The church-history of Brittany from the beginning of Christianity to the Norman conquest under Roman governours, Brittish kings, the English-Saxon heptarchy, the English-Saxon (and Danish) monarchy ... : from all which is evidently demonstrated that the present Roman Catholick religion hath from the beginning, without interruption or change been professed in this our island, &c. / by R.F., S. Cressy of the Holy Order of S. Benedict.

* 1.1VIII. CHAP.

1.2. &c. Death of S. Aldelm Bishop of Shirborn.

5.6. &c. Elogies given to him: even by Pro∣testants.

8.9. &c. Forther succeeds him: To whom an Epistle from Arch-bishop Brith∣wald.

1 THE same year in which Saint Wilfrid dyed, our Island lost another Star like∣wise of the first magnitude, the Holy and most learned Bishop Saint Aldelm, Bishop of Shirborn: concerning whom frequent men∣tion hath been already made.

* 1.22. As touching his death, thus writes the Au••hour of his life in Capgrave: S. Aldelm in a good old age, full of vertues and Sanctity de∣parted to our Lord on the eighth day before the Calends of Iune, in the seaven hundred and ninth year after our Lords Incarnation, and the fifth year after he had been promoted to the Epi∣scopall charge, and the thirty fourth after his being instituted Abbot. He was buried in his Monastery of Meldun (or Malmsbury) with great honour.

3. His death was by divine revelation fore∣known to Saint Egwin, who in a certain Treatise thus writes, Two years after the foundation of the Monastery of Evesham the Holy Bishop Aldelm departed to our Lord: whith being made known to mee by revelation, I called together she Reli∣gious Brethren to whom I declared the decease of that Venerable Father: and presently after with great speed I took my iourney to the place where his Sacred Body reposed, above fifty miles distant from his Monastery of Malmsbury: Whither I con∣ducted the same, and there buried it very honou∣rably. Moreover I gave command, that in every place in which the said Body dayly rested during the Procession, there should be erected Sacred Crosses. All which Crosses doe remain to this day, neither hath any one of them felt any injury by time. One of the said Crosses is yet to be seen in the Cloister of that Monastery.

4. Two hundred and forty years after his death, to witt, in the year of Grace nine hundred forty nine (saith the foresaid Authour) his Sacred Body was taken up out of his Tomb and placed with great honour in a Shrine. His Memory is yea••ly celebrated by the Church on the An∣niversary day of his death, which was the twenty fifth of May.* 1.3

5. This glorious Bishop is never mentio∣ned by any of our ancient Historians with∣out high praises: Yea even our late Protestant Writers are very large in his commendations. Bale,* 1.4 though ordinarily rude and uncivill towards Catholicks, yet of S. Aldelm he testi∣fies that he was so diligently studious in all lear∣ning, Divine and Humane, that he far exceeded all the Ecclesiasticall Writers of his time. And that both in verse and prose he was wonderfully learned, both for Latin and Greek: for his witt, sharp: and for his stile, elegant. He happily depar∣ted to our Lord in the year of his Incarnation seaven hundred and nine. Camden likewise thus writes of him: He is truly worthy that his Memory should for ever flourish, not only in re∣gard of his Sanctity, but learning also. He was the first of the English Nation who wrote in the puri∣ty of the Latin tongue: and the first who taught the English to compose both verse and prose as well in the Greek as Latin stile. This Aldelm after he was dead was reclamed by the Great King Athel∣stan as his Tutelar Saint. The like Elogies doe Bishop Godwin, D. Iames and the Centuriators of Magdeburg make of him.

6. Yet after all this, there is scarce one Point in which they condemne the Roman Church, as an Errour iustifying their Separation from it, but was held by him. And particularly touching the Supreme Vniversall authority of the Pope,* 1.5 in the heretofore mentioned Epistle of his to Gerontius King of Cornwall,* 1.6 he in the name of the whole English Synod writes: That S. Peter merited by a happy and peculiar Priviledge to receive from our Lord the Monar∣chicall Power of loosing sins both in heaven and Earth. Moreover, That the foundation of the Church, and bullwark of Faith was placed princi∣pally on Christ, & consequently on Pe••e••, &c. And that Christ who is Truth it self did thus establish on Peter the Priviledge over the Church, Thou art Peter, and on this Rock I will build my Church. Yea Flacius Illyricus writes that S. Aldelm maintained,* 1.7 That the Confession of the true Faith, wholesome Doctrine and a life otherwise unreprocheable would nothing proffit him who li∣ved in separation from the Vnity of the Catholick Roman Church. This is the Faith taught then in the English Church: and the Teachers of this Faith the Protestants, now esteem Saints: Yet neither their Sanctity nor learning could se∣cure their Lives from the present sanguinary Laws now in force.

7. Some Writers affirm that S. Aldelm was a Scott: but his name, meerly Saxon, does dis∣prove them, which signifies an ancient Helmet:* 1.8 And generally our Historians ac∣knowledge him to have been of the English-Saxon progeny. Capgrave, B. Godwin and others affirm that he was Brothers son to King Ina. Brian Twine says he was son to King Ina himself: And William of Malmsbury, that he was from ••is ancient Progenitours nearly allied in blood to King Ethelstan.

8. There succeeded him in the Episcopall See of Shirborn a devout Preist, named Forther, who by the test••mony of Saint Beda, his con∣temporaney, is described to have been a man well versed in the study of Divine Scrip∣tures. Little more is extant concerning him in our Ecclesiasticall Monuments: Onely Bi∣shop Godwin relates of him that almost thirty years after this he attended a Queen of the West-Saxons in her pilgrimage to Rome.

9. Probably this is the same person to whom Brithwald at this time Archbishop of Canterbury wrote an Epistle extant among those of Saint Boniface the Apostle of Ger∣many,* 1.9 with this Inscription, To the most Reve∣rend and most Holy our Fellow-Bishop Fortherey, Berthwald a Servant of the Servants of our Lord, sendeth health in our Lord. The Epistle it self, because it gives some Light to the practise of that age, wee will here adioyn as fol∣loweth:

* 1.1010. Since the request which in your presence I made to the Venerable Abbot Beorwald took no effect, which was that he would sett at liberty a young captive mayd, whose kinred dwell near to this Citty: being importuned by them I thought fitt to direct once more these Letters to you by a Brother of the same mayd, whose name is Eppa: Hereby therefore I doe earnestly entreat you that you would by all means obtain from the foresaid Abbot that he would from this bearers hands ac∣cept three hundred shillings (solidos) for the ransome of the sayd young mayd, and consign her into his hands to be brought hither to the end she may spend the rest of her age in ioyfull freedome among her freinds. This affaire if you will bring to good effect, you will not fayle to receive a good reward from God, and many thanks from mee. Be∣sides this, I conceive that our Brother Beorwald receiving this money will be no looser. I ought to have made my first request, that you would be mindfull of mee in your dayly Prayers. Our Lord Iesus Christ preserve your Reverence in health many years.

11. The slavery of this young mayd men∣tioned here denotes the ancient custome of the Saxons, continued a long time after by the Normans, of buying slaves and annexing them to certain Mannors or Lands, which were therefore called Villains: which with∣out a ransome could not be restored to free∣dome.

12. As for Beorwald, mentioned in this Let∣ter, he was probably Abbot of Glastonbury, who succeded Hemgisle, in the year of Grace seaven hundred and five: as the Antiquities of that Monastery declare. And he it was who wrote the life of the Holy Bishop Egwin, and not, as some mistakingly affirm, Brithwald Arch-bishop of Canterbury, who sate above four and twenty years in that See before S. Egwin died.

Notes

• * 1.1

  VIII. CH.
• * 1.2

  Ap. Capgra∣vium in S. Aldelmo.
• * 1.3

  Martyrolog. Rom. 25. Maij
• * 1.4

  Bale Cent. 1. cap. 83.
• * 1.5

  Vid. sup. l. c
• * 1.6

  Aldelm Ep. ad G••re••••. ū Regem.
• * 1.7

  Illyr. l. 7. Te∣stium p. 611.
• * 1.8

  Capgrav in S. Aldelm. Godvvin in Epise. Sa••isb Tvvin. in H••ol. Acad. Oxon. l. 2. s••ct. 110. Malmsb de Reg. l. 2.
• * 1.9

  Bonifac. Ep. 58.
• * 1.10

  Ibidem.