EGBERT OVERLORD OF BRITAIN A. 827. ... And the same year king Egbert conquered the kingdom of the Mercians, and all that was south of the Humber; and he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda. (From the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for years named. Ed. Thorpe, Rolls Series.) 24. The Re-Establishment of Christianity Bede Although the venerable BEDE (673 to circa 735) was born a century after the landing of St. Augustine, we turn to his Ecclesiastical History as the native source of our knowledge of the regeneration of Christianity in Britain. Bede has been termed the Father of English History. His learning was great, his industry constant, and his means of information at once extensive and unique. His History is an indispensable source for the period of which it treats. Augustine, thus strengthened by the confirmation of the blessed father Gregory, returned to the work of the word of God, with the servants of Christ, and arrived in Britain. The powerful Ethelbert was at that time king of Kent; he had extended his dominions as far as the great river Humber, by which the Southern Saxons are divided from the Northern. On the east of Kent is the large Isle of Thanet containing according to the English way of reckoning, 600 families, divided from the other land by the river Wantsum, which is about three furlongs over, and fordable only in two places, for both ends of it run into the sea. In this island landed the servant of our Lord, Augustine, and his companions, being, as is reported, nearly forty men. They had, by order of the blessed Pope Gregory, taken interpreters of the nation of the Franks, and sending to Ethelbert, signified that they were come from Rome, and brought a joyful message, which most undoubtedly assured to all that took advantage of it everlasting joys in heaven, and a kingdom that would never end, with the living and true God. The king having heard this, ordered them to stay in that island where they had landed, and that they should be furnished with all necessaries, till he should consider what to do with them. For he had before heard of the Christian religion, having a Christian wife of the royal family of the Franks, called Bertha; whom he had received from her parents, upon condition that she should be permitted to practise her religion with the bishop Luidhard, who was sent with her to preserve her faith. Some days after, the king came into the island, and sitting in the open air, ordered Augustine and his companions to be brought into his presence. For he had taken precaution that they should not come to him in any house, lest, according to an ancient superstition, if they practised any magical arts, they might impose upon him, and so get the better of him. But they came furnished with Divine, not with magic virtue, bearing a silver cross for their banner, and the image of our Lord and Saviour painted on a board; and singing the litany, they offered up their prayers to the Lord for the eternal salvation both of themselves and of those to whom they were come. When he had sat down, pursuant to the king's commands, and preached to him and his attendants there present, the word of life, the king answered thus: -"Your words and promises are very fair, but as they are new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them so far as to forsake that which I have so long followed with the whole English nation. But because you are come from far into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to impart to us those things which you believe to be true, and most beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you favourable entertainment, and take care to supply you with your necessary sustenance; nor do we forbid you to preach and gain as many as you can to your religion." Accordingly he permitted them to reside in the city of Canterbury, which was the metropolis of all his dominions, and, pursuant to his promise, besides allowing them sustenance, did not refuse them liberty to preach. It is reported that, as they drew near to the city, after their manner, with the holy cross, and the image of our sovereign Lord and King, Jesus Christ, they, in concert, sung this litany: "We beseech thee, O Lord, in all thy mercy, that thy anger and wrath be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house, because we have sinned. Hallelujah." There was on the east side of the city, a church dedicated to the honour of St. Martin, built whilst the Romans were still in the island, wherein the queen, who, as has been said before, was a Christian, used to pray. In this they first began to meet, to sing, to pray, to say mass, to preach, and to baptize, till the king, being converted to the faith, allowed them to preach openly, and build or repair churches in all places. Nor was it long before he gave his teachers a settled residence in his metropolis of Canterbury, with such possessions of different kinds as were necessary for their subsistence. (Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, book I, c. 25. Ed. J. A. Giles, London, 1894.) CHAPTER V ANGLO-SAXON LAWS The Dooms of the Kings Alfred, Athelstan, and Edgar, The importance of the Anglo-Saxon laws as sources of English History is enhanced by the absence of authentic contemporary literature. Were it not for those laws, we should know but little of the period. The law of a people is synchronous with the development of that people. Legislation not only indicates the progress of a race, but preserves its characteristics from generation to generation. In the selections given below it is sought to indicate the development of early English law from the crudest customary law to the more scientific enactments of the later Anglo-Saxon kings, and also to give the material which best illustrates the development of fiscal, political, and legal institutions of the early English. 25. Of a Man's Eye-Wound and of Various Other Limbs From the Laws of King Alfred If a man strike out another's eye, let him pay LX. shillings, and VI. shillings and VI. pennies and a third part of a penny, as "bōt." If it remain in the head, and he cannot see aught therewith, let one third part of the "bot" be retained. If a man strike off another's nose, let him make "bot" with LX. shillings. If a man strike out another's tooth in the front of his head, let him make "bōt" for it with VIII. shillings: if it be the canine tooth, let IV. shillings be paid as "bōt." A man's grinder is worth XV. shillings. If a man's tongue be done out of his head by another man's deeds, that shall be as eye-"bōt." If a man be wounded on the shoulder so that the joint-oil flow out, let "bōt" be made with XXX. shillings. If the thumb be struck off, for that shall be XXX. shillings as "bōt." If the nail be struck off, for that shall be V. shillings as "bōt." If the shooting [i.e. fore] finger be struck off, the “bōt" is XV. shillings; for its nail it is IV. shillings. If a man's thigh be pierced, let XXX. shillings be paid him. as "bot"; if it be broken, the "bot" is likewise XXX. shillings. If the great toe be struck off, let XX. shillings be paid him as "bōt"; if it be the second toe, let XV. shillings be paid as "bōt"; if the middlemost toe be struck off, there shall be IX. shillings as "bōt"; if it be the fourth toe, there shall be VI. shillings as "bōt"; if the little toe be struck off, let V. shillings be paid him. If a man's arm, with the hand, be entirely cut off before the elbow, let "bot" be made for it with LXXX. shillings. For every wound before the hair, and before the sleeve, and beneath the knee, the "bōt" is two parts more. 26. Of Lordless Men From the Laws of King Athelstan And we have ordained: respecting those lordless men of whom no law can be got, that the kindred be commanded that they domicile him to folk-right, and find him a lord in the folk-mote; and if they then will not or cannot produce him at the term, then be he thenceforth a "flyma," and let him slay him for a thief who can come at him: and whoever after that shall harbour him, let him pay for him according to his "wer," or by it clear himself. 27. Of Landless Men From the Laws of King Athelstan And we have ordained: if any landless man should become a follower in another shire, and again seek his kinsfolk; that he may harbour him on this condition, that he present him to folkright if he there do any wrong, or make "bot" for him. 28. Of the Doom concerning Hot Iron and Water From the Laws of King Athelstan And concerning the ordeal we enjoin by command of God, and of the archbishop, and of all bishops: that no man come within the church after the fire is borne in with which the ordeal shall be heated, except the mass-priest, and him who shall go thereto: and let there be measured nine feet from the stake to the mark, by the man's feet who goes thereto. But if it be water, let it be heated till it low to boiling. And be the kettle of iron or of brass, of lead or of clay. And if it be a single accusation, let the hand dive after the stone up |