, but it is to be wondered whether any of the other specially composed liturgical texts which occur in the breviary can be regarded as his work. It seems very likely that Goscelin took responsibility for the composition of liturgical texts (and possibly also music) at St Augustine's Canterbury, for example. Richard Sharpe has suggested that a surviving 'historia', or sequence of proper antiphons and responsories for the feast of St Mildrith, uses language which is strongly reminiscent of Goscelin's style.32 Of course, it is quite difficult to determine the date at which the wide variety of liturgical forms preserved in a thirteenth-century breviary can have been composed, and probably only stylistic features such as characteristic vocabulary or turns of phrase could be used to identify authorship. In the Ely breviary, as has just been noted, there is a 'historia' prescribed for use during the octave of the feast of Æthelthryth's deposition, but regrettably there is nothing about its diction or style which could be taken as especially compelling evidence for authorship by Goscelin: just to give one example, the 'historia' for Mildrith tends to use rhyme within the antiphons, but that for Æthelthryth does not. The other class of available liturgical evidence is that of litanies. The occurrence of any given saint in a litany must, however, be viewed with caution, given the cumulatively acquisitive quality of these lists of saints, which frequently seems to override any genuine concern with a particular cult.33 Æthelthryth occurs in a very great number of the litanies preserved in liturgical manuscripts from Anglo-Saxon England, sometimes as the only female saint of Insular origin.34 As we have seen to be the case in the pre-Conquest 31

32 33 34

XLIII.

LE, p. 215. See Sharpe, 'Goscelin's St Augustine', and 'Words and Music by Goscelin'. See M. Lapidge (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Litanies of the Saints, HBS cvi (1991). Ibid., nos. II. i, viii. ii, xiii, xvi. i, xviii, xxi, xxiii, xxvii, xxx, xxxiv, xxxix, XLII. i, and

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INTRODUCTION

liturgical calendars, Æthelthryth's name occurs in some litanies together with her sister Seaxburh,35 or with Seaxburh and her daughter Eormenhild,36 and in just one litany with her three sisters.37 A handful of litanies group together all the four female saints whose relics rest at Ely,38 and there are just two occasions when Wxrburh is included to bring the total to five saints, although it is noticeable than in both these two litanies Wærburh actually occurs separated from the other Ely saints by one or more other names, which suggests that she may not have been regarded as necessarily belonging to the Ely grouping.39 There is also one litany which includes Wærburh alone as well as Æthelthryth, but again not immediately together in sequence.40 To sum up: it seems likely, given the prominence of /Ethelthryth in liturgical manuscripts linked with Winchester, that Æthelwold, who had reformed Ely, played a significant part in the dissemination of her cult, and the other saints may, so to speak, have followed in Æthelthryth's wake, achieving a less widespread and more diffuse acknowledgement. In the long term, Æthelthryth appears to have been the only Ely saint who had a lasting and universal appeal, attaining a prominent position among the saints of England. 5. Church dedications Dedications to Æthelthryth are by no means confined to East Anglia, as befits a woman whose reputation and warm commendation by Bede put her among the best-known saints of Anglo-Saxon England.1 In fact, the only church dedicated to Æthelthryth in Cambridgeshire, at Histon, on the north edge of Cambridge, was 35

36 Lapidge, Anglo-Saxon Litanies, nos. XVI.i i and XXXVI. Ibid., nos. I and VIII. i. Ibid., no. XXIV (possibly influenced by Winchester). 38 Ibid., nos. IX. i, XXII. i, XL, and XLV. 39 Ibid., nos. XII (Arundel 60, which presents an especially full range of English saints) and XXXII (probably from Ely's near neighbour Crowland). 40 Ibid., no. VI (from Worcester). 1 Although it is now very dated and unsatisfactory, a helpful starting-point for dedications is F. Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications, or England's Patron Saints, 3 vols. (London, 1899); for Æthelthryth see ii. 363. The evidence for the relative antiquity of known dedications can then be supported by recourse to later editions of a work originally published in London in 1711 by John Ecton under the title Liber Valorum et Decinmrum, being an Account of the Valuations of all the Ecclesiastical Benefices in the Several Dioceses of England and Wales. The first edition did not supply full details of the dedication of each benefice listed, but by the third edition (London, 1763), edited by Browne Willis under the title Thesaurus Rerum Ecclesiasticarum, these were included in every case. 37

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demolished in 1600 and the remains reused for what is now St Andrew's (LE ii. 122 records that Ely had held property at Histon before the Norman Conquest).2 There seem once to have been three dedications in Norfolk: in Thetford (now disappeared), Norwich (King Street, which is partly Norman and has been redundant since 1961), and the slightly uncertain case of the ruined church at Mundham, some 17 km due south-east of Norwich (remains of the north chancel wall only), called variously St Etheldreda's, or according to Pevsner, St Ethelbert's.3 The fact that Ely had at one time held some land at Mundham (before 1066), might support the proposition of a dedication to Æthelthryth.4 St Etheldreda's at Hatfield (Hertfordshire) preserves a link dating back to the late tenth century (the gift of Hatfield by King Edgar is recorded in LE ii. 7), much strengthened by the establishment next to the church of a palace for the bishops of Ely (the present impressive remains date from a fifteenth-century rebuilding).5 There were formerly two other churches in the county dedicated to Æthelthryth, one in the now deserted village of Chesfield by Graveley (4 km north of Stevenage), where the ruined walls of the fourteenth-century church still stand, and at Totteridge (about 15 km south of Hatfield), an estate acquired by Ely in the thirteenth century, and where the dedication is now to St Andrew.6 The chapel of St Etheldreda in Ely Place, Holborn, which in 1874 became a Roman Catholic church, was built in about 1300 to serve the Bishop of Ely's town house, established on land given to Ely by 2 See Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 102, where it is recorded that St Andrew's and St Ethelreda's were a united benefice. 3 N. Pevsner and B. Wilson, Norfolk 2: North-West and South, BofE (2nd edn. repr. 2000), p. 551; and for the contrary view, see Arnold-Forster, Studies, ii. 369, which refers to two churches in Mundham: St Peter's and St Etheldreda's. The only church listed for Mundham by Ecton (Thesaurus, p. 302) is St Peter's, the present-day dedication. See Pevsner and Wilson, Norfolk 2, pp. 699-700, for the early layout of Thetford and the site of St Etheldreda's; this church was already listed in Ecton, Thesaurus (p. 298) as 'ecclesia destructa'. For St Ethelreda's in Norwich, see ibid., p. 289, and N. Pevsner and B. Wilson, Norfolk: Norwich and North-East, BofE (1962, 2nd edn. 1997), p. 233. 4 DB Norfolk ii. 57. 2. 5 See N. Pevsner, rev. B. Cherry, Hertfordshire, BofE (1977), p. 161; and on the ruins of the palace, pp. 164-5. The dedication of 'Hatfield-Bishops' to Etheldreda is recorded by Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 227. 6 Pevsner, Hertfordshire, pp. 149 (Chesfield) and 356 (Totteridge). The church at Totteridge was by the 18th cent. already St Andrew's (Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 227), but the fact that it was there stated to be a 'chapel to Hatfield' suggests a link which might confirm an earlier dedication. The only dedication recorded by Ecton for Chesfield (there called 'Sheffield alias Chivesfield') is to St Mary (p. 228).

xlii

INTRODUCTION

Bishop John de Kirkby (1286-90).7 According to a story recounted only in LE i. 13, West Halton in Lincolnshire apparently owes its still-existing dedication to Æthelthryth to the fact that the saint received hospitality on her journey south to Ely from Northumbria at a place called 'Alftham' near the 'portum Wintringeham' on the river Humber, and afterwards established a church there (West Halton lies less than 2 miles south-west of Winteringham).8 LE i. 13 goes on to relate that Æthelthryth was obliged to break her journey again somewhat further south on account of the heat ('calore solis urente'), and that the spot where she rested 'appellatus est. . . usque in hodiernum diem Ædeldreðestowe' ('has been called Æthelthrythstowe ... to the present day'), on which site a church was built in honour of the saint. This spot has been identified as Stow Green in Lincolnshire, since twelfth-century charter-evidence indicates a dedication there to St Æthelfryth', as a well as a fair, at least in the thirteenth century, on 24 June.9 Other present-day dedications are scattered: Guilsborough in Northamptonshire, Horley in Oxfordshire, and West Quantoxhead near the Somerset coast (less than a mile south of a village named St Audries).10 The church dedicated to Æthelthryth at Hyssington on the Shropshire border has been identified as the one which by Ely tradition was an ancient foundation of King Anna, referred to as the setting for a miraculous vision of the saint, in a letter addressed by Osbert of Clare to the community at Ely, where he had received hospitality during his exile from Westminster.11 Seaxburh's significantly more modest cult is reflected in the fact that the sole dedication to her is at the site most directly related to her, namely Minster-in-Sheppey, dedicated to both St Mary and 7 See Arnold-Forster, Studies, ii. 369, and Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 253 ('Ely House Chapel'). On the chapel and the town house, see N. Pevsner, London 2, BofE (1952), pp. 205 and 224 (the present Ely Place was built in 1773 on the site of the earlier town house), and on John de Kirkby's gift, see also J. Bentham, The History and Antiquities of the Conventual and Cathedral Church of Ely (Norwich, 1812), p. 151. 8 Cf. Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 205. 9 The evidence is set out by D. Roffe, 'The seventh century monastery of Stow Green, Lincolnshire', Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, xxi (1986), 31—3, and on both West Halton and Threekingham, see D. M. Hadley, The Northern Danelaw: Its Social Structure, c. 800-1100 (Leicester, 2000), p. 256. For the link between Stow Green and Wærburh, se p. 46 n. I below. 10 See Arnold-Forster, Studies, ii. 368; cf. Ecton, Thesaurus, pp. 357 (Horley), 36 (West Quantoxhead: 'St Ethelred'); Guilsborough is there recorded as St Wilfrid (p. 367). 11 LE ii. 43. Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 169, unusually offers no dedication for the benefice of Hyssington.

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St Sexburga since the time of Henry II, and referred to as 'Sexburgamynster' in the eleventh century.12 The same applies to Wihtburh: the church at Holkham in Norfolk (on a striking mound within the grounds of Holkham Hall) is dedicated to St Withburga, and the discovery, during a nineteenth-century rebuilding, of the foundations of a possibly Saxon tower confirms the longevity of the site.13 The ancient link between Wihtburh and Holkham is confirmed by the anecdote about her childhood upbringing there preserved in one recension of VWiht, where the establishment of a church at 'Withburgsstowe' on the site of the saint's earliest miracle is recorded (see below, p. 90). At East Dereham, the supposed site of Wihtburh's foundation and first burial, St Withburga's Well can still be seen in the western side of the churchyard (and St Withburga's Lane runs up to the church), though the church's dedication is, and clearly has been for some time, to St Nicholas.14 Nothing whatsoever is known to survive of any remains in Dereham which might be identifiable as Wihtburh's foundation or its site. The case of Wærburh again offers a greater geographical spread.15 As well as St Werburgh's Cathedral in Chester, most obviously, there is one other dedication in Cheshire, at Warburton, a place-name which also appears to preserve a link with the saint.16 The church at Hanbury in Staffordshire, the place of the saint's first burial, still bears her name, and until 1066 was in the possession of St Werburgh's, Chester, although it is recorded in DB not under the name Hanbury, but under present-day Fauld.17 It is thus noteworthy that only one of the three places—Weedon Beck, Hanbury, and 12

Arnold-Forster, Studies, ii. 359. 'Sexburgamynster' is included in the list of Kent churches in the late IIh-cent. 'Domesday Monachorum' as one of several churches dependent upon Newington church (once part of Milton Regis); see Tatton-Brown, 'Churches', p. 115. 13 Arnold-Forster, Studies, ii. 369—71, and Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 299. See also Pevsner and Wilson, Norfolk: 2, pp. 411–12, and T. Williamson, The Origins of Norfolk (Manchester, 1993), PP. 28, 148–9. 14 On the dedication, see Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 309. On the well, see Williamson, Origins, pp. 141–2 (where the former existence of a second St Withburga's well is also recorded). Pevsner and Wilson (Norfolk 2, pp. 283-4) note the existing Norman elements in Dereham church, and that below ground the well is a I4th-cent. structure (p. 286). 15 Arnold-Forster, Studies, ii. 374. 16 For the dedication of Warburton church, see Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 570, and cf. N. Pevsner and E. Hubbard, Cheshire, BofE (1971), p. 375. In DB Cheshire, the name occurs as 'Wareburgetune / Warburgetone' (9. 10; 24. 6). For the suggestion that the place name prompted the dedication to St Werburgh of the chapel (now St Werburgh's church) of a convent of Premonstratensian canons in the I2th cent., see J. McN. Dodgson, PlaceI7 Names of Cheshire ii, EPNS xlv (1970), p. 34. See DB Staffs., 10. 6—7.

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INTRODUCTION

Threekingham—linked with Wærburh in VWer (see pp. 39-46 below) preserves any outward sign of the relationship. There is one other dedication in Staffordshire, at Kingsley (12 km east of Stokeon-Trent),18 and three in Derbyshire: one in Derby (Friary Gate, a dedication now shared with St Alhmund), one in Spondon (now St Mary) on the eastern outskirts of Derby, and one at Blackwell (roughly 20 km north-east of Derby), where there is a pre-Conquest cross in the churchyard, and some surviving Norman masonry.19 Since Wærburh was, through her father Wulfhere, a member of the Mercian royal family, there is perhaps no surprise in finding this number of dedications to her within the area covered by the kingdom: more striking is the spread beyond Mercia's confines.20 The West of England preserves three surviving dedications to Wærburh, on the outskirts of Bristol (Mina Road),21 at Wembury in the south-west corner of Devon (the church stands in a striking position on the cliffs overlooking Plymouth Sound),22 and one in north Cornwall, at Warbstow, a place name which appears to preserve the saint's name as its first element.23 There is evidence for a further two dedications 18

163.

See Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 84, and cf. N. Pevsner, Staffordshire, BofE (1974), pp. 140,

19 Ecton, Thesaurus, pp. 76 (Derby, and Spondon, there listed already as St Mary), and 74. Cf. N. Pevsner, rev. E. Williamson, Derbyshire, BofE (2nd edn. rev., 1979), pp. 172, I95, 91. 20 For an intriguing attempt to suggest that the non-Mercian dedications to Wærburh were placed there by Æthelbald, king of Mercia (716-57), to mark the gradual extension of his power over the whole of south England, see T. Kerslake, Vestiges of the Supremacy of Mercia in the South of England during the Eighth Century (Bristol, 1879), an essay apparently stimulated in part by the demolition in that year of the old church of St Werburgh's in Bristol. 21 Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 40; the ancient church of St Werburgh's was replaced in the I9th cent, by a church of 'Bristolian' perpendicular; see N. Pevsner, Somerset and Bristol, BofE (1958), pp. 455–6. 22 Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 123; and see also N. Pevsner, rev. B. Cherry, Devon, BofE (2nd edn. rev., 1989), p. 894. For the suggestion that the present dedication of Wembury owes its origin to 18th-cent. guesswork on the basis of an undoubtedly erroneous analysis of the place name, see N. Orme, English Church Dedications, with a Survey of Cornwall and Devon (Exeter, 1996), p. 214. Early occurrences of the name (e.g. 'Wembir' or 'Wymbury' in the I3th-cent., or 'Wenbiria' in 1330) do not immediately suggest derivation from 'Wasrburg-'; see J. E. B. Gover, A. Mawer, and F. M. Stenton, The Place-Names of Devon, 2 vols., EPNS viii-ix (1931-2), i. 260–1, where it is admitted that the first element of the placename is 'difficult' but may derive from the pet-name 'Wasga'. 23 Ecton, Thesaurus, pp. 132, records this church as 'Treveglos cum Warbustow capella, St Werburgh', and the 'capella Sancte Werburge' is first attested in 1281 in a charter confirming the possessions of St Andrew's Priory, Tywardreth: see G. Oliver, Monasticon Diocesis Exoniensis (Exeter, 1846), p. 43. On Warbstow, see N. Orme, The Saints of Cornwall (Oxford, 2000), p. 253, where it is suggested that the origin of the dedication may

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to Wærburh in the south-west, of which no trace now remains: the first of these is in Bath, where in the late eighteenth century there still remained the memory of an already long-gone St Werburgh's church, some distance outside the town walls to the north (at the top of Broad Street).24 The second is at Henbury (in Saltmarsh), Gloucestershire, where, to judge from documents dated to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a 'capella sancte Wereburge' formerly stood on what seems to have been known as St Werburg's Hill (probably now Castle Hill), though no sign whatsoever remains of it now.25 The other dedication to the saint is at Hoo St Werburgh in Kent, on the south of the peninsula across the Medway from Sheppey, and apparently the site of one of the Kentish royal minsters.26 There is a slim possibility, however, that the Wærburh referred to at Hoo might actually be the third wife of Wihtred, king of Kent (690-725), who may have retired to Hoo after her husband's death, and may then have been buried and venerated there.27 It has been suggested that Hoo could be identified as the otherwise unknown Werburging wic (or Werburgewic) named as a royal vill in two charters recording gifts by Mercian kings in the ninth century, although conclusive evidence is lacking.28 There are no known dedications to Eormenhild. lie in English colonization of Cornwall. The existing church, which has some remains of Norman masonry, and a Norman font, is described by N. Pevsner, rev. E. Radcliffe, Cornwall, BofE (2nd edn. rev., 1970), p. 238. 24

See J. Collinson, The History and Antiquities of the County of Somersetshire, 3 vols. (1791), i. 53. W. Thomas, A Survey of the Cathedral Church of Worcester, with an Account of the Bishops thereof, from the Foundation of the See, to the Year 1660 (London, 1736), printed, in an appendix, various documents from the Worcester registers, including one by which Simon, bishop of Worcester (1125—50), restores to Worcester rights over the church of Westbury and its appurtenances, including 'capella sancte Wereburge super montem Hembirie sita' (Appendix, p. 6). A I3th-cent. register, the so-called 'Red Book of Worcester', includes at fo. 223 a further reference to Henbury including the words 'sub monte sancte Wereburge'—see M. Hollings, The Red Book of Worcester, 4 vols. in 2 (London, 1934–50), iv. 377. 26 Ecton, Thesaurus, p. 386. 'Sancta Wereburh de Hou' is one of the Kent churches listed in the early I2th-cent. Rochester manuscript known as the 'Textus Roffensis'; see G. Ward, 'The list of Saxon churches in the Textus Roffensis', Archaeologia Cantiana, xliv (1932), 39—59, at p. 50. On Hoo's status as a minster, see Brooks, Early History, pp. 202 (fig. 7), and 204-6, and Kelly, Charters, pp. 196–7. 27 Kelly, Charters, p. 103, where it is also suggested that the unidentified Werburginland somewhere in Thanet, referred to in S 394 (restoration to St Augustine's, Canterbury, of land in Thanet, by King Æthelstan, in 925) could be connected with Queen Wærburh rather than St Wærburh of Chester. 28 The charters in question are S 187 (grant by Ceolwulf, king of Mercia, to Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury, in 823, made 'in villo regali qui dicitur Werburging wic') and 25

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INTRODUCTION

6. Relics and evidence of popular cult The financial benefits which were to accrue at Ely on account of the wide renown of Æthelthryth have recently been investigated in detail by Ben Nilson, as have the fairs which marked her feast-day and gave rise to the saint's famed, if scarcely befitting, contribution of the word 'tawdry' to the English language.1 The silken necklaces which seem to have been the origin of this word are believed by some to have commemorated a secondary relic, namely the shackles which in the year III6 were miraculously removed from the prisoner Brihtstan during a vision of Æthelthryth and Seaxburh along with St Benedict.2 As was customary at the shrines of the saints, these shackles were thereafter hung over the altar at Ely. Accordingly one line of thinking has been that the necklaces which were sold at Ely had originated as miniature shackles, but since there does not seem to be any direct evidence of this practice (either at Ely or any of the many other shrines which were festooned with such chains), it seems just as likely that these pilgrims' souvenirs stood as a reminder of the story behind Æthelthryth's tumour. This was interpreted by the saint herself as a very physical atonement for her excessive fondness for necklaces in her youth, and the treatment applied to it by the physician Cynefrith left her at death with an open neck-wound which, to the amazement of the doctor himself, was manifested only as a fine scar on her incorrupt body when later exhumed.3 The sale of silken necklaces would have served as a commemoration of this miracle, as well as an admonition against excessive love of costly jewelry. An intriguing insight into the late medieval development of the tradition is provided by a document included among the letters and papers of the reign of Henry VIII, which records the visitation of S 88 (grant of ship-toll by Æthelbald, king of Mercia, to Rochester Cathedral in 733, confirmed by Berhtwulf, king of Mercia 844x81, 'in vico regali Werburgewic'); see Thacker, 'Kings', p. 4 n. 22, and G. Ward, 'The forgotten nunnery of St. Werburgh at Hoo', Archaeologia Cantiana, xlvii (1935), 117-25 (at pp. 122-3), which goes yet further by attempting to identify the 'Heanburh' of KRL (and VWer] as Hoo rather than Hanbury (partly through confusing Hanbury, Worcs. with Hanbury, Staffs.). The identification of Werburgewic with Hoo (in the case of S 88) is denied by Kelly, Charters (p. 103), on the grounds that by 844 X 51 Kent was in the control of West Saxon kings. Warwick was also been suggested very tentatively as an identification for Werburging wic, see T. Slater, 'The origins of Warwick', Midland History, viii (1983), 1–13, at p. 7; M. Gelling, The West Midlands in the Early Middle Ages (Leicester, 1992), 155—8 expresses doubts.. 1 2

B. Nilson, Cathedral Shrines of Medieval England (Woodbridge, 1998), pp. 112, 155—6. 3 For this story, see LE iii. 33. Bede, HE iv. 19.

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various monasteries throughout England in 1536 by Dr Layton and Dr Legh.4 The document consists largely of a list of the numbers of so-called 'sodomites' which the two visitors encountered, as well as of relics and 'superstitions' at each house visited. The list includes houses in East Anglia such as Bury St Edmunds, Wymondham, and Fordham, and printed with the list is a fragment clearly relating to the same visitation, and describing a visit to an unnamed house which must, given the content and context, surely be Ely: the report runs: Superstition: among the relics they have 'lintheamen quoddam' [a certain linen cloth] called the wymple of St Ethelrede, through which they draw knotted strings or silken threads, which women think good for sore throats; they also have the wymple of St Audrede for sore breasts, the comb of the same for headaches . . . and a ring of St Ethelred, for lying-in women to put on their fingers.5 One suspects that St Ethelrede, St Audrede, and St Ethelred are in fact all the same saint. Further evidence of the popularity of the cult of Æthelthryth is provided by the variety of recorded claims to possession of a minor relic. The saint occurs in surviving lists from Durham, Glastonbury, Salisbury, Thetford, Waltham, and York.6 Relics of Seaxburh were claimed by Peterborough and Waltham.7 In the case of Wxrburh the only recorded claim to a relic, apart from at her resting-place in 4 Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII, vol. x, arranged and catalogued by J. Gairdner (London, 1887), no. 364. 5 Ibid., p. 143. 6 See I. G. Thomas, 'The cult of saints' relics in medieval England', unpublished Ph.D. thesis (London, 1974), p. 396. For the individual lists see J. T. Fowler (ed.), Extracts from the Account Rolls of the Abbey of Durham II, Surtees Society, c (1899), pp. 425-35 (list of 1353, bound into Durham, Cathedral Library, B. II. 35); T. Hearne (ed.), Johanni Glastoniensis Chronica, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1726), ii. 445—54 (13th-cent. list bound in with the chronicle in Cambridge, Trinity College, R. 5. 33, fos. I04r-105r); C. Wordsworth (ed.), Ceremonies and Processions of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury (Cambridge, 1901), pp. 3340 (15th-cent. list in the Salisbury processional); F. Blomefield, Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, II vols. (London, 1805-10), ii. 118 (list of relics kept in a I3th-cent. image at the Cluniac priory of Thetford, preserved in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 329, fos. 99V—101v); N. Rogers, 'The Waltham Abbe relic-list', in England in the Eleventh Century, ed. C. Hicks (Stamford, 1992), pp. 157–81 (13th-cent. list in a hagiographical volume, London, BL, Harley 3776, fos. 31-35v); and J. Raine (ed.), Fabric Rolls of York Minster, Surtees Society, xxxv (1859), pp. 150—3 (13thcent. list on fly-leaf of a gospel-book). 7 Thomas, 'The cult of saints' relics', p. 459; I2th-cent. list in the Peterborough Chronicle, see W. T. Mellows (ed.), The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus (Oxford, 1949), PP- 53–6.

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INTRODUCTION

Chester, is at Exeter.8 While claims to possess the minor relic of a saint as widely known as Æthelthryth must give little cause for surprise, it is perhaps more intriguing to note the presence of Wærburh in the far west, apparently so very far from her known sphere of influence. Yet this quite early record of a relic should be viewed alongside the three church dedications in Devon and Cornwall. There does not appear to be any evidence of a claim to minor relics of either Eormenhild or Wihtburh. The extent to which Æthelthryth's wide veneration is reflected in surviving medieval art, on rood-screens, in stained glass and sculpture has been discussed elsewhere,9 but there is another depiction of the saint worthy of mention here, of quite early date. In 1893 medieval wall-paintings were rescued from their whitewashed obscurity in the parish church of Willingham, about 16 km southwest of Ely. One of these was subsequently identified as depicting Æthelthryth, and has been dated to about 1250;10 the saint is shown in a fairly standard pose, holding a book in her left hand and palm branches in her right, and the red line on her neck, which was believed to have been the remaining sign of her wound, is also discernible. Geographical proximity to Ely should perhaps be sufficient to account for an interest in the saint at Willingham, though the village was also one of the many places where Ely held land.11 III.

THE MANUSCRIPTS

The hagiography of the female saints of Ely is preserved principally in a group of manuscripts known to have been written at Ely during the twelfth century, with isolated texts occurring also in manuscripts from other centres. i. The Ely manuscripts A = London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. viii. A composite codex, of twelve originally separate sections, whose provenance and dates are rather varied. Moreover, it is not known 8 Thomas, 'The cult of saints' relics', p. 473; of all the various extant Exeter relic-lists, Wærburh occurs only in the nth-cent. Old English list in the gospel-book, Oxford, Bodleian Auct. D. 2. 16, fos. 8 r —I4 r , ed. P. Conner, Anglo-Saxon Exeter: a Tenth-Century Cultural History (Woodbridge, 1993), Appendix II, A, item 145 (p. 186). 9 Thompson and Stevens, ' Gregory', pp. 340–1. 10 See A. Fawcitt, The Wallpaintings of Willingham (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 10—11. 11 See LE ii. 66.

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exactly when and where the various groups of quires were combined to form the present book, though a fifteenth-century list of contents on fo. 128v does at least indicate that sections III—V and VIII-XII were already together by that stage, possibly with sections VI and VII serving as flyleaves at back and front respectively.1 To deal with those parts which are not of immediate relevance here: the first section, containing a calendar (fos. 4-27), was the property of the Premonstratensian abbey of Beauchief in Derbyshire; section II (fos. 28-58), of the second half of the twelfth century (possibly last quarter), contains part of Symeon of Durham's Historia regum and other historical materials but cannot be assigned to a named centre; sections V and VI (fos. 121–8) contain fragmentary copies of Vita S. Birini and Wulfstan of Winchester's Vita S. Æthelwoldi datable to around 1100 but again of unknown origin. Fo. 128 appears formerly to have been the outer page of a separate book or libellus. Sections VIII–XI (fos. 129-209) contain an incomplete copy of the Vita SS. Benedicti et Scholasticae, Translatio S. Benedicti, Vita S. Marie Magdalene, and Passio S. Katerine, all datable to the mid-twelfth century; and section XII contains an account of the vision of Edmund, monk of Eynsham, in a fourteenth-century hand. Again there is no evidence to indicate where sections VIII–XII were written. Section III (fos. 59-101; four quires of eight and one of ten) consists of a hagiographical compilation in a script datable to the first half of the twelfth century. It is ascribed to Ely on the grounds of a later inscription of ownership by an individual member of the community, namely Robert Steward, prior of Ely, whose arms and ex-libris appear on fo. 168v, along with the date 1531. Fos. 59-85v preserve a copy of Eadmer's Vita S. Wilfridi (BHL 8893), with the writing originally on the latter half of 85v erased. Fos. 86r-91v contain the Vita S. Werburge (BHL 8855; hereafter VWer). On fo. 86r, the first six or seven lines have been blotted out with red pigment, but almost certainly consisted of the heading and capitula, or list of chapter-headings, since the first legible line reads: 'Conuersatio eius in aelig monasterio' and the text is marked out into thirteen 'capitula'. The chapter-headings are preserved in only one other surviving copy of the text (MS B). For the most part these capitula correspond to the 1 See J. Planta, Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Cottonian Library deposited in the British Museum (London, 1802), p. 44, and for a more detailed analysis, see Lapidge and Winterbottom, Wulfstan, pp. clxxi—clxxiv. Measurements: 225mm X 165 mm (written area: 180mm X 108mm), in single columns, with a variable number of lines.

1

INTRODUCTION

sections marked out in the text, except that the heading for chapter 8 is missing. At fos. 91v-93v there follows an abbreviated version of the same Vita, entitled Lectiones in festiuitate S. Werburge uirginis de ipsius (divided into 8 lessons; BHL 8856), which was produced largely by 'cut and paste', rather than significant rewriting, so that what is retained, not surprisingly, follows the readings of the full version to the letter (and has accordingly not been included in the critical apparatus as a further independent witness to the text). Fos. 93v-95v contain eight liturgical lessons entitled In festiuitate S. Sexburge (BHL 7694; hereafter LectSex), and fos. 95v-98r a further eight lessons, In natale S. Eormenhilde (BHL 2611; hereafter LectEorm). These four texts give the appearance of having been conceived as a distinct group, and are all written by two very similar hands. There then follows, at 98r-101v, the Passio S. Margarete uirginis, which opens with a historiated initial depicting what is presumably St Margaret. Fo. 101v, the second half of which has been left blank, shows the signs of wear which might be consistent with that page having formerly been the end of a book or libellus. Section IV (fos. 102r-107v; two quires), written in a different and very much smaller hand than the foregoing material, though still probably of mid-twelfth century date, contains a text which is entitled Incipit prohemium in quibusdam miraculis S. Wihtburge uirginis (BHL 8980), and is preserved only here. A single quire of twelve with an extra sheet added at the end makes up section V (fos. 108r-120v), which contains the Vita beate Sexburge regine (BHL 7693; hereafter VSex), written in two successive hands, both different again from those of the other Ely material, and datable to the mid-twelfth century. It seems likely that the codex to which Robert Steward had applied his ex-libris was the largely hagiographical compilation of sections III-XII mentioned above, which may therefore have been put together at Ely. C = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 393 The whole manuscript was written in the twelfth century by one scribe, whose work was described by M. R. James as 'a very beautiful clear upright round hand'.2 It was written at, and belonged to, Ely 2 M. R. James, Descriptive Catalogue of the Library of Corpus Christi, ii. 251–3. Cf. also P. R. Robinson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 737–1600 in Cambridge Libraries, 2 vols. (Woodbridge, 1988), n. 158. Measurements: 221 mm X 146 mm (written area 153 mm X 80—95 mm), 24 lines per page and single columns throughout, 84 folios.

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priory, since there was formerly a library mark on the first folio, and on the last folio, 82v, an erased inscription 'iste liber pertinet ecclesie de ely'. On the last folio, immediately after the end of VWer, the name Ailmer occurs, in the same hand as the rest, or perhaps in a closely contemporary one, and this may have been the name of the scribe. The contents of the manuscript are as follows: fos. Ir-2v contain excerpts from Bede, HE, concerning St Earcongota (untitled); fos. 3r-33v Vita et miracula S. Ætheldrythe (BHL 2636d and 2638; some folios are now out of sequence: after fo. 27 comes fo. 29, then fo. 28, then fo. 31, then 30; then 32, because the two central sheets of the quire have been reversed at some point); fos. 34 v -56 r Libellus de uita et gestis beate Ædeldrede uirginis, a 983-line poem in three books, by Gregory of Ely (BHL 2639).3 The poem breaks off abruptly in the midst of describing Æthelthryth's later posthumous miracles, but the intention was clearly to continue. The verses run out after 215 lines of Book III, but at the end of Book II the scribe had made made provision for listing four capitula or chapter headings for Book III, and had written one of them (De captiuo apud Lundonias incarcerate . . .), but had left the words De . . . De . . . De . . . on separate lines followed by a space in which to insert the remaining three capitula later. Immediately following the end of the poem there are six blank leaves left in the quire (fos. 55v-58v), all ruled and ready for writing upon. The lack of the last three capitula gives the strong impression that the composition may have been left unfinished rather than that the scribe left off in the midst of copying out an already completed work. Starting with a new quire, fos. 59r-7Iv contain Vita S. Wihtburge uirginis (BHL 8979; hereafter VWiht). Fo. 59r has an historiated initial, the 'O' of 'orientale', depicting, on a blue background, a nimbed woman, presumably intended to be Wihtburh, dressed in a green gown and blue veil, seated on a throne-stool with a cushion bearing a cross-hatched design. In her left hand is a crown, and in her right what is probably intended to be a lily, token of her virginity. There are some similarities with the decorated initial which occurs on the opening page of Passio S. Margaretae in A (see above).4 Fos. 69r— 7Iv contain LectSex and fos. 7Iv-75r its companion piece, LectEorm. These are followed on fos. 75r-8Iv (really 82v) by VWer (the last quire of 8, number 10, lacks 7 and 8, and is followed by one flyleaf; the 3 4

Ed. Thompson and Stephens, 'Gregory'. Cf. C. M. Kauffman, Romanesque Manuscripts, 1066—1190 (London, 1975), no. 40.

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INTRODUCTION

second folio of the quire should be fo. 78, which is misplaced to the end of the quire and becomes fo. 82). Although the script can be dated to the twelfth century, a more narrowly focused date-range may be gathered from the evidence of the contents. Gregory's poem and the book of miracles which accompanies the prose Vita both include the story of the trial of Brihtstan, which is dated to the year 1116 ('tempore Henrici regis Anglorum ducis Normannorum anno regni sui in Anglia .XVI. comitatus in Normannia .X.'). The prose Vita of Æthelthryth refers to Bishop Hervey (1109-31) but to no subsequent bishop of Ely, and Henry I (110 1135) is named as the most recent king, and mentioned in obsequiously flattering terms which suggest that he was the reigning monarch when Gregory was writing. That the copy of Gregory's verses was left half finished implies that he was still at work and that the copy therefore dates also from Henry I's reign and Hervey's episcopate, and therefore to the years between 1116 and 1131. T = Cambridge, Trinity College, O. 2. I.5 The codex contains an Ely calendar (fos. KI-I4, not included in the foliation proper; datable to between 1173 and 1189), lists of Ely bishops and abbots, the Liber Eliensis (hereafter LE), and the Inquisitio Eliensis (all occupying fos. 1-214).6 The third book of LE is thought to have been completed between 1169, when Bishop Nigel died (his death is described at iii. 137), and 1174, when he was succeeded (his successor is not mentioned by LE), but inclusion, at the very end, of an abbreviated Passio of Thomas Becket (at fos. I75v6), suggests a date after 1170, or even after 1173, the date of his canonization. The latest royal obit in the lists is that of Stephen (d. 1154), and the latest episcopal obit that of Nigel (1169): his successor, Geoffrey Ridel, died in 1186.7 Following LE is a group of Vitae, written in a different hand from most of what has gone before, but of similar date. These texts would presumably have been regarded as complementary to the material incorporated within LE, 5 See M. R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge: a Descriptive Catalogue, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1900-4), iii (1902), 79-82; also Robinson, Dated and Datable Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries, nos. 362-3. Measurements: 230 mm X I6omm (written area 185 mm X 100 mm); 29 or 35 lines per page, in single columns. 6 See N. E. S. A. Hamilton, Inquisitio comitatus Cantabrigiensis subjicitur Inquisitio Eliensis, Royal Society of Literature (London, 1876), pp. 97-195. 7 See B. Dickins, 'The day of Byrhtnoth's death and other obits from a twelfth-century Ely Kalendar', Leeds Studies in English, vi (1937), I4—24.

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some of which is already hagiographical in flavour. On fos. 2I5r-228r is VSex, fos. 228-230v LectEorm (here entitled Vita beate Ermenilde), fos. 230v-23Ir De sancta Ærcongota (the same excerpts from Bede, HE, as in C; this ends mid page, and the remainder of the folio has been written on and then very thoroughly erased), fos. 231v-36 VWer (begins in the same hand, or one very similar to the preceding material but at fo. 233r another hand takes over, again very similar); fo. 236r-v Vita sancte Ædelberge (excerpts from Bede, HE), and fos. 236v-40v VWiht. VWiht ends quite abruptly well before the conclusion of the text as found in C, though not mid-sentence or midparagraph as if some folios might have been lost. 2. Other manuscripts B = Brussels, Bibliothéque Royale Albert Ier, 8873-8. The contents of this manuscript are entirely hagiographical or liturgical: fos. Iv-22v, Abbo, Passio S. Eadmundi (BHL 2392);8 23 r -33 v , Vita S. Alexis confessoris (BHL 286); 33v—40v, Vita S. Siluini ep. et conf. (BHL 7747); two blank pages, the second of which is much worn as if it had formerly been the outside of a booklet; 43 r 58 v , VWer, 59T-72T, Illatio S. Benedicti abb. (BHL 1122-4); 73r-86r, Passio .x. milia martyrum (BHL 20), and finally, masses for the vigil and feast of the 10,000 Martyrs (22 June). Apart from the Lives of Alexis and Silvinus, each item appears to be the work of a different scribe, and the collation of the manuscript suggests that the various items could have been brought together at any time after copying, since all but the Life of Silvinus start at the beginning of a new quire. Certainly the wearing of fo. 42 suggests that the various parts of the codex were not always in the present arrangement. The first flyleaf has a later list of contents (in a thirteenth-century cursive hand), which includes all the items now present, but then goes on to list others: computistical material, 'Wlpianus' (presumably excerpts from the Libri ad edictum, or socalled Rules, of Ulpian, the third-century Roman jurist), a collection of tracts on moral and spiritual topics ('Sermo de aduentu', 'De septem uitiis capitalibus', 'De uirtutibus et bonis operibus', 'De timore et amore', 'Quid sit timor', 'De quattuor timoribus', 'De penitentia cum aliis scriptis', 'Glossa super Pater noster', 'Simbolum apostolorum'), and at the end, 'Liber Merlini', which may refer to John of Cornwall's 8 The manuscript is not one of those discussed by Michael Winterbottom in his edition of the text, Three Lives of English Saints (Toronto, 1972), pp. 8—10.

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INTRODUCTION

Prophetia Merlini, written in about 1155, or perhaps to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini, composed some five years earlier.9 All of these items are now apparently lost, or just possibly have become separated, though all attempts to identify a surviving manuscript with these particular contents have drawn a blank. The date suggested for this manuscript in the Bollandist catalogue is the twelfth century,10 and in fact it represents the work of a number of hands, all, however, apparently datable to that century, but not readily localizable. The copy of Abbo's Passio of Edmund in particular is written in a script which shows a number of slightly archaic features, characteristic of Anglo-Caroline Style IV, such as a tall r-t ligature, g with an elongated tail (so-called g-longa), and the use of ampersand mid-word (some of which proved such irritants to a later reader that certain words have been written out again as interlinear glosses), which point to the first half of the twelfth century, but may also be suggestive of a centre in East Anglia, where Style IV seems to have become a regional form of writing into the twelfth century.11 VWer was written by two, possibly three, different scribes, the first of which is the most conservative in his letter forms, using, for example e-caudata; he also consistently used wynn in the name of the saint. The script suggests a date in the first half of the twelfth century. All that is known of the history of the manuscript is that it was used for the ActaS edition of VWer, which was reprinted by Migne in PL. The Bollandists report 'Acta S. Wereburgae damus ex antiquissimo codice ms. ex Anglia a Guilelmo Cambdeno ad Rosweydum misso',12 and indeed on the lower margin of fo. 86v of the manuscript Fr Godefroi Henschen (I600-81) wrote 'Hic libellus uidetur missus a Camdeno ad Heribertum' [scil. Rosweyde]. There does not seem to be any record of how or whence the manuscript came into the possession of William Camden (1551-1623). It may be that Camden was responsible for separating the non-hagiographical 9

See M. Lapidge and R. Sharpe, A Bibliography of Celtic Latin Literature, 400—1200 (Dublin, 1985), nos. 41 and 40. I am very grateful to Dr Julia Crick for confirmation that the Prophetia Merlini is found in some surviving manuscripts under the title Liber . . . Merlini. 10 Cf. [Bollandists] Catalogus Codicum Hagiographicorum Latinorum Bibliothecae Regiae Bruxellensis, 2 vols., Subsidia Hagiographia, i (Brussels 1886-9), ii. 275-8. The codex is written in long lines, and its measurements are: 155 mm X 109 mm (written area varying between 87 mm X 56 mm and 115 mm X 62 mm). 11 See D. N. Dumville, English Caroline Script and Monastic History: Studies in Benedictinism, A.D. 950—1030 (Woodbridge, 1993), p. 156. 12 ActaS, Feb. i. 384.

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contents from the rest of the manuscript, but another possibility is that either he, or indeed the Bollandists, brought this particular group of quires together from a variety of sources. The present codex otherwise contains no further indications of origin or provenance, and few firm conclusions can be drawn from the particular collocation of texts. The cult of St Alexis attained very wide popularity in England during the twelfth century, as to a lesser extent did that of Acacius and his 10,000 companions, martyred on Mount Ararat. By contrast, little is known about the cult of St Silvinus in England. His feast (17 February) occurs just once in all the surviving liturgical calendars from before 1100, in the calendar from an unknown centre in the south-west, in Salisbury, Cathedral Library, 150, dated to the second half of the tenth century.13 But apart from this isolated attestation, there seems to be very little other evidence of interest in the saint. Silvinus was a bishop of Thérouanne (d. 720) who was buried first at Auchy-aux-Moines (in the Pas de Calais), but just before that house came under attack from the Norman invaders in the late ninth century his remains were moved, eventually reaching Saint-Bertin (at Saint-Omer). In the eleventh century, when Auchy was restored, some fragments were returned there, but Saint-Bertin seems to have continued to venerate Silvinus alongside its own Bertin, though the Vita was composed in the ninth century at Auchy on the basis of a near-contemporary account of the saint.14 The known links between England and SaintBertin, not least via the two hagiographers Goscelin and Folcard, may therefore be one way to account for the presence of Silvinus's Vita in this compilation, but contribute little more to our knowledge of the manuscript's origin. D = Dublin, Trinity College, 172 (B. 2. 7). A composite codex, of which part B (pp. 9-398) is a compilation of hagiographical material, largely of English interest:15 pp. 9-20, John of Salisbury, Vita S. Thomae Cantuariensis (BHL 8180); 21-64, Aelred 13

Wormald, EK, no. 2. See C.-J. Destombes, Vies des Saints des dioceses de Cambrai et d'Arras (Cambrai, 1851-2), iii. 47-56. 15 M. L. Colker, Trinity College Library, Dublin: Descriptive Catalogue of Medieval and Renaissance Latin Manuscripts, 2 vols. (Dublin, 1991), pp. 310-20. Part A (pp. 2-7) contains Lives of Edward the Confessor, Edmund Rich, and Hugh of Lincoln, and is datable to the mid-i4th cent., and part C (pp. 401—44), of the late I4th cent, contains a collection of prophecies. 14

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of Rievaulx, Vita S. Edwardi regis (BHL 2423); 64-84, Aelred, De geneaologia regum Angliae', 84-194, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae', 195—205, Abbo of Fleury, Passio S. Edmundi (BHL 2392); 205-26, Samson, Miracula S. Eadmundi (BHL 2398); 226-30, Inuentio cum translatione S. Ragnerii (BHL 7054f); 230—9, Burghard, Passio S. Freomundi (BHL 3144b); 239-43, Vita S. Rumwoldi (BHL 7385); 243-52, excerpts from Bede, HE, concerning St Oswald; 253-9, VWer, divided into 9 lections; 259-64, Vita S. Aetheldrethae (BHL 2634; attributed by Colker to Thomas of Ely); 264-75, Miracula S. Aetheldrethae (BHL 2638); 276-88, Goscelin, Vita S. Mildrethae (BHL 5960); 289-308, Peter of Blois, Vita S. Guthlaci (BHL 3728); 308-16, Peter of Blois (?), Translatio S. Guthlaci (BHL 3729); 317-34, Dominic of Evesham, Vita S. Egwini (BHL 2433-6); 334-43, Vita S. Vulganii (BHL 8746); 345-98, Legenda S. Honorati (BHL 3976). Colker dates part B to the mid-fourteenth century, though other scholars have suggested the somewhat earlier date of the thirteenth century.16 For a long time the whole codex was believed erroneously to be of Westminster provenance,17 but Colker conjectures that it may have Northamptonshire connections, on the basis of a combination of different types of evidence: the occurrence of the name Whalley, which is a Northamptonshire name, on the front flyleaf, and the presence of the only surviving copy of the Life of Ragener, whose cult was largely confined to that region. The inclusion of the Life of St Rumwold, whose birth and death were purported to have occurred at King's Sutton in Northamptonshire, might be said to support this conjecture, though it is not compelling evidence in itself, but one might also take into account the preservation in this manuscript of the Passio S. Freomundi, whose geographical links are with the south-west Midlands. The entire text of part B appears to be the work of a single hand, writing in long lines. Spaces have been left throughout for coloured or historiated initials, virtually none of which was accomplished. The copy of VWer has been marked up for reading aloud, presumably (though not necessarily) within the liturgy, and the lection marks differ slightly from the arrangement of the chapters as found in the capitula-lists in MSS A and B. 16 See P. Grosjean, 'Catalogus Codicum hagiographicorum latinorum bibliothecarum Dublinensium', AB xlvi (1928), 81-148, at pp. 86-8, and M. Lapidge, 'Dominic of Evesham, Vita S. Ecgwini, episcopi et confessoris', AB cxiv (1978), 65-104, at p. 70. 17 Cf. T. K. Abbott, Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (Dublin and London, 1900), no. 72.

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O = Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 285 (Summary Catalogue 2430). This manuscript contains a collection of saints' lives and passions not arranged in calendrical order, all of them written in hands datable to the early thirteenth century. Among saints of universal veneration such as Martin (BHL 5610-16), Silvester (BHL 7726), Margaret (BHL 5306), and Blaise (BHL 1370), are included several who are of Insular origin: Edward the Confessor (BHL 2423, by Aelred of Rievaulx), Kenelm (BHL 4642, probably the work of Goscelin), Dunstan (BHL 2344, by Osbern), Ivo (BHL 4622 by Goscelin; followed by the only surviving copy of the Miracula of Ivo, BHL 4623), Æthelred and Æthelberht (BHL 264I-2; the only surviving copy, often attributed to Goscelin), Osgyth (BHL 6352), Oswald (BHL 6375-6, by Eadmer; accompanied by his book of miracles), David (BHL 2107, by Rhigyfarch), Patrick (BHL 6507), Ælfheah (a passio not listed in BHL), and at fos. I59 r -I6I v VWer.18 The latest datable items are, at fos. 166-80, materials relating to the canonization of Peter of Tarentaise which occurred in 1191. Winchcombe Abbey in Gloucestershire has in the past been put forward as the place where this hagiographical collection was put together, mainly on the basis of the presence of an otherwise unattested hymn to St Kenelm of Winchcombe immediately following the copy of his Life.19 Yet Ramsey Abbey seems perhaps a more likely stable, when the whole range of the contents are considered. Ramsey held the relics of the martyred brothers Æthelred and Æthelberht, as well as those of Ivo, and would have had an interest in Oswald, as its founding patron. The presence of a Life of Kenelm, and a hymn in his honour, can also fit into this picture, since the first abbot of the reformed Benedictine community of Winchcombe, Germanus, may have acted as abbot over his Winchcombe monks 'in exile' at Ramsey during a period of anti-monastic reaction in Mercia following the death of King Edgar in 975.20 18 See the description in Love, Saints' Lives, pp. cxxii-cxxiv, and in Rollason, Mildrith, p. 89. 19 See J. Raine (ed.), The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops, 3 vols., RS Ixxi (1879-94), ii, P. x. 20 See M. Lapidge, 'Abbot Germanus, Winchcombe, Ramsey and the Cambridge Psalter', in Words, Texts and Manuscripts: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Culture Presented to Helmut Gneuss on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday, ed. M. Korhammer (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 99—129, repr. in Anglo-Latin Literature, goo—1066 (London, 1993), and see also Love, Saints' Lives, pp. cxi—cxii.

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3. Lost copies

There is evidence for a lost copy of VWer, LectSex, and LectEorm. London, Gray's Inn Library, 3 is the first, and only surviving, volume of a four-volume legendary, written in the early twelfth century at St Werburgh's, Chester.21 The surviving volume contains Lives for feasts from 9 February to 29 June. Inserted paper fly-leaves (fos. ii, iii) contain a list, in an early sixteenth-century hand, of the contents of the present volume, and of three others which are now lost, in alphabetical order of saints with a reference for each Life to the number of the volume and the leaf within it. Volume I contains, at fos. I43v-I45r, a Vita S. Ætheldrede which begins with excerpts from Bede, HE, on Æthelthryth, and then moves on to the account of the tenth-century miracles which occurs in LE i. 43-8 (also found in Lincoln, Cathedral Library, 149, fos. I54v-6r, probably from Leominster, and possibly copied from the same exemplar).22 The list of contents includes, for leaf 172 of the now-lost third volume of the legendary, the item 'Werburg et sic consequenter de Sexburga, Ermenilda etc.', and then for leaf 178 'Ermenilda'. Presumably, then, this was a copy of VWer (which is the least one would expect of St Werburgh's), but possibly also the sets of lessons for Seaxburh and Eormenhild, though quite what might have been encompassed by 'etc.' is another question, frustratingly unanswerable. Corroboration of this information comes from the English version of the Life of Wxrburh by the Chester monk Henry Bradshaw, who refers more than once to the presence of a Latin Life of Wxrburh in 'the thrid Passionarie' of Chester.23 In his poem he also makes use of the content of the sets of lessons for Seaxburh and Eormenhild, which he had presumably read in that same volume. IV. THE LIVES

In this section, the Lives of the Ely saints will be analysed in an attempt to establish their date of composition and likely authorship, with an emphasis particularly upon determining the extent to which 21 See N. R. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, vols i-iii, and, with A. J. Piper, iv (Oxford, 1969—92), i. 52—5, and Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books, 2nd edn. (London, 1964), pp. 49-50. 22 See R. M. Thomson, A Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Lincoln Cathedral Chapter Library (Woodbridge, 1989), p. 117. On the miracles, see pp. Ixi—Ixiii below. 23 Bradshaw, i. 3246, and ii. 1691.

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the involvement of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin can be identified, given his presence at Ely in the later I080s. It seems fitting to begin with Ely's foremost saint, Æthelthryth, but thereafter the order in which the texts will be treated will be determined by the degree of evidence for identifying a possible author. I. The hagiography of St Æthelthryth As has already been observed, the earliest known hagiography of Æthelthryth was the account of her life which Bede included in the HE. There is no surviving evidence of any attempt to supersede or expand upon this account until the twelfth century; certainly when Ælfric came to write his Old English Life of Æthelthryth, it was to Bede that he turned.1 In the early twelfth century, however, this eighth-century account was evidently felt to be no longer sufficient. Probably as a direct result of the major translation of relics in 1106, a monk of Ely named Gregory set about producing the metrical account of Æthelthryth's life and posthumous miracles (BHL 2639), which is preserved uniquely in C.2 As it stands, this copy of Gregory's poem has been left unfinished, breaking off abruptly in the midst of describing Æthelthryth's later posthumous miracles. As has already been noted (see p. li above), the intention was clearly to continue, and it may be that the incompleteness presented by the manuscript should be interpreted as a breaking-off in composition by Gregory, rather than a breaking-off in copying by a scribe who was perhaps providing a fair copy. Evidence for the dating of his poem lies in the fact that Gregory, who wrote in the time of Henry I, spoke of miracles relating to Bishop Hervey's time as being 'nostro tempore' (see p. Hi). In C the poem is immediately preceded by a prose version of Æthelthryth's Life and miracles, which also appears to be incomplete at the end, but concludes with an account of three extra miracles not described in Gregory's poem as it stands; in other words, material which it has been assumed he had yet to versify.3 It seems reasonable to imagine that these prose and verse accounts were intended to be complementary, to furnish an 'opus geminatum' for Æthelthryth, cast in the mould of those composed in an earlier era by Bede for Cuthbert 1 See W. W. Skeat (ed.), Ælfric's Lives of Saints, 4 vols. in 2, EETS, OS Ixxvi, Ixxxii, xciv, cxiv (1881-1900), ii. 432-40. 2 See Thompson and Stevens, 'Gregory'. 3 Ibid., p. 343.

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and by Alcuin for Willibrord, but also for Swithun in the late tenth century.4 The assumption has been that Gregory had the prose text before him as he set about his composition, in other words that the prose text had already been produced;5 yet another likely proposition would be to regard the production of the two complementary works as concurrent, on the premise that they were intended to be of a piece with one another. For the description of Æthelthryth's life both prose and verse accounts depend entirely upon the content of Bede's narrative, padded out with the embroidery of rhetoric, which, as has been noted, the two versions often have in common.6 Given the tradition of the 'opus geminatum', it might be tempting to suggest that Gregory was responsible for the composition of the prose version as well as the verse—yet one thing which counts strongly against such a proposition is the fact that, as Thompson and Stevens have pointed out, there are differences of emphasis between the two versions, perhaps most notably the presentation of Æthelthryth's husband Ecgfrith as kind and patient in the prose, and as an enemy as bitter as Pharaoh was to the fleeing Israelites in the verse.7 Thus it is probably advisable to see the prose Life as the work of another hand. The situation, however, is not quite so straightforward. The prose account of Æthelthryth as presented in C has every appearance of being a composite text, and part of it is found in more than one recension. The first section—what we might call the Vita proper— which is the reworking of Bede's account into rhyming prose, occurs again with some variations of arrangement and word-order in the fourteenth-century manuscript D (BHL 2636d', the recension found in C is not listed), and yet another version again is found as part of LE (i. 3-32; listed as BHL 2634). Following the reworking of the Bedan material (which will be discussed in more detail below), there is a discrete section in a different prose style, recording later posthumous miracles of Æthelthryth; by contrast with the first section, it is preserved in virtually identical form in both C and D (BHL 2638; 4

For discussion of the development of this literary conceit, see P. Godman, 'The Anglo-Latin opus geminatum: From Aldhelm to Alcuin', Medium Aevum, 1 (1981), 215-29, and G. Wieland, 'Geminus Stilus: Studies in Anglo-Latin hagiography', in Insular Latin Studies: Papers on Latin Texts and Manuscripts of the British Isles, 550-1066, ed. M. W. Herren (Toronto, 1981), pp. 113-33. 5 This was taken for granted by Blake, LE, p. xxx. Thompson and Stevens are, however, more cautious, pointing out that 'there is very little real evidence for or against this contention', but suggesting that the incompleteness of the poem might indicate that it was indeed a versification of the prose Life, or of its source (p. 343 n. 38). 6 7 Ibid., p. 335. Ibid., pp. 344-5.

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hereafter referred to as the Miracula S. Ætheldrethe, abbreviated to MirÆth). This section opens with a preface of strongly homiletic tone in which much of what has already been said in both recensions of the Vita proper about Æthelthryth's life is rehearsed briefly and allusively in quite different words. The author makes a clear statement of his intentions: 'preclara et stupenda miraculorum insignia que . . . patrata fuisse in antiquis leguntur scedulis, nouo dictante stilo nouis insudauimus commendare paginis', in other words, to provide a reworking of an earlier account of the saint's miracles. From this fact, and the noticeable difference of style, it is evident that MirÆth is a separate composition, and should be allowed to stand alone as a text, distinct from the preceding Vita. After his preface, the author of MirÆth proceeds to recount posthumous miracles which occurred at Ely during the period 870-970, focusing upon the attempt of a presumptuous secular clerk to test the integrity of the saint's remains by poking a stick into the sarcophagus, through a hole which had been made some years before by a rapacious Danish invader. In C alone, MirÆth is followed immediately by a further section in yet another different prose style, describing four later miracles, one of which, the story of the trial of Brihtstan, is explicitly assigned to the sixteenth year of the reign of Henry I, that is, to 1115-16. In fact, all these miracles appear to pertain to the time of Bishop Hervey (110931). They also all reappear in virtually identical form in LE8 They are introduced as recent events, the first one being described as 'rem nouiter gestam', and clearly represent an addition to the earlier text, MirÆth. Given that the miracles which are described in the later sections of C relate to nearly contemporary events in the early twelfth century, it is striking that there seems to be a narrative hiatus of over a century. The story of the impudent secular clerk and the ninth- and tenthcentury miracles are also included in LE (i. 43-9), but in a much shorter version (BHL 2634a, referred to hereafter by its incipit, 'Transactis haut eminus'). Blake had conjectured that this simpler version, which he described as 'a self-sufficient and coherent narrative' was actually the earlier account, of which MirÆth represents a subsequent retelling.9 In the form incorporated into LE the story of the presumptuous clerk is used as an envelope device for the other miracle stories. This clerk is eager to tinker with Æthelthryth's relics, against the better advice of some of his elders, one of whom addresses 8

LE iii. 33—6 (see also p. xxx).

9

Ibid., p. xxxii.

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him with words to the effect of 'You haven't been here long enough to have witnessed any of Æthelthryth's miracles, so let me tell you a story or two'.10 Five miracle stories then follow, all of them described relatively briefly and simply, then the tale of the presumptuous priest is resumed and brought to its conclusion, and the whole narrative is rounded off with a fleeting reference to the restoration of monasticism to Ely under Edgar, and the concluding sentence 'Hec breuiter memorantes, in libro miraculorum beate uirginis plene disseruntur' ['Mentioning these things in brief, they are set out in full in the book of miracles of the blessed virgin']. By contrast, MirÆth presents the narrative in chronological order, thus placing the five miracle stories first (cc. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7), followed by the whole story of the presumptuous priest and his accomplices. There the old priest who advises against tampering with Æthelthryth's shrine is made to say 'let me tell you a story or two . . .', but since his stories have already been told, so to speak, by the external narrator, his telling is left to the reader's imagination, and the narrative passes swiftly on towards the clerk's demise. In the preface, the author makes the admittedly standard claim to be reworking an earlier account preserved 'in antiquis . . . scedulis'. The accuracy of Blake's conjecture about the primacy of 'Transactis haud eminus' might be regarded as finding confirmation in the presence of the same version of those miracles in two other extant manuscripts. Two volumes which each once formed part of different twelfth-century legendaries, Lincoln, Cathedral Library 149, and London, Gray's Inn 3, both offer an account of Æthelthryth which consists of unadorned excerpts from Bede's HE followed immediately by 'Transactis haud eminus', exactly as found in LE, apart from one or two minor variant readings.11 Unfortunately both copies break off before the concluding section of the narrative as found in LE, in fact in the midst of a sentence, and it is evident that they were drawing upon a defective exemplar. The Gray's Inn copy ends with the words 'suppliciis condemnatus sempiternis, infeliciter perpetuis', where the noun which the last adjective describes is lacking, as is the verb of the clause (which in LE continues as 'cruciatibus subiacebis'), and the Lincoln copy has 'peribis' for 'perpetuis', thus supplying a verb, which clearly represents the scribe's attempt to make sense of a nonsensical exemplar. Either the Lincoln manuscript was copied from Gray's Inn 3, or they were both drawing upon the same 10

LE i. 43 (p. 58).

11

On these two manuscripts, see above, p. Iviii.

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defective exemplar. Both legendaries seem to have been produced in the West Midlands, at Leominster and Chester respectively. One obvious conclusion would be to see these two legendaries as having drawn upon a copy of Book i of LE. Yet the dating may present some problems. Gray's Inn 3 has been dated by Ker to the early twelfth century, which would have been rather soon for copies of LE to be in currency, even allowing for the fact that, as will be noted below, some time elapsed between the completion of Book i and the finishing of the whole work in the third quarter of the century.12 One might also wonder why, with the whole of LE i to choose from, the compiler of a legendary should have selected precisely these chapters, ignoring, for example, the description of the smashing of Æthelthryth's shrine by a marauding Dane, and the swiftly ensuing divine retribution. An alternative explanation could therefore be that the legendaries and LE had a common source. In LE the recording of this particular group of posthumous miracles is ascribed to Ælfhelm, one of the secular clerks who had actually been involved in the events described, who is explicitly said to have written it down: 'contigit quod unus illorum Alfelmus nomine sub persona alterius de se, qui errori et facinori eorum consenserat, asseruit et scripsit, quod hic sub silentio non preterimus'.13 In MirÆth Ælfhelm is mentioned by name, without any hint that he had produced a written account: 'Nam sicut postmodum unus ex illis Alfelmus nomine, qui et presbiter, referre solitus erat, ita. . . .' Now it is possible that 'Transactis haud eminus', the material incorporated into LE (and preserved in the two legendaries just mentioned), is indeed Ælfhelm's own written account of events. One objection to this might seem to be the fact that in the final section (LE i. 49), Ælfhelm is referred to in the third person, once as 'presbiter qui huius criminis fuit particeps' and once by name, but this can be accounted for by the rather strange statement already reported above, namely that Ælfhelm wrote his account 'sub persona alterius de se', presumably meaning that he assumed a separate identity as narrator, thus taking a step back from the events he was describing. If we were able to follow Blake in regarding 'Transactis haud eminus' as Ælfhelm's narrative in its original form, it would then represent an 12 Blake (LE, p. xxxii) certainly did not envisage that Book i could have been completed early enough to have been copied by MS C, dated to between 1116 and 1131. 13 LE, p. 57, 'there occurred an event which one of them, named Ælfhelm, under the guise of a person distinct from himself, the one who had joined in with their error and crime, declared and set down in writing, which we shall not pass over in silence here.'

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isolated specimen of tenth-century Ely hagiography. There is no absolutely secure way to determine whether or not the compiler of LE made what we might call editorial interventions in the version of Ælfhelm's account which he had before him (because we cannot be totally certain that the copies in the two legendaries represent witnesses independent of LE), so that there may seem little mileage in any attempt to analyse the Latin style of 'Transactis haud eminus' against the background of what is known about the prevalent literary style of the later tenth century in England. What has come to be called the 'hermeneutic style', characterized by arcane vocabulary, made up of grecisms, archaisms, and neologisms,14 was closely linked with the Benedictine reform movement which swept before it such men, presumably, as Ælfhelm, unless they were willing themselves to be 'reformed' into Benedictine monks. There is no means of determining the precise date of the events described in this text, apart from the fact that they occurred before Æthelwold's refoundation of Ely, and so we shall probably never know the period or circumstances in which Ælfhelm was writing. However, the flavour and tone of his account, if authentic, would seem to imply that he had indeed seen the light and joined the ranks of Æthelwold's monks by the time he wrote, since he refers to England's old monasteries as being occupied 'ab utriusque sexus canonicis nomine, non dignitate' (c. 43), dismissing his own former rank as canonical in name alone, and not in worthiness for office. In the mean time, it is unlikely that MirÆth could be regarded as Ælfhelm's original. Its author makes clear that he is rewriting ('nouo dictante stilo nouis insudauimus commendare paginis'), and the narrative does indeed have all the signs of being the rhetorical inflation of a briefer account. A further two questions remain to be addressed, namely the date at which MirÆth was composed and, following on from that, the reason why the compiler of LE chose to incorporate the shorter version of Ælfhelm's account. As has already been stated, there is a conspicuous difference of prose style between the redactions of the Vita proper and MirÆth, and it is probably significant that whereas C and D offer noticeably distinct versions of the Vita, they are almost unanimous about the text of MirÆth. The latter clearly represents a different phase of activity: an earlier text pressed into service as part of the early twelfth-century 'opus 14 See M. Lapidge, 'The hermeneutic style in tenth-century Anglo-Latin literature', ASE iv (1975), 67—111, repr. in Anglo-Latin Literature, 900—1066.

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geminatum' project, whereas the two recensions of the Vita apparently present a text still open to stylistic modification. There is unfortunately nothing in the content of MirÆth which can be used to date the text: it could have been composed at any time between the date of the events described and that of the earlier of the two manuscripts, C. The prose style and diction of this text may nevertheless offer some clues as to its author. As has already been noted, it is written in rhyming prose, with plentiful use of alliteration. There is a marked preference for polysyllabic adverbs, for example: 'oblectabiliter', 'irreflexibiliter', 'indeficienter', 'immarcescibiliter', and 'intolerabiliter'; for diminutives, such as 'prefatiuncula', 'matruncula', 'lingula' and 'uerbula', 'puellula', 'cateruula' (which is extremely rarely attested elsewhere), 'seruula', 'ancillula', 'plebecula', 'muliercula', 'misella', 'famula'; and for agentive nouns in both masculine and feminine form: 'temerator', 'perpetrator', and 'presumptor', 'uiolatrix', as well as a variety of compound adjectives: 'salutiferus', 'dulcisonus', 'flammiuomus', 'letiferus', 'neciferus', 'mellifluus', and 'largifluus'. Overall the diction of MirÆth can be fairly described as figurative and poetic, and taking all these stylistic observations together one might feel inclined to wonder whether Goscelin could have been the author. Given that, as already noted above, it was in honour of Æthelthryth specifically that Goscelin was described as writing liturgical material at Ely, it may perhaps seem surprising not to be able to discern any trace of his handiwork in the surviving hagiography of the saint. MirÆth may, therefore, seem to be the best candidate. As well as the features already mentioned, there are certain turns of phrase which are typical of Goscelin's style: for example the use of the word 'gleba' (c. 8) to denote the saint's bodily remains, the use of subtle allusions to the Song of Songs ('eius speciem concupiscens earn in suum ineffabilem thalamum introduxit') and to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins ('cum lampade ardenti et oleo sufficienti'). All this being said, however, the case for ascription of this text to Goscelin does not on the whole feel quite as convincing as that of the other texts which will be discussed in what follows, and so he is probably best left as one of several possibilities. There are some features of the text which do not seem to match so closely with well-established characteristics of his style, and one of these is the persistent use of adnominatio, specifically within a sequence of short rhyming phrases (the latter in itself certainly a trick much beloved of Goscelin). Furthermore, although it is certainly

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true that Goscelin was a poet of some distinction, the way in which MirÆth appears to have been quite randomly dotted with leonine hexameters, either as lone verses or in small groups, is quite unlike anything that we find in his securely-attested works. The Vita S. Edithe is studded with often quite long poems in a great variety of metres, and otherwise, for the most part, Goscelin confined himself to the use of verses as part of a proem or as concluding colophons.15 If anything, our hexameter-dotted text might seem to have rather more in common with Gregory's poem on Æthelthryth, or indeed with the verses on Æthelwold incorporated into the Libellus Æthelwoldi, both of which were compiled at about the same period at Ely.16 There is nothing in the diction of the verses in MirÆth which links them very closely either to Gregory's long poem, or to the shorter Æthelwold verses, so it is not at present possible to go any further and suggest that, for example, Gregory himself was the author of the text. Nevertheless, it may seem more convincing to place this rewriting of Ælfhelm's tenth-century account within the context of these two other products of Bishop Hervey's regime—after all, the Libellus Æthelwoldi also represents the rewriting and translation into Latin of a late tenth-century account of the refoundation and endowments of Ely, this time of one in Old English and regrettably now lost.17 One might legitimately ask why whoever produced the Æthelthryth 'opus geminatum' incorporated a rewritten version of these tenth-century events, whereas the compiler of LE preferred to follow the more ancient authority. Blake noted that 'Transactis haud eminus' in LE is preceded by two chapters on the Danish attack on Ely and subsequent events, in what he identifies as a more sophisticated style, showing features in common with MirÆth. Either LE was drawing upon MirÆth, or, as Blake suggested, both MirÆth and LE i. 41-2 were based upon yet another version of Ælfhelm's work. This might seem rather to multiply entities excessively. Another 15 Examples being the three lines at the opening of Hist, trans., addressed to Anselm (ActaS, Maii, vi. 411 D), and the six at the end of his Vita S. Wlfhildae (Colker, 'Texts', p. 434), most of which exhibit monosyllabic rhyme. 16 For a discussion of the possibility that Gregory composed the verses in the Libellus too (together with an edition of the poems), see Lapidge and Winterbottom, Wulfstan, pp. 81-5. 17 An edition of the Libellus is being prepared by S. D. Keynes and A. Kennedy, AngloSaxon Ely: Records of Ely Abbey and its Benefactors in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries (Woodbridge, forthcoming).

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construction of the relationship of these different copies could be the following: Ælfhelm's account is broadly represented by 'Transactis haud eminus', preserved and in circulation along with the relevant extracts from Bede, thus constituting a Vita, translatio, et miracula of the saint. In the twelfth century two strands of literary activity can be discerned at Ely: one is the gradual drawing together of materials for a house history, the combination of the work of a chronicler and a cartularist, the end result of which is LE, with another product of the same activity being the Libellus Æthelwoldi; the other is a concern for the production of suitable monuments of hagiography in an up-todate and elegant Latin style. The former enterprise, incorporating as it does a variety of documents—charters and so on—might also have prized as worthy of transmission the 'authentic' account of posthumous miracles written by Ælfhelm, one who saw them with his own eyes. That same material, viewed from the perspective of the other, hagiographical, enterprise, might have seemed unnecessarily brief and unstylish, so that it was thoroughly rewritten either at about the same time as the Vita of Æthelthryth was being drawn up, or shortly before. Some sections of MirÆth (the proem, and cc. 3-6) were subsequently incorporated into a book of Æthelthryth's miracles which is preserved in London, BL, Cotton Domitian xv. This manuscript contains, in a late thirteenth-century script, a chronicle from the birth of Christ to 1158, a general prologue, then Book i of LE (fos. 7-3Iv), and a shorter version (as found also in London, BL, Cotton Titus A. i, of the late twelfth or early thirteenth century) of Book ii (fos. 74-94). Between these two books comes a booklet on the second translation of Æthelthryth in 1106, and a book of miracles, which is where the excerpts from MirÆth occur. The account of Æthelthryth's posthumous miracles supplied by the Bollandists in Acta Sanctorum derived from Cotton Domitian xv: the Bollandist introduction refers to a Cotton manuscript but without supplying further details.18 Cotton Domitian xv may well represent a later copy of the 'liber miraculorum' alluded to in LE i. 49 (see above p. Ixii). The preface from MirÆth is placed at the head of the book of miracles, but cc. 3-6 18 ActaS, Junii, iv, pp. 493-522, 538-76- Cf. LE, p. xxvii, n. 5. The Bollandists had used a transcript of Cotton Domitian xv owned by the English college at Douai, which was copied for Holland and collated with the original in the Cotton Library. This slightly tortuous transmission means that the ActaS text shows several errors of transcription (or perhaps silent editorial interventions) when collated with Cotton Domitian xv itself.

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occur in the midst of other episodes which relate to the twelfth century; in other words, they are treated merely as a further signs of the saint's wonder-working, without regard for their historical context.19 The testimony of Cotton Domitian xv might seem also to support the earlier suggestion that a copy of the first book of LE was in circulation early enough to have been drawn upon by the two legendaries mentioned above. For in weighing up the fact that the scribe of Cotton Domitian xv apparently did not have access to a complete copy of LE, Blake surmised that a manuscript of Book i had indeed existed separately, since the compiler acknowledges some delay between the two books in his proem to Book ii.20 To revert to the prose Vita proper: as already stated, this text, essentially an embroidered version of Bede's account of Æthelthryth, adding almost no new information, but only verbiage, survives in two recensions, preserved in MSS C and D. The two versions have many phrases in common, and both show some use of rhyme, to a greater or lesser extent. But of the two versions, C is decidedly longer, not because any extra information, as such, is introduced, but because it is more verbose, and expatiates at greater length, for example, upon the virtue of virginity, and on the struggle between Æthelthryth and Ecgfrith. The precise nature of the relationship between the C and D versions is not immediately obvious, but they certainly show signs of two distinct stylistic impulses. Compare the first chapters of C and D (see appendix A below): in the first sentence C provides an extra rhyming clause ('. . . angligena'), but also replaces the fairly ordinary 'nobilissimis parentibus orta' with the more pompous and ringing 'utriusque titulo nobilitatis insignita' (which effectively says the same thing, namely that both her parents were noble), and then also replaces the standard 'ueracissimus' ('most truthful') with the more grandiose 'luculentissimus' ('most brilliant'). C also tries for hyperbaton, that interlacing of pairs of nouns and adjectives much beloved of Insular Latin authors of an earlier age: for example, 'Orientalium regis Anglorum Anne', as opposed to 'Anne regis Orientalium Anglorum' in D (and LE). As for the second sentence, 'more secularium' introduces a rhyme for 'omnium', 'precipuum', and 'futurum'. Into the next-but-one sentence again the C version introduces further rhyming clauses, by replacing 'molesta' with 19 20

The proem is printed in ActaS, lunii, iv. 538E—540B, and cc. 3—6 at 57IE—73D. Blake, p. xlv.

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what appears to be a coinage, 'angustiabilis',21 and by adding 'cuius actione . . . quiuis', both of which link up with 'copiis', and 'mitis'. If all the examples of this type of difference between C and D are examined, the overall impression is that C is the reworking of a text similar to that of D. The reasoning behind this is that it would perhaps seem extraordinary if the scribe of D (or its exemplar), having before him the text which C offers, were to have consistently unpicked all the carefully placed rhymes, as well as unscrambling the clauses with interlace (which on its own might have seemed a more reasonable intervention for the sake of clarity). Though it is true that D is a much shorter text than C, and therefore in some respects could be regarded as an abbreviation of it, the differences between the two versions go beyond the mere omission of superfluous verbiage. There are also some sections where the D version follows Bede's words much more closely than does C, which might also seem an unnecessary effort of restoration. One external factor may be taken to support the hypothesis that although preserved in a later manuscript, the D version actually represents an earlier form of the Vita than that preserved in C. As has already been mentioned, it is only in C that the account of later (twelfth-century) events is added on to the end of the narrative of tenth-century miracles (MirÆth), so that D would appear to represent an earlier stage in the development of the Æthelthryth dossier. An extra strand of complexity is that both the C and D versions of the Vita have much in common with LE i. 3-32, which effectively presents another Vita of the saint. When looking into the sources likely to have been used by the compiler of LE, Blake drew attention to C and D, and concluded that neither of them can have been derived from LE itself, on the grounds that it contains material which he felt that C and D would not have omitted.22 In any case the writing of C predates the completion of Book i of LE. It should be noted, nevertheless, that Blake's assumption that LE includes material on the life of Æthelthryth 'which they [namely C and D] would not have passed over' presupposes that the redactor(s) of C and D and the compiler of LE had one and the same purpose and perspective, which, as has already been argued in the foregoing discussion of Æthelthryth's miracles, was not necessarily the case. Blake further 21 At any rate, the word is not attested in DMLBS, nor in L&S, and does not occur either on the CETEDOC Library of Christian Latin Texts (CLCLT-4) CD-Rom database (Brepols, 2000), or on that of the Chadwyck—Healey Patrologia Latina Database (Release 3, 22 1994). LE, p. xxxi.

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deduced that LE could not have drawn upon C alone, because of the presence of a large number of verbal parallels with D which are not preserved in C (for example i. 4); and that it could not have drawn upon an antecedent of D alone, because there are occasional phrases found in LE and in C, but not in D (for example in i. 4, 10, 21, 26, 27, 28), and at least one place where very close correspondence with C (i. 15 on the name Ely) is unparalleled in D. Another possibility is that the compiler of LE had C as well as an earlier copy of D. It might seem a strange procedure to draw mainly on the latter and just to select the occasional phrase from C. So Blake suggested that it is more likely that the compiler drew upon a lost version. On account of a portion of text—words in praise of Æthelthryth— which was placed at the end in D, but midway in C and LE (in i. 21, 'Quam felix es beata uirgo . . . resurgentis'), Blake posited the existence of an original bipartite text based upon Bede's account, with part I ending at Æthelthryth's death. He further suggested that D (or, more likely, its exemplar) was copied from this original text, but the two parts were merged, with the concluding section of part I shifted to the very end. Another version was made on the basis of this original, but this time the bipartite structure was retained, though some phrases, and the internal structure of the two parts, were altered; and from this version stemmed C and LE. As for the question of an author for the Vita, in the case of either recension (or, just conceivably, both of them), one might, for the sake of argument, briefly consider Goscelin's claims, even though his name has never hitherto been put forward. Although the anecdotal evidence that we have from LE might incline us to think that he could have been commissioned to compose a Life of the saint, from a stylistic point of view there is very little about either recension which can be used to support the conjecture with any conviction. Although in the C version rhyme is certainly striven for quite rigorously, the diction is otherwise far less ornate than anything we have which was written by Goscelin, with none of his characteristically sensual imagery and luscious metaphor. As far as can be told, this text was the work of an unnamed author, who was probably writing at Ely, and the rewritten version that of yet another anonymous author. As has already been noted above (p. Ix), differences of emphasis make it unlikely that Gregory, the author of the verse Life, could have been responsible for its prose counterpart. To sum up the conclusions that have speculatively been drawn: in

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the late tenth century a short account of the posthumous miracles of Æthelthryth seems to have been composed by Ælfhelm. This may be preserved in LE, and in two other manuscripts. At this time, it is likely that Bede's account of Æthelthryth was still regarded as an adequate portrayal of Ely's patroness. Ælfhelm's work was subsequently rewritten, and furnished with a preface which by way of a background set out in brief the circumstances of Æthelthryth's life, burial, and first translation, as well as of the Viking activity at Ely. This rewriting could have occurred at any time between the late tenth century and the copying of the first manuscript which preserves it, datable to the first half of the twelfth century. Under Bishop Hervey it was felt necessary to furnish the patroness with new literary monuments which could demonstrate the quality of learning at Ely, as well as emphasizing an ancient heritage. At about this time, then, an effort was made to dress up and flesh out the content of Bede's account of Æthelthryth in what was felt to be the appropriate literary style of the day. At about the same time Gregory was commissioned to produce his verse Life, or possibly to construct the entire 'opus geminatum', matching his own hexameters with a prose account assembled from a mixture of pre-existing materials, possibly including some work produced by one of his contemporaries at Ely. The efforts towards the recording of Ely's history in fitting style reached their pinnacle with the production of LE in the later twelfth century; the whole of the first book is devoted to a detailed account of Æthelthryth's life and posthumous miracles, derived to a limited extent from the earlier more explicitly hagiographical material on the saint. 2. Vita S. Werburge The one item in the hagiographical dossier from Ely which sits the most lightly to the geographical context, namely VWer, has perhaps most frequently been ascribed to Goscelin (BHL 8855).1 This text enjoyed a rather wider circulation than the rest of the Ely lives, but is also distinct insofar as Wærburh was the only saint of whose relics Ely did not claim possession, the link being simply that of family ties and the claim that the saint took the veil there. There is no surviving manuscript of the Vita earlier than 1100, and it can only be very roughly dated from internal evidence: SS Cyneburh, Cyneswith, and 1 See Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue, i. 421—3, who comments 'The style, as is usual with Goscelin, is very inflated'. Cf. ActaS, Feb. i. 386, and Bradshaw, pp. xix—xxvi.

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Tibba are described as resting at Peterborough, to which they were translated in 963, and Eadburh is said to rest at Lyminge in Kent, whence she was purported to have been translated to St Gregory's, Canterbury, in 1085. If we are to see Goscelin's composition of VWer as arising from his brief stay at Ely, which may have been in about 1087, then there would seem to be a conflict of dates. I would argue, however, that the latter of the two dates just suggested for the composition of the Life, namely 1085, is open to question. The reference to Eadburh's resting at Lyminge comes in the opening genealogical section of VWer which seems very clearly to be indebted to the KRL, discussed above (pp. xxvi-xxxii). If that document was Goscelin's principal source for this section, he (and his local informants) may not yet even have been aware that Eadburh's remains had come to St Gregory's so recently. It was certainly a fact which exercised Goscelin's intellect considerably once he had become closely involved in the life and concerns of St Augustine's, which initiated a bitter dispute with St Gregory's over the latter's claim to possess the remains not only of Eadburh of Lyminge, but also of Mildrith, whom the monks of St Augustine's believed they had acquired in 1030.2 But there is no reason why news of St Gregory's recent acquisition should necessarily have percolated to East Anglia. Thus it may be permissible to shift the terminus ante quern for the composition of VWer later than 1085. Unlike very many of Goscelin's compositions, VWer has no preface, though two of the extant copies preserve a list of chapterheadings. These should probably be regarded as part of the original composition; each of them sums up the content in an allusive fashion reminiscent of chapter-lists which Goscelin prefixed to some of his known works.3 The Vita is written in a style of rhyming prose which has a great deal in common with Goscelin's other writings, from which often strikingly close parallels can be furnished for the diction of VWer. With the opening 'Filia regum et sponsa Christi decentissima uirgo' one might compare Goscelin's Vita S. Mildrethe: 'Regum proles, dignissima uirgo Domini' (Seaxburh is 'Regum proles et regum parens'). Compare also the reason given for elaborating 2 For an account of this dispute, along with an edition of Goscelin's contribution to it, see M. L. Colker, 'A hagiographic polemic', Mediaeval Studies, xxxix (1977), 60-108. 3 Compare e.g. the chapter-headings of the Vita S. Wuhini, ed. Talbot, 'The Life', PP- 73-5-

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upon Wærburh's genealogy with that given for describing Mildrith's

(c. I): Quod ut lucidius comprobetur, progenitores eius et cognatos, ab his modo qui Christo initiati sunt, retexere dignum uidetur, ut horum natiuo auro et gemmis uel rosis ac liliis corona uirgini formetur: per quos nouella Anglorum ecclesia sumpsit augmentum, sicut per apostolicos patres exordium.4 The terms in which the genealogy is recounted are very similar. The Vita S. Mildrethe is more expansive, more leisurely (it is a significantly longer piece of work, and is accompanied by a substantial collection of miracles), but otherwise the conception is similar (c. 4): Primogenitus regis Ermenredus, ex regali coniuge Oslaua gemellas et martyriales Christi laureas Athelredum atque Athelbertum germinauit. Sanctas quoque paradisiaci et euangelici fontis filias quattuor, Domneuam, Ermenbergam, Ermenburgam, et Ermengitham.5 and, from VWer, c. I: Eormenredo autem ex inclita coniuge Oslaua nati sunt Ethelredus atque Ethelbrihtus, quos innocenter iugulatos splendida lucis columna de celo prodidit Christi martires. Quattuor quoque sibi filie sancte, Domneua, Ermenberga, Ermenburga, et Ermengyða, uelut paradisiaci fontis quadrifida emicuere flumina. Consider also the following: VWer, c. 2: Sanctissima uero parens non cessabat . . . accendere lampadem eius oleo et flamma charitatis inextinguibili. Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 6: Hanc preclara genitrix ... ad ardentem lampadem ipsius oleum indeficiens amministrare satagebat.6 6 4 Rollason, Mildrith, p. III, 'So that it [scil. her 'genus'] might be demonstrated the more clearly, it seems fitting to recount her progenitors and relatives, beginning from those who were first initiated into Christ, so that from their native gold and gems, or roses and lilies, a crown might be wreathed for the virgin: through them the new church of the English received its increase, just as it had received its beginning through the apostolic fathers.' 5 Rollason, Mildrith, p. 114, 'The King's first-born, Eormenred, begot by his royal wife Oslafa the twins and martyred laurel-wreaths of Christ, Æthelred and Æthelberht. Also four holy daughters of the paradisiacal and evangelic spring, Domneva, Ermenberg, Ermenburh, and Ermengith.' 6 Ibid., p. 119, 'Her noble mother . . . strove to supply her burning lamp with unfailing oil.'

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Vita S. Ethelburge, cc. 2, 3, and 4: fere omnes accensis lampadibus . . . multum olei flammantis supernae laetitiae in ipsis uirgineis uasis . . . ut ornarent lampades suas inextinguibilis olei lumine7

Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 10: ut qui eius lampadem amplius accenderat caritate perhenni.8

Or again compare the following: VWer, c. 3: Contendebant alterutra pietate mater et filia, que humilior, que posset esse subiectior . . . quibus clementie uisceribus se in cunctos diffuderit

Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 23: una erat in eis contentio, que humilior, que obedientior, que uigilantior, que . . . sanctissime matri esset proximior9 ac diffusa in omnibus precordiis maternis trahebat omnes ad Dominum.10

And with VWer, c. 5: erga subiectos ita erat magistra ut potius uideretur ministra. Equabat uel magis subiciebat se infimis, malens si liceret locum extremitatis quam prelationis . . . portabat omnes quasi uiscera sua, fouebat acsi uterina pignora

compare Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 23: Ministra esse malebat quam magistra, prodesse quam preesse, famulatu quam precepto caritatis obsequium docere. Mansuetudine magis quam rigore, patientia quam terrore uincere curabat.11 Portabat Dominicum gregem iuxta uocem Domini ad Moisen, sicut portare solet nutrix infantulum suum.12

and also Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 4: Portabat omnes maternis uisceribus, lactabat caelestium desideriorum uberibus.13

With VWer, c. 5: Corpore in terris, animo conuersabatur in celis 7

8 Colker, 'Texts', pp. 402 and 404. Ibid., p. 430. I0 Rollason, MUdrith, p. 137. Ibid., p. 137. 11 Ibid., p. 136, 'She preferred to be handmaid rather than mistress, to be of service rather to be in charge, to teach love's obedience by ministration rather than precept. She took care to overcome with kindness rather than strictness, with patience rather than fear.' 12 Ibid., p. 137, 'she bore the Lord's flock, following the Lord's words to Moses, just as a nurse is wont to bear her child.' 13 Colker, 'Texts', p. 424. 9

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compare Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 26: iam in celis erat conuersatio sua et, solo corpore in terris posito, tola mente et anima degebat inter siderea agmina.14

With VWer, c. 9: Gaudebat beata anima quasi ad epulas inuitat

compare Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 27: Gaudebat, exultabat, triumphabat tamquam ad supernas epulas inuitata et in thalamum Domini sui producenda.15

And with VWer, c. 2: et plantare in ea inmarcessibilia germina paradisi

compare De trans. SS. uirg., c. I: ceu paradysus Domini omnia uirtutum germina spiral.16

With VWer, c. 2: gemme, uestes auro texte, et quicquid fert pompatica mundi iactantia, onerosa sibi magis erant quam gloriosa . . . induitur habitus sacre religionis, uestis pulla pro ornamento glorie, uelum capitis humile pro regni assumitur diademate

compare Vita S. Edithe i. 4: pro aurotexta purpura induitur nigra . . . tunica, pro aureis monilibus ornatur pudore, pro regali diademate fusco uelatur flammeolo.17

Shorter phrases which occur regularly within Goscelin's æuvre might also be picked out of VWer, for example in c. I, 'per protodoctorem suum Augustinum', which can be compared with Vita S. Ethelburge c. I, 'per sanctum protodoctorem et primum antistitem suum Augustinum', or Hist, maior v. 49, 'ad ilium novum et inauditum nostrae salutis protodoctorem Augustinum' and Hist, trans, ii. 23, 'protodoctor Augustinus'.18 Another example is the regular use of the phrase 'uulnerata caritas' from the Song of Songs, which occurs in VWer, c. 2, 'erga omnium necessitates uulnerate caritatis uiscera impendebat', and again in Vita 14 Rollason, Mildrith, p. 139, 'now her life was in heaven and with only her body still on earth, in her whole mind and soul she dwelt among the starry ranks.' 15 Ibid., p. 141, 'She rejoiced, exulted, triumphed as if she had been bidden to the heavenly banquets, to be brought into her Lord's chamber.' 16 Colker, 'Texts', p. 436. 17 Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 43. 18 Colker, 'Texts', p. 400; PL Ixxx. 89 and ActaS, Maii, vi (3rd edn.). 43SF.

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S. Mildrethe, cc. 7 and 26, 'alterna uulnerate caritatis precordia' and 'mirabiles uulnerate caritatis cruciatus', in Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 9, 'uberibus lacrimis uulneratae caritatis', and on at least five occasions in LC.19 It should be fairly clear from these parallels that there are good reasons for supposing that Goscelin composed VWer. One slightly puzzling aspect of VWer is the absence of any real explanation for the presence of Wærburh's relics at Chester. The fact that she lies there is baldly announced thus: 'in Cestra ciuitate requiescit'; the statement might just as well have been taken directly from a Resting-Places list, and thereafter no reference whatsoever is made to Chester or its claims upon the saint. In the concluding section of the Vita considerable space is given to an attempt to account for the corruption of Wærburh's body at the time of the Danish invasions, but a conspicuous silence falls over its passage onwards from Hanbury. Very possibly that silence cloaks a fundamental lack of information; particularly if this text were commissioned or composed at Ely, the details about Wærburh's relics may actually have been rather hazy, and in any case of secondary interest to an emphasis upon the saint's Ely connections. As it has been preserved, the Vita can hardly have seemed sufficient for a Chester audience, since one might imagine that the community there would have been keen to emphasize the efficacy of her presence among them, by publishing some record of miracles worked in association with her relics. It will be conjectured below (p. cxix), that such a record did indeed exist. In 1092, St Werburgh's, Chester, was refounded and populated with Benedictine monks from Bec (under the patronage of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester and nephew of William the Conqueror),20 and in the mid l090s the saint's remains must have been retranslated as a consequence of Norman rebuilding.21 Such an event could well have provided the motivation for hagiographical production at Chester, but it would be quite mistaken to place the Vita edited here in that context. Overall, then, there appear to be few obstacles to attributing VWer to Goscelin. The most likely occasion for its composition would seem to be his brief sojourn at Ely, or shortly afterwards, since there is no 19

Rollason, Mildrith, p. 120; Colker, 'Texts', p. 428; and LC pp. 28, 29, 30, 45, and 68. Recorded by Henry Bradshaw, ii. 1241-1359 (pp. 173-7), but also cf. William of Malmesbury, Gesta pontificum, iv. 172, and Gesta regum, ii. 13. 21 For an account of the Norman work at St Werburgh's, Chester, see now E. Fernie, The Architecture of Norman England (Oxford, 2000), pp. I66—8. 20

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reason why, even having moved on from there, he could not have been commissioned to produce hagiography on that community's behalf, perhaps to defray a debt of hospitality. The identification of Goscelin as the author of VWer has consequences for the attribution of another text. At the conclusion of the account of the miracle relating to some geese which were laying waste to Wærburh's property, the author states that he included a similar story 'in the Life of the blessed virgin Amelberga which I refashioned in my own style'.22 Amelberga was an eighth-century nun whose relics lay at St Peter's, Ghent, and the various accounts of her life have been printed by the Bollandists.23 One of these documents, the Vita S. Amelberge (BHL 323) does indeed include a miracle concerning some geese, narrated in closely similar though not quite identical words to the tale in VWer.24 In both cases, for example, it is noted that the local name for these birds (aucas) is 'gantas' or 'ganzas'. Not everyone has been convinced by this link: certainly Vita S. Amelberge was published in ActaS, albeit tentatively, under the name of Theodoric (Thierry) of Saint-Trond (d. 1107), even though Fr Godefroi Henschen (1600-81) had elsewhere proposed that it was Goscelin's work, and indeed Jean Bolland himself (1596-1665), who originally prepared the edition of VWer, had been convinced of Goscelin's authorship.25 The evidence of the text itself suggests that Bolland's instincts were correct, and that the Vita S. Amelberge can be accepted as Goscelin's work, indeed as his earliest known foray into hagiography, written before he came to England.26 It is generally agreed that the text may be dated to between 1058 and 1073, which would fit with what we know about Goscelin's career.27 In the preface to this text the author refers to himself as a 'puer', one who has not even taken a skiff out on to the water before, but who is now suddenly 22

'Tale prorsus miraculum in Vita beatissime uirginis Amelberge, quam nostro stylo recudimus, legitur' (c. 6). 23 ActaS, lul. iii. 88–111 (3rd edn. 85-106). See the discussion of these in A. Poncelet, 'Les biographes de Ste Amelberge', AB xxxi (1912), 401–9. 24 ActaS, Iul. iii. 90-102, at p. 98. 25 For Henschen's remarks, see ActaS, Feb. i. 384; and cf. H. Rivet, Histoire littéraire de la France, viii (Paris, 1868), pp. 667–9. Poncelet briskly dismissed the attribution to Theodoric ('Les biographes', pp. 403-5). 26 I intend to deal with Goscelin's authorship of the Vita S. Amelberge more fully in a forthcoming article. 27 See I. van t'Spijker, 'Gallia du Nord et de 1'Ouest', in Hagiographies: histoire internationale de la littérature hagiographique latine et vernaculaire, en Occident, des origines à 1500, ed. G. Philippart (Turnhout, 1994–), ii. 237–90, at p. 266, and cf. Poncelet, 'Les biographes', pp. 405–7.

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obliged to take the helm of a heavily-laden ship on the stormy waters of the ocean: 'Et quis me tanto operi parem faciet?' ('and who might make me equal to such a great task?'). The Bollandist editor, P. Du Sollier, apparently concurred to some extent with the author's professed low view of his capabilities since it is evident from the commentary that he quickly grew impatient of correcting all the chronological errors, not to mention picking out the peculiarities of vocabulary, and especial scorn is reserved for the grecisms with which the young hagiographer salted his prose.28 The Life has sometimes been dismissed as a tissue of romances and legends, but has also been categorized as a Speculum virginum.29 It is truly the work of youth, and of one who had perhaps been nurtured on the old tales of the passions of the female martyrs. We are shown Amelberga being hounded incessantly by a royal suitor, preserving her virginity intact throughout, even against extraordinarily violent assault: such a tall story bears comparison with Goscelin's later depictions of the trials of Mildreth, and of Wulfhild in the Vita which forms part of the Barking dossier.30 Indeed, there are many other themes and images which can be paralleled in Goscelin's later Lives. Although conclusive proof is lacking, the proposition here is that both VWer and the Vita S. Amelberge should be regarded as his works. 3. The lessons for the feasts of SS Seaxburh and Eormenhild The other texts which seem fairly clearly to be the work of Goscelin are the sets of lessons for the feasts of Seaxburh and her daughter Eormenhild (BHL 7694 and 2611). These two texts were evidently composed by the same author and intended as companion pieces. The first sentence of the lessons on Eormenhild makes the link explicit: 'De beata et Deo digna Eormenilda eadem fere recensemus, que de matre eius sanctissima retulimus' ('Concerning the blessed Eormenhild, worthy of God, I shall recount almost the same things as I have reported about her holy mother'), and the texts do occur in sequence in two manuscripts. There is almost nothing in them which offers 28 See e.g fn. k on p. 99 of the edition, commenting on the words 'cata mane' ('until morning'): 'Inepta locutio pro usque mane, quasi græce balbutire noverit scriptor' ('An inept way of saying usque mane, as if the author knew how to stammer out some Greek'). 29 Cf. the summary of earlier views by Poncelet, 'Les biographes', p. 407. The latter idea was the put forward in a dissertation completed at Leuven in the 19703: L. De Sagen, De Vita Amalbergae, een Xlde eeuws Speculum Virginum van de Sint-Pietersabdij te Gent (Leuven, 1976), cited by van t'Spijker, 'Gallia du Nord', p. 266. 30 See Rollason, Mildrith, pp. 108–43, and Colker, 'Texts', pp. 418–34.

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any evidence for a date; certainly no reference is made to the translation at Ely in 1106. Compared with the best known of Goscelin's works, they are relatively short, and in a fairly terse style. Yet this is not entirely out of character: his Vita S. Wlsini, for example, is very much terser than his Vita S. Edithe, and some of the material he composed for Barking which is divided up into liturgical lessons is in a more clipped style than the verbose expansiveness normally thought of as the hallmark of his writing.1 But there are unmistakeable indications that this set of lessons for Ely is the work of Goscelin: both texts do seem to have the flavour of his style, and occasionally echo phrases found in his other works. Compare, for example, the first miracle ascribed to Eormenhild, c. 7, 'nuper in quinta feria pentecostes, uir saxonicus ferro cinctus inter missarum sacra ad ipsius beatissime adiutricis tumulum orabat, et ecce lecto euangelio ipsius ferrum de exeso brachio tanta ui diuinitus uti pie creditur excussum est, ut super altare sacrum in conspectu omnium fratrum ceterorumque sollenniter asstantium, eminus euolaret' with Vita S. Edithe, ii. 18, 'alterius ferrum de exeso brachio penitentis excussum super ipsius sancte liberatricis euolauit scrinium',2 and with Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 26, 'Excusso etiam ferro ab alterius brachio medietas circuli supra chorum fratrum euolauit' (where the penitent was also 'quidam Saxonicus ferro uentrem accinctus').3 It is worth noting also that the lessons on Eormenhild, and VWer, both have a concluding section which begins 'Celebremus ergo . . .' Consider also the following parallels: with LectEorm, c. 6: ad precellentissimum Elig monasterium confugit, ubi genitrix sua sanctissima, Sexburga choris uirginum ut luna inter sidera preluxit, ubi filia ipsius Werburga ut monile aureum uirginitatis emicuit

compare Vita S. Ethelburge, c. 2: Videre erat hic paradysum Domini in uirgineis floribus et uirtutum aromatibus, uidere erat in hac eclesia lunam inter sua sidera,4

and also Lectiones de S. Hildelitha, c. 1: sola inter sua sidera uelut clarissima premonstratur.5 1 3

5

See Colker, 'Texts', pp. 435-52. Love, Saints' Lives, pp. 82–4. Ibid., p. 455.

2

Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 293. 4 Colker, 'Texts', p. 402.

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With LectEorm, c. 6: Tunc ignis supernorum desideriorum quantum intra claustra anheli pectoris infremuerit

compare Vita S. Ethelburge, c. 8: iugiter ardentibus supernorum desideriorum lampadibus simus,6

and with LectEorm, c. 2: et paradysiaca uirginalis pudititie germina

compare De trans. SS. uirg., c. 1: ceu paradysus Domini omnia uirtutum germina spiral.7

With LectEorm, c. 1: Matrem referebat decore et forma, matrem moribus et uita. Sic oculos, sic illa manus, sic ora ferebat. Genitorem imitabatur honore, genitricem pudore. Illum potestate, hanc exhibebat religione, ilium prestantia, hanc reuerentia

compare Vita S. Edithe, i. 6: facies similior erat patri, reuerentia matri.8

LectEorm, c. 6: Christique mancipatum et armaturam in humillimo habitu monastice religionis induit

could be compared with De trans. SS. uirg., c. 4, 'inuadit armaturam Dei', Hist, maior, 'tunc Dei armaturam arriperet', and Vita S. Wlsini, c. 1, 'armaturam Dei indutus'.9 It is also noteworthy that the epithet 'protodoctor' picked out above, occurs again in LectEorm, c. 3, 'apostolico protodoctoris sui Augustino alphabeto.' It is regrettable that there is no concrete evidence which can prove absolutely that these texts were composed by Goscelin, but I venture to suggest that on the basis of similar style and diction it is a very strong probability. In the next section, a little more will be said about the precise nature of the information about the two saints in these sets of lessons. As already noted, there is nothing in these two texts to suggest precisely when they could have been composed, and there is certainly nothing to contradict the hypothesis that they were composed during Goscelin's stay at Ely, or possibly shortly thereafter. 6 9

7 8 Colker, 'Texts', p. 408. Ibid., p. 436. Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 48. Colker, 'Texts', p. 438; PL lxxx. 83 and Talbot, 'The Life', p. 75.

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4. Vita S. Sexburge Next we should take into consideration the longer VSex (BHL 7693), which in MS T replaces LectSex as the companion-piece for LectEorm. Faced with this lengthy text, Thomas Duffus Hardy, in his Descriptive Catalogue, delivered himself of the opinion that 'there seems very little worthy of credit in this biography . . . the style is verbose, with an affectation of learning, and is not unlike that of Goscelin.'1 In seeking to identify an author for VSex, the first thing to enquire into is the likely date of composition. As preserved in the two surviving copies, this text, within a fairly brief account of Seaxburh's family ties (in c. 3), offers the information that Wihtburh's body was discovered to be incorrupt three hundred and fifty years after her burial at East Dereham. This has been interpreted as a reference to the grand translation which occurred at Ely in 1106, which is described in some detail in VWiht, as well as in LE, and during which Wihtburh is indeed said to have been found free of any decay.2 Now there are two slightly puzzling aspects to this conclusion. First, one might wonder why an event which was attended by the great and the good, and was obviously an important moment for Ely, should be referred to here in such a fleeting and oblique fashion. Seaxburh's remains were translated at the same time as those of her relatives (as described, for example in LE ii. 45), yet this is never once referred to in the entire Vita. One possible explanation for this silence may be the fact that, as described, the translation did not greatly redound to Seaxburh's glory (nor that of her daughter Eormenhild), since their remains were found to have decayed in the normal way, presumably owing to their lesser status as widows. The second puzzle is the strange arithmetic of the statement that three hundred and fifty years had elapsed between what is assumed to be 1106 and Wihtburh's death and burial, which would then be dated to 756. It would appear that the hagiographer has treated the matter with considerable licence. There is for a start no consensus about the date of Wihtburh's death. An eleventh-century entry in the F version of ASC assigns to the year 798 the discovery of her incorrupt body at Dereham, fifty-five years after her death.3 This would place her death in 743 (which sits very ill with the fact that her supposed sister 1

2 Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue, i. 360-2. Ridyard, Royal Saints, p. 57. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition, viii: MS F, ed. P. S. Baker (Cambridge, 2000), p. 58. 3

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Æthelthryth died in 679), and therefore a translation three hundred and fifty years afterwards would have occurred in 1093. In VWiht there is a similar reckoning up of years, in the final chapter of that text, which refers unambiguously to the translation in 1106. With touching innocence the notice in ASC is quoted there: 'taliter in cronicis Anglicis recitatur, Anno Domini septingentesimo nonagesimo octauo corpus sancte Wihtburge sine corruptione inuentum est post annos fere quinquaginta quinque in Dyrham' ('this is reported in the chronicles of the English: In the year 798 the body of St Wihtburh was found without corruption after about fifty-five years at Dereham'), thus tacitly acknowledging the year of death to be 743. Then the author observes 'His septingentis nonaginta octo additis duobus et ducentis completi sunt mille anni. Quos alii centum et sex subsecuti, faciunt insimul trecentos et quinquaginta quattuor annos a dormitione ipsius beate Wihtburge, usque ad hunc nostri temporis diem quo incorrupto ostensa est corpore' (798 + 202 = 1000 years; 1000 + 106 = the year 1106: 'that means 354 years lie between the dormition of St Wihtburh and our own day, in which her body has been shown to be incorrupt'). By this fine display of arithmetic, the author has managed directly to contradict himself, since 1106 less 354 takes us back to the year 752 for Wihtburh's death. Clearly these dates, like much else about Wihtburh, were of questionable authority, a fact which the author of VSex preferred to gloss over with a nice round, and adequately large, number. It may be, then, that we can without too much difficulty accept a date after 1106 for the composition of VSex. If we are looking to Goscelin for authorship this dating seems to present rather a problem. There is no evidence for the precise date of Goscelin's death, though it is generally placed after 1107, when he would have been about seventy.4 Moreover, it seems likely that having once reached St Augustine's, Canterbury, he did not leave there, or at least did not return to the itinerant life he had led in the 1080s. Until 1099, if not later, he must have been fully occupied with the grand sequence of hagiographical and liturgical material commissioned to commemorate the translations which occurred at St Augustine's in 1091. What else he might have been in a position to undertake thereafter is hard to say, though there is no logical objection to the idea that his reputation as a skilled hagiographer could have stimulated houses other than St Augustine's to corn4 See the discussion in Barlow, The Life, p. 142.

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mission work from him, even towards the very end of his life. This may perhaps seem unlikely, but not totally inconceivable. It should be noted at this point that one commentator has suggested that the presumed reference in VSex to the events of 1106 may have been interpolated into an earlier text, which could then be pushed backward in date (since in fact the last datable event referred to within the text is the ninth-century Danish invasions).5 Before continuing, let us consider the relationship of VSex and LectSex. Hardy had assumed that the Seaxburh lessons (LectSex) were abridged from VSex, and others have followed him in this view.6 Given that MS A, in which both texts are preserved, also contains both the full-length VWer and its shortened eight-lesson version, the assumption might not seem unreasonable. Yet it is plain from inspection of MS A that whereas fos. 86r-98r, the two versions of the Life of Wærburh, along with the lessons for Seaxburh and Eormenhild, are all of a piece, just as they are in MS C, the longer VSex is quite distinct, separated from the central liturgical dossier and in what is probably a slightly later hand, strongly suggesting the possibility that it stems from a different phase of literary activity at Ely. But more importantly, detailed inspection reveals that the lessons on Seaxburh bear no verbal relationship to VSex whatsoever. They cannot be described as an abridgement; instead they simply tell Seaxburh's story in a shorter form with quite different words, although in fact it might be added, perhaps more significantly, that they tell a different story too. The two sets of lessons for Seaxburh and Eormenhild entirely omit any reference to Seaxburh's retirement into the monastic life at Milton, or to her foundation at Minster-inSheppey, which are dwelt upon at great length in VSex. Instead, it is stated that after Earconberht's death, Seaxburh went directly to Ely to join her sister Æthelthryth, and that Eormenhild followed her there on the death of her husband Wulfhere. Strikingly enough, the copy of the Eormenhild lessons in MS T was altered, probably very soon after execution, to incorporate a reference to Sheppey.7 Thus the sets of lessons present an entirely Ely-centred view of these women's lives, which also, it should be noted, follows more closely the account of Seaxburh given by Bede (though strikingly he makes no reference to Eormenhild whatsoever). VSex, on the other hand, combines and reconciles this Bedan, Ely-focused, picture with what we might call 5

7

6 Ridyard, Royal Saints, p. 58. Ibid., p. 58. See p. 17 below, and note a similar alteration in the copy of VWer in MS T.

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the Kentish tradition, otherwise represented by the Old English KRL, already discussed in section II above. Now it does seem to be the case that Goscelin knew and used the KRL, and it is therefore to be wondered why, if he composed the sets of lessons, he deliberately omitted information he already knew about the saints, to present a one-sided account of their achievements. To pursue this line of thinking logically might therefore seem to strengthen the hypothesis that Goscelin's hand is to be discerned in the more balanced picture presented by VSex. On the other hand, one could argue that LectSex and LectEorm had been composed specifically for use in the liturgy at Ely, and that the relatively terse nature of the format did not permit anything other than the strictest presentation of that house's grounds for venerating these two saints. In his preface, the author of the VSex makes customary mention of his sources: 'Quedam ipsius opera ex antiquis Anglorum scriptis sunt comperta, quedam nobis fidelium uirorum relatione cognita, que ad Dei laudem et gloriam pro nostra eruditione simplici stilo sunt exaranda.'8 'Antiquis Anglorum scriptis' could well be a reference to Old English material on Seaxburh, possibly of the sort preserved in the Lambeth fragment discussed above (pp. xxx–xxxii), but is so conventional a hagiographical topos as to require a circumspect interpretation. It is, of course, possible that the VSex was in fact an inflation of LectSex, but it follows them in narrative outline alone, never once taking over material verbatim. Very much more of what occupies the author most fully derives from the brief glimpse we gain of Seaxburh's activities prior to her arrival at Ely from the Lambeth fragment (and, to a lesser extent, from the KRL). Ultimately, given what can be observed of Goscelin's practice elsewhere, it is quite hard to envisage how two such distinct accounts of the same saint could emerge from the pen of one man, except, of course, if some years separated the writing of those two accounts. The question, then, remains whether VSex can actually be identified as the work of Goscelin, whose style, as we have seen, is so very distinctive. As Hardy aptly observed, the text is indeed verbose, and the preface shows an affectation of Classical learning, as well as being modelled very closely upon Sulpicius Severus's preface to his Life of St Martin of Tours. As will be seen from the accompanying 8 'Some of her deeds may be found in the ancient writings of the English, others we have learnt from the account of trustworthy men, and they shall be set out in simple style to the praise and glory of God, and for our edification.'

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commentary to these Ely texts, VSex, alone of the group, is littered with verbatim borrowings from the letters of Jerome. At every turn the author had recourse to what seems to have been his favourite author, whether it be for lurid description of the dangers of lost virginity, or simply for rhetorical flourishes with which to adorn his closing paragraphs. Even if there were no other objections to the attribution, this slavish devotion to Jerome seems to me to settle the matter once and for all. It is true that on more than one occasion Goscelin alluded to Jerome's works, and particularly to his correspondence,9 and just now and then we find a reminiscence of Jerome's words in his own writings, for example, in the Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 21.10 Yet it is truly rare to find him using the works of any earlier author so extensively to prop up his narrative and inform his prose as is observably the case in VSex. Goscelin was far too self-conscious a stylist, and too accomplished a Latinist, and it seems highly unlikely that he would have felt the need to fill out his fluent rhyming prose with borrowed cadences, especially if he were writing relatively late in his career. Even if we accept the hypothesis, noted above, that VSex as it stands is a revision of an earlier work, with the reference to the translation of 1106 interpolated into it, such derivative diction seems utterly out of character for Goscelin. It is also worth noting that the author of VSex was a much less vigorous advocate of rhyming prose than Goscelin: although rhyme is used on occasions, it seems on the whole to have been avoided. Accordingly, we are obliged to suppose that there was someone else at Ely, or working at the behest of Ely, who aspired to literary high style. Such a proposition offers no difficulty given that we have seen the monk Gregory at work on a hexameter Life of Æthelthryth during Hervey's episcopacy, and from LE we learn that under Bishop Nigel, a 'rhetor' named Julian was teaching at Ely and found at least one gifted pupil.11 With Goscelin out of the picture, there is less of a problem about accepting both the integrity of VSex, and a date after 1106 for its composition, even though there seems no possibility of identifying a named author. In his edition of LE, Blake noted that VSex appears to have served as a 9

Cf. e.g. Vita S. Edithe, i. 11 (Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 73), and LC, p. 81. Rollason, Mildrith, p. 134. 11 LE iii. 93 describes Julian's qualities and his teaching at Ely, and itself appears to be an excerpt from an otherwise unidentified account of Æthelthryth written by one of his pupils. 10

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source for that compilation at a number of points, mainly for information about Seaxburh's Life. But the most striking debt comes at LE i. 32, where, to round off what has effectively been his Vita of Æthelthryth, the compiler takes over almost the entire concluding chapter of VSex, which is itself a pastiche of phrases plundered from Jerome's letters. Another explanation for the redeployment of the same Jeromian material might, of course, be that this section of LE and VSex issue from the pen of the same author. 5. Vita S. Wihtburge Turning next to VWiht, we are again faced with a conjectured attribution to Goscelin,1 coupled with a similar difficulty over dating. Of this text we have two recensions, preserved in MSSC and T (BHL 8979, which refers to the T version), and it may be best to deal first of all with the relationship between these two versions, before embarking upon any investigation into their authorship or dating. Thomas Duffus Hardy had assumed that C was an abridgement of T, but he cannot truly have looked into the matter at all, as will become evident. MS C, having briefly described Wihtburh's life, proceeds to dwell at greater length upon the tenth-century translation of her relics to Ely by Byrhtnoth, before moving on almost immediately to the grand translation of 1106. MS T opens with a longer preface, the composition of which appears to have been driven by the need to adopt a defensive stance concerning Wihtburh's claim to authenticity. First of all an attempt is made to tackle the hypothetical (though possibly actual) accusation that Wihtburh cannot have existed because Bede made no mention of her, by noting that he also omitted mention of the East Anglian saints Guthlac and Botwulf. Next, the scarcity of information about her is explained away by the claim that an earlier account of her which was kept at Dereham had been burnt by the envious folk there, angry at having her body stolen from them by Byrhtnoth. T then has chapters about Wihtburh's early life, and about her family, before merging into the text as preserved in C. These extra chapters in T cover material not represented at all in C, for example relating a childhood miracle worked by Wihtburh on the beach at Holkham, on the Norfolk coast. 1 See e.g. Hardy's comments in Descriptive Catalogue, i. 469: no. 1017; on this attribution cf. also T. J. Hamilton, 'Goscelin of Canterbury: a critical study of his life, works and accomplishments', unpublished Ph.D. thesis (University of Virginia, 1973), P. 55.

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The version in C appears, therefore, to suppress all mention of Holkham, and places the saint, right from the start of the narrative, at Dereham. Since the story presented by T includes a miracle worked by the young saint which gave rise to the foundation of a church in her honour, it would perhaps be surprising for C to omit all reference to the incident if the information had been available. Either the author of C was unaware of the stories from Wihtburh's infancy, or he had some polemical reason for omitting the story, so as to limit to the absolute minimum all acknowledgement of the extent of Norfolk's claim upon Wihtburh. The rest of the additional material in T is of a broadly historical flavour, dealing with the identity of King Anna's wife, then with his death and burial at Blythburgh, as well as a reference to his son Hiurmine, whose relics were translated from Blythburgh to Bury St Edmunds in the mid-eleventh century. The matter of King Anna's wife is of interest, since we are informed that the mother of Wihtburh and her sisters was called Hereswith, and that after Anna's death she retired to Chelles. A Life of St Mildburh is adduced as evidence for the identification of Hereswith wife to Anna: 'sicut ex uita docetur alme uirginis Milburge'. Now LE also alludes to a Life of Mildburh in a similar context (i. 2): 'Etenim in vita sancte virginis Milburge legitur'. Blake, in commenting on this, observed that he could find no sign of this material in the only version of the Life of Mildburh he knew about, namely an abbreviated version printed in ActaS.2 He was unaware of the existence of the as yet unpublished full-length Vita S. Milburge.3 This text, after a preface addressed to the unnamed patron, begins with a 'genealogia beate uirginis Mildburge', an 2 Feb., iii. 388-91; there Godefroi Henschen drew for his account of Mildburh on an abbreviated Vita S. Milburge included by the I4th-cent. hagiographer John of Tynemouth in his Sanctilogium Angliae, Walliae, Scotiae et Hiberniae (on which see p. cxvi below). 3 See Blake, p. 13 n. 2. The text of Vita S. Milburge is preserved in full in London, BL, Addit. 34633, fos. 2o6r–209r and Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, I. 81, fos. :66v–175r, in abbreviated form in Lincoln, Cathedral Chapter Library, 149, fos. 83v–87r, and in fragmentary form in London, Lambeth Palace, 94, fo. 169r–v. A. J. M. Edwards, offered an edition in her unpublished Ph.D. dissertation 'Odo of Ostia's history of the Translation of St. Milburga and its connection with the early history of Wenlock Abbey' (University of London, 1960), pp. 41–91, 176–9 and 262–71; cf. id., 'An early twelfth-century account of the translation of St Milburga of Much Wenlock', Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society, Ivii (1961–4), 134–51, and now also P. A. Hayward, 'The Miracula Inventionis Beate Mylburge Virginis attributed to the Lord Ato, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia', EHR cxiv (1999), 543–73. An edition of the Vita is in preparation: R. C. Love, The Life and Miracles of St Mildburg of Much Wenlock, Anglo-Saxon Texts (Woodbridge, forthcoming).

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INTRODUCTION

extended elaboration of the content of the KRL, including the words: 'Eorkombrihtus namque post obitum patris sui regnum optinens a patre preelectus est rex, sanctam Sexburgam Anne regis et Heresuithe filiam illustrissime uirginis Edeldrithe germanam uxorem duxit' ('For after his father's death Earconberht obtained the kingdom, having been chosen as king in advance by his father, and he took as his wife St Seaxburh, the daughter of King Anna and Hereswith, and sister of the most illustrious virgin Æthelthryth'). This is the sentence quoted almost word for word by T's version of VWiht: 'Ita enim legitur post obitum patris sui ... beate uirginis Withburge' (p. 84 below). However, the extant copies of Vita S. Milburge make no mention of Wihtburh. The ultimate source for these genealogical data is, of course, Bede's HE iii. 8 (though not verbatim), but in no place does Bede mention Hereswith as mother of the four saints. She occurs as Hild's sister in HE iv. 21 (23), 'Heresuid, mater Aldulfi regis Orientalium Anglorum', a nun at Chelles. Earlier scholarship made the assumption from Bede's brief words that Hereswith was the wife of Æthelhere, the brother of Anna, who may or may not have been killed at the Winwaed in 655.4 Subsequently, however, it has been suggested that in fact she was married to another of Anna's brothers (not mentioned by Bede), Æthelric.5 It is perhaps little wonder, then, that eleventh- and twelfth-century readers of Bede also made an erroneous assumption about her. The compiler of LE cautiously observes concerning Hereswith 'neque alia tunc temporis in tota Anglorum historia, sed neque in cronicis Anglicis uel Latinis, repperitur, que tali nomine censeretur praeter hanc sanctarum genitricem feminarum, quam Beda proculdubio matrem Aldulfi regis asserit . . .' ('there is found neither in any other history of the English of that time, nor in English or Latin chronicles, any woman of that name apart from this mother of holy women, whom Bede without doubt stated to be the mother of King Aldwulf'). Plummer noted that LE had mistakenly married Hereswith to Anna, but it appears that the compiler of LE may have derived the error from elsewhere, that is, either directly from the Vita S. Milburge, or from 4 See e.g. C. Plummer (ed.), Venerabilis Baedae Opera Historica, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1896), ii. 244. On the extent of Æthelhere's involvement at the Winwaed, see J. O. Prestwich, 'King Aethelhere and the battle of the Winwaed', EHR lxxxiii (1968), 89–95. 5 See D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, revised edn. (London and New York, 2000), p. 64, following the revision of the East Anglian royal genealogy proposed by F. M. Stenton, 'The East Anglian Kings of the seventh century', in The Anglo-Saxons, ed. P. Clemoes (Cambridge, 1959), pp. 43–52, at 47–8.

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VWiht in the version presented by T. The author of the T recension of VWiht clearly had a copy, or at least excerpts, of the Vita S. Milburge, so as to be able to quote from it verbatim. That the Vita S. Milburge is actually quoted in T suggests that T could not have derived this information from LE. To revert to a comparison of the two recensions of VWiht, after three extra chapters, T follows the narrative thread of C as far as Wihtburh's in-life miracles, then reports her death and burial, and her first exhumation at Dereham fifty-five years later. This version then reaches an abrupt conclusion with a posthumous miracle which relates to events at Dereham after the saint had been removed to Ely—in which the folk of Dereham are explicitly said to be 'orbatiores . . . corporeo aspectu', that is, deprived of the physical presence of their patroness (this episode will be discussed in more detail below). So it is that T appears tacitly to acknowledge the tenthcentury translation without ever describing it. It is also noticeable that the text appears to break off quite suddenly, with the last two lines written in a hand different from that of the rest, and, unusually for the collection of texts in this manuscript, no explicit to the Vita. The narrative oddity can be accounted for when the physical make-up of Trinity College, O. 2. 1 is recalled. The collection of Vitae in T occurs as a sort of appendix to LE, and may indeed have done so from the start. Moreover the point in the narrative of VWiht at which T breaks off coincides almost exactly with the stage at which the rest of the text, in broadly the form transmitted by C, begins to be incorporated within the body of LE (ii. 53, 144, 147–8). Presumably, then, it was felt to be unnecessary to duplicate the material so extensively within the same codex, and so the copying of the latter half of VWiht was abandoned in T. Thus it should be clear that the recension of VWiht found in MS C cannot be an abridgement of that found in MS T. Altogether the impression to be gained from a close inspection of the two recensions is that the extra material which occurs at the start of T is an interpolation into a basic text, which was either C itself, or another copy very similar to it. The additional material at the beginning of T departs from the tendency to rhyme observable in the rest of the text. As will be seen from the texts and commentaries below (pp. 17 and 36), the twelfth-century corrector of some of the other Lives in Trinity College, O. 2. 1 (LectEorm and VWer) did not hesitate to make interventions of what we might call a broadly historical nature,

XC

INTRODUCTION

improving upon the exemplar by supplying additional information, notably to incorporate the tradition of Seaxburh's association with Minster-in-Sheppey. To some extent the interpolations into VWiht are of that nature: the citation of another hagiographical source to provide authority for supplying the supposed name of King Anna's wife, the only tenuously relevant description of Anna's death and burial, plus the incorporation of what seem to have been traditions about Wihtburh gleaned locally, from Holkham, which had perhaps not been available previously. The slightly more defensive tone that is given to VWiht as presented in MS T may have been provoked as a response to recent criticism or doubts about the authenticity of claims concerning Wihtburh in the later twelfth century. If, as has already been suggested, the hagiographical texts in T were copied at about the same time as LE, then they may have been regarded as supplementary to it, as appendices. Thus we might envisage that the reworking of VWiht very likely stands in close relationship to the work of compiling LE, indeed may have been done by the same person. Blake formed the view that T could not have been derived directly from C, and instead suggested a common source for the two.6 The evidence which led him to this conclusion lies in one other significant difference between the narrative of VWiht preserved in C and that in T. An apparent oddity about the structure of C is that a posthumous miracle relating to events at Dereham at a time long after her translation to Ely (c. 5), in fact to a time closer to that of the author's own day (it is referred to as 'oculis nostris comprobatum'), is placed immediately after a miracle which occurred while Wihtburh was still alive, and before either the saint's death or her subsequent translation to Ely have even been described, thus dislocating the chronology of the narrative. The two miracles have in common the fact that the central figure in both stories is an evildoer on horseback who wrongs Wihtburh or her devotees and dies as a result. The author, conscious of the awkward break with chronological order, goes on to explain, in a section which is absent in T (c. 6), that the two miracles seemed to him so closely linked in content as to warrant bringing them together ('his e diuerso tempore assimilatis, et ex similitudine annexis'). In T, this same posthumous miracle is delayed until after the chapters which recount Wihtburh's death and burial at Dereham, offering a slightly closer approximation to strict chronological order (though it 6

L-E, p. xxxvii n. 3.

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should be recalled that T omits all reference to the translation from Dereham to Ely). Blake assumed that T could not therefore have been copied from C, since he felt that the narrative sequence in T must have been the original one. He concluded that the two recensions must have had a common source, in which the miracle in question was in the position where we find it in T, but that the author of the C version deliberately moved this episode backwards. The detailed textual evidence for a direct relationship between C and T will be discussed below (pp. cxxv–cxxvi), but it does seem important to address Blake's conclusion at this point, since it has implications for our view of the stages by which VWiht may have reached the form in which we find it. Blake stated: 'Trinity cannot be based on Corpus, since it ends with a miracle which occurs earlier in Corpus and it is Corpus, not Trinity, which acknowledges a change of order', and to support this conclusion he then quotes the clause from c. 6 of C (relating to the bringing together of two miracles of disparate date but similar content) mentioned above, which does not occur in T. The difficulty with this assumption is that in fact the miraclenarrative in question—c. 5 in C, placed at the end in T—contains even within itself an unambiguous acknowledgement that chronological order is being disregarded. In both C and T, this Dereham miracle is said to have occurred 'nuper' ('recently'), and the reason for its inclusion is stated to be 'so that when new things are added to old ones (scil. earlier miracles)—things which do not harmonize in time yet do harmonize in their similarity—those things which can be seen offer a hand to things unseen', that is to say, the reporting of a recent miracle 'oculis nostris comprobatum' is intended to strengthen the credibility of much older stories now beyond the reach of verification. Although in T the word 'nostris' is omitted from the phrase 'oculis nostris comprobatum' (possibly because this was no longer strictly true), leaving the miracle as, rather oddly, verified by unspecified 'eyes', nevertheless it cannot truly be claimed, as Blake did, that it is only C which acknowledges a change of order. In fact, the statement about 'things which . . . harmonize in their similarity' becomes nonsensical in T where the posthumous miracle no longer follows immediately upon its in-life twin. Accordingly it seems more likely that, in a half-hearted attempt to restore strict chronology, it was the creator of the T recension who moved c. 5. It should also be said that when the structure of the narrative, as presented in C, is examined closely, one would be hard pressed to

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INTRODUCTION

suggest a more apt position for this episode than the present one. The narrative sequence is broadly as follows in C: Wihtburh's life at Dereham, the story of the miraculous provision of milk by wild animals, the pursuit of those animals by the wicked 'uillicus', then the much later, posthumous, Dereham miracle concerning the evil 'miles' (c. 5), Wihtburh's death and burial at Dereham, her exhumation after fifty-five years, followed immediately by the detailed account of the first 'translation' from Dereham to Ely by Byrhtnoth, which leads directly into the translation of 1106 (interestingly omitting reference to the fact that, according to LE, Wihtburh had already been moved in 1102), rounded off with a disquisition on the resonances of the number four as represented by Æthelthryth, Seaxburh, Eormenhild, and Wihtburh. It is evident that once we are told of Æthelwold's decision to remove Wihtburh from Dereham, the entire focus of the remainder of the narrative falls, not surprisingly, on Ely, the saint's new home, and the community whose concerns VWiht reflects wholeheartedly. If the episode described in c. 5 was, like the translation of 1106, 'nuper', it may have seemed difficult to decide where to place it within the narrative without shifting the audience's gaze away from Ely again and back to Dereham at an untimely and undesirable moment. By making the clever link of similar content, the author was able to get away with violating chronological order and to confine all references to Wihtburh's cult at Dereham to the first half of the text. It is in any case a well-attested feature of hagiography that it has little truck with strict chronology, as is exemplified by early examples such as Adomnán's Life of St Columba where for the sake of arrangement by theme, episodes are presented in what often seems to be a gloriously unchronological jumble, in which human time is not of the essence.7 Now that we have thus established the claims to narrative integrity of the C version of VWiht, along with the likelihood that T represents a reworking of either C or something very similar, the call to search for Blake's posited common source for the two recensions, a source which he saw as significantly different from what we have in C, may now ring more hollowly. But before an enquiry into earlier accounts of the saint is entirely abandoned, it seems appropriate to turn at this point to the question of a date for the composition of the C version of 7

Cf. the comments of R. Sharpe (trans.), Adomnan of Iona, Life of St Columba (Harmondsworth, 1995), p. 60.

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VWiht, in order to place it in the context of the development of Wihtburh's cult at Ely. The dating of MS C to some point between 1116 and 1131 provides one terminus for the dating of its copy of VWiht. The other comes from internal evidence, namely the inclusion of the account of what is unambiguously the great translation of 1106. This date is confirmed not only by the list of personages stated to have been in attendance, but also by the author's arithmetical tour de force in the final chapter, where the number of years between Wihtburh's death and 'hunc nostri temporis diem' is reckoned up in such a way as to put the date 1106 beyond doubt.8 The way in which the translation is referred to in the preface ('nuper'), suggests that 1106 lay not too far in the distance. It may be that a yet narrower dating could be established by the way in which Richard, the abbot who presided over the translation in 1106, is referred to. Effectively the last abbot of Ely, he died in June 1107, yet the words with which he is introduced in c. 16, 'eligantissimus et liberalissimus pater Eligensis familie' give no hint that this has already occurred by the time of writing.9 Taking a date of 1106 as the earliest possible for the composition of VWiht as found in C, it is time to cast our minds back to the conjectured ascription of this text to Goscelin. Here again, as before, we come up against the potential obstacles already described above, namely that it has generally been assumed that by 1106 Goscelin would have been firmly ensconced at St Augustine's, Canterbury, and possibly drawing near the end of his life. Is it plausible that he could have been commissioned to write for Ely at this late date? The idea is not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility—just because we do not know the year of his death does not mean that this most skilled and prolific of hagiographers could not have pursued his craft right up until his dying day not only in the service of his own community but, by virtue of his reputation, at the request of others too. Since it is known that he had received hospitality at Ely at a difficult period in his life, there is no reason why he could not have been reminded of those ties of reciprocity which continue to bind host and guest. While it is fairly obvious why 1106 and the years thereafter should have witnessed a significantly increased concern to provide Ely's saints with adequate authenticating hagiographical record, there 8 Even if the means by which it was achieved show some weaknesses of logic, as has already been noted above, p. lxxxii. 9 On the date of Richard's death, see LE, p. 413, and Heads, p. 45.

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INTRODUCTION

might also have been a desire to set down some kind of written record at a rather earlier date, especially in the case of Wihtburh, the rather mysterious figure whose remains had been acquired in decidedly dubious circumstances by Byrhtnoth back in the9705.To judge from admittedly somewhat later liturgical evidence, Wihtburh came to attain the second highest position in the hierarchy of saints venerated at Ely, which cannot have been possible on the basis of any dubious or unsupported claim to sanctity. It is striking that the addition to the preface of VWiht in T refers to a 'librum de uirtutibus eius' destroyed by the jealous folk of Dereham. Even allowing for the conventional hagiographer's claim that an earlier era has been neglectful in respect of the saint he proposes to celebrate, the existence of such a 'liber miraculorum' cannot be discounted, and the chance preservation of one copy of the twelfth-century Miracula S. Wihtburge does seem to testify to the continuing cult of the saint—and her continuing power to procure miraculous intervention in human affairs—at her original burial place.10 Yet the story told by the preface in T stresses the extent to which the community at Ely must, by the twelfth century, have been cut off from the earliest traditions about Wihtburh. Nevertheless there is no reason why local stories about the saint could not have been recorded in written form at the time of the tenthcentury translation, as an important part of establishing the authenticity of Wihtburh's virginal sanctity and her consequent efficacy as celestial intermediary. The needs of Ely's liturgy would have had to be served at some stage, and Byrhtnoth could well have made arrangements for even the briefest written account of her to be made after the appropriation of her relics. This had been the pattern, for example, at Canterbury, where Archbishop Oda had commissioned a work on Wilfrid from Frithegod, following the translation of the relics from Ripon in 948, and at Winchester following the translation of the previously little-known Swithun in 971, just three years before that of Wihtburh.11 But the surviving Vita of Wihtburh is no tenth-century production: whatever may actually have been written at that time is now apparently lost. Yet as we have already 10

See below, p. xcix, for further discussion of this text. Frithegod's work on Wilfrid was edited by A. Campbell, Frithegodi monachi breuiloquium uitae beati Wilfredi et Wulfstani Cantoris Narratio Metrica de Sancto Swithuno (Zurich, 1950), and on both this and the hagiography of Swithun, see M. Lapidge and R. C. Love, 'England and Wales (600-1550)', in Hagiographies: histoire Internationale de la littérature hagiographique latine et vernaculaire, en Occident, des origines à 1500, ed. G. Philippart, vol. 1- (Turnhout, 1994- in progress), iii. 203–325, at pp. 216–18. 11

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noted, Goscelin's visit to Ely may, for example, have been another point at which suitable written commemoration of Wihtburh could have been sought, whether as a reworking of the earliest account, or to fill what would by that date have seemed a worrying hagiographical vacuum. If we reject out of hand as unlikely, for reasons of dating, the suggestion that VWiht as it stands in MS C may be Goscelin's work, one could nevertheless envisage a situation in which he composed a relatively brief account of Wihtburh along the lines of LectSex and LectEorm, which is now lost, but was reworked and updated in about 1106. One piece of evidence which might support this hypothesis is the fact that just as LectSex and LectEorm occur in abbreviated form in the thirteenth-century Ely Breviary-Missal, so too does VWiht, the lessons prescribed there being drawn exclusively from the pre-1106 narrative.12 Whether we wish to establish the C version of VWiht as Goscelin's work, or to pursue the hypothesis of an underlying set of earlier liturgical lessons, it is important to take detailed stylistic analysis of the text into account. One thing that can be said for certain about VWiht is that it is littered with examples of diction and thought which are undeniably redolent of features of Goscelin's richly figurative prose style, the hallmark of his known writings. To begin with, one might match the nuptial, Song of Songs-inspired, imagery found in the opening sections of VWiht with other examples. Compare c. 1: unico deuota sponsa epytalamium suum in cimbalis bene sonantibus cantitet: Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi. Signum posuit in faciem meam, ut nullum preter eum amatorem admittam

with Miracula S. Mildrethe, c. 27: omne eramentum in cimbalis bene sonantibus concrepat,13

and with Vita S. Edithe, i. 5: lam cantitare gestit epythalamium suum 'Nigra sum sed Formosa'.14

And consider VWiht, c. 1 (reiterated at 23): ad Christi nomen quod est unguentum effusum nectar ethereum sibi permulsit . . . cuius nomen unguentum effusum, cuius odor super omnem suauitatem aromatum . . . 12 On the Breviary-Missal, see above, pp. xxxvii–xxxix, and for details of its textual relationship to the Ely Lives, see below, pp. cxv-cxvi. 14 13 Rollason, 'Goscelin', p. 195. Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 45.

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alongside Vita S. Edithe, i. 8: clamans desideriis sponse 'unguentum effusum nomen tuum, et odor tuus super omnia aromata'.15

Compare VWiht, c. 2: Hic monasterium condere satagebat, immo paradysum et thalamum quo totius sancte uoluptatis sponsum induceret aptabat

with Vita S. Ethelburge, c. 2: Videre erat hic paradysum Domini in uirgineis floribus et uirtutum aromatibus.16

Further on we find a glancing allusion to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins at the marriage feast: VWiht, c. 7, 'accensa peruigili caritatis lampade et inextinguibili', which can be compared with Goscelin's use of similarly allusive imagery in Vita S. Ethelburgae, cc. 2 and 4, 'fere omnes accensis lampadibus', 'ut ornarent lampades suas inextinguibilis olei lumine', and also Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 10, 'ut qui eius lampadem amplius accenderat caritate perhenni' (said of Bishop Æthelwold).17 Some of the ways in which Wihtburh is described are also reminiscent of other texts: compare also VWiht, c. 2, 'Quo ergo artius se Magdalene emula recondiderat' with Vita S. Edithe, i. 10, 'partis Mariae emula',18 and VWiht, c. 2, 'mellitula infantia' with De trans. SS. uirg., c. 3, 'lactea in cunctos et mellitula' and Vita S. Edithe, i. 6: 'Ita erat mellitula, benigna, gratiosa'.19 Compare also VWiht, c. 10, 'illud preclarissimum monile ecclesie' and Vita S. Edithe, i. 7, 'hoc monile ecclesie'.20 There are other examples of Goscelin's use of particular metaphors which occur also in VWiht. One is the image of the abbess or bishop as charioteer: compare VWiht, c. 14, 'Dorobernensi uero auriga Dunstano' with Vita S. Ethelburgae, c. 3, 'qui . . . Dorobernensem aurigabat sedem' and Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 4, 'binas itaque eclesias ut Christi bigas et unam domum unica caritate aurigabat',21 and also with Vita S. Wlsini, c. 4, 'auriga insignis dominici currus', and De translatione S. Wlfildae, c. 13, 'successit . . . Lifledis in aurigam Dominici currus', as well as Vita S. Amelberge, c. 4, 'sanctus Willi15 17 19 20

I6 Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 52. Colker, 'Texts', p. 402. I8 Ibid., pp. 402, and 430. Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 66. Colker, 'Texts', p. 437, and Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 48. 21 Wilmart, 'La légende', p. 49. Colker, 'Texts', pp. 402 and 424.

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brordus . . . sanctae ecclesiae Traiectensium honeste aurigat currum'.22 Similar to this is the phrase in the concluding chapter of VWiht 'translate sunt autem he dominice quadrige' ('this the Lord's four-horse team'), which is comparable with the way in which Mildreth is described, in Vita S. Mildrethe (c. 21), as 'uirtutum quadriga'.23 Another is the image of the saints as not merely holding up their lamps like the wise virgins, but themselves shining like lamps, casting light on their surroundings (deriving ultimately from Mt 5: 15, the lamp under the bushel, oft-quoted in hagiography), which occurs in VWiht, c. 23, 'Pulchro itaque mysterio hec quattuor luminaria Dominus accendens nuptiali intulit ecclesie sue, que illustrent intrantes ex quadro mundi latere' which can be compared with De tran. SS. uirg., c. 2, 'haec precelsa luminaria attolluntur, unde non solum haec ecclesia sed et tota patria amplifice illuminentur', and Hist. maior, c. 1, 'haec duo magna mundi luminaria' [of Gregory and Augustine].24 For the use of a musical metaphor, compare VWiht, c. 23, 'timpanizantes quaternis uocibus diatessaron celeste' with Miracula S. Mildrethe, c. 22, 'eadem lux ut una uox prime et octaue diapason consonat'.25 One might also take note of certain words from Goscelin's own peculiar hagiographical vocabulary which occur in VWiht. An example is 'gleba' (used to denote a saint's bodily remains), which although attested elsewhere, is employed with great frequency by Goscelin. It occurs six times in VWiht (preface, cc. 8, 10, 12, 17, and 19), three times in VWer (cc. 10, 11, and 12) and once in LectSex (c. 8), but also, for example, at least seven times in Goscelin's Hist. trans, (i. 10, 18, 29; ii. 1, 9, 11, and 22), twice in Vita S. Wlsini (c. 9), and twice in De translatione S. Wlfildae (cc. 13 and 14).26 Another example is a particular way of denoting the high altar, which Goscelin uses often; so in VWiht, c. 18, we find 'post autenticum 22 Talbot, 'The Life', p. 76; Colker, 'Texts', p. 431, and ActaS, lul. iii. 92A. It is possible that this image may owe something to Goscelin's reading of Jerome's Letters, since in Ep. lii. 13 (CSEL liv. 437), which we have already seen reflected in Vita S. Mildrethe c. 21, we find the phrase 'haec te quadriga [scil. four virtues] uelut aurigam Christi ad metam concitum ferat' ('may this four-in-hand bear you swiftly to the finishingpost like Christ's charioteer'). 23 Rollason, Mildrith, p. 134. 24 Colker, 'Texts', p. 436, and PL lxxx. 50D. 25 Rollason, 'Goscelin', p. 186 (upon the occurrence of the feast of St Margaret within the octave of Mildreth). 26 Cf. the comment on Goscelin's frequent use of 'gleba' in Hamilton, 'Goscelin of Canterbury', p. 392.

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altare parato thalamo collocata' and Vita S. Wlsini, c. 13, 'dextrum latus autentici altaris', and Hist. trans, i. 11, 'ante authenticum altare summorum apostolorum'.27 A relatively obscure noun which Goscelin also uses very frequently, is 'primicerius' (literally 'one whose name comes first on the wax-tablets', hence 'head, first one'), which we find in its feminine form in VWiht applied to Æthelthryth, 'monasterii primiceriam' (c. 14), but elsewhere to Domneva in Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 22 ('regia et materna primiceria'), and on many occasions to Augustine.28 One might also consider a fairly rare verb 'subnectere' ('to add', literally, 'to bind on beneath'), which Goscelin liked to use when referring to his own writing: compare VWiht, c. 5, 'Quod etiam oculis nostris comprobatum, ad fidei probationem hic arbitramur subnectendum' with Vita S. Edithe, ii. 14, 'Rem quoque nuper agitatam subnectimus, huic simillimam', and ii. 22, 'Huic reuelationi subnectendum uidetur, quod nobis presentibus nuper ostensum similiter comprobatur', Hist. trans., ii. 21, 'Vnam tantum ipsius subnectimus reuelatiunculam' and Hist. Maior, c. 42, 'Hic enim correptionis argumentum consequenter subnectendum uidetur', and Vita S. Wlsini, c. 12, 'gesta subnectimus ut clare comperta'.29 There are other elements of the vocabulary of VWiht which belong to the type of diction which has come to be regarded as characteristic of Goscelin, such as the use of rare (or sometimes invented) agentive nouns, and of compound adjectives.30 Examples of masculine agentive nouns are 'sessor' (c. 4), 'iniuriator' (c. 5; not apparently attested before Goscelin, who uses it in Hist. Maior, c. 43), 'expugnator' (which occurs also in Miracula S. Mildrethe, c. 23), 'presumptor' (c. 18); and of feminine agentive nouns we find the following: 'multrix' (c. 3), 'patrocinatrix' (c. 5; quite possibly a neologism), 'interuentrix' (c. 5; used also in the snatch of Goscelin's now-lost prosa for Æthelthryth quoted in LE ii. 133), and 'adiutrix' (c. 22). Compound adjectives worthy of note are 'opifer' (c. 2), 'lactifluus' (c. 3), 27 Talbot, 'The Life', p. 80, and ActaS, Maii, vi (3rd edn.). 41 lA. In DMLBS the earliest occurrence of this is cited as dating from the I3th-cent. 28 Rollason, Mildrith, p. 136, and see Hist, maior, cc. 1 and 53 (ActaS, Maii, vi. 378A, 39SA), Hist. minor (PL cl. 7508), and Hist, trans, i. 10 and ii. 21 (ActaS, Maii, vi . 4148 and 438C). 29 Wilmart, 'La légende', pp. 283 and 298, ActaS, Maii, vi (3rd edn.). 434F, PL lxxx. 82D and Talbot, 'The Life', p. 80. 30 See e.g. the comments on Goscelin's style by Rollason, 'Goscelin', pp. 142–3, and in Hamilton's unpublished dissertation, 'Goscelin of Canterbury', pp. 376–93.

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'almifluus' (cc. 5 and 15), as well as the noun 'sceptriger' (c. 9), and the adverbs 'tractabiliter' (c. 3) and 'amplifice' (c. 14). It is also worth noting that VWiht (not including the portions added in the version in MS T) is written throughout in rhyming prose accompanied by alliteration, which is an well-established trait of Goscelin's style. Overall, then, the stylistic flavour of VWiht does seem to lend quite striking support to the proposition that, as preserved in MS C, it may well be his work, even given the difficulties about the date which have already been set out above. Regrettably it would only be in the fairly unlikely event of new biographical information about Goscelin coming to light that any of the attributions suggested here could be verified. 6. Miracula S. Wihtburge The Miracula S. Wihtburge (BHL 8980) are preserved uniquely in London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. viii. The text was evidently composed later than the Ely translation of 1106, since the author claims to have seen surviving witnesses to that event (though he repeats the same erroneous arithmetic which we have seen elsewhere involving the figure 350), but in any case the first miracle concerns the punishment of Bishop Everard of Norwich (1131–45), who had derided Dereham's patroness, exclaiming 'de Wihtburga nescio que sit, cuius nec opera nec nomen audiui' ('I have no idea who this Wihtburh is, and I have never heard of her deeds or even her name'). Listing this work in his Descriptive Catalogue, on cue Hardy commented 'the style is verbose and inflated', and it is certainly true that the miracles are furnished with a pompous classicizing preface somewhat reminiscent of the style of VSex, and each individual episode is decked out extensively with pious asides and addresses to Wihtburh, and from Wihtburh to the reader.1 The author makes the customary claim to modesty by likening himself to Alexander the Great (who when wounded pointed out that he was only a mortal, not the son of Jove) since his 'amici' have, in his view, mistakenly praised his learning. As well as the story of Alexander, the author summons up authorities such as Symmacus, Horace, and Gregory the Great to support his points. The first of the miracles relates to the well which is said to have sprung up in Dereham at Wihtburh's place of burial, others mention the environs of Dereham 1

Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue, no. 1020.

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INTRODUCTION

and other places (not all of them identifiable) in East Anglia, and reference is made both to the 'ecclesia' of Wihtburh (which could be Dereham) and to her 'limina'; yet Ely is never named even once. The author claims to have learnt from the 'uera relatio' of certain informants who were eyewitnesses to the miracles, and although this is a hackneyed hagiographical claim, these people, if they existed at all, may have been pilgrims to Ely from Dereham. The competence of the scribe who copied out these miracles left a great deal to be desired, since the text is frequently corrupt (though this could perhaps also be the fault of the pretentious author), so that even the straightforward concluding doxology is terribly hashed. Given the conspicuous lack of any reference to Ely, it is to be wondered whether the text could not have been composed at Dereham, since the church there must have been served at this time by someone with at least some level of literacy. Nevertheless, at the present state of our knowledge, the text is probably best seen as one further product of the minor school of hagiography we have observed taking shape at Ely. It is certainly the case that this unknown author wished himself to be regarded as a highly learned man. In setting out the standard humility topos in his proem, he makes great play on the fact that his acquaintances regard him as bit of a philosopher; then, in the opening chapter, he flaunts his knowledge of classical mythology under the guise of regarding it as so much chaff in comparison with Wihtburh's miracles (see below pp. 204-5). In this respect there are some similarities with the style of VSex, where again classical allusions are produced only to be discarded as meaningless alongside Christian sanctity, and this similarity might raise the question of whether these two texts could have been written by the same man. It has to be said, however, that there are few other similarities of diction to support the conjecture, and perhaps we are safer with the proposition that, as products of twelfth-century Ely, they stand as examples of the kind of cultural and literary developments discernible in all places at this period. At this point it may seem appropriate to draw together the suggestions made in the preceding sections about the genesis of the Ely Lives. I should like to put forward the conjecture that on the occasion of his stay at Ely Goscelin could have composed several sets of lessons for use in the liturgy there: on Seaxburh and her daughter Eormen-

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hild, and just possibly also on Wihtburh; he also composed, at about this time, a Life of Wærburh, along with a set of lessons abbreviated from that Life. Though this seems less certain, he may conceivably also have reworked a pre-existing written account of Æthelthryth's tenth-century miracles, the earlier form of which is represented by the material incorporated into LE as an authentically tenth-century record, and preserved also in two twelfth-century legendaries from Chester and Leominster. In the years following the translation of all the Ely saints in 1106, a need was felt for a more grandiose dossier, and Bede's simple account of /Ethelthryth was turned into rhyming prose, and joined to the earlier rewriting of /Elfhelm's tenth-century miracles, to which later miracle accounts were also appended. This whole account was then put into hexameters by Gregory of Ely, and MS C represents his probably unfinished work on that project. Meanwhile a more sophisticated account of Seaxburh was composed, and perhaps at the same time Goscelin's earlier lessons on Wihtburh were worked up and extended to include an account of the translation of 1106. An alternative could be that Goscelin himself was commissioned from afar to write up Wihtburh at this later date. This literary activity must have coincided with the beginning of the work on LE. The Life of Wihtburh was 'edited', perhaps by the compiler of the LE, in light of later twelfth-century traditions about Wihtburh's life in Norfolk which had been brought to Ely from Dereham. Possibly at the same time certain later miracle stories were brought from Norfolk and were written up at Ely, in the classicizing style which is noteworthy in other products of the period. The basic sets of lessons which Goscelin had composed continued to be used in the liturgy, and are to be found in the thirteenth-century Ely Breviary-Missal. 7. Sources and style As can clearly be seen from the commentaries below, one of the principal sources for all of these texts was the Vulgate Bible, which is little cause for surprise. Alongside readily identifiable Biblical quotations, there is also a degree of debt to particular images in the Bible, especially in those texts which I have suggested may have been composed by Goscelin. So it is that we find recourse to Christ's parable of the wise and foolish virgins waiting with their lamps to greet the Bridegroom, to the story of Jesus's visit to Mary the prayerful one and her more domesticated sister Martha, and particularly to the luscious sensuality of the Song of Songs, with its

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languishing maiden, longing for the embraces of her Lord. Overall, however, there is nothing out of the ordinary for hagiographical convention in the way the Bible is employed in these texts. For the most part patristic sources are not prominent. The one exception to this, of course, is VSex, which makes extraordinarily extensive use of a wide range of Jerome's letters. Such a heavy dependence is itself quite striking, but what is more noteworthy is the way in which the borrowings seem to have been selected. Jerome was known to be an authority on the subject of virginity's glory and the doubtful benefits of marriage, and would thus seem a reasonably apt source for a text which, for example, expatiates at length upon the relative virtue of the virgin bride Æthelthryth and the widow Seaxburh; yet the author's recourse to Jerome extends even to his concluding apology for writing at such length and his prayer to the saints. Another patristic source this author calls upon is Augustine's Contra Faustum (in c. 21). He also draws upon a section of Isidore's Etymologies (in c. 6) in which the use of antithesis is illustrated by example, and proceeds to show himself an attentive pupil in rhetoric's classroom by padding out Isidore's fairly bald list of vices and virtues into an extended exercise in antithesis. Such works as those by Jerome, Augustine and Isidore would undoubtedly have been among the standard contents of the monastic library in a community such as Ely, as was Aldhelm's prose De virginitate (Mir Aeth).1 The other noteworthy feature of use of literary sources by the author of VSex comes at the very opening of the text, the proem, where we find a very conspicuous deference to one of the classics of early hagiography, Sulpicius Severus's Life of St Martin of Tours. By echoing the very opening word of that Life, 'Plerique', the author is making a clear statement about his own place as an inheritor of the tradition, as well as about his saint's position alongside St Martin, and this even though we are dealing here with a widowed woman, rather than a virginal monk-bishop. The Life of St Martin became a pattern for much of the hagiography of male saints which followed, and has been frequently imitated or alluded to in earlier Insular Latin hagiography as much as in the wider world of medieval Latin saints' Lives. That the author of the Life of a female saint should turn to the same model is striking in that it raises the intriguing 1 Disappointingly, neither the letters of Jerome, nor Augustine's Contra Faustum are t be found among the contents of the surviving books from Ely listed by Ker in Medieval Libraries of Great Britain and its supplement.

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question of which early Life of a female saint attained the same kind of paradigmatic status as that of Martin. Such a question is not easily answered. One candidate, at least for a certain brand of female sanctity, might seem to be Venantius Fortunatus's Life of St Radegund, written not long after her death in 587. The example of Radegund, the queen who turned her palace into a hostel, her bedchamber into an oratory, appears to have been in Goscelin's mind when he composed his own portrait of Seaxburh in LectSex. Although there is no obvious verbal debt to Venantius, there are similarities between the description of Seaxburh's behaviour while she is still with her husband and that of Radegund before she betook herself to Poitiers. Possible models for the depiction of female saints will be discussed further in the next section. The author of VSex further shows his familiarity with earlier hagiography in that he draws upon the story in Gregory's Dialogues about Benedict's relationship with his sister Scholastica, to paint a touching picture of what he chose to present as the intimate 'brothersister' relationship between Archbishop Theodore and Seaxburh (c. II). Another source employed fleetingly, for the depiction of Viking atrocity, is Abbo's Passio S. Eadmundi (in c. 14). One notable aspect of the proem, in particular, of VSex is the mingling of ample Classical allusion with Biblical, so that Lucretia, Cleopatra, and the Amazons rub shoulders with Solomon and Sheba. Goscelin was not averse to the use of both classical Latin poetry and mythological figures,2 though such an inclination is not especially prominent in the texts which have here been proposed as his work, but clearly the author of VSex was an adherent of the same tradition. A further striking example of this classicizing tendency is provided by the unknown author of the Miracula S. Wihtburge, who compares himself to Alexander the Great in his preface, and then proceeds to take a line very similar to that of the author of VSex, to the effect, 'I shall not here be treating of Diana with her quiver, of the begetting of Minerva, nor of the founding of Carthage, or Dido's self immolation, nor Juno's anger towards Turnus, nor the marriage of Aeneas and Lavinia, nor the adultery of Paris and the snatching of Helen, nor yet the fall of Troy, but the miracles of Christ's virgin . . .'. Both in this example, and in the comparable passage in the proem of VSex, 2 He uses plenty of such material, e.g. in his exhortation to his former pupil Eve, the Liber confortatorms, quoting lines of Virgil and Horace, and citing the story of Orestes (LC, P. 44).

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although the rhetorical intention is to sweep aside all this pagan nonsense, at the same time the passage works to parade the author's great learning in not only the sacred but also the profane. It is a rather more heavy-handed approach than that of the model which may have been in both these authors' minds (but most especially that of the Wihtburh miracles), namely Bede's graceful hymn to Æthelthryth, in which he touches glancingly on the same theme with the phrases 'bella Maro resonet' ('let Maro ring out battles'), 'fedae non raptus Helenae' ('not the rape of coarse Helen'), and 'miserae non proelia Troiae' ('not the wars of wretched Troy'). Mention of Bede brings us to the use made of his HE by the authors of these texts. Bede's account of Æthelthryth and Seaxburh (iv. 19) lies in the background of LectSex though it is neither referred to explicitly nor quoted verbatim. The author of VSex makes much more extensive use not only of this passage, but of other sections of HE, for example those relating to Archbishop Theodore (iv. I-2), parts of which are quoted extensively verbatim, a practice which is in accordance with the dependent approach we have already noted that this author took towards other types of source. We have already seen that the Old English KRL and its variant versions provide some of the earliest surviving references to the lesser-known Ely saints, who did not receive attention from Bede. The relationship of this material to some at least of the Ely Lives seems fairly certain: Goscelin knew and used the content of the KRL, and it served as a source for the opening of VWer, though it is impossible to know for sure whether Goscelin had used an Old English version or a Latin translation such as seems to have been made at St Augustine's. The answer to the latter question may well hang upon when we believe Goscelin first encountered this material. As has already been noted, there is a striking contrast between the use of the KRL in VWer and an almost stubborn ignoring of the information which that document supplies about the activities of Seaxburh and Eormenhild in Kent, in LectSex and LectEorm (see above, p. Ixxxiii). Either Goscelin had not yet read the KRL when he wrote these lessons, or he was under specific instructions to give only Ely's viewpoint, following Bede's account of Seaxburh closely (even though Bede never mentioned Eormenhild). Another possibility might be, of course, that to begin with at least, even a passive familiarity with the Old English tongue was beyond Goscelin's capabilities.

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The oddity is the more striking for the fact that the author of VSex devotes such a considerable amount of space to Seaxburh's married life, her retirement to Milton, and then her foundation of Minster-inSheppey. It is therefore to be wondered whether this anonymous author had access to some version of the KRL, possibly one which took the form represented by the second of the Lambeth fragments, discussed above (p. xxx). In his proem the author does follow the hagiographical convention and make reference to his sources, stating 'Quedam ipsius opera ex antiquis Anglorum scriptis sunt comperta', which might be interpreted as conclusive proof that he had used a document similar to the Lambeth fragment. A detailed comparison of the version of Seaxburh's foundation of Minster-in-Sheppey, as portrayed in this fragment, with what we read in VSex highlights some interesting similarities,3 which strongly suggest that this Old English account of Seaxburh was available at Ely by the twelfth century (if not before), whether we interpret it as an expanded version of the KRL, or as a rudimentary Life of Seaxburh or a sermon for her feast-day, or as the foundation legend of Minster-in-Sheppey (see above, p. xxx). Just for once it may seem possible to take at face value a hagiographer's claim to authentic early sources. For ease of comparison, it seems worthwhile to take a moment to set out here the content of the second Lambeth fragment's account of Seaxburh.4 The simple note of Seaxburh's foundation in the KRL ('heo gestaðelode sancta Marian mynster on Sceapege') is dressed up with details of the size of Sheppey, and filled out by amplificatio using syntactically-similar doublets with alliteration: 'Ða gelicode ðære halgan cwene Seaxburge þæt heo ðær binnan for mvrhðe and for mærðe, hyre ðær mynster getimbrode and gestaðelode, swa geo men cwædon þæt ðrittegum gearum ne gestilde næfre stefen cearciendes wænes ne ceoriendes wales' ('Then it pleased the holy queen Seaxburh, for delight and for honour, to build and found a monastery for herself there, so that men of old said that for thirty years the voice of the creaking cart and complaining wheel was never stilled'). The KRL then reports that Seaxburh drew inmates to her new foundation, and that Hlothhere 'cyningc' gave her (in perpetuity) estates which would supply their livelihood ('þe hig git big libbað'), and that she set up a house of prayer ('gebedrædene'). It is at this point that the Lambeth fragment makes significant departures in the narrative, 3

These are picked out in the commentary to VSex.

4 Derived from Swanton's edition and translation in 'Fragmentary life'.

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describing the angel which came to warn her of the coming of the heathens. We are told that Seaxburh had held the kingdom ('cynerice') on behalf of Hlothhere ('hyre suna Hloðhere to handa'), for thirty winters (i.e. the same length of time as we are given to understand was required for the completion of Minster-in-Sheppey; doubtless both a rounding up), and that, presumably (not stated explicitly) on account of the admonitory vision, she bought from Hlothhere his share of the estates to be held freely by the monastery in perpetuity, and obtained a blessing from Rome. Turning from sources to a brief consideration of Latin style—we have already noted some of the pretensions to grandeur and affectation of classical learning displayed by the author of VSex (in common with that of the Miracula S. Wihtburge). When we come to consider his Latin prose style, it provides a striking contrast to that of Goscelin. The latter, as is well known, made extensive use of rhyme, such that his prose often takes on a highly poetic flavour, but the author of VSex avoided rhyme for the most part, as presumably no longer being the taste of the day. Comparison of the two writers also throws into strong relief Goscelin's profound love of richly-layered figurative language, many examples of which have been picked out above. Although VSex is not devoid of such touches, the texture is by no means as dense. If we can indeed accept as Goscelin's the lessons on Seaxburh and Eormenhild, which I hope I have demonstrated, they do highlight the dreadful over-generalization to which he has been subjected by commentators such as T. D. Hardy, who branded him as verbose, long-winded, and the like. For, while it is true that Goscelin was the master of amplificatio, the making of a great deal from very little information, he was capable also of a compactness and allusiveness of diction which is sometimes difficult to convey adequately in translation. 8. Depictions of female sanctity As has already been noted, there is a good deal less clarity about the nature of the models upon which a hagiographer could draw in setting out to describe a female saint than there is about the paradigms for male sanctity. The female saints of Ely offer an interesting variety of social situations: Æthelthryth and her twice-preserved chastity, who was married but remained to all intents and purposes an 'unmarried' virgin; Seaxburh and her daughter Eormenhild who submitted to

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marriage and bore children, but achieved honourable widowhood in retirement from the world and its trappings, and Wærburh and Wihtburh, who seem simply to have been allowed to remain virginal with very little sign of struggle. The hagiography of these women would therefore inevitably raise the well-worn question of saintly hierarchy and the contrast between much-prized virginity and the lesser state of chastity in widowhood. An excessive emphasis on unspotted virginity as the preferred state might seem to be a problem for the hagiographer who must also deal with female saints who unambiguously have not preserved their virginity intact. Questions might easily also be raised about the propriety of abandoning a husband in the way that Æthelthryth did. This latter difficulty had long since been handled with great delicacy, for example, by Aldhelm of Malmesbury, who, in deference to the audience of 'noble ladiesturned-nuns' for whom his De uirginitate was conceived, drew upon Jerome's writings to construct a saintly hierarchy in which mutuallyagreed separation of married couples could find a place of honour.1 As will be argued below, Jerome may well also have afforded a model of how to cast widows in the best light. I should like to dwell just for a moment longer on the case of Æthelthryth's parting from her husband Ecgfrith. This Bede depicted as being very much against the wishes of the latter, who had attempted to bribe Wilfrid into persuading Æthelthryth to allow him his marital rights. Interestingly enough, one of the few points at which the anonymous reworking of Bede's Life of the saint as preserved in MS C departs significantly from Bede's narrative is on this very subject (this section is unique to C; D keeps closer to Bede). There we are told that Ecgfrith, 'reflecting with wise mind, believed that the way of truth, which she alone blessedly strove to tread, was of benefit to them both' ('sagaci precogitat mente, credit ambobus ueritatis uiam prodesse, quam sola beata conabatur indagare'). The hagiographer goes on to state that the king regarded his wife not as his equal, but as a mistress ('domina') to be venerated, and that it was widely believed ('etiam aiunt . . .') that the reason for this was her high birth ('progenies alta'), which caused him to give her due honour and respect. This gives rise to the exclamation which follows: 'O laudabilis uiri uita, annis duodenis constans et firma qua non impetitur sibi maritata ulla quod hominum est carnali lasciuia' ('oh, 1 See M. Lapidge and M. Herren (trans.), Aldhelm: The Prose Works (Cambridge, 1979), pp. 55–7, on Aldhelm's treatment of widowhood.

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the praiseworthy life of the man, constant and steadfast through twelve years, during which he never besought his wife with carnal lust, which is the way of men'). This emboldened the author to draw on the hagiographical topos of mutually agreed chastity between man and wife for a final rhyming flourish of pious elaboration: 'Inter eos quidem frigescit carnis lasciuies, calescit autem amoris Domini temperies' ('Between them the lust of the flesh cools, but the tempering of the love of the Lord grows warm'). The whole episode is concluded by reference to the Pauline tag ( I Cor. 7: 14) 'by means of a faithful wife an unbelieving husband is saved'. Thus the depiction of Ecgfrith by Bede is significantly extended but also in some degree softened, so that, if anything, the temptation to see Æthelthryth as persecuted virgin is resisted.2 Thinking in particular of his depiction of Æthelthryth in HE, Stephanie Hollis has commented of Bede that in approaching the business of depicting female sanctity, 'Roman saints' Lives . . . provided both an authoritative precedent and a variety of models for foregrounding women, and the model most congenial to Bede's taste was the persecuted virgin'.3 It is certainly true that in his hymn to Æthelthryth, Bede likened her to Agatha, Eulalia, Thecla, Euphemia, Agnes, and Cecilia: 'Nor lacks our age its Æthelthryth as well', as Colgrave and Mynors translated the line. Bede did apparently conceive of her in terms of those virginal martyrs who suffered physical torments in order to escape violation. Æthelthryth is, in this way, a bloodless martyr. But, of course, the model of virginity preserved against the odds does not have universal applicability to all female saints. Hollis draws a similar conclusion about Goscelin's view of the task of writing about women saints, suggesting that he was employed to write about them in such a way as to 'mould them closer to the Roman virgin martyrs'. Particularly, she notes, where information was wanting, 'hagiographers were especially likely to resort to the martyr model'.4 Plainly, some of the motifs we encounter in Goscelin's Lives are of this stamp. Hence the prominence of the theme of virginity pursued, which he appears to have been especially 2 This is in marked contrast to the picture of Æthelthryth's vigorous defence of her chastity against a dangerous enemy presented by Gregory in his verse life; see the discussion by Thompson and Stevens, pp. 344-6. 3 Stephanie Hollis, Anglo-Saxon Women and the Church: Sharing a Common Fate (Woodbridge, 1992), p. 247. 4 Ibid., p. 71, n. 101.

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keen on: Wulfhild must flee naked down the sewer to escape the amorous Edgar, Mildrith as a punishment for spurning her suitor is thrust into an oven, and in his earliest known essay in hagiography, Amelberga's royal suitor goes to absurd lengths to hunt her down. Here was indeed a means by which the Anglo-Saxon female saints could be cast in the mould of their Roman sisters, beset by pagan suitors, with their mixture of blandishments and threats. Just as Bede had, Goscelin linked the names of his subjects with those of the classic martyrs: Wulfhild is like Lucy, Thecla, and Agatha; Mildrith too stands as firm as Lucy and Agnes. To belong among such a sisterhood appears to have been an important criterion for sainthood. Yet other patterns would have to be found for Seaxburh and Eormenhild. Wærburh, however, and in particular Wihtburh—a case where it is a fair supposition that information about her early life was in short supply—might have seemed to lend themselves to the model of virginity pursued, but the topos is in both cases dispensed with in a single phrase, by striking contrast to the full-blown and dramatic examples mentioned above. In VWer, c. 2, we find only the words 'procos et amatores regificos angelica pudicitia repulit', and in VWiht, c. I, likely suitors are seen off with similar dispatch: 'cassabantur sperantes in eius forma. Iste regna, ille predia, alius infinites thesauros offerat, uirgo . . . inflexibilis perdurat. Igitur pretiosa Wihtburga siue infestantes principes constanter euicerit, siue in pace feliciter euaserit.' For whatever reason it was not deemed essential to dwell at length on this aspect of the saint's life. Evidently it was possible to depict holy women who had not necessarily had to endure persecution in order to preserve themselves intact: sainthood also could be attained by simple holiness of living. Incorruption after burial was widely held to be the token of inner virginal integrity, and it is therefore no surprise to learn that neither Seaxburh nor Eormenhild were afforded such a privilege. As married women who had actually borne children, the nature of their widowhood could not be presented as virginity by even the cleverest sophist. Nevertheless, in describing their lives, Goscelin succeeded in making a strong case for their claim to sanctity by recourse to other typologies. In the lessons for their feasts, he stresses in both cases that they were of utility in their callings because, as wise and loving counsellors, they were able to influence their husbands towards most determinedly Christian rule—the extirpation of paganism, the building of churches, the founding of monasteries, the promulgation of

CX

INTRODUCTION

fasts—because their holiness had rubbed off, so to speak, in accordance with the Biblical idea that a faithful wife is the cause of her unbelieving husband's redemption (though it should be noted that neither Earconberht nor Wulfhere is depicted as anything other than a good Christian king). Also emphasized is the fact that Seaxburh is, by divine ordinance, the begetter of holy ones, a 'genus electum', as is Eormenhild; it is through them that the saintly cousinhood of the 'Golden Age' of the Anglo-Saxon saints is spread and perpetuated. At the same time, however, particularly in the case of Eormenhild, it is also stressed that spiritual progeny, understood as the women over whom an abbess would have charge, is ultimately superior to physical progeny. The other strategy for breathing sanctity into the married state is to emphasize the woman's aspiration for something higher and purer, beyond her immediate situation. In constructing this view of his women, Goscelin would have perceived the usefulness of the one preeminently suitable earlier model, which he must surely have been aware of, namely Venantius Fortunatus's portrait of St Radegund. From this source comes the idea of the bedchamber turned oratory, occupied by a woman who is 'non tarn marita quam monacha'. This also has resonances of the kind of Martha/Mary tension between the ascetic and the active which Sulpicius Severus pinpointed in St Martin (and many another hagiographer after him), who even in his secular life already seemed not so much a soldier as a monk ('non miles sed monachus putaretur').5 An extension of this idea, which is put forward in Goscelin's description of Eormenhild, is that she is somehow made more steadfast and holier by being obliged to wait and sigh for her chance to give herself completely to Christ alone; this is to emphasize a view of marriage as a yoke and a bond, the living martyrdom which makes saints. It is fascinating to see how far the patristic emphasis upon virginity has brought us when we consider the widely popular third-century Passio of Perpetua and Felicity.6 Both were married women, and might, if one is to search among early martyr figures, have seemed apt models, yet there is no hint whatsoever that any shame, or sense of having fallen short of the mark, attached to their married and patently unvirginal state (Felicity being heavily pregnant 5

Sulpicius Severus, Vita S. Martini ii. 7. BHL 6633; see A. A. R. Bastiaensen et al. (ed.), Atti e passioni dei martin (Milan, 1987), PP. 114-47. 6

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when arrested). Martyrdom was sufficient to obtain the crown in their case; virginity only seems subsequently to have become the additional sine qua non, and presumably even more so where there was no martyrdom to serve as the refiner's fire. At any rate, Seaxburh, as depicted by Goscelin, once widowed, feels a release 'post longa suspiria'. Immediately she puts off the 'old man' of sin, and as a 'fortissima uirago,' fights off her past omissions, cauterizing the stains of lust in the purging fire of God's love. But just at this point, Goscelin brings to our attention the unattainable model which inspired Seaxburh in her efforts, by reminding us that she strove most of all 'to emulate the holiness of her most chaste sister Æthelthryth in all continence and humility'. Interestingly, the anonymous author of VSex chose to dwell at length upon the contrast between Æthelthryth and Seaxburh (in c. 22), pressing home the differences between the sisters in a sustained exercise in antithesis, and emphasizing the fact that they can never be seen as equals. This author had clearly drunk deep not only of Jerome's turn of phrase, which he plundered extensively, but also of his low view of the married state. We are told that woman's beauty turns to hideousness in sexual congress and corruption in child-bearing, and suddenly all the odds seem stacked against Seaxburh, rather surprisingly for a text which is intended to press her claims to sanctity and to celebrate them. Earlier on, in c. 4, the author had hailed her begetting of four children, likened in their number to the four Gospels. Yet now the author has been momentarily distracted by the brighter rays of Æthelthryth's glory, exclaiming 'uirgo sponsa uirgo innupta, uirgo immaculata uirgo regia et regina'; she who is fecund in virtue will bear more copious fruit than the woman who bears sons in agony. Having sung Æthelthryth's praises it is almost as if the author comes to his senses: 'Nec tamen mulierem hanc fortem inhonoratam preterimus.' Seaxburh must not be neglected any longer, and in referring to her thus as a 'mulier fords' the author gently alluded to the image of the strong woman who is beyond price, which occurs in Proverbs (31: 10, 'mulierem fortem quis inveniet procul et de ultimis finibus pretium eius').7 Seaxburh's salvation lies in the praise meted out to chaste widows centuries before by Ambrose, in his De uiduis, which the author of VSex employed to round off his meditation on virginity and widowhood. 7 Cf. also Ecclus 26: 2 ('mulier fortis oblectat virum suum et annos vitae illius in pace implebit').

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INTRODUCTION

Almost as if to highlight the dangers of the world's expectations of women, of which Seaxburh was, in a sense, a victim, the author of VSex had also included an intriguing episode about the granting of freedom to the bond-women whom Seaxburh had drawn to her at Minster-in-Sheppey (cc. 15-18). This story has no parallel in Goscelin's account of Seaxburh, which in any case passes over in silence her work in Kent, and it does not occur in any other source, to my knowledge. The author describes the occasion on which Seaxburh announced her imminent departure for Ely to the women in her community, and he chooses a particularly striking, almost shocking image (borrowed from Jerome) in referring to them as 'the daughters of Sion whom she had brought out from the Egypt of this world, lest they stretch wide their legs for every passer-by, and lest having been deflowered they defile their breasts by prostituting themselves', as if to emphasize the perilous brink on which these frail creatures of dust seem to have teetered. Next we are told that these same women are thrown into confusion and distress at the prospect of Seaxburh's departure, because those of them who are low-born fear a return to servitude in her absence, with the unspoken likelihood of forced marriage or violation, and it is only by subterfuge that they persuade Seaxburh's young son to intercede for them, to obtain their manumission. Women are truly made to seem the world's victims. Given that one of Seaxburh's reasons for moving on to Ely was the forewarning granted to her (described in c. 14) of the coming pillage, and more importantly, rape by the Danish hordes, the women of Sheppey had every reason for concern.8 Here the author is able to place Seaxburh's own situation of chaste widowhood in a context of heavy sexual threat, as if to highlight the inevitability of the marriage and child-bearing which we are to believe was forced upon her. Having noted that we are hard put to identify appropriate models for the depiction of female sanctity, and in particular non-virginal sanctity, I should like to conclude this section with one suggestion for a paradigm which may well have influenced some of the thinking behind the texts presented here. We have already observed the extent of the dependence upon Jerome's letters betrayed by the author of VSex. As well as Jerome's well-known views on virginity and the evils 8 Note the suggestion that invasion and conquest in Anglo-Saxon England brought with it the likelihood that abbesses and their nuns were subject to the sexual whim of the victor, which is the conclusion drawn by M. Clunies-Ross, 'Concubinage in Anglo-Saxon England', Past and Present, cviii (1985), 3-34, at pp. 31-2, from an entry in the AngloSaxon Chronicle describing Earl Swein's treatment of the abbess of Leominster (in 1046).

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of marriage, which we have already touched upon, another feature of his letters is the number of examples of extended biography of women, at least two of which enjoyed extremely wide circulation. Among Jerome's acquaintance were several women, mostly widows, who were his willing disciples, had put aside their nobility in favour of the new asceticism of the age, and were either the recipients, or the subjects, of his letters. Ep. cviii, often known as the Epitaph of Paula, addressed to her daughter Eustochium, and Ep. cxxvii on the widow turned hermit Marcella, are just two examples, and come as near as anything to hagiographical portraits of holy women, the equivalent of Jerome's Lives of Malchus, Hilarion, and Paul.9 According to Jerome, these widows, forsaking the comforts of their former wealthy estate, gave themselves to works of charity, and lived out their existence in piety, self-denial, and conscientious study of the Scriptures. It may well have been, then, that these women served as models for depiction of that kind of female saint. Goscelin places a great deal of emphasis upon the putting aside of royal trappings by Seaxburh and Eormenhild, and Jerome's noble Roman matrons made a virtue of just such a disregard for things perishable in favour of the everlasting. Goscelin's description of Seaxburh's establishment of a 'xenodochium' in the palace is reminiscent not only of Radegund's behaviour, but also of the setting up of a similar hospice by Fabiola at Rome.10 It is at least a sign that he knew better than simply to turn every woman into a virgin martyr figure. V. INDIRECT WITNESSES AND PREVIOUS EDITIONS

1. The Liber Eliensis LE incorporates a small portion of LectEorm, c. 7 (i. 36), offering insufficient text to suggest a relationship with the manuscript witnesses, and the same applies to the fleeting sentence or two taken from VWer, cc. 4 (i. 24) and 13 and 16 (i. 37). Other material on Wærburh is drawn from a different source, namely John of Worcester's Chronicle.1 Slightly more extensive are the excerpts taken from VSex, cc. 15 and 19 9 Cf. the comments on the quasi-hagiographical nature of the descriptions of women in Jerome's letters in W. Berschin, Biographie und Epochenstil im lateinischen Mittelalter, 5 vols. (Stuttgart, 1986-2001), iii. 144. Other examples are Epp. xxiv (on Lea), xxxviii and xxxix (on Blesilla), lxvi (on Paulina), and lxxvii (on Fabiola). 10 Jerome, Ep. Ixxvii. 6, 'vosokóµiov instituit, in quo aegrotantes colligeret de plateis et consumpta languoribus atque inedia miserorum membra foueret' (CSEL Iv. 43, 11. 1—3). 1 LE i. 17, taken verbatim from John of Worcester's Chronicle s.a. 675; see JW ii. 126—7.

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INTRODUCTION

(i. 18), 27 (i. 32), and 20, 21, and 24 (i. 35-6). One of the two surviving witnesses to VSex, MS T, occurs as an appendix to LE itself, which led Blake to conclude that the compiler of LE must have had access to an earlier copy for what he includes in his own account of Seaxburh, on the grounds that MS T can only have be written out as LE was being completed, or thereafter. Yet this earlier copy was probably not A, because LE is in fact closer, where there is common ground, to T than to A. So the compiler must have used an antecedent of T. Explicit reference is made in LE to posthumous miracles of Seaxburh 'ut in libro gestorum illius enarratur', but we also find acknowledgement of a further source (i. 36): 'in Anglico quidem legimus', which may be an allusion to some version of the KRL, possibly similar to the second Lambeth fragment. VWiht is used quite extensively in LE: cc. 9-14 (i. 53), 17-18 (i. 144), and 19-24 (i. 147-8). The compiler cannot have drawn directly upon the surviving full copy of VWiht in MS C because in the list of persons who were present at the translation of 1106 Wido of Pershore is included by LE but omitted by C. Some of the 'historical' material of the extra chapters found in T (in particular relating to King Anna's death and burial) recurs in LE i. 7 in almost identical words—Blake's footnote at that point states 'cited almost verbatim in the Life of Wihtburga',2 but as we have already seen (p. xc above), the nature of the relationship between the Vitae in T and LE is perhaps slightly more complex than that. The relationship between the Life of Æthelthryth which forms a large part of the first book of LE and the surviving witnesses to comparable material has already been discussed (above, p. Ixix). Miracles of Æthelthryth occur in all three books of LE. As already noted, i. 43-9 appear to represent earlier material which it is claimed was committed to writing by Ælfhelm. Book i. 41-2 have a lengthy account of the Danish invasion and attack on Ely in what Blake characterized as 'a more ambitious rhyming prose than the version included in Ælfhelm's narrative'. These two chapters have some phrases in common with MirÆth, suggesting that the compiler of LE turned to this text as an additional source for this section, though it is impossible to determine whether it could have been MS C which was actually used.3 2

LE, p. 18 n. 2. See LE, pp. xxxii-xxxiii, for a detailed discussion of the relationship of this section of LE to material preserved in Cotton Domitian xv. 3

INDIRECT W I T N E S S E S AND PREVIOUS EDITIONS CXV

2. The Ely Breviary-Missal (Cambridge, University Library, li. 4. 20) This thirteenth-century liturgical book has already been discussed above (p. xxxviii). It bears witness to the continued use of the Ely Lives within the liturgy of the community. In the sanctorale of the breviary section, there are sets of lessons drawn from several of the texts printed here: for the feast of Seaxburh, eight lessons, abbreviated from LectSex, cc. 1-3, 5, 7, and 8 (at 244v-245r). There is barely sufficient text to establish a relationship with the full manuscript witnesses to LectSex, apart from a single reading which follows that of MS A (c. 8 petitione for petitionem), which, involving as it does the simple inclusion or suppression of a suspension over the second e, does not constitute compelling evidence. For the feast of Wihtburh's deposition and her translation, two groups of eight lessons are provided, which represent an abridgement of VWiht, cc. 1-4, 8-11, and 14 (at fos. 221r-v and 245 r-v ), in the version preserved by C (as opposed to that of T) though not necessarily from C itself: there are no readings which might suggest this conclusively. For Eormenhild's deposition, eight lessons have been abbreviated from LectEorm cc. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 (fo. 217r-v): T can probably be excluded as a source for these lessons (on the ground that the additions there concerning Seaxburh's and Eormenhild's activities in Kent are passed over), and there are two readings which may be interpreted as evidence that neither A nor B was used: the portion taken from c. 2 reads uilescebatque where A reads uilescebantque (though as before this involves only the accidental supplying of a suspension over the a), and from the same chapter comes the verb propagare which is miscopied as propari in C and then subsequently erased in part, possibly by the original scribe or by a corrector working closely with him. The material prescribed for Æthelthryth's various feasts departs a little from this pattern. Whilst the twelve lessons for the feast of her deposition are, not surprisingly, abbreviated directly from Bede's account (at fos. 233 r -235 r ), the special office 'In commemoratione sancte Etheldrede uirginis' (fo. 168v) contains three lessons of direct address to Æthelthryth, which appear to have been composed specifically for the purpose, and are not found elsewhere. Then there are three sets of lessons set out for use during the Octave, as part of the 'Hystoria' (from fo. 237v onwards), all of which describe posthumous miracles, and have been drawn, occasionally verbatim,

CXV1

INTRODUCTION

but more often with considerable rewriting, from MirÆth (cc. 1, 2, 3, and 5), which we have postulated to be the rewritten account of the tenth-century miracles. Finally, Æthelthryth's translation feast is furnished with twelve lessons (fos. 275v-276v), which recount the the history of her relics and of Ely generally, right up to building works carried out under abbot Simeon and his unnamed successor (presumably Richard), the source for which remains unidentified. 3. Later hagiographical compilations The fourteenth-century hagiographer John of Tynemouth provided, in his Sanctilogium Angliae, Walliae, Scotiae et Hiberniae, abridged versions of the Lives of all five of the saints dealt with here, and by his own testimony, Ely was one of the places to which he travelled in the quest for material for his great work.1 His Life of Æthelthryth is drawn from what appears to be a mixture of sources, following principally the version of her Life in LE, but on about three occasions including a phrase more reminiscent of the Vita S. Ætheldrethe preserved in C (rather than that in MS D).2 He also includes selected posthumous miracles, taken from MirÆth (cc. 2, 8, 9), again in a version closest to that preserved by C, though always abbreviating heavily. It is possible that John may have had access to a compilation of material similar to that represented by Cotton Domitian xv, which would account for the apparent mixing of sources. John's version of the Life of Seaxburh is an abridged version of LectSex,3 though the extent of his intervention means that it is impossible to say whether he had used either of the two surviving manuscripts. Much the same is true of his abridgement of LectEorm, apart from the fact that on just two occasions, his source copy seems to have offered variant readings also found in T (in c. 7 'uinctus' for 'cinctus', and 'ipsum' for 'ipsius' which is also found in A).4 John's account of Wærburh is an abbreviated version of VWer5, and for the most part his cut-and-paste method masks any evidence of whether he used one in particular of the surviving manuscripts. It would appear that he cannot have used C alone, since he does not follow a couple of its unique errors (c. 6 omission of'mora' and c. 10 'obsecratis' for 'obseratis'), nor one which C shares with B and D (c. 6 1 See Lapidge and Love, 'England and Wales (600-1550)', pp. 305-9, for a survey of John's career and writings. 2 3 See NLA i. 424-9. Ibid. ii. 355-6 4 5 NLA ii. 422-5 Ibid. i. 405-6, repr. in ActaS, Feb. ii. 686

I N D I R E C T W I T N E S S E S A N D P R E V I O U S E D I T I O N S CXV11

omission of 'furto'), yet these could well have been corrected by collation with other copies of the text. In the case of Wihtburh, John provided an abridgement of the Vita in the form preserved in C, rather than in T, omitting, for example, all reference to the childhood miracle at Holkham.6 As with the other texts, however, there is no textual evidence to show for certain that it was in fact C itself which John used. Overall, then, there is little merit in including the readings of John's redaction of these texts in the critical apparatus. The compilation of abbreviated saints' Lives written at, or for, Romsey Abbey, now London, BL, Lansdowne 436, includes an abridged, and partly rewritten, version of VWer (fos. 27-9).7 The opening sections are paraphrased in a few sentences, and then from the middle of c. 2 a slightly fuller rendering of the text is given, until part way through c. 6, the miracle of the wild geese. Here a slightly different version of the narrative is provided which appears to derive almost verbatim from William of Malmesbury's Gesta pontificum iv. 172 (on which see below). Thereafter the redactor reverts to following VWer, cc. 7, then 8 and 9 (very freely paraphrased), and 10-12, all in abbreviated form. The other Ely saints, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh, Seaxburh, and Wihtburh, are dealt with all together in a very summary fashion, in an account which consists in large measure of excerpts from Bede, HE iv. 19 with cursory reference to Wihtburh as Æthelthryth and Seaxburh's sister (fos. 34v-36v). 4. Later historiographers William of Malmesbury appears to have had some acquaintance with Ely hagiography, to judge from the brief observations which he incorporated into his Gesta pontificum (c. 183 on Æthelthryth, c. 184 on Wihtburh, and c. 172 on Wærburh).1 In the section on Wærburh, he selects the miracle of the flock of geese for retelling. Although it is probable that his source for this was VWer, he nevertheless freely paraphrased the story, but also altered it slightly: whereas one of the geese is simply said in VWer to have been stolen, William states that it had actually been eaten by the servants, and 6

Ibid. ii. 468-70. The contents of this manuscript are described by P. Grosjean, 'Vita S. Roberti Novi Monasterii in Anglia abbatis', AB Ixi (1938), 334-60, and see also A Catalogue of the Lamdowne Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1819), p. 121. 1 Ed. N. E. S. A. Hamilton, William of Malmesbury, De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, RS Hi (1870). 7

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INTRODUCTION

Wærburh restored it after the bones and feathers had been produced.2 Æthelthryth and Seaxburh also merit a fleeting reference in the Gesta regum (cc. 214; 396-7), and the fact that Eormenhild and her daughter Wærburh are mentioned as well (and assigned to their respective last resting-places at Ely and Chester) indicates that William was drawing on a source other than Bede, though it is impossible to tell its nature.3 In addition, Æthelthryth and Wihtburh are included in a list of five saints of whose incorruption William is aware (c. 207), and this may suggest that he knew VWiht, though Wihtburh's incorruption was also shown at the time of the translation in 1106.4 John of Worcester, writing his Chronicle in the 1130s, included a brief resume of Wærburh's Life, probably gleaned from VWer, in his annal for 675.5 Her retirement into Ely, the fact that Æthelred then entrusted her with several monasteries within his kingdom, her death at Threekingham and burial at Hanbury, along with the subsequent corruption of her remains at the time of the Danish invasions are mentioned, but without ever following the text of VWer verbatim. Although the other Ely saints are mentioned in various places, in entries reliant either upon Bede's HE or the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (for the exhumation of Wihtburh fifty-five years after her burial, for example), there is no further evidence of familiarity with any of the Lives. Henry of Huntingdon incorporates into the ninth book (c. 51) of his Historia Anglorum (the final version was completed in about 1154) a list of Anglo-Saxon saints and their shrines which must owe something to one of the later versions of the Old English RestingPlaces lists. It also emerges that Henry must have known some version of the KRL, to which his information about Mildburh and Mildgyth may be indebted.6 But his account of Wærburh seems to owe something to that of William of Malmesbury, following his retelling of the miracle of the wild geese. The English Life of St Werburga composed in the early sixteenth century by Henry Bradshaw, a monk of St Werburgh's, Chester, provides evidence that written accounts of the translation from 2

Hamilton, De Gestis Pontificum, pp. 308-9. R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson, and M. Winterbottom (ed. and trans.), William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum Anglorum, 2 vols. (OMT, 1998-9), i. 396-9. 4 Cf ibid. ii. 198, the commentary on this section. 5 JW ii. 126-7. 6 See D. Greenway (ed. and trans.), Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon: Historia Anglorum (OMT, 1996), pp. 686-8 n. 130, 691 n. 140. 3

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Hanbury formerly existed. Having covered Wærburh's life and the first translation of her relics to Hanbury, which he clearly drew from the VWer, Bradshaw goes on, in Book 2, to describe the translation to Chester, and a series of miracles worked there. This being largely completed, Bradshaw observes: 'To expresse all myracles written in the place / In a boke nominate the thrid passionarye, / It wolde require a longe tyme and space, / To the reders tedious (no meruayle sothly).'7 He seems thus to be implying that the third volume of the Chester legendary contained not only the VWer, but some additional material. The miracles he mentions appear to derive from two distinct phases: up to the ninth century and the reign of Edgar, and then after the Norman conquest (up until the great fire at Chester in 1180). Bradshaw describes, for example, the blinding of a Welsh king named Griffin (presumably Gruffudd), who came with an army to lay siege to Chester. The canons of St Werburgh's took the shrine and put it on the town walls to call down heavenly protection, 'But one of the ennemyes with great wyckednes / Smot the sayd shryne in castyng of a stone, / And it empaired piteous to loke vpon' (ii. 713-15). But as a punishment, the king and his men were blinded, and left in dismay. Then comes the healing of a lame woman named Eadgyth (ii. 73057): 'In the cite of Chester (the legende doth expresse) / An honest matrone dwelled Eagida nominat'. One could almost reconstruct the Latin from which this was taken: something along the lines of 'Erat in eadem ciuitate de Cestria matrona quaedam, honestissima ualde, quae Eagida nominatur . . .' (or perhaps 'Eagida nominata'), and it may well be that a collection of Wærburh's Chester miracles, now lost, lies behind Henry's account. There then follows a great variety of healing miracles, miracles of retribution, and miracles of release, such as the young man wrongly condemned to the gallows three times, who each time, having called upon Wærburh, was released by a white dove which broke the rope with its beak (ii. 940-88). All these are said to relate to the period before the reign of Edgar. The account is concluded by many miracles from the later period. 5. Previous editions The lessons for the feasts of Seaxburh and Eormenhild have never been printed before, nor has the longer Life of Seaxburh. Most of VWiht has never been printed before, though the concluding section 7

Bradshaw, ii. 1690-3.

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INTRODUCTION

in C, concerning the translation and miracles, which was incorporated into LE, is therefore published in Blake's edition.1 The Miracula S. Wihtburge have not been printed before, and are printed here as an appendix, for the sake of completeness. As already noted, the Bollandists prepared an edition of VWer from a manuscript sent to them by William Camden, and their edition was then reprinted by Migne in PL. Unfortunately, that edition contains numerous errors of transcription or silent emendations. Horstman also reproduced the ActaS text to accompany his edition of Henry Bradshaw's Life of Wærburh.2 As regards the material relating to Æthelthryth, the two recensions of the Vita have never been printed (and are here provided in parallel in an appendix), nor has MirÆth, though 'Transactis haud eminus' occurs as part of LE (i. 43-9). VI. RELATIONSHIP OF MANUSCRIPTS AND INDIRECT WITNESSES

1. LectSex and LectEorm In T VSex has been substituted for the lessons in what was the original arrangement (the sets of lessons are clearly companion pieces in A and C). As regards the LectSex in A and C, the most convincing explanation for the relationship of these two is that they derive from a common source. It is just conceivable that A was copied from C; this does, however, depend upon the stage at which the word allidunt was erased from C in c. 7 of LectSex, and also requires the restoration by A of a couple of simple errors in C, relating to misplaced suspension marks (LectSex c. 6 omne for omnem', and c. 8 petitionem for petitione). Since the two appear as companion pieces, LectEorm can be taken into consideration at the same time as LectSex, and this time T can be considered alongside A and C. Here one reading in C suggests that it cannot have served as an exemplar, namely propari for propagare (c. 2), but possibly also ipsius for ipsum (c. 7), although since ipsius was written in C with a suspension for the '-us', a misreading could have been possible. Other evidence, however, does point in the opposite direction, suggesting a close relationship between the witnesses, namely in c. 3, where C reads obnoxius for obnixius', in A obnoxius has been subsequently corrected (possibly by the original scribe or a 1

LE ii. 53, 144, 148, 147.

2

Bradshaw, pp. xix-xxvi.

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corrector working with him, but maybe by a later hand) to obnixius', obnoxius also appears in T, with non placed after it, possibly in an attempt to unpick the error. If it is safe to depend on the two unique errors of C mentioned above, then another way to explain the available evidence would, of course, be to envisage a common exemplar for A and C, and possibly also T. There is a handful of other places where A has variant readings which are shared only by T: uirginem for uirtutem (c. 6 ), Rebeccam and Elysabech (c. 7), and insertion of et after eius (c. 8). These two readings may suggest that T, rather than being copied from the same exemplar as A and C, was in fact copied from A, which had introduced these errors and variants. There is, however, just one reading unique to A which may suggest otherwise, namely uilescebantque for uilescebatque (c. 2), but it should be borne in mind that this reading only involves the mistaken addition of a suspension over the a and could perhaps have been corrected with little difficulty by the scribe of T. In the light of these conclusions the text of these two sets of lessons printed here represents the common ground of A and C, and since T's relationship to A is only conjectural, its readings have been included in the critical apparatus as well. 2. Vita S. Sexburge VSex occurs only in A and T. This may suggest that it was composed after the compilation of the Corpus manuscript, that is, after the 1130s. T is in all likelihood later than A and may well have been copied from it; in any case, the evidence counts against the possibility that A was copied from T, since the addition (probably very shortly after the text was first copied) of references to Sheppey by T in both VSex and LectEorm is not followed by A. Where A has some omissions, supplied in the margin by the scribe or a corrector contemporary with him, T silently incorporates the material within the text, even though in one place the narrative becomes garbled as a consequence (at the end of c. 13, the death at Rome of Wigheard). T also seems to follow A in a few rather odd spellings, such as Æthebberga for Æthelberga. 3. Vita S. Werburge To begin with what may be the earliest witness: there are a good many unique errors in C, which would seem to discount the possibility that it served as an immediate exemplar for any of the

CXX11

INTRODUCTION

other witnesses: germana for germina, and monasterium for monasterio, and omission of uelum (c. 2); esset for esse, and audiant for audeant (c. 3); suo for sui (c. 4); aliena for alienas, temtim for pedetemtim, audierent for auderent, and omission ofmora(c. 6), omission of de before exilio (c. 9), omission of sit after suscepta (c. 10), iuravit for durauit, potui for potuit (c. 12). It is certainly the case that neither A nor B can have been copied from C, since they both preserve the capitula list, absent from C as from all the other witnesses. T appears to follow C in a number of its peculiarities: Warburge in C and also in T before correction to Wærburge (c. 6), then both read Warburgam (c. 8; after this the name is never again written correctly in C), and later Warburge (c. 13), though when C has Warburge in c. 12 the scribe of T offers Wærburge without the need for correction. Already once in C Withburge was supplied by mistake in c. 1 (subsequently corrected; the same error is made in C in LectEorm, c. 5, but goes uncorrected). Yet the many other unique errors of C which are not shared by T would seem to suggest that T was not copied from C itself, but perhaps from the same exemplar. As well as the similarities between C and T which have just been mentioned there is one point of common ground between all of the three Ely manuscripts, A, C, and T, namely in c. 6 where A and C read magnimi for magnanimi, and this was also originally T's reading, prior to correction. For the reasons already outlined A cannot have been copied from C, which would then seem to suggest a common exemplar for not only C and T but also A. On first sight the difficulty with this might seem to be that A does not share in the peculiarities common to C and T; yet the repeated strange spelling of the saint's name would surely be easily detected and corrected by a scribe with even a modicum of common sense—certainly the scribe of C has in all these three cases shown himself to be very much more inclined to commit (or to perpetuate unthinkingly) careless errors than that of A, and as can be seen, the scribe of T seems to have tried quite hard to put right the reading Warburg-. So it is not inconceivable that the common exemplar of these three witnesses read magnimi and on several occasions Warburg-. B ranks alongside C as a relatively early witness, but the same observation applies concerning the likelihood that it could have served as an exemplar for any other witness: there are very many errors or variations which are unique to B. These include omission of uero, addition of se, and the reading ualuit for uoluit (c. 2), possit for

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posset (c. 3), foret for floreret and omission of iam (c. 4), quarre for quare and dice beatae for dicere (c. 6), omission of simul (c. 7), immortalitatis for mortalitatis and omission of iam (c. 9), omission of et (c. 10), pudicia for pudicitia (c. 11) and Dei for Domini (c. 12). The fact that B is the only other witness apart from A to supply the capitula list immediately suggests a relatively close relationship for the two witnesses, yet there are enough errors in B's version of this list alone to preclude the possibility that A could have been copied directly from B. Moreover, aside from the capitula list there is hardly any other evidence to link the two witnesses, apart from just three shared readings (against the other four witnesses), all in c. 10: Deum for Dominum in B and formerly in A before correction (by the scribe or by a corrector contemporary with him), and in both, omission of a before Domino and celesti regia for celesti regno. One other place which could just about be interpreted as common ground between A and B is in c. 4, where B reads foret for floreret and A originally read floret before correction. This meagre fare may just be enough to suggest the possibility of a shared exemplar for A and B. The other possibility, of course, given that the relative dating of A and B is not certain, would be to regard B as having been copied from A. There are just two readings in A which could count against this hypothesis, namely sanctitis for sanctitatis in the capitula list, and in c. 6 magnimi for magnanimi which A shares with C and T. Neither of these readings could be described as totally irremediable, and so I think we should not rule out this possibility. Now in the cases of LectSex and LectEorm we have found evidence suggesting that A and C may have had a common exemplar for those texts. Extrapolating this over on to VWer, if A and B did indeed derive from a common exemplar, which was also the exemplar of C, then we would expect to find C sharing in these few variants common to A and B, and this is not the case. It may, of course, be misguided to generalize the textual transmission of this group of texts in such a fashion simply because they happen to be preserved as a close grouping in these Ely manuscripts, but if it is not, then the case for seeing B as having been copied from A is strengthened by the evidence of C. To pursue the point, I have suggested that in LectEorm and VSex T may well have been copied from A, yet in the case of VWer the same cannot be taken completely for granted: T does not follow A in reading contemta in c. 1 (though this is a relatively minor variation), nor does it share with A in the variant readings which we

CXX1V

INTRODUCTION

have seen draw A and B together in c. 10 (though again it should be borne in mind that at least one of these, omission of a, could be corrected without too much effort). It is on account of these various pieces of evidence that a common exemplar has been suggested for A, C, and T. On the other hand, there is one other possibility, not yet considered, namely that T represents a conflation of A and C, which is not inconceivable given that all three manuscripts were written at Ely. Thus T could have been copied in the main from A, as in the case of the other texts considered so far, and perhaps the only truly significant variant in A, celesti regia for celesti regno (c. 10), could have been corrected by recourse to the otherwise rather untrustworthy C. Needless to say, it is quite possible that in all of the relationships set out above one or more lost copies could have intervened between exemplar and copy. As for the remaining two witnesses, D and O, it is not entirely clear how they fit into the picture sketched out above. We have already established that they cannot have been copied directly from either B or C, which show too many unique variants. T also offers a good many unique variants which probably mean that it could not have served as exemplar for either D or O; for example, sanctissima for beatissima (c. 1), ineffabilem for inestimabilem, omission of perciperet, andfestum for fastum (c. 2), de for deo (c. 5), and Ælredo for Ceolredo (c. 11). There are rather fewer obstacles in the way of regarding A as a potential exemplar for either D or O, namely A's one unique variant of contemta for contenta (c. 1), which as we have suggested is a relatively minor difference, but also the two errors shared with B in c. 10, as well as the error of magnimi shared with C (and originally T) in c. 6. Although it does not share in any of these errors, O does show some hint of an affiliation with both A and B. Only A and O read uirgo Eorkengoda in c. 1 where the other witnesses have simply Eorkengoda, and O follows A (and T) in the inclusion of the word furto in c. 6. It might be possible to see O as having copied from A if magnimi and regia for regno could be considered correctible by the scribe of O. As has already been suggested in the case of T, conflation with another copy of the text might account for the state of O. Yet a difficulty is raised by the fact that O also shares two of B's readings, namely addition of se after dolebant in c. 2 and the addition of domini after Christi in c. 12. It has already been shown that O cannot have been copied from B, so the only other explanation would seem to be a common exemplar, but then we should have expected A to share

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CXXV

these two readings with B and O, which it does not. Moreover if O had been copied from A in the light of a comparison with B (or its immediate exemplar), then O would have been highly likely to share in the readings which A and B have in common in c. 10. It is the case, however, that of all the witnesses to this text, the scribe of O makes the largest number of individual interventions and alterations, which may suggest that he was capable of remedying an error such as celesti regia for celesti regno. Though we seem therefore to be little further on in establishing O's position in the textual transmission of VWer, I believe that its aptest place is deriving either from A or from A's exemplar. D shares one conspicuous error with C, namely reading inquam for inquit in c. 6, but clearly it cannot have been copied from that very defective witness. Where there is divergence between A and C, which we have been suggesting as descendents from a common exemplar, D tends to follow in C's direction, which may suggest that it is ultimately descended from an antecedent of C which intervened between C and the exemplar shared with A. Given the highly conjectural nature of the relationships proposed above, it has seemed safest to include the readings of all six witnesses in the critical apparatus, in large measure favouring the readings of A for the construction of the text, because on the whole it seems to be a more accurate representative of the hypothetical exemplar shared with C. 4. Vita S. Wihtburge Blake discusses the relationship of LE, C, and T, noting that LE ii. 53 is very close to C, as also ii. 144, 148, 147.1 He concluded that LE is dependent on a copy of VWiht similar to C, but not, however, C itself, which omits from the list of those who attended the translation in 1106 the name of Guy of Pershore, which is included in LE. The chronological calculations in LE ii. 147 come as the last section of C, which seems a more appropriate position. Blake wondered whether they could have been marginal in the source used by both. It is evident that C shares a common source with T, and for the most part they are identical. As has already been noted above (p. xc), Blake did not believe that T could have copied from C, on account of what he regarded as a reordering of the chapters in C, which he saw as a 1

At p. xxxvii.

CXXV1

INTRODUCTION

departure from the order in the now lost common source for the two versions. But in fact, it seems more likely that the rearrangement was made by the scribe of T (or of its exemplar), and there is just one variant in C which could count against the hypothesis that T did actually draw on C. In c. 6, C omits the word sed, without which the sentence makes poor sense. Sed does occur in T, and the scribe may have realized the weakness of the syntax and supplied the lack he found in his exemplar, which could then have been C. But if such an emendation should be thought to be beyond the average copyist, then one would indeed have to revert to Blake's original thesis, and posit a common exemplar for C and T. 5. Miracula S. Ætheldrethe The many errors in C strongly suggest that it cannot have served as the exemplar for D; for example, omission of manum in c. 4, foueatis for faueatis and omission of urebat (the main verb of the subordinate clause) in c. 8, but particularly the omission of an entire phrase in c. 7, which was clearly integral to the sentence as a whole. It is more likely that these two witnesses had a common exemplar, from which each may be separated by intervening now lost copies. VII. EDITORIAL PROCEDURES

(a) Chapter divisions, punctuation and capitalization Where a text is clearly divided into liturgical lessons, these chapter divisions have been followed in the edition: this obviously applies to LectSex and LectEorm (where the edition follows the lesson divisions in A), but also to VWer (where the chapter-divisions of A and B are followed). The divisions in the other texts are editorial, though frequently following the occurrence of coloured capital letters in the manuscripts which appear to signify some kind of break. In line with OMT style, punctuation and capitalization have been modernized. (b) Orthography Where it occurs, e-caudata has been rendered as e. Almost all of the manuscripts display some degree of inconsistency in the handling of Latinized Old English proper names, even of those persons who are the principal subject of the text. Some of the variation is between texts, some within one text. Given that almost all show some degree

EDITORIAL PROCEDURES

CXXV11

of inconsistency, there does not seem to be any great merit in following precisely the orthography of one individual witness. For example C, which lies the closest in date to the time when most of these texts must have been composed, wavers between Eormenhilda, Ermenhilda and Ermenilda, from Eorkengoda to Erkengoda within three lines, between Ætheldritha and Æthelthritha, and from Werburga to Warburga. It also fluctuates between Æthel- (always for Æthelthryth) and Ethel- (for everyone else). It appears, then, that during the period in which these texts were being copied (or even composed) there was some confusion about the orthography of Old English proper names; one might, then, argue in favour of printing a text which reflects the confusion of the time, as an authentic record of post-Conquest linguistic assimilation. Certainly where all witnesses are unanimous in varying the spelling consistently within one text, this has been preserved (or at least noted): for example in the lessons on Seaxburh, both A and C start out by calling Seaxburh's husband Eorconbertus, but then later Ercombertus, and similarly Eorcengoda becomes Ercengoda (or -gota), then Erkengoda. On the whole, however, it has seemed preferable to have the same person spelt the same way each time, and so I have attempted to adopt the majority reading. The very great variation among such spellings means that, especially in one particular case, namely the opening genealogical section of VWer, to include every single variant would have made the critical apparatus hopelessly cumbersome, for what might seem to be little gain. Accordingly, for good or ill, the orthographical practices of each manuscript are summarized here, and only such variants as are significant for demonstrating the relationships of witnesses have been included in the apparatus. A: Etheldreð-, Eðeldreð- or Æðeldreð-; Eðelbriht- (in both cases in VWer) but Aðelbert- in VSex; Ethelburg-, and Eðelred- (in both cases); Eadbald- but Edwin- and Edburg-; Eorconbert- and Erconbert- (in VSex); Enswið-; Ermenburg-, Ermengið-, Ermenhild- but also Eormenhild- and (in VSex) once Ærmenhild-, Eormenred-, Eorkengod- or Eorcengod- but also Ercengod- and in VSex Erkengod-; Egbriht- in VWer, but Egbert- in VSex; Cyneburg and Cynesuið-. Medial -th- almost always with eth ( ð ) . W always expressed as 'uu'. B: Æ at every likely juncture, even where, strictly speaking, it should

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INTRODUCTION

not appear: Æthelbricht-, Æthelburg-, Æthelred-, Ætheldreth-, but also Æduin-, Ædbald-, Ædburg-, Ærmenburg-, Ærmengid-, Ærgombert-, and Ægbricht-. It consistently uses wynn for Wærburh. C: Ætheldrith- or Æthelthrith- but Ethel- for every other name; Eormenhild-, Ermenhild- but also Ermenild-; Ermengith-, Eormenred-, Eorkengod- but also Erkengot- or Erkengod-, and again Eorconbert- and also Ercombert- or Erconbert-; Eadbald-; Enswid-; always -burga for -burh; -brihtus, -brithus or -bertus; -itha (for -yth) but also sometimes -ida; Kyneburg- and Kyneswith-. Always w for uu, and eth used only for Æðeldrið-. D: Æthelbriht-, but also Ethelbritt- (different person), and Egbrict-; Ætheldrith- but at other times Etheldrith-; Ethelburg-, and Ethelred-; Eadwin-, Eadbald-, Eadburg-, but Enswid-, and Ermengyd-, but Mildrith-, Milgyth-, and Kineswith- (with Kineburg-), Eormenhild- but also Ermenhild-, Ermengyd-, and Ercangod-, but Eormenred- and Eorconbert-. Always w for uu. O: always Ethel- ; Ethelbricth- or Ethelbrict-, Ethelred- (son of Penda) and Aelthelbrict- (the brother of Aelthelred-), and Ebrict-, Erconbert-, Ermenberg- and Ermenburg- but Eormengith-, Eormenhild-, Eorkengod- (or Eorkendgod-), and Eansuith-; Cyneburg- and Cynesuhith-. Etheldrith- and Etheldreth- used randomly. T: most consistently Ætheldryth- (or Ætheldreth-) and Æthelbrith(or Æthelbritht-), and but once Ethelbritht- (cf. Egbrith-), and always Ethelburg-, Ethelred-; Edwin- but Ædbald- and Ædburg-. Eorconbert- but also Erconbert-, Erkengod-, Ermenild- (once Ermenhild-), Ermengith-, Eormenred-, Enswid- but Mildrith- and Mildgith-, and Kynesuith-; Werburg- but also Warburg-, and Wærburg- on two occasions; alternating between Wihtburg- and Withburg-. Always uses w for uu. In the translations, the spellings of personal names of English rulers and bishops follow the forms accepted in the Handbook of British Chronology (3rd edn., 1986).

LECTIONES IN FESTIVITATE SANCTE SEXBVRGE SIGLA

A = London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. viii, fos. 93v-95v C = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 393, fos. 69r-71v

IN FESTIVITATE SANCTE SEXBVRGE 1. Regum proles1 et regum parens, immo sanctorum genitrix, regina sanctissima Sexburga, digne in terris celebratur laude festiua, que contempta mundiali potentia, celesti fidget excellentia.2 Ex temporal! dignitate gloriosior existit, non quidem propterea quia habuit, sed quia uel habendo fortiter uicit, uel habita tanto fortius abiecit, quanto potentius eis uti licuit. Vt uera imperatrix diuitiis imperabat, nee his quas tenebat teneri poterat. Nemo ilia inter delicias continentior, nemo in regio fastu humilior, nee spiritu pauperior.3 Vnde tanto nunc est in superna arce sullimior, quanto fuit in terrena Deo subiectior.4 2. Florebat itaque beata hec in natiua aula sub christianissimo rege patre Anna et matre regina,5 puella generosis moribus ac precellentis forme gratia, omnibus amabilis et gratiosa. Nota erat late non tarn aspectu quam fama, quia pretium eius obumbrabat parentum diligentia ac propria casto pudore reuerentia. Reges, duces, principes tarn indigene quam externi ambiebant eius conubia, sed soli Eorconberto regi Cantuarie filio Eadbaldi filii /Ethelbrihti summi ac primi ex Anglis regibus christiani,6 diuino nutu cessit hec palma, quia nullus dignior uisus est in potentatu et rerum eligantia. 3. Ilia uero iam celesti desiderio preuenta mallet monasterium quam palatium, ecclesiam quam matrimonium, Christi seruitium quam mundiale imperium, sed reniti non poterat auctoritati parentum, et consiliis potentum amicorum, maxime autem diuine dispositioni que in ea preuidit genus electum, et subsidia multorum. Nati sunt illi filii reges Ecbrihtus et Lotharius Deo amabiles, filie quoque sanctissime Eormenhilda et Eorcengoda,7 quarum prior 1 Cf. the opening of Vita S. Mildrethe, c. i, 'Regum proles' (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 111). These neatly balancing epithets are the kind of word-play that is characteristic of Goscelin's prose style. 2 Cf. VWer, c. i, 'immo de contempta regni excellentia maior ascribatur claritudo.' 3 Cf. Matt. 5: 3 ('beati pauperes spiritu'). 4 Into these few sentences are packed a density of word-play, rhyme, and alliteration which is again highly characteristic of the style of prose which Goscelin employed for texts where expansiveness was not required or appropriate (cf. the Vita S. Whini or the Hist, minor). 5 Anna, king of the East Angles was killed in battle by Penda, king of Mercia, in 654 or 655, but the date of his accession is uncertain (either 636/7 or the early 6405); see HBC, p. 8, and on his accession cf. Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 207 n. 26.

ON THE F E A S T OF ST S E A X B U R H i. Progeny of kings, parent of kings,1 indeed, bearer of saints, the most holy queen Seaxburh is worthily celebrated on earth with festive praise, who, having scorned worldly power, shines with heavenly excellence.2 She is the more glorious because of her temporal rank, though not because she possessed it, but because she both conquered forcefully while she possessed it, and also having once possessed it put it aside, the more forcefully because she had been able to wield it powerfully. Like a true mistress she mastered wealth, and could not be controlled by the things she controlled. Nobody was more continent than she in the midst of pleasures, nobody humbler in royal pride, nobody poorer in spirit.3 Wherefore she is now as lofty in the heavenly citadel as she was once submissive to God in her earthly one.4 2. And so this blessed one blossomed forth in her native palace under the most Christian King Anna and her mother the queen;5 she was a girl of high-born character and grace of surpassing outward form, loving and gracious to all. She was widely known, not so much by sight as by reputation, since her parents' carefulness and her own reverence for chaste modesty kept her worth well hidden. Kings, ealdormen, princes both native and foreign asked for her in marriage, but to Earconberht alone, king of Kent, son of Eadbald son of /Ethelberht,6 foremost and first Christian of the English kings, was this palm granted by divine assent, because none seemed worthier in power and refinement of ways. 3. But now overtaken by desire for heaven she preferred the monastery to the palace, the church to marriage, the service of Christ to worldly dominion, but she could not resist her parents' authority and the counsels of powerful friends, and particularly not the divine ordinance which foresaw in her a chosen race, and the help of many. She bore as sons Kings Ecgberht and Hlothhere, beloved of God, and as daughters the holy Eormenhild and Earcongota;7 the first 6 Earconberht became king of Kent in 640 on his father Eadbald's death, and himself died on 14 July 664; see HBC, p. 13. 7 Ecgberht followed his father Earconberht as king of Kent, and on his death in 673 his brother Hlothhere succeeded him, ruling until his death in 685; see HBC, p. 13. Their sister Earcongota's career is described by Bede, HE iii. 8. Bede, as noted earlier, appears not to have known of the existence of the fourth sibling, Eormenhild (who is accordingly

4

IN F E S T I V I T A T E S A N C T E S E X B V R G E

iuncta glorioso regi Merciorum Wlfero splendidissimam Christo gemmam peperit Werburgam,1 altera amore sacre religionis ac uirginalis obseruantie transmarina monasteria adiit, peregrina ubi Domini requiescens se a Christo susceptam claris miraculis ostendit.2 4. Quis autem digne memoret sacratissima Sexburga qualiter sub ipso iugo matrimonii uixerit? Duces nouerant dominam, pauperes alumnam, illi principem, isti frequentabant matrem, illi uenerabantur maiestatem, isti colebant humilitatem.3 Superioribus imperialis, inferioribus uidebatur equalis. Summis precipiebat, infimis ministrabat. Palacium fecerat xenodochium, cubiculum, quantum ius maritale permittebat, habebat ut oratorium.4 Currebant ad aulam hinc caterue plebium et procerum, inde examina inopum et uaria clade afflictorum. In his uero speciosior erat piis oculis sancta miseratio, quam in splendido ornatu diuitum uana ambitio. Porro ut omnium mater omnibus erat amabilis, omnibus uenerabilis, omnibus in necessitate condonabilis. Rara in turba, frequens in ecclesia ut uideretur post regni negotia non tarn marita quam monacha. lam nimirum religiosa Dei ancilla pretendebat, quod erat futura, quando ad eum conuerteretur tota anima. 5. Regem uero maritum insignis uirago attentius accendebat ad diuinum obsequium. Nam si iuxta apostoli uocem saluatur uir infidelis per mulierem fidelem,5 quanto magis mutua fides utriusque fidelis augebit salutem. Rex itaque crebro ipsius instinctu, primo omnia idola que sub prioribus regibus adhuc erant residua, ab uniuerso regno suo cum omni paganismo funditus exterminauit, regnumque Christi apud se iam non tarn dilatauit, quam totum Christi esse fecit. Nee minus cum intentissima regina multiplicauit ecclesias amplificauit monasteria. Primus etiam quadragesimalis abstinentie ita omnibus indixit obseruantiam, ut uiolatoribus decerneret omitted from the list of Earconberht's and Seaxburh's issue in HBC)', see commentary on LectEorm, c. 2, below. 1 Wulfhere, son of King Penda of Mercia, took control of the kingdom in 658 (or possibly 659) after three years of control by Oswiu, king of Northumbria. He died in 675 (or 676); see HBC, p. 16; and cf. Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 94, for the alternative later set of dates (dependent on dating the battle of the Winn>sed to 656 rather than 655). 2 Cf. Bede, HE iii. 8, where the miracles associated with Earcongota's death are described. 3 Note the careful way in which this sentence is built up of three balancing clauses linked by rhyme, and with symmetrical placing of the verb in the first half of the clause, then in the second, then at the climax in both halves (with disyllabic rhyme in the last clause as well).

ON THE F E A S T OF ST S E A X B U R H

5

of these was married to the glorious king of the Mercians, Wulfhere,1 and gave birth to Christ's brilliant jewel, Wxrburh, and the second for love of holy religion and virginal reverence went to a continental monastery, where, laid to rest as a pilgrim of the Lord, she shows by wonderful miracles that she has been received by Christ.2 4. But who can worthily describe how the most holy Seaxburh lived her life even under the yoke of matrimony? Ealdormen knew her as their mistress, the poor as a nurse, those visited her as a leader, these as a mother, those revered her grandeur, these adored her humility.3 To the more lofty she seemed imperious, to the lowlier an equal. She gave orders to the loftiest, and ministered to the lowliest. She made the palace a hospice, the bedroom—so far as marital rights permitted—she had as an oratory.4 From one direction hosts of people and princes flocked to the court, from the other crowds of the poor and those afflicted with various troubles. But in these matters her holy pity was to pious eyes more beautiful than empty ambition in the splendid array of the wealthy. Furthermore, as the mother of all she was loved by all and revered by all, readily devoted to all in need. Rarely seen in the crowds, often in church, she seemed, after the business of the kingdom was done with, not so much a married woman as a female monk. To be sure, the pious handmaid of God already revealed what she was to become, when she would be able to turn to Him with her whole soul. 5. But the excellent heroine more intently incited her husband the king to obedience to God. For if according to the apostle's dictum an unbelieving husband is saved by a believing wife,5 how much the more will shared belief increase the salvation of both believers. And so the king at her frequent prompting first exterminated completely from his whole kingdom all the idols which had still lingered under previous kings, along with all paganism, and now not just spread the kingdom of Christ in his realm, but made it totally Christ's. Together with his most zealous queen, moreover, he multiplied the churches, enriched the monasteries. Also he was the first to command the observance of lenten fasting by all, such that he decreed a punishment 4 An earlier example of a queen depicted as turning her palace into a convent is in Venantius Fortunatus's Vita S. Radegundis (BHL 7048; ed. Krusch, MGH SRM ii. 36477), especially cc. 4—5 (pp. 366—7), which may have influenced this description of Seaxburh. Radegund sets up a hospital, leaves the bed-chamber at night to pray in the cold, and then returns to the bed so chilled that her husband concludes that he is married to a nun not a queen ('habere se potius iugalem monacham quam reginam'). 5 i Cor. 7: 14.

6

IN F E S T I V I T A T E S A N C T E S E X B V R G E

uindictam.1 His suis sancteque cooperatricis Sexburge meritis, principatum longe optinuit ampliorem predecessoribus suis, salua eternaliter mercede in celis. 6. Liberos autem uerissima parens erudiebat affatim ad omnema Dei timorem et reuerentiam, ac mandatorum ipsius custodiam. Vnde simillima sibi fecit pignora, ut uideretur in moribus quasi in facie materna forma, quales fuerunt candidissime anime Eormenhilda et Ercengoda.* Proficiebat ipsius instantia fides in populo, in ecclesiis religio, in sacerdotibus sanctitudo. Gaudebant et benedicebant corone benignitatis sue Theodorus archipresul Dorobernie et abbas Adrianus, patres almifici,2 ceterique suffragatores in uinea Domini,3 hortabanturque eius feruorem de uirtute in uirtutem4 iugiter ad celestia niti atque sub iugo maritali patienter expectare salutare Domini. 7. Tandem famosissimus rex Ercombertus, .xxiiii. regni anno obit, et beata Sexburga post longa suspiria liberrimo Christi seruitio dimissa, Eligense monasterium acsi paradysum Dei subiit.5 Continuo regalia ornamenta cum pompa et luxu seculi abiciuntur et diuina arma in humili cultu quibus et femine tumidum draconem allidunt' suscipiuntur.6 Vetus homo cum actibus suis exuitur, et nouus in Christo induitur.7 Turn se fortissima uirago in omnem uirtutem erexit, decertans preteritas negligentias et moras acsi tune demum cepisset ieiuniis, uigiliis, ac uariis laboribus punire uoluptatum maculas igne amoris Dei decoquere, lacrimarum fluuiis abluere, omnique continentia et humilitate emulari sanctimoniam castissime sororis /Etheldrithe. 8. Successit dehinc in Eligensis cenobii regimen8 eidem germane beatissime Dei scilicet electione omniumque sororum unanimi petitione^ atque exactione. Intellexit beata tune se maiori oneratam diligentia, cum etiam pro omnium commissorum sibi uigilandum esset tutela.9 Omnibus ergo omnia et singulis satagebat ministrare a

1

omne C

b

Ercengota C

f

erased in C

d

petitionem C

This is reported by Bede, HE iii. 8. Theodore was sent from Rome to take up the position of archbishop of Canterbury in 668, and died in 690 (see HBC, p. 213); Hadrian, who arrived in England a year after Theodore, was elected abbot of the monastery of SS Peter and Paul, Canterbury (later St Augustine's); he died in 709 or 710 (Bede, HE v. 20). 3 Cf. Isa. 5: 7 (the Lord's vineyard) and Matt. 20: i (the labourers in the vineyard). 4 Cf. Ps. 83(84): 8 ('ibunt de virtute in virtutem, videbitur Deus deorum in Sion'). 5 Cf. p. Ixxxiii on the omission here of any reference to Milton or Minster-inSheppey. 2

ON THE F E A S T OF ST S E A X B U R H

7

for violators.1 By these his own merits and those of his holy co-worker Seaxburh, he obtained a reign far wider than his predecessors, save for the eternal reward in heaven. 6. This truest of parents instructed her children adequately in all fear of God and reverence, and the keeping of His commandments. Thereby she made her offspring very similar to herself, so that it could easily be seen from their mother's likeness in their character as much as in their appearance, what pure white souls were Eormenhild and Earcongota. By her determination faith increased in the people, religion in the churches, holiness in the priests. The crowns of her generosity, the bountiful fathers Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury and abbot Hadrian,2 and the other workers in the Lord's vineyard3 rejoiced and blessed her, and encouraged her fervour constantly to strive towards heavenly things, going from strength to strength,4 and under the marital yoke patiently to await the Lord's call. 7. At length the renowned King Earconberht died in the twentyfourth year of his reign, and blessed Seaxburh, after long sighs, was released into that service of greatest freedom, the service of Christ, and entered the monastery at Ely as if it were God's paradise.5 Straightaway the royal trappings with all the pomp and luxury of the world are cast aside and in humble garb the weapons of God are taken up, with which even women crush the raging serpent.6 The old man is put off with his deeds and the new is put on in Christ.7 The mighty heroine raised herself up in all power, battling against past omissions and hesitations as if she was only then at last able with fastings, vigils, and various toils to begin to punish them, to burn away the stains of lust with the fire of love for God, to wash them away with floods of tears, and with all continence and humility to emulate the sanctity of her most chaste sister /Ethelthryth. 8. Afterwards she succeeded this same blessed sister in the governance of the Ely monastery,8 by God's choice and at the unanimous request and insistence of all the sisters. The blessed one then perceived that she was burdened with greater care, since she had also to keep watch as a guard against the sins of them all.9 Accordingly she took pains to administer everything to everybody and to minister to the individual needs of each individual, and although she would 6

Namely Satan (cf. Rev. 20: i). Col. 3: 9-10 ('expoliantes vos veterem hominem cum actibus suis, et induentes novum 8 eum'). In Bede, HE iv. 19. 9 Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Wkini, c. iii (Talbot, 'The Life', p. 76), 'quantus tune pro salute multorum inuigilauerit' (Wulfsige is elected as abbot). 7

8

IN F E S T I V I T A T E SANCTE S E X B V R G E

singula, cumque mallet in Christi pace requiescere solitaria quam tot animarum fore tributaria, gaudebat tamen se dominice familie potius fieri meruisse dispensatricem quam si sub rege suo ut pridem uideret se prouinciarum et urbium principem. Inter innumera autem gratiarum Christi carismata hoc earn altius accendit ad uirtutum premia, quod predicte germane uirginalis gleba post sedecim annos sepulture inuenta est tota incorrupta."1 Hie ergo exacto uite cursu in sanctitate perfecta, migrauit ad eterna gaudia. Que in eadem ecclesia consepulta hinc sororem /Etheldritham, inde Eormenhildam filiam respectat consorti tumba et caritate infinita. Hinc etiam dans2 poscentibus salutaria, testatur se possidere* cum Christo regna celestia, ipso prestante qui cum patre et spiritu sancto regnat in eterna secula. a

1

incorrumpta C

b

posidere C

Again, the source for this is Bede, HE iv. 19. With this compare one of the lines of the 'prosa' which Goscelin is reported to have composed at Ely in honour of jEthelthryth (Blake, p. 215), 'Hinc dat terris miracula.' 2

ON THE F E A S T OF ST S E A X B U R H

9

have preferred to be at rest in Christ's peace as a solitary, rather than being the tributary of so many souls, nevertheless she rejoiced that she had deserved to be the steward of the Lord's family rather than the ruler of provinces and cities as she had previously found herself under her king. Among innumerable gifts of Christ's grace, this in particular incited her to seek the rewards of virtue, namely that the virginal body of her above-named sister after sixteen years of burial was found totally incorrupt.1 Having therefore completed the course of her life here in perfect sanctity, she passed over to the everlasting joys. In the same church she has a shared burial, gazing upon her sister /Ethelthryth on one side, her daughter Eormenhild on the other, in a shared tomb and in infinite love. Hence also,2 giving healing to all who ask for it, she bears witness that she has attained to the heavenly realms with Christ, by the agency of Him who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for everlasting ages.

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LECTIONES IN NATALE SANCTE EORMENHILDE SIGLA

A = London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. viii, fos. 95Y-g8r C = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 393, fos. 7iv-75r T = Cambridge, Trinity College O. 2. i., fos. 228r-23ov

"IN NATALE SANCTE EORMENHILDE"

i. De beata et Deo digna Eormenhilda eadem fere recensemus, que de matre eius sanctissima retulimus. Ita ipsa regibus parentibus utrimque est edita, ita regali thalamo sullimata, ita in regni potentia, quod maius est omnibus, Christo deuota. Matrem referebat decore et forma, matrem moribus et uita. Sic oculos, sic ilia manus, sic ora ferebat.1 Genitorem imitabatur honore, genitricem pudore. Ilium potestate, hanc exhibebat religione, ilium prestantia, hanc reuerentia.2 Ante omnia autem induerat materna uiscera ad omnem pietatem, ad omnem compassionem, ad omnium necessitudinum subuentionem.3 Eadem in omnes homines benignitas, eadem in Christo caritas, eadem iugiter ad celestia desideria sibi flagrabat animositas. 2. Ab infantia dulciflua erat anima, et a puellari florulentia superne glorie in ea adoleuerat flamma. lam mente anhela meditabatur Christi tyrocinia et paradysiaca uirginalis pudititie germina, uilescebatque* sibi ambitio terrena. Verumtamen euadere secularia retia non poterat, quam paterni regni dignitas et eximie forme sullimitas et uniuersa rerum felicitas, aut trahebat aut impellebat. Preterea regia parentum ac propinquorum turba certabant genus suum propagare' in ipsa. Et quid amplius? Ipsa diuina prouidentia parabat sibi sponsam gratissimam ab ilia et multorum remedia simul etiam ut per diu dilata suspiria flagrantior Deo tandem ipsa impenderetur hostia.4 Tradita ergo est a patre rege Ercomberto Wlfero regi Merciorum, hacque mediatrice, Cantuarii et Mercii facti sunt uti unum regnum.5 3. Mercii autem Penda rege paganissimo cum triginta ducibus ac totidem legionibus suis bello oppresso, ab Oswio^ rege, regis scilicet et * * Incipit uita beate Ermenilde T d subsequently erased) Oswino AC 1

k

uilescebantque A

' propari C (with ri

Virgil, Aeneid, iii. 490. Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Ediths, i. 6, 'Facies similior erat patri, reuerentia matri' (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 48); and cf. also Jerome, Ep. Ixxix. 6, 'sic refert in ore patrem . . . sic matrem mixta pinxit similitudine' (CSEL Iv. 94, 11. 2-3). 3 Literally, 'she put on her mother's bowels'. Cf. Col. 3: 12 ('induite vos ergo . . . viscera misericordiae benignitatem, humilitatem, modestiam, patientiam'). 4 In other words, that she should be more pleasing to God in that she had to wait longer to give herself to Him fully. Bede says nothing of Eormenhild whatsoever, or of any wife for Wulfhere, but this 2

ON THE F E A S T OF ST E O R M E N H I L D [13 February] i. Concerning the blessed Eormenhild, worthy of God, we shall narrate almost the same things as we have recorded about her most holy mother. In the same way she was born of royal parents on both sides, in the same way she was exalted in royal wedlock, in the same way—and most importantly—amidst the power of kingly government she was devoted to Christ. She was like her mother in beauty and outward form, like her mother in character and mode of life. So she had her eyes, her hands, her mouth.1 Her father she imitated in honour, her mother in modesty. She showed his power, her religion, his pre-eminence, her reverence.2 But above all things she clothed herself in her mother's inmost nature in all dutifulness, in all compassion, in the supplying of all needs.3 She had the same kindness to all men, the same love in Christ, and the same passion for heavenly desires burned constantly in her. 2. From her infancy she was sweet-natured, and from her girlhood blossoming the flame of heavenly glory had grown in her. Already with eager mind she meditated upon taking up arms for Christ and upon the budding paradisiacal shoots of virginal chastity, and earthly ambition seemed to her vile. She could not, however, escape the snares of the world, she who was either dragged along or thrust forward by the greatness of her father's kingdom, and the outstanding beauty of her form, and her generally fortunate state. Furthermore, the royal throng of her parents and relatives was eager to propagate the dynasty in her. What more need we say? Divine providence furnished for itself a most pleasing bride out of her, and at the same time the relief for many, so through her long-drawn-out sighings she might in the end be offered up as a more fragrant sacrifice to God.4 Therefore she was given by her father King Earconberht to Wulfhere, King of the Mercians, and by her mediation Kent and Mercia were made as one kingdom.5 3. Once Penda, that utterly pagan king, with thirty ealdormen and as many legions, had been overcome in battle by King Oswiu, namely information must have been derived from some version of the KRL (on which see pp. xxvi—xxxiii above), in either the Old English or the Latin version, though nothing is mentioned there of the drawing together of Kent and Mercia.

14

IN N A T A L E SANCTE E O R M E N H I L D E

martiris Oswald! germano, fidem Christi suscepere,1 ipsoque post triennium excluso cum proprio rege Wlfero susceptam christianitatem fideliter seruauere. Gloriosa autem Eormenhilda hue accedente uelut matutina Stella Arcturo obuia,2 diem et solem in occiduum Christum percussis tenebris ab exorta luce certabat obnixius" inducere. Adeo tune erat ibi uel incipiens uel recens ac rudis christianitatis indoles, ingens autem et inueterata restabat paganitatis barbaries. Dei autem famula, apostolico protodoctoris sui Augustini alphabeto a parentibus informata,3 sua dulcedine, suis blandifluis hortamentis ac moribus beneficis mulcebat indomita pectora, et ad suaue Christi iugum4 ac perpetue beatitudinis excitabat premia, peruersos uero reprimebat potentia. Nee requieuit inuicta amice*5 Domini instantia donee idola et ritus demonicos exstirparet, ecclesiis ac sacerdotibus regnum impleret, populum ad sacra oratoria, ad diuina officia, ad omnia pietatis opera assuefaceret. 4. Rex uero maritus sanctis ipsius desideriis ac peticionibus ultro obediebat, ultro se eius monitis inclinabat. Nee solum ipsius uota regia uirtute adiuuabat, uerum etiam per se ab eius exemplis multa faciebat. Ipse quoque execrabatur et exterminabat a finibus suis nefanda simulacra, amplectebatur et diffundebat in omnes solius ueri Dei Christi magnalia, promittentis' indelebiliter suis cultoribus eterna gaudia. Hanc mirabatur, hanc uenerabatur, eiusque inter secularia flumina celo fixam intentionem emulabatur. Reges etiam ipsius ditioni subiecti, eius beneficiis regno augmentati, eius pio zelo ad Christi fidem a patria gentilitate sunt attracti, et in baptismatis susceptione altius federati.6 lam uero nouerat et curabat ita temporaliter regnare, ut post transitoria regna posset fideliter interminabilia sperare. Inter bella et paces Christo innitebatur, per quern ad * corrected from obnoxius in A; obnoxius C; obnoxius non T * a mire all MSS, amire subsequently altered to amice in T ' corrected from promittentes in C 1 Cf. the description of the death of Penda, the subsequent conversion of the Mercians, and the ousting of Oswiu, in Bede, HE iii. 24, the source behind this section (and see p. 4 n. i on the battle at the Winwaei). 2 Cf. VWer, c. i, 'quasi de preuiis sideribus hec matutina Stella'. Arcturus refers to the brightest star in the constellation Bootes (or sometimes to the whole constellation); its rising was thought to portend stormy weather. Also cf. Job 38: 31 ('numquid . . . gyrum Arcturi poteris dissipare'). 3 Cf. the use of'protodoctor' to describe Augustine, in VWer, c. i, in Vita S. Milburge, c. i, and also in Goscelin's Hist, maior, c. 48 (ActaS, Maii, vi. 393F), Hist, minor (PL cl. 749D), and Hist, trans, ii. 4 (ActaS, Maii, vi. 439D). 4 Matt, n: 30 ('iugum enim meum suaue est'). 5 All the manuscripts read 'a mire', except that in MS T this has been altered, possibly

ON THE F E A S T OF ST E O R M E N H I L D

15

the brother of the king and martyr Oswald, the Mercians accepted the faith of Christ,1 but after three years they drove out Oswiu, and with their own king Wulfhere they kept faithfully to the Christianity they had received. Glorious Eormenhild, coming to this place like the morning star coming to meet Arcturus,2 strove vigorously to bring in the daylight and the setting sun, Christ, as the shadows were driven back by the coming brightness. The nature of Christendom there was still either in its infancy, or fresh and unformed, and the huge and old-established barbarity of heathendom still held out. But the handmaid of God, who had by her parents been instructed in the apostolic alphabet of their first teacher Augustine,3 by her sweetness, her soothing encouragements, and her obliging ways softened untamed hearts, and bestirred them to the taking up of Christ's sweet yoke4 and to the rewards of everlasting blessing, but the wicked she crushed by her powerful influence. Nor did the unconquered steadfastness of the Lord's friend 5 rest until she had rooted out all idols and demonic rituals, and had filled the kingdom with churches and priests, and had accustomed the people to holy houses of prayer, to divine services, to all works of religion. 4. But her husband the king of his own free will obeyed her desires and petitions, of his own free will yielded to her advice. And not only did he support her wishes with his own royal power, but also did many things himself following her example. He also cursed and cast out of his realm evil images, embraced and poured out to everyone the marvels of Christ the one true God, who promises imperishably to all his worshippers eternal joys. He marvelled at her, he venerated her, and emulated the way she fixed her attention steadily on heaven amid the fast-flowing rivers of the world. Also the kings who were under his authority, their power increased by his benefactions, were drawn by his holy zeal from their native heathendom to faith in Christ, and were more closely allied to him by baptismal sponsorship.6 But already he knew and cared about exercising temporal kingship in such a way, that after transitory kingdoms he might hope faithfully for everlasting ones. Amidst wars and in peace-time he trusted in Christ, through whom he might be brought from the perishable to by a hand contemporary with the principal scribe, to 'amice', which is more readily intelligible than the original reading, and has therefore been adopted here, even though it is hard to explain why only T should have made the alteration. 6 The author may have had in mind the baptism of jEthelwalh (described in Bede, HE iv. 13), at which Wulfhere acted as baptismal sponsor and gave two provinces as a token of the adoption.

l6

IN NATALE SANCTE

EORMENHILDE

immortales triumphos de perituris transferretur. Sic itaque rex profecerat per benedictam Eormenhildam quam sibi copulauerat uelut sapientiam, uirtutumque magistram. Nam, ut ait Salomon, 'uxor uiri sapientia est.'1 Dauid quoque dicente, 'cum sancto sanctus eris',2 tarn sancte anime societas non poterat sibi esse improfectibilis. 5. Cum igitur rex pater Ercombertus et patrui reges Ecbrihtus et Lotharius ac seculares propinqui de beata Eormenhilda sperarent suam in seculari regno perpetuare progeniem, ilia multo felicius ac perhennius celo quam seculo suam produxit generationem. Nata est illi regia proles Werburga," quam eterna uirginitate in sponsam dignaretur regia altissimi Christi excellentia; hec ditior et fecundior est celesti sobole, quam parentes sui in terrenis regibus quos edidere. Nunc enim multitudo plebium ueneratur Werburgam, quasi natiua progenies matrem suam et dominam. Sed nee beatissime Eormenhilde deerit perpetua familiarum suarum propago, que hanc unicam sobolem maluit Deo nubere, quam terreno imperio, immo semetipsam post matrimonium, ubi licuit, maluit superno regno fructificare quam caduco. Cum itaque carnalis nobilitas cum tempore deficiat, celestis in sanctis Dei iugiter perseuerat. 6. Glorioso igitur rege Wlfero post decem et septem annos ad eterna regna migrante,3 almiflua regina Eormenhilda quamquam pie defleret excidium sociale/ tota iam anima cum uulnerata caritate exultabat in Christi libertate.4 Tune ignis supernorum desideriorum quantum intra claustra anheli pectoris infremuerit, subito erumpentibus uirtutum flammis euidenter apparuit, claraque lampade diu innutritus uapor dato exitu reluxit. Tune, inquam, in luce apparuit, qualis sub coniugali nexu in oculis Domini uixerit, quibus estibus, crucibus, gemitibus, suspiriis, uitam beatissime germane sue Erkengode uirginis Christi in se zelata sit, et hunc diem non maritalis funeris, sed diuine obsequutionis desiderauerit. Extimplo cad precellentissimum Elig monasterium'7 confugit,5 ubi genitrix sua * Wihtburga C beata Ermenilda T

* sociare T

' ' apud Cantiam in monasterio famoso de Scepeia

1 Although these words are attributed to Solomon, they do not occur anywhere in the Vulgate Bible. Compare, however, Jerome's Commentary on Ezechiel vi. 18 (CCSL Ixxv. 289-90), 'uxor intelligi sancti uiri sapientia dicente Salomone: "Ama illam"' [Prov. 4: 6 in the Vetus Latina version], repeated in his Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, c. iii 2 (CCSL Ixxvii. 692). 2 Kgs.(2 Sam.) 22: 26. 3 Wulfhere died in 675 (or 676); see p. 4 n. i above. 4 The phrase 'uulnerata caritate', frequently used by Goscelin, derives from the Vetus Latina version of S. of S. 2: 5 and 5: 8 (Vulgate, 'amore langueo').

ON THE F E A S T OF ST E O R M E N H I L D

17

immortal triumphs. So therefore the king gained advantage through the blessed Eormenhild, whom he had married, as if she were wisdom and the mistress of the virtues. For, as Solomon says, 'a wife is a man's wisdom'.1 Also since David says, 'with the holy one thou wilt be holy',2 the company of so holy a soul could not be disadvantageous to him. 5. While, therefore, her father King Earconberht and her uncles Kings Ecgberht and Hlothhere and her secular relatives were hoping of blessed Eormenhild that she would perpetuate their line in an earthly kingdom, she on the other hand extended her posterity much more blessedly and lastingly in heaven than on earth. She bore a royal child Wxrburh, whom the royal excellence of Christ the most high deigned to choose as His bride in eternal virginity; she is richer and more fruitful in her heavenly offspring than her parents in the earthly kings they brought forth. For now a host of people venerate Wxrburh as their mother and mistress as if they were her natural progeny. Nor did Eormenhild lack for perpetual posterity of her family, she who preferred that her only daughter should be betrothed to God, rather than to an earthly realm, nay rather she herself hoped, after her marriage when she was able, to bear fruit in the heavenly realm rather than in a fleeting one. While, therefore, fleshly nobility fades with time, heavenly nobility lasts forever constant in the saints of God. 6. Accordingly, when glorious King Wulfhere, after seventeen years, passed over to the eternal kingdom,3 bountiful queen Eormenhild, although she dutifully lamented the loss of her companion, now with all her soul with wounded love exulted in the liberty of Christ.4 Then the extent to which the fire of heavenly desires had been raging within the confines of her panting breast was suddenly made plain as the flames of her virtues burst forth, and once given vent, her ardour, for a long time unfed, burned high again in its bright lamp. Then, I say, it came to light in what manner, under the obligation of marriage, she had lived in the eyes of the Lord, with what burnings, tortures, groans, sighs, she yearned for the mode of life of her blessed sister Earcongota, virgin of Christ, for herself, and had desired to see the day not so much of the death of her husband, as of the chance to serve God. Forthwith she flew to the excellent monastery of Ely,5 where 5 The alterations to the text introduced in MS T attempt to recover this version of events from its apparent Ely bias, by having Eormenhild betake herself to 'monasterio famoso de Scepeia' rather than directly to Ely. In T the reference to Wasrburh's presence at Ely was also done away with, for whatever reason. Similar alterations were made to VWer in T at the relevant point (c. 3).

l8

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EORMENHILDE

sanctissima Sexburga choris uirginum ut lima inter sidera preluxit,1 ubi filia ipsius Werburga ut monile aureum uirginitatis emicuit." Hanc sibi sane lucernam perpetuam Domini gratia parauit, hanc uirginem* pro uirginitate, hanc coronam glorie pro humilitate reposuit. Hie ergo omnem spem et amorem seculi cum regalibus ornatibus deposuit, Christique mancipatum et armaturam in humillimo habitu monastice religionis induit. 7. lam non opus est longa expositione, quibus laboribus, abstinentiis, uigiliis, precibus et lamentis se Deo mactauerit, quo zelo perdita hactenus tempora persequuta sit, qua subiectione se omnibus inferiorem exhibuerit, qua caritate omnes sibi inuisceratos habuerit.2 Ante quidem sub lege conubiali adequabat sanctas et patriarchales matres, Saram, Rebeccam' et Rachel, atque euangelicam Elysabet;rf nunc egressa obsessam urbem iugulauit libidinem tamquam ludith Olofernem, extincxit uoluptatem ut lahel Sisaram principem, prebebat se pro Deborra exercitus Domini ducem, atque cum euangelica prophetissa Anna, uaporabat templum Domini oratione assidua.3 Attestatur uero uitam eius mors in conspectu Domini pretiosa,4 qua transiit idus Februarii ad siderea regna, atque in eodem Eligensi cenobio* quo cum beata genitrice et uirginali matertera sua requiescit tumulata. Plura uirtutum insignia loquitur salutifera eius tumba quam nostra possit exponere pagina.5 Quis enim eius suffragia fideliter expetiit, et non optinuit? Ne tamen omnino eius miracula taceantur, nuper in quinta feria pentecostes, uir saxonicus ferro cinctus^inter missarum sacra ad ipsius beatissime adiutricis tumulum orabat, et ecce lecto euangelio ipsumf ferrum de exeso brachio tanta ui diuinitus uti pie creditur excussum est, ut super altare sacrum in conspectu omnium fratrum ceterorumque sollenniter asstantium a

k f

a a et sub ea habitum religionis susceptura relictis que mundi sunt omnibus intrauit T uirtutem C ' Rebecca C * Elysabech AT ' corrected from cenobia in C g uinctus T ipsius C

1 Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Ethelburge, c. ii, 'uidere erat in hac ecclesia lunam inter sua sidera' (Colker, 'Texts', p. 402); and Vita S. Mildrethe, c. xxi, 'pulchra ut luna, sua secum adducebat sidera' (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 134). And also cf. Hist, minor, 'et unum monile aureum uariis gemmarum illustratur splendoribus' (PL cl. 7438). 2 Lit. 'with what love she had them fixed in her bowels'; cf. the note on c. i. 3 Sarah (Abraham's wife who bore Isaac in barren old age; Gen. 21), Rebecca (wife to Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau; Gen. 24-5), Rachel (wife of Jacob; Gen. 29), and Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist; Luke i) are all types of relatively passive married women whose main significance lay in the offspring they bore. Their belligerently

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her most holy mother Seaxburh shone out over a host of virgins, like the moon amongst the stars, where her daughter Wxrburh glittered like a golden necklace of virginity.1 The Lord's grace surely stored up for Himself this everlasting light, preserved this virgin because of her virginity, this crown of glory because of her humble estate. Here therefore she put aside all the world's hope and love with her royal trappings, and put on the service and armour of Christ in the humble habit of the monastic calling. 7. Now there is no need for a long account of the labours, fastings, watchings, prayers, and laments by which she sacrificed herself to God, and with what zeal she made up for the time that she had thus far lost, and by what submissiveness she showed herself to be lower than all the rest, and with what deeply-felt love she held them all.2 Before, in her married state, she was the equal of the holy patriarchal mothers Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel, and Elizabeth of the Gospels; now emerging from the besieged city she has beheaded lust as Judith did Holofernes, she has annihilated sensual pleasure as Jael did Prince Sisara, she offered herself instead of Deborah as the leader of the Lord's army, and with the prophetess of the Gospels, Anna, she filled the Lord's temple with constant prayer.3 Her death, precious in the sight of the Lord,4 bears testimony to the manner of her life; she passed over to the starry realms on the Ides of February [13 February], and lies buried in the same monastery of Ely with her blessed mother and her virginal aunt. Her health-bringing tomb bespeaks more tokens of her virtues than our page can expound.5 For who has faithfully sought her aid and has not obtained it? Yet so that her miracles be not passed over in complete silence: recently, on the fifth day of Whitsun week, a man from Saxony, bound up in iron, was praying at his blessed helper's tomb during the rites of the mass, and behold! when the Gospel had been read, that same iron burst off his chafed arm with such force—by heavenly means as is dutifully believed—that it flew up over the holy altar and far away, in the sight of all the brothers and the others who were solemnly standing active opposites are the widow Judith (see Judith 13 for the beheading of Holofernes), Jael who drove the tent-peg into Sisara's head (Judg. 4-5), and Deborah the prophetess (Judg. 4-5); see Luke 2: 36—7 for Anna the widow and prophetess 'quae non discedebat de templo ieiuniis et obsecrationibus serviens nocte ac die.' Note the care with which the two groups of exemplary woman are balanced numerically. The verb 'uaporabat' means literally 'fill with steam/smoke', alluding to the link between prayer and incense. 4 Ps. 115(116): 15 ('pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius'). 5 An extremely conventional topos of hagiography.

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eminus euolaret.1 Patet ipsam in Domino posse supplices ab animarum uinculo id est peccato que etiam soluit a ferro. 8. Aliud preterea subiungimus miraculum pium et iocundum, id quoque tarn certum et clarum, quam in oculis omnium fratrum ibidem commanentium in uno fratre ipsius cenobii perpetratum. Is erat magister puerorum scole; quern illi metuentes, exacta iocunditate festiuitatis sancte Eormenhilde que supradictis idibus annuo ritu digne celebratur, sequent! die ad ipsius benignissime matris sepulchrum pariter confugere, clamantes et orantes pro sui liberatione.2 Quos insequutus isdem magister, indignatus rapit inde, et usque ad refectionem animi multauit uerbere, increpitans flentes cum tali insultatione: 'An putastis sanctam Eormenhildam uestrarum culparum semper habere patronam?' His actis, sub sequent! nocte ubi se lectulo composuit, ecce prepotens Eormenhilda, memor factorum, pedes illi ueloces ad persequendum et manus ad torquendum, fortius quam compedibus et manicis ferreis constrinxit. Contractus est enim subito utrisque manibus ac pedibus immo toto corpore, ut se adeo non posset mouere. Vel si progredi cogeretur, genibus pro pedibus, et ulnis pro manibus tormentaliter nitebatur. Hinc timor et tremor et confusio cum acri membrorum dolore atque etiam salutis desperatione occupauere, ut solus angor animi ei sufficeret pro correptione. Mane autem pueros ad se conuocat, ueniam suppliciter efflagitat, et ut se ad tumbam piissime domine Eormenhilde deferant, ibique pro se intercedant, lacrimabiliter implorat. At illi ut inualidis uiribus alii brachiis eius eta humeris, alii tibiis se subicientes, ferebant sullimem miserabili spectaculo ad sancte Eormenhilde presentiam ibique aliquandiu psalmodiantes et orantes impetrauerunt ei salutem pristinam, ut rediret gressibus propriis qui uenerat manibus alienis. Celebremus ergo festiue et deprecemur matrem tarn piam tamque benignam erga petentes se comprobatam, quatenus cum beatissima genitrice Sexburga et intemerata matertera sua /Etheldritha, adiuncta pariter dignissima uirgine Wihtburga, nobis impetret sua gaudia, et * om. C 1 On the similarity of this to other examples in Goscelin's works see p. Ixxix above; and on the tradition of the penitent's iron bonds see Love, Saints' Lives, p. 82 n. i. It is noteworthy that among the miracles of St Ivo (ed. Macray, Chronicon, pp. Ixvii—Ixviii), one such miracle is narrated concerning 'tres . . . germani Saxones', parricides bound with iron, of whom it is said the eldest and the youngest were released 'apud gloriosam virginem Etheldritham,' the other at Ramsey. 2 There are several parallels to this miracle, e.g. in the Mimcula S. Dunstani by Osbern

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21

by.1 It is clear that she who even releases from iron, is able in the Lord to release suppliants from the bondage of their souls, that is, from sin. 8. We shall moreover add another tender and lovely miracle, one also so certain and clear because it happened to one of the brothers of that monastery before the very eyes of all the brothers dwelling there. He was the master of the boys in the school, who, fearing him, took refuge together at that kindly mother's tomb crying out and begging for their deliverance, the day after the happy occasion of the feast of St Eormenhild which is by annual ritual worthily celebrated on the aforementioned Ides.2 The master pursued them, and with great indignation snatched them from there and beat them to his heart's content, chiding them as they wept with these words of scorn: 'Did you think you were always going to have St Eormenhild as patroness over your faults?' After this was all over, the following night when he was lying on his bed, lo! mighty Eormenhild mindful of his deeds, bound up the feet that were so quick to pursue and the hands so hasty to punish more tightly than any iron shackles or fetters could. For he suddenly suffered such contractions in both his hands and his feet, indeed in his whole body, that he could not even move. Or if he was obliged to go anywhere, he had to struggle in great agony on his knees instead of his feet, and his elbows instead of his hands. At this fear and trembling and confusion overtook him along with the bitter pain in his limbs as well as despair about his deliverance, so that the mental anguish alone would have been sufficient punishment. In the morning he summoned the boys to him, and humbly begged their forgiveness, and tearfully implored them to carry him to the tomb of the most holy lady Eormenhild, and there to plead for him. And they, although of feeble strength, some of them lifting his arms and his shoulders, and some his legs, carried him aloft, a wretched spectacle, into the presence of St Eormenhild, and there for some time begged for the restoration of his health, chanting psalms and praying, so that he who had come there in the hands of others went away again on his own feet. Therefore let us keep the feast and beseech our mother, shown to be so tender and so kindly to those who petition her, that with her blessed mother Seaxburh and her inviolate aunt /Ethelthryth, along with the most worthy virgin Wihtburh, she might obtain for us their and Eadmer (Stubbs, Memorials, pp. 140-2, and 229-30), and the Miracula S. ErkenwaUi, c. i, ed. E. G. Whatley, The Saint of London: The Life and Miracles of St ErkenwaU (Binghamton, NY, 1989), pp. 103—9 (and see ibid., pp. 213—14 for discussion of these and other analogues).

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quarum temporali presentia gratulamur, eternal! apud Deum consortio perfruamur, largiente ipso Domino saluatore nostro, qui omnium seculorum dominatur cum Deo patre et spiritu sancto. Amen.* b

Explicit de S. Ermenilda add, T

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joys, and that we might in the sight of God enjoy the eternal companionship of those in whose temporal presence we rejoice, by the generosity of our Lord and Saviour, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

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VITA SANCTE WERBVRGE VIRGINIS SIGLA

A B C D O T

= London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. viii, fos. 86r-9iv = Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale Albert zer, 8873-8, fos. 43r-s8Y = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 393, fos. 75r-8iv = Dublin, Trinity College 172, pp. 253-9 = Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 285, fos. I59 r -i6i v = Cambridge, Trinity College O. 2. i, fos. 23^-236'

CAPITVLA" I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX2 X (XI) (XII)

Genealogia S. Werburge.1 Conuersatio eius* in Aeligc monasterio. Conuersio matris sue in eodem cenobio. Preponitur monasteriis sanctimonialium Werburga a patruo suo, rege /E]?elredo/ Idem rex huius sanctitatis* exemplo fit probatissimus monachus. Werburga^ ut mater pia ita fit omnium ministra pro magistra. Volatilium agmina precepto captiuat et relaxat. Humilitas eius et dementia carnificem torta e\n tergun/ ceruice increpat et supplicem* reformat. Transitus ipsius tertio nonas Februarii. Corpus eius Triccengehamenses custodientes obdormiunt et Heanburgenses' diuinitus reseratis foribus auferunt/ Post nouem annos eleuata inuenta est toto* corpore et uestibus ut uiuens uernantissima.' Gratia resolutionis uel integritatis diuersorum sanctorum ad gloriosioris resurrectionis cumulum. Hanc digne esse celebrandam per quam Dei mereamur gratiam.

* This title and the first capitulum obliterated in A, where the numerals are also omitted. b d Capitula not present in CDOT om. B ' Elio B Ethelredo A g g h sanctitis A ^ Werbur B integrum B suplicem A ' Eanbugenses B 1 k aufertur B tot with a final -a erased B ' No more chapter headings in B after this one e

1 The Vita S. Milburge (probably also by Goscelin) opens in a very similar way, with a chapter entitled 'Genealogia beate uirginis Mildburge', presenting the same material as c. i here (essentially the content of the KRL), but in a more highly elaborated form. 2 As noted above, the chapter divisions in the Latin text follow those in the earliest manuscripts, where they are signified by coloured initials. MS A, which with B alone provides the list of chapter headings (numbered only in B), also supplies a number at the

CHAPTERS I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX.2 X. XI. XII.

The genealogy of St Wxrburh.1 Her life in the monastery at Ely. The life of her mother in the same monastery. Wxrburh is put in charge of the convents by her uncle, King /Ethelred. That same king by the example of her sanctity becomes an excellent monk. Wxrburh, as a loving mother, becomes the maid-servant of all rather than their mistress. By her command she captures and releases flocks of birds. Her humility and clemency admonish a torturer with his neck bent backwards and transform him into a suppliant. Her death on the third nones of February [3 February]. Those guarding her body at Threekingham fall asleep and the people of Hanbury carry her off, the doors having been divinely opened up. After nine years she is raised up, and discovered to be whole in body and clothing as if in the first flush of youth. The grace of decay or incorruption of various saints to the increased glory of the resurrection. She through whom we earn the grace of God should be worthily celebrated.

start of each chapter ('tertium,' 'quartum' etc.). But it is at this stage that a dislocation between the headings and the actual chapter divisions creeps in: the eighth heading actually refers to the content of the chapters numbered 'Vlllm' and 'Vllllm' in A, so that although there are only twelve headings listed, the final section in A is numbered 'Xlllm.' If the text had originally been conceived for liturgical use, then twelve chapters would have been what one might have expected to find. But the presence in A of the abbreviated eightlesson version of VWer suggests that the feast was being observed in the I2th cent, as that of eight-lesson rank, not twelve (and by the early I3th cent., Wasrburh's rank at Ely seems to have slipped further, since the Ely Breviary-Missal prescribes no proper lessons). For the sake of consistency with the other texts edited here, the actual chapters of VWer have been numbered with arabic numerals, rather than with the roman numerals of the chapter list.

"VITA SANCTE WERBVRGE VIRGINIS" i. Filia regum et sponsa Christi decentissima uirgo Werburga, in Cestra* ciuitate requiescit meritorum signis gloriosa.1 Clara est in tota Anglia2 et pura sanctitate et regia dignitate, et uirtutum attestatione, atque anglicarum historiarum celebritate.3 A primis Anglorum regibus sullimiter splendescit, a rege uero Dorobernie quod est Cantuarie potentissimo /Ethelbrihto qui primus Anglorum regum per protodoctorem suum Augustinum Christo sacrari meruit,4 immo a quattuor regnis altum et sanctum genus trahit. Quod hie sequent! ordine exponi dulce uidetur quo Dei gemma carius appretietur, et quasi de preuiis sideribus hec matutina Stella clarius spectetur.5 /Ethelbrihtus igitur ex Berta regina filia regis Francorum Eadbaldum cum Ethelburga filia procreauit, quern sue pietatis et regni optimum heredem reliquit.6 Ethelburga uero regina post' pii regis Northanhimbrorum Eadwini interfectionem reuersa ad fratrem Eadbaldum, in uilla Limminga monasterium edificauit, in quo cum sancta Eadburga requiescit.7 Eadbaldus quoque ex alterius regis Francorum a a Incipit uita sancte et Deo dilectissime Werburge uirginis D', Incipit uita sancte k Werburge uirginis 0; Incipit genealogia beate Werburge uirginis T Cestria 0 ' quo 0 1

This is the only place in the whole Vita where Chester is mentioned as being Wasrburh's final resting-place, and no explanation of her arrival there is attempted. That she lay at Chester could be gleaned from the KRL; see above, p. Ixxvi. 2 Cf. Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, pref, 'De beato Kenelmo in tota Anglia clarissimum est' (Love, Saints' Lives, p. 50). 3 This may be merely a conventional claim about the existence of earlier records (possibly in the vernacular), but could also be an oblique reference to the KRL. 4 On Goscelin's use of the term 'protodoctor' for Augustine, see p. 14, n. 3 above. yEthelberht's reign as king of Kent is conventionally dated to 560 X 616 (on the basis of Bede's statements in HE ii. 5), but more recently his accession has been placed no earlier than 589: see Kirby, Earliest English Kings, pp. 24-7. 5 Such densely metaphorical rhyming prose is characteristic of Goscelin's style. Closely similar to this is the opening of the genealogy of Mildburh: 'Quantis autem resplendeat ipsa sideribus auite claritatis, et quam claris emineat lampadibus generose propinquitatis, duco iocundum hie compendio seriatim intimari, quo nobilitas uirginis possit sublimius annotari.' There also Goscelin uses the word 'preuia' ('foregoing') of Queen Bertha, and the epithet 'Dei gemma' for Wasrburh. 6 Bertha was the daughter of the Merovingian ruler Charibert and his queen Ingoberg, and married yEthelberht in about 560, or possibly 580 (a modification to the conventional

THE L I F E OF ST W ^ R B U R H THE VIRGIN i. The daughter of kings and most comely bride of Christ, the virgin Wxrburh, rests in the city of Chester, glorious in the manifestations of her merits.1 She is renowned in the whole of England2 both for her pure sanctity and for her royal rank, and by the testimony of miracles, and by a host of English histories.3 She derives high lustre from the foremost kings of the English, indeed from the king of Canterbury, that is of Kent, the most powerful /Ethelberht, who first of all the kings of the English deserved to be dedicated to Christ by their first teacher, Augustine4—indeed from four kingdoms—she draws her high and holy descent. It seems pleasant to set this out here in the following order, so that the gemstone of God may the more dearly be valued, and so that this morning star may the more clearly be observed as if by the light of those foregoing stars.5 So /Ethelberht, by his queen Bertha, daughter of the king of the Franks, begot Eadbald along with his sister /Ethelburh; he left him as the most excellent heir of his religion and his kingdom.6 Queen /Ethelburh, after the murder of the good king of the Northumbrians, Eadwine, returned to her brother Eadbald, and built a monastery in the village called Lyminge, where she rests with St Eadburh.7 Also Eadbald dating suggested by Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 26). Her son Eadbald acceded to the kingdom of Kent on yEthelberht's death in 616, and her daughter yEthelburh was given in marriage to Edwin, king of Northumbria in 625 (see HBC, pp. 12—13). Edwin, king of both Deira and Bernicia from 616 (or possibly 617), was murdered in the battle which followed the invasion of Northumbria by Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia in 633 (HBC, p. 6), or 634 (Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 56). 7 This mirrors the Old English KRL closely: 'and heo )?a asfter Eadwines dasge gesohte Cantwarabirig, and hire broSor Eadbald wass Cantwara cyning; and he hire )?a forgeaf J?ast land on Limene, and heo J?a J^ast mynster getymbrode, and J?ar nu resteS, and sancta Eadburh mid hyre' (Liebermann, Heiligen, p. i). Lyminge, on the edge of Romney Marsh, lies some 6 miles north-northwest of Folkestone in Kent; on the early history of yEthelburh's foundation as evidenced by surviving charters, see Brooks, Early History, pp. 183-7, and f°r discussion of the topographical setting and architectural evidence of the Lyminge minster, see Taylor and Taylor, pp. 408-9 and 1074, and Tatton-Brown, 'Churches', pp. 107—8, no, and fig. 23. In 1085 Lanfranc is purported to have had Eadburh's remains translated to his new foundation, St Gregory's Priory, in Canterbury, along with those of St Mildrith, but these claims were held to be spurious, especially by Goscelin in his role as spokesman for St Augustine's, Canterbury, where Mildrith had lain since 1030 (see Rollason, Mildrith, pp. 21—4, 62—4).

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filia Emma Eormenredum atque Eorconbertum principes, sanctamque uirginem Enswitham, que apud Folcanstan deposita ueneratur, propagauit.1 Eormenredo autem ex inclita coniuge Oslaua nati sunt Ethelredus atque Ethelbrihtus, quos innocenter iugulatos splendida lucis columna de celo prodidit Christi martires.2 Quattuor quoque sibi filie sancte, Domneua, Ermenberga, Ermenburga, et Ermengytha, uelut paradisiac! fontis quadrifida emicuere flumina.3 Fratri uero eius Eorconberto regi Anne regis filia Sexburga soror perpetue uirginis /Etheldrithe regaliter coniuncta peperit Egbrihtum ac Lotharium reges celoque dignas Eormenhildam atque Eorkengodam reginas. Eormenhilda Wlfero regi Merciorum Pende regis filio tradita splendidissimam Werburgam, cuius" hec parentalis purpura infloratur, generauit. Beatissima uero matertera eius uirgo* Eorkengoda amore sacre religionis peregrinata trans mare requiescit, ubi se a Domino susceptam tanquam aduenam suam multis uirtutibus ostendit.4 At beata et regia Domneua cregio Wlferi germano Meruuale' coniugata,5 ad summe trinitatis gratiam triplicerr/ uirginitatis protulit lauream, sanctissimas scilicet sorores, Mildburgam, Mildritham, ac* Mildgithair/ que distinctis monasteriorum suorum lampadibus irradiant d

* cui B; cuius altered to cui T e ab eo add. D atque D

k

om. CDT ' ' regi Wulfero germano Merwali D ^ corrected from Mildritham in C

1 Again very similar to the Old English KRL. Cf. also Vita S. Milburge, c. 2 ('celoque dignam uirginem Eansuidam propagauit'). Emma seems to have been Eadbald's second wife: Bede castigates him (HE ii. 5) for taking his father's widow as a wife on jEthelberht's death. Bede does not mention his daughter Eanswith, and the KRL may well be the first surviving record of her existence. John of Tynemouth included an abbreviated Life of Eanswith in his Sanctilogium (NLA i. 296—9), but his source does not appear to have survived. On the early history of the minster at Folkestone, see Brooks, Early History, pp. 183, 202, and also Tatton-Brown, 'Churches', pp. 107—8 and fig. 23. In the I9th cent, a lead reliquary, apparently containing Eanswith's remains, was discovered in the masonry of the north wall of the church at Folkestone, and is still there today; see S. Robertson, 'St. Eanswith's reliquary in Folkestone Church', Archaeologia Cantiana, xvi (1886), 322—6. 2 In the Old English this is described as a 'leoma', which shines through the roof of the hall (Liebermann, Heiligen, p. 3), and almost identical terms are used in the Old English homily S. MildryS (ed. Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', p. 25). In the Passio beatorum martyrum Ethelredi atque Ethelbricti (ed. Rollason, Mildrith, p. 96), as also in Goscelin's Vita S. Mildrethe (ibid., p. 117), and the Vita S. Milburge (c. 3), the phenomenon is similarly likened to a ray of sun. The column of light is a widely-used hagiographical topos; cf. Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 8 (Love, Three Lives, p. 62, and accompanying note). Oslafe is not named by Bede as Eormenred's spouse; again the KRL seems to be the first surviving attestation of her name. For discussion of the cult of the two murdered princes, see Rollason, Mildrith, passim. 3 Cf. Gen. 2: 10 for the four rivers of paradise; and also note the use of exactly the same metaphor in Goscelin's Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 4 (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 114), and in VWiht, c. 23. Confusion seems to have arisen over the number and names of these daughters; some

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begot, by the daughter of another king of the Franks, Emma, the princes Eormenred and Earconberht, and the holy virgin Eanswith, who is buried at Folkestone, and is venerated there.1 To Eormenred, by his noble wife Oslafe, were born /Ethelred and /Ethelberht, whom a brilliant column of light from heaven showed to be martyrs of Christ after they had been innocently slaughtered.2 Also his four holy daughters, Domne Eafe, Eormenberga, Eormenburh, and Eormengyth, shone out like the fourfold rivers of the spring of paradise.3 And to his brother King Earconberht was royally conjoined the daughter of King Anna, Seaxburh, the sister of the perpetual virgin /Ethelthryth, and she bore the kings Ecgberht and Hlothhere, and Eormenhild and Earcongota, queens worthy of heaven. Eormenhild was given in marriage to Wulfhere, king of the Mercians and son of King Penda, and bore the most splendid Wxrburh, in whom this her parents' blue blood came to flower. But her blessed aunt, the virgin Earcongota, for love of holy religion sojourned abroad and rests there, where by her many miracles she shows that she has been accepted by the Lord, even though a foreigner.4 And the blessed and royal Domne Eafe, married to the royal brother of Wulfhere, Merewealh,5 brought forth, to the grace of the high Trinity, a triple garland of virginity, to wit the holy sisters Mildburh, Mildrith, and Mildgyth, who light up versions of this genealogy (for example the two Old English versions) mistakenly assert that Domne Eafe (properly yEbba) and Eormenburh were one and the same person. yEbba, as foundress and first abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, occurs as the beneficiary of a number of extant charters, and then is also named in group of abbesses said to have been present at a synod in 699 at which Wihtred, archbishop of Canterbury, granted immunity to the churches and monasteries of Kent (S 20), among whom an Eormenburh is also included ('hoc est Hirminhilda, Irminburga, Aeaba et Nerienda'); see Kelly, Charters, pp. xxv, 42, 146—62 (grants to yEbba as abbess of Minster-in-Thanet), and also Rollason, Mildrith, pp. 39-40. The present reading 'Ermenberga, Ermenburga' looks suspiciously like a scribal doublet, since the two are surely the same name: 'Eormenberga' is not mentioned by the Old English texts. This error, if such it be, is shared by the Passio SS. martyrum Ethelredi et Ethelbricti and the Vita S. Mildrethe (edited by Rollason, ibid.) and the unpublished Vita S. Milburge. All these texts (including VWer) may, then, derive the doublet from a common source, though it is also conceivable that VWer is that source (depending upon its dating). 4 Bede, HE iii. 8. Cf. LectSex, c. 3, where Earcongota is described in almost identical terms. 5 The unpublished Vita S. Milburge incorporates an account of the conversion of this Merewealh, king of the Magonsaste (there called Merwaldus); see Hillaby, 'Early Christian and pre-Conquest Leominster', pp. 563—71. Merewealh seems only to be attested in this group of hagiographical texts, indeed there is precious little surviving evidence concerning his kingdom; see P. Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature in Western England, 600-800 (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 16—53. Kirby (Earliest English Kings, pp. 78—9), suggests that Merewealh, rather than being a son of Penda, was his nephew.

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patriam.1 Natus est ei et Mereuin" filius qui ad sanctos innocentes a baptismate raptus est paruulus.2 Almiflue quoque Werburge* generositatem ac sanctimoniam proximius exornant sanctissime amite sue Pende regis filie Kyneburga et Kyneswitha, que cum propinqua sua beatissima' Tibba Burgensem superni ianitoris Petri^ illustrant ecclesiam.3 Suus uero genitor prenominatus ac patrui reges 'id esf Peada, /Ethelredus, ac predictus Merwala predictarum sororum fratres, christiane institutionis non solum cultores, uerum etiam primi atque intentissimi fuere propagatores, et sicut /Ethelbrihtus Dorobernie, ita Wlferus in Merciis christianitatem primus dilatauit. Sic itaque, ut premisimus, ex quattuor regnis et antiquis regibus rosa Christi Werburga florescit, a principe suscepte fidei /Ethelbrihto Cantuariorum, a Berta uel Emma Francorum, -'ab Anna rege et auia^ Sexburga Orientalium Anglorum, a patre uero proles lucidissima facta Merciorum. Hec uero ad gloriam predicande uirginis pretitulantur, ut de radice sancta ramum sanctum deceat sanctitudo, immo de contempta^ regni excellentia* maior ascribatur claritudo.4 Restat nunc ut explicemus sanctam ipsius conuersationem et probabilem in Domino finem.' 2. A tenero igitur eui flore, cum forme pulchritudo insigniter responderet generositati sue, cepit speciosa facie cum speciosissima mente ad ilium qui speciosus est forma pre filiis hominum contendere.5 Cuius ut inestimabilem7 dulcedinem pregustare potuit, protinus in eius amorem anhelo pectore exarsit, et, ut ceruus ad fontes aquarum, uirginalis anima eius in ipso sitiuit.6 Adeo dulcis et suauis dominus spiritus Domini, a Patre dilectionis procedens,7 illam attraxit, celestes concupiscentias in eius corde accendit, terrenas a b Merewin Z)0; Mereuinus T (over erasure) corrected from Wihtburge in C d ff f ' sanctissima T om. D ' ' idem D ab auia et Anna rege 0 g h contemta A', contenta BCDOT excellentium ac diuiciarum illecebris 0 1 J Incipit uita ipsius add. T ineffabilem T 1 Cf. Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 4 (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 115), 'in sancte Trinitatis gratia adiuncta tertia' (said of Tibba, the third of a threesome with Cyneburh and Cyneswith), and earlier in the same chapter, of Mildrith, Mildburh and Mildgyth, 'his tribus sidereis lampadibus tria Brittannici orbis regna siderum conditor irradiauit' ('with these three starry lamps the Creator of the stars lit up three kingdoms of the sphere of Britain'). 2 Cf. Vita S. Milburge, 'Mereuino quern ab ipsa raptum infancia Deus euexit ad innocencium gaudia.' Although the Old English KRL gives Merefin the title of saint, it does not mention his early death; it is, however, referred to in the fragmentary Old English homily S. MildryS (Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', p. 25), on which see p. xxx above. 3 Cyneburh and Cyneswith are included in the Old English Resting-Places List

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their native land with the separate lamps of their monasteries.1 She also had a son, Merefin, who was snatched away as a baby at baptism to be with the Holy Innocents.2 Moreover, dear Wxrburh's nobility and saintliness is more intimately adorned by her most holy aunts, the daughters of King Penda, Cyneburh and Cyneswith, who with their kinswoman the blessed Tibba, make famous the church of Peter, the heavenly doorkeeper, at Peterborough.3 Her aforementioned father and her kingly uncles, that is Peada, /Ethelred, and that Merewealh, brothers of those sisters, were not only supporters of the Christian establishment, but also its foremost and keenest propagators, and just like /Ethelberht of Canterbury, so also Wulfhere first spread Christianity among the Mercians. In this way therefore, as we said at the beginning, the rose of Christ, Wxrburh, blossomed forth from four kingdoms and ancient kings: that of Kent through the first in receiving the faith, /Ethelberht; that of the Franks through Bertha and Emma; that of the East Angles through King Anna and through her aunt Seaxburh; and that of the Mercians, of whom she was made a brilliantly shining descendant through her father. And these were mentioned first to proclaim the glory of the virgin, so that sanctity might deck the holy branch from holy stock, nay rather, that greater distinction might be ascribed to her by the excellence of kingly power which she despised.4 It only remains now for us to describe her holy life and her commendable death in the Lord. 2. And so it was that from the tenderest flowering of her years, when the beauty of her outward form corresponded remarkably with her nobility, she began with her beautiful face and most beautiful mind to strive towards Him who is beautiful in form above all the sons of men.5 When she was able to gain a foretaste of his unimaginable sweetness, forthwith she burned for his love with panting breast, and as the hart desires the waterbrooks, so did her virginal soul thirst after Him.6 Truly her sweet and lovely lord, the Spirit of the Lord proceeding from the Father of love,7 attracted her, it kindled heavenly longings in her heart and extinguished earthly (Liebermann, Die Heilige, p. 13), but not Tibba, who is presumably to be numbered among the 'monige oSre' whose relics were at Peterborough. The translation of all three is recorded in the Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (E), for the year 963. Cf. Vita S. Milburge, c. 4, 'parentalis almitas huius almifluz uirginis . . . de utroque suo genitore cuius meritis et laudibus ipsa nobilitatur proximius.' 4 Cf. LectSex, c. i, 'que contempta mundiali potentia, celesti fulget excellentia'. 5 6 Ps. 44 (45): 3. Ps. 41 (42): 2-3. 7 Cf. John 15: 26 {'Spiritum veritatis qui a Patre procedit').

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extinxit. Ilia amore perpetue uirginitatis ad sponsum eterne integritatis conuolauit, procos et amatores regificos angelica pudicitia repulit, immo Christus electam sibi inhabitans omnibus appetitoribus eripuit. Sanctissima ueroa parens non cessabat assiduis monitis irrigare hortum Domini,1 et plantare in ea inmarcessibilia* germina' paradisi, et accendere lampadem eius oleo et flamma caritatis inextinguibili. Ad illam enim uitam flagrantissimam prolem exercebat, quam ipsa adhuc sub iugo maritali gemitibus inenarrabilibus suspirabat. Verum altissima Dei prouidentia benigne dispensans omnia, matrem earn in regno statuit omnium inopum, omnium necessitudinum refugium, simul etiam ut piis uisceribus pignus Deo gigneret acceptissimum, et ampliorem coronam dilatorum tandem reciperet^ desideriorum.2 Viluerant diuitie tarn matri quam filie, palatium3 habebant pro monasteries aurum, gemme, uestes auro texte, et quicquid fert pompatica mundi iactantia, onerosa sibi magis erant quam gloriosa, et, si forte his uti ad tempus regia compelleret dignitas, dolebant^ potius uanitati subiectas tanquam captiuas. At uero uirginalis beate Werburge libertas, mox, ut uoluit/ hec uincula exuit, et ad Eligense monasterium cum officio sullimium parentum hostia Dei commigrauit: ubi* primum beata et intemerata matertera' sua /Etheldritha,4 ac deinde soror eiusdem uirginis, sua, ut j predictum est, auia principabatur Sexburga. Ilico abicitur cultus terreni nitoris, induitur habitus sacre religionis, uestis pulla pro ornamento glorie, uelum* capitis humile pro regni assumitur diademate. Ita precluis' uirgo5 certabat fastum" mundi calcare, mente et conuersatione, uelut hie peregrina, ad supernam patriam tendere, tota animi summissione" humillimam Christo exhibere ancillam, quam ipse exaltare dignaretur in sponsam. Omnes monasterii famulatus anticipabat, omnibus se inferiorem exhibebat, erga omnium necessitates uulnerate caritatis uiscera impendebat.6 e

k

k * om. B immarcescibilia B ' germana C * perciperet 0; om. T g h J monasterium C ^ se add. BO ualuit B ut 0 ' om. 0 non 0 m i om. C praecliuis DO festum T " submissione D

1 Compare the biblical 'hortus conclusus' (S. of S. 4: 12), and also the 'hortus irriguus' (Isa. 58: n; Jer. 31: 12). For parallels among the works of Goscelin, see p. Ixxvi above. 2 Cf. LectEorm, c. 2, 'Ipsa diuina prouidentia parabat sibi sponsam gratissimam ab ilia et multorum remedia simul etiam ut per diu dilata suspiria flagrantior Deo tandem ipsa impenderetur hostia.' 3 Cf. the commentary on LectSex, c. 4 n. 4. 4 Cf. LectEorm, c. 8, 'intemerata materera sua yEtheldritha' (an example of word-play rather characteristic of Goscelin).

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ones. For love of perpetual virginity she flew to the bridegroom of eternal integrity, and with angelic modesty she repelled royal suitors and lovers, or rather Christ, dwelling within His chosen one, snatched her away from those who desired her. But her most holy mother did not cease from watering the Lord's garden with constant advice,1 and to plant in her the unwithering seeds of paradise, and to keep her lamp burning with oil and the inextinguishable flame of love. For she was encouraging her ardent child towards that mode of life for which she herself, still under the marital yoke, sighed with inexpressable groanings. But the sublime providence of God, kindly disposing all things, established her in the kingdom as the mother of all the needy, the refuge in all necessities, so that at the same time she might conceive in her loving womb a child most acceptable to God, and also at length receive a greater crown for all her long-delayed desires.2 Riches became vile to both mother and daughter; the palace they had as a monastery:3 gold, gems, gold-embroidered garments, and whatsoever the pompous boasting of the world brings, were more a burden to them than a boast, and, if by chance royal rank obliged them to use such things from time to time, they grieved as if they were captives enslaved to vanity. However, the virginal liberty of the blessed Wxrburh soon, as she desired, put off these bonds, and the sacrificial victim of God went, by the good offices of her excellent parents, to the monastery at Ely, where first her blessed and inviolate aunt /Ethelthryth,4 and then the sister of that virgin, Seaxburh (her aunt, as I have already said), was in charge. Immediately the apparel of earthly splendour is cast aside, and the garb of holy religion is put on: black clothing is adopted instead of the trappings of glory, a humble veil on her head instead of the royal diadem. Thus the famous virgin5 strove to trample down the arrogance of the world, and in her thinking and her living to direct her journey, like a sojourner here, towards the heavenly homeland; and with complete submission of her soul to show herself to Christ the humblest handmaid, whom He might deign to raise up as His bride. She took all the lowest tasks of the monastery first, she showed herself inferior to everyone; she poured out the bowels of wounded love to all those in need.6 5

Cf. Vita. S. Milburge, c. 9, 'precluis uirgo Milburga'. Cf. LectEorm, c. 7, 'qua subiectione se omnibus inferiorem exhibuerit, qua caritate omnes sibi inuisceratos habuerit', as well as Goscelin, Vita S. Wulfliilde, c. 8, 'quas uti Domino uisceribus dilectionis genuerat, ita peruigili oratione et uberibus lacrimis uulneratae caritatis . . . commendabat' (Colker, 'Texts', p. 428). See the commentary to LectEorm, c. 6 (p. 16, n. 4) on 'uulnerata caritas.' 6

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3. lam Deo amabilis pater eius Wlferus, multarum ecclesiarum edificator, Christiane fidei summus amator ac dilatator, quippe qui etiam subiectos reges, datis prouinciis in mercedem, ad Christi cultum attraxit,1 septimo decimo imperii sui anno de temporali regno ad perhenne transmit. Tune beatissima regina Eormenhilda post pios fletus triumphans se solutam a mundiali catena, diu desideratam conuersationem arripit" et *cum beatac filia in Eligensi monasterio* iugum Domini suaue subiit.2 "*Hic deinceps^ tanta uirtutum flagrantia in omni sanctitate et religione uixit infatigabilis, ut et uirginibus exemplum esset castitatis ac totius uirtutis. Contendebant* alterutra pietate mater et filia, que humilior, que posse/ esse^ subiectior.3 Mater sibi preferebat quam genuerat uirginitatem; uirgo matris auctoritatem. Vtrumque* et uincere et uinci gaudebant.' Nunc autem in eodem cenobio ad salutiferam ipsius benignissime parentis tumbam conspicue elucescit/ quibus clementie uisceribus se in cunctos diffuderit, dum corporaliter uixit; adeo ut experti ipsius beneficia audeant* fideliter asserere quod nullus credulus petitor frustretur eius ope. 4. Igitur patruus alme Werburge rex /Ethelredus, qui fratri Wlfero successerat, cum sancta mente totius sanctitatis amator esset benignissimus, uidens in beata nepte diuinam prudentiam ac sanctimoniam altius resplendere, qui nimirum uirtutem poterat ultra germanitatem diligere, tradidit ei monasteriorum sanctimonialium, que in suo regno pollebant, principatum.4 Pulchre sane superna id actum' est prouidentia, ut sacre institutionis, cuius perfecta erat discipula, in salutem multorum decentissima floreret" magistra. Rex uero iam" magis ac magis cepit imperii tedere, dum se reputaret inter secularia negotia quasi animal accline terre, illam uero columbinis k k * arripuit D cum matre sua beata Sexburga apud Scepeiam in suo monasterio T d d (squeezed in over an erasure) ' om. 0 Sed deinceps in Ely ad eandem suam filiam sanctam Werburgam secessit ubi T (squeezed in over an erasure)', Hec deinceps D f l ' contendebatur D possit B esset C * utrimque 0 * gaudebatur D 1 k l m in add. 0 audiant C auctum 0 corrected from floret in A', foret B " om. B 1 Cf. LectEorm, c. 4, and the accompanying commentary. Note the clutch of agentive nouns, particularly 'edificator' and 'dilatator' (along with 'cultores' and 'propagatores' in c. i above) which are very characteristic of Goscelin's prose style, though of course not unique to him. 2 Cf. Matt, n: 30. T substituted at this point (as in LectEorm, c. 6) a corrective to the Ely bias of this account: 'with her mother blessed Seaxburh subjected herself to the Lord's sweet yoke in her monastery at Sheppey. But then she withdrew to Ely to her daughter St Wasrburh.'

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3. Her father Wulfhere, already dear to God, builder of many churches, foremost lover and propagator of the Christian faith, indeed he who also drew to worship of Christ those kings who were subject to him, giving them provinces as a reward,1 in the seventeenth year of his reign passed from the temporal realm to the everlasting one. Then blessed queen Eormenhild, after shedding dutiful tears, rejoicing exceedingly to be released from her worldly shackle, seized hold of the mode of life she had long desired, and with her blessed daughter she submitted herself to the Lord's sweet yoke, in the monastery at Ely.2 Here thereafter she unflaggingly lived her life with such great passion for virtue in all holiness and piety, that she was to the virgins there an example of chastity and all virtuousness. Mother and daughter strove affectionately with one another to see who could be the humbler, and the meeker.3 The mother put the virginity she had borne before herself, the virgin put her mother's authority first. Each rejoiced both to surpass and to be surpassed. But now in that same monastery at the healing tomb of that kindly parent it shines forth clearly with what bowels of mercy she poured herself out for others, while she still lived in the body; to such an extent that those who have experienced her favours dare faithfully to assert that no believing suppliant is denied her help. 4. Then dear Wxrburh's uncle, King /Ethelred, who had succeeded to his brother Wulfhere, because he was holy of mind and a most kindly lover of all holiness, perceiving that divine prudence and holiness shone more brightly in his blest niece, so that she truly loved virtue more than kinship, gave her charge of the convents which flourished in his kingdom.4 Surely divine providence was beautifully at work there, that she should, for the salvation of many, come to blossom as the most fitting mistress of the holy institution of which she had been the perfect pupil. But the king now began more and more to sicken of ruling, since he reckoned himself like an animal crawling on the ground amidst all the business of the world, while she on the other hand was fluttering up to heaven on the dove-wings of 3 Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 23, 'una erat in eis contentio, que humilior, que obedientior, que uigilantior, que . . . sanctissime matri esset proximior' (Rollason, Mildrith, P- 4I37)Presumably the 'monasteries' in question are those which are referred to below: Weedon, Hanbury, and Threekingham (see notes below on pp. 41—6). No further information is volunteered as to Wasrburh's exact relationship with Ely, though the implication from the reference in c. 5 to her miracles is of a continuing connection. LE i. 37 (ed. Blake, p. 52) makes Wasrburh succeed her mother as abbess of Ely, though this is nowhere stated explicitly in the Vita.

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pennis meritorum ad celum uolitare. Et quid plura? Non quieuit estus spiritus sui, donee uicesimoa nono regni sui* anno in Bartheniensi' cenobio de rege efficeretur monachus,1 qui inde iamrf fauore superno probatur meritis uenerandus. 5. Dilectissima autem Deo* Werburga, erga subiectos ita erat magistra, ut potius uideretur ministra.2 Equabat uel magis subiciebat se infimis; malens, si liceret, locum extremitatis quam prelationis. Portabat omnes quasi uiscera sua, fouebat acsi uterina pignora, erudiebat exemplo attentius quam imperio.3 Totam possederat dilectio, et benignitas, pax, et hilaritas. Ad indigentes promptissima illi largitas, ad afflictos compatientissima erat pietas. Aduersa ridebat patientia, uincebat fiducia, calcabat celesti letitia, ad usum uero diuine sapientie accipiebat prospera. Abstinentiam pro deliciis, uigilias pro solempniis, labores pro uoluptate, lectiones et orationes sacras pro epulis habebat.4 Corpore in terris, animo conuersabatur in celis. Sed iam forsitan lectorem lassamus, dum miracula suspendimus. Maiora miraculis sunt merita, quibus ipsa fiunt miracula, quia possunt esse perfecta merita absque signis, signa uero^nil sunt absque meritis.5 At uero multis mirabilibus effulsisse probatur dignissima uirgo, et in Eligensif cenobio, et quocunque degebat loco.6 In Weduna autem regio patrimonio suo,7 quod *est in Hamtuna prouincia,* iocundum et * uicessimo C f ' de T om. D

d * suo C ' Barteniense 0, Batheniense T nunc add. 0 ' Elegensi D * * .vii. fere leugiis distal a hamtonio oppido 0

1 Bardney lies some 10 miles east of Lincoln; for a summary of documentary and topographical evidence for the early history of the monastery at Bardney see D. Stocker, 'The early church in Lincolnshire: a study of the sites and their significance', in A. Vince (ed.), Pre-Viking Lindsey (Lincoln, 1993), pp. 101—22, at 107—110. yEthelred's entry into the monastic life is recorded under the year 704 by Bede, in his recapitulation (HE \. 24), as having occurred after thirty-one years, rather than twenty-nine (a figure which could have been drawn from the 704 entry on yEthelred in ASC), even though yEthelred's accession is reported for the year 675. Possibly the discrepancy in Bede arose because jEthelred had shared rule with his brother for a time; cf. K. Harrison, The Framework of Anglo-Saxon History to A.D. goo (Cambridge, 1976), p. 80; see also Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 94. yEthelred, who died at Bardney in c. 716, is included in the Old English (and Latin) Resting-Places List (Liebermann, Heiligen, pp. 11-12), but there is little evidence of any extensive cult. The presence at Bardney of the relics of Oswald, king and martyr (brought there from Oswestry by 697), probably meant that other cults were eclipsed; see Thacker, 'Kings', pp. 2-4. 2 Cf. the use of this pun in Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 23, 'Ministra esse malebat quam magistra, prodesse quam preesse, famulatu quam precepto caritatis obsequium docere' (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 136, 'she preferred to be maid-servant rather than mistress, to be of benefit rather than in charge, and to teach the service of love by serving rather than giving orders'). 3 Cf. Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 23, 'Portabat Dominicum gregem . . . sicut portare solet nutrix infantulum suum' (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 137, 'She bore the Lord's flock . . . just as

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her merits. And what more needs to be said? The fire in his soul did not die down until in the twenty-ninth year of his reign in the monastery at Bardney he was turned from king to monk;1 there by heavenly assent he is now shown by his merits to be worthy of veneration. 5. Wxrburh, very beloved of God, ruled as mistress over those who were under her in such a way that she seemed more like their maidservant.2 She was equal to or rather put herself below the meanest, preferring, if possible, the lowest place rather than the choicest. She bore all as if in her bowels, cherished them as if they were the offspring of her womb, taught more carefully by example than by instruction.3 Love possessed her utterly, and kindness, peace, and cheerfulness. Her generosity to the poor was the readiest; and her tenderness to the afflicted the most compassionate. She smiled at adverse circumstances with patience, overcame them by faithfulness, trampled them down with heavenly joy, but for the use of divine wisdom she embraced prosperous circumstances. She chose abstinence instead of luxuries, watching instead of feastings, toil instead of pleasure, reading and holy prayers instead of banquets.4 She dwelt bodily on earth, but spiritually in heaven. But perhaps now we are wearying the reader in holding back from an account of her miracles. Far greater than miracles are the merits by which those same miracles come about, because merits can be perfect without signs, but signs are nothing without merits.5 However, the noble virgin is shown to have shone out with many miracles; both in the convent at Ely, and in all the places she lived.6 In Weedon, her royal inheritance, which is in the district of Northampton,7 this lovely and a nurse is wont to bear her child'), and also Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 4, 'Portabat omnes maternis uisceribus' (Colker, 'Texts', p. 424, 'She bore them all in her motherly womb'). 4 Note here the carefully climactic structure of this sentence, consisting of a sequence of three short clauses containing matching pairs, building up to a final longer clause which contains the verb, and also displaces the symmetry of the pattern of matching pairs. 5 This idea is put forward again in the preface to the Miracula S. jftheldrethe, 'Verum quoniam non tantum ex miraculorum frequentia quantum ex perfections ac probabilioris uite excellentia quorumlibet pensanda sunt sanctorum merita. Precedit enim uirtus meritorum, sequitur adiuuante fide petentium celestis operatio signorum, que si non fuerunt, non tamen merita non erunt, quia merita procul dubio possunt esse sine miraculis, miracula uero nequaquam sine meritis' (see p. 98 below). 6 It is perhaps surprising not to find at this point another explicit reference to Chester, her final resting-place; clear evidence that the impetus for the composition of at least the present account of Wasrburh came from Ely rather than any other place with an interest in the saint, even if earlier material—for the miracles which follow—had been acquired from elsewhere. 7 Weedon Beck in Northants., where the R. Nene and Watling Street meet; so called because it became a cell of Bee in about 1092 (see Knowles and Hadcock, MRH, pp. 94 and 484).

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celeberrimum a generatione in generationem hoc eius miraculum asseritur ab "ipsa plebe tota." 6. Cum in ipsius Wedune* mansione moraretur regia uirgo, agros eius solito infinita aucarum indomitarum, quas gantas uocant, depopulabatur multitudo.1 Nuntiat domesticus ruricola hoc damnum domine sue.2 Tune ilia magnanimf fide precepit illi ut omnes adduceret et includeret, more scilicet animalium que depascunt alienas^ segetes. 'Vade', inquit, 'et omnes has uolucres introduc hue.' Stabat ille altius obstupescens, an garriret, an deliraret hec iussio. Quomodo enim suspectus aduena tot uolatilia ire gressibus in uincula cogeret, quibus per celum euadere liceret? 'Quomodo', inquit/ 'ad primum accessum meum in ethera fugientes hue conuertam?' Tune uirgo propositum urgens: ^'Vade', ait, 'quantotius/et ex nostro iussu omnes adduc f in custodiam nostram.' Ille timens* uel superuacuum dictum diue preceptricis negligere, post omnes uadit, dicensque illis, 'Ite, ite ad dominam nostram', omnes ante se, ac si captiua pecora, agit. Nulla auis de tanto cetu pennam leuauit, sed quasi implumes pulli uel alis 'excise pedetemtim' se promouebant, pedestri incessu submissis collis uelut pre confusione reatus sui aduentabant. Sic intra curiam iudicis sue trepide et suppresse quasi damnate se collegere, ibique retruduntur 7 captiue, uel magis seruantur indulgentie. Noctem illam filia lucis, uti consueuerat, in ymnis celestibus ac precibus perpetuat. Mane omnes aduene elatis uocibus concrepant ad dominam, quasi ueniam et emigrandi poscentes licentiam. At ilia, ut erat erga omnem Dei creaturam benignissma, absolutas iubet dimitti, interminans ne ultra auderent* in hunc locum regredi. Vnam autem ex eis quidam ministrorum furto' abstulerat, et b a a f ipso populo 0 Wedone 0 magnimi AC, magnimi corrected in T to d ff f magnanimi aliena C ' inquam CD Vadi inquit quamtotius D * et h retrude add. 0 tunens uel timens T ' ' excisure temtim C, altered by erasure to J k l excise temtim includuntur 0 audierent C om. BCD

1 As Goscelin noted at the end of this passage, a similar story occurs his Life of St Amelberga. Close verbal similarities suggest that it is the Vita S. Amelberge printed by the Bollandists (BHL 323; ActaS, lulii, iii.90-102) which is the text in question (see p. Ixxvii above). There a boy reports to Amelberga the devastation being wrought by the geese, and she gives orders for them to be rounded up ('ite . . . recludite'; p. 98D), but the servants hesitate in disbelief. Yet the geese submit ('depositis in terra capitibus ac submissis alis . . . cum mansuetudine praeibant: unde denique erat perspicuum eas peracti sceleris esse conscias atque confusas'; p. g8E). The boy steals one goose, and when they are all released, they sense that this is the case and return to Amelberga ('repente sese omnibus circumspectus . . . redibant' p. 98F), who restores their companion to them, and bids them never to return to her property ('omnis ilia auium multitudo auolauit, ut sicut ab

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very famous miracle is told from generation to generation by all the people there. 6. While the royal virgin was staying at her residence at Weedon, her fields were stripped bare by an unusually large multitude of wild geese, which they call "gantas".1 Her farm steward told his mistress about the mischief.2 Then she with magnanimous faith told him to fetch them all and shut them up, like animals which graze on someone else's crops. 'Go', she said, 'and bring all these birds in here.' He stood there deeply dumbfounded as to whether this order was gibberish or delusion. For how might a mistrusted stranger force so many birds to go walking into nets, when they could easily escape through the heavens. 'How', he said, 'shall I turn them in this direction when they flee into the air as soon as I come near?' Then the virgin pressed on with her plan: 'Go', she said, 'as quickly as possible, and according to my instructions, bring them all into our custody.' He, afraid to neglect even pointless orders from his godly instructress, went after them all, saying to them, 'Go, go to our lady', and he drove them all before him, like tame sheep. Not one bird from such a great flock lifted a wing, but on foot they shifted themselves forward like featherless fowl or ones with their wings clipped, and they advanced, walking on their feet, with necks bowed as if in shame at their guilt. Thus they gathered themselves anxiously and meekly like condemned criminals within the court of their judge, and there they were shut in as prisoners, or rather they were kept with gentleness. The daughter of light passed that night in heavenly hymns and prayers, as was her wont. In the morning, all the strangers cried out to the mistress with loud voices, as if asking for forgiveness and permission to depart. And she, since she was kindly to all God's creatures, ordered them to be set free, warning them not to dare to return to that place again. But one of her servants had stolen one of incolis loci illius testatur, nulla generis earum in memorato agro fertur postmodum resedisse'). There also the popular name for these birds is supplied: 'ecce late omnia albicant pennatis uolucribus quos communi uocabulo gances appellari solet' (p. gSE). The story in Vita S. Amelberge may have been influenced by an earlier account of an almost identical miracle included by Adso of Moutier-en-Der (d. 992) in his Miracula S. Walberti (BHL 8775; PL cxxxvii.687-700), where again the popular name is mentioned: 'anseres agrestes, quas a candore uel sonitu uocis more rustico gantas uocant.' A very similar story occurs also in the Vita S. Milburge, 'Hiems secum annuas reduxerat hospites, aucas indomitas, segetum depopulatrices . . . damnum domine nunciatur . . . illis auibus imperat, ut in agris eius earum nulla remaneat.' 'Que fuerant indomite, fiunt ad preceptum ut domestice, iussis obediunt, agris ualefaciunt.' 2 Presumably an intended pun, 'damnum/domine.'

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occulerat; cumque omnes elatis pennis in aera se sustulissent, seseque circumspiciendo requisissent, damnum contubernii sui una absente percensent. Extimplo uniuersus exercitus supra domum uirginis glomeratur, ingenti strepitu iniuriam collegii sui conqueritur. Celum undique diffusis" copiis obtegitur, ut quasi hac uoce humana iudicium miseratricis sue implorare uiderentur: 'Quare/ domina, cum omnes nos relaxauerit'7 tua dementia, una ex nobis tenetur captiua? Et potest hec iniquitas latere in domo sancta tua, et feda rapacitas ualere sub tua innocentia?' Egressa igitur diuina uirgo ad murmur tante plebis et querimoniam, intellexit causam, acsi prefatis uerbis auditam. Protinus perscrutatum furtum reus ipse publicat, receptamque^ uolucrem sue genti pia conciliatrix associat, et abire simul predicta conditione mandat. Quibus nimirum sic gestiebat dicere* benigno animo 'Benedicite, uolucres celi, Domino.'1 Nee mora^ omnis ilia contio ita auolauit, ut nulla huius generis auicula in ipsa terra alme Werburge/ ut famose memoratur, ultra reperta sit. Bene ergo illi pecualis creatura parebat, que omnium Creator! tota deuotione iugiter obtemperabat. Tale prorsus miraculum in Vita beatissime uirginis Amelberge, quam nostro stylo recudimus, legitur,2 quatenus in eodem opere eadem fides utriusque uirginis licet diuerso tempore et loco extiterint comprobetur. 7. Quante autem *fuerit humilitatis,* quante etiam apud Deum sublimitatis, in eodem loco Wedunensi aliis confirmatur indiciis. Erat illi armentarius, uir pie conuersationis, et quantum licuit sub humana seruitute sancte uite, qui et suis locis fama meritorum perpetuatur ac recolitur festiue, Alnothus' nomine.3 Hunc uillicus domine cum forte laniaret cruentissimo uerbere, et ille omnia in Dei nomine toleraret mansuetissime, alma uirginis compassio non ferens dolorem, proruit ad pedes indignos laniste, clamans cum prece simuF et increpatione: 'Parce pro Dei* amore; quare excarnificas hominem innocentem, apud altissimum Inspectorem omnibus nobis, ut credo, acceptiorem?' Cumque ille uel pre furore uel pre superbia tardius flecteretur, k d * obfusis 0 quarre B ' relaxauerat D receptanque C ' dice g beatae B ^ om. C Warburge C, Warburge (subsequently altered to Wasrburge,) T hh humilitatis fuerit B ' Alnotus B ' om. B * am. 0 1 Dan. 3: 88 (Song of the Three Children, 66), in other words, part of the Benedicite, a canticle used in the liturgy since at least the 3rd cent. 2 Cf. Goscelin, Hist, minor (PL cl. 743), 'fidelissime nostro malleolo recudimus' and in Vita S. Milburge, 'Verumptamen unum ex inuentis stilo nostro non recudimus.'

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the birds and had hidden it; so when they all raised themselves up in the air on lifted wings, and looked around to find one another, they noticed the loss from their number caused by the one absentee. Immediately the whole host gathered above the virgin's house, and with huge din complained at the harm done to their company. The sky was completely filled by the numbers that congregated from everywhere; so that they seemed almost with human voice to beseech the judgement of her who had treated them mercifully: 'Why, mistress, when your clemency released us all, is one of us held captive? Can such injustice lie hidden in your holy home, and foul greed thrive beneath your innocence?' And so the divine virgin came outdoors at the murmuring and complaint of such a great crowd, and understood the reason, as if she had heard those very words. Forthwith the guilty man himself revealed the uncovered theft, and the loving peace-maker, taking the bird, restored it to its kind, and at the same time bade them all depart, with the aforementioned condition. Doubtless she wished to say to them, with kindly heart, 'Bless the Lord, ye birds of the air.'1 Without delay all that flock flew away, so that no bird of that kind could ever be found again on the piece of dear Wxrburh's land, as is famously recorded. Brute beasts rightly obeyed her, who continually submitted herself with total devotion to the Creator of all things. Just such a miracle may also be read in the Life of the most blessed virgin Amelberga, which I fashioned with my pen,2 so that in the same deed the same faith may be demonstrated in each virgin, even though they lived at different times and in different places. 7. In that same place, Weedon, the extent of her humility, and also the extent of her high standing with God, is confirmed by other manifestations. She had a herdsman, a man of godly ways, and of as much of a holy life as is possible under human servitude, who also is remembered in his locality for the reputation of his merits and is commemorated with a feast. His name was Alnoth.3 The lady's overseer once happened to beat him with an extremely cruel blow, and he bore it all quite meekly in God's name, but the virgin's tender compassion could not bear his pain, and fell at the unworthy feet of the brute, crying out in prayer mingled with rebuke: 'Spare him, for the love of God; why are you tormenting an innocent man, who is, so I believe, more pleasing than all of us to the Examiner on high?' When he either out of anger or out of pride turned away too slowly, 3 No trace can now be found of the cult of this Alnoth |7Elfnoth?], clearly a strictly local phenomenon.

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continue dura ceruix1 et torua fades superna indignatione in terga illi reflectitur. Sic demum, quod magis debuerat, ipse ad pedes domine prouoluitur, aet ueniam, quam insonti negauerat, suo reatui deprecate;" statimque interueniente uirginis dementia, in pristinum statum reparatur. Vir autem Domini memoratus iacet ad Stouam* una leugiac a Buccabruc,"2 quern in silua anachoriticam uitam ducentem latrunculi martyrizauerunt, et diuina signa Deo acceptabilem, uti celebratur, prodiderunt. 8. Preterea haud dubium est, amantissimam Domino Werburgam* quam multis aliis signis emicuisse, et celesti beneficio diuersos egros ac debiles curasse. Potuit etiam diuina inspiratione plura prescire ac predicere, diemque ultimum, quern semper pre oculis habebat, totaque uigilantia cum flammanti lampade eminus obseruauerat,3 iam proximum ignorare nequibat. Cum ergo omni familie et monasteriis sibi creditis pre nimia caritate iugiter optaret adesse, et econtra nulli tolerabile uideretur sua dulci presentia carere; elegit tamen diuina prescientia et uoluntate Heanburge^ monasterio^ requiescere corpore, que omnibus semper representaretur mente.4 Quamobrem precepit Heanburgensi* familie, ut ubicunque migraret ex hac luce, ipsi incunctanter uenirent, corpusque eius ad suum monasterium transportarent.' 9. Venit ergo celicole uirgini diu desideratus finis terrenorum laborum ac dolorum, et ingressus celestium eternorumque gaudiorum. Nox mortalitatis7 precessit, et* dies eternitatis illuxit. Tenebre transierunt, et lumen uerum iam' luxit, ac sol letitie perhennis ortus est illi. Gaudebat beata anima quasi ad epulas inuitata, uidelicet de™ exilio ad patriam, de carcere ad regnum, de morte ad uitam, de captiuitate ad triumphum, de tirannide seculi ad ilium, quern desiderabat, sponsum sempiterne glorie, transitura.5 a a b c d om. 0 Stowam EDO legia B, leuga D Boccabroc Z), Buckabroc 0 f ' Warburgam CT Heamburge B, Heamburge D, Camburge 0 " quod est in h foresta de Niedwode add. D Heamburgensi BD ' asportarent 0 1 k l m immortalitatis B om. 0 om. B om. C 1

Frequently used in the Bible, particularly of the Israelite people (cf. Exod. 32: 9; 33: 3,

s; 234: 9)-

This 'Buccabruc' is Bugbrooke, recorded in DB (Northants. 18. 3, 83-4) as 'Buchebroc(h)'. Stowe lies about 2 miles west of Bugbrooke, and about i^ miles southeast, along Watling Street, of Weedon Beck. 3 The significance of the burning lamp is that, like the wise virgins in the parable (Matt. 25), she is ready and waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom. 4 Hanbury (Staffs.), where the church is still dedicated to St Werburgh (see p. xliii

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forthwith his stiff neck1 and his grim face were bent over on to his back by divine displeasure. Only then did he fling himself at the mistress's feet, as he ought to have done, and for his own sin begged for the forgiveness, which he had denied to the innocent man; and straightaway by the intervention of the virgin's clemency, he was restored to his former state. The above-mentioned man of the Lord lies at Stowe, one league from Bugbrooke;2 while he was living a hermit existence in the forest, some robbers made a martyr of him, and divine miracles showed that he was acceptable to God to be venerated. 8. Furthermore, there is no doubt that Wxrburh, very much loved by the Lord, shone out in many other miracles, and by heavenly favour cured various sick and disabled persons. Also she was able by divine inspiration to foreknow and foretell many things, and with utter vigilance and her lamp ablaze she had seen from afar her last day,3 which she always kept in her gaze, and could not overlook the fact that it was now drawing near. Out of her great affection she desired to be constantly present with every community and the monasteries entrusted to her, and at the same time it seemed intolerable to each of them to go without her sweet presence, yet by God's foreknowledge and will she chose to have her body resting at the monastery of Hanbury, although she was always very present with them all in spirit.4 Consequently, she instructed the community at Hanbury that wheresoever she might depart this life, they should come without delay, and transport her body to their monastery. 9. Thus the heavenly virgin reached the long-desired end of her earthly labours and pains, and her entry into heavenly and eternal joys. The long night of mortality was over, and the day of eternity dawned. The shadows passed away and the true light now shone out, and the everlasting sun of bliss rose upon her. Her blest soul rejoiced as if bidden to a banquet, that is, about to pass from exile to her homeland, from prison to a kingdom, from death to life, from captivity to triumph, from the tyranny of the world to Him whom she was longing for, the Bridegroom of eternal glory.5 And so, laid above). On the likelihood that Hanbury was a minster, see Thacker, 'Kings', p. 4. MS D supplies the additional information that Hanbury lay in the 'foresta de Niedwode', that is Needwood Forest, the name which the area still bears. 5 Cf. Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 27, 'Gaudebat, exultabat, triumphabat tamquam ad supernas epulas inuitata et in thalamum Domini sui producenda' (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 141, 'She rejoiced, exulted, triumphed as if she had been bidden to the heaven banquet and was about to be brought into her Lord's chamber').

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Deposita itaque in cenobio quod Triccengeham" appellatur,1 per languorem et mortem corporis ad immortalia solennia ab angelicis choris assumitur, et in celestem curiam supernis concentibus triumphatur; cuius depositio tercio Nonas Februarii celebratur. 10. Corpus sacrum in ecclesiam defertur, et in medio populi Triccengehamensium* obseratis' diligentissime ianuis custoditur, certantibus nequiquarr/ omnibus, ut Heanburgenses* excluderentur, et per suum obsequium uel defensionem preceptum uatidice uirginis uinceretur, sacerque thesaurus in eodem loco perpetim retineretur. At non est sapientia, non est consilium contra Dominum/2 Dum enim nocte ipsa attentius inuigilarent, subito sopor grauissimus omnes occupat. Superuenit ilico copiosa plebs Heanburgensium^ cum Dei ministris, et* extimplo omnia ostia' monasterii, cadentibus in terram seris et uectibus/ reserantur illis.3 Irruunt ergo omni custodum turba somno sepulta, rapiunt nullo se aduerse partis mouente glebam uirginis, et auferunt, secumque cum ingenti letitia et gratiarum actione laudisona ad Heanburgense monasterium confusis rebellibus deducunt. Quis itaque pensare sufficiat, quanta sullimitate ipsius anima suscepta sit* a' Domino, cuius corpus ad requiem preelectam transferri tanto dedit prodigio? In hoc ergo sacro loco Dei margarita cum debita reuerentia et solemni iubilo tumulata, plurimis signorum indiciis se probat uiuere in celesti regno." Sanitas egrotis, lumen cecis, auditus surdis, sermo mutis restituitur;" leprosi mundatione, et diuersis languoribus oppress! una a b Tricengeham B, Triccingeham 0 Tricengehamensium B, Triccingehamensium 0 ' obsecratis C * uane 0 ' Hehamburgenses D f h Deum B; deum in A corrected to Dominum * Heamburgensium D am. B i hostia ABDO j diuinitus add. 0 k om. C l om. AB m regia AB " debiles incessu add. 0 1 This place has sometimes been identified as Trentham in Staffs, (recorded in DB, Staffs, i. 8 as 'Trenham'), e.g. in the notes to the PL edition of VWer (PL civ. 106 n. 152), and the position of Trentham just 20 miles north-west of Hanbury might seem convincing. Neverthless, 'Triccingeham', the form of the name preserved in all the manuscripts of the Vita, corresponds rather more closely to Threekingham in S. Lincolnshire (cf. DB, Lines. 24. 91, 48. 7, 57. 40, and 67. n 'Trichingeham'), which lies in what must once have seemed a strategically significant position, at the junction of the Roman road running south out of Lincoln and the line of a prehistoric trackway running east-west. There is strong evidence to suggest that in fact Wasrburh's monastery was at Stow Green (sometimes called Stow-by-Threekingham), two miles south-east of Threekingham. Later documentary evidence points to a church dedicated to jEthelthryth at Stow (see p. xlii above), and preliminary archaeological investigation has uncovered signs of a cemetery on the site: for details of the evidence, see D. Roffe, 'The seventh century monastery of Stow Green, Lincolnshire', Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, xxi (1986), 31—3.

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low in the monastery called Threekingham1 by weakness and the death of the body she was lifted to the immortal feast by hosts of angels, and rejoiced with the heavenly choirs in the celestial court. Her death is commemorated on the third nones of February [3 February]. 10. Her holy body was carried into the church, and in the midst of the people of Threekingham was very carefully kept behind locked doors, since they all vainly sought to shut out the men of Hanbury, and to their own ends or for their own protection to obviate the prophetic virgin's instructions and keep the holy treasure in that place for ever. But there is no wisdom, no counsel against the Lord.2 For while they were intently keeping watch that night, suddenly a very heavy sleep came over them all. Directly, a large crowd of people from Hanbury arrived with the ministers of God, and immediately the locks and bars fell to the ground and all the doors of the monastery were opened to them.3 So they rushed in while the whole host of guards were deep in sleep, snatched up the virgin's body with nobody lifting a finger to stop them, and carried it off, taking it with them to the monastery of Hanbury amidst huge rejoicing and praiseful thanksgiving, having confounded the rebels. Who, then, could ever guess with what grandeur her soul was received by the Lord, seeing that He had granted that her body be transferred to her chosen resting-place by such a great miracle? So it was that in this holy place the pearl of God was buried with due reverence and solemn ceremony, and she shows that she dwells in the heavenly realm by the manifestations of many miracles. She restores health to the sick, light to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb; the leprous rejoice in their cleansing and those oppressed with diverse illnesses rejoice in their shared healing. So it is that after her 2

Prov. 21: 30 ('non est sapientia, non est prudentia, non est consilium contra Dominum'). 3 Stories about disputes over a saint's body abound throughout hagiography, going back perhaps to the description by Gregory of Tours, in his Vitae patrum, of the struggle over the body of St Martin (MGH SRM, i. 716-17); examples closer in milieu and date to the present text include Vita S. Erkenwaldi (Whatley, The Saint of London, pp. 91-5), Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, cc. 14—15 (Love, Saints' Lives, p. 68—70), Geoffrey of Burton's Vita S. Modwenne (ed. R. Bartlett, OMT, 2002, pp. 168-75), Vita prima S. Neoti, cc. 1819 (see D. Dumville and M. Lapidge, The Annals ofSt Neots with Vita Primi Sancti Neoti (Woodbridge, 1985), at pp. 134—7), ant^ also VWiht, below, pp. 70—3. The present example is unusual in that an attempt is made to express some regret over the dilemma: Wasrburh would have dearly liked to be with all of her communities, but having been obliged to made the invidious choice of burial at just one, she is certainly with them all in spirit.

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salute gratulantur. Tot itaque post mortem suam uite reformat que tarn sancte uiuebat. 11. Post hec etiam inenarrabilis Domini gratia in ipsa carne uirginali diutius incorrupta euidenter ostendere est dignata, qualiter sibi placuerit intemerata ipsius pudititia" cum mente, qua Deum uidebat, mundissima. Post nouem siquidem annos eius sepulture, suggerentibus Heanburgensibus, placuit regi Ceolredo,* qui tune regnabat Merciis,1 quatenus sacrosancta ipsius gleba de tumulo eleuaretur, clamantibus cunctis indignum esse, ut tanta lux multorum sub modio terre absconderetur.2 Ablato ergo operculo spelunce, cum putaretur ab omnibus more humane conditionis tota caro defluxisse et tantum nuda ossa superesse; inuenta est potius uirgo integerrima quasi in dulci stratu obdormire. Vestes nitidissime et sane, si cut primitus induta erat, omnino apparuere; facies Candida et gene rosee, tanquam in primeuo flore, amoto reuerenter uelamine, sunt uise. Attollitur clamor gratiarum in celum, tanteque gratie ammiratio in laudes Domini accendit frequentem populum. Assumitur ergo a sacerdotibus solenniter adornatis, cum supplicibus uotis et canoris chorizantis ecclesie modulis. Explorantibus adhucc diligenti studio, nulla penitus in ea lesio, nulla reperta est corruptio. Ita demum reconditur in theca sibi competenter^ parata, ubi conspicue* fideles populos illustrat preclara lampade sua. 12. Durauit^ diutius sub angelica custodia hie honor illesi corporis, usque ad tempora scilicet paganorum et diem malorum, quando iustissima Dei dispensatione hec patria Anglorum tradita est gladiis gentilium. Tune demum uitalis gleba uoluit cedere mortali legi atque resolui, ne impiis manibus earn contingerent hostes, miraculorum Dei increduli, et beneficiorum ingrati.3 Potuit plane Dominig omnipotentia et in die malorum dilectam suam protegere,4 sicut seruauit tune plerosque sanctos huius patrie ab iniqua contagione, qui adhuc usque iam* post quadringentos aut' amplius annos uernant integro et incorrupto corpore, et potuerunt7 a

pudicia B ' conspicuo 0

b

f

Celredo CD', yElredo T lurauit C * Dei B

c

h

om. 0 om. D * et 0

d

decenter 0 ' poterunt B

1 Ceolred ruled Mercia 709-16, acquiring for himself a reputation for immorality and irreligion; see Kirby, Earliest English Kings, pp. 108-9. The reference to his involvement with Wasrburh's first translation would provide a date for her death between 700 and 707, contrary to the date of 690 given in the I3th-cent. Annals of St Werburgh's, Chester (see above, p. xv). That Ceolred should be said to have instigated the translation might seem to lend support to the suggestion that Hanbury was the centre of royal estates (Thacker, 'Kings', p. 4).

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death the number of people she restores to life corresponds to the holiness of her own living. 11. After this the unspeakable grace of the Lord also deigned, through the long preservation from corruption of her virginal flesh, to demonstrate plainly how pleased He was by her inviolate chastity and very pure mind with which she gazed upon God. Indeed, nine years after her burial, at the suggestion of the people of Hanbury, it pleased King Ceolred, who at that time ruled Mercia,1 to have her sacrosanct body lifted from the tomb, since everyone was exclaiming over how unsuitable it was that a such great light to many people was hidden under the 'bushel' of the earth.2 Accordingly the cover was taken off the sarcophagus, and they all expected that—as is the way with the human state—all the flesh would have fallen away so that only the bare bones would remain; but instead the virgin was found to be quite intact, as if sleeping in a soft bed. Her clothes appeared to be absolutely shining white and whole, just as they had been when first put on; when they reverently removed her veil they saw that her face was radiant, her cheeks rosy, like in the first flower of youth. A cry of thankgiving went up to heaven, and wonder at such gracious gift kindled the crowd into praising the Lord. Then she was lifted up by the priests in solemn vesture, with prayers of intercession and the music of choirs carolling in the church. Investigating still with great care, they found no scar whatsoever on her, no sign of corruption. Then she was placed in a shrine becomingly prepared for her, where she might clearly illumine her faithful people with her bright lamp. 12. The distinction of an untouched body lasted for a very long time under angelic protection, namely up until the time of the heathens, and the evil day when by God's most just ordinance this homeland of the English was given over to the swords of gentiles. Then at last the living corpse chose to yield to mortal law and to dissolve, lest enemies might touch her with wicked hands, believing not in God's miracles and caring not for His benefits.3 Evidently the Lord's omnipotence was able to protect his dear one in the day of evils,4 just as at that time he preserved many saints of this land from wicked pollution, saints who still to this day after four hundred or more years are fresh in their whole and incorrupt body, and doubtless 2

The classic biblical text for saints' Lives and homilies on saints, the 'light under a bushel,' occurs in the three synoptic gospels: Matt. 5: 15; Mark 4: 21; Luke n: 33. 3 Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Whini c. 9, 'se mouerit uitalis gleba' (Talbot, 'The Life', p. 79). 4 Cf. Ps. 26 (27): 5 ('in die malorum protexit me in abscondito').

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indubitanter usque in finem pro diuino arbitrio perdurare. Verum enimuero mirabilis et gloriosus Deus in sanctis suis,1 mira et inestimabili prouidentia alios in maiorem gloriam resurrectionis ad tempus resoluit, alios perpetua incorruptione in exemplum promissionis sue custodit. Tot nobilissimi martyres et summi sacerdotes Domini a bestiis, uel auibus, uel ignibus sunt consumpti. 'Posuerunt', inquit psalmigraphus,a 'mortalia seruorum tuorum, Domine, escas uolatilibus celi, carnes sanctorum tuorum bestiis terre'.2 Quo maior fuit ignominia, eo maior erit gloria. Summus martyrum primicerius Stephanus/ dum legatur multa signa in uita fecisse, non ibi tamen legitur mortuos suscitasse. Post mortis uero triumphum omniumque membrorum resolutionem, plerosque mortuos describitur uite reddidisse, ut a mortis iniuria maior nasceretur uite potentia.3 Magne itaque gratie Dei respectus erat in beate Werburge' corpore solido, sed maior spes eterne renouationis restat md iam consumpto. 13. Celebremus ergo* promtissima deuotione sacratissimam ipsius festiuitatem, quia omnis eius celebritas^ ad ChristF pertinet honorem, qui ita earn condignis meritis fecit celebrabilem. Quam nimirum nobis prouidit* apud se interuentricem; quatenus per dilecte sue uenerationem, suam mereamur propitiationem qui non habemus meritorum executionem. Tanto quippe' benignius illam exaudiet orantem pro nobis, quanto attentiores7 fuerimus in ipsius Deo offerendis preconiis. Annuat nobis semper memorande Werburge* Coronator, quatenus per eius sancta suffragia, et hie profutura desideria consequamur, et in eternum beate uisionis ac resurrectionis sue consortia mereamur. Annuat, inquam, ipse saluator, qui cum patre et spiritu sancto in omnia secula regnat et dominatur. Amen.'

d a f b psalmigrafus CT am. D Warburge C; Wasrburge T erased in C f h ' igitur 0 omnino add. 0 " Domini add. BO preuidit D * am. 0 1 k accenciores 0 Warburge CT ' Explicit uita sancte Werburge uirginis add. BO

1

Ps. 67 (68): 36. Ps. 78 (79): 2 (Vulgate reads 'posuerunt morticina'; 'posuerunt mortalia', found frequently in patristic literature, reflects the Vetus Latina version). 2

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have been able to endure until the end for divine judgement. For truly God who is marvellous and glorious in His saints,1 by wonderful and inestimable providence causes some for the greater glory of the resurrection to disappear for a time, while others He keeps in everlasting incorruption as an example of His promise. So many of the noblest martyrs and high priests of the Lord have been consumed by beasts, or birds, or by flames. As the psalmist says, 'The mortal remains of your servants, O Lord, have been given to be meat for the fowls of the air; the flesh of your saints for the beasts of the earth.'2 The greater was the ignominy, the greater the glory will be. The foremost among the martyrs, the great Stephen, although we read that he did many miracles in his life, it is not written that he raised the dead at that time. But after the triumph of his death, and the decay of all his limbs, he is said to have restored to life many of the dead, so that from the outrage of his death a greater power was produced.3 And so although there was regard for God's great grace in the intact body of blessed Wxrburh, yet greater hope for eternal renewal resides in her now decayed body. 13. Therefore let us celebrate with all willing devotion her most holy festival, since all her fame redounds to the honour of Christ, who thus made her famous by her very worthy merits. Truly in doing so He has provided for us an intercessor with Him, so that by veneration of His beloved we might earn His propitiation, we who do not have the accomplishment of merits. To be sure He will listen as kindly to her prayers for us, as we are attentive in offering her praises to God. May the Crowner of Wxrburh, who should ever be commemorated, grant to us that by her holy assistance we may both attain here to the good things we desire, and also deserve to share for eternity in the blest sight of God and in His resurrection. May the Saviour himself, I say, grant this, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigns and has dominion through all ages, Amen.

3 St Stephen's miracle-working and his martyrdom are reported in Acts (6: 8; 7: 58-9). The site of his burial remained in obscurity until its discovery in 415 by Lucian of Caphar Gamala, and there are various texts containing the posthumous miracles of Stephen, but it seems quite likely that what the author has in mind here is the group of miracles reported by Augustine in his De civitate Dei xxii. 8 (BHL 7863—7), all of which relate to the raising of various persons from the dead (CCSL xlviii. 310—38).

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VITA SANCTE WIHTBVRGE VIRGINIS SIGLA

C = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 393, fos. 59r-yiY T = Cambridge, Trinity College O. 2. i, fos. 236^40Y E = Liber Eliensis II. 53, 144, 147-8

TROHEMIVM IN VITA SANCTE WIHTBVRGE VIRGINIS" Orientale orientalium Anglorum sidus uirgo Domini Wihtburga,* post annosa sui eui tempora lucet non ueterascente claritate sua, que sub oculis fidelium iugiter refulget noua, nee latere Stella celo splendida, nee ciuitas super montem posita, nee lampas potest in altum prolata.1 Nam sicut inclita famac orientalium Anglorum regis Anne celebratur filia, sancteque et intacte regine /Etheldrithe soror regia, ita sacrato stemmati germana sanctitate et uirgo uirgini intemerata respondet uirginitate, respondet et diuturna post tumulum carnis incorruptione. rflam enim post trecentos fere et quinquaginta quattuor annos integerrima eius gleba nuper palam conspecta, clara dat indicia quam sancta et immaculata mundo preluxerit uita.2 Sed hec interim suis locis exponenda differentes, nunc ubi olim Deo militauerit et inde ad Eligense monasterium qualiter transuecta sit, utque proxime in nouum templum cum beatis sororibus transierit, sicut probat res et euidens fama promulgat, posteris mandare decernimus quamquam ad hec sacra nee sensus sufficiat, nee lingua, nee manus/3 i. VITA* EIVSDEM. Filia et aurora lucis etheree nata regaliter ad regnum consequendum celeste ab ipsis cunabulis pretendebat stemma dignitatis et gratie superne. Adeo erat mellitula infantia et benedicta uena, diuina dulcedine plena.4 Mox ut intelligibiles animos ad Christi nomen quod est unguentum effusum 5 nectar ethereum • ' INCIPIT PROLOGVS IN VITAM BEATE WIHTBVRGE VIRGINIS T d d Wthburga T ' uerum exprobata cronicarum noticia add. T Rewritten e and expanded in T (see below, p. 84) INCIPIT VITA T, which also begins the Life quite differently, with three folios of material not found in C, until the words ad Christi nomen quod est unguentum . . . k

1

Cf. Matt. 5: 14-15. 354 years, as opposed to the 300 mentioned in VSex. A Canterbury copy of the AngloSaxon Chronicle (F) has an nth-cent, marginal addition which assigns the exhumation of Wihtburh at Dereham to 798 (799), stating that it was 55 years after her death (cf. c. 8 below). The same statement is incorporated also by John of Worcester {JW ii. 228). That would place her death at 743, a rather unlikely space of 64 years after that of her supposed sister jEthelthryth. Working forwards, on this reckoning, 354 years would place the translation at 1097 (or 1093 if one were to follow the figures of VSex). Clearly too many of the figures which have been offered by the various sources were rounded up, or the 2

P R O E M TO THE L I F E OF ST WIHTBURH THE VIRGIN The eastern star of the East Angles, the Lord's virgin Wihtburh, many years after her era, gleams with her never-fading brightness which in the eyes of the faithful constantly shines anew, and like a twinkling star in the sky and like a city on a mountain, and like a lamp lifted high, cannot be hidden.1 For just as she is celebrated with noble reputation as the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, and royal sister of the holy and unstained Queen /Ethelthryth, so she mirrors her sainted ancestry with innate sanctity and as a virgin mirrors that virgin with her own spotless virginity, and also with the subsequent incorruption of her flesh after burial. For after almost three hundred and fifty-four years her remains were recently inspected and found wholly incorrupt, thereby giving a clear token of the holy and spotless life with which she brightened the world.2 But these things will be variously described in their place in due course; now we have determined to hand on to posterity where she formerly waged war for God, and how she was brought thence to the monastery of Ely, and how next she moved across to a new church with her blessed sisters, just as fact demonstrates and clear reputation reports, even though for such holy things neither sense, nor tongue, nor hand are sufficient.3 i. HER LIFE. The daughter and dawn of heavenly light, born of royalty and destined to attain the celestial kingdom, from her very cradle showed her pedigree of nobility and of heavenly grace. In her infancy she was very sweet and a blessed fountain, full of divine loveliness.4 As soon as she was able to understand, she charmed her senses with the name of Christ, which is an overflowing ointment,5 products of mere guesswork, for any chronological clarity to be obtainable with regard to Wihtburh. See Ridyard, Royal Saints, p. 57. 3 The extended version of the preface provided by T takes up a significantly more defensive tone against real or imagined detractors than is found in C. 4 Cf. Prov. 5:18 ('sit vena tua benedicta'). Note the regular use of rhyme here, as well as alliteration. For the use of the unusual adjective 'mellitula', cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Edithe, i. 6, 'Ita erat mellitula, benigna, gratiosa' (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 48); although cf. also Jerome, Ep. Ixxix. 6, 'ita suauis est et mellitula' (CSEL Iv, p. 94, 1. 4). 5 Cf. S. of S. i: 2, in the Vetus Latina version ('unguentum effusum nomen tuum'); also quoted in this form, in a similar context, by Goscelin, in his Vita S. Edithe, i. 8 (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 52).

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sibi permulsit, ubi ipsius suauitatis rorem sitibundo amore ebibit, 'ualete', ait 'amatores reges et regum nati, agite uestras nuptias principes et proci, ego sponsum quern diligit anima mea inueni,1 iam illi inseparabiliter nupsi.' Adolescebat puella, et cassabantur sperantes in eius forma.2 Iste regna, ille predia, alius infinitos thesauros offerat, uirgo in Christo suo totius mundi dote inflexibilis perdurat. Quisquis blanditiis sibilet, quisquis terroribus fulminet, unico deuota sponsa epytalamium suum in cymbalis bene sonantibus cantitet:3 'Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi.4 Signum posuit in faciem meam, ut nullum preter euma amatorem admittam.'5 Igitur* pretiosa Wihtburga siue infestantes principes constanter euicerit, siue in pace feliciter euaserit, ad sanctimonialem professionem confugit, ubi in umbra alarum Dei sperans suauiter requieuit/ 6 2. Est in prouincia Northfulca^ uilla 'que dicitur Dyrham/ ubi silua et fluuius habitationem loci fecit apricam.7 Hie soli Christo mens dedita/a mundi turbine uacare solitaria anhelabat, et uenantes captiuantesque mortalium animas fugere diuitiarum illecebras estuabat. Hie monasterium condere satagebat, immo paradysum et thalamum quo totius sancte uoluptatis sponsum induceret aptabat. Quid laboras sancta innocentia uiuere solitaria, cum tanta lucerna nequeat relinqui sola? Queris latibula, sed eo magis claresces frequentata. Fugisti mortale matrimonium, sed meliori nupta, meliori fecundabilis progenie sobolum. Quo ergo artius se Magdalene emula recondiderat,8 eo latius radiabat, et pia queque anima ut ' ilium T * This word is preceded in T by the rubric QVOMODO VIRGINIBVS EST PREPOSITA ' T adds here Sed inde ubi nutrita fuit recedens quasi uiginti miliaribus apud dirham in humilem locum paterni iuris deuenit illic solitarie uolens uiuere d elegit. Est enim locus ille in prouincia. . . . Northfolca 7"; altered from Northfulca to f Northfolca in C ' ' notissima T debita T 1

S. of S. 3: 4 ('inveni quern diligit anima mea'). 'cassabantur' for 'quassabantur'. Ps. 150: 5 ('laudate eum in cymbalis bene sonantibus'). Cf. also Goscelin, Vita S. Edithe, i. 5, 'iam cantitare gestit epythalamium suum' (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 45). 4 S. of S. 2: 16 ('dilectus meus mihi et ego illi'). 5 Cf. Ps.-Ambrose, Passio S. Agnetis, c. 3, 'Posuit signum in faciem meam ut nullum praeter ipsum amatorem admittam' (PL xvii. 7358), also used as one of the antiphons for the liturgy which evolved for the consecration of virgins. 6 Cf. Ps. 56(57): 2 ('in umbra alarum tuarum sperabo'). 7 Dereham, now known as East Dereham, lies 15 miles west of Norwich. Ely claimed that Dereham had been a gift of King Edgar at the time of its refoundation by jEthelwold (recorded at LE ii. 40, on which see p. 68 n. 5 below); on the status of Dereham as an early ecclesiastical site, see Williamson, Origins of Norfolk, pp. 99, 145—6. On the holy wells at 2

3

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ethereal nectar, and when she drank in the dew of His sweet savour with thirsty love, she said 'Farewell wooing kings and kings' sons, make your marriages you sovereigns and suitors, I have found a bride-groom whom my soul loves,1 and I am inseparably bound to him in marriage.' The girl grew to womanhood, and the hopes of those who set store by her beauty were dashed.2 This one offered kingdoms, that one great estates, another infinite treasures, but the maiden remained unswervingly fixed upon her Christ and a dowry of the whole world. Whoever might whisper blandishments, whoever might thunder out terrifying threats, the bride, devoted to one alone, sings out her love-song with well-tuned cymbals:3 'My beloved is mine, and I am his.4 He has placed his mark on my forehead, so that I shall accept no lover except Him alone.'5 Accordingly precious Wihtburh either consistently outdid the princes who harassed her, or happily outpaced them in peace, and took refuge in her profession as a nun, where she sweetly rested, trusting in the shadow of the wings of God.6 2. There is a village in the county of Norfolk called Dereham, where woods and a river have made the place a fair dwelling.7 Here, her mind given over to Christ alone, she longed to be freed from the whirlwind of the world as a solitary, and desired fervently to escape from the predatory charms of wealth which entrap the souls of mortals. Here she set about founding a monastery, nay rather fitted out a paradise and a bridal-chamber into which she might bring her Bridegroom whose pleasure is utterly holy. Why do you strive to live as a solitary in holy innocence when such a bright light cannot be left alone? You seek hiding-places of hiding, but you are all the brighter when you are among the crowds. You have fled mortal marriage, but wed to a better One, you are fertile with the bearing of better offspring. So the more she hid herself, imitating Mary Magdelene,8 the more widely her brightness was seen, and every pious soul sought Dereham, see above p. xliii, and for the suggestion that West Dereham should instead be identified as Wihtburh's foundation, see p. xvii. 8 This may be an oblique reference to the legend which linked Mary Magdalene with the woman who poured precious ointment over Christ (Matt. 26: 6—13; Mark 14: 3-9), of whom Christ said 'wherever the Gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will be recounted in her memory.' But the key to the phrase 'Magdalenae emula' may also lie in a similar phrase in Goscelin's Vita S. Edithe, i. 10, 'solitudinis arnica, et partis Mariae emula' (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 66), referring to Mary's preference for peaceful contemplation, as opposed to Martha's bustle, that is, alluding to the difference between the 'uita contemplatiua' and the 'uita actiua'. Since the former, the way of Mary, involves retreat from the world, this may be what is intended here, coupled with the mistaken identification of that Mary, sister of Martha, with Mary Magdalene.

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salutiferam et opiferam appetabat. Hinc sibi grex castitatis nascitur, et innuba parens post illam que sola uirgo corporaliter Deum peperit diuina prole fetatur. Confluebant ad tarn mellifluam matrem plereque nobiles et candide anime, quas piis uisceribus diuine dilectionis sponso suo gigneret et informaret.1 3. Verum" inter multas uirtutes quas gessit in uita, unum eius miraculum uel etiam duo in uno que fidelis plebs sua a generatione in generationem referendo perpetuat, iugique memoria quasi in libro scripta recitat. Hie fidelis auditor aduertat. Cum turtur Domini pullis suis nidum,2 et domesticis suis domum, et* Domino suo templum conderet, cum quibus ipsa Dei templum fieret, contigit ut nichil uictualium preter siccum panem haberet, quod operariis edificii suisque lactentibus apponeret. Hinc paupertas quam Christum sequens ad regnum appetierat cum diuitem mentem artaret, ad unicam post lesum spem suam Dei genitricem confugit, eamque querulis precibus pro instanti necessitate urgere cepit. Cui inter preces paululum dormitationi allapse/ astitit uirginalis species facie siderea, maiestate augusta, pulchritudine angelica, ut ipsam quam inuocabat Domini genitricem fuisse arbitraretur fides deuota. Refouet anxiam, docet habere in Domino fiduciam, nee sollicitari de uictu corporeo, nee cogitare de crastino.3 'Ac ne', inquit, 'de multa dilatione protraham, diluculo mitte puellas ministras ad proximum pontem siluestris fluuii. Ibi obseruantibus illis diatim occurrent due fere lactiflue quas tractabiliter mulgentes, solatium uictui uestro interim amministrabunt.' Sic ancilla Domini celitus edocta, mittit mane mulctricesrf ad pontem premonstratum, qui fere uno stadio distat a monasterio, quo astans silua grato irrigatur fluuio. Vnde continuo due assiliunf cerue que se familiarius quam domestica animalia prebebant mulcture. Has singillatim astantes uel succedentes mulgebant manus uirginee, tantamque lactis ubertatem in uasa sua expressere, ut hidriam plenam duo uiri iniecto per ansas uecte humeris suis efferrent, et omnibus domi conuiuis hec copia sufficeret. 4. Que superne largitatis beneficia cum cotidiano usu per aliquod tempus habundanter proficerent, prepositus ipsius uille uir praui " This word is preceded in T by the rubric QVOD A MATRE DOMINI MERVIT d CONFORTARI * ac T ' adlapse T multrices T ' assilunt T 1 2 3

Cf. VWer c. 3, 'ut piis uisceribus pignus Deo gigneret acceptissimum'. Ps 83(84): 4 ('turtur nidum sibi ubi ponat pullos suos'). Cf. Matt. 6: 34 ('Nolite ergo solliciti esse in crastinum').

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her out as wholesome and beneficial. Hence a chaste flock grew up around her, and the unmarried parent, following that Virgin who gave bodily birth to God, bore divine offspring. Many noble and pure souls flocked to such a lovely mother, and she bore them and brought them up for her Bridegroom in the holy bowels of divine love.1 3. However, among the many miracles which she did in her life, there is one, or even two in one, which her faithful people pass on by tradition from generation to generation, and recite constantly by memory as if it were written in a book. Here the faithful reader should pay attention. While the Lord's turtle-dove was building a nest for her young,2 and a home for her servants, and a temple for her Lord, in order that she might also herself become a temple of God, it came about that she had no food except dry bread to give to the workers on the building and to her own sucklings. Hence when the poverty, which she had sought in following Christ to his kingdom, pressed upon her rich mind, she took refuge in the only hope she had after Jesus, namely the Mother of God, and began to beseech her with plaintive prayers about her immediate difficulty. While she was praying to her, for a brief while she fell into slumber, and a virginal apparition with a starlit face came before her, noble in her majesty, angelic in her beauty, so that devoted faith believed her to be the very one whom she was invoking, the Lord's mother. She comforted the anxious one, and told her to trust in the Lord, and not to worry about bodily nourishment, nor to think about the morrow.3 'And so that I do not prolong your wait, tomorrow at dawn send your serving girls to the next bridge over the river in the woods. There if they keep watch every day, two wild animals will come to them which give milk, and will submit readily to being milked, and will provide all the sustenance you need in the meantime.' So the Lord's handmaid, instructed from on high, next morning sent milkmaids to the bridge she had been told of, which was about one furlong from the monastery, where the wood is watered by a pleasant river. Straightaway two hinds bounded out from the wood and offered themselves for milking more tamely than domestic animals. The virgins' hands milked them in succession as they stood there or came up close, and drew out such a rich quantity of milk into their pails, that two men had to carry the full churn on their shoulders with poles slung through its handles, and this bounty was enough for all the occupants of the house. 4. The daily benefits of heavenly generosity continued in abundance for some time, but the reeve of that village, a man of evil

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ingenii cepit tanta miracula aut paruipendere aut irridere. Dehinc liuore cupiditate ac superba indignatione agitatus adductis canibus nitebatur insontes feras captare, contends scilicet commodis que dominice exibebant familie. At ille exacerbate et absterrite, procul in suas siluas aufugere. Villicus uero non tarn bestiis quam Dei domesticis gratuito noxius, sue maliuolentie sine dilatione penas soluit. Nam eadem hora dum emissario equo feras insectatur fugaces, equus in obstantem sepem urgentibus calcaribus incurrit, sepisque acuta sude transfixus ilia, dum resiliendo tergiuersatur, sessor superbus supino" capite excutitur, fractaque ceruice exanimatur. Ablato autem lacte ferino, non defuit Dominus gregi suo. Rediit* qui defuerat uictus, tempore oportuno. Inquirentes enim Dominum, non deficient omni bono, qui manna de celo pluit, qui Samsonem de mandibula asini potauit, qui Heliam per coruos, item per uiduam Sareptanam' pauit,1 det in euangelio^ et in multis sanctis deifice copiosus extitit. 'Sic splendida lampas Domini Withburga cum pluribus uirtutibus ac signis adhuc in carnis ergastulo radiaret, nee ab hominibus gloriam quesiuit, ut ei soli placeret cui se probaret, et ut gloriosior in regeneratione sanctorum appareret, contemptabilior inter mortales uideri apetiit/ 5. Quam uero credibilia hec pauca que in huius beate uirginis uita memorauimus habeantur/ nunc simillimum ipsius signum quod iam olim ad Christum assumpta nuper ostendit, clare attestatur. Quod etiam oculis nostrisf comprobatum,2 ad fidei probationem hie arbitramur subnectendum, quatinus noua antiquis iuncta, que dissonant tempore sed similitudine consonant, et uisa non uisis dextram prebeant. Pia deuotio consuetudinem pro lege fecerat Dirhamensibus aliisque affinibus, quatinus per singulos annos die sexta feria post ascensionem Domini conuenientes cum sacerdotibus et clericis, cum uexillis et crucibus, cum cereis ac diuersis oblationibus,3 ad k dd * supinio T Sed rediit T ' Sareptana T om. T ' ' add. T, which then has the rubric QVOMODO DE SECVLO MIGRAVIT/0/&HW by c. 7 and most ofc.8 g f habebantur T om. T 1 The manna from heaven is described in Deut. 8: 3 (cf. also Ps. 77(78): 24. 'et pluit illis manna ad manducandum'). Samson and the ass's jawbone occurs at Judg. 15: 19, and Elijah's feeding by the ravens, and then by the woman of Sarepte at 3 Kgs. (i Kgs.) 17: 4 and 17: 9. 2 It is noteworthy that the word 'nostris' is omitted before 'oculis' in T: presumably because the assertion that the account was of almost contemporary events was no longer true. The placing of this story at this position in the Vita in C, out of strict chronological order (because the translation of Wihtburh from Dereham has not yet been described),

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character, began either to regard these great miracles as worthless or to mock them. Then, driven by envy, avarice and proud disdain, he tried to capture the harmless beasts with his dogs, undoubtedly scorning the provisions they had conferred upon the Lord's family. But shaken and terrified they fled far into their native woods. The reeve, however, pointlessly doing more harm to the servants of God than he did to the animals, paid the price for his evil intent without delay. For in the very same hour that he was chasing the fleeing animals on his stallion, as he was spurring it on, the horse ran into a fence which blocked the way, and its belly was pierced by the sharp stake of the fence, and as it leapt away and fell on to its back, the proud rider was thrown off and fell back on his head and died of a broken neck. But although the milk from the wild beasts had been taken away, the Lord did not abandon his flock. At the right moment the food which had been lacking came back. For those who seek the Lord lack no good thing from Him who rained manna down from heaven, who gave Samson to drink from the jawbone of an ass, who fed Elijah by means of ravens and again through the widow of Sarepte,1 and has been divinely bountiful both in the Gospel and to many saints. Thus the bright lamp of the Lord, Wihtburh, still in the prison-house of the flesh, shone out with many miracles and signs, but did not seek glory from men, so that she might please Him alone to whom she was offering herself, and so that she might appear more glorious in the rebirth of the saints, she strove to seem more contemptible amongst mortals. 5. How worthy of belief these few things are which we have recorded about the blessed virgin's life, is now clearly attested by a similar sign which she recently showed having already been taken up to Christ. This we have even seen with our own eyes,2 and we think that it should be added here for the approval of faith, so that when new things are added to old ones—things which do not harmonize in time yet do harmonize in their similarity—those things which can be seen offer a hand to things unseen. Holy devotion had made a custom out of the rule that the people of Dereham and their neighbours should come together every year on the sixth day after the Lord's Ascension together with the priests and clergy, with banners and crosses, with candles and various offerings,3 and go in procession in seems odd, even given the author's attempted explanation, namely that he wanted to put the miracles together for the sake of thematic harmomy (since both this and the preceding story involve a hunting scene). 3 The date of Ascension varies according to the date of Easter, so this special festival of Wihtburh would also have been a moveable feast.

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clementissime patrocinatricis sue Wihtburge" dulcem memoriam hereditario amore procederent eiusque maternam opem ad presentem ac perpetuam salutem expeterent, quatinus familiolam* suam eo presentiori refoueref7 affectu, quo orbatiores essent corporeo aspectu.1 Quod cum moderne statuto die collecta processione ex more agerent, quidam miles efferens se potentia quod haberet possessionem in ea uicinia, ipsis^ plebibus diuina sacra sequentibus occurrit equo sedens cum canibus, cum uaris,2 cum molosis latrantibus. Illi cum fide ac deuotione tendebant adorandum, hie in superbia et abusione imminebat ad uenandum.3 Qui uelut aquila columbas innoxium agmen inuolat, inuadit, trahit, impellit, rapit, angit. Vt que posthabita plebeia processione quasi superstitione uenatum pergant, siluas* indagine cingant,4 retia tendant, uenabula obseruent, ualidum quemque ut secum eat tanquam ad bellum prouocat resistentes minis ac terroribus coartat, ignominia precipitat. Plebs uero propositum iter tenens beatam Wihtburgair/ inclamitat, ab iniuriatore Dei et sui atque expugnatore interuentricis sue ut liberentur efflagitant. Nee mora exaudiuntur, et irritate preces fiunt non irrite.5 Miles dum cornicinum clangore canes instigat, dum ad feras uolitat, dum illas fuga peruertere certat, uolucerf equus* fallax ad saltern corruit, dominum procul excutit. Ille ruine impulsu coxam fregit, membratimque solutus ac ruptus repente interiit. Eia insolentia, eia iactantia, quali punita est iactura! Venantem non 'feras solum' sed et homines, et sua uenabula diuino cultui preferentem, ille infernalis Nembroht7 qui interpretatur robustus uenator coram Domino, suis uenatibus captum in suum abstraxit ergastulum.6 Hinc ergo discant alii gratiam Dei querere, potius quam querentes exturbare. Venientes autem plebes cum uotis et muneribus ad * Wthburge T f Withburgam T

g

k familiam T uelociter T

h

d ' reuoueret T ipsius T equs T ' ' solum feras T

J

' sillas T Nembroth T

1 What is being described here seems to be a so-called 'recognition procession', a procession to a minster or mother-church intended to mark the patronal status of that church. A striking, though somewhat later, parallel can be found in relation to Christchurch in Hampshire: the Christchurch cartulary (London, BL, Cotton Tiberius D. vi, of the early I4th cent.), records a procession from various dependent churches to Christchurch which took place on Ascension Day, or the Sunday following; for this and other similar examples, see P. Hase, 'The mother churches of Hampshire,' in J. Blair (ed.), Minsters and Parish Churches (Oxford, 1988), pp. 45—66, at pp. 58 and 60 (appendix 2B). 2

It is possible that by 'uaris' is intended 'uerris', meaning brindled dogs, or greyhounds. 3 Note the way in which these opposing clauses are made to balance one another,

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sweet commemoration of their most kind patroness Wihtburh, with inherited affection, and pray for her motherly aid for present and perpetual salvation, so that she might comfort her little family with more present affection, though they might be deprived of the bodily sight of her.1 When in recent times they were assembling the procession on the appointed day in the usual manner, a knight who prided himself on his might because he owned some land in the neighbourhood, rode up to the folk who were following the divine rites, seated on his horse with his domestic dogs, with his greyhounds,2 and with baying hunting hounds. They in faith and devotion were intent upon worship, he with pride and foul language threatened to start his hunt.3 Like an eagle upon doves, he fell upon the harmless crowds, assaulted, dragged, thrust, seized, terrified. And having dismissed the people's procession like some empty superstition, they set about the hunt, encircled the wood,4 stretched out nets, looked to their hunting spears, and he urged on every mighty man to go with him as if into battle, pressing those who resisted with threats and terrifying words, consigning them to ignominy. But the people, keeping tenaciously to their intended journey, cried out to St Wihtburh, and beseeched her to deliver them from the one who was insulting God and the things of God, and attacking their protectress. They were answered without delay, and their pointed prayers did not turn out to be pointless.5 While the knight was urging on his hounds with the din of hunting horns, while he flew after the prey, while he tried to head them off in their flight, his swift horse failed at a jump, fell, and tossed his master far away. He broke his hipbone in the impact of the fall, and quickly died, broken and burst limb from limb. So much for impudence! So much for boasting, punished with such a fall! He who hunted not only wild beasts but also men, and put his hunting before worship of God, was dragged off with all his hunting tackle into his gaol by hell's Nimrod (which means 'mighty hunter in the Lord's sight').6 Therefore, let others learn from this to seek God's grace, rather than to harass those who are seeking it. The people came with their prayers and gifts into containing the pairs of abstract nouns 'fide ac deuotione' and 'superbia et abusione' and linked with rhyme '. . . adorandum' and '. . . ad uenandum'. Notice also that in the next sentence the violence of the huntsman's attack is conveyed by the sequence of six verbs in a row, hammered out in asyndeton. 4 Cf. Vergil, Aeneid, iv. 121, 'saltusque indagine cingunt'. 5 Note the pun on 'irritate' ('stirred up, excited') and 'irrite' ('vain'). Also the alliteration on 'c' in the next sentence. 6 Cf. Gen. 10: 8—9 ('Nemrod . . . et erat robustus venator coram Domino').

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ecclesiam, almiflue domine sue uacuam quidem corpore suo sed plenam salutari uirtute, gratias inmensas referebant non solum de sua liberatione et iniurie correptione, seda quod ex hoc signo erga ipsam amplius roborarentur in fide ac dilectione. 6. His* e diuerso tempore assimilatis, et ex similitudine annexis, ad superiora proposita reditus detur associabilis. Cum tota lux lunae aufertur terris, tune totus orbis eius ex lucida parte ut phisici disserunt est in aspectu et coitu solis, tune luciflua plenitudine respondet solaribus radiis.1 Sic splendida lampas Domini Wihtburga cum plurimis uirtutibus ac signis adhuc in carnis carcere radiaret, totum orbem fulgoris sui ad uerum solem Christum a quo illustrabatur conuertit, nee ab hominibus gloriam quesiuit, ut ei soli placeret cui se probauit.2 Signa que per earn Dominus declarare dignatus est ut inuentum thesaurum abscondit, quatinus in ipso gaudet, in quo furi et tinee inaccessibilem possideret,3 et cum apostolo diceret, 'scio cui credidi et certa sum quia potens est depositum meum seruare in ilium diem'.4 Que eo gloriosior in regeneratione sanctorum apparebit,5 quo contemptibilior inter mortales uideri appetiit, ut idem gentium doctor concinit, 'Mortui enim estis, et uita uestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo. Cum enim Christus apparuerit, uita uestra, tune et uos apparebitis cum ipso in gloria.'6 7. Sed quid longius moremur in eius mirifica uita exponenda, cuius mors hodietenus inmortali gratia' apparet pretiosa? Commendatis itaque pupillis suis eterno^ custodi numquam dormienti, accensa peruigili caritatis lampade et inextinguibili,7 ueniente sponso euolans ad aureum regnum a cenulenta* uoragine mundi,8 emicuit pulcherrima in thalamum Domini sui. Excipiunt candidam et amabilem animam uirtutes etheree, sepelitur in cimiterio ecclesie Dirhamensis corpus incorruptibile. Diximus 'corpus incorruptibile', a

om. C This section does not occur in T f gloria T etertio T ' cenolenta T 1

Cf. John Scottus Eriugena, Periphyseon, V.26, 'sicut enim umbra terrae, quam noctem appellent, in aeris et aetheris spatia per infmitum non porrigitur, sed intra centum uiginti sex millia stadiorum, ut physici perhibent, coartantibus earn undique solaribus radiis circa terram diffusis . . .' (PL cxxii. 918). Cf. also Bede, De natura rerum, xiii. 9, 'nouissima luna . . . morata in coitu solis, biduo non comparere in coelo' (CCSL cxxiiiA). 2 2 Tim. 2: 4 ('ut ei placeat cui se probavit'). 3 Cf. Luke 12: 33 ('thesaurum non deficientem in caelis, quo fur non appropiat neque tinea corrumpit'). 4 2 Tim. i: 12. 5 Cf. Matt. 19: 28 ('in regeneratione . . . sedebitis et vos super sedes duodecim').

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the church, empty of their dear mistress's body but full of her saving power, and gave great thanks not only at their deliverance and escape from harm, but also that by this token they were even more strengthened in their faith and love towards her. 6. Having included these incidents from different times but linked in their content, we should return by association to the point we departed from above. When all the light of the moon is taken from the earth, then its whole sphere on its bright side is, as the natural philosophers say, in the aspect of and in conjunction with the sun, then it reflects the rays of the sun with full brightness.1 So also the Lord's bright lamp, Wihtburh, when, still in the prison of the flesh, she shone out with many miracles and signs, she turned the whole sphere of her brightness towards the true sun, Christ, by whom she was illuminated, and she did not seek glory from men, so that she might please Him alone to whom she engaged herself.2 The signs which the Lord deigned to manifest through her, she hid like uncovered treasure, so that she might rejoice in that which she kept inaccessible to thief and moth,3 so that with the apostle she might be able to say, 'I know wherein I believe, and I am certain that he is able to preserve my deposit in that day'.4 The more contemptible she strove to seem among mortals, the more glorious she will appear at the regeneration of the saints,5 as that teacher of the gentiles prophesies: 'You are dead and your life lies hid with Christ in God. For when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.'6 7. Yet why are we lingering so long over the description of her marvellous life, when her death even today appears precious for its immortal grace? Having therefore commended her wards to the eternal Guardian who never sleeps, and having lit the ever-watchful and inextinguishable lamp of love,7 flying with her approaching Bridegroom to the golden realm far from the muddy whirlpool of the world,8 she glittered radiantly in the bridal-chamber of her Lord. The ethereal powers gathered up her pure and lovely soul, and her incorruptible body was buried in the cemetery of the church of Dereham. We call her body incorruptible, not by natural constitution, 6

Col. 3: 3-4. Cf. Matt. 25: 6, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins waiting with their lamps for the coming of the Bridegroom. 8 Cf. Wulfstan of Winchester, Vita S. ^thelwoldi^ c. 39, 'ut de saeculi huius coenulenta uoragine.' 7

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non ex conditione nature, sed ex collatione gratie superne. Plangunt orbate filie suam orbitatem, gaudent angelice caterue auctam" suam sodalitatem. Nee uero destituta familia poterat diutius lugere absentem, quam frequentibus exauditionibus ac uisionibus senserant sibi presentem et quesita remedia potentius *ac uiuacius* de celo quam ex humo conferentem. 8. Iamc uero post quinquaginta quinque annos sepulture reserata eius tumba ita incontaminata inuenta est uestibus et toto corpore, sicut primo imposita erat die.1 Sunt hec mirabilia, sed quod adhuc illesam glebam probare intendimus, mirabiliora. Translatum est namque uenerabile corpus sanctissime uirginis in ecclesiam quam ipsa ibidem condiderat, ubi usque ad tempora gloriosi regis /Edgari seruabatur. De loco autem illo quo prius sepulta fuerat fons aque emanat lucidissimus, pluribus eius nomine constans signum remedii. Deo autem semper incommutabili, inmutabili consilio bonitatis secula mutante ac tempora uariante/ illud uirginale monasterium in Dirham irruptione paganorum ac tempestate bellorum, fugato choro sacrarum uirginum in uulgarem parrochiam est destitutum.2 'Ipse quippe qui condidit uespere et mane prouiderat alibi celebriorem locum dilecte sue quo uesperascente priori sede clarius inciperet elucescere/ Nair/ sicut ilia ecclesia a pristina defecerat dignitate, sic gloriosa uirgo a plebeia negligentia minoris habebatur reuerentie/ 9. Sed* regnante iam' Deo amabili /Edgaro regum Albionum candidissimo, cuius beato tempori sancte uirginis7 translationem dedicamus, refloruit uigor ecclesiarum et splendor reluxit sanctorum. Tune liquido resplenduit illud oraculum quod gemma Anglorum Dunstanus antea Glastonie* audierat de celo, super ipso nunc pacifico sceptrigero, tune infante nato. Hoc erat: 'Pax Anglorum ecclesie exorti nunc pueri et Dunstani nostri tempore.'3 Cuius principatu b b * autam T om. T ' Before this word T has the rubric QVOD CORPVS EIVS d f INCORRVPTVM INVENITVR uarietate T " om. T et T "At this point T has the rubric QVOD VLTIONE FECERIT DE HOSTE and gives c. 5 above, h omitting the rest of the Vita found in C; c. 9 onwards is incorporated in E om. E 1 J k om. E Withburge add. E Glestonie E 1 As noted above, in the notes to c. i, the first exhumation of Wihtburh is recorded as a marginal addition in ASC F, under the year 798 (799), with the same statement as here that it was fifty-five years after her death. 2 I am grateful to Dr John Blair for pointing out to me that Goscelin used terminology similar to this to describe the destitution of Minster-in-Thanet after a Danish attack (Miracula S. Mildrethe, c. 5, 'deinceps duorum aut trium clericorum plebeia erat parrochia', Rollason, 'Goscelin', p. 162), and that this use of 'parrochia' is a continental rather than Insular term, strictly intended to designate a parochial (in the

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but by the conferring of heavenly grace. Her abandoned daughters bewail their abandonment, the angelic hosts rejoice at the increase of their company. But her bereaved family could not grieve much longer for the absent one, when by frequent answers to prayer and in visions they felt that she continued to be present with them, and that she was bestowing the cures they desired more powerfully and vigorously from heaven than from earth. 8. However, fifty-five years after her burial her tomb was opened up and she was found as undecayed in her clothing and her whole body as on the first day she was laid to rest.1 These facts are miraculous, but that we intend to demonstrate that her remains are still incorrupt, is more miraculous still. For the venerable body of the most holy virgin was translated into the church which she herself had founded there, where she was preserved up until the time of glorious King Edgar. From the place where she had previously been buried a spring of bright water flows, conferring the constant token of healing on many in her name. But God who is always unalterable, changes ages and varies the times by the unchanging counsel of His goodness, and that convent of virgins in Dereham, through the incursion of pagans and the storm of wars, was abandoned to become a rustic minster,2 the host of holy virgins having fled. And He who established the twilight and the morning, had prepared elsewhere a more distinguished place for his beloved where she might begin to shine out more clearly, her previous home having reached its twilight. For just as that church had fallen away from its former grandeur, so also the glorious virgin, through the neglect of the populace, was held in less veneration. 9. Yet in the reign of God's beloved Edgar, the most brilliant of the kings of Albion, to whose blessed time we assign the translation of the holy virgin, the vigour of the churches blossomed anew and the splendour of the saints shone out afresh. Then that oracle shone out brilliantly which the gem of the English, Dunstan, had previous heard from heaven at Glastonbury, concerning him the peacewielding sceptre-bearer, at that time a new-born infant. It was: 'Peace for the Church of the English in the time of the boy now new-born and of our Dunstan.'3 Under his rule the English era never sense of baptismal) mother church—a usage perhaps not surprising for a monk from Saint-Omer. 3 This revelation, which was said to have come to Dunstan in 943, is described in two of his Lives: see Memorials, p. 56 (Adelard) and p. 183 (Eadmer); and the form of words given here follows those two texts exactly for the actual prophecy ('Pax Anglorum exorti nunc pueri et Dunstani nostri tempore'). The same story is repeated in the Chronicle of John of Worcester (3.3.943), JW ii. 396.

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WIHTBVRGE

nunquam Anglica secla feliciora uidere tempora, cum unius regis fortissimi atque optimi uniuersa Brittannie, cum adiacentibus insularum regibus, esset monarchia. Ab euangelici uero protoparentis nostri Augustini eiusque collegarum beatissimo aduentu, nullius memoria plura sanctorum quam sub hoc principe micuere sidera.1 Inter quos hunc suum orbem illustrarunt prefulgide Dunstanus et ASelwoldus, quasi minor Petrus et minor Paulus. Superior metropoli Cantie presidebat, alter" Vuentano presulatu in fundendis* uel reparandis monasteriis uelut procinctum dominici belli et castrorum agebat.2 Hicc theoricus architectus3 inter plurima edificia sua regale monasterium quod in Eli insula antiquitus a gloriosa regina et perpetua uirgine /Etheldrytha constructum sacro uirginum contubernio pollebat, reparaturr/ opibus pristinis ac nouis nobilitauit, monachili cetu muniuit, domnum Brihtnothum prepositum suum abbatem primum instituit.4 Inter alia uero magnifica expetitum a rege /Edgaro monasterium'' Dyrham cum pretiosissimo thesauro suo Wihtburga adiecit, cui nimirum in omnibus his gratia transferendi parabatur.5 10. Hinc unanimi consilio instant tarn sacratissimus presul quam deuotissimus abbas, qualiter sine tumultu illud preclarissimum monile ecclesie,6 ilia splendissima margarita uirginee glebe adhuc liquido intemerate ad sullimiorem thalamum transiret, quatinus decentior aula hanc Celsius decoraret et hec illam sue presentie ornamento ac splendore clarius illustraret. Cumque habuissent beniuoli regis donatiuum ac fauorem, placuit maxime deuotis precibus supernam benignitatem et ipsius uirginis uoluntariam exposcere opitulationem, ut sine confusione explerent sacram intentionem.7 Preueniens itaque fidelis predo faciem Domini in confessione et * uero add. E

k

fundandis E

' ergo add. E

d

reparaturum E

' in

add. E 1 'Protoparens' is an epithet which Goscelin applied to Augustine in several of his writings associated with that saint: cf. Hist, trans., i. i, 'euangelici protoparentis' (ActaS, Maii, vi. 4I3A); and Hist, minor (PL cl. 743 and 74yD); cf. also Hist, maior, c. 53, 'protoparentes ecclesiastici sunt Anglie' (ActaS, Maii, vi. 39SD). 2 With this cf. Goscelin, Hist, trans, i. 16, 'Mellitum uero . . . Gregorius postmisit... in procinctu Christi strenue succenturiatum' (ActaS, Maii, vi. 415?). 3 Cf. Goscelin, Hist, maior, c. 50, 'theoricus contemplator' (ActaS, Maii, vi. 394E), and Miracula S. Mildrethe, c. 21, 'theoricus ille orationator' (Rollason, 'Goscelin', p. 183). 4 Ely was refounded in about 970 by jEthelwold of Winchester. Byrhtnoth had been prior of Winchester until jEthelwold introduced him as the abbot of the refounded Benedictine community at Ely; he died some time between 996 and 999 (see Heads, p. 44). 5 The acquisition of East Dereham is recorded in LE ii. 40 (Blake, pp. 113—14), in a

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saw better times, when the whole of Britain, with the kings of the adjacent islands, was under the monarchy of one single king, the mightiest and the best. Since the blest arrival of our evangelist and protoparent Augustine and his colleagues, in the memory of none have more saints shone out like stars than under this lord.1 Among them Dunstan and /Ethelwold brilliantly illumined this their world, like a lesser Peter and a lesser Paul. The first presided over the metropolitan see of Canterbury, and the other occupied the bishopric of Winchester, founding and restoring monasteries as if to make ready the Lord's battle and his fortresses.2 This godly master-builder,3 among his many works, repaired and ennobled with new riches and old the royal monastery which in ancient days had been constructed on the island of Ely by the glorious queen and perpetual virgin /Ethelthryth, and had flourished with a holy community of virgins; he provided it with a group of monks, and set up master Byrhtnoth his prior as the first abbot.4 Among other rich endowments, he acquired from King Edgar the monastery of Dereham, along with its precious treasure Wihtburh, and for her translation preparations were, of course, made amongst everything else that had to be done.5 10. Hence by unanimous decision the most holy bishop and the devoted abbot both set about thinking how they might without disturbance transfer to a loftier resting-place that sparkling necklace of the church,6 that gleaming pearl of virginal remains, still plainly incorrupt, so that a more fitting hall might honour her more highly and that she might more brightly illuminate that place with the adornment and splendour of her presence. And since they had the gift and assent of the benevolent king, it seemed a good idea to beseech with especially devoted prayers the heavenly kindness and willing aid of the virgin herself, that they might carry out their holy intention without difficulty.7 Therefore the faithful plunderer \_scil. Byrhtnoth] came before the face of the Lord in confession, and psalm-singing and form of words which appears to have been derived from the Vita ('inter alia vero magnifica confessor Domini jEthelwoldus expetitum a rege jEdgaro Dyrham . . . optulit'); however, the donation is not recorded in the early I2th-cent. Libettus jEthelwoldi Episcopi. 6 Cf. Prudentius, Peristephanon, ii. 305, 'hoc est monile ecclesie'. Cf. also LectEorm, c. 6, 'ubi filia ipsius Werburga ut monile aureum uirginitatis emicuit'; and Goscelin, Vita S. Edithe, i. 7 (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 49), 'hoc monile ecclesie.' 7 It is a commonplace of hagiography that a saint's relics could only ultimately be translated if it was the saint's own wish. See e.g. Goscelin's account of the difficulties encountered by the nuns of Barking over the translation of their former abbesses. One stone coffin becomes impossible to shift until the present abbess turns to prayer; cf. De translation? SS. uirginum, c. 11 (Colker, 'Texts', pp. 448—9).

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psalmis et abstinentia, cum fratribus sollertioribus prouiso tempore uenit cum militari manu ad prefatam ecclesiam in Derham. Venit ad hereditatem sibi traditam, suscipitur in domum suam, nemo querebat aliam aduentus sui causam. Ille cum posset ex regia auctoritate potenter ac uiolenter agere, maluit reuerenter ac prouidenter propositum implere, ne seditio aut tumultus surgeret in plebe. Inuitat ciues ad larga conuiuia, exercet plebeia iura. Illis dimittit meritoriam aulam, sibi uendicat ad uigilandum et oranduma secretariam ecclesiam, idoneus ad sanctum sacrilegium, ad fidele furtum, ad salutarem rapinam, ad lacob benedictionem supplantandam.1 11. lam* nox saturos ad hospitia et stratus suos inuitabat et amplis alis Dei predonem cum suis monachis et clericis in sacrum facinus uigilantem uelabat. Quantis tune genuum flexionibus et precum uaporationibus almam uirginem sibi comitem fore inplorauit/ ad exponendum sermo torpescit. Tandem fide armati cum turribulis orationum ac thimiamatum instant, tumbam reserant inuentamque toto corpore uernantem, acsi dulci sopore quiescentem, iusto tremore atque ammiratione salutant. Quam refirmato operculo lacertis, lapsibus, ac uectibus sullatam, paratis uehiculis excipiunt cum debita reuerentia et efferunt cum assidua psalmodia, cum triumphali letitia, sicut exultant uictores capta preda. Occurrunt et ambiunt succenturiatirf milites et ministri armis et animis, si quid obsisteret, parati. Ita per uiginta* miliaria terrestri uia progress!, ad fluuium in Branduna deuenere,2 ingressique naues cum illo uitali ferculo, remis et armamentis naualibus certatim incubuere. Illud uero ammirabile signum nequaquam decet preteriri, quod in hoc^ itinere per totam fere noctem Stella splendissima super illud prefulgidum corpus comminus rutilabat et, claros radios effundens, iugiter comes ibat uel precedebat. 12. fEcce autemf populus Dyrhamensium, associatis sibi affinibus plebibus, fugientes consequitur armatus. Nam Dyrhamenses parrochiani,3 iam omnibus sopore grauatis, dum tardius suspecta in a et ad adorandum E f * uiginti E om. E

b

c d ergo add. E implorauerit E succenturiatim E g g Illis namque iter per undam agentibus ecce E

1 Jacob's theft of his father's blessing, the true right of the first-born son Esau, is told at Gen. 27: 1-29; hence the interpretation of the name, given by Jerome in his Liber quaestionum hebraicarum in Genesim, 'iacob supplantator interpretatur' (CCSL Ixxii. 43). With this compare also the use of the same Old Testament figure by Goscelin his De translations s. Wulfhilde, c. 13, 'igitur uirgo ludith exultans cum Iacob ad supplantatam benedictionem' (Colker, 'Texts', p. 432). 2 Present-day Brandon Creek is at the point where the Little Ouse flows into the Great Ouse, a few miles north-east of Ely.

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fasting, and then at the appointed time came with some of the more experienced brothers and a band of soldiers to the aforementioned church at Dereham. He came to the inheritance which had been given to him, he was received in his home, nobody asked him for any other reason for his arrival. Although by royal authority he could have done the deed with the use of force and violence, he preferred to carry it out with reverence and foresight, so that sedition and disturbance should not arise among the people. He invited the citizens to a grand feast, and exercised the rights of the people. He left them in a hired hall, acquired for himself the privacy of the church for watching and praying, in readiness for sacred sacrilege, for faithful felony, wholesome theft, for Jacob's stealing of the blessing.1 11. Now night drew the sated feasters to their lodgings and their beds and veiled with outstretched wings God's plunderer, waiting to commit holy crime with his monks and clergy. The tongue is too sluggish to be able to tell with what genuflections and waftings of prayer he then implored the dear virgin to accompany him. At length, armed with faith and thuribles full of prayer and incense, they approached, opened the tomb and with proper awe and wonder greeted her, whom they found totally fresh in her body, and as if resting in sweet slumber. Closing the lid again they lifted her up using muscle-power, and rollers and poles, put her with due reverence on to the waiting vehicle, and bore her away with constant singing of psalms, with triumphal joy, just as victors exult over the booty they have taken. Reserve soldiers and servants came up and surrounded them, ready with hands and hearts, should they meet any obstacle. For for twenty miles they made their way across the land, and reached the river at Brandon,2 and embarking in boats with that life-bringing bier they swiftly set to work with oars and sailing tackle. But that marvellous portent ought by no means to be passed over, namely that in this journey for almost the whole night an extremely brilliant star shone directly over that bright body and was its constant companion and guide, pouring down its bright rays. 12. See now how the people of Dereham, with their neighbours, pursue the fugitives with weapons. For when the inhabitants of the parish of Dereham,3 all having been already in deep sleep, investigate 3 This seems to represent a relatively early example of the use of 'parrochiani' to signify the inhabitants of a parish. Goscelin uses the adjective 'parrochianus' again elsewhere, in the Mimcula S. Mildrethe, c. 27 ('uenit parrochianus presbiter'; Rollason, 'Goscelin', P- I9S)-

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oratorio explorant abbatis hospitia, inueniunt reserata limina, summa nullo presente silentia, ablatam beate matris sue Wihtburge tumbam, ipsam simul hospitalibus insidiis abductam. Fit clamor dirus plangentium, inhorruit clangor tubarum, non secus quam si patria arderet aut hostilis exercitus cedes et incendia patraret. Vnica gloria prouintie querebatur technis ac fraude abstracta, ac uelut area Dei a Philisteis captiua abducta.1 Protinus omnes in arma prosiliunt et ad predam excutiendam unanimi impetu proruunt.2 Itaque bipartito agmine utramque ripam a dextris et a sinistris occupant, et uelut obsidione preter fluuialem uiam includere decertant. lactant conuitia, intentant spicula, exprobrant simulatoribus perfida sacrilegia; clamoribus, terroribus, minis ac probris implent aera. Vix abbati, uix ipsi quam nulla tetigit corruptela glebe parcunt uirginali. Sed deficit et euanescit, ut fumus inanis,3 conatus desolatorum, quos absterret, cui tarn claro sidere fauebant ethera, neglecte prius uirginis maiestas simulque Eligensis preceptoris facultas. Qui, tanquam surdus, non audiens perstrepentes diuinumque auxilium crebris optinens orationibus, impellit nautas et nauim exortationibus, ut miles urget equum calcaribus, Deique protectione euadunt fesso reditu confusis persecutoribus. 13. Excursis ergo uiginti miliariis per undam usque ad Tidbrichtes ege, hoc est ad Tidbrichti insulam,4 triumphali iam securitate dulce ac suaue onus composito uehiculo deducunt per terram, canentes Domino laudem et gloriam. 14. Veniens ergo noua gloria ad sibi celitus prouisam elegiam, longum est exponere quanto populorum concursu et occursu, quanto monachorum et cleri concentu, quanto omnium gaudio ac triumpho suscepta sit. Ipsam beatissimam germanam ac monasterii primiceriam /Etheldritham aliamque precelsam sororem reginam Sexburgam, comitante matrem regia filia Hermenildaa cum omni choro sanctarum animarum quas Domino peperere, credas omnis fidelis anima obuiam excessisse et dulcibus ulnis atque amplexibus uenientem collegisse, a 1

yErmenilda E

i Sam.5: 8, ii describes the taking of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines. This account of the theft of Wihtburh's remains follows the conventional pattern found in many hagiographical accounts of relic-translations: the deep sleep of the victims, the closed doors, the sudden awakening after it is too late, and the vain armed pursuit, attended by some kind of miracle (a sign of heaven's approval): see notes to VWer, c. 10, for a list of comparable examples, and on the genre in general, see P. J. Geary, Furta Sacra: The Theft of Relics in the Central Middle Ages, rev. edn. (Princeton, 1990). 3 Cf. Ps. 36(37): 20 ('deficientes quemadmodum fumus deficient'). 2

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the abbot's lodgings in the chapel, which too late aroused their suspicions, they find the doors closed, deep silence—there being nobody left—and the tomb of their blessed mother Wihtburh removed, and stolen away by the trickery of their guests. There was a terrible din of wailing, the air bristled with the noise of bugles, no less than if the homeland were on fire or a hostile army were committing murder and arson. They sought the one glory of the region taken away by artifice and deception, just like the Ark of God taken captive by the Philistines.1 Straightway they all leapt to arms and with unanimous force rushed out to rescue the booty.2 Accordingly the company divided in two and occupied both banks of the river on right and left, and attempted to block off the waterway as if in ambush. They hurl insults, aim their spears, pour reproaches upon the perfidious sacrilege of their deceivers; they fill the air with cries, curses, threats and abuse. They did not even spare the abbot, nor yet that very virginal body which no corruption had touched. But like empty smoke, the effort of those who had been abandoned faded and died away,3 and they were frightened by the power of the virgin they had previously neglected, whom the heavens favoured with such a bright star, and also by the authority of the abbot of Ely. He, as if deaf, did not hear their shouting, and seeking divine aid with frequent prayers, he urged on the rowers and the boat with cries of encouragement, as a soldier spurs on his horse, and by God's protection they escaped, leaving their pursuers dismayed at their weary journey back home. 13. And so having covered twenty miles by water, as far as Turbutsey, that is to the Island of Tidbriht,4 now triumphing in their immunity, they put their dear and sweet burden on a cart and take it by land, singing praise and glory to the Lord. 14. This new glory, therefore, came to its chosen place, prepared for it by heaven, and it would be a long task to describe with what greeting and meeting of the people, with what chanting of monks and clergy, with what universal joy and triumph it was welcomed. Along with every faithful soul you might think that her blessed sister, the foundress of the monastery, /Ethelthryth, and her other sublime sister Queen Seaxburh along with her daughter the royal Eormenhild, and all the host of holy souls which they bore for the Lord, came out to meet her and gathered her up in sweet arms and embraces and 4 This place is apparently preserved as Turbutsey Farm, near Ely; cf. P. H. Reaney, The Place-Names of Cambridgeshire and the hie of Ely (EPNS, Cambridge, 1943), p. 219.

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inque suum thalamum, quo perpetuo maneat, inuitasse ac collocasse. Congaudent angeli sororie pudicitie uirginum conciues et amici, et collaudant sponsum glorie conuentu solenni. Hoc solenne tripudium translationis sue intulit festiua Wihtburga Eligensi regioni, scilicet octauo Idus lulii, /Edgaro summo Dauitica uirtute et Salomonica pace Anglico oceano imperante, Dorobernensi uero auriga1 Dunstano totam patriam irradiante et beato Adelwoldo," Wentano presule, instar auree aquile in condendis ecclesiis amplifice coruscante. 15. His* almiflue uirginis declarationibus dum immoramur, nostro quoque euo declaratam ipsius incorrumptionem et que ab exordio nos distulisse fatebamur, iamdudum forsitan ad audiendum ut debitores expectamus. Adesse modo dignentur huius candide et ample aule uirgines simul in sua translatione referende, inter quas ipsa beata Wihtburga eo uidetur nunc memorabilior, quo nostro seculo conspectior. 16. Eligantissimus' et liberalissimus pater Eligensis familie Ricardus2 nouo monasterio a fronte consummato,3 hue precelsa luminaria sacrarum uirginum de ueteri ecclesia introducere cum magna cleri populorumque solennitate ardebat.4 Inuitabat eruditorum ac pontificum principem Dorobernensis metropolis summum rectorem Anselmum aliorumque presulum et abbatum optimatumque regni illustrem cetum,5 sed uenere statuto die quos diuina mouit dispensatio; reliquos prepediente suo uel regio negotio. Ergo ordinata processione acceditur ad sancta sanctorum cum debita solennitate ac reuerentia dominice choree, cum celestis armonie modulatione. * jESelwoldo E

k

This chapter not in E

' This chapter rewritten in E

1 An image used several times by Goscelin: see, e.g. Vita S. Ethelburge, c. 3, 'qui . . . Dorobernensem aurigabat sedem', and Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 4, 'binas itaque eclesias ut Christi bigas et unam domum unica caritate aurigabat' (Colker, 'Texts', pp. 402 and 424), and also Vita S. Wlsini, c. 4, 'et auriga insignis dominici currus' (Talbot, 'The Life', p. 76). 2 Richard was the abbot of Ely from noo until 1107 (see Heads, p. 45); see above p. xxi. The rebuilding at Ely was begun by Abbot Simeon, and although he had managed by his death in 1093 to oversee the completion of the monastic buildings, the church remained incomplete (see LE ii. 118 and 135); this work was left for Richard to undertake (LE ii. 143), but there was therefore a seven-year break in the construction-work, which is discernible in the present building. For a recent analysis of the Norman work at Ely, see E. Fernie, The Architecture of Norman England (Oxford, 2000), pp. 124-8, and p. 34 on the break in building. 3 This is presumably what is intended by 'a fronte'; it should not be interpreted as meaning that the new building began with the west front, but rather, that it finished there (though the west end with its tower, crossing and transepts, was probably not completed until well after Richard's time).

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drew her in and settled her into her everlasting bridal-chamber, to remain there forever. The angels rejoice together, fellow citizens and friends in the chaste sisterhood of virgins, and together sing the praise of the Bridegroom in a high assembly of glory. Festive Wihtburh conferred this solemn celebration of her translation upon the region of Ely, on the eighth ides of July [8 July], when lofty Edgar was ruling over the English ocean with Davidic virtue and Solomonic peace, with Dunstan the charioteer1 at Canterbury casting his rays over the whole country, and blessed /Ethelwold, the bishop of Winchester, like a golden eagle, glittering far and wide by founding churches. 15. While we are lingering over these manifestations of the bountiful virgin, like debtors we have perhaps now been waiting for quite some time for news of how also in our own day her incorruption has been made known, and to hear those things which right at the start we said we would keep for later. Now may those virgins of this white and spacious hall, who were mentioned in her translation, deign to be present, and among them blessed Wihtburh herself now seems all the more worthy of mention, for that she is the more conspicuous in our day. 16. The most excellent and generous father of the community of Ely, Richard,2 the new monastery having been completed as far as the facade,3 eagerly longed to bring in from the old church those sublime lights, the holy virgins, with a great solemn assembly of clergy and people.4 He invited the chief of scholars and bishops, the eminent head of the metropolitan see of Canterbury, Anselm, and an illustrious throng of the other bishops and abbots and nobles of the kingdom,5 but on the appointed day those came who were stirred by divine dispensation, and the rest were detained by either their own, or the king's, business. And so the procession, all in order, approached the Holy of Holies with the due solemnity and reverence of dominical ritual, to the sound of heavenly music. 4 The new east end was begun to the south of the old Anglo-Saxon church, and slightly to the east of it, so that the translation of the relics from their positions in the east end of the old church became necessary in order for the north transept of the new church to be completed as part of the second phase of building; see Fernie, Architecture of Norman England, p. 126. See p. 76 n. 4 below for the fact that Wihtburh had already been moved in 1102. 5

It emerges from the version of these events presented in LE ii. 144 that Anselm was among those invited who were prevented from attending: he is later described as concluding from the foul weather that he observed 'longe in Cantia positus' ('situated far away in Kent') that Richard, in translating the holy ladies of Ely, had irreverently handled them, the storm being both a sign of their displeasure and a bad omen.

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17. Trimo primitiue ac regie matris intemerateque uirginis /Etheldrithe efferendum assumitur mausoleum," pario de marmore candidissimum, uti decebat candorem uirgineum. In hoc quondam angelicis obsequiis sibi preparato, et diuina gratia querentibus oblato, beatissima germana eius regina Sexburga post sedecim annos sepulture inuentam ipsius solidissimam glebam toto corpore et uestibus lacteam et intemeratam cum clamosa ammiratione et laudisona in celum benedictione recondidit. Vnde nunc id illi ad maiorem gloriam accrescit, quod nemo ipsius tumbam pandere, nemo inspicere presumsit. *Sed aliquando* paganis irruentibus in hunc loculum/ pro plaga foramen intulit unus, qui mox oculis et uita est priuatus.1 18. Postea presbiter temerarius, quasi preses monasterii, in illud foramen fissam uirgam impingens, torquendo in rugam partem uestis extraxit, maiorique uesania abscidit quam subito introiacentis manus cum uigili indignatione ad sese retraxit.2 Adhuc temptator affixam uirge candelam immittere addidit. Candela decidens super sacrum corpus tota exarsit et nichil rerum lesit; presumptor uero cum domo sua periit. Translata est itaque in nouum templum regia domina /Etheldritha/ intentata et inconspecta et "xum digna* psallentium laude post autenticum altare parato thalamo collocata. 19. Prefulgide^ autem Withburge ad certissimam mensuram ueteris sarcofagi, quod iamdudum fuerat fractum, memoratus rector Eligensis aule Ricardus parauerat nouum, quatinus in nouo reposita incorrupta uirgo incorruptum haberet hospicium, sed superna prouidentia id consilii nouo et insolito miraculo euacuauit.3 Nam ubi noua tumba, que sacrum corpus exciperet, parata astitit, apposita prioris mensure uirga, unius pedis quantitatem^ breuior extitit. Quisquis iterare mensionem utriusque temtauit, non amplius inuenit, semper noua a ueteri prescripta breuitate defecit. Herebant omnes stupore et om.eEliquando enim E c lm E yESelda E

a a e e 1

condigna E quantitate E 1

^ Material relating to the translation of the other saints is imerted here in E

The story of the hole made by the Danish marauder is told in full in the Miracula of jEthelthryth, handed down by the priest jElfhelm. 2 Again this is an abbreviated version of the story included among the Miracula of jEthelthryth supposedly transmitted by jElfhelm. 3 In LE this section is immediately preceded by an account of the earlier translation of Wihtburh necessitated in 1102 by the progress of the construction of the new church (LE ii. 146). There it is stated that during this translation the 'lapis inferior quo quiescebat virgo egregia' ('the lower stone on which the excellent virgin was resting') was broken as it was being carried down some steps, but that the breakage was providential, since it then allowed the Almighty to work the miracle described in c. 22 below. One can only speculate

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17. First of all the tomb of the first-born and royal mother, the inviolate virgin /Ethelthryth was lifted up for translation, made of the whitest parian marble, as befits her virginal whiteness. Once upon a time her blessed sister Queen Seaxburh reburied her in this, which had been prepared for her by the ministration of angels and by divine grace had been shown to those who were looking for it, when after sixteen years of burial she had found her remains totally undecayed, milky-white and untouched as to her entire body and her clothing, with clamorous wonder and loud blessings sent heavenwards. Whence it is now to her greater glory that none dares to open her tomb, nor dares to look into it. But once, when the heathen attacked this place, one of them made a hole by striking it a blow, and he was immediately deprived of his sight and his life.1 18. Afterwards an impudent priest, supposedly the head of the monastery, pushed a cleft stick into that hole, and by twisting it into a fold pulled out part of her clothing, and with yet greater madness cut a piece off, and suddenly the hand of her that lay within, with watchful indignation pulled the garment back to her.2 Worse still, the assailant also inserted a candle fixed to a stick. The candle fell on to the holy body and burnt up completely and damaged nothing; but the presumptuous man perished with his household. Accordingly the royal lady /Ethelthryth was translated into the new church unassailed and uninspected, and with worthy singing of praises was placed in a prepared resting-place behind the high altar. 19. For the brilliant Wihtburh the aforementioned head of Ely's hall, Richard, had prepared a new coffin to the precise measurements of the old one, which had been broken for a long while, so that, laid to rest in the new one, the intact virgin might have an intact dwelling, but heavenly providence rendered his plan void in a new and unheard-of miracle.3 For as the new tomb stood waiting to receive the holy body, a rod was laid on it of the former dimensions, and showed that it was too short by one foot. Whoever tried to repeat the measurement of either, found it no larger: always the new one was shorter than the old one by that same amount. They were all rigid at the reason why this earlier translation of Wihtburh was entirely omitted from VWiht as preserved; possibly it was felt more important to emphasize the unity of the foursome of saints which is made so much of in c. 23 below, an impression which would be dispelled, possibly to the diminishment of Wihtburh's status, if it were admitted that she had already been moved once. Moreover, LE ii. 146 states clearly that jEthelthryth and Seaxburh lay to the south and north of the high altar, thus occupying the most honoured positions in the church, while a lesser place must necessarily have been accorded to the body of Wihtburh when it was brought in 974. All this is glossed over by the present account.

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extasi, uidentes suum propositum a parato locello productioris corporis maiestate arceri.1 Interea cum auferretur operculum hiantis fissura mausulei, maiora omnes terruere miracula. Virginea quippe gleba, que putabatur post tot secula iam olim consumpta, quamuis earn ab antiqua experientia clara defenderet fama, tota et membris et uestibus apparuit Integra, sicuti primitus erat imposita. Lignea etiam theca, ferreis tantum clauis exesis," seruata est illesa. 20. Interea quidam putauere quod quasi immotus puluis exhausti corporis tantum imaginem pretenderet integritatis, sed tactu patuit ueritas perdurantis hactenus soliditatis. Nam quidam senior ex apostolico ouili Westmonasterii, Warnerus nomine,2 ut inter plures conuenerat, mira fidei audacia accessit, uirginea membra passim tangit, a uestigiis manibus et brachiis flexibiles artus reuerenter attollit, exclamansque Dei mirabilia, plures spectabilium personarum ad uidendum attraxit. Verumtamen tectum niualibus operimentis decorem, nullius irreuerentia oculis attigit. Candet Domino rosatis genis facies spiraculo uite inspirata, uernant sua integritate stantia ubera, florent paradisiaca amenitate innuba membra. 21. Venit uir doctissimus* Herebertus episcopus de Tedforda; tremens inspexit et gloriosum in sanctis suis Dominum benedixit.3 'Euocatus quoque uenerabilis abbas Rammeseige Alduuinus deuotissime accurrit, et ipse aspexit, tactuque probare et aliis ostentare fideli uoto presumsit. Affuit etiam inspector domnus Ricardus sancti Albani familie pastor serenus et Thornensis abbas domnus Gunterus, durus quidem ut ille Didimus in experta credere, sed promtus a b c c cum qua fuerat in Ely delata add. E prefatus add. E Aliique plures honestatis conspicue presentes astitere, inter quos suprameminimus E, where the following list was transposed to before pario de marmore (c. ij above): quos uir laudabilis Herbertus Norwicensis episcopus, yEldewinus Rameseiensis, Ricardus Sancti Albani abbas, Gunterius Thorneiensis, Wido Persoriensis abbas, Nicholaus Lincolniensis archidiaconus, Gaufridus Wintoniensis thesaurarius et alii innumeri magne honestatis et auctoritatis uiri 1 A similar miracle, narrated in similar terms, is included in Goscelin's Vita S. Wlsini, c. 9 (Talbot, 'The Life', pp. 78—9), where the body of Wulfsige is found to be too large for the sarcophagus, which he had set aside for himself; in the end the body miraculously draws itself inside the stone coffin in the places where it was overhanging. With the present account cf. 'turbati omnes herebant animis quid agerent . . . mox uero ingens et nouum miraculum in dilecto famulo suo superna gratia palam ostendere dignata est' ('They were all agitated and were in a bind about what they should do ... but presently the grace of Heaven deigned publicly to manifest in His beloved servant an immense and unheard-of miracle'). 2 Warner, monk of Westminster, is not known from any other source. 3 The old see of Elmham was set up at Thetford by Herfast, in 1072, and in 1094/5 Herbert Losinga, formerly abbot of Ramsey from 1087, who was consecrated in 1091 and

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with shock and amazement seeing their plan brought to a halt by the size of the body being greater than the coffin they had made.1 Meanwhile when the lid of the tomb with its gaping hole was removed, yet greater marvels terrified them all. For the virgin's remains, which it was supposed would, after so many centuries, have already decayed long ago, even though her great reputation defended her from any earlier test, appeared to be completely incorrupt in both limbs and clothing, just as she had been interred at the start. Also the wooden chest, with only the iron nails having rusted away, was preserved intact. 20. Some people, however, thought that it was actually the case that the untouched dust of the decayed body just gave an illusion of incorruption, but by touching it the truth of the solidity was shown, and still endures today. For one senior member of the apostolic flock at Westminster, named Warner,2 present among many many others, came forward with the wondrous audacity of faith, touched the virgin limbs all over, by their tips reverently lifted the supple joints in her hands and arms, and exclaiming aloud at God's marvellous works, summmoned many eminent persons to come and look. However, no irreverent eye lit upon her beautiful body, shielded by its snowywhite coverings. Her face glowed for the Lord with rosy cheeks, animated with the breath of life; her breasts are firm and upright in their incorruption, her unwedded limbs blossom with the loveliness of paradise. 21. A most learned man, Herbert, bishop of Thetford, came and tremulously looked at her and blessed the Lord, glorious in His saints.3 Also, when he was called upon, the venerable abbot of Ramsey, Ealdwine, approached with all devotion, and himself gazed upon her, and with faithful intention dared to test her by touching, and to show the others. Also another observer was lord Richard, tranquil shepherd of the family of St Alban, and the abbot of Thorney, lord Gunter, as obstinate as Didymus himself in believing things he has not seen, but died in 1119, moved it to Norwich. For him to be described as of Thetford in the account of a translation which occurred in 1106, might therefore seem an oddity, but evidently the bishop of Thetford continued to be called that for a time after the move. Aldwin (Ealdwine) was abbot of Ramsey 1091-1102, and then again 1107-1112 (Heads, p. 62). Richard d'Aubigny was abbot of St Alban's 1097-1119 (ibid., p. 66). Gunter of Le Mans was abbot of Thorney 1085—1112 (ibid., p. 74). Nicholas was appointed as the first archdeacon of Huntingdon by Bishop Remigius of Lincoln some time after 1092 (d. mo). 'Wintonie thesaurarius Goffridus' might be the Godfrey, prior of Winchester, who was an epigrammatist (fl. c. 1100). The version of this account in E includes also Guy, abbot of Pershore (d. 1136 or 1137; ibid., p. 59), presumably omitted in C simply by oversight.

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cognota suscipere. Preterea ex clero domnus Nicholaus archidiaconus Lincollie inter eruditos preclarus, et Wintonie thesaurarius Goffridus, aliique plures honestatis conspicue presentes astitere, quic heca Dei mirabilia oculis conspexere. Sed his ignoscant auditorum fastidia, que in argumentum fidei retulimus testimonia. Tandem uero memorabilis episcopus Herebertus hec tarn mira tanque noua gaudia condensissimo populo exponit omnesque in laudem Dei et gratiarum libamina accendit. Immo uero que absentibus uideantur incredibilia, tanta hie de rore celi inualuit gratia, ut pene per omnes currerent lacrimarum flumina. 22. Sed cum inter hec tripudia anxiarentur omnes, quid agerent, quia uetus tumba ex fractura iniuriosa uidebatur ad dignitatem uirginis, noua uero diuinitus contracta desierat esse suffragabilis, tandem pia adiutrix has fluctuationes demsit* et, quod a priori' requie mutari nollet, glorioso miraculo comprobauit. Nam ilia fissura, que cultello aut calamo ultro penetrabilis erat, ita subito resolidata est ad integrum, ut nee ullum deinceps fracture appareret ibi uestigium. Hie etiam omnium conclusa est questio; intellexere enim tarn euidenti signo, quia uirgo nollet transponi ab antiqui monumenti thoro. Imposito ergo operculo et clauso diligenter sarcofago, letissimo cum iubilo transferunt earn ad beatam sororem de ueteri monasterio in nouum, et componunt gratissime^ ad latus suum/ Similiter etiam^ beatam eius germanam Sexburgam et sacratissimam ipsius filiam Ermenildam^ *sub mortalitatis quidem conditione inspectas, sed celesti uirtute predictas,* dignas ad condignas 'sorores exportant hisque eas' amabiliter associant, ubi et pariter et singule superna beneficia supplicantibus prerogant. 23. Pulchro itaque mysterio hec quattuor luminaria Dominus accendens nuptiali intulit ecclesie sue, que illustrent intrantes ex quadro mundi latere.1 He et numero et merito secuntur ilia superna quattuor animalia alata,2 que in quattuor partes terre discreta iunctisque pennis caritatis alterius ad alterum Christi tonantes a f b d c altered from hie in C demisit E priore E contra orientem add. E ' Here E has the passage De hums quippe sacratissime uirginis Withburge. . . .ostensa est f corpore from the next section. ut dictum est add. E ' jErmenhildam E hh

om. E

' ' om. E

1 Cf. Goscelin, De translatione SS. uirginum, c. 2, 'tanquam tria candelabra lucentia ac tres lampades . . . haec precelsa luminaria attolluntur, unde non solum haec ecclesia sed et tola patria amplifice illuminetur' (Colker, 'Texts', p. 436). 2 The four winged beast of Rev. 4: 8 ('Et quatuor animalia, singula eorum habebant alas') are taken to symbolize the four Evangelists.

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8l

quick to accept what he sees. Moreover, of the clergy, lord Nicholas the archdeacon of Lincoln, outstanding among scholars, and the treasurer of Winchester, Geoffrey, and many others of conspicuous integrity were present there, and saw these marvellous works of God with their own eyes. But the listeners' impatience should pardon all these testimonies which we are reporting as evidence of trustworthiness. Eventually, however, the remarkable Bishop Herbert announced these wondrous and new joys to the dense throng of people, and stirred them all up to praise of God and outpourings of gratitude. Indeed although these things might seem incredible to those who were not present, such great grace from the dew of heaven has prevailed here, that rivers of tears flowed on almost everyone's face. 22. Yet amidst all these rejoicings everybody was worried about what they should do, because the old tomb on account of its crack seemed injurious to the virgin's dignity, and the new one having shrunk by divine power had ceased to be acceptable, but in the end the loving patroness took away these vacillations and showed by a glorious miracle that she did not want to be moved from her previous resting-place. For that crack, which could be penetrated by a knife or a reed, suddenly closed up so completely that afterwards there was no trace of the breakage. And so everybody's bafflement was thus brought to an end, for they perceived from such an obvious sign, that the virgin did not choose to be transferred from the bed of her old tomb. Accordingly, having put on the lid and carefully sealed the sarcophagus, with most joyful cries they bore her to her blessed sister from the old monastery into the new one, and placed her most agreeably at her side. Likewise her blessed sibling Seaxburh and her holy daughter Eormenhild, both worthy women, they also moved across to be with the most worthy sisters, having inspected them and found them in mortal state of decay but nevertheless endowed with heavenly power, and they put them all together in amiable companionship, where not only altogether but also singly they call forth heavenly benefits for those who pray to them. 23. Therefore in a beautiful mystery the Lord lit these four lamps and brought them into his church for the wedding feast, so that they might give light to all who enter from the four ends of the world.1 These, both in their number and in their merits, imitate those four heavenly winged beasts,2 which in the four corners of the earth thunder out their different proclamations of Christ, and joined by the

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preconia, uita angelica uolant ad celestia. He etiam emulantes quattuor flumina de uno paradisi fonte Christo diriuata,1 uitam unanimem irrigabant quadripartita euangeliorum doctrina et irrigare non desinunt sitienter querentes diuina remedia. He sunt, inquam, quattuor euangeliorum pedisseque, quattuor uirtutum alumne, quattuor quadrifide crucis Domini timpanistrie, timpanizantes quaternis uocibus diatessaron celeste,2 quattuor miserescentes aduenientibus facies terre, et post euangelicas Marias aromatice Christi unguentarie,3 cuius nomen unguentum effusum, cuius odor super omnem suauitatem aromatum.4 24. Translate sunt autem he dominice quadrige anno incarnati uerbigene millesimo centesimo sexto,5 quo quondam beata /Etheldritha translata est die, condecentissima scilicet ordinatione, ut omnium una esset solennitas," quibus erat una fides, unus spiritus et una caritas. De beate autem Wihtburge integritate taliter in cronicis Anglicis recitatur: Anno Domini septingentesimo nonagesimo octauo corpus sancte Wihtburge sine corruptione inuentum est post annos fere quinquaginta quinque in Dyrham.6 His septingentis nonaginta octo additis duobus et ducentis completi sunt mille anni. Quos alii centum et sex subsecuti, faciunt insimul trecentos et quinquaginta quattuor annos a dormitione ipsius beate Wihtburge, usque ad hunc nostri temporis diem quo incorrupto ostensa est corpore.7 The opening of the Vita in Ms T (23 yr) INCIPIT PROLOGVS IN VITAM BEATE WIHTBVRGE VIRGINIS Orientale orientalium . . . [as p. 54 above] . . . carnis incorruptione. Sed sunt quidam non plene capientes hystoriarum series ac rerum euentus, pro magno habent ut querant nodum in cirpo, dubitare a 1

que et facta est add. E

The four-fold river of Paradise is described at Gen. 2: 10—n. 'Diatessaron' is the name given to the musical interval which consists of two tones and a semi-tone, the fourth; cf. Boethius, De musica, c. 17, 'diatessaron quae est consonantia uocum quidem est quattuor' (PL Ixiii. n8iD). With the previous phrase compare Goscelin's Vita S. Mildrethe, c. 21, 'ut quaterni euangelii ministra, ut quadrifide crucis uexillifera, ut uirtutum quadriga' (Rollason, Mildrith, p. 134). 3 The various women—Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and others— who are reported to have come to anoint Christ as he lay in the sepulchre are described at Matt. 28: i, Mark 16: i, and Luke 24: 10. The implication of the statement here is that the four Ely ladies are being likened to four Marys (since all the other similes have related to fours). There seems to have been confusion and disagreement about the many women 2

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wings of their mutual love, fly to the heavens in an angelic existence. Also they imitate the four rivers which flow from the one spring of paradise,1 Christ, and water their harmonious life with the fourfold doctrine of the Gospels, and never cease to water those who ask thirstingly for divine healings. These, I say, are the four attendants of the Gospels, the four pupils of the virtues, the four minstrels of the four-part cross of the Lord, minstrelling out the heavenly diatessaron with their four voices,2 the four who look with compassion upon those who come on to the face of the earth, and like the Marys of the Gospels,3 the aromatic anointers of Christ, whose name is a precious ointment, whose odour is sweeter than all perfumes.4 24. This, the Lord's four-horse team,5 was translated in the one thousand-one-hundred and sixth year of the Incarnate Word, the same day on which long ago blessed /Ethelthryth had been translated; to wit by a most fitting predestination, that the feast of one should be the feast of them all, in whom there is one faith, one spirit, one love. Concerning the integrity of blessed Wihtburh, this is reported in the chronicles of the English: in the year 798 the body of St Wihtburh was found without corruption after about fifty-five years at Dereham.6 Adding to these seven hundred and ninety-eight years a further two hundred and two makes one thousand years. Another one hundred and six after that makes altogether three hundred and fifty-four years from the dormition of St Wihtburh until our day in which her body has been shown to be incorrupt.7 HERE BEGINS THE PROLOGUE TO THE LIFE OF ST WIHTBURH THE VIRGIN The eastern star . . . [as p. 54 above] . . . incorruption of her flesh after burial. But there are some people who, not fully grasping the sequence of history and the way things turn out, think it greatly named Mary who occur in the Gospels, but cf. Jerome, Ep. cxx. 4, 'quattuor autem fuisse Marias in euangeliis legimus' (CSEL Iv. 483, 11. 5—6). 4 Cf. c. i, note 5. 5 On the word 'quadriga' see the comments on p. xcvi above, and p. 74 n. i. 6 Cf. the note to c. 8 above, on the entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 7 The arithmetic has gone slightly awry here, since the statement quoted from ASC F, that Wihtburh was exhumed in 798 (799) about ('fere') 55 years after her burial, puts the date of the burial at 743. Next we are told that if you add 202 to 798 you get 1000, plus another 106 comes to 1106, the year of the translation just described. The final statement that 1106 is therefore 354 years after the death of Wihtburh actually gives a burial date of 752. Whoever wrote this final chapter had evidently not actually examined the figures properly, or perhaps assumed that the 'fere' allowed some leeway.

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uolunt quod hec sancta non fuerit Anne regis filia, eo quod Beda mentionem non facit de ea in nostre gentis hystoria;1 cum plurimorum tune sanctorum constat nichil penitus meminisse, sicut beati GuSlaci et sancti Botulfi, et ceterorum quos memoria Celebris gloriose commendat. De uirtutibus quoque huius precelse uirginis et uita sicut fama et antiquorum narrat editio, gloriosa dicta sunt atque conscripta, sed disponente Dei prouidentia illam transferre aliquando de loco ubi uixerat et sepulta iacuerat in regionem Ely, gens ipsa ferox et impia perspectans se inestimabilis thesauri priuilegio fraudari, haut in longum quieuerunt. Pro dolor! Nam pre tristicia simul in rabiem commutati librum de uirtutibus eius consilium ineuntes arripiunt et descindunt, ad ultimum instigante inuidia combusserunt. Sicque orbati patrocinantis sue presentia, lucernam glorie illius extingui per hoc arbitrabantur, unde pauca hec de cronicis de antiquis scriptis uix transparsa in unum adduximus et nunc qualiter Deo militauit ut res probat et euidens fama promulgat, posteris mandare curauimus quamquam ad hoc nee sensus sufficiat, nee lingua, nee manus. EXPLICIT PROLOGVS. INCIPIT VITA EIVSDEM. Veteres narrant hystorie nostre gentis Angligene et cronicarum libri asserunt uerissime quod sancta Sexburga sancta /Etherberga sancta /Etheldretha et sancta Withburga Anne regis fuerunt filie de matre regina HereswiSa nomine: sicut ex uita docetur alme uirginis Milburge.2 Ita enim legitur post obitum patris sui /Edbaldi Erconbrithus regnum Cantuariorum obtinens a patre preelectus rex: sanctam Sexburgam Anne regis et HereswiSe filiam illustrissime uirginis /Etheldrethe germanam uxorem duxit et reuera sororem huius beate uirginis Withburge; ut publica contestantur gesta. Quam sanctam uero genuerint sobolem et Beda doctorum ueracissi1 'Cirpo' for 'scirpo'. The Latin proverb 'quaerere nodum in scirpo' is attested as early as the comedies of Plautus (Menaechmi, ii. i) and Terence (Andria, v. 4), but may be found also several times in the writings of Jerome, as well as in Isidore's Etymologiae, xvii. 9. 97 ('et in proverbio: qui inimicus est, etiam in scirpo nodum quaerit'). 2 What follows is an almost verbatim quotation from the hitherto unpublished Vita S. Milburge ascribed to Goscelin (see above, p. Ixxxvii). There we find, in the extended opening section entitled 'Genealogia beate uirginis Mildburge', the following: 'Eorkombrihtus namque post obitum patris sui regnum optinens a patre preelectus est rex, sanctam Sexburgam Anne regis et Heresuithe filiam illustrissime uirginis Edeldrithe germanam uxorem duxit' (from the fullest manuscript, London, BL, Addit. 34633, datable to the I3th cent., at fo. 2o6v). There is, however, no mention of Wihtburh in the Vita S. Milburge.

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significant to look for a knot in a bulrush,1 and choose to doubt that this saint was the daughter of King Anna, because Bede does not mention her in his history of our people, when it is generally agreed that he makes no reference at all to many of the saints of that time, such as blessed Guthlac and St Botwulf, and others whose famous memory commends them to glory. Also concerning the virtues of this lofty virgin and her life, just as tradition and the writings of the ancients report, glorious things are spoken and written of her, but when God's providence ordained that at some point she was to be transferred from the place where she had lived and had lain buried, into the region of Ely, that furious and impious people, seeing that they had been cheated of the privilege of that inestimable treasure, did not rest for long—o woe! For in their grief they were turned to fury, and taking counsel they seized and tore to shreds the book of her miracles, and at the instigation of jealousy they burnt it up completely. And thus orphaned of the physical presence of their patron, they supposed that they could extinguish the light of her glory by this act, and hence we have brought together in one place the few facts that are thinly scattered across the chronicles of ancient times and now we have taken care to hand on to posterity how she formerly waged war for God, just as fact demonstrates and clear reputation reports, even though for this neither sense, nor tongue, nor hand are sufficient. HERE ENDS THE PROLOGUE. HERE BEGINS HER LIFE. The old histories of our English race narrate, and the books of chronicles assert truly, that St Seaxburh, St /Ethelburh, St /Ethelthryth, and St Wihtburh were daughters of King Anna, by their mother, named Queen Hereswith: just as is shown by the Life of dear Mildburh the virgin.2 For there we read that after the death of his father Eadbald, Earconberht received the kingdom of Kent, having been chosen as king beforehand by his father; he took as his wife St Seaxburh, daughter of King Anna and of Hereswith, and sister of the illustrious virgin /Ethelthryth, and in fact also the sister of the blessed virgin Wihtburh; as her published deeds may testify. Also Bede, most The same supposed authority for the name Hereswith is also referred to by the compiler of LE i. 2 (Blake, p. 13): 'etenim in vita sancte virginis Milburge legitur', which does seem to imply that a full copy of that Vita was available at Ely at least by the third quarter of the I2th cent, (rather than the abridged version, as found in the Leominster legendary, now surviving as Lincoln, Cathedral Library, 149 and 150, and Gloucester, Cathedral Library, i).

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mus in sua hystoria edidit et in gestis sponse Christi /Etheldrethe lector diligens plene [237^ inuenit assertionem. Sed his omissis que audiuimus que scripto cognouimus et patres nostri narrauerunt nobis de arnica Domini Withburga licet admodum pauca et sparsim diffusa; tamen subnitente ueritate comperta in unum congregamus. Hec namque uirgo sancta atque gloriosa in conspectu Domini preciosa proles inclita predicti regis Anne nata est sublimiter ad regnum consequendum celeste; ab ipsis cunabulis pretendebat stemma dignitatis et gratie superne. Adeo erat mellitula infantia et benedicta uena, diuina dulcedine plena. Et quidem iuxta mare cum sua nutrite in quodam uico paterni iuris nutrienda tradebatur Vlcham uocitato.1 Vbi iam in teneri euo ita proficere studuit, ut ad omnia pietatis opera supplex docibilisque effecta, summe conuersationis gradum conscendere" meruit. Cupiditatem uero animi iugi sinceritate calcans, uoluntatem perhenni frangens ieiunio, plerosque religiosorum meliores fore suo docuit instituto. QVE FVERVNT BEATE WIHTBVRGE VIRGINIS PRIMA INSIGNIA. Veruntamen sicut fama continuauerat et adhuc res in ditio est hec prima illius narrantur insignia, ut qualis ilia quantaue esset futura meritorum prerogatiuis ostenderet Dominus. Cum autem in predicto agello cum nutrice ac pedagogis maneret, quadam die more paruulorum in locis aridis per arenam cum consortibus puellis iocandi gratia perrexit. Vt solet ludis foueri uiuenter, ipsa beate innocentie perspicua inter cateruas suauior et iocundior ceteris, in leticia et exultacione prouocat sotias ut in ludendo se delectabilius exerceant, quas in unum sibi adunatas leni murmure alternatim strepentes sic uoce blandiflua credo in spiritu Dei exorsa est alloqui:2 'Accedamus, consortes dilecte, ad uicinam ripam solito undarum pulsu hinc inde in altum per cumulos de mare eiectos et cum arena simul lapides minutiores colligentes, quod poterit que apud se adgregent molem * concendere MS 1 This is Holkham in Norfolk (in DB 'Holcham'), where the present-day church preserves the dedication of St Withburga (see p. xliii above). 2 Cf. Rev. i: 10 and 4: 2 where 'in spiritu' has the connotation of prophetic vision.

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truthful of teachers, described in his history what holy offspring they bore, and the diligent reader can find a full account in the deeds of /Ethelthryth, bride of Christ. But leaving these things aside, those things which we have heard, those things which we have found in writing and which our fathers told us about the Lord's friend Wihtburh, although fairly few and far between, yet with the truth shining through from underneath, all these we gather together in one. For this holy and glorious virgin, precious in the Lord's sight, noble offspring of the aforementioned King Anna, was born sublimely destined to attain to the heavenly kingdom and from her very cradle showed a pedigree of nobility and heavenly grace. In her infancy she was very sweet and a blessed fountain, full of divine loveliness. And indeed she was sent with her nurse to be brought up by the seaside, in a village on her father's lands, called Holkham.1 There still in her tender years she was so eager to get on, that by making herself humble and an attentive student in all the works of piety, she deserved to ascend to the rank of the highest calling. And in treading under foot the desires of her mind with constant integrity, and breaking her will with continual fasting, by her example she taught many persons of the religious persuasion how to be better. THE BLESSED VIRGIN WIHTBURH'S EARLIEST DISTINCTIONS. Even though in this manner her reputation had spread, and the matter is still in question, these her earliest distinctions shall be described, so that the Lord might demonstrate by the prerogative of miraculous merits what she was like and how great she was to become. While she was dwelling in that hamlet with her nurse and tutors, one day, as children are wont to, she went to play with her friends on the dry parts of the sand. Although it is usual for boisterous games to be encouraged, she stood out from the crowd in her blessed innocence, was sweeter and gentler that the others, and joyfully and exultantly urged her companions to be nicer in their playing, and with a gentle murmur summoning them altogether as they shouted one to another, she began to address them with sweetly coaxing voice, speaking, so I believe, in the spirit of God: 2 'Let us go, my dear friends, to the nearby shore, to gather up the smaller pebbles which together with the sand are tossed out of the sea into high piles by the regular beating to and fro of the waves, because it may be that they assemble themselves together and gather themselves into a heap

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comportent in opus edificii ad similitudinem inibi construende ecclesie.' Quo audito lete et accincte uelociter adcurrunt certatim exorando se offerunt expeditius ad ueendum [sic]. Cumque singule partes quas attulerant seperatim per se in medium proiecissent, quantum erat totum sicut est lapidis natura undique [238^ ela[psum] diffundebatur. Illud uero modicum quod sola Domini uirgo Withburga deputauit dum transferret in publicum augeri cepit et multiplicari ac simul adherens in solidum redigi. Propterea in stuporem et admirationem sotie illius conuerse, innuentes adinuicem telum et inuidiam contra illam magnifice suscipiunt, calcibus eandem massam crebrius inpingendo reuertere temptant, et in pristinam materiem de multis in unum coaceruatam et nunc obduratam dispergere conabantur. Quod ilia cernens manum extendit, signum crucis obponit, et inuocato nomine Domini proprii idiomatis uocabulo tanquam radicatum et fundatum ex uirtute sancte crucis inpressa sicut iam ceperat perpetim in molem coaceruatum adplicuit. Sic faciebat sancta Withburga quotiens illic paruuli consortes eius ad ludum uerum in presagium futurorum congregarentur, semper illius aduectio in se auta et multiplicata apparuit, adherendo simul indiuidue glutinabatur, de innumeris tantum unus lapis fiebat. Quod tacite considerans uenerabilis matrona nutrix eius conuocat amicos et uicinos fideles super tanti prodigii opus testes existere, ut de bonitate sua Dominum Christum laudarent, et gratiam diuinitus in beatam ipsius alumnam mirabiliter operantem confidenter agnoscerent, et uidentes admirati sunt. Spectaculum enim populo aduenienti ualde prebuit. Cerneres illuc super tarn mirabili facto unum quemque ultra quam dici fas sit adcurrere, gratulari, mirari quasi incognitum esset referre alteri, omnis in commune dicendo, quod manus Domini erat cum uirgine Withburga. Eosdem uero aceruos induratos ibi reliquerunt glorificantes Deum sed crastino redeuntes inde longe remotos super collis uerticem in loco eminus excelso inuenerunt a procellosis undis distante, ab aquosa planicie per accessum maris et recessum crebro liquecentia procul posito, comeantibus illic iter tutum pretendere absque formidine cernitur. In his omnibus super quam dici potest nutrix eius pie admirans glorificauit Dominum in operibus suis et hec in spiritu ad puellam loquebatur dicens 'in te, mi filia dilecta,

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ready for building-work, just as if a church is to be constructed there.' When they heard this they quickly rushed up, happy and ready, eagerly they presented themselves all set for fetching and carrying. And when one by one they threw down in the middle all the pieces which they had each brought separately, however big it was, the whole heap, just as is the nature of pebbles, scattered all over the place. But that small quantity which the only virgin of the Lord, Wihtburh, brought, when she produced it, began to swell and multiply and at the same time to be reduced to one solid mass. At this her companions were turned to shock and amazement, and nodding to one another they haughtily turned to spite and envy against her, and by repeatedly kicking the mass with their heels tried to turn it back, and attempted to scatter into its former constituent parts the pile that had heaped into one and was now solidified. When she saw this she reached out her hand, made the sign of the cross, and called upon the Lord's name in the words of her own language, and by the power of the holy cross imprinted upon it, the heaped-up pile, as it had already begun to, stayed forever as if rooted and grounded. St Wihtburh did this every time her little companions gathered to play, as a true presage of future things; always what she had collected appeared to increase and multiply, the individual pieces sticking together solidly, so that from many one stone was made. Silently observing this the venerable matron who was her nurse, called her friends and neighbours to be trustworthy witness to the working of this great portent, so that they might praise the Lord Christ for His goodness, and might confidently recognize that divine grace was marvellously working in her blessed charge, and in seeing it might marvel. For it offered a great spectacle to the people who came to look. You could see every one—beyond what it is right to say—hasten to see such a marvellous deed, give thanks, marvel as at something unknown, and report it to the next person, all of them saying in common that the hand of the Lord was with the virgin Wihtburh. Giving glory to God they left those hardened masses there, but returning the next day found them shifted far away on to the top of a hill, in a very high place, well away from the stormy waves, placed a distance from the watery plain which is regularly made treacherous by the coming and going of the sea-tide, and this seems to offer a safe journey without fear to those who come there. Her nurse, reverently wondering at all these things, more than can be expressed, glorified the Lord in His works and in the spirit spoke these words to the girl: 'In you, my dear daughter, illumined by

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illustrata celesti gloria Deus operatur magnalia, ad cuius honorem in tuo nomine hie fabricanda est basilica.' Et factum est. Nam regnante postea /ESelwoldo patruo eius qui post sanctum Annam et alterum [238V] fratrem illius /ESelherum nomine regnauit [ecclesia] ibi cons[struc]ta [fuit] ipsius memoria que anglice Withburgestowe dicitur in qua pre[dicti] lapides ad testimonium rei seruantur.1 Huius ergo rei testes sunt quotquot adueniunt uel incole existunt unde fidelis lector indubitanter aduertat. QVOMODO RENVNTIAVIT SECVLO. Interea beate Withburge pater Anna memoratus ceteris tune Anglic regibus prestantior extitit in magnificentia et in gloria cuius studium et affectum in Deum aliis admirantibus aliis sanctitatem laudantibus cum eo fedus undique pepigerunt; sola tamen Mercia adhuc spirans cedis et sanguinis /Estanglorum interitum minabatur, et suffultus copiis bellatorum illos adgressus est expugnare. Cui rex Anna idem obuiare festinans, a Penda rege Merciorum occiditur anno regni sui nonodecimo, cui frater /Edelherus successit in regnum.2 Hie Pende regi nefando amicus factus sub eo regnaturus /Estanglorum suscepit imperium; sed in breui cum ipso rege pagano uitam cum regno perdidit, post quern tertius frater uocabulo /ESelwoldus regnauit, cuius tempore et imperio ecclesia quam fabricatam esse diximus apud Withburgestowe in uico de Vhcham; "in quo uirtutum frequentia Celebris habebatur. Haec intuens ille super talia gauisus est ualde" licet homo bonus Justus ac uerus Dei cultor iuxta quod Anna frater eius in fide et operibus sanctis incedens. Est autem in eadem prouincia locus uulgo BlySeburch uocitatus in quo corpus uenerandi regis Anne sepultum est et usque ad diem hanc pia fidelium deuotione ueneratur.3 Illic etiam iacet sepultus filius eius Deo acceptus lurminus frater huius uirginis, sed apud BetricheswrSe quod nunc sanctum /Edmundum appellant translatus est postea et honorifice collocatus.4 * * Marked by a signe de renvoie for insertion here, and copied into the margin in a hand roughly contemporary with the main text 1 The present-day St Withburga's at Holkham stands on a striking mound—possibly some man-made earthwork which was the origin of this miracle-story—in the north-west of the grounds of Holkham Hall; see p. xliii above. 2 Cf. Bede, HE iii. 18, the brief reference to Anna's death at the hands of Penda. ASC records Anna's death under the year 654. But the words used here are almost identical to the note of Anna's death by John of Worcester, under the year 654 ('Anna rex Eastanglie a Penda rege occiditur, cui frater suus Easthilhere in regnum successit'; JW ii. 104). 3 Blythburgh lies about 3 miles east of Southwold on the Suffolk coast. In about 1900 a decorated writing-tablet with runes cut into it, along with three styli, were discovered on

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celestial glory, God does marvellous deeds, to whose honour in your name a church will be built here.' And so it was. For in the subsequent reign of /Ethelwald her uncle, who reigned after holy Anna and his other brother /Ethelhere, a church was built there in her memory, which is called in English Withburgsstotpe, where those stones are kept as a testimony to the event.1 Therefore, the witnesses to this event are the many who come to see it or live nearby, of which the faithful reader should undoubtedly take note.

HOW SHE RENOUNCED THE WORLD. Meanwhile blessed Wihtburh's father Anna was more excellent than all the other kings of England at that time in his magnificence and glory, and on every side they made pacts with him, some admiring his enthusiasm for and love of God, others praising his holiness; but Mercia alone, still reeking of murder and blood, threatened the destruction of the East Angles, and bolstered by hordes of warriors approached to take them by storm. King Anna made haste to go to meet them, and was killed by Penda, king of the Mercians, in the nineteenth year of his reign, and his brother /Ethelhere succeeded to the kingdom.2 He became a friend to the wicked king Penda, and accepted rule over the East Angles to reign as a sub-king, but shortly afterwards lost his life and the kingdom with that same pagan king, and after him a third brother, named /Ethelwald, reigned, in whose time and by whose orders the church which we mentioned was built at Withburgsstowe in the village of Holkham, which is famed for the regular miracles wrought there. Seeing these he rejoiced greatly since he was a good man, a righteous and true worshipper of God, walking the same way as his brother Anna in faith and holy works. There is in that region a place commonly called Blythburgh, where the body of the venerable King Anna is buried and to this day is venerated by the pious devotion of the faithful. 3 There also his son, acceptable to God, Jurmin, brother of this virgin [soil. Wihtburh], lay buried, but afterwards he was translated and honourably buried at BetrichestprSe which they now call St Edmunds.4 With the affairs of East Anglia the site of the former priory at Blythburgh, and have been dated to the 8th cent.: see J. G. Waller, 'Part of a "tabella" found at Blythburgh, Suffolk', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 2nd series xix (1901-3), 41-2, and L. Webster and J. Backhouse (ed.), The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture (AD 600—goo) (London, 1991), p. 81. Such a find lends weight to the proposition that Blythburgh was a significant early monastic site. 4 The burial of Jurmin, or more properly 'Hiurmine', at Blythburgh is recorded amongst the interpolations (mostly of local interest) made to a Bury St Edmunds copy

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Turbatis huius modi rebus Orientis Anglic regina predicta HereswiSa" alme Withburge genitrix atque sororum eius post sui regis interitum despiciens mundum in Galliis peregrinata in monasterio Cale secessit.1 Ibi regularibus subdita disciplinis coronam expectabat eternam, hec quippe iuxta cronicam et hystorias in uita preciose regine /ESeldreSe sufficienter inuenies. Oportet nunc his omissis opus festinare inceptum. Sancta igitur Withburga inter tot sedicionum procellas nullo terrore concutitur, sed mox audito patris interitu, Christo ardenter obsequens toto corde secuta est. Et iam quia celestis uite dulcedinem in terris amauerat, mente concepit salubre consilium nichil inmundum diligere preter Christum totumque [23Qr] animum ad Christi nomen [continues as c. i, above, p. 54] quod est unguentum . . . ' HereswSa MS of John of Worcester's Chronicle, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 297, dated to 1133x44 (see JW ii. pp. xlvi-liii). The notice comes as part of a marginal interpolation at the year 1095, recounting the translation of St Edmund into the new Norman church at Bury, along with the other saints resting there, namely Botwulf and Hiurmine, and the latter is stated to have lain 'aput uillam quandam Blihasburc', in a lead coffin with an inscription beginning 'Ego lurminus . . .', JW iii. 316—17.

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thus in turmoil, the aforementioned Queen Hereswith, mother of dear Wihtburh and her sisters, after the death of her king, spurning the world, went as a pilgrim to Gaul, and withdrew into the monastery of Chelles.1 There subjected to the disciplines of the monastic rule she awaited her everlasting crown, and in fact these things according to the chronicle and the histories you will find sufficiently recorded in the Life of precious queen /Ethelthryth. Now leaving all this aside we ought to hasten on with the work in hand. And so St Wihtburh amidst so many storms of sedition was not stricken by terror, but soon, hearing of her father's death, she followed Christ, ardently obeying him with all her heart. And now because she had grown to love the sweetness of the heavenly life on earth, in her mind she conceived the wholesome plan to choose nothing impure, but only Christ, and she charmed her whole spirit with the name of Christ [continues as c. i above, p. 54] which is an overflowing ointment . . . 1 This is drawn from the account of Hild's sister Hereswith in Bede, HE iv. 23, there stated to be the wife of yEthelhere ('regularibus subdita disciplinis, ipso tempore coronam expectabat aeternam').

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MIRACVLA SANCTE ^THELDRETHE VIRGINIS SIGLA

C = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 393, fos. 3r-33Y D = Dublin, Trinity College 172 (B. 2. 7), pp. 259-75

"INCIPIT PROHEMIVM IN MIRACVLA SANCTE ^THELDRETHE VIRGINIS"

Cum per os regium ac propheticum sancti spiritus intonante organo dicatur, 'Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius',1 mirabilis enim et gloriosus, mirabilia in eis operatur; magna nobis animi constantia necesse est ut eorum mores ac uitam flagrantissime diligamus, diligendo deuotissime ueneremur, uenerando studiosissime imitemur, quia tune in eis diuine maiestatis omnipotentiam digne laudare ualebimus, cum superne dulcedinis adiuti misericordia, iustis eorum actibus nostre conuersationis melioratione respondere merebimur. Nam cum 'non sit', scriptura dicente, 'speciosa laus in ore peccatoris',2 qualiter dignas Deo laudes preconari possumus, qui angusto rectitudinis tramite derelicto per laqueosa et ampla tortuosarum spacia uiarum ad profundam precipitationis foueam ducentium adhuc cotidie discurrimus, qui diris peccatorum uulneribus nullum fructuose medicamentum penitentie apponimus, sed profluente iam sanie oblectabiliter in eis pene computrescimus? Proinde de spaciosis ac letiferis huius campi semitis ad artum callem quo supernam peruenitur ad patriam irreflexibiliter transeamus,3 nostrorum plagas scelerum* salutiferis medicaminibus diligenter adhibitis perfecte curare studeamus, nostris in manibus ardentes lucernas habeamus,4 atque sicut supradiximus per omnia sanctorum uestigia sequi laboremus, quatenus et ad soluendas omnipotenti Deo laudes debitas idonei fieri possimus, et ad ipsorum in celis societatem quos in terris imitamur, post mortalis uite cursum pertingere mereamur. Quorum uirtutes atque signa quia plerunque mentes audientium solent ab imis ad superac sustollere, diligentissime si penes nos non sint, debemus perquirere ac reperta ne labantur a memoria sagacis* * om. C 1

b

celerum D

' superna D

2 Pss. 150: i and 67(68): 36. Ecclus. 15: 9. Cf. Matt. 7: 14 ('angusta porta et arta via quae ducit ad vitam'). These words mirror one of the clauses in the benediction for the feast of jEthelthryth in the Benedictional of jEthelwold (see p. xxxv above): 'spretaque lata terrenae cupiditatis uia, artam monasticae conuersationis eligere uoluit uitam' ('and having spurned the wide road of earthly lust, she wished to choose the narrow life of the monastic way'). This correspondence may be 3

HERE BEGINS THE PROEM TO THE M I R A C L E S OF ST ^ T H E L T H R Y T H THE VIRGIN Since royal and prophetic lips [of David], with the thunderous organ of the Holy Spirit, have said 'Praise the Lord in his saints',1 for marvellous and all glorious he works miracles in them, it is needful for us with high-minded constancy to show passionate love for their habits and life, and that in loving them we should venerate them with utmost devotion, and in venerating them we should imitate them with all diligence, because then we shall be able worthily to praise the omnipotence of God's majesty in them, when, aided by the mercy of supernal tenderness, we shall deserve to match their righteous deeds with an improvement in our own daily life. For since, as scripture says, there should be no specious praise on the lips of a sinner,2 how can we offer worthy praises to God, we who have abandoned the narrow path of uprightness and still run everyday through the broad and treacherous spaces of the winding roads which lead towards the deep pit of ruin, we who do not apply the poultice of fruitful repentance to the grave wounds of our sins, but are almost rotting away pleasurably with the pus still suppurating in them? Accordingly let us pass unswervingly from the spacious and deathly paths of this plain to the narrow way which leads to the heavenly homeland,3 and having carefully applied healing medicines let us take care to heal completely the welts of our sins, let us have in our hands burning lamps,4 and, as I have already said, let us strive to follow the footsteps of the saints in all things, so that we might be made fit not only to pay the debt of praise we owe to Almighty God, but also that we might deserve after the course of this mortal life to attain to the company in heaven of those whom we imitate here on earth. Since they generally raise the minds of many who hear them from the depths to the heights, we ought most carefully to search out their miracles and outward signs, if there be none in our midst, and, lest coincidental, but it is quite possible that our author had heard the benediction, and called it to mind in composing this summary of the saint's life. 4 Cf. Luke 12: 35 ('Sint lumbi vestri praecincti, et lucernae ardentes in manibus vestris').

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sime libris inserere, eaque crebre lectionis studio uigilanter in nostri pectoris armario recondere, nee tamen intra domesticos parietes cohibere, sed ad laudem et gloriam Deitatis atque ad edificationem posteritatis longe lateque promulgare, ut dum quilibet tot signorum radiis precedentium iustorum merita fulsisse cognouerint ex eorum imitatione prospera mundi quia sunt amaritudine plena tota cordis sollicitudine respuant et conculcent, atque ad eterne uite dulcedinem sitibundis pectoribus indeficienter anhelent. Quapropter licet tardi simus ingenio, indocti eloquio, fraterne tamen caritatis coacti imperio—immo de sancti flaminis adiutorio, qui flat et ubertim fluunt aque ex arido magnam habentes confidentiam—preclara et stupenda miraculorum insignia que per uenerabilem et gloriosam perpetuamque uirginem /Etheldrythama nobilissimam ac prepotentissimam Anglorum reginam post sanctissimum eiusdem de conualle lericho ad montem Syon transitum,1 ad salutiferam ipsius tumbam diuina cooperante potencia patrata fuisse in antiquis leguntur scedulis, nouo dictante stilo nouis insudauimus commendare paginis, ne cum uetustate, turn etiam deperirent obliuione. Credimus autem multo plura quam reperiantur extitisse, que aut ex illius eui torpentium scriptorum negligentia nequaquam litteris mandata fuerunt, aut descripta paganorum rabie ecclesias ac cenobia depopulante inter cetera perierunt. Verum quoniam non tantum ex miraculorum frequentia quantum ex perfectioris ac probabilioris uite excellentia quorumlibet pensanda sunt sanctorum merita. Precedit enim uirtus meritorum, sequitur adiuuante fide petentium celestis operatio signorum, que si non fuerunt, non tamen merita non erunt, quia merita procul dubio possunt esse sine miraculis, miracula uero nequaquam sine meritis.2 Quam iuste et sancte, quam pie uel humiliter hec insignis regina ac deuotissima Christi ancilla uixerit, immo quam* mirabili uirginalis pudicitie non solum carnis, quod multorum, uerum et mentis, quod paucorum est, integritate,3 non sine occulti ualida " Etheldretham D 1

b

om. D

This refers to the standard anagogical interpretation of the opening of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30): 'homo quidam descendebat ab Hierusalem in Hiericho', namely that the descent was man's passage from immortality (the Heavenly Jerusalem) to mortality (Jericho, a place-name whose meaning was 'moon', the opposite of the sun, and therefore a symbol of death). See e.g. Ambrose's Expositio euangelii secundam Lucam, vii. 735—7, 'Hiericho figura istius mundi est, in quam de paradiso, hoc est de Hierusalem ilia celesti eiectus Adam . . . descendit' (CCSL xiv, 'Jericho symbolizes this world, into which Adam . . . descended from paradise, that is from that heavenly Jerusalem'). jEthelthryth makes the journey in reverse, heading directly for Mount Zion, God's holy hill at Jerusalem, allegorically interpreted as the Heavenly City (cf. Rev. 14: i).

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they slip from memory, to record them most wisely in books, and we ought also vigilantly to place them in the closet of our heart by attention to frequent reading, nor, however, contain them only within our own walls, but also to proclaim them far and wide to the praise and glory of the Godhead and for the edification of posterity, so that so long as any whatsoever shall acknowledge that the merits of former righteous ones have blazed out with the rays of so many outward tokens, by imitation of them they might with all carefulness of heart reject and trample underfoot the advancements of the world, because they are full of bitterness, and they might unceasingly long for the sweetness of eternal life with thirsting hearts. For this reason, although I am dull of wit, untrained in fine words, yet compelled by the request of the brothers' love—nay rather having great confidence in the aid of the Holy Breath, which blows, and waters break copiously from dry land—lest they perish with age or subsequently by forgetfulness, I have toiled at committing to the page in a new style the noble and extraordinary miracles, recorded on ancient scrolls, which were worked by the assistance of God's power at her healing tomb by the venerable and glorious /Ethelthryth, ever virgin, most noble and powerful queen of the English, after her all-holy passage from the valley of Jericho to Mount Sion.1 And we believe that there are many more than are now to be found, which through the carelessness of the sluggish scribes of that age were never committed to writing, or were recorded but have perished among other things when the fury of the heathen laid waste to churches and monasteries. But the merits of any saints should be judged not so much by the quantity of miracles as by the excellence of their very perfect and commendable life—for virtue of merits comes first and then by the assistance of the faith of those who make petition the heavenly working of miracles follows, and if, however, there have been none of these, there are no merits, because without doubt there can be merits without miracles, but no miracles at all without merits.2 How righteously and religiously, how dutifully and humbly this noble queen and devoted handmaid of Christ lived her life, nay rather with what marvellous integrity of virginal chastity—not only of body (which is granted to many) but also of mind (which is granted to few)3—and not without the heavy persecution of hidden martyrdom, 2

Cf. VWer, c. 5, 'Maiora miraculis sunt merita . . . signa uero nil sunt absque meritis.' Aldhelm, De virginitate (prose): 'non solum corporalis pudicitiae praeconio . . . quod plurimorum est, uerum etiam spiritalis castimoniae . . . quod paucorum est' (Ehwald, p. 228). 3

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martini" persecutione, sub alis Domini protecta perpetualiter uiguerit, ex dictis uenerabilis Bede presbiteri uiri undecumque doctissimi* quispiam ignorans euidenter agnoscere poterit, qui breuiter ipsius uite summam quam nulla uitiorum caligo interpolare potuit, quia hanc diuini 'splendor luminis irradiauit/ prosaico sermone limpidissime descripsit atque uirginitatis ymnum elegiaco compositum metro subnexuit, quo earn casto de germine regioque ortam stemmated miris atque dulcisonis laudibus pro immarcescibili tarn spiritualis quam corporalis flore continentie sublimiter extollit. Quid enim in sanctitudine uite mortalium omni creatoris gratie gratius ac iocundius? Quid angelicis omnibusque celestis curie choris familiarius et delectabilius? Quid in omnium uirtutum gradibus excellentius uel perfectius est gemine puritate uirginitatis, si tamen ceterarum uirtutum fulciatur adminiculis? Angelice namque dignitatis cognata est nobilitas et gloria sancte uirginitatis. Ipsa spirituali munita presidio flammiuoma atque letifera" seuientis ignee libidinis arma potenter confringit et conterit, ipsa ^regis inmortalis amore^ preuenta, cum cenosis ac truculentis generalis inmunditie principibus bellicoso dimicans sudore, uictricia signa suo comportat auctori. 'Virginitas', ut unius apostolorum tuba clarissime^ concrepat, 'est omnium regina uirtutum, cunctorum possessio bonorum, tropheum fidei, uictoria de inimicis, uiteque eterne securitas.'1 Beatus igitur erit qui ad eius arcem suppeditantibus aliis uirtutibus pertingens, nullis deici machinationibus poterit. Hanc inclita regis Anne proles prefata ab ipsis infantie rudimentis igne diuini feruoris succensa, atque sponsi celestis anulo subarrata,2 totis amplectens desideriis, etiam inter ipsa nuptialium copularum contubernia, quod dictum mirabile est, inflexibili mentis rigore finetenus ac * marterii C ' litifera D

f f

* doctissimus C ' ' luminis splendor irradiat D g amore regis immortalis D am. D

d

stemate D

1 The apostle in question here is Thomas; this passage draws upon the Latin Passio S. Thonme (BHL 8136), 'Thomas apparuit eis dicens . . . habetis enim integritatem, quae est omnium regina uirtutum et fructus salutis perpetuae. Virginitas soror est angelorum et omnium bonorum possessio, uirginitas uictoria libidinis, trophaeum fidei, uictoria de inimicis et uitae aeternae securitas'; ed. K. Zelzer, Die alien lateinischen Thomasakten, Texte und Untersuchungen, cxxii (Berlin, 1977), pp. 3-42. This Passio, dated by the mos recent editor to the mid~4th cent, (and apparently not a translation of any existing Greek version of the Acta\ was evidently already in circulation in Anglo-Saxon England at an early date, since Aldhelm quotes precisely this passage within the account of Thomas Didymus in his prose De virginitate, c. 23 (Ehwald, p. 255, lines 20-3), though Ehwald had been unable to trace the source of the quotation. Later legendaries, from the i ith and I2th cents., testify to the continued use of this version of Thomas's Passio in England. Yet it is

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IOI

she flourished forever protected under the wings of the Lord, anyone who does not know can clearly discover from the writings of the venerable Bede, priest and, by some means or other, a most learned man, who briefly, in the most limpid of prose, described the main points of her life, which no shadow of vice could corrupt because the brightness of divine light illumined it, and also wove a hymn on virginity in elegiac metre, in which he sublimely extolled her— sprung from chaste shoot and royal stock—with wondrous and mellifluous praises for the unfading flower of her continence both spiritual and bodily. For what in the sanctity of mortal life could be more pleasing and lovely to all the Creator's grace? What more fitting and delightful to the angels and all the choirs of the heavenly court? What in the ranks of all the virtues is more excellent or perfect than the purity of a double virginity, especially if it is borne up by the support of all the other virtues? For the nobility and the glory of holy virginity is the kindred of angelic dignity. She, equipped with spiritual protection, mightily smashed in pieces and smote asunder the flame-belching and deathly weapons of raging fiery lust, herself already secure in the love of the immortal King; battling against the foul and fierce lords of universal impurity with warlike sweat, she bears off the banners of victory to her Maker. 'Virginity', as the trumpet of one of the apostles loudly proclaims, 'is the queen of all virtues, the possession of all good things, the trophy of faith, victory over foes, and the certainty of everlasting life.'1 Blessed, therefore, is the one who on attaining its citadel with the support of all the other virtues, cannot be cast down by any subterfuges. The renowned daughter of King Anna, inflamed with the fire of divine fervour from the earliest beginning of her childhood, and sealed with the ring of her heavenly bridegroom,2 embraced this with all her longings, and even amidst the very intimacy itself of marital union, which is marvellous to relate, with unswerving firmness of mind quite likely that in fact Aldhelm served as the direct source for the present citation of Thomas's supposed utterance on the subject of virginity, especially given that 'ut unius apostolorum tuba clarissime concrepat' does seem to echo Aldhelm's own words (immediately following the quotation), 'en apostolicae clangor bucinae velut tonitruali fragore concrepans' ('see the blare of the apostolic trumpet, blasting out as if with a thunder-clap'). 2 This phrase echoes c. 2 of the pseudo-Ambrosian Passio S. Agnetis (BHL 156), ed. PL xvii. 735—42, at 73&A, 'anulo fidei suae subarrhavit me.' Sections of this text came to be used in the monastic office for the feast of St Agnes, and Goscelin borrows the image in at least two places: once in LC when describing the liturgy during which Eve took the veil at Wilton (ed. Talbot, p. 28), and also in his Vita S. Amzlberge, c. 39, 'celestis sponsus . . . pretioso sui anuli sigillo subarrauit' (ActaS, lul. iii. zooF).

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"humiliter reliquis" decorata uirtutibus conseruauit, ideoque rex Deus Dei patris filius eius speciem concupiscens earn in suum ineffabilem thalamum introduxit,1 ubi cum centum quadraginta quattuor milibus uirginum dulcissimis consone melodic concentibus nouum semper modulatur canticum.2 Nee alicui uideatur incredibile quod per tot euoluentium annorum circulos licitis astricta matrimonii nexibus illibata uirgo permanserit, quia nimirum uirtus omnipotentie que tres ludaici generis pueros a flammiuomis et horrendis camini incendiis illesos protexit,3 hanc quoque a carnalis ardoris estibus intactam custodiuit. Testatur eius incorruptibilis post mortem caro quod uere sit perpetua uirgo, testantur et pretiosa lintheamina sacrosanctum ipsius corpus ambientia, que sic usque hodie noua manent et* Integra, uti ea hora qua uirginalibus membris fuerunt obuoluta. Vnde patenter datur intelligi, quod apud incomprehensibilem redemptoris mundi gratiam, qui de uirginali cnasci dignatus esf7 utero, nulla uirtus uirginitate gratior sif* atque prestantior, que etiam celestis clementie dono post mortem ab omni corruptionis labe carnem seruat immunem. Talis igitur ac tante uirginis et regine preclaram morum uiteque celsitudinem diligenter intuentes et ammirantes pio mentis affectu magnifice ueneremur, uenerando etsi flore uirginalis castimonie non ualemus saltern iugi uitiorum mortificatione imitemur, quatenus in ea que se iocundum sancto spiritui preparauit habitaculum,4 superne pietatis magnitudinem dignis predicare laudibus atque ad beatitudinem celestis regni 'scandere possimus/ pro quo terreni culmen imperii cum corruptibilibus diuitiis uelut quisquilia contempnens monasterium petiit,5 ibique pro candidis uel purpureis siue multicoloribus uestimentis olosericis gemmis fulgentibus intextis, pulla uilique ueste sacrata Deo se contexit unde nunc sanctorum conserta contuberniis stola perfruitur inestimabilis claritatis, immarcescibiliter^ coronata laurea pulchritudinis. O quam felicia, quam iocunda sunt ilia commertia, quibus pro perituris semper manentia, pro terrenis commutantur celestia!6 Sed iam quia nimia uerborum protelatio solet auditoribus * * reliquis humiliter D ' ' possimus scandere D

f

k ac D ' ' dignatus est nasci D inmarcessibiliter D

d

om. D

1 Cf. Ps. 44(45): 12 ('et rex concupiscet decorem tuum'), which, to judge from its wide use in patristic texts, occurred as 'rex concupiscet speciem tuam' in the Vetus Latina version. 2 Cf. Rev. 14: 3 ('et cantabant quasi canticum novum ante sedem . . . et nemo poterat discere canticum nisi ilia centum quadraginta quattuor milia qui empti sunt de terra'). 3 See Dan. 3 for the story of the three boys in the furnace.

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and humbly adorned with all the other virtues she preserved it right to the end, and so God the King, Son of God the Father, desiring her beauty,1 brought her into his inexpressible bed-chamber, where with one hundred and forty-four thousand virgins in the sweetest chanting of harmonious melody she sings an ever new song.2 And it should not seem incredible to anyone that for the circlings of so many passing years, bound by the lawful chains of matrimony, she remained an unspotted virgin, because certainly the power of the omnipotent which kept the three boys of Jewish race unharmed by the flaming and terrible fires of the furnace,3 also preserved her intact from the burnings of bodily desire. Her incorrupted flesh after death bears witness that she is truly an everlasting virgin, as do the precious cloths which surrounded her holy body, which even today still remain as fresh and whole as they were at the hour when they were wrapped around her virginal limbs. From this it is plainly to be understood that to the inconceivable grace of the Redeemer of the world, who deigned to be born of a virgin's womb, no virtue is more pleasing or outstanding than virginity, because also by the granting of heavenly mercy He preserves her flesh free from all stain of corruption after death. Gazing diligently upon the noble eminence of the character and life of such a great virgin and queen and marvelling with obedient affection of mind let us greatly venerate them, and in venerating, even if we are not capable of virginal chastity, at least let us imitate her by the constant mortification of our vices, so that in her, who prepared herself as a lovely dwelling for the Holy Spirit,4 we might proclaim with worthy praises the greatness of heavenly love and ascend to the blessedness of the heavenly realm, for which, scorning the heights of earthly dominion with its corruptible riches like so much rubbish, she sought out a monastery,5 and there instead of white or purple or multicoloured pure silk garments inlaid with glittering gems, she clothed herself with the black gown and simple clothing consecrated to God, whence now placed in the company of the saints she enjoys the stole of inestimable nobility, crowned with the laurel wreath of beauty which never fades. O how blessed, how lovely are those transactions by which things everlasting are exchanged for the perishable, heavenly things for the earthly!6 But now since excessive spinning out of words tends to bore listeners, 4 Cf. Aldhelm, De virginitate (prose), 10, 'contempta mundi blandimenta uelut quisquiliarum peripsema' (Ehwald, p. 238). 5 Cf. Eph. 2: 22 ('et vos coaedificamini in habitaculum Dei in Spiritu'). 6 Cf. Goscelin, Miracula S. Mildrethe, c. 5, 'O beata commercial de terrenis dampnis fiunt celestia lucra!' (Rollason, 'Goscelin', p. 161).

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inferre fastidium, nostrum qualecumque claudamus proemium doctioribus atque probis intellectibus hoc nostre mediocritatis opusculum committentes ac suppliciter obsecrantes ut illud attente perspiciant, perspiciendo queque superflua uel hiantia repperierint" resecent ac suppleant, approbent et defendant, ne nostro de sudore dens habeat semper oblatrantis inuidie, unde frendens et chachinnans* nostrum simplicem intellectum ualeat subsannare.1 Quibusdam uero premissis, illud in prima miraculorum narrationis fronte posuimus, qualiter paganis inuadentibus ac desolantibus monasterium uirginum quod hec Anglorum lampas perspicua gemmaque paradisi clarissima in famosa Eliensi' insula anno dominice incarnationis sexcentesimo septuagesimo tercio construxerat, quidam eorum ob nefandam contumacie sue temeritatem ira celesti percussus interierit. Ergo dato fine nostre sermonum lepore carenti prefatiuncule, tali que secuntur principio exordiamur. i. Postquam mater et regina predulcis ac eximia pretiosissima celestis Jerusalem margarita, uirginitatis integritate decorata, cunctisque candidata uirtutibus /ESeldreSa^ de scopulosis huius mundi naufragantis fluctibus erepta ad portum perpetue quietis et salutis, ad castissimos uidelicet amplexus et ineffabiles* nuptias agni cuncta mundi contagia suo lauantis sanguine uirgo prudens ac uigilans,2 uirgo felix et beata, cum lampade ardenti et oleo sufficient!,3 congaudentibus omnis celestis curie ordinibus introiuit monasterium ancillarum Dei, quod ut diximus edificauerat, multis annorum euoluentibus orbitis in fidei firmitate atque soliditate perstitit, non tepescente—immo magis ac magis in eo feruescente feruore—discipline regularis ac monastice custodia professionis. Sed et ecclesias et alia monasteria que quaquauersum in Anglia erant, quamquam quia diuersarum prouinciarum diuersi reges essent uario sub euentu frequentia in inuicem bella succederent, in pace et securitate atque in Christiane religionis augmento, ac iocunditate conseruauit gratia superne misericordie. At humani generis improbus hostis tante serenitatis tempora non sustinens, diram ac nebolosam diuino permittente iudicio concitauit e

" reperint D ineffabili D

b

sic C, cachin D

' Eligensi D

d

Etheldretha D

1 For the image of the barking detractor cf. Goscelin's preface to Hist, trans., 'refelle incredulum latratorem' (ActaS, Maii, vi. 41 lE), and that to Vita S. Ethelburge, 'contra temerarios latratus defensare' (Colker, 'Texts', p. 398). 2 Cf. Rev. 19: 9 ('beati qui ad cenam nuptiarum agni vocati sunt'), and i: 5 ('lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo').

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I shall conclude my proem, however bad it is, entrusting this small product of my mediocrity to more learned and virtuous intellects, and humbly asking that they read through it attentively, and in reading pare away or make additions to whatsoever parts they might find to be unnecessary or lacunose, and that they approve and defend it, lest in my labour the teeth of forever barking envy should find something over which to gnash or to cackle so as to be able to mock my simple intellect.1 But having said all these things, the item which I shall place at the very start of my narration of the miracles is the story of how when the heathen had invaded and laid waste to the convent which this bright lamp of the English and brilliant gem of paradise had constructed on the famous island of Ely in the year of our Lord's incarnation six hundred and seventy-three, one of them, on account of the wicked impudence of his arrogance, was smitten by heaven's wrath, and died. Having therefore brought to a close my little preface, lacking as it does any elegant turn of phrase, let us begin upon the matter which follows such an opening. i. After that sweet mother and excellent queen, the most priceless pearl of the heavenly Jerusalem, adorned with the integrity of virginity, and whitened with all virtues, /Ethelthryth, snatched from the rocky floods of this shipwrecked world into a haven of everlasting peace and salvation, namely into the most chaste embraces and the inexpressible marriage of the Lamb who washes away all the pollution of the world with His blood,2 a prudent and watchful virgin, a happy and blessed virgin, with her lamp burning and sufficient oil,3 to the rejoicing of all the ranks of the whole court of Heaven, entered the monastery of God's handmaidens which, as I have said, she built, with the passing of many cycles of years she continued steadfastly in constancy and firmness of faith, her care for the discipline of the Rule and for the monastic profession never growing cold—nay rather her fervour growing more and more fervent in her. But also, even though because different kings ruled over the different regions frequent wars succeeded one another with varied outcomes, the grace of divine mercy preserved the churches and monasteries which were all over England in peace and security and in the spread of the Christian religion, and in good cheer. Yet the wicked adversary of the human race, not able to bear times of such serenity, with the permission of divine judgement stirred up a terrible and black storm, which at the 3

Cf. Matt. 25: 3—5, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.

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tempestatem, que flante borea de procellosis ascendens estibus oceani, subitos atque neciferos innate sibi crudelitatis turbines in omnes Brittanie" fines efflauit.1 Etenim aquilonalium plagarum gens atrox et impia sue ferocitatis exercende fame frendens ac seuiens, humanique sanguinis effusione sitim malignitatis potare cupiens, a gelidis natiuitatis sue sedibus prosiliuit, et cum non minima nauali classe uastum sulcans pelagus Brittannie* litora tenuit, totamque ipsam insulam nunc mari nunc terra circuiens, flammis ac ferro cepit depopulari. Nulli gladius eorum parcebat etati, omnes feriebat, omnes in quos preualebat letaliter prosternebat. Quid plura? Hac tarn miserabili lugubrique tempestate ad animam usque gladio pertranseunte,2 subuertuntur ecclesie, feruet zelus iniquitatis, friget ignis uere caritatis. Cenobiorum quedam ab ipsis pene fundaminibus destruuntur, quedam tumido 'secularium sacerdotum'7 dominio subiguntur. Huius communis tribulationis et miserie nullatenus fuit expers Eligensis insula, presertim cum paludes et aque quibus circumcingitur in mare porrigantur, sitque ab ipsis estuantis equoris fluctibus quarumlibet nauium ad eandem insulam non difficilis accessus. In hanc itaque irruentes paganorum phalanges, atque cruente debachationis^ spiritu seuientes, productis impietatum habenis, ferociter per omnia discurrunt, crudeliter cuncta deuastant et consumunt. Senes cum pueris interimuntur, iuuenes quos et robur et elegantia "xommendabat corporis/ ad exteras nationes libertate priuati abducuntur. Sed et quosque quos hostilis mucro uiuere sinebat, in misere seruitutis sortem perfidorum manus rapiebat. Cenobium uirginum quod inibi gloriossimam Christi sponsam construxisse prescripsimus, pro^dolor nescia Dei culture sed spurcissimis diaboli ritibus dedita gens inuadit, sancta contaminat, conculcat ac diripit. Peccatorum causis pregrauantibus tolluntur lapides de sanctuario, fit miseranda uasorum Domini collisio. Aufertur canticum dulcedinis et leticie, canticum laudis et glorie, resonat uox amaritudinis ac tristitie, uox luctus et angustie. Mactatur ut uictima innocens sanctimonialium caterua, totus pene trucidatur clerus, abducitur in a

D

b Britannic D Britannic D ' ' corporis commendebat D

c c f

sacerdotum secularium D proht D

d

debacationis

1 With this description of the coming of the Danes might be compared Goscelin's very similar, though more detailed, account of the various sackings of Minster-in-Thanet, in his Mimcula S. Mildrethe, cc. 2—5, ed. Rollason, 'Goscelin', pp. 157—62. There as here these events are said to have occurred by Divine judgement ('omnia bene ordinante Dei iudicio', c. 2), the Danes are thirsty for blood ('ut fera gustatum sanguinem sitiens', c. 3), all ages are slaughtered ('parentes cum liberis . . . interimunt', c. 5), and the whole is described with vigorous use of alliteration and asyndeton.

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blast of the north wind rose from the tempestuous tossings of the ocean and vented the sudden and murderous whirlwinds of its inborn cruelty on to every part of Britain.1 For truly the fearful and impious people of the northern regions, gnashing and raving to sate the hunger of its ferocity, and longing to quench the hunger of its spite with the outpouring of human blood, sprang up from the frozen places of its birth, and ploughing through the vast ocean with no small fleet of boats, reached the shores of Britain, and encircling the entire island now by sea now by land, began to lay waste to it by fire's blaze and iron's blade. Their sword spared no age-group, but smote everyone, dealt a death blow to everyone it could. What more is there to say? In this wretched and mournful storm when the sword pierced right to the soul,2 churches are sacked, the zeal of wickedness stokes its blaze, the fire of true love stiffens with cold. Some monasteries are torn right down almost to their very foundations, some are subjected to the haughty control of secular priests. The isle of Ely was by no means free from the general trouble and misery, especially since the marshes and waters by which it is surrounded reach as far as the sea, and so from the very waves of the stormy ocean access to that island is by no means difficult for any boats whatsoever. Accordingly the hosts of heathen pour in and, raving with a spirit of savage frenzy, on the fullest reins of wickedness, they ferociously storm all over, cruelly lay waste to and destroy everything. Old men as well as boys are slaughtered, young men whom both strength and handsomeness of body commended, are dragged off to foreign lands, deprived of their freedom. But also all those whom the foeman's blade allowed to live the hand of treachery swept away to the lot of wretched slavery. The convent of virgins, which I have already written that the bride of Christ constructed there, that race, ignorant of the worship of God but given over to the filthy rituals of the devil bursts into—for shame!—and pollutes holy things, tramples down and ravages. For the heavy burden of sins the stones are taken away from the sanctuary, and there is a wretched smashing of the vessels of God. The singing of sweetness and joy, the singing of praise and glory is banished, and a voice of bitterness and woe rings out, a voice of grief and anguish. The innocent troop of nuns is slaughtered like a sacrificial victim, almost all the clergy are murdered, and all the 2 Cf. Luke 2: 35 ('et tuam ipsius animam pertransiet gladius'), Simeon's words to Mary as he foresaw Christ's suffering.

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MIRACVLA SANCTE yETHELDRETHE

captiuitatem quisque residuus. Sic ergo desolatus iste locus non multo post tempore sicut superius de ceteris diximus, sub popularium presbiterorum prelationem transiuit, atque usque ad tempora prepotentissimi et gloriosissimi regis Eadgari" sub eorum regimine permansit. Tune enim rupto irreligiose gubernationis eorum funiculo, beatus /ESelwoldus Deo dilectus pontifex benigno predict! regis consensu simul et auxilio reedificatis et amplioratis eiusdem loci edificiis, monachos ibidem diuine militaturos seruituti sub abbatis imperio collocauit.1 Sed his omissis ad ea que spopondimus enarranda transeamus. 2. Erat inter ipsos ferocissimos idolatrarum hostium cuneos quidam aliis immanior, immitior, crudelior, satelles diaboli, spirans cedis ac sanguinis, totus auaritie inhians exercitiis.2 Qui pastis cruore luminibus dum tumulum beate uirginis /ESeldrySe* aspiceret, repositas ibi pecunias arbitratus, cepit inquirendi nimio estuare desiderio et ad inueniendum quod desiderabat anhelo properans pectore, bipenni quam nefandis gestabat manibus marmoreum illud uas pretiossimum in quo pausabat sanctissmum corpus uirgineum, crebris a latere feriebat ictibus. Sed libet hunc totum furia correptum paucis alloqui. O barbare flagitiose, o prophane uir et sceleste, tibi ipsi letaliter infeste! Oc perfide ac sacrilege, spiritu falsitatis obsesse, cur corruptibilis pecunie facibus ardens sacrosancta Deo consecrate uirginis membra presumis inquietare? Cur spe seductus inani, pro terreni^ ambitione thesauri ad cumulum tue damnationis celesti thesauro iniuriam irrogare non uereris? Non est, non est ibi quod estimas, quod desideras homo scelestissime idolatrie cultor spurcissime, non est, inquam, ibi quod queris auidissime. Pausat illic composita caro uirginea, mirum dictu dormienti simillima, nitens incorruptionis decore, pro dupplicis integritatis gratissimo flore. Feda cruenta manus crebros torquetur in ictus.3 Ictibus et crebris tumbam ferit ipsa bipennis, efficit et tandem crebro feriendo foramen, ' Edgari D 1

b

Etheldrethe D

' om. D

d

terui D

jEthelwold's refounding of Ely is generally dated to the year 970. This chapter has some phrases in common with LE i. 41, which precedes 'Transactis haud eminus', the presumed earlier version of these miracle-stories. It is possible that what appears in LE is the compiler's reworking of the present account. 3 This is the first of several mostly leonine hexameters (for which no direct poetic source has been identified) dotted throughout the text, which seemed to warrant printing 2

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IOQ

rest hauled off into captivity. Therefore thus desolated this place, not long afterwards, as I have already noted above concerning other places, passed into the hands of lay [secular] priests, and until the time of the all-powerful and most glorious King Edgar remained in their control. But then, the tether of their irreligious governance broken, blessed /Ethelwold, the bishop beloved of God, by the generous consent of that king and with his help, rebuilt and extended the precincts of that place, and placed monks there to fight the good fight in the service of God under the command of an abbot.1 But leaving these matters aside, let us pass on to the things I promised to recount. 2. There was among those fierce hosts of idolators one who was more savage, more severe, crueller than all the others, an accomplice of the devil, breathing slaughter and blood, completely steeped in the workings of greed.2 He having feasted his eyes upon gore, when he saw the tomb of the blessed virgin /Ethelthryth, thinking that money would be laid up there, began to burn with excessive desire to find out, and rushing breathlessly to find what he desired, struck with frequent blows from the side that precious marble vessel in which the most holy virgin's body rested, with a two-edged battle-axe which he had in his evil hands. But it is agreeable to address a few words to this man completely consumed with fury. O you shameful barbarian! O you profane and wicked man, lethally dangerous to yourself! O you scoundrel and profaner, overtaken by the spirit of falsehood, burning with the fires of perishable lucre, why do you presume to disturb the sacrosanct limbs of a virgin consecrated by God? Why, seduced by vain hope, do you not fear to cause harm to a heavenly treasure for love of earthly treasure, to the heaping up of your damnation? It is not, it is not there what you think, what you desire you wicked,wicked man, you foul, foul worshipper of idols, it is not there, I repeat, what you are looking for so desperately. There the flesh of a virgin lies at rest—marvellous to say!—just like someone sleeping, bright with the comeliness of incorruption, because of the lovely flower of her twofold integrity. The foul blood-stained hand is twisted in frequent blows.3 And that battle-axe smote the tomb with repeated blows, and at length with the frequent battering made a hole, as such. This line displays monosyllabic rhyme, though some of the others further on also have bisyllabic rhyme; and just such a mixture was also used by Gregory for his verse Life of jEthelthryth.

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MIRACVLA SANCTE yETHELDRETHE

quod usque hodie cunctis intuentibus apparet. Quo facto nulla celestis ultionis fuit dilatio, sed mox cum intolerabili dolore utroque priuatus lumine miserabilitera uitale flamen exhalauit, sicque a temporali uita sacrilegus exiens, in perpetue portas mortis infelici et luctuoso transitu precipitanter intrauit. 3. Quedam in uicino quodam uico matrona morabatur,1 quam dira ualitudo que grece paralisis latine dissolutio membrorum dicitur inuaserat, inuasam miserabiliter detinebat, detentam intolerabiliter detorquebat.2 Hec nee manus ad os ducere, nee fronti crucem pingere, neque de loco cui assedisset per se ualebat exsurgere,* sed eius ori seruientium manibus inferebatur edulium, ab eis erigebatur, ab eis deportabatur. Nam acerbissime huius passionis ex humorum frigiditate semper aut in toto corpore aut in parte accidentis cruciante seuitia, marcuerant membrorum compagines, totaque natura corrupta, inutile corpus manebat. Inde magnus parentele dolor, grauisque familie luctus et meror. Aduolant medici, suscipiunt munera, conficiunt antidota, quibus admodum utens posset constricta relaxari natura. Vicit medicinalem potentiam furentis passionis impotens magnitudo, nihil enim loci profuit obscuritas, nil cataplasmatum adhibitio. Non curram per singula, breuiter dicam; nulla prorsus illi profuere medicamina. Quid ergo restabat nisi ut ad diuinam se miserationem deuote conuertens auxilium a celesti medico flagitaret? lam senos in tarn tormentali molestia annos peregerat, iam omnino reparande salutis spes perierat, et ecce superne respectu clementie familiam conuocat atque ad uenerandam gemme celestis /ESeldryoV basilicam se deferendam mandat. Mox ex imperio subuecta clientibus octo, uirginis ante sacrum deponitur ipsa sepulcrum, menteque deuota depromit sedula uota. Inclamat gloriose Christi sponse gloriosa merita, supplicat ipsius dulcissima patrocinia. Resonat^ interni uox gemitus, rigant faciem lacrime, dies tota peragitur in oratione. Hinc sol oceani tetris* inmergitur undis, noxque tegit totam succedens pallida terram, nee mulier lacrimis effusis parcit, ab imis * miserabile D

k

exurgere C

' Etheldrethe D

d

rosonat C

' terris D

1 The equivalent of this chapter in 'Transactis haud eminus' is LE i. 44, where the whole episode is dealt with in just two sentences. 2 This is a good example of a figure of speech employed on several occasions in this text, namely adnominatio, where typically the same verb is used twice in succession in different

THE MIRACLES OF ST yETHELTHRYTH

III

which can still be seen by all today. Once that was done heavenly vengeance did not delay, but soon with unbearable pain deprived of both eyes the desecrator wretchedly breathed his last living breath, and departed from his earthly life, and by an unhappy and lamentable passage entered headlong the gates of everlasting death. 3. There was a certain woman dwelling in one particular village,1 whom a terrible condition (called in Greek 'paralysis' and in Latin 'dissolutio membrorum') attacked, and having attacked, took hold wretchedly, and having taken hold, tortured unbearably.2 She could not raise her hand to her mouth, nor imprint the cross on her brow, nor by herself get up from the place where she sat, but food was lifted to her mouth by her servants' hands, by them she was lifted up, by them carried about. For the crucifying savagery of this most bitter agony always strikes either in the whole body or just one part, through the freezing of the bodily fluids [the humours], and the joints of the limbs atrophy, and its whole nature in decay, the body remains useless. Hence it was a great sorrow to her kinsfolk, profound grief and lamentation to her family. Medics came in haste, took their fees, brewed up antidotes, by the use of which her frozen condition could be loosed to some extent. The unbridled magnitude of the raging agony outdid the power of medicine, for making the place dark and the application of poultices was of no use. I shall not go through all the details, but just describe it briefly. Medicaments were of no benefit to her whatsoever. What was left but that she should turn to divine mercy and beg help from the heavenly physician? She had already passed six years in this terrible torment, already the hope of finding any cure had utterly perished, and behold, taking refuge in divine mercy she calls together her family and instructs them to carry her to the venerable basilica of the jewel of heaven, /Ethelthryth. Soon according to her instructions she is borne by eight retainers and put down before the virgin's holy tomb, and with devoted mind she pours forth her constant petitions. She invokes the glorious merits of the glorious bride of Christ, she beseeches her sweetest patronage. The voice of inner groaning rings out, tears drench her face, the entire day is spent in prayer. Hence the sun is plunged in the black waves of the ocean, and succeeding pallid night covers the whole earth, and the woman does not spare the flood of tears, parts, and here the figure is combined with asyndeton to produce a series of clauses which build up to a climax.

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MIRACVLA SANCTE yETHELDRETHE

immo magis plorat, plorans instantius orat, quo fugiat morbus distorquens corporis artus. Quid plura? Mouent inmensam regis eterni pietatem lacrimosa miserabilis femine suspiria immo piissima" uirginis eximie suffragia, et ecce eiusdem noctis spacio fugit omnis neruorum contractio, redit membrorum naturalis motio, euanescit ualitudinis dolor, sospitatis adest uigor. Gaudet natura dum tanta peste fugata, officiis propriis reparantur singula membra. O quam dulce et utile ad indeficientem clementie fontem concurrere! O quam salutiferum et uitale semper potentis medicine gratiam expetere! Laudanda plane* sanctorum limina pie adeuntium intentio. Inde enim gemina succrescit utilitas, dum et obruta uitiorum mole releuetur anima, et corporis si fuerit sepissime propellatur infirmitas. Surrexit itaque que paralitica aduecta fuerat, ab omni paralisis constrictione relaxata, circumstante ac stupente intuentium caterua. Repletur uocibus ecclesia, sonant alternatim laudum preconia, tollitur in celum laudantium clamor: clamant 'Sit Domino gloria, laus et honor!' Attollunt solemniter melliflua celestis margarite patrocinia per que fuerat inopinata matruncule sanitas restituta. Hinc cum gaudio et leticia reditur ad propria. 4. Aliud eodem tempore sub ipsius optentu miraculum eluxit/ quod sub taciturnitatis uelamento delitescere uidetur indignum.1 Estrf uilla Bradaford'' uocitata,2 in qua^ quidam adolescentulus erat, incertum quo casu septennio lingue carens officio. Stupent parentes, tristem mirantur fortunam, torquet cordium penetralia dolor, creber eis luctus et meror. Tandem comperto quanta in Eligensi monasterio mirabilia diuinitus fierent, illuc iam damnandi fide concepta silentii propero pede mutam ducunt sobolem, ingressique magna cordis contritione et Dei miserationem et sancte uirginis interpellant intercessionem. Per ora lacrime uoluuntur, preces precibus adduntur. Interius fides uox exterius dandam misericordie manurn^ inclamitat. k * piissime D plene D g f quam C om. C

' illuxit D

d

enim add. D

' Bradford D

1 See LE i. 45 for the equivalent of this chapter in the earlier version of these miracles, where again the episode is dealt with in just two sentences. 2 Blake suggested that this place may be identifiable with what is now called Bradford's Farm, about 2 km south-east of Ely, where there must formerly have been a ford for crossing the drain known as Abbotesdelf, the boundary of Ely's land; see P. H. Reaney, The Place-Names of Cambridgeshire and the hie of Ely, EPNS (1943), p. 221.

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but rather cries out more from the depth, and crying out begs more urgently, that the disease which is distorting the limbs of her body be driven out. What more need I say? The tearful sighs of the wretched woman— nay rather the most pious prayers of the excellent virgin—move the immense love of the eternal King, and lo! in the space of that same night all the contraction of her nerves departs, the natural movement of the limbs returns, the pain of her condition vanishes, and the vigour of health is present. Nature rejoices that such a disease is put to flight and all the limbs are restored to their proper functions. O how sweet and beneficial to fly to the never-failing fount of mercy! O how healing and life-giving to seek the grace of ever-powerful medicine! Wholly praiseworthy is the intention of those who piously approach the dwellings of the saints. For from it springs a two-fold benefit, since not only is the soul lightened by cancelling the burden of vices, but also very frequently the weakness of the body is driven out, if it was present. And so she who had been carried there as a paralytic rose up released from all the binding of the paralysis, while the crowd of onlookers stood about in amazement. The church is filled with voices, by turns shouts of praise ring out, the clamour of praising is lifted up to heaven, and they cry 'Glory, praise and honour to the Lord!' Solemnly they exalt the sweet intercessions of the pearl of heaven, by which the little woman's health was unexpectedly restored. And hence with joy and gladness they all return to their homes. 4. At the same time another miracle shone out under her protection, which it seems wrong to conceal under the cover of silence.1 For there is a village called Bradford,2 in which there was a young man who had seven years long for an unknown reason lacked the use of his tongue. His parents are dumbfounded, and wonder at their sorry luck, grief torments the depths of their hearts, and their grief and lamentation is constant. At length having learnt what great miracles were being done by divine power at the monastery of Ely, with hasty feet they take their mute son there having conceived some faith that the silence could be broken, and entering with great contriteness of heart they beseech both the mercy of God and the intercession of the holy virgin. Tears stream down their faces, prayers are heaped upon prayers. Faith within, on the exterior their voice

114

MIRACVLA SANCTE yETHELDRETHE

Petunt ut accipiant, querunt ut inueniant, pulsant ad ostium clementie donee eis aperiatur.1 Nee eorum fidem et spem delusit euentus. Nam inter ipsas preces et lacrimas muta cepit enodari lingula" et natural! plectro moderante hec edere uerba: 'Redeamus', ait, 'o dulcissimi, ad mansionis nostre domicilia, quoniam per beatissime uirginis /ESeldrySe* merita, mihi sicut uestris insonat auribus sunt reformata perempte uocis organa'. Ad hanc uocis exauditionem tristia fidelium'7leletantur corda parentum. Fit stupor et gaudium cunctis qi aderant, dum os uerbula modulari audirent, quod prius omnino mutum fuisse agnouerant. Hinc alternatim cleri psallente caterua, ymnorum moduli quatiunt fastigia templi.2 Sydera uox tangit, reboat laus cunctipotenti, qui gloriosus in sanctis, mirabilis in sua maiestate, mirabilia facit ubique. O gemmam in corona sponsi prefulgidam; o insignem^ reginam /ESeldrySam* perpetue uirginitatis integritate mirabiliter insignitam Christi sponsam et formosam, ordinata caritate uulneratam!3 Emicat ecce polo Libano mage Candida uirgo,4 incorrupta uiro sponso sociata superno. Hanc igitur ueneremur, uenerantes exoremus, ut in laude diuine maiestatis torpentia immo muta nostra pandat labia, nigrasque sine formositate conscientias suis meritis Candidas efficiat, ne forinsecus remaneamus dum sponsus introierit ad nuptias.5 5. Nee illud sub silentii serula latitare patiar, quod per idem tempus accidisse antiqua monstrat pagina.6 Est enim precipuum ualde iocundum, stupendum et admirandum nee frequens

e

" lingua D Etheldretham D

k

Etheldrethe D

' flebilium D

d

signem D

1 Cf. Matt, -j: -j ('petite et dabitur vobis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperiatur vobis') 2 The cadence 'fastigia templi' at the end of a hexameter occurs in one of Aldhelm's Carmina Ecclesiastica, iv. -j, line 6 ('Quod Christum populis scandens fastigia templi'), which may have echoed a line of Caelius Sedulius's Carmzn Paschale, ii. 202 ('Et statuens alti supra fastigia templi'), and it is possible that either of these could have been in the back of the author's mind here. 3 Goscelin used the phrase 'uulnerata caritate' with notable frequency (e.g. LectEorm, c. 6, VWer, c. 2, Vita S. Wulfhilde, c. 8, and many occasions in LC, pp. 28, 29, 30, 45 and 68); it derives from the Vetus Latina version of S. of S. 2: 5 and 5: 8, which in the Vulgate is rendered as 'amore langueo'. Here the phrase is combined with a reminiscence of the previous verse, S. of S. 2: 4 ('Ordinavit in me charitatem').

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cries out for the hand of mercy to be extended. They ask that they might receive, they seek that they might find, they knock at the door of mercy until it is opened to them.1 Nor did the outcome disappoint their faith and hope. For among those prayers and tears the mute little tongue began to loosen and striking its natural chord gave out these words: 'Let us go home, my dear ones', he said, 'to the dwelling places of our home, because by the merits of the blessed virgin /Ethelthryth, the organs of my silenced voice have been restored to me, just as it is ringing in your ears now.' On hearing his voice the sorrowful hearts of his faithful parents were gladdened. Amazement and joy overcame all who were present, when they heard his lips forming those few words, because they knew that previously he had been totally dumb. Hence by turns the crowd of clergy sang psalms and the melodies of hymns shook the roof of the temple.2 A voice touched the stars, praise echoed out to the Almighty, who, glorious in his saints, marvellous in his majesty works miracles everywhere. O bright jewel in the Bridegroom's crown, o noble queen /Ethelthryth, comely bride of Christ wondrously marked out by the integrity of your everlasting virginity, wounded by the appointed love!3 Lo the virgin shines in heaven more brilliant than Lebanon itself,4 an incorrupt bride united with her heavenly groom. Let us therefore venerate her and pray to her that she might open our sluggish—nay rather dumb!—lips in praise of God's majesty, and that she might by her merits render our swarthy and uncomely consciences pure white, lest we should remain outside when the Bridegroom enters into the wedding feast.5 5. Nor should I allow the story to lie hidden behind bars which the ancient page shows to have occurred at that time.6 For it is particularly noteworthy, very lovely and astonishing and marvellous 4 The word 'mage' here can only be the shortened form of 'magis', occasionally attested in classical Latin poetic sources, for example Vergil, Aeneid, x. 481. The reference to Lebanon summons up the world of the Song of Songs, recalling in particular 4: 8 ('veni de Libano, sponsa, veni de Libano'). 5 Cf. S. of S. i: 4 ('nigra sum sed formosa'), and also, from the parable of the Wise and Foolish virgins, Matt. 25: 10 ('venit sponsus et quae paratae erant intraverunt cum eo ad nuptias et clausa est ianua'). 6 The 'antiqua pagina' presumably refers to the earlier, and very brief, version of this miracle in 'Transactis haud eminus', possibly by yElfhelm, incorporated into LE i. 46.

Il6

MIRACVLA SANCTE yETHELDRETHE

miraculum. Filiam in huius mundi caliginosam lucem pariens mater cecam effuderat. Infelix partus, infelix prorsus et ortus, dum sine communi quis lumine nascitur orbi. Dolet genitor, gemit genitrix, meret cognatio pro tanto infortunio. lam ad decimum etatis sue annum nescia lucis peruenerat, et a parentibus ad beate uirginis ecclesiam ducitur, ut ipsius optinente suffragio, cecitatis carere mereretur obprobrio. Mira res; nondum cum ductoribus introiens basilice limen transierat et ecce de celo prospexit misericordia ubique potens, ubique largiflua, nunquam deficiens, semper inexhausta. Condescendunt ad se puellulea suspirantis affinitatis cateruule magnifica sponse Christi suffragia, procedunt, ut ita dicam, ingredientibus obuiam celerrima diuine miserationis subsidia. Excipitur a superne pietatis occursu pia introeuntium deuotio, et a materno ceca utero repentino ditatur uisus officio. Substitit ad lucem tenebris educta stupescens/ miratur rutili radiantia spicula Phebi, miratur species rerum uariosque colores.1 'Gratulantur parentes, letantur quique presentes' ac pariter Christum collaudant et benedicunt. 6. Sed neque illud silentio preteream quod eiusdem temporis decursu cuiusdam iuuenis altera manus aruerat, que clausa nullatenus aperiri poterat.2 Quid miser ageret, quo se uerteret ut remedium perquirere posset ignorabat. Tandem quia paradisiace gemme uirginis /ESeldrySe longe lateque melliflua fama uolitans personabat, inpigro gressu ad eius basilicam uenit fideque preuia ingreditur, properat tumulo, prosternitur, orat. Suffusus ora lacrimis, Christi sponse interuentum implorabat. Quid multis immorer? Exaudit eius preces ac gemitus poli sydus aureum, lucens ante Deum in ordine uirginum, mira et ineffabili dulcedine armonica nouum semper carmen canentium.3 Vigore itaque natural! redeunte, constricti^ absoluuntur neruuli, aperitur manus arida, uique pereunte doloris, ad sua plene reparatur officia. Aderat populi multitudo * puelle D * ac circumcirca sibi reddita lumina torquens add. D d presentes letantur utrique parentes D constricte C

' ' Gaudent

1 Cf. Goscelin, Hist, mime., c. 24 (ActaS, Maii, vi. 4-09A), 'Miratur lucis candorem, mundi decorem, tarn diuersas rerum formas et species', and Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 22 (Love, Saints' Lives, p. 78), 'mirabatur ignotas rerum species'. 2 See LE i. 47 for the equivalent of this chapter in the earlier version of these miracles, where as before the episode is treated with extreme brevity. 3 Cf. Rev. 14: 3 as above in the proem.

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and not a miracle which occurs often. A woman brought into the dim light of this world in labour a blind daughter. Unhappy bearing and unhappy birth, when anyone is born into the world without the light common to us all. The father grieves, the mother moans, their kinsfolk mourn over such a great misfortune. Already she had reached the tenth year of her life without knowing the light, and she is brought by her parents to the church of the blessed virgin, so that having obtained her help she might earn the right to be rid of the blight of blindness. Miraculously, she had not yet crossed the threshold of the church on her way in with her guides, and lo! mercy looked down from heaven, mercy which is powerful in all places, liberal in all places, never failing, always inexhaustible. The wondrous intercessions of the bride of Christ stoop down to the little family group of the young girl crying out to her with a sigh, the swift ministrations of divine mercy go out to meet them, so to speak, as they enter. The tender devotion of those coming in is accepted in its meeting with heavenly tenderness, and she who from her mother's womb was blind is endowed suddenly with the power of sight. Brought from darkness into light she stands dumbfounded, marvels at the radiant beams of red-gold Phoebus, marvels at the appearance of things, and their diverse colours.1 Her parents give thanks and all those present rejoice and together they praise and bless Christ. 6. But I ought also not to pass over in silence the story of how at that same period of time a certain young man's one hand withered up, and once closed could not be opened again at all.2 The wretch did not know what to do or where to turn to be able to find some remedy. At length, because the renown of the jewel of paradise, the virgin /Ethelthryth, flew far and wide and rang out, with hasty step he comes to her church, and led by his faith enters, hurries to the tomb, prostrates himself, prays. Tears soak his face, he begs for the intervention the bride of Christ. Why do I delay any longer? The golden star of the firmament, shining before God in the ranks of the virgins, singing an ever new song with wondrous and inexpressible harmonious sweetness,3 hears his prayers and sighings. Therefore his natural strength returns, the taut nerves loosen, the withered hand opens up, and as the force of the pain dies away, it is restored to its full functioning. A crowd of people were present

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et cum luminibus tensis ad sydera palmis pectore de toto laudum dant cantica Christo. Per quern hec celestis columba pro pudicitie titulo immo pro totius sanctitatis merito tanta miraculorum luce coruscat in mundo. 7. Ea tempestate nullos siue monachorum siue sanctimonialium greges Britannicus orbis habebat, sed sub naufragosa secularis clericatus gubernatione, quodque cenobium quod impie paganorum rabiei cuncta, quemadmodum prelibatum est, depopulantis euersioni supererat, per scilleas uitiorum impactiones fluctuabat.1 Cum ergo sub huiuscemodi" gubernationis clauo fluctuaret et Eliense monasterium, illic inter alios *quidam presbiter* mansionem tenebat. Is quadam die mandatum sue dedit ancille, quatenus ortum expeteret, olera colligeret, collecta afferret. Dies ilia dies erat dominica, hora uergente secunda. Ilia diu differt, nee uerba iubentis adimplet, ne sancte lucis temeraria sit uiolatrix. Vrget uis imperantis, fitque dilatio cassa negantis. Ad illicitum nolens ancilla cogitur, coacta properat, sed properantem tristis excipit fortuna. Nam sudem quern ad euellendas herbas arripuerat eius manuic mox inhesit, tantaque ui ut implicitis digitis nullo posset conamine manus aperiri.2 Spectares miseram miserabiliter cruciari et faciem totam lacrimarum fonte rigari! Audires illam uehementer uociferari, luctus ac gemitus modulos uocem modulari. In fletum quis non moueretur si adesset? 'O me', inquid, 'infelicem et miseram! Quid faciam? Quo me uertam? Vbi solatium queram? Certe indiscreto minime debueram parere imperio, cum nee cuiuslibet domini sit iuris ut nefas seruo precipiat, nee serui ut ad hoc exequendum domino obediat. O quantum crucior, o quantus me premit horror! Quid rea miserabilis agam, penitus ignore.' Videns itaque presbiter huius^ infortunii miseriam, dolens a

huiusce C

b b

presbiter quidam D

c

manu D

d

om. D

1 The content of this chapter corresponds roughly to the opening section of the earlier version of the miracles, in which the secular clerks are first described (LE i. 43) and the section in which the retributive miracle is recounted (LE i. 48). The noun 'impactio' is a fairly rare one, attested only once in Lewis & Short, and only in a military context (in a late I2th-cent. text) in DMLBS. If this work were to be accepted as that of Goscelin, use of such a rare word would certainly fit in with what has been noted about his style, as would the employment of the poetic adjective 'scilleus', which alludes to the dangerous rock between Italy and Sicily, thus continuing the seagoing metaphor begun with the description of the clerks' rule as 'sub naufragosa . . . gubernatione' (it should be noted that 'naufragosus' itself may well be a coinage, since the more usual adjective from 'naufragium' appears to have been 'naufragus'). Cf. two other descriptions of miraculous adhesion (though in both cases for violation

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and with their eyes and hands raised to the stars with their whole heart they give songs of praise to Christ. Through whom this heavenly dove, because of her name for chastity—nay rather by merit of her complete sanctity—shines in the world with such a bright light of miracles. 7. At that time the sphere of Britain had no flocks of monks or nuns, but under the foundering helmsmanship of the secular clergy whichever communities had survived from the impious overturning of the heathens' madness, which as has already been described, laid waste to everything, were tossed by the Scyllaean blows of the vices.1 When therefore also Ely monastery was being tossed under the rudder of just such helmsmanship, among others a certain priest was living there. One day he gave orders to his serving girl to go to the garden, gather vegetables, and bring what she had gathered. That day was Sunday, just about the second hour [ 7 o'clock]. She hesitates for a while, and does not carry out his instructions, for fear of being a heedless violator of the holy light. The violence of the one giving the order forces her on, and delaying becomes fruitless for her in her refusal. The serving girl is unwillingly forced to do what is unlawful, and being forced, hastens, but a sad fate overtakes her in her haste. For straightway the stake which she took for cutting the plants stuck to her hand, and with such force that with her fingers trapped she could by no efforts open her hand.2 You should have seen her, wretched thing, wretched, tortured, and her face completely drenched with a flood of tears! You should have heard her screaming fearfully, shifting her voice between a note of lament and of groaning! Who would not have been moved to tears if they had been present? 'O poor wretched me!', she said, 'What shall I do? Where can I turn? Where shall I find relief? For sure I should not have obeyed that thoughtless command, since no master whatsoever has the right to order a servant to do something wicked nor does the servant have the duty to obey the master in carrying it out. Oh what agony I'm in, oh what terror oppresses me! I don't have the slightest idea what to do, wretched sinner that I am.' And so the priest on seeing the misery of this misfortune, is sadly troubled, and being troubled is overwhelmed of the saint's feast rather than for sabbath breaking), in Goscelin's Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 21 (Love, Saints' Lives, p. 76—8; the smith of Hereford, 'proterue operanti inheserit malleus dextro'), and Vita S. Wlsini, c. 15 (Talbot, 'The Life', pp. 81-2; a woman and her distaff, 'adhesit manus superior . . . ad colum'). The latter example, in particular, highlights in a similar way the woman's grief after the event, and the fact that she was made a 'spectaculum' for those around her.

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turbatur, turbatus merore perfunditur aet quoniam reatus ac pene foret auctor, luctuose profitetur." Si enim iussio non precessisset, que compulit seruulam ad opus illicitum, subsecutus nequaquam reatus fuisset, ergo nee pena. At qui quoniam quod ille male iusserat hec licet inuita aggredi ausa est, incurrit reatum, reatus supplicium. Non inmerito igitur dolens ac merens reatus et pene se reputabat auctorem, qui debitam diei dominice non exhibens reuerentiam, ad seruilis operis actum coegerat ancillulam. Affluxerat ad huius accidentis spectaculum plebecula, casum inquirunt, inquirendo cognoscunt, cognoscendo pauescunt. Temptatur a plerisque ut a manu lignum dirimatur, sed cum fieri nequeat, uisum est ut utrinque* precidatur. Fit ita. Torquet ac terret quod inheserat, quod eximi non poterat. Torquet, inquam, culpabilem, terret quemuis intuentem. Attendat igitur hanc penam, quilibet huius prime lucis et octaue temerator, et se procul dubio grauius excruciandum nouerit in anima, si modo nulla in corpore feriatur uindicta. Queso attendat, attendens caueat, cne illicitorum' operum operator existat. Flammea iam qui nos rota phebi uoluerat annos, in quorum spacio dedita supplicio, manserat in misera uiuens muliercula uita, cum ecce quadam die ad eiusdem presbiteri domum quidam de clero conuiuandi gratia conuenere. Qui mox ut misellam intuiti sunt, ei nimium condolentes sacerdoti dicunt, 'Nequaquam discumbemus, nequaquam panem sumemus donee hanc in huius templi limina introducamus, ibique sublimandam diuine maiestatis clementiam exoremus, quatenus per gloriose uirginis /ESeldrySe^ interuentum misericordie ei largiri dignetur subsidium.' Nee mora sumpta secum debili famula* omnes pariter basilicam regine prepotentis adeunt, adeuntes fideliter introeunt, introeuntes supplici mente in facies suas procidunt, et lacrimis insistentes ac precibus ab eo cuius bonitas inmensa, pietas infinita, miseratio perpetua, debilitatis incommodum auferri atque incolumitatis beneficium eidem seruule deposcunt donari. Inuocatur ab omnibus clara poli Stella,1 pia uirgo, gemma superna, ut orantes exaudiat, lacrimantes respiciat, pristinoque uigori moribundam ancillule manum excusso ligno restituat. Quid multa? Adest e

* * om. C familia D

b

utrumque D

' ' nisi licitorum D

d

Etheldrethe D

1 With the frequent use of the poetic word 'polus' (for 'celum') cf. Goscelin, Hist, trans. ii. i (ActaS, Maii, vi. 4330), 'at offensa est Regina poli'.

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with grief, and he mournfully confesses that he is the cause of the guilt and the punishment. For if the order had not come first, which compelled the serving girl to do the unlawful work, the guilt would by no means have followed, and there would have been no punishment. But she who once dared to begin the thing which he had wrongly ordered, even though unwillingly, incurs the guilt, the price for the guilt. Rightly sad and grieving he therefore regarded himself as the cause of the guilt and the punishment, he who showed no due reverence for the Lord's day and forced his serving-girl to carry out slave-work. A small throng of people crowd up to see the spectacle of this mishap, ask what has happened, and in asking realize, and in realizing tremble. Several people tried to separate the wood from her hand, but when they failed, it looked as if they would have to cut it off either side. And so it was. That which had stuck to her and cannot be removed tortures and terrifies. It tortures the one who is to blame, I say, and it terrifies everyone who is watching. Therefore let anyone who violates this first and eighth light, pay attention to this punishment, and realize that without doubt he will be afflicted still more severely in his soul, even if now he may not be smitten with vengeance in his body. Let him pay attention, I pray, and in attending watch out, lest he become the doer of unlawful deeds. Now the flaming wheel of the sun had rolled round the years, in the space of which, having received her punishment, the poor little woman still eked out a wretched existence. When lo! one day some clergy came to that same priest's house to dine. As soon as they saw the wretched woman they greatly pitied her and said to the clergyman, 'We shall not sit down at all, we shall not take bread at all, until we bring her across the threshold of this church, and then beseech the exalted clemency of the divine majesty, that by the intervention of the glorious virgin /Ethelthryth He should deign to bestow upon her the aid of his mercy.' Without delay taking with them the feeble woman they all go together to the mighty queen's church, and getting there they enter in faith, and entering they fall down on their faces with suppliant minds, and giving themselves to tears and supplications they beg of the One whose goodness is immense, whose tenderness is without bounds, whose pity is everlasting, that the hindrance of her weakness be lifted and the blessing of wholeness be granted to the serving girl. The bright star of the firmament,1 the tender virgin, the heaven jewel, was invoked by all of them to hear their supplications, regard their tears, and restore to its former strength the broken hand and rid it of the wood. What

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ineffabilis misericordia, adsunt mirifica dilecte Christi suffragia. Extenduntur multate manus digiti lignumque quod consumpta iam carne nudis coherebat ossibus sub omnium optutibus mirabili uirtute prosilit, moxque dolor acerrimus conquieuit. Grandis omnium stupor, magna nimis admiratio, intimum cunctis tripudium tarn celebre cernentibus miraculum. Expandunt et erigunt ad ethera manus et lumina, laudant sollenniter ac deuote regis eterni magnalia, in quo felix /ESeldrySa" tanta signorum refulget gloria. 8. His pro nostre mediocritatis intelligentia utcunque exaratis nequaquam adhuc dictandi tenor finem flagitabit, donee et illorum pateat exaratio, que nefanda cuiusdam presbiteri peregit presumptio.1 Inde quippe magna miraculorum prodit iocunditas. Inde quis perpendere potest quante sit offense sanctorum corpora seu reliquias ausu temerario uel aspicere uel contingere? Multorum iam annorum curricula defluxerant et Anglic cenobia fluxo ut dictum est regimini subiacebant, cum quidam sacerdotis *fungens officio* a natiua prouintia ad nobilem et famosam Eliensem insulam migrauerat, ipsiusque monasterii procurationem infelici successu agebat. Huius precordiorum intima dispendiosa super corpore prefate uirginis ac regine conturbabat ambiguitas, cum non solum quod incorruptionis gloria splenderet uerum etiam quod uel modicum quid inde sepulchro superesset, miser et infelix discrederet. Iam anni cursus appropinquauerat quo eiusdem Christi sponse iocunda erant celebranda solennia et consacerdotibus ac reliquis quibus preeraf7 clericis conuocatis, basilicam ingreditur sicque ad eos eloquitur: 'Me uos ad hoc conuocasse noueritis, ut quid uoluntatis meus habeat animus edicam. Volo locellum in quo"' uenerabilis /ESeldryoV uirginea fuit gleba recondita reserare, reserato rei ueritatem diligenter inspicere, ut inspecta nequaquam ulterius sub dubietatis procella fluctuem, quia nullo modo earn corruptionis labe credo carere, dum quisque pro fragilitate humane conditionis post spiritus exemptionem in suam redigatur originem, puluis uidelicet in puluerem.2 Sed neque ad incredendum flecti ualeo ut ex ea quid in present! habeatur sarcofago. * Etheldretha D ' Etheldrethe D

k k

officio fungens D

' preerant D

d

qua C

1 The content of this chapter corresponds to that of the opening and closing sections of 'Transactis haud eminus' (LE i. 43 and 49), which served as a narrative envelope for the other miracles. There the offending priest is described as the 'archipresbyter, prepositus et magister' of the secular community at Ely. 2 Cf. Gen. 3: 19 ('pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris').

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more can I say? Inexpressible mercy is there, and the wondrous intercessions of Christ's beloved virgin are there. The fingers of the punished woman's hand extend, and the wood which was cleaving to the bones laid bare by the already decaying flesh, by some miraculous power leaps away before everyone's eyes, and soon the bitter pain subsided. Everyone's astonishment was huge, their wonder very great, and they all exulted inwardly at witnessing such a noteworthy miracle. They stretch out and raise to the skies their hands and eyes, they solemnly and devotedly praise the marvellous works of the everlasting King, in Whom happy /Ethelthryth shines with the glory of such miracles. 8. Somehow or other my mediocre intelligence has managed to describe all these things, but the course of my dictation will definitely not yet demand its close until there has been a clear description of those things which the wicked audacity of one particular priest enacted.1 And moreover from that event a great delight of miracles proceeded. And who can imagine how great an offence it is to look upon or touch the bodies or relics of the saints with impudent audacity? Now many cycles of years had flowed by and the monasteries of English were subject to an unstable regime, at the time when a certain man holding the office of priest had moved from his native region to the noble and renowned Isle of Ely, and by an unfortunate turn of events had control of that monastery. A prejudicial uncertainty about the body of that virgin and queen troubled the depths of his soul, since the unfortunate wretch did not believe either that she shone with the glory of incorruption or even that there was even the slightest bit of her left in the tomb. Now the time of year had come when when the lovely feast of the bride of Christ was to be celebrated and, calling together his fellow priests and all the other clergy of whom he had charge, he enters the church and addresses them thus: 'Know that I have summoned you so that I can tell you my heart's desire. I want to open the coffin in which the virginal remains of the venerable /Ethelthryth are interred, and having opened it I want carefully to examine the truth of the matter, so that when it has been examined I may no longer be tossed by the storm of doubt, because in no way can I believe that she is without spot of corruption, seeing that each of us, because of the fragility of the human condition, is reduced to his beginnings after the spirit is taken away, that is, dust to dust.2 And I also cannot be swayed from disbelieving that whatever is left of her is in this tomb before us. Therefore I ask you without any

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Mihi ergo quod dixi facturo absque ullo refragationis obiectu rogo faueatis," fauendo manus apponatis.' Cui illi non timide* respondentes, 'miramur', inquiunt, 'que sit ista dementia, unde tanta tibi surrepserit audatia. Compesce' rogamus animum, refrena tarn presumptuose cogitationis impetum: non licet, immo non expedit, ut edicta uoluntas ad effectum pertingat. Nos in hoc tibi nequaquam fauebimus, nullatenus consensum dabimus, uideas ipse quid feceris, nos auxiliarios non habebis. Fideliter enim credi potest, et ipsi sine hesitatione credimus, quod pro insigni perpetue pudicitie adepto titulo, sine corruptela in hoc requiescat tumulo. Nostris itaque adquiesce consiliis, nostris faue monitis, et quantocius ab huius intentionis fouea mens exiliat, ne si temerarius (quod absit!) fueris, te pauenda superni iudicis animaduersio districte feriat.' At ille, 'Credo', inquit, 'quia si in hac basilica quemadmodum asseritis requiesceret, plurima per earn mirabilia Dei uirtus istic ostenderet.' Ad quern unus ex conpresbiteris, 'ideo', ait, 'taliter loqueris quoniam nouiter hue adueniens quanta hie miraculorum gloria fulserit minime uidisti, e quibus tibi pauca si uelis referam, nee alia quam uel ego ipse presens conspexi, uel a fideli relatore uera esse didici.' Enarrauit igitur ei que prescripta sunt miracula et ut a temeritatis calle gressum amoueret animi multimode suadebat, sermo sed in uacuas suadentis spargitur auras.1 Quattuor etenim e clero quos et iuuenilis etatis et ambitionis pecunie feruor urebat^ in presumptionis opus2 facile conductis, una cum eis ad tumulum uirginis nulla cum reuerentia presbiter accedit. Est autem in ipso sepulchral! lapide foramen a sinistro quiescentis latere, quod perfidum piratam supradictum est fecisse. Hoc ergo ad id quod infeliciter anhelabat attemptandum sufficere ratus, surculos maratri" quo tum^ forte pauimenti superficies compta fuerat arripit,3 b a f e c d foueatis C timidi D Compesci C om. C gloss between the lines f in a later hand in C: id est feniculi turn altered to tune in C; cum D

1 Another example of a hexameter. The combination 'uacuas . . . auras' was employed with great frequency by both classical (for example Vergil, Aeneid, xii. 592, 'intus saxa sonant, uacuas it fumus ad auras') and Christian Latin poets (for example Caelius Sedulius, Carmen Paschale, ii. 114, 'nequaquam et uacuas implent balatibus auras') as well as those who imitated them subsequently (for example Abbo of Saint-Germain, Bella Parisiacae urbis, i. 239, 'flebilibus uacuas supplent clamoribus auras'), and it is therefore difficult to identify one particular source for the use of the formula here. 2 The detail that the four accomplices were motivated in part by the desire for money is an addition to the account given supposedly by yElfhelm himself, preserved as 'Transactis haud eminus'.

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hint of opposition to assent to what I have said I am going to do, and in assenting to lend a hand.' They replied to him unafraid: 'we marvel', they said, 'at the nature of this madness, in which such audacity has stolen upon you. Please, we beg you, control yourself, restrain the force of such a presumptuous idea; it is not right—nay rather it is of no benefit—that the desire you have expressed should obtain its outcome. We shall certainly not assent to you in this, we shall definitely not give our consent; look yourself to what you are going to do, you will not have any help from us. For it can faithfully be believed, and we ourselves without hesitation believe, that because she gained a noble name for her everlasting chastity, she rests in this tomb without corruption. So give way to our advice, assent to our warnings and get your mind out of this abysmal pit of a scheme as quickly as possible, or else if—God forbid!—you make so bold, the terrible chastisement of the supernal judge will smite you severely.' But he said, 'I believe that if, as you claim, she rested in this church, through her God's power would be manifesting many miracles here.' One of his fellow priests said to him, 'you may well say that because you have come here recently and have not seen with what great glory of miracles she has shone out here; I could tell you a few of them, if you want, and only ones which either I was present at and saw for myself, or that I had discovered to be true from a truthworthy informant.' And then he related to him the miracles recorded above and tried to persuade him in various ways to shift the course of his mind from the path of temerity, but his words of persuasion are scattered on the empty air.1 Having readily assembled four of the clergy who were kindled by the ardour of youth and ambition for money into an act of presumption,2 the priest together with them approached the virgin's tomb without any reverence. And in that tombstone there is a hole on the left side of the body, which I described above as the work of the scoundrel pirate. Thinking that this would suffice for the deed which he wretchedly longed to attempt, he snatched up some branches of fennel with which it so happened that the surface of the flagstones was covered at that time,3 and pushing them through 3 The presence of a later gloss above 'surculos maratri' in MS C indicates the rarity of the word 'marat(h)rum' (from the Greek, p,dpa9pov, meaning 'fennel', the more common Latin name being 'feniculum'). The words occur here by virtue of their presence in 'Transactis haud eminus', and 'maratrum' is used also by Gregory of Ely in his verse account of this episode (at line 306). Fennel, a herb which grows best on dry banks, particularly near the sea, was used as much for the fragrance of its foliage (apparently like

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quibus per ipsum foramen inmissis uirginea membra—proh nefas!— attrectare non metuit. Nee idem facere ueretur quaternorum contumacia sociorum. Post hoc" ad circumstantes conuersus ait, 'lam fateor uere quia corpus uirginis alme absque sui labe clauditur hoc lapide. Verum adhuc me uexat dubietas utrum uidelicet annon uestibus quoque permaneat integritas.' Ilico candelam accendit, accensam uirgule prefixit, ac in sepulchrum per idem foramen intulit ut ipsius lumine rei certitudinem perciperet, percepta nichil iam restaret quod pectoris interna pro huiusmodi* turbaret. Sed dum foramini luminibus appositis inspicere desiderat ipsorum mox acies caligat, nee ulla presumptori conceditur intrinsecus aspiciendi potestas. Dignum plane ut ad id cecus fieret, quod temere contemplari appeteret. Interea super mundissimas Deo dilecte uirginis uestes candela decidit, decidens arsit, ardens minime nocuit. Vere dignum admiratione miraculum flamma superardente uestem nil adustionis, nil omnino lesionis habere.1 Hec tua sunt uere, tua sunt magnalia, Christe! Pausat ut in thalamo caro sponse clausa sepulchro, eius et ad meritum, pie Rex, mutas elementum dum sacre uesti conflagrans nil nocet ignis. Erumpente autem per foramen splendore luminis, territi qui aderant ne quid intrinsecus erat flamma consumeret, presbiterum facinoris arguunt increpant et confundunt, uno pariter ore clamantes melius illi esse a materno non processisse utero, quam tanti piaculi foret perpetrator. At ille dum super illicita dupplici actione duci penitentia debuit, in maiorem potius temeritatem ducitur, atque sceleri scelus additur. Virgam arripit, arreptam in una extremitatum acuit, acutam findit, ut cillata tumulo sacris regine gloriose uestibus infigeret et* temeraria agente manu in girum pro libito uolueretur sicque foras ad intuendum eadem uestis extraheretur. O hominem infideliter dubitantem, O non iam dico sacerdotem sed sacrorum peruicacem et infidum presumptorem! Protrahit ad foramen usque ' hec D

b `bh

hums D

c

' ' om. D

that of new-mown hay) as for the savour of its bulb, which is presumably why branches were used to cover the ground around jEthelthryth's shrine. Rather intriguingly, Reginald of Coldingham, in his Life of Godric of Finchale (c. 153), while describing an incident in which a malign spirit came in the guise of a pilgrim to test Godric, refers to the fact that pilgrims were accustomed to use fennel branches as staffs, which might be another explanation for their presence at the shrine: 'circa collum quasi cuiusdam grossioris faeniculi, quo utuntur errantes peregrini, surculum instar baculi alicuius peregrinantis appenderat' ('around his neck he had hung as it were a branch of thicker fennel, which wandering pilgrims use, in the likeness of some pilgrim's staff); see ]. Stevenson (ed.), Libellm de uita et miraculis Sancti Godrici Heremitae de Finchale auctore Reginaldo nwnacho Dunelmemi, Surtees Society xx (London, 1847), p. 163.

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that hole he fearlessly—for shame!—touched the virgin's limbs with them. The arrogance of his four companions was not afraid to do the same as well. After this, turning to those who stood by he said 'Now I truly confess that the body of the dear virgin is enclosed in this stone without any decay. But still some doubt troubles me as to whether or not there is still no decay in her garments.' Right there and then he lit a candle, and having lit it he fixed it on a rod and put it through that same hole into the tomb so that by its light he might ascertain the fact of the matter, and having ascertained it then nothing of this sort would remain to trouble his inmost heart. But as he is seeking to look in by putting his eyes to the hole, abruptly their sight grows dim, and the ability to see inside is denied to that presumptuous man. Clearly he should have deserved to become blind to that which he was trying to look at with presumption. Meanwhile the candle fell on to the pure clothing of God's beloved virgin, and burnt where it fell, and did no harm with its burning.1 It was a miracle truly deserving of wonder that the clothing received no scorching, no harm at all from the flame burning on it. These are truly yours, these are your miracles, Christ! The body of your bride, enclosed in the tomb rests as if in a bedchamber, and for her merits, loving King, you transform the element so that while fire burns on her holy dress it does no harm. The brightness of the light bursts out through the hole, and those who are present are terrified that the flame may consume what was within, and they berate, rebuke, and harangue the villainous priest, all crying out with one voice that it would have been better for him if he had not issued from his mother's womb than that he should be the perpetrator of such a crime. But he, when he ought to have made penitence for his two-fold lawless deed, is led to still greater audacity and heaps sin upon sin. He seizes a stick, and having seized it sharpens it at one end, and having sharpened it divides it, so that thrusting it in the tomb he might stick it into the glorious queen's holy garments and, by rotating his impudent hand at will, twist it around, and thus pull that garment out to look at it. O faithlessly doubting man! O now I call you not a priest so much as an obstinate and infidel presumer upon holy things! He pulls right up to the hole the wrappings of the holy body, touches them with his hands, 1 This is a commonly-attested type of miracle, in a which a candle is dropped, or falls (through human negligence), on to holy things, often cloths, but burns nothing; cf. e.g. Goscelin's Vita et miracula S. Kenelmi, c. 29 (Love, Saints' Lives, p. 86), and other examples cited in the note there.

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sanctissimi corporis lintheamina, manibus contrectat, diligenter circumspectat et quoniam nulla appareret lesio stupore percellitur nimio. Sed nee sic temerario finis imponitur ausui, quinimmo longe maior aliis prenotatis temeritas ebullit. Manus quaterni quos in adiutorium sibi deuinxerat" apponunt to toque brachio ipsam uestem retinent nee dimittunt donee inde particulam infelix presbiter ad augmentum criminis abscideret. Quo facto res sequitur mira, noua seclis atque stupenda. Nam sicut postmodum unus ex illis Alfelmus nomine qui et presbiter referre solitus erat, ita uestis eadem a tenentium manibus ablata atque introrsum est retracta ut non mortua sed potentius uiuere crederetur caro sepulta, incorruptione splendida resurrectura feliciter in gloria.1 His* ita patratis sequitur mox pestis acerba, que miserrimi presbiteri domum inuadens, primo illicitam sibi coniugem cum filiis prostrauit, dein diffusa totam eius progeniem funditus extirpauit, ipsum quoque ob euadendam'7 ingruentis cladis seuitiam alio sibi loco petito paucis diebus interfluentibus extinxit.2 9. Ecce quod infideliter dubitantis temeraria generauit presumptio! Ecce quod iniusta iuste promeruit actio! Habeant ex hoc quilibet sacrarum indigni attrectatores reliquiarum quia nisi cum cordis munditia et humilitate id debent presumere. Neque sic ad ultionem uibratus ferire cessauit celestis gladius,3 uerum in quattuor ad predicte temeritatis negotium conductos transiens duos ex eis una die peremit. Tertius uero dum ecclesiasticis ac litteralibus admodum institutus esset officiis ita prorsus mente abalienatus est, ut nichil omnium que didicerat memoria retineret. Nee eum postmodum deseruit passio lunatica donee miser et infelix transitum faceret ab hac uita. Sed et quartum, cuius nomen supra dedimus, dira paralisis incommoditas perculsit^ atque per octo ferme mensium spatia * deuincxerat C

* hiis D

' euadendum C

d

percussit D

1 jElfhelm is named in LE i. 42 as having written his own account of these events (see the discussion on pp. Ixiii—Ixiv above), and at this point in the narrative in 'Transactis haud eminus', he appears to refer to himself in the third person: 'ita ab inmundis eorum manibus est subtracta, sicut retulit presbiter qui huius criminis fuit particeps, quasi earn infra tumbam duo fortissimi milites retraherent et quasi ipsa adhuc uirgo sancta uiuens eis diceret . . .' ('it [the garment] was snatched from their impure hands in such a way —just as the priest who took part in this crime reported — that it was as if two mighty warriors within the tomb were pulling it back, and as if the virgin herself, still alive were saying to them . . .'). The same is also the case a little further on in the passage, at i. 49, where the punishment meted out to the priest and his accomplices is described, and jElfhelm is explicitly named as the fourth man to suffer. 2 This sentence follows the account in LE more closely than has otherwise been the

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carefully inspects them, and because there is no sign of damage is struck with extreme amazement. But he did not at this point put an end to his audacious temerity, nay rather his audacity boiled up far higher than anything we have described so far. The four pairs of hands which he had brought together to assist him were put to work and held on to the entire sleeve of that garment and did not let go of it until that wretched priest had cut a small piece off it just to increase his crime. When he has finished, a miraculous thing follows, never seen before in this world and quite astounding. For, as one of them, named /Elfhelm, also a priest, was wont to relate afterwards, that same garment was whisked out of the hands of those that held it and pulled back inside with such force that one might think that the buried body, splendid in its incorruption and ready to rise blessedly in glory, was not dead but very vigorously alive.1 After these things had been done soon afterwards there followed a terrible plague, which entered the wretched priest's house, and first cut down the wife he had illicitly taken to himself, as well as his sons, and then spreading totally wiped out his entire family, after just a few days killed him as well, in the place he had sought out in an attempt to escape the raging of impending destruction.2 9. See what the arrogant presumption of faithless doubt has brought about! See what end an unjust deed justly deserved! Let any unworthy handlers of holy relics learn from this that they ought only to dare such a thing with purity and humility of heart. Nor once brandished in vengeance did the celestial sword cease to smite,3 but moving on to the four who were involved in the business of this act of temerity, killed two of them in one day. But the third even though he had been sufficiently instructed in ecclesiastical and literary affairs, was forthwith sent out of his mind so that his memory retained nothing of all that he had learnt. And his madness did not leave him thereafter until the unfortunate wretch left this life. But also the fourth one, whose name we mentioned above, was stricken with the terrible affliction of paralysis and for the space of about eight months case. But the differences between them highlight the stylistic intentions of the present version. Compare the phrase 'coniugem eius ac liberos omnes cita morte percussit totamque progeniem funditus extirpauit, ipsum quoque ad alterum commigrantem locum post paucos dies deduxit ad infernum', and note how the verb 'percussit' has been exchanged for 'prostrauit' which gives a fuller rhyme with 'extirpauit', and also the way the simple temporal phrase 'post paucos dies' has been replaced with the more sophisticated (and polysyllabic) 'paucis diebus interfluentibus'. 3 Cf. Deut 32: 41 ('si acuero ut fulgur gladium meum et arripuerit iudicium manus mea reddam ultionem hostibus meis').

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uehementer cruciando detinuit.1 Quern parentes ad sponse Christi mausoleum cum plurimis deportantes muneribus tota mentis deuotione et reatus indulgentiam et incolumitatem corporis a fonte pietatis deriuandam supplicabant. Quid pluribus opus est uerbis? Rumpunt gelide ualitudinis uincula, absoluuntur membra constricta, sopitur doloris angustia,2 per piissima sepememorate uirginis ac regine patrocinia, sicque sanitate potitus, letus cum parentibus remeat ad propria, laudans et glorificans incomprehensibilia mundi redemptoris beneficia, cui laus atque decus honor et pax gloria uirtus. Amen* * om. C; D concludes at this point, while C continues with an account of later miracles which are also incorporated in LE 1

See above, p. 128 n. i. This sequence of three clauses in asyndeton, linked by rhyme, is reminiscent of Goscelin's frequent use of the same rhetorical figure; see e.g. Hist, mime., c. 7, 'Rudentes rumpuntur, velum scinditur, malus frangitur, navis subvertitur' (ActaS, Maii, vi. 40iC), 2

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was kept in terrible agony.1 His parents carried him to the tomb of the bride of Christ with many offerings and with complete devotion of mind they pleaded both for forgiveness of his sin and also for wholeness of body to flow from the fount of love. What need is there for more words? The bonds of his frozen affliction burst, his fettered limbs are released, the anguish of the pain is laid to rest,2 through the most loving patronage of the oftnamed virgin and queen, and thus having gained his health he went joyfully home with his parents, praising and glorifying the unimaginable generosity of the Redeemer of the world, to whom be praise and splendor, honour and peace, glory, virtue. Amen. and Mimcula S. Mildrethe, c. 18, 'Franguntur conclauia, perrumpuntur penetralia, reserantur clausa, rimantur archana' (Rollason, 'Goscelin', p. 177). The present example is, however, less tightly constructed than the most striking occurrences of the figure in Goscelin's writing.

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VITA BEATE SEXBVRGE REGINE SIGLA

A = London, BL, Cotton Caligula A. viii, fos. io8r-i2ov T = Cambridge, Trinity College O. 2. i, fos. 21^—22^

INCIPIT PROEMIVM IN VITA BEATE SEXBVRGE REGINE Plerique secularis scientie periti dum fame sue laudem construere preclaram intenderent, et immortalem memoriam nomenque perhenne quod non periret adquirere, animos preoccupauere scenicis oblectationibus irretiti, deos gentium et gesta uirorum fortium monumentis mandare litterarum.1 Turn preterea aliis atque aliis uisum est nobilium preconia feminarum titulis insignire, earumque hystorias posteritati tradere profuturas, cum neque sese pudicitia perimentis Lucretie uirtutis exemplum imitabile preheat,2 neque lactata a serpentibus Cleopatra meritorum scribenti gloriam conferat eternorum.3 Quid enim legisse prodest uel Amazones armis bellicis triumphantes uel nenias poeticas magnanimitate ac uires earum rethoricis floribus colorantes?4 Semiramis ilia famosissima quam sibi inmortalitatem inuexit, que Babilonis iaciens fundamenta urbem muris coctilibus cinxit?5 Senescente itaque seculo nomen eorum et fama iam senuit, et testante propheta memoria eorum cum sonitu periit,6 quam quidem a creatore suo mercedem superare By the very choice of opening words the author attempted to establish his credentials as a hagiographer, since they echo the opening of the preface (itself modelled on Sallust) to Sulpicius Severus' VitaS. Martini (ed.J. Fontaine, 3 vols., SC cxxxiii—cxxxv, 1967—9), one of the pre-eminent classics of early hagiography: 'Plerique mortales, studio et gloriae saeculari inaniter dediti, exinde perennem, ut putabant, memoriam nominis sui quaesierunt, si vitas clarorum virorum stilo inlustrassent' (i. i, 'Many mortals, vainly devoted to the pursuit of worldly glory, have accordingly sought to immortalize their own name, or so they believed, by penning an account of the lives of famous men'). It should also be noted that this opening could not be a more conspicuous change from the rhyming prose style we have observed as being so characteristic of Goscelin: here rhyme seems to have been deliberately shunned: certainly it would hardly have been difficult to move 'construere' to the end of the first part of the 'dum' sub-clause, and to place 'mandare' at the end of the whole period. 2 Lucretia was, according to legend, associated with the end of the monarchy at Rome, since she is said to have been raped by the son of Tarquinius Superbus (the last Etruscan king of Rome), to have committed suicide as a consequence, and thereby to have precipitated popular uprising against the Tarquin dynasty, and the establishment of the Republic (Livy, Ab urbe condita, i. 58). The present allusion to Lucretia may owe something to a reference to her in Jerome, Ep. cxxiii. 7, 'Lucretiam, quae amissa gloria castitatis noluit pollutae conscientiae superuiuere' (CSEL Ivi. 80) 3 Literally 'Cleopatra milked by serpents' (though strictly speaking 'lacto' means 'give milk' as opposed to 'lacteo' meaning 'suckle/take milk'), alluding to the story that she had clasped an asp to her bosom to commit suicide, following the suicide of Antony (a story which the author could have encountered, if not from some classical Latin historical 1

HERE BEGINS THE PROEM TO THE LIFE OF BLESSED QUEEN SEAXBURH Many of those who are skilled in the wisdom of the world, in striving to build up the good name of their reputation and to acquire an immortal remembrance and an everlasting name which will not perish, ensnared by theatrical delectations, preoccupy their minds with committing to the monuments of letters the gods of the gentiles and the deeds of strong men.1 Then moreover it has seemed good to others and yet others to mark down and inscribe the praises of noble women, and to hand down their stories for the benefit of posterity, since neither can the chastity of the dying Lucretia offer them an imitable example of virtue,2 nor does Cleopatra, giving suck to serpents, confer the glory of eternal rewards upon the author.3 For what benefit can there be to have read about the Amazons triumphing with martial weapons or in colouring poetic trifles with their magnanimity and their strength with the flowers of rhetoric?4 Or that very famous Semiramis, who brought about immortality for herself by laying down the foundations of Babylon and surrounding the city with walls built of burnt bricks?5 In sum, as the world grows old so also their name and their renown has now grown old, and as the prophet foretells, 'their memory hath perished with its noise',6 yet they have not learnt how to win an source, then at least from a Christian Latin chronicle such as Jerome's version of the Chronicon of Eusebius, clxii. 21—2). 4 Amazons, the one-breasted female warriors who inhabited the edge of the known world; cf. Pliny, Natural History, vi. 19. Note here clause-end rhyme begins to be introduced, though the pattern which emerges during this section is that of rhyme linking earlier clauses in a period, with the rhyme pattern broken for the last clause (or similarly asymetrical arrangements). It should also be noted that the author probably introduced this sequence of characters—Lucretia, Cleopatra, the Amazons—in imitation of Sulpicius Severus' preface already mentioned in n. i. There we find similar rhetorical questions: 'Quid enim aut ipsis occasura cum saeculo scriptorum suorum gloria profuit? aut quid posteritas emolumenti tulit legendo Hectorem pugnantem aut Socraten philosophantem?' (i. 3, 'For what use to them was the glory accorded to their writings, glory which will perish with the world? Or what benefit did posterity get from reading about Hector's battles or Socrates' philosophy?') 5 This allusion to a line of Ovid, Metamorphoses, iv. 58, 'coctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis urbem,' referring to the wife of the Assyrian ruler Ninus, who herself became queen, may have been derived from Bede's commentary on Genesis, Book iii. n (CCSL cxviiiA. 515—17), which in turn drew upon Jerome's commentary on the Minor Prophets 6 (on Hosea) i. 2. (CCSL Ixxvi. 397). Ps. 9: 7.

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non didicerunt eternam. Verum regina ilia Saba que uenit in Hierusalem sapientiam audire Salomonis et diuitias regni inuestigare illius1 cui clauis Dauid ostium fidei aperuit,2 quam rex introduxit in cubiculum suum,3 nobis mysteria ecclesie insinuet, et sanctarum feminarum prefiguret et preloquatur augmentum. Hec est regina que astitit a dextris regis pacifici in uestitu deaurato, circumdata uarietate uirtutum, a in cuius honore tripudiant filie regum,4 que cum fragili seculo fragilem* etiam uicerunt et sexum.5 Quarum quedam uirginitatis floribus redimite, quedam sui sacri sanguinis martyrio rubricate, quedam uiduitatis insignite proposito, pro diuersitate meritorum coronas a Domino recepere premiorum. Inter eas siquidem nobis beata Sexburga femina uirtutis occurrit, que tanquam ludith caput Olofernis castitatis gladio libidinem a se et abscidit et secuit,6 et regno in anima et in carne sua eterne pacis effecto regiac uirago ad regem regum operum suorum et fidei reportauit triumphum. Huius ego gesta caritate fratrum instigante compulsus emendatioribus^ scedulis donare disposui, neque hoc uiribus meis attribuere gestiens, sed uni uiuo et uero Deo patri et filio et spiritui sancto.7 In cuius* nomine et omnipotentia qui aperit os mutum et linguas infantium facit disertas,8 ueritatis splendore preeunte opus prosequi prelibatum aggrediar, ut ecclesia Dei per secula tante ueneretur sanctitatis exemplar. A natuitate igitur eius primo sumam exordium, et quibus genitoribus exorta sit quibusue^ moribus informata, quibus etiam quantisque diuitiarum copiis in mundo floruerit, et qualiter pro habitis omnibus regni deliciis carnem suam attriuerit, et se in odorem suauitatis Domino lesu Christo sacrificauerit,9 et quo fine ex hac instabili et temporali ad eternam illam lucem in celis migrauerit, ueraci mentione absoluendum est. Quedam ipsius opera * uirtuum T f quibus ne T 1

k

fragile T

' regina T

d

emendationibus T

' hums T

See 3 Kgs.(i Kgs.) 10: i-io for the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. Cf. Rev. 3: 7 ('qui habet clavem David qui aperit'). Cf. S. of S. i: 3 ('introduxit me rex in cellaria sua'), in the Vetus Latina version, very possibly derived from Jerome, Ep. cxxi. praef, 'qui habet clauem Dauid, aperit et nemo claudit . . . ut illo reserante introeas cubiculum eius et dicas introduxit me rex in cubiculum suum' (CSEL Ixi. 3), which immediately follows discussion of the conversion of the Queen of Sheba, 'quae de finibus terrae sapientiam uenit audire Salomonis'. 4 Ps. 44(45): 10 ('filiae regum in honore tuo adstetit regina a dextris tuis in uestitu deaurato circumdata uarietate'). 5 Cf. Jerome, Ep. cxxii. 4, 'fragilior sexus uincit saeculum et robustior superatur a saeculo' (CSEL Ivi. 70). 6 Judith 13: 10; cf. LectEorm, c. 7. 2

3

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everlasting reward from their Creator. But in truth that queen of Sheba who came to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon and discover the riches of his kingdom,1 to whom the key of David opened the door of faith,2 whom the king brought into his bedchamber,3 intimates to us the mysteries of the church, and prefigures and foretells the spread of holy women. This is the queen who stands at the peace-bringing king's right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with a variety of virtues, in whose honour king's daughters dance,4 who with the fragile world also overcome their fragile sex.5 Some of them are adorned with the flowers of virginity, others reddened with the martyrdom of their holy blood, yet others distinguished by the estate of widowhood, and for the diversity of their merits they have received the crowns of rewards from the Lord. Among them, indeed, we see blessed Seaxburh, woman of virtue, who as Judith did with the head of Holofernes both cut off and severed lust from herself with the sword of chastity,6 and having achieved the reign of eternal peace in her soul and in her flesh, as a royal heroine bore the triumph of her deeds and her faith to the King of Kings. Compelled by the instigation of the brethren's love I have set out to record her deeds in more correct form, not seeking to attribute it to my own strength, but to the one living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.7 In the name and omnipotence of Him who opens the mouth of the dumb and makes the tongues of infants eloquent,8 with the splendour of truth going before me, I shall undertake to complete the task in view, so that the Church of God may reverence for ever this example of great sanctity. And so I shall take my beginning from the moment of her birth, and must describe from start to finish in truthful account from which parents she arose and with what character she was formed, with which great quantities of wealth she flourished in the world, and how instead of all the available pleasures of the kingdom she wore down her flesh and gave herself as a sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ in the odour of sweetness,9 and by what end she passed over from this fickle and temporary life to that eternal light in heaven. Some of her deeds may be found in the ancient writings of the 7 By 'emendatioribus schedulis' the author intends to suggest that he is introducing some improvement upon previous accounts of Seaxburh, presumably among them LectSex, which may have seemed too brief a record. It is in any case the customary claim of hagiographers to be improving upon the style of what went before. 8 Wisd. 10: 21 CQuoniam sapientia aperuit os mutuorum et linguas infantium fecit disertas'). 9 Phil. 4: 18 ('odorem suauitatis hostiam acceptam').

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ex antiquis Anglorum scriptis sunt comperta,1 quedam nobis fidelium uirorum relatione cognita, que ad Dei laudem et gloriam pro nostra eruditione simplici stilo sunt exaranda. Nee humanum inde fauorem aut gratiam exquiro, nee statuam mihi futilem pro mercede exopto, quoniam spero a Christo premium pro labore, gloriam et felicitatem subsequentis uite. Adiuuet ipsa precibus suis sanctis de qua tractare disponimus, adiens cum fiducia pro nobis ad thronum gratie Dei,2 ut bonis principiis felicem exitum tribuat, et noui cursus acceleratione inexpertum" non retardet aurigam.* i. Insignis Christi sponsa et preciosa Domini uirago Sexburga parentibus in seculo splendidissimis procreata, morum laudabilis honestate refulsit. Pater eius ex antiquorum sanguine regum carnis ducens prosapiam, apud Orientales Anglos regie dignitatis optinuit principatum. Is Anna uocabuli notatus elogio, in sancto sudore sanctorum effectus est particeps et minister. Nam uiro Dei Furseo qui intra metas eiusdem regni monasterium sibi statuerat prompta uoluntate non defuit, sed facultatum suarum occurrit augmentis.3 Pauperis Christi amplectentibus paupertatem deuoto pauper spiritu adherebat famulatu.4 Cui ex matrimonio non impari iuncta, pari reginac conregnat honore.5 His in infirmiori sexu Deus pignora prestitit, quorum splendore illustratus est senatus ecclesie, et intercessionum rore madet salubriter irrigatus. In tarr/ sacre generationis propagatione festiua, simphoniam sursum miscent celi,6 et deorsum congratulatur facies orbis terre. Primogenita omnium Sexburga extitit, que prius in Christo est consecrata quam nata. Hec ut in sequentibus demonstrabitur, quod bene in morum institutione didicit, in operum bonorum executione melius impleuit et docuit. In annis itaque puellaribus cum in sericis et purpura deaurata incederet, rudes animi fluenta euuangelica perbiberunt, uirtutesque fulciebantur uirtutibus et uitiorum Caribdim ipsa sine a in exopertum A nine lines left blank in A

b

Explicit proemium. Incipit Vita beate Sexburge abbatisse T, c d uocabulo HereswiSa add. T terra A

1 Although it is conventional in hagiography to refer to the authority of ancient documents, the author may have had in mind the Old English text which survives in the so-called Lambeth fragments, which included a brief account of Seaxburh (Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', pp. 23—4), the basic elements of which are reproduced in the present Vita, and represent a substantial elaboration upon the information about Seaxburh supplied by the Lectiones; see above, p. xxx. 2 Heb. 4: 16 ('adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae'). 3 The source for this information about St Fursa was undoubtedly Bede, HE iii. 19,

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English,1 others we have learnt from the account of trustworthy men, and they shall be set out in simple style to the praise and glory of God, and for our edification. Nor do I seek human favour or gratitude from it, nor do I desire a worthless statue for myself as payment, since I hope for a reward for my labour from Christ, namely the glory and felicity of the life to come. May also the saint of whom we intend to treat assist with her holy prayers, approaching with confidence God's throne of grace,2 so that He may grant a happy issue to good beginnings, and may not slow the untried charioteer speeding on his new course. i. The excellent bride of Christ and precious heroine of the Lord, Seaxburh, was brought into the world by most splendid parents, and shone out as praiseworthy in the honesty of her character. Her father took his fleshly descent from the blood of ancient kings, and held the dominion of royal rank over the East Angles. He was denoted by name Anna, and was made the participant in, and minister to, the sainted sweating toil of the saints. For to the man of God Fursey, who had set up his monastery within the bounds of that kingdom, he did not fail in his duty with ready will, but assisted with the increase of his property.3 Poor in spirit, with devoted service he [Anna] sought the company of those who were embracing the poverty of the pauper Christ.4 His wife by a not unequal match, the queen reigned with him in equal honour.5 God bestowed upon them offspring of the weaker sex, by whose splendour the assembly of the Church has been illuminated and is moist with the wholesome watering of the dew of their intercessions. At the joyous engendering of such holy begetting, on high the heavens stir up a symphony,6 and here below the face of earth's sphere brightens. The firstborn of all was Seaxburh, who was consecrated to Christ even before she was born. She, as will be shown in what follows, in the carrying out of good works fulfilled and taught even better that which she had learnt well in her moral formation. So it was that in the years of her girlhood while she went about in silken garments and gold-edged purple, her young mind drank deeply of the running waters of the gospels, and virtues were sustained by virtues, and she passed through the where it is explicitly stated that Anna, 'rex prouinciae illius', adorned Fursa's establishment with 'augustioribus aedificiis ac donariis'. 4 Cf. Matt. 5: 3 ('beati pauperes spiritu'). 5 On the insistence in T upon identifying Anna's wife as Hereswith see p. Ixxxvii. 6 Note the alliteration here, as also earlier on this section ('sancto sudore sanctorum', also an example of polyptoton).

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uitio persequebatur.1 Non lasciua, non garrula,2 sed sobria et modesta thalamorum secretis intererat paternorum. Non est egressa cum Dina ut uideret filias aliene regionis neque earn ui uiolator castitatis oppressit.3 Non iuuenibus cincinnatis arridebat,4 nee applaudebat procis forma delicatis. 2. Veruntamen cum ad nubiles uirgo peruenisset annos, et a plurimis florente iuuenta peteretur in coniugium, mallet si inoffenso patre fieri posset spirituales nuptias sciscitari, et imitari Mariam quam in cubiculo suo solam angelus repperit,5 quam de successione carnalium tractare filiorum. Igitur cum decretis nequiret rationabiliter obuiare paternis, neque parentum refragari desiderio, tradita est et dotata" matrimonio insigni, condigno etiam generis sui natalibus generosis. Cumque ex diuersis regnis tarn reges quam principes eius nuptiis inhiarent, ipsaque ad amplexus celestis sponsi totis desideriis anhelaret, procreandorum tamen spe et fiducia liberorum nupsit Erconberto Cantuariorum regi, uiro ex uirtutibus iustitiaque toti compacto, qui Eadbaldo parente progenitus, auum habuit sanctum regem /Ethelbertum/ qui beatum Anglorum apostolum Augustinum et cum eo sanctorum consortium sub diuo positus primo audiuit,6 et benigno recepit hospicio. A quo isdem rex salutaris regeneratus fonte baptismatis, ecclesiam Christi in Cantuariorum urbe construxit, ibidemque ei et successoribus eius cathedram et sedem episcopalem instituit. Huius filii ut premisimus filio nupsit bellatrix Christi Sexburga lucerna fidei accensa, seipsam Deo matutinum offerens sacrificiumque uespertinum.7 3. Sicque inter fulgorem palatii et dignitatum uixit fastigia.8 Sic regiis ornata insignibus Deo cara extitit, ut tanquam Hester inter aurum et purpuram superbiam humilitate domuerit.9 Sic in tota etate " donata T

b

ASelbertum A

1 Charybdis and Scylla, the whirlpool and rocks which rendered the straits between Italy and Sicily dangerous (as for example in Virgil, Aeneid, i. 420). 2 Cf. Jerome, Ep. cvii. 4, 'nutrix ipsa non sit temulenta, non lasciua, non garrula' (CSEL Iv. 295). This particular letter to Laeta, 'de institutione filiae', is quarried again in subsequent chapters. 3 On Dinah see Gen. 34: i; and cf. Jerome, Ep. cvii. 6, 'ne egrediatur cum Dina et uelit uidere filias regionis alienae'(C5£L Iv. 297). 4 Cf. ibid. 9, 'nullus ei iuuenis, nullus cincinnatus adrideat' (CSEL Iv. 300). 5 Meaning the Annunciation to Mary by the archangel Gabriel; cf. Jerome, Ep. cvii. 7, 'quaerant earn . . . prophetas et apostolos de spiritalibus nuptiis sciscitantem. Imitetur Mariam, quam Gabriel solam in cubiculo suo repperit' (CSEL Iv. 298). 6 'Sub diuo positus' alludes to the description of this encounter by Bede, HE i. 25 ('et residens sub diuo iussit Augustinum cum sociis ad suum ibidem aduenire colloquium').

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Charibdis of the vices herself without vice.1 Not lustful, or prattling,2 but sober and modest, she entered into the secrets of the inner rooms of the Fathers. She did not go out like Dinah to see the daughters of foreign regions nor did the violator of chastity oppress her with force.3 She did not smile at youths with curly locks,4 nor show her approval of suitors comely in form. 2. Nevertheless, when the virgin reached marriageable age and was sought in marriage by many men in the blossom of youth, she decided that if it could be done without opposition from her father she would prefer to inquire into spiritual wedlock, and to imitate Mary whom the angel found alone in her bedchamber,5 rather than to deal in the producing of sons of the flesh. But since she could not reasonably resist her father's orders, nor gainsay the wish of her parents, she was given—with full dowry—into a noble marriage, indeed one entirely befitting the high-born origins of her lineage. And from various kingdoms as many kings as princes longed eagerly to marry her, yet at the same time she panted for the embraces of the heavenly bridegroom with all her longings. However, in the hope and trust of begetting children she was married to Earconberht, king of Kent, a man made up entirely of virtues and justice, who was born the son of Eadbald, and had as his grandfather the sainted king /Ethelberht, who in the open air first heard the blessed apostle of the English, Augustine, and the fellowship of saints with him,6 and gave him a kindly welcome. This king was reborn in the font of saving baptism by him, built a church of Christ in the city of Canterbury, and there established for him and his successors a throne and episcopal see. To his son's son, as we have just said, was married the she-warrior of Christ, Seaxburh, who with the lamp of her faith lit, was offering herself to God as a morning and an evening sacrifice.7 3. Thus, she lived amongst the splendour of the palace and the lofty heights of high rank.8 Thus adorned with royal attire she was so dear to God that like Esther among the gold and purple she tamed pride by humility.9 Thus in all her life from the very youthful 7 The twice-daily burnt-offering as described in 4 Kgs.(2 Kgs.) 16: 15 ('offer holocaustum matutinum et sacrincium uespertinum'). 8 Cf. Jerome, Ep. Ixxix. 2, 'inter fulgorem palatii et honorum culmina . . . sic uixit' (CSEL Iv. 88). 9 Cf. Esther 2: 17; but also Jerome, Ep. Ixxix. 2, 'Joseph . . . regis ornatus insignibus sic deo carus fuit' and 'Mardocheus et Hester inter purpuram, sericum et gemmas superbiam humilitate uicerunt' (CSEL Iv. 89, 90).

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a primeuo sancte illius coniunctionis exordio tanta uerecundia regebatur, ut pudorem uinceret uirginalem.1 Sic gestus corporis et habitus sobrietas temperabat, ut ne leui uel paruo obsceni rumoris neuo famam eius infamia ulla fuscaret.2 Datur etiam nuptui felix et celesti sponso digna beatissima soror eius /Etheldritha, que sponso priore defuncto, alteri a patre regi iterato sociatur conubio, et cum utroque inuiolata permanet et perpetua uirgo. Cuius post mortem uiuenti similis in sepulchro carnis testatur incorruptio quod nulla earn corruptio carnis incenderit. Nullum eius pudicitia perpessa sit detrimentum. Tercia earum germana nomine /Ethebberga" Domino lesu Christo militatura nauem ascendit, equoreas undas pertransit,* iterque peregrinationis arripiens, in Brigensi monasterio abbatisse functa officio.3 Plena uirtutibus et sanctitate ultimum in manus creatoris spiritum exhalauit. De beata Withburga que ab aquilonali latere iuxta sepulchrum precellentissime regine et uirginis /ESeldreSe condigna sortita est sepulturam, omni ambiguitate remota pro certo Dei confitetur et credit ecclesia, cquod in hac uita indefessa contemplatrix anhelans ad supera, sanctimonialium religiosa mater et uenerabilis extitit feminarum. Que in sancto proposito diem corporis claudens extremum, in ecclesia quam ipsa fundauerat cum maxima reuerentia collocata est. Cuius caroc gloriosa post trecentos^ quinquaginta annos tota Integra est reperta, et per integritatem uirginitatis, incorruptio ostensa est integerrimi corporis.4 Ceterum cum rex prefatus Anna sanctarum pater feminarum in defensione Christiane religionis insudaret, a quodam gentili et sacrilego Merciorum duce Penda nomine interemptus est, et a bonorum remuneratore Deo glorioso in celis martyrio coronatus.5 4. Suscepit itaque Sexburga regina gloriosa cum rege sponso suo temporalis regni excellentiam, sicque utraque manu usa est pro dextera,6 ut Liam in fecunditate et Rachelem in forme excellentia preferret.7 Vt in actiua Mariam Martha non* desereret, et in a b cc sic AT pertransiit T Omitted in the text of A, but copied into the margin in d a hand broadly contemporary with the main hand; now partly trimmed off trescentos A ' inserted in T 1 Jerome, Ep. Ixxix. 5, 'in primo aetatis flore tantae uerecundiae fuit, ut uirginalem pudorem uinceret' (CSEL Iv. 92). 2 Ibid. 5, 'et ne leuem quidem in se obsceni rumoris fabulam daret' (CSEL Iv. 92). 3 Cf. Bede, HE iii. 8. 4 Wihtburh was translated in 1102. ASC F has a marginal addition which assigns the exhumation of Wihtburh at Dereham to 798 (799), stating that it was 55 years after her

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beginnings of that holy union she was ruled by such modesty that she conquered virginal shame.1 Thus, sobriety so tempered her bodily gestures and her clothing that no ill repute darkened her reputation with the slightest or merest blemish of foul rumour.2 Her most blessed sister /Ethelthryth, fortunate and worthy of the heavenly bridegroom, was also given in marriage, but her first husband died, and her father the King gave her in marriage again to another man, and with both she remained inviolate and a perpetual virgin. After her death, lying in the tomb like someone still living, the incorruption of her flesh testified that no corruption of the flesh had made her burn. Her chastity endured no loss. Their other sister, called /Ethelburh, boarded ship in order to go to battle for the Lord Jesus Christ, crossed the watery waves, and entering upon the way of pilgrimage held the position of abbess in the monastery of Brie.3 Full of virtues and holiness she at last breathed out her spirit into the hands of the Creator. Concerning the blessed Wihtburh, who was fittingly allotted a burial place on the north side, next to the tomb of the excellent queen and virgin /Ethelthryth, the church of God confesses and believes for certain, all doubt being put aside, that in this life she was a tireless contemplative who longed for the heavens, and was a holy and venerable mother superior to nuns. In this holy resolution she ended the last day of this bodily life, and was buried with the utmost reverence in the church, which she had herself founded. After three hundred and fifty years, her glorious flesh was found to be wholly intact, and by the intactness of her virginity, the incorruption of her intact body was manifested.4 To complete the story, while the aforementioned King Anna, father of holy women, was striving in defence of the Christian religion, he was slain by a certain pagan and profane leader of the Mercians, named Penda, and was crowned with glorious martyrdom by the God of heaven, the giver of good things.5 4. So it was that Seaxburh, the glorious queen, with her husband the king received the distinction of temporal dominion, and used the left hand as well as the right,6 so that she represented Leah in her fruitfulness and Rachel in the distinction of her outward appearance.7 Just as in her active life Martha did not abandon Mary, and in her death. That would place her death at 743, some 64 years after her supposed sister yEthelthryth. See above, p. Ixxxi, and Ridyard, Royal Saints, p. 57. 5 Anna's death at the hands of Penda is noted almost in passing by Bede, HE iii.iS ('qui et ipse postea ab eodem pagano Merciorum duce . . . occisus est'). 6 Judg. 3: 15 (of a man who could fight with either hand). 7 See Gen. 29—30, for the story of Leah and Rachel.

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contemplatiua a Marthe officio nee Maria priuaretur.1 Cecorum, esurientium, miserorum, languentium, baculus, cibus, spes, et solamen extitit.2 Dumque in terreni palatii gloria sub cyclade et lino candenti corpus suum attereret/ dum lurida ieiuniis ora portaret, dum sub alterius specie alteri militaret,3 procreatur in ilia parentalis dulcedo liberorum, quos in huius seculi lucem uictrix uitiorum regina ipsa effudit. Et quia in se utroque Domini erat mandato instructa, quibus duum testamentorum consonantia informatur,4 in utroque sexu bina uiro pignora peperit, quorum ortus tarn Deo quam hominibus effectus est gratiosus.5 Reges duo Egbertus et Lotharius, tanquam duo planete in celo lucentes oriuntur. In altero sexu /Ermenilda* et Erkengoda tanquam duo sidera preclara apparent. Prior harum Wlfero Merciorum regi iugata, preciosissimam uirginem et sponsam Christi Werburgam'7 progenuit, cuius grauitas morum adeo frontis hilaritate temperata reluxit,6 ut sanctarum uiduarum et uirginum choros ad sponsi celestis amplexus et inuitaret uerbo et preiret exemplo. Altera ad exteras nationes et transmarina loca demigrans, sacros monasteriorum conuentus peregrina circuiit, et post mortem lucis sue radios patentibus signis euidenter ostendit. Regina uero beata diuersorum calamitatibus sulleuandis intenta, palatium instituit receptaculum miserorum, quos languore et inedia consumptos et egrotantes de plateis colligere et refouere faciebat.7 Non inuenit in illam auaritia quod quateret, superbia quod inflaret, ambitio quod delectaret.8 5. A primis nuptiarum solenniis non incertum sancti coniugii domesticis feminis prebebat exemplum,9 ut uiris subiecte et mentis uoluptate carerent et inter legitimos carnis complexus maioris a atteret A signe de renvoie) 1

b

Ermenilda T

c

Inserted in the margin in A (official correction, with

Mary and Martha occur in Luke 10: 39—42. Cf. Jerome, Ep. Ix. 10, 'caecorum baculus esurientium cibus spes miserorum solamen lugentium fuit' (CSEL liv. 560). Admittedly such lists as this are a commonplace of hagiography (see e.g. Goscelin, Vita S. Whini, c. iv; Talbot, 'The Life', p. 76), but the same letter of Jerome is used again just a little further on. 3 Jerome, Ep. Ix. 9, 'in palatii militia sub chlamyde et candenti lino corpus eius cilicio tritum sit quod stans ante saeculi potestates lurida ieiuniis ora portauerit, quod adhuc sub alterius indumentis alteri militant' (CSEL liv. 558). Cf. Goscelin, Vita S. Edithe, i. 12 (Wilmart, 'La legende', p. 70-1), for a description of this same practice of wearing a hairshirt under royal garb. 4 An allusion to Matt. 22: 37-40, where Christ states that the two most important commandments are to love God and love your neighbour, 'and on these two depend all the Law and the Prophets'. 5 Cf. i Kgs. (i Sam.) 2: 26 ('placebat tarn Deo quam hominibus'). 2

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contemplative life Mary was not excused from the work of Martha.1 To the blind, the hungry, the wretched, the sick she was staff, food, hope, and comfort.2 And while in the glory of the earthly palace under her robe and pure white linen she wore out her body, while she had wan cheeks from fasting, while under the appearance of one thing she strove for another cause,3 there was begotten in her the sweet bearing of children whom the queen herself, conqueress of the vices, brought forth into the light of this world. And because there was in her a combination of both the Lord's commands, by which the harmony of the two Testaments is created,4 she bore by her husband two children of each sex, whose birth was pleasing both to God and to men.5 Two Kings, Ecgberht and Hlothhere were born, rising like two bright planets in the heavens. Of the other sex, Eormenhild and Earcongota came forth like two brilliant stars. The former was joined in marriage to Wulfhere, king of the Mercians, and bore Wxrburh, the most precious virgin and bride of Christ; the seriousness of her character was so beautifully tempered by the cheerfulness of her countenance,6 that she drew hosts of holy widows and virgins into the embraces of the heavenly Bridegroom, both bidding them by her words and also going before them by her example. The latter travelling to foreign countries and places abroad, went as a pilgrim to holy monastic communities, and after her death plainly showed the bright beams of her brilliance by manifest miracles. Meanwhile the blessed queen, intent upon easing the hardships of divers persons, established the palace as a refuge for the needy, and she had all those who were worn down and ailing with weakness and hunger gathered in from the streets and taken care of.7 Avarice found nothing in her which it could shake, pride nothing it could puff up, ambition nothing it could seduce.8 5. From the very ceremony of the marriage she offered an unambiguous example of holy wedlock to the women of her household,9 so that submissive to their husbands they had no lasciviousness of mind, and amidst the legitimate embraces of the flesh were granted 6 Cf. Jerome, Ep. Ix. 10, 'grauitatem morum hilaritate frontis temperabat' (CSEL liv. 560). 7 Jerome, Ep. Ixxvii. 6, lvoaoKofiiov instituit, in quo aegrotantes colligeret de plateis et consumpta languoribus atque inedia miserorum membra foueret' (CSEL Iv. 43). 8 Jerome, Ep. xxii. 8, 'non sic auaritia quatit inflat superbia delectat ambitio' (CSEL liv. 154). 9 Cf. Jerome, Ep. xxii. 15, 'incerta coniugii de domestico exemplo didicisti' (CSEL liv. 162).

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continentie mercede donarentur.1 Ita sese humilibus et mansuetis aut parem aut inferiorem estimabat, ut imperialis uindicem sententiam maiestatis superbis in iudicio formidabilem intonaret. Cum summa utique cura atque diligentia omnia prouisa erant et parata, adeo ut tota res publica in ea haberet et satis presidii et, prout dictabat ratio, unicuique congruebat etati. Collateralem suum regem in dies cotidie ad studium beate inmortalitatis accendere, ad sacrarum edium domicilia statuenda, ad terenda sancte ecclesie limina,a ad uigilias sanctorum deuotis excubiis exercendas, ad monasteria in quibus non erant locis construenda, ad ruinas morum reficiendas, insignis matrona animum induxit. Deos gentium et cultus eorum, fana antiqua et delubra, per totum regnum suum deleri, et uni Deo ac Domino corda omnium rex Erconbertus subiugari coegit, primusque solenne quadragesimalis obseruantie ieiunium inter omnes Anglorum reges generali sanciuit edicto, penamque transgressoribus imperii regalis indixit.2 6. Conueniunt inter se regnum et sacerdotium quorum mundus splendide concordia regitur, et ecclesia Dei florere solet et fructificare. Predicande sanctitatis minister, Honorius et meriti summus sacerdos eximii, successorque eius sanctus Deusdedit* pontifex egregius,3 haud diuerso studio et non dissimili ratione fedus immortale suo quisque in tempore cum beata regina pepigerunt. Quorum doctrina et exhortationibus sacris, que Cesaris Cesari consignabat, et que Dei erant reddebat Deo.4 Instantia eius pugnat pudor et petulantia superatur;5 pudicitia uictrix insultat, impudicitie uota reciduntur; fides uiget, fraudis dolositas eneruatur; pietas maturescit, destruitur scelus; constantia inuincibilis perseuerat, uesania furoris effeminatur; honestas regnat, turpitudo deicitur; continentia approbatur, dampnatur libido; equitati cedit iniquitas, temperantia luxurie fluxa restringit;6 a 1

lumina T

b

deus dedit T

Cf. i Pt. 3: 5 ('subiectae propriis viris') and Jerome, Ep. xxii. 15, 'experta careat uoluptate, minorem continentiae habere mercedem' (CSEL liv. 163). 2 Bede, HE iii. 8. 3 Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury from sometime between 627 and 631 until 653; Deusdedit, 655-64. 4 Luke 20: 25. 5 This sentence, as also the whole passage which follows, is based upon an example of how to use antithesis in speaking and writing in Isidore's Etymologiae, ii. 21. 5 (which itself consists of an extended quotation from Cicero, In Catilinam, ii. 25): 'ex hac parte pudor pugnat, illinc petulantia; hinc pudicitia, illinc stuprum; hinc fides, illinc fraudatio; hinc pietas, illinc scelus; hinc constantia, illinc furor; hinc honestas, illinc turpitudo; hinc

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the reward of greater continence.1 She so much believed herself to be either equal or inferior to the humble and gentle, that she thunderously issued the avenging sentence of imperial majesty terrifying to the proud under judgement. And certainly with the utmost care and diligence possible everything was seen to and prepared so that the administration of the whole realm had in her both sufficient protection, and, as reason dictated, was accommodating to those of all ages. Day after day the excellent matron applied her mind to inspiring her consort the King to daily zeal for blessed immortality, to the setting up of sacred buildings, to frequenting holy churches, to the observance of the feasts of the saints with devout watchings, to the constructing of monasteries in places where there were none, to the restoring of ruined morals. King Earconberht saw to it that the gods of the pagans and all their cult, their ancient temples and shrines were destroyed throughout his whole kingdom, and that the hearts of all were made subject to the one God and Lord, and he was the first among all the kings of the English to sanction by general edict the solemn observance of the Lenten fast, and set a punishment for those who transgressed the royal orders.2 6. The sovereignty and the priesthood were of one accord, and by their harmony the world is honourably ruled and the Church of God is accustomed to blossom and bear fruit. A minister of commendable holiness, Honorius, a bishop of outstanding merits, and his successor St Deusdedit, also an excellent bishop,3 each in their own time settled upon an immortal pact with the blessed queen, with no different an intention and similar reasoning. By their teaching and holy encouragement, she rendered to Caesar what was Caesar's, and to God what was God's.4 By her perseverance shame strives and sauciness is overcome;5 chastity wins the victory, the desires of inchastity are cut short; faithfulness thrives, the deceit of falsehood is unmanned; dutifulness ripens, and sin is destroyed; unconquerable constancy perseveres, the raging of anger is softened; uprightness reigns, baseness is cast aside; continence is approved, lasciviousness condemned; iniquity yields to equity, temperance holds back the floodtide of extravagance;6 cowardice grows limp, courage draws strength; continentia, illinc libido; hinc denique aequitas, temperantia, fortitude, prudentia, virtutes omnes certant cum iniquitate, luxuria, ignavia, temeritate, cum vitiis omnibus; postremo copia cum egestate; bona ratio cum perdita; mens sana cum amentia; bona denique spes cum omnium rerum desperatione confligit.' 6 Cf. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, xxx. 3, 'luxuriae fluxa restringunt' (CCSL cxliiiB. 19).

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torpescit ignauia, fortitudo roboratur; prudentia imperat, temeritas exterminatur; humilitas obedit, conculcatur superbia; sana mens amentiam deprimit, desperationem spes bona fatigat; fugit egestas, bonorum omnium copia redundat.1 Designatis autem tarn felici auspicio in regno principibus, res populi publico se presidio et diligentia gaudebat priuata defendi. Quis barbarus aut scyta eorum consulatu florente, templa sanctorum, urbis menia, uitam ciuium, gloriam regni ad exicium et uastitatem uocaret? Quis scelus sceleri cumularet? Quis domestice turpitudinis" notam incurreret? Quis non uitaret ignominiam uitiorum? Ita domi forisque omnia sedata* sunt et pacata, ut pax Christiana in toto eorum optinuerit principatum imperio. Vterque liberorum sexus parentum in se representat imaginem, similitudine uel actione. Qui Deo et hominibus gratiosi et cari, ueterem patrum suorum uiam et nouam etati tenere in lege Dei et iustitia semitam indefessi deterere satagerunt.2 7. Igitur post regni infulas, post administratam rei publice dignitatem, post dies in pace Dei et ecclesiastica censura decursos, anno ab incarnatione Domini sexcentesimo sexagesimo septimo sui autem imperii uicesimo quarto, acceptissimus Deo Cantuariorum rex Erconbertus pridie iduum luliarum rebus feliciter humanis excessit.3 Qui post fauillas et cineres merore terras afficiens, sancte illius anime glorificatione ciuibus letitiam supernis inuexit. Sed et eodem mense ac die; in anno quo facta est eclipsis solis die tercio mensis Maii, horac circiter decima diei, summus sacerdos Domini Deusdedit qui a beato Augustino sextus ecclesie Christi Cantuarie prefuit, sedem episcopalem Deo uiuens uacuam dereliquit.4 Insignis uero regina a diebus uiri sui quibus defunctus est aliquandiu regno uiriliter prefuit, donee impuberes Egberti filii sui menses in robur uirilis reformauit etatis.5 * turpididinis with first d turned into I in A

k

se data T

' ora T

1 Note in this passage the variety of rhetorical tricks which are used to dress up the relatively simple list of antitheses drawn from Isidore, including asyndeton, alliteration and assonance, and chiasmus (mostly impossible to reflect in translation). 2 Cf. Isa. 40: 14 ('semitam iustitiae'). 3 The year given here is wrong, and should be 664, and given the presence of the date in Bede's recapitulation, and also its presence in ASC, it is hard to account for the error, but the regnal year is correct, and could have been derived from Bede, HE iii. 8, 'xxiiii annis et aliquot mensibus'. 4 An eclipse recorded by Bede, HE iii. 27, on 3 May 664, at 3 o'clock (actually occurred on i May), and again in reporting the death of Deusdedit and Earconberht, at HE iv. i. 5 Bede, in reporting Earconberht's death, gives no hint that Seaxburh ruled until Ecgberht was old enough to take up the kingdom, nor is this explicitly stated to be the case in any other source. In the Old English KRL (reflected also in the Latin version) the

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prudence rules, rashness is done away with; humility offers obedience, pride is trampled down; healthy mind suppresses madness, and good hope wears out despair; want is put to flight, and a wealth of all good things overflows.1 With sovereigns distinguished by such a blessed beginning to their rule, the populace rejoiced that they were kept from harm by public protection and private diligence. At the height of their power, what barbarian or Scythian could order the destruction or devastation of the temples of the saints, the city walls, the life of the citizens, the glory of the kingdom? Who would heap crime upon crime? Who would incur the infamy of domestic disgrace? Who would not avoid the ignominy of vice? Thus at home and abroad all things were settled and peaceable, so that Christian peace prevailed throughout the time of their rule. The children of both sexes presented in themselves an image of their parents, both in outward appearance and in behaviour. Well-favoured and dear to both God and men, they took pains tirelessly to tread not only the ancient road of their fathers but also from a tender age the new path in God's law and righteousness.2 7. Then at length after the badges of sovereignty, after the official administration of government, after days passed in the peace of God and in the good opinion of the church, in the six hundred and sixtyseventh year of the Lord's incarnation, in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, Earconberht, king of Kent, very pleasing to God, blessedly passed away from human affairs on the day before the ides of July.3 After the dust and ashes, plunging the earth into grief, he brought joy to the citizens of heaven by the glorification of his holy soul. But also in the same month and on the same day, in the year in which there was an eclipse of the sun on the third of May, at about the tenth hour of the day, the Lord's bishop Deusdedit, who was the sixth after the blessed Augustine to be set over the Church of Christ at Canterbury, dwelling with God, left the episcopal see empty.4 The noble queen from the time of her husband's death manfully took charge of the kingdom for a while, until the youthful months of her son Ecgberht were transformed into the vigour of manhood.5 simple statement 'Donne wass Sexburh Cantwarena cwen', could have given rise to this idea, though the death of her husband is not referred to there (Liebermann, Heiligen, p. 5). The fragmentary Old English homily S. MildryS claims that Seaxburh ruled for thirty years 'hyra suna HloShere to handa' (Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', p. 27). Another conceivable source for this claim about Seaxburh could have been a misreading of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which just a few entries after recording the death of Earconberht also reports the death, in 672, of Cenwealh, king of the West Saxons, and the fact that his

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Commendato demum ei imperio, uestem deposuit iocunditatis, et cilitium meroris assumpsit. Didicerat a beata Anna qualem deceat esse uiduam, que mariti obitu destituta non discedebat de templo,1 nocte ac die ieiuniis et orationibus insistens.2 Nee minus religionis carens officio, quoniam zona erat castitatis accincta. Et cum apostolus dicat, uidua que in deliciis est uiuens mortua est;3 adeo gloriabatur abstinentie meritis, et pudicitie gratiam reseruabat, ut coniugales reiceret uictrix ornatus, animosque indueret femina sancta uiriles. Ingreditur mulier fortis uirtutum lora preripere,4 conflictum cum uitiis adhibere: solitudinem querit, secretum celeste amplectitur. Intrat uirago monasterium, celestis discipline subit triumphum, habitu sancte religionis induitur. Regii decoris exuitur spoliis, sericis solita ornari induuiis, et pauperem pauperis Christi suscipit paupertatem. In mundo posita, tota extra mundum. Intra carnis angustias retenta, in supernis spiritu uersabatur archanis. Itatenus beata femina et in carne erat, et carnis opera nesciebat. 8. A Cantie meditullo Middeltona rus sortitur uocabulum,5 ad cuius ecclesie portum de mundi huius naufragio nuda euasit.6 Virgula preterea ilia pretiosa beatissima uidelicet Ermenilda, quam gloriosa Sexburga tanquam balsamum insigne sudauit,7 ut ad terram repromissionis cum matre nasceretur, rege sponso de carcere mundi ad celestia translate, imperatori eterno felici tyrocinio militare aggreditur. Abiectis siquidem purpureis togis margaritis et auro radiantibus, preciosisque lapidibus et argento conculcatis, nouum sibi cudere studet monile uirtutum. Habitu namque et cultu mutatis, crispanti crine collum suum non texuit, sed sollicita et prudens cum matre filia, queen Seaxburh ruled alone for a year after him (contrary to Bede, who reports that subkings took over after his death: HE iv. 12) 1 Cf. Luke 2: 37 on Anna, and also Jerome, Ep. liv. 16, 'uolumus scire quales esse debeant uiduae? Legamus euangelium secundum Lucam' (CSEL liv. 483). 2 i Tim. 5: 5 ('quae autem vere vidua est, et desolata, speret in Deum, et instet obsecrationibus et orationibus nocte ac die'). 3 i Tim. 5: 6. 4 Cf. Prov. 31: 10 and ff. for the 'encomium mulieris fortis' and her qualities. 5 Milton Regis occurs as one of twelve mother churches with several lesser churches attached to them (i.e. probably 'old minsters') listed in the late nth-cent. 'Domesday Monachorum'; see Tatton-Brown, 'Churches', pp. 107 (and fig. 22), 108, no, 113 (fig. 23), 114-15; and on the remains of what was probably a large Anglo-Saxon church now visible in the north walls of Holy Trinity, Milton Regis, see Taylor and Taylor, i. 429. 6 This is the point at which the Vita departs from the narrative in LectSex to incorporate the version of Seaxburh's life which is recorded partly in the Old English KRL (and also in the Latin version), but also in more detail in the fragmentary Old English homily S. MildryS, which includes reference to her taking the veil at Milton Regis

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When at length she had entrusted the kingdom to him, she put off her garment of good cheer, and took up the hair shirt of grief. She had learnt what sort of widow she ought to be from blessed Anna, who made desolate by her husband's death did not leave the temple,1 continuing in fastings and prayers night and day.2 Nor did she lack the calling of piety, because she bore the girdle of chastity. And since the apostle says 'the widow that liveth in pleasures is dead while she is living',3 she so gloried in the merits of abstinence and preserved the grace of her modesty, that as a conqueress she cast aside the adornments of a married life, and as a holy woman put on manly courage. The strong woman came to seize the reins of the virtues, to enter conflict with the vices;4 she sought solitude, embraced heavenly seclusion. The heroine entered a monastery, submitted to the triumph of heavenly discipline, was clothed with the garb of holy religion. She who was accustomed to be adorned with silken clothing put off the trappings of royal honour, and accepted the impoverished poverty of the pauper Christ. Although still in the world, she was totally beyond the world. Although constrained in the confines of the flesh, in spirit she dwelt among the secrets of heaven. To this extent the blessed woman was still in the flesh, and yet did not know the works of the flesh. 8. From its position in the middle of Kent the estate of Milton takes its name,5 and to the haven of this church she escaped naked from the shipwreck of this world.6 Furthermore that precious shoot, namely the blessed Eormenhild, whom glorious Seaxburh had produced like the oozing out of an excellent balsam,7 so that with her mother she might be born into the promised land, when her husband the king had been translated from the prison of the world to the celestial realms, she went to join battle under the everlasting emperor, as a blessed new recruit. So having put aside purple robes gleaming with pearls and gold, and having trampled under foot precious gemstones and silver, she eagerly set about forming for herself a new necklace of virtues. With her garb and demeanour changed, she did not twine her curling locks about her neck, but carefully and prudently the daughter, together with her mother, in Kent (not mentioned in the Royal Legend): 'And Sancta Seaxburh and Sancta Eormenhild onfengon halig rifte on Sam mynstre \>e is gecweden Middeltune on Kentlande' ('and St Seaxburh and St Eormenhild received the holy veil in the minster which is called Milton in Kent'; Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', p. 27). 7 Cf. Jerome, Ep. cvii. i, 'uiles uirgulae balsama pretiosa sudarent' (CSEL Iv. 290).

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lege deuincta continentie, carnis prorsus contriuit uoluptates. Pallescit uigiliis, ieiuniis maceratur.1 Flammam superat libidinis, flamma spiritus sancti tota resplendens. In tenera etate incentiua extinguit uitiorum, naturalem proterit pulchritudinem, ut celesti sponso pulchra appareat et decora.2 Seculum nescit, frequens in monasterio.3 Marie ingressa cubiculum, uagientis pueri lesu cunis innititur;4 angelos celis gloriam, et pacem terris resonantes, "audit spiritu," audit et gratulatur. Vita celibe uiuit in carne, inter choros uirginum angelice uiuit, quas cum matre docet sic in carne uiuere, ut iam uideantur in carne non esse.5 Sic beata Ermenilda que uermiculatis babilonie picturis solet auro onusta incedere6 inter filias Jude in uia mandatorum Dei uacua, confessionis et penitentie cilicio et sago induitur.7 9. Confirmatusque in regno rex Egbertus cessante non pauco tempore episcopatu Cantuariensis ecclesie, misit ad Vitalianum papam cum electione et consensu sancte ecclesie gentis Anglorum, uirum probitatis et conuersationis egregie nomine Wihardum,8 tarn corporis integritate quam liberalitate animi presbiterum tanto dignum sacerdotio.* Qui ex clero beati pontificis Deusdedit et doctrina assumptus, cum donariis regis non paucis aureis et argenteis Romam uenit; sed intra paucos dies cum omnibus pene sociis graui morbo correptus,9 uita excedens causamque sui itineris frustrato labore consumpsit. Ordinatus est in loco eius monachus quidam nomine Theodorus Tharso Cilicie oriundus, uir seculari et diuina scientia grece et latine instructus,10 sexaginta et sex etatis preferens annos, probus moribus et canicie uenerandus, qui anno dominice k * * om. T Qui intra paucos dies graui morbo correptus, Rome uita excessit copied into the margin of A, in a script of similar type to that of the main text, and linked to the text by a signe de renvoie. Present in the text in T 1 For this section cf. Jerome, Ep. cvii. n, 'si enim uigiliis et ieiuniis macerat corpus suum . . . si flammam libidinis et incentiua feruoris aetatis extinguere cupit continentiae frigore, si adpetitis sordibus turpare festinat naturalem pulchritudinem' (CSEL Iv. 302). 2 Cf. S. of S. 7: 6 ('quam pulchra es et quam decora'). 3 Cf. Jerome, Ep. cvii. 13, 'nesciat seculum' (CSEL Iv. 303). 4 Cf. ibid. 13, 11. 16-17, 'redde pretiossimam gemmam cubiculo Mariae et cunis lesu uagientis inpone' (p. 303). 5 Cf. ibid. 13, 'nutriatur in monasterio, sit inter uirginum choros . . . nesciat saeculum, uiuat angelice, sit in carne sine carne' (p. 303). 6 Cf. ibid. 12, 'non auri et pellis Babyloniae uermiculata pictura' (p. 302). 7 Cf. Baruch 4: 13 ('ambulaverunt per vias mandatorum Dei'). 8 Cf. Bede, HE iii. 29, 'adsumserunt cum electione et consensu sanctae ecclesiae gentis Anglorum uirum bonum et aptum episcopatu, presbyterum nomine Vighardum de clero Deusdedit episcopi, et hunc antistitem ordinandum Romam miserunt.' 'Doctrina' in the

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having conquered the law of continence, stamped out the pleasures of the flesh also. She grew pale with watchings, was wasted by fastings.1 She overcame the flame of lust, shining completely with the flame of the Holy Spirit. In her tender youth she extinguished the provocations of the vices, thrust aside her natural beauty, so that she might appear beautiful and seemly to the heavenly bridegroom.2 Often in the monastery, she did not know the world.3 Entering Mary's chamber, she leans over the cradle of the crying baby Jesus;4 she hears in her spirit the angels ringing out glory in the heavens and peace on earth, she hears and gives thanks. She lived a chaste life in the flesh; she lived like an angel among the hosts of virgins, whom with her mother she taught to live in the flesh in such a way that they might already seem not to be in the flesh.5 Thus blessed Eormenhild, who was accustomed to walk laden with gold on the inlaid mosaic floors of Babylon,6 is clothed with the hair shirt and sackcloth of confession and penitence among the daughters of Judah on the plain path of the commandments of God.7 9. When King Ecgberht was established in the kingdom, since the archbishopric of Canterbury had been vacant for a not inconsiderable time, he sent to Pope Vitalian, by the choice and consent of the holy Church of the English people, a man of probity and excellent life, by the name of Wigheard,8 a priest worthy of such a high priesthood as much in his pureness of body as in his generosity of spirit. Drawn from the clergy of the blessed bishop Deusdedit and taught by him, he came to Rome with many gold and silver gifts from the King, but within a few days with almost all his companions he was overtaken by a grave sickness,9 and in dying defeated the point of his journey, a labour in vain. In his place was consecrated a monk named Theodore, who came from Tarsus in Cilicia, a man well-trained in secular and divine learning both in Greek and in Latin.10 He was sixty-six years old, upright in character and venerable in old age, and was consenext sentence presumably alludes to Bede's statement (HE iv.i) that Wigheard was 'uir in ecclesiasticis disciplinis doctissimus.' 9 Cf. Bede, HE iv. i, 'missis pariter apostolico papae donariis et aureis atque argenteis uasis non paucis. Qui ubi Romam uenit . . . non multo post et ipse et omnes pene qui cum eo aduenerant socii pestilentia superueniente deleti sunt.' Some confusion has arisen in the text here: as the text stands in T, Wigheard's death is told twice over, and it would thus appear that the original form of A, without the insertion, is a 'better' version. 10 Cf. Bede, HE iv. i, 'nomine Theodorus, natus Tarso Ciliciae, uir et saeculari et diuina litteratura et Graece instructus et Latine, probus moribus et aetate uenerandus, id est annos habens aetatis LX et VI' (note that manuscripts of HE of the c type read 'et Latine instructus' as here).

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incarnationis sexcentesimo sexagesimo octauo sub die septimo kalendarum Aprilium dominica sacratus, una cum Adriano uenerando abbate sexto kal. lunii Britanniam missus est.1 Erat isdem Adrianus natione Affer, litteris sacris eruditus, monasterialibus et ecclesiasticis disciplinis informatus, grece pariter et latine lingue peritissimus.2 Qui cum ad ciuitatem Arelatensium peruenissent, cum honore maximo excepti sunt a lohanne eiusdem urbis archiepiscopo. Quod cum nuntii certi narrassent regi Egberto esse episcopum in regno Francorum quern a romano antistite petierat, misit illo Redfridum prefectum suum, ut eum absque dilatione adducere satageret.3 Cuius ductu peruenit beatus pontifex Dei Theodorus ad ecclesiam suam secundo postquam consecratus est anno, sub die sexta kalendarum iuniarum" dominica, et fecit in ea annos uiginti et unum, menses tres, dies uiginti sex.4 Dedit autem sanctus Theodorus uenerando abbati Adriano situm* extra muros monasterium beati Petri apostoli, ubi Cantie solent creges atquec archiepiscopi sepeliri. Preceperat enim abeunti Theodoro summus pontifex Vitalianus, ut in diocesi sua locum aptum et idoneum prouideret, in qua seruus Domini Adrianus sufficientem cum suis posset accipere mansionem.5 Qui cum electus Rome Cantuariorum fuisset episcopus, Theodorum ipse in electione sibi preposuit, seque indignum tanto iudicauit esse sacerdotio.6 Isti tanquam duo candelabra lucentia flammas sue claritatis emittentes7 et tanquam comete inmensi fulgoris radios spargentes, multorum circumcirca mentes et uitam ad eterne uite desiderium accendebant. Pluebant doctrinis, miraculis choruscabant.8 Semper catholice religioni coherentes/ in omnibus Romane concordare studebant ecclesie. 10. Talibus ac tantis uiris beata Sexburga ardore fidei et uera Dei dilectione coniuncta, eorum et informabatur magisterio, et proficiebat a Omitted in A, but inserted in the margin, and linked to the text by a signe de renvoie. d * inserted above the line in A ' ' Inserted in A choerentes T 1 Bede, HE iv. i, 'Qui ordinatus est a Vitaliano papa anno dominicae incarnationis DCLXVIII sub die VII kalendarum Aprilium, dominica, et ita una cum Hadriano VI kalendas lunias Brittaniam missus est.' 2 Again quoted with only little change from Bede, HE iv. i. 3 Almost verbatim from Bede, HE iv. i, 'Quod cum nuntii certi narrassent . . . misit illo continue Raedfridum praefectum suum ad adducendum eum.' 4 Verbatim from Bede, HE iv. 2. 5 Bede, HE iv. i, 'dedit ei monasterium beati Petri apostoli, ubi archiepiscopi Cantiae sepeliri, ut praefatus sum, solent. Praeceperat enim Theodoro abeunti domnus apostolicus, ut in diocesi sua prouideret et daret ei locum, in quo cum suis apte degere potuisset.' HE i.

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crated on the six hundred and sixty-eighth year of our Lord on the seventh kalends of April [26 March], a Sunday, and together with the venerable abbot Hadrian he was sent to Britain on the sixth kalends of June [27 May].1 This Hadrian was an African by race, learned in the sacred scriptures, instructed in the monastic and ecclesiastical disciplines, and equally skilled in the languages of Greek and Latin.2 When they reached the city of Aries, they were received with the utmost honour by John, the archbishop of that city. When trusted messengers related to King Ecgberht that the bishop whom he had requested from the Roman pontiff was in the kingdom of the Franks, he sent to him Rxdfrith, his reeve, to see to it that he be brought without delay.3 Under this man's guidance the blessed bishop of God Theodore came to his church in the second year after he had been consecrated, on the sixth kalends of June [27 May], a Sunday, and stayed there for twenty-one years, three months and twenty-six days.4 St Theodore gave the venerable abbot Hadrian the monastery of the blessed apostle Peter, which was situated outside the walls, where it is the custom for the kings of Kent and the archbishops to be buried. For as he was leaving the high pontiff Vitalian had instructed Theodore to provide in his diocese a fit and suitable place in which the Lord's servant Hadrian might find an appropriate dwelling with his followers.5 When he [Hadrian] was chosen at Rome to be bishop of Kent, he himself proposed Theodore for election in his place, and adjudged himself unworthy of such an exalted priestly office.6 These, like two shining lampstands sending out their bright flames,7 and like comets scattering the rays of their immeasurable brilliance, inspired the minds and life of many around them to a desire for the eternal life. They rained forth teachings, and flashed with the lightning of miracles.8 Always adhering to the catholic religion, they sought to agree in all matters with the Roman church. 10. Bound to such great men in the ardour of her faith and in true love of God, blessed Seaxburh was both shaped by their teaching and 33 refers to the custom of burying the archbishops as well as the kings of Kent at SS Peter and Paul. 6 Ibid. iv. i, 'Qui indignum se tanto gradui respondens'. 7 Rev. n: 4 ('duo candelabra in conspectu Domini'). 8 Cf. Gregory the Great, Moralia in lob, xvii. 26, 'praedicatores . . . et uerbis nouerant pluere et miraculis coruscare' (CCSL cxliiiA. 11), repeated again at xxx. 2, and also in his Homiliae in Ezechielem, ii. 6 (CCSL cxlii. 370), and Homiliae .xl. in Evangelia, i. 5. 4 (PL Ixxvi. 10940).

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exemplo. Et ut ad propositum reuertamur unde digress! sumus: uicina predicto Middeltone oppido insula suberat, cuius Anglice ethimologia a balantum nomine" Scapeia est sortita uocabulum.1 Illuc uirago Domini uotum suum dirigit, nouum sanctis uirginibus construere habitaculum, ubi pastor bonus oues suas Christus agnosceret,2 eisque necessaria prouideret. Hec et enim insula ab occidentali plaga Cantuarie sita, septem miliarum protrahit longitudinem, tribusque miliaribus in latum extenditur.3 Fluuius autem ille qui uulgo Tamisia dicitur duo flumina ex se diuisa usque in occeanum* porrigit, et eandem insulam undis hinc inde alluentibus cingit. Hie sibi paradisum, hie nouam edificat Jerusalem,4 quia et a curis seculi erat remotior, et secretiorem orationi situm eundem natura reddiderat. ii. Pluribus autem annis in huiusmodi opere et labore consumptis, constructisque omnibus que necessaria erant edificiis,5 beatum Theodorum summo in urbe Cantuaria sullimatum sacerdotio, ad dedicationem inuitat ecclesie. Qui uocatus occurrit, paratus illuscescentec die altera ueri Salomonis delicias inuisere, et nouam ei sponsam nouo epithalamio copulare. Cum ecce nocte eadem intra loci"' ambitum, pleno radio superni luminis fulgor illuxit; uisaque est ilia claritas inmensa a plurimis quos Deus tante uisionis dignatus est illustrare miraculo. Audite sunt etiam uoces canentium Deo gloriam angelorum, quibus mater Syon ciuibus exultat, quorum munite presidio sanctorum officine gratulantur. Summo tandem diluculo beatus pontifex intus et extra totam repperit basilicam crucibus designatam/ aquas exorcizatas parietes aspersos, thura etiam super mensam altaris incensa et cremata.6 Quibus uisis, omnipotentis Dei famulus factum expauit, et saluatori seculorum gratias replicat infinitas. Intellexit protinus ''pontifex Dei Theodorus^ quod Deus k d * Inserted in the margin in A second c inserted A ' sic loca T f f ' designatum T Omitted in A, but copied into the margin; and subsequently trimmed 1 The genitive plural of the present participle of 'balo, balare', bleat. On Seaxburh's foundation cf. the Old English KRL, 'heo gestaSelode sancta Marian mynster on Sceapege and )?a Godes j?eowas j?arto gesette' ('she founded St Mary's minster on Sheppey and then settled God's handmaids there'; Liebermann, Heiligen, p. 5), and the fragmentary Old English homily S. MildryS, 'J^ast igland on Scaspyge hyrS into Middeltune . . . E)a gelicode Sasre halgan cwene Seaxburge J?ast heo Sasr . . . mynster getimbrode and gestaSelode' ('the island of Sheppey belongs to Milton . . . then it pleased the holy woman Seaxburh to found and build a minster for herself there'; Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', p. 27). 2 John 10: 14. 3 Cf. S. MildryS, ')?a2t igland on Scaspyge . . . is Sreora mila brad and seofan mila lang' ('the island of Sheppey . . . is three miles broad and seven miles long'; Swanton, 'Fragmentary Life', p. 27).

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also benefited from their example. And so now let us return to the purpose from which we have digressed: near to the aforementioned town of Milton lay an island, which has acquired the appellation Sheppey, whose etymology in English comes from the word for bleating sheep.1 There the Lord's heroine directed her desires to build a new dwelling for holy virgins, where the good Shepherd Christ might know his flock2 and provide for their needs. For this island, situated off the western part of Kent, was seven miles long, and three miles wide.3 The river commonly called Thames divides into two and flows to the ocean, and surrounds the island on both sides with its washing currents. Here she built herself a paradise, a New Jerusalem,4 because it was more remote from the cares of the world, and its nature had rendered it a more private site for prayer. 11. Having spent several years in toil and labour of this sort, and having constructed all the buildings that were necessary,5 she invited blessed Theodore, eminent occupant of the archbishopric in the city of Canterbury, to dedicate the church. He came at her bidding, all ready on the dawn of the next day to see the delights of the true Solomon, and to unite a new bride to Him in a new marriage. When behold that very night within the confines of the place a brilliant heavenly light shone down with its full beam; and that enormous brightness was seen by many, whom God deigned to illuminate with the miracle of such a sight. They also heard the voices of angels singing God's glory, citizens in whom mother Sion exults, and under the protection of these saints, the monastery buildings rejoice. At length, in the first light of dawn the blessed bishop found the whole church marked with crosses within and without, the walls sprinkled with exorcized water, incense lit and burnt on the altar table.6 When he saw these things, the servant of Almighty God trembled at the deed, and gave infinite thanks over and over to the Saviour of the ages. Theodore, the bishop of God, understood immediately that 4

Cf. Rev. 21: 2 ('sanctam Hierusalem novam vidi'). The fragmentary Old English homily S. MildryS assigns thirty years to this labour: 'geo men cwasdon \>