Justice Done to Wilfrid at Rome: In England He Is Deposed, Imprisoned, Exiled, and Restored — 678–686 (part 1 of 2)

JUSTICE DONE TO WILFRID AT ROME: IN ENGLAND HE IS DEPOSED, IMPRISONED, EXILED, AND RESTORED.—678-686. Wilfrid himself carries his cause to Rome. — A storm lands him in Friesland, where he evangelizes the people. — He thus becomes the first of the Anglo-Saxon apostles of Germany. — Generosity of the King of the Frisians and King of the Lombards, both of whom refuse to deliver him up to

Ebroin. — Wilfrid in Austrasia: Dagobert II. — Wilfrid at Rome. —Theodore and Hilda denounce him to the Pope St. Agathon. His cause is tried by a council at which the Pope presides. He obtains justice; but the principle of the division of dioceses is maintained, and the authority of the primate confirmed. Wilfrid hears at Rome of the death of Etheldreda. —He is present at the Council against the Monothelites, and bears witness to the faith of all the Churches of the British Isles. — He returns to England with the Papal charter for Peterborough. — He is repulsed by the king and assembly of the Northumbrians, and then imprisoned. — Connivance of Archbishop Theodore. —Wilfrid refuses to treat with the king. — He is put in irons at Dunbar: afterwards delivered by the intervention of the Abbess Edda of Coldingham, but exiled. — Obliged to leave Mercia and Wessex, where the brothers-in-law of Egfrid reign, he takes refuge among the Saxons of the South, whom he converts to Christianity. — He teaches them to fish with nets, and frees the serfs on the domains of his new Abbey of Selsey. — His connection with the proscribed Ceadwalla, who becomes King of Wessex, and afterwards dies at Rome. — Theodore again disposes of the diocese of Wilfrid: St. Cuthbert is made Bishop of Lindisfarne. — King Egfrid ravages Ireland cruelly: in spite of the entreaties of Bishop Cuthbert he invades Caledonia, and perishes there. —Queen Ermenburga, informed by Cuthbert of the death of her husband, becomes a nun. — Consequences of the defeat of Egfrid. — The Saxon bishop of the Picts takes refuge at Whitby, where Elfleda, sister of Egfrid, had succeeded Hilda. — Archbishop Theodore acknowledges his faults towards Wilfrid: he wishes to choose him as his successor: writes in his favor to the King of the Mercians and to the Abbess Elfleda. —Connection of Elfleda with Bishop Cuthbert. — Aldfrid, long an exile at lona, becomes King of Northumbria. — Wilfrid is recalled and re-established in his diocese. — Storms raised by him at Lindisfarne, which he abandons to another bishop. — Death of Archbishop Theodore.

Having decided that he would himself carry his appeal to Rome, Wilfrid left Northumbria, accompanied by his friend the chorister Eddi, and by a numerous train of clergy and laymen, who never left him. He left behind thousands of monks, initiated by him into the rule of St. Benedict, and now in despair at finding themselves under the authority of new bishops strange to Benedictine traditions, and animated by a spirit totally opposed to that of their beloved superior.^'^ His route towards the Continent led him through the kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia, the princes and people of which were always favorable to him; and when he stopped at the great monasteries, at Peterborough, of which he re-

¹⁷¹ u Multa millia monachorum suorura sub manu episcoporum noviter ordinatorum, relinquens, moerentes et flentes." — Eddius, c. 24. garded himself as one of the founders, and, above all, at Ely, where he had often dwelt, and where Etheldreda always received him as her bishoiD, she commissioned him to obtain for her at Rome one of those acts of privilege which were earnestly sought by monastic establishments as their most safeguard against the usurpations and violences which menaced them on all sides.^'^

It was supposed by his enemies, who increased every day in number and bitterness, that he would take the ordinary route of pilgrims to Rome, landing in the neighborhood of Boulogne at Etaples, and going through France. They therefore sent messages and gifts to the atrocious Ebro'in, who, stained as he was by the blood of St. Leger and many other victims, still governed, as mayor of the palace, the provinces of Neustria and Burgundy. Knowing him to be capable of any crime, they begged him to lay hands on Wilfrid on his journe}^, rob him of all that he carried with him, and free them from the chance of his return.^^^ g^t whether Wilfrid was warned of his danger, or whether he was simply guided by the west wind which rose while he was at sea—this wind saved his life, carrying him, and with him the first seeds of the Christian faith, to the low and marshy shores of Friesland.i"* Mission of The Frisians then occupied all the north-east of Germany. They were a warlike, numerous, and formidable people, of whom mention wnll often be made in the after history of monastic missions. The Gospel was then unknown to them, and Wilfrid, ^'^^^'^ ^^^ been the beginner of so many things, had qIqq the glory of Opening the way to those Anglo- Saxon apostles of Germany whose long and glorious annals we have yet to unfold. Wilfrid, who was hospitably received by the king of the country and its inhabitants, had no sooner

"^ " Apud Ely cum beatissima Etheldretha morabatur, ubi tunc et quotiens necessitas poposcerat, quoad vixit, officii jura episcopalis administravit.... Monasteriura per dilectuni suum Wilfridum Romas nutu apostolico corroborandum destinavit.... Acccpit privilegiura... ut optaverat et eum rogaverat mater insignis Etheldretha." Thom. Eliensis, c. 15, 19.

*'' The similarity of name between Wilfrid and Winfrid, bishop of Lichfield, must have been fatal to the latter. Having been deposed by the metropolitan Theodore, " per meritum cujusdam inobedientice," he also was going to France, and perhaps to Rome, when the satellites of Ebroin fell upon him, killed his companion, and left him naked,. " errore bono unius syllabffi seducti," says Eddi, who judges of good and evil only as they affect the interests of his hero. — Cf. Bede, iv. 3, 6.

"^ " Flante Favonio pulsus est." — Bede, iv. 19. Cf. Eddius, p. 25. landed on the unknown coast than he took advantage of the kindness shown him to begin a new evangelical mission. With the self-devotion and enthusiasm natural to him, he forgot the grave personal interests which were leading him to Eome in his eagerness to give himself up to this new work. He remained there a whole winter, preaching daily, with the permission of the king, Adalgisus, and with a success which repaid his toil. The year proved more than usually abundant in fish and other provisions, and this the Frisians attributed to the new God who was preached to them.^'-^ Nearly all their chiefs were baptized, with many thousands of the people.

Meantime Ebroi'n was on the watch, with no incli- Generosity nation to let the rich pre}'' of which he had been ofthlFrT-" informed escape from him. Having heard of Wil- ^i-'^'^^- frid's residence in Friesland, he sent messengers to the king with very friendly letters, in which he promised him by oath a bushel of gold coins if he would send him Bishop Wilfrid alive, or even his head. Adalgisus had all the repugnance to secrecy which had been noticed by Tacitus among the princes of Germanic race, who love to discuss their affairs at feasts, since at such a moment the heart is most frank and open, most prone to generous impulses, and least apt to dissimulate.^'^ The King of the Frisians accordingly collected all his people at a great banquet, together with his different guests; on the one side the emissaries of Ebro'in, on the other Wilfrid and his followers, amongst whom was Eddi, who has described the scene. After the banquet, he caused the letter of the powerful minister of the Franks to be read aloud. When this was finished he took the letter, tore it up, and threw the pieces into the fire, saying to those who had brought it, " Go and tell your master what you have seen, and add that I have said, ' Thus may the Creator tear, destroy, and consume the perjurer and traitor l'"^" It is evident that chivalry was just bursting from the bud 175 '<j)octrina ejus secundum paganos bene adjuvavit, erat enim in adventu eorum eo tempore solito amplius in piscatione et in omnibus frugifer annus." — Eddius, c. 25.

176 <> rierumque in conviviis consultant: tanquam nullo magis tempore aut ad siinpliccs cogitationcs pateat animus, aut ad magnas incalescat.... Deliberant dum fingore nesciunt. ' — De Moribus Gcrmaniee, c. 22.

"' " Modiuin plenum solidorum aureorum.... Rex, prajscntibus nobis, et nuntiis coram populo suo in palatio epuhmtibus, omnibusque audicntibus.... Enuntiate domino vestro hoc niodo me dicentem: Sic rcrum Creator regnum et vitam in Deo suo perjurantes, factumque nullum non custodientes sciudens destruat, et consumens in favillam devellat!" — Eddius, c. 26.

382 ST. WILFRID ESTABLISHES ROMAN UNITY

among these new Christians. Wilfrid, however, could only stay to reap a first and rapid harvest. He had left in his monastery at Ripon a young Northumbrian, brought to him in infancy by his mother, whom he had carefully educated for thirteen years. And it was for this child, a faithful disciple of the great exile, since venerated by the Churches of England and Germany under the name of Willebrord, that God reserved the glory of bringing permanently into the ranks of Christianity this warlike nation.^'^

679. Wilfrid resumed his journey towards Rome in

Spring, crossing Austrasia where the throne was occupied by a prince who had occasion to know the generous hospitality of the Abbot of Ripon. This was Dagobert II., grandson of the first king of that name, who, dethroned in infancy by Grimoald, mayor of the palace, was sent secretly to Ireland, where he found refuge in a monastery; but when in 673 the Austrasian nobles determined to escape the yoke of Ebroi'n, who was already master of Neustria and Burgundy, they recalled the tonsured prince whose brilliant youth, according to travellers, blossomed in a Hibernian cloister. It was to Wilfrid that they addressed themselves for the restoration of the royal exile; and it was Wilfrid who, after having magnificently received and entertained him at Ripon, sent him on his way to Austrasia with large presents and a great escort.^"^ Dagobert showed his gratitude not only by giving him an affectionate reception, but by his entreaties to Wilfrid to accept the bishopric of Strasbourg, then vacant, and the most iin- Wherehe portant in the kingdom.

biSrioof Wilfrid, however, refused, and pursuing his route, arrived in Lombardy, where he was most hospitably

¹⁷⁸ Wilfrid always maintained his connection with Friesland. A curious story, told by Bede (iii. 13), which describes the veneration of their national saint, King Oswald, introduced by the Northumbrian missionaries, seems to indicate that Wilfrid himself visited the country a second time in one of his later voyages with Willebrord and his successor Acca. M. Albertingk Thym, in his recent and curious account of St. Willebrord, does not resolve this question. But the Bollandists (vol. vi. Sept., p. 68) decide that Wilfrid, in returning from Rome twenty years after his second voyage, passed through Friesland, and that he may then have been accompanied by Willibrord and Acca. Fourteen years after his first stay in Friesland in 692, it was to Wilfrid that they sent Bishop Swidbert, another Saxon missionary, to be consecrated. — Bede, v. 11.

¹⁷⁹ "Amici et propinqui ejus viventem et in perfecta aetate florentem a navigantibus audientes, misere nuntios ad B. Wilfridum, petentes ut eum de Scotia et Hibernia ad se invitasset et sibi ad regem emisisset." — Eddius, c. 27. received by Berchtaire, king of that country.^^'^ There, also, he had been anticipated by the enmity of his countrymen, and once more the great bishop owed his hfe to the honor and good faith of a barbarian, but ah'eady Christian, prince. He said to Wilfrid, "Your enemies have sent to me from England, with promises of great presents if I will prevent you by violence from proceeding to Rome; for they treat you as a fugitive bishop. I have replied to them thus: ' 1 was myself exiled from my country in oftiieLwnmy 3'outh, and lived with a king of the Avares, who was a pagan, and who swore before his idol not to offers of his 1 T- '^ ^, • n ,• r deliver me up to my enemies. Some time afterwards they sent to offer this pagan king a bushel of gold if he would give me up to them. He refused, saying that his gods would break the thread of his life if he broke his oath. With better reason I, who know the true God, will not lose my soul were it to gain the whole world.' " ^^^ Having said this he gave Wilfrid and his people an honorable escort which guarded them all the way to Rome.

Thus on the north and south of that mass of Germanic nations just touched by Christianity, there flashed out at Wilfrid's touch sparks of that generous loyalty which afterwards developed into Christian honor, and the lofty ideal, ever inaccessible yet ever desired and pursued, of chivalry. Wilfrid may be congratulated on having been one of the first to awaken in the history of our forefathers the premonitory signs of this magnificent dawn.

At the moment when Wilfrid arrived at Rome for the second time— returning persecuted but famous ^omcT to the city which he had left twenty years before obscure and unknown — the chair of St. Peter was occupied by a Sicilian monk named Agathon: since the time of St. Gregory the Great, all the monasteries of Italy A-atho^a and Sicily followed the rule of St. Benedict, and, consequently, we cannot doubt that he was a Benedictine. Accordingly it was natural that he should be favorably disposed towards the Bishop of York, in whom he found at once the propagator of Benedictine rule and the champion of Ro- "° It is apparent from the introduction to the text of Eddi published by Mabillon, that the latter and Adrian de Valois take this to prove that the country described by Eddi as Campania was no other than Lombardy.

isi " Fui aliquando in die juventutis mcae exsul de patria expulsus, sub pagano quodam rege... qui iniit luecuni foedus in deo suo idolo.... Ego quanto niagis, qui Deutn meum scio, aniinam nieam pro totius mundi lucro in perditionera non dabo." — Eddius, c. 27. man authority. But he also showed great consideration for Wilfrid's antagonist, Archbishop Theodore, whom he had just summoned to Rome by a special envoy, for the council convoked against the Monothelite heresy. Theodore did not obey the summons of the Pope, but he sent a very exemplary monk named Coenwald with letters full of violent accusations against Wilfrid. ^^^ Messengers charged with a similar commission arrived from the Abbess of Whitby, St. Hilda, still embittered against him who had won the day in the great struggle carried on in the very bosom of her monastery fif teen years before. This singular intervention of the great abbess, which is recorded and proved by a pontifical rescript a quarter of a century after the event,^^^ shows at once the great place she held in the English Church, and the intensity of her resentment against Wilfrid.

^^^ Popo Confided the judgment of the affair to an assembly of fifty bishops and priests collected in the Basilica of the Saviour, at which he himself presidod. The companion of Wilfrid has left us a kind of official account of the last session of this assembly, which shows, under the pi'ofusion of superlatives then used in all the documents of the Roman Court,!^^ an indulgent sympathy for both the rivals, together with the moderation and impartiality natural to the Head of the Church.

The cardinal-bishops of Ostia and Porto made a report to this assembly, equally founded upon the memorials sent by Theodore and others, in which Wilfrid was spoken of as a fugitive bishop, and on those which Wilfrid himself produced for his defence. They concluded thus: — "All being considered, we do not find him convicted canonically of any crime which merits deposition: on the contrary, Ave perceive that he has preserved great moderation, and has excited no sedition by which to regain his position. He has contented himself with protesting in presence of the other bishops his brethren, and has then had recourse to the Holy Sec, where Christ, who purchased the Holy Church by His blood, has

182 u Modestas religionis monachus.... Accusationes scriptas deferens et amaritudine delationis verbis immitibus." — Guill. Malmesb., f. 149.

'^^ See the letter of Pope John VI. quoted by Eddius (c. 51), written to the Kings of Northumbria and Mercia in 705.

^^* The Pope is always described as " sanctissimus et ter beatissimus," and Theodore as "sanctissimus;" Wilfrid is only named with the epithet " Deo araabilis." The violent Eddi himself is won by this example, and while he transcribes this document he treats Theodore as a saint, and his envoy CoCnwald as " religiosus monachus."

AND THE BENEDICTINE ORDER. 385

founded the primacy of the priesthood." The pope then said, " Wilfrid, Bishop of York, is at the door of the hall of our secret deliberations with his petition— let him enter." The bishop being introduced, begged that his prayer should be again read in full assembly. It was expressed in terras equally able and touching: " I, Wilfrid, the humble and unworthy Bishop of the Saxons, have taken refuge here as in an impregnable fortress. I have climbed, by the grace of God, to this apostolic summit, from whence flows to all the Churches of Christ the rule of the holy canonical law; and I have a hope that justice will here be rendered to my humbleness. I have already explained, viva voce and in writing, how, without being convicted of any fault, I have been expelled from the diocese which I have governed for ten years; and how they have put in my place, not one bishop only, but three bishops, contrary to the canons. I do not dare to accuse the most holy Archbishop Theodore, because he has been sent by the Church. I submit myself here to your apostolic judgment. If you decide that I am no longer worthy to be a bishop, I humbly accept the sentence; if I am to reclaim my bishopric, I shall obey equally. I implore you only to expel, by the authority of this council, the usurpers of my diocese. If the archbishop, and the bishops my brethren, see fit to augment the number of bishops, let them choose such as I can live amicably with, and let them be elected with the consent of a council, and taken from the clergy of their future dioceses, so that the Church may not be ruled from without and by strangers. At the same time, confiding absolutely in apostolic justice, I shall obey implicitly its decrees."

After this speech, the Pope congratulated Wil- ne obtains frid on his moderation and humility. Then the J"*t"=''- council decreed that AVilfrid should be restored to his see; that those who had replaced him should be expelled; but that the archbishop should ordain bishops with the title of coadjutors, bishops chosen by AV'ilfrid himself in a council assembled for that purpose. All this was commanded under pain of interdict, deposition, and anathema, against whosoever might oppose this decree, whether bishop, priest, deacon, monk, layman, or even king.^^^

¹⁸³ " Agatho... dic'it: ' Wilfridus Deo amabilis episcopus... prae foribus nostri secretarii nioratus, ad nostrum secretarium juxta suam postulationem cum petitione, quam secum adfere lioitus est, ammittatur.' Wilfridus... dixit: ' Deprccor vestram pontificalem Bcatitudinom ut meaa

This sentence was a most wise and legitimate decision for, while giving full satisfaction to that justice which had been outraged in the person of Wilfrid, it enforced, on the terms he had himself accepted, the evidently reasonable principle of the division of his overgrown diocese.

Besides this, the same assembly, probably in the Thecoun-. i r ^^ • i.- Z ±i ^ t ciiofRomc same session, rendered lull justice to the apostolic the au"^ zeal of Archbishop Theodore, by prescribing a new TheodorJ arrangement of bishoprics, so that the metropolitan might have twelve suffragans, canonically elected and ordained, of whom none should interfere with the rights of his neighbor. It also sanctioned the prohibitions decreed by the archbishop, who forbade ecclesiastics to bear arms, and to mingle in secular amusements with female musicians and other profane persons. Finally, the Pope and the council charged Theodore to complete the work of St. Gregory and St. Augustin, by convoking an assembly, wherein the kings, princes, nobles, and leaders of the country might confer with the prelates, and where they could provide for the exact observance of apostolic rules. It was also recommended to him to hold assemblies of this kind as frequently as possible, in order to provide, in concert with the faithful and the wisest men of the kingdom, for those measures most advantageous to the Church and people of God-^^*^

humilitatis petitionem excipi coramque relegi praecipiatis.... Quid acciderit ut Theodorus sanctissinms rae superstite in sedem quam... dispensabam... ordinaret episcopos, oraittere magis quam flagitare pro ejus Dei viri reverentia condecet; quem eo quod ab hac apostolica sede directus est, accusare non audeo.' ... Si placuerit archiepiscopo et coepiscopis meis ut augcatur numerus episeoporum, tales eligant de ipso clero EccIesitB, quales in synodo placeat congregatis episcopis, ut non a foris et alienis dominetur Ecclesia. ... Si quis proinde contra horum statutorum synodal ium decreta ausu temerario obsistere tentaverit ... ex auctoritate B. Petri... eura hac sanctione percellendum censemus, ut, si episcopus est... sed ab episcopali ordine destitutus, et aeterni anathematis reus; similiter si presbyter ... si vero clerieus, nionaclms vel laicus cujuslibet ditionis, vel rex: extraneus efficiatur et corpore et sanguine Cbristi: nee terribilem ejus adventum dignus appareat conspicere."— Eddius, c. 28, 30. It will be seen that tliis decree of the council does not repeat, with regard to kings and other powerful lay personages, the threat of deposition, together with excommunication, contained in the celebrated diploma of St. Gregory the Great cited above, vol. i. p. 382.

i»6 u ^^rniis jion utantur, nee citharedas habeant, vel quaecumque symplionia, nee quoscumque jocos vel ludos ante se permittent.... Ut ipse... cum universis prsesulibus, regibus, jjrincipibus, universis fidelibus, senioribus, majoribusque natu totius Saxoniae, publicam cecumenicamque faciant synodum.... Ut quidquid sanctus Theodorus cum sapientibus et fidelibus et viris religiosis in Anglorum provinciis, totis ecclesiis et universo populo Dei ibidem positis profuturum melius ac religiosius invenire potuissent... laborare atque transcribere." — Concilia, ed. Coletti, t. vii. p. G03. The

Wilfrid made no haste to quit Rome, after having obtained justice. He remained there several months, and occupied himself araonc: other matters in ob- ^'',i'ig<'"ce^^

.. ^.,^11, r, -n T 1 of the death

taming pontifical charters tor two English monasteries which, though situated beyond the limits of his diocese, lay very near his heart— those of Peterborough and Ely. He had just succeeded in respect to Ely, and expected'^to carry back a deed of privilege such as the Abbess Etheldreda had requested of him, when he received June, news of the death of this sainted queen, whose friend and spiritual father he had been, and whose supernatural resolution had been the first cause of his pilgrimage as an exile and accused man to Rome. Probably of all the Christian souls of his own country, hers was the one most tenderly and closely united to his. All that he had suffered through her, and in her cause, must have rendered her peculiarly dear to his generous heart. Etheldreda died young, a victim to one of the contagious diseases which were then so frequent. She had predicted her own death, as well as the number of those brothers and sisters of her community who would follow her to the grave. Three days before her death she was obliged to submit to a painful operation in the throat; she rejoiced at it. " God," she said, " has sent me this suffering to expiate the frivolity of my youth, the time when I remember to have worn with so much pleasure necklaces of pearls and gold on this neck now so swollen and burned by illness." At the last moment, surrounded by the brothers and sisters of her numerous community in tears, she spoke to them at length, imploring them never to let their hearts rest on the earth, but to tasce beforehand, by their earnest desires, that joy in the love of Christ which it would not be given to them to know perfectly here below.^^- gj^g

Bollandists (vol. vi. Sept., p. G9), contrary to the opinion of P. Pagi and the editors of the Collections of Councils, believe that the council where Pope Agathon gave the decrees relative to Archbishop Theodore was distinct from that which did justice to Wilfrid a year later. While accepting their chronology, we do not think that their arguments ought to prevail against the ancient opinion, founded on the text of the Acts themselves.

"*' " Scio certissime quia iherito in collo pondus languoris porto, in quo juvenculam me raemini snpervacua monilium pondera portare: et credo quod ideo me suprema pietas dolore colli voluit gravari, ut sic absolvar reatu supervacucC levitatis: dum niihi nunc, pro auro et margaritis, de collo rubor tumoris ardorque promineat." — Bede, iv. 19. " Monens eas ut aninmm de supernis nunquam deponerent et suavem cibura ca;lestis jucunditatis in Cliristi amore suspirando gustarent, quern adhuc in carne agentes pcrfectc apprehendisse non poterant." — Thom. Eliensis, c. 21. carefully directed that they should bury her, not in a stone vault like a queen, but in a wooden coffin, and among the simple nuns.i^^

The death of Etheldreda must have saddened Wilfrid's stay at Rome, where, however, he was still treated with confidence and distinction by the Pope. He ^^'^^ amittcd to the council of one hundred and twenty-five bishops assembled under the presidency of Agathon, to name deputies for the sixth general council which was about to be held at Constantinople for the condemnation of the Monothelite heresy, a heresy which recognized but one single will in the Son of God made man. For half a century this heresy had troubled the Church; it had been adopted by various Byzantine emperors, and had thirty years before led the holy Pope, Martin I., to the most painful of martyrdoms. In the synodical letter which these hundred and twenty bishops, chiefly Italians, wrote to the emperors, in the name of all the provinces of the West, is found this passage: " You have ordered us to send 3'ou wise and virtuous ambassadors. There is no secular eloquence among us. Our lands are desolated by the fury of contending races; there is nothing but battles, inroads, and pillage. In the midst of these barbarians, our life is full of anguish; we live by the labor of our hands, for the ancient patrimony of the Church has been, little by little, devoured by various calamities. Our faith is the only patrimony which remains to us; to live for it is our glory; to die for it our eternal advantage." After having described the catholic and apostolic faith, held by all under the terms defined by the Holy See, they add: *' We are late in replying to your appeal, because many of us live far away, and even '^^ In spit-e of these directions, sixteen years after her death, in 695, her sister, who had succeeded her as Abbess of Ely, wished to place her in a mausoleum of white marble, richly carved, which she took from the ruins of the Roman city of Grandchcster, near Cambridge. On this occasion it was seen that her body had preserved all its freshness; she seemed to sleep; the surgeon who had opened the tumor in her neck, and who was present at this exhumation, recognized the wound he had made: " Pro aperto et liiante vulnere cum quo sepulta erat, tenuissima cicatricis vestigia parerent." This miraculous preservation appeared to all a decisive proof of the incorruptible virginity which she had guarded throughout her life, even to Bede, who celebrated the translation of the saint's body in an elegy which he has inserted in his History, and in which classic recollections are mingled with those of the martyrology to honor the Anglo-Saxon queen: —

" Bello Mars resonet, nos pacis dona canamus;
Carmina casta mihi, foedsB non raptus Helenas
Dona superna loquar, miserae non praelia Trojae."

AND THE BENEDICTfNE ORDER. 389 on the coasts of the great Ocean. We had hoped that our colleague and co-servitor Theodore, archbishop and philosopher of the great island of Britain, would come with the bishops of his country, as well as of yours and of other places, so that we might write to you in the name of our whole council, and that all may be informed of what takes place, for many of our brethren are in the midst of barbarous nations, Lombards, Sclavonians, Goths, and Britons, all very curious touching the faith, and who being all agreed with us as to the faith, would become our enemies if we gave them any subject of scandal." ^^^

This letter, signed by the Pope and the hundred and twenty-five bishops, was signed also by Wilfrid as representative at the council of the British bishops,^^ although those bishops had given him no commission on the subject; but he felt himself authorized to bear this witness to the faith of the British Church. His confidence was the better justified, since in the same year Archbishop Theodore held a national council at Hatfield, where all the bishops of England made their solemn profession of faith, and declared that they received the four general councils and the council of Pope Martin against the Monothelites.^^i He declares It seems even that Wilfrid undertook to guarantee not only the faith of the Anglo-Saxon bishops, but also of all the Churches scattered in the north of of'the'Brit- Great Britain and in Ireland, among the Scots and Picts. Thus the Celtic Christians, whom he had so persecuted and opposed as to peculiar rites, inspired him with no doubt as to their unity of belief on all points which related to the faith; and he did not hesitate to answer for them before the Pope and the universal church.^^^

'*' " Sola est nostra substantia fides nostra: cum qua nobis vivcre summa gloria est; pro qua niori lucrum aeternum est.... Sperabamus tie Britannia Theodorum confamulum et cocpiscopum nostrum, niagnaj insular Britanniffi arcliiepiscopum et philosophura... cxindc ad nostram humilitatem conjungcre." — Concilia, ed. Coletti, t. vii. p. 707, 714.

190 <4 jH^gQ Wilfridus, humilis episcopus sanctai Ecclesiae Eboracenae insulae Britannia;, legatus vcnerabilis sj-nodi per Britanniam constituta;, in banc suggestionem quani pro apostolica nostra fide unanimiter construximus, similiter subscripsi." — Cf. Guill Malmksb., f. loO. Flv^vry, IJist. EccUsiast., 1. xl. c. 6, 7.

•»' Bede, iv. 17.

'"* This is the result of another signature of his, different from that which we have quoted, though given in the same council, appealed to by him, and admitted by Pope John VI. twenty-five years later. It is thus expressed "Ego Wilfridus •.. cum aliis cxxv. episcopis in synodo in judicii sede constitutus, et pro omni aquilonali parte, Britannise et Iliberniaj insulis quae Wilfrid re- When Wilfrid at last made up his mind to return EaSf^d to England, new dangers met him on the way. He expected to meet again his friend and host, King Dagobert, in Austrasia, but that prince had just fallen a victim to a plot fomented by Ebro'in, one of whose creatures, an unhappy bishop,^^^ lay in wait for the great Anglo-Saxon with a band of armed men, with the intention of robbing him, killing or selling into slavery all his companions, and delivering him to the implacable Ebro'in. This bishop reproached Wilfrid with having sent back from exile the tyrant Dagobert, from whom they had just freed themselves. "I only did," said Wilfrid, " what you yourselves would have done if an exile of our race and of royal blood had come to you to seek an asylum." " You are more just than I am," replied the bishop; " pass on your way, and may God and St. Peter be your aid! " ^^^

When Wilfrid arrived in England, his first step before proceeding to his diocese in Mercia was to t'hrdmrter g^^'® ^^ King Etholrcd the charter he had obtained

Ao-atho'n

^^'°^ *^^® Pope, with the sanction of the hundred and twent.y-nve bishops of the council at Rome, in favor of the great abbey of that kingdom and of central England at Peterborough, the foundation of which he had approved fifteen years before, and to which he now put the final crown. The deed of Pope Agathon, addressed to the Kingof Mercia, to Archbishop Theodore, and to Bishop Sexwulf, who had been the first abbot of the Burg of St. Peter, conferred on the monastery an exemption from all ordinary charges and jurisdiction'. In this document the king was recommended to be the defender of the community, but never its tyrant; the diocesan bishop to regard the abbot as his assistant in the evangelical ministry; the metropolitan to ordain in his own person the abbot elected by the community. This charter was sanctioned and signed by the King, the Queen, Archbishop Theodore, and his friend Abbot Adrian; and finally by Wilfrid himself, with this formula, '' I, Wilfrid, on my way to reclaim, by apostolical favor, my

ab Anglorura et Britonum, nee non Seotorum et Pictorum gentibus incolantur, veram et catholicani fidem confessus est, et cum subscriptione sua confirniavit." — Bede, v. 19. Eddius, c. 50.

'^^ Mabillon thinks this was AVaimer, Duke of Champagne, made Bishop of Troyes by Ebroin, to reward his services against St. Lcger.

¹⁹⁴ u Q rectissime episcope, quid aliud habuisti facere, si exsul de genera nostro.... Video te justiorem me esse." — Eddius, c. 31. see of York, being witness and bearer of this decree, I agree to it." ^^^

But the confidence which Wilfrid thus expressed was singularly misplaced. We now reach the most strange incident of all his stormy life. Having returned to Northumbria, conformably to the instructions of the Pope and the bishop, he humbly presented to King Egfrid, who had expelled him, that which he regarded as the standard of victory, namely, the decree of the Holy See and council of Rome, with the seals and signatures of all the bishops. The king convoked the assembly of nobles and clergy, and caused the pontifical letters to be read in their presence. Upon this there arose an ardent opposition. The authority of the Pope or the council was not disputed, but there were cries on all sides that the judgment had been bought. By the advice of the whole council, and with the express consent of the intruded bishops, the king condemned Wilfrid to an ignominious imprison- neisimment of nine months. He was at once taken pris- prisoned, oner; nothing was left to him but the clothing he wore; his servants and adherents were dispersed, and his friends strictly forbidden to visit him. Queen Ermenburga, his old and pitiless enemy, took from his Chrismarium or reliquary which he wore round his neck, and took possession of it, having it always hung in her chamber or in her carriage when she travelled, either as a trophy of her victory or from that sincere but savage devotion which at times took such strange forms, and was the cause of such dishonest actions. This done, the noble Bishop was confided to one of the king's officers, Count Osfrid, who removed him so that none of his friends might know where he was, and shut him up in a cell which during the day was scarcely penetrated by a few feeble rays of light, and where at night he was not permitted to have a lamp.^^

195 <i £gQ wilfridus, apostolico favore repetens sedem Eboracensem, testi.* et relator liujus sanctionis votivaj assentior." I follow the text given by Dugdale f i. G7), which P. Pagi considtrs free from the interpolations and anachronisms of that found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (anno G80); the Bollandists, however, regard it as tainted with error.

¹⁹⁶ "Vexilluni victoria; ferens, hoc est, apostolicae sedis judicium... cum bullis et sigillis signatis.... Omnibus principibus ibidem habitantibus, nee non servis Dei in locum synodalem accersitis.... Jussiono regis et ejus consiUatorum, cum consensu episcoporum qui ejus episcopatum tenebant... novem menses sine ullo honore custodire censucriint ... in 6U0 solo vestimento.... Regina chrismarium hominis Dei reliquiis plenum (quod me enarrantem horruit) de se abstractum, in thalamo suo mancns, Connivance It is comprehensible that a barbarous Saxon '^iog, full of pride and cupidity, and a passionate ^nd angry woman, should give themselves up to such excesses against a bishop whose wealth, power, moral influence, and fearless character, excited their jealousy. But what was St. Theodore doing meanwhile? He, so eager, three years before, to make himself the instrument of the King of Northumbria's violent deeds, where was he now when the repairing of his error was in question? He, the metropolitan and chief of the Anglo-Saxon bishops, how could he suffer the episcopal dignity to be outraged in the person of the most illustrious of his brethren? He, the veteran monk, so zealous for the traditions and privileges of his order, how could he yield to the violence of laymen or to the jealousy of the Celts the most ardent propagator of the Benedictine rule? He, the envoy and direct representative of the Holy See in England, how dared he contemn that pontifical decision which Wilfrid had been charged to signify to him"? Above all, how dared he brave the anathemas which the decree of the council directed against all traitors, whatever their rank?^^'^ On these questions, history, so abundant in other details, keeps entire silence; she leaves us no other resource than to look for future repentance and expiation for so shameful a connivance at sin.^'^^

After a while King Egfrid resolved to treat with his captive. He offered to restore to him a part of his bishopric, with many gifts added to it, if Wilfrid would acquiesce in his will, ^^^'^ acknowledge the falsity of the apostolic decree, Wilfrid replied that it would be easier to take his come to .. ^. ' /^ • f> 1 • TVTi terms with head than to tear such a confession from him. When thekmg. Y^Q ^vas cast back into his cell, he there gave an example of patience and courage truly episcopal. The guards heard him chanting the psalms as if he were in his monastic stall at Ripon or Hexham; at night they saw his prison illumined by a light which terrified them. The wife of Earl Osfrid having fallen dangerously ill, her husband had recourse to the holy man whom he had been appointed to guard; he took him out of prison and led him to the bedside of the invalid. The latter, at an after period and when she

aut currn pergens juxta se pependit.... Comes ... in latebrosis locis ubi raro sol per diem inluxit, et lampas per horrorem noctis non accenditur."

*'^ " Si quidem episcopus est, qui banc piam dispositionem temerare tentaverit, sit ab episcopali ordine destitutus, et seterni anathematis reus."

19" BOLLAND., 1. C, p. 62. had herself become an abbess, often related to her newfamily, with tears of gratitude, that the prisoner found her in the last stupor of departing life, yet that a few drops of holy water cast on her face, with prayer, were sufficient to cure her. Osfrid, penetrated with gratitude and admiration, quickly informed the king of what had happened. "I conjure you," said the brave Saxon, " both for your own welfare and for mine, no longer to persecute this holy and innocent bishop; as for me, I would rather die than continue this jailer's trade." ^-^^ Far from listening to him, the king took from him the guardianship of the captive, who was sent to a castle still more remote, near Dunbar, on the shore of the Scottish sea, where he was intrusted to another earl much more harsh than Osfrid, with orders to keep him strictly isolated in his prison, and to put him in irons. But they were never able, Eddi tells us, to make these of the right size; they were always either too large or too small to confine the hands and feet of the prisoner.

While Wilfrid thus paid the price of his glory and his courage, the king and queen made a triumphant progress through the very country where he was held prisoner. In the course of this tour, they arrived at the Monastery ofColdinghara, on the seashore, not far from Dunbar, and halfway between the prison and the holy island of Lindisfarne. In this great establishment, where Etheldreda had first taken refuge, two communities, one of men and one of women, obej^ed the Abbess Ebba, sister of Oswy, and aunt of Egfrid. Like Hilda at Whitby, Ebba exercised at Coldinghara, with great wisdom and authority, that sort of rule at once spiritual and temporal which was the inheritance of more than one Anglo- Saxon princess; but far from being, like Hilda, the enemy of Wilfrid, she became his liberator. During the night which the royal couple passed at the monastery. Queen Ermenburga was seized with an attack of delirium; in the morning the abbess appeared, and as the queen, whose limbs were already contracted, seemed at the point of death, Ebba, with the double authority of a cloistered superior and of a princess of the race of Odin, said to her nephew, " I know all that you have done; you have superseded Bishop Wilfrid without having a crime to oftheprin-

199 <( Aillluc vivens ilia, nunc sanctimonialis materfamilias, nomine -3Ebba, cum lacrymis hoc narrare consuevit.... Adjuro te per vitam meam et salutera tuam... quia magis eligo mori, quam cum innoxium flagellare." —Eddius, c. 35, 36. accusG liim of; and when he returned from his exile with an apostolic verdict in his favor, you robbed and imprisoned him, foolishly despising the