CHAPTER VI
Grant to Malmesbury by Ecgfrith of Mercia.—Alcuin’s letters to Mercia.—Kenulf and Leo III restore Canterbury to its primatial position.—Gifts of money to the Pope.—Alcuin’s letters to the restored archbishop.—His letter to Karl on the archbishop’s proposed visit. Letters of Karl to Offa (on a question of discipline) and Athelhard (in favour of Mercian exiles).
Before proceeding to examine Alcuin’s letter to a Mercian nobleman on the death of Offa and his son Ecgfrith, it should be remarked that we of the diocese of Bristol must not allow the mention of this poor young king Ecgfrith to pass without our acknowledgement for a deed of justice done. When Offa defeated the West Saxon king at Bensington, he took possession of a good deal of the border land, including two tracts of land which King Cadwalla of Wessex had given to Malmesbury, namely Tetbury in Gloucestershire and Purton in Wilts. William of Malmesbury naturally reports the iniquity of Offa in thus pillaging the abbey which was the home of William’s life and studies. Offa gave Tetbury to the Bishop of Worcester. Purton was the subject of a deed by Ecgfrith during his reign of a few months. The deed has remarkable interest for us in this diocese, in that it is doubly dated; first as in the seven hundred and ninety-sixth year from the Incarnation, and next, with a very interesting recognition of our own Aldhelm, due to the fact that the theft had been from Aldhelm’s own Malmesbury, “in the eighty-seventh year from the passing of father Aldhelm.” The deed restores land of thirty-five families at Piritune, on the east side of Braden Wood, to the abbat and brethren of Malmesbury, for the repose of the soul of his father Offa who had taken it from them, and in order that the memory of Ecgfrith might always be preserved in their prayers. As a sort of unimportant afterthought he adds that the abbat and brethren have given him two thousand shillings of pure silver, probably as many pounds of our money. The deed was signed by Athelhard of Canterbury, not by Lichfield. The reason no doubt is that Tetbury and Purton are south of the Thames, and so outside the Province of Lichfield and within the diminished Province of Canterbury.
When the death of Offa’s son, the youthful Ecgfrith, king of Mercia, occurred in this same year 796 in which year his father Offa had died,[113] and a distant cousin Kenulf succeeded, Alcuin, as has been said, wrote a very serious letter to one of the chief officers of Mercia.
Ep. 79. A.D. 797.
“These are times of tribulation everywhere in the land; faith is failing; truth is dumb; malice increases; and arrogance adds to your miseries. Men are not content to follow in the steps of our early fathers, in dress, or food, or honest ways. Some most foolish man thinks out something unsuited to human nature, and hateful to God; and straightway almost the whole of the people set themselves busily to follow this above all.
“That most noble youth [Ecgfrith] is dead; not, as I think, because of his own sins alone, but also because the vengeance of his father’s bloodshedding has reached the son. For you know best of all how much blood the father shed that the kingdom might be safe for the son. It proved to be the destruction, not the confirmation, of his reign.
“Admonish the more diligently your new king [Kenulf], yes, and the king of Northumbria [Ardwulf] too, that they keep in touch with the divine piety, avoiding adulteries; that they do not neglect their early wives[114] for the sake of adulteries with women of the nobility, but under the fear of God have their own wives, or by consent live in chastity. I fear that Ardwulf, the king of my part of the country, will soon[115] have to lose the kingdom because of the insult which he has offered to God in sending away his own wife, and, it is said, living openly with a concubine. It seems that the prosperity of the English is nearly at an end; unless indeed by assiduous prayers, and honest ways, and humble life, and chaste conversation, and keeping the faith, they win from God to keep the land which God of His free gift gave to our forefathers.”
With this letter we may fitly compare the letter which Alcuin wrote to the king himself, Kenulf, who had thus unexpectedly succeeded. It begins in a complimentary manner, but it is a very faithful letter. It carefully recognizes the inconsistencies of Offa’s life, inconsistencies which appear to have characterized the best rulers in those times, very rude and violent times, when one occasion and another seemed to demand ruthless treatment.
Ep. 80. A.D. 797.
“To the most excellent Coenulf, King of the Mercians, the humble levite Albinus wishes health.
“Your goodness, moderation, and nobility of conduct, are a great joy to me. They are befitting to the royal dignity, which excels all others in honour, and ought to excel also in perfectness of conduct, in fairness of justice, in holiness of piety. The royal clemency should go beyond that of ordinary men, as we read in ancient histories, and in holy Scripture where it is said[116]—Mercy and truth exalt a throne; and in the Psalms it is said[117] of Almighty God—All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. The more a man shines forth in works of truth and mercy, the more has he in him of the image of the divine.
“Have always in mind Him who raised thee from a poor position and set thee as a ruler over the princes of His people. Know that thou art rather a shepherd, and a dispenser of the gifts of God, than a lord and an exactor.
“Have always in mind the very best features of the reign of your most noble predecessor Offa; his modest conversation; his zeal in correcting the life of a Christian people. Whatever good arrangements he made in the kingdom to thee by God given, let your devotion most diligently carry out; but if in any respect he acted with greed, or cruelty, know that this you must by all means avoid. For it is not without cause that that most noble son of his survived his father for so short a time. The deserts of a father are often visited on a son.
“Have prudent counsellors who fear God; love justice; seek peace with friends; show faith and holiness in pious manner of life.
“For the English race is vexed with tribulations by reason of its many sins. The goodness of kings, the preaching of the priests of Christ, the religious life of the people, can raise it to the height of its ancient honour; so that a blessed progeny of our fathers may deserve to possess perpetual happiness, stability of the kingdom, and fortitude against any foe; that the Church of Christ, as ordained by holy fathers, may grow and prosper. Always have in honour, most illustrious ruler, the priests of Christ; for the more reverently you are disposed to the servants of Christ, and the preachers of the word of God, the more will Christ, the King pious and true, exalt and confirm your honour, on the intercession of His saints.”
When Kenulf, this distant cousin of Ecgfrith, came to the throne, he looked into the matter of the archbishopric of Lichfield, and he took a view adverse to Offa’s action. He wrote to Pope Leo III a letter,[118] in which he put the points very clearly. His bishops and learned men had told him that the division of the Province of Canterbury into two provinces was contrary to the canons and apostolical statutes of the most blessed Gregory, who had ordered that there should be twelve bishops under the archbishop of the southern province, seated at London. On the death of Augustine of Canterbury, it had seemed good to all the wise men of the race, the Witangemote, that not London but Canterbury should be the seat of the Primacy, where Augustine’s body lay. King Offa, by reason of his enmity with the venerable archbishop Jaenbert and the people of Kent, set to work to divide the province into two. The most pious Adrian, at the request of the said king, had done what no one before had presumed to do, had raised the Mercian prelate to the dignity of the pallium. Kenulf did not blame either of them; but he hoped that the Pope would look into the matter and make a benign and just response. He had sent an embassy on the part of himself and the bishops in the previous year by Wada the Abbat; but Wada, after accepting the charge, had indolently—nay foolishly—withdrawn. He now sent by the hands of a presbyter, Birine, and two of his officers, Fildas and Cheolberth, a small present, out of his love for the Pope, namely, 120 mancuses,[119] some forty to fifty pounds, say not far off £1000 of our time.
Pope Leo addressed his reply to king Kenulf, his most loved bishops, and most glorious dukes. It was a difficult letter to write, for Kenulf had been very frank about the uncanonical action of Hadrian the Pope. Leo answered this part of Kenulf’s letter by stating that his predecessor had acted as he had done (1) because Offa had declared it to be the universal wish, the petition of all, that the archbishopric should be divided into two; (2) because of the great extension of the Mercian kingdom; (3) for very many causes and advantages. He, Leo, now authorized the departure from Pope Gregory’s order in so far as this, that he recognized Canterbury, not London, as the chief seat of archiepiscopal authority. He declared that Canterbury was the primatial see, and must continue and be viewed as such. I cannot find in his letter a definite declaration that he annuls the act of his predecessor, but that is the effect of the letter; nor does he declare that Lichfield is no longer an archbishopric. Kenulf, as we have seen, had sent him, out of his affection for him, a gift of 120 mancuses. But he reminded the king that Offa had bound his successors to maintain the gift to the Pope, in each year, of as many mancuses as there are days in the year, namely, he says, 365, as alms to the poor, and as an endowment for keeping in order the lamps [in the churches]. This is much more likely than the shadowy gifts of Ina, king of Wessex, to have been the origin of Peter’s Pence, a sum of money collected in England, at first fitfully and eventually year by year, and sent out to the Pope. The money was collected in the parishes of each diocese down to the time of the Reformation. It is a regular item in the churchwardens’ accounts of the earlier years of Henry VIII. Only a fixed amount of the whole sum collected was sent to the Pope, the balance being used for repairs in the several dioceses. We have a list prepared by a representative of a late mediaeval Pope giving £190 6s. 8d. as the amount received by him for the year, corresponding roughly to a normal 300 marks a year.
Offa’s money for the Pope went of course from Mercia. When Wessex became predominant, Ethelwulf, the son of Ecgbert and father of Alfred, made large gifts to Rome, and left by will 300 mancuses, 100 in honour of St. Peter, specially for filling with oil all the lamps of his apostolic church on Easter Eve and at cock crow, 100 in honour of St. Paul, in the same terms and for the same purpose in respect of the basilica of St. Paul, and 100 for the Pope himself. King Alfred also sent presents to Rome. From 883 to 890 there are four records of gifts from Wessex. After 890 we have no such record in Alfred’s reign; and in Alfred’s will there is no mention of the spiritual head of the Church of the West.
We learn from our own great historian, William of Malmesbury, that Kenulf wrote two later letters to Leo on this subject, and he gives us Leo’s reply.[120] Athelhard, the Pope says, has come to the holy churches of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, to fulfil his vow of prayer and to inform the Pope of his ecclesiastical mission. He tells the king that by the authority of St. Peter, the chief of the apostles, whose office though unworthily he fills, he gives to Athelhard such prelatical authority that if any in the province, whether kings, princes, or people, transgress the commands of the Lord, he shall excommunicate them till they repent. Concerning the jurisdiction which the archbishops of Canterbury had held, as well over bishops as over monasteries, of which they had been unjustly deprived, the Pope had made full inquiry, and now placed all ordinations and confirmations on their ancient footing, and restored them to him entire. Thus did Pope Leo III condemn the injustice of Pope Hadrian I. We had better have managed our own affairs, instead of paying to foreigners infinite sums of money to mismanage them.
Before we leave this strange episode of the creation of an archbishopric of Lichfield, it is of special local interest to us in Bristol, and to the deanery of Stapleton, that the chief Mercian prelate, Higbert of Lichfield, signed deeds relating to Westbury upon Trym and Aust on Severn, above the archbishop of Canterbury. This was in 794. Offa the king signed first, Ecgferth, the king’s young son, second, and then Hygeberht; Ethelhard of Canterbury coming fifth in one and fourth in the other. The first deed gave from the king to his officer Ethelmund, in 794, four cassates of land at the place called Westbury, in the province of the Huiccians, near the river called Avon, free of all public charges except the three which were common to all, namely, for the king’s military expeditions, for the building of bridges, and for the fortification of strongholds.[121] The other deed restores to the see of Worcester (Wegrin) the land of five families at Aust, which the duke Bynna had taken without right, it being the property of the see of Worcester. To make all safe, six dukes made the sign of the cross at the foot of this deed, which is, as we all know, the origin of the modern phrase ‘signing’ a deed or a letter. The dukes included Bynna himself.
Ep. 85. A.D. 797.
Alcuin wrote a very wise letter to Athelhard of Canterbury on the occasion of the restoration of the primacy. He advised that penance should be done. Athelhard and all the people should keep a fast, he for having left his see, they for having accepted error. There should be diligent prayers, and alms, and solemn masses, everywhere, that God might wipe out what any of them had done wrong. The archbishop was specially urged to bring back study into the house of God, that is, the conventual home of the monks and the archbishop, with its centre, the cathedral church. There should be young men reading, and a chorus of singers, and the study of books, in order that the dignity of that holy see might be renewed, and they might deserve to have the privilege of electing to the primacy.
“The unity of the Church, which has been in part cut asunder, not as it seems for any reasonable cause but from grasping at power, should, if it can be done, be restored in peaceful ways; the rent should be stitched up again. You should take counsel with all your bishops, and with your brother of York, on this principle, that the pious father Higbert of Lichfield be not deprived of his pall during his lifetime, but the consecration of bishops must come back to the holy and primal see. Let your most holy wisdom see to it that loving concord exist among the chief shepherds of the churches of Christ.”
Ep. 171. A.D. 801.
With regard to the remark of Alcuin that Athelhard should do penance for having left his see, it may be explained that Alcuin had in vain advised Athelhard not to leave England on the restoration of the primacy to Canterbury. Athelhard persisted in visiting Rome, and informed Alcuin that he had commenced the journey. Alcuin thereupon wrote this:—“Return, return, holy father, as soon as your pious embassy is finished, to your lost sheep. As there are two eyes in the body, so I believe and desire that you two, Canterbury and York, give light throughout the breadth of all Britain. Do not deprive your country of its right eye.”
Then Alcuin gives a very significant hint that the ways of the clergy of England are not good enough for France, and they had better not let Charlemagne see anything of that kind.
“If you come to the lord king, warn your companions, and especially the clergy, that they acquit themselves in an honourable manner, in all holy religion, in dress, and in ecclesiastical order; so that wherever you go you leave always an example of all goodness. Forbid them to wear in the presence of the lord king ornaments of gold or robes of silk; let them go humbly clad, after the manner of servants of God. And through every district you must pass with peace and honest conversation, for you know the manner and custom of this Frankish race.”
Nothing could make more clear the commanding position held by Alcuin than this exceedingly free counsel from a deacon to the Primate of England. We may quote portions of yet another letter giving the same impression.
Ep. 190. A.D. 802.
In a letter to Athelhard after his safe return to England and a favourable reception which he had reported to Alcuin, Alcuin congratulated the archbishop on the restoration to its ancient dignity of the most holy see of the first teacher of our race. By divine favour, the members now once more cohered in unity with the proper head, and natural peace shone forth between the two chief prelates of Britain, and one will of piety and concord was vigorous under the two cities of metropolitans. “And now,” he writes, “now that you have received the power to correct and the liberty to preach, fear not, speak out! The silence of the bishop is the ruin of the people.”
It is an interesting fact that we have a letter which Alcuin wrote to Karl, introducing to him this same archbishop on the very journey of which he so decidedly disapproved.
Ep. 172. A.D. 801.
“To the most greatly desired lord David the king, Flaccus his pensioner wishes eternal health in Christ.
“The sweetness of your affection, and the assurance of your approved piety, very often urge me to address letters to your authority, and by the office of syllables to trace out that which bodily frailty prevents my will from accomplishing. But novel circumstances compel me now to write once more, that the paper may bring the affection of the heart, and may pour into the ears of your piety the prayers which never have been in vain in the presence of your pity. Nor do I believe that my prayers for your stableness and safety are vain in the sight of God, for the divine grace gladly receives the tears which flow forth from the fount of love[122].
“I have been informed that certain of the friends of your Flaccus, Edelard to wit, Metropolitan of the See of Dorobernia and Pontiff of the primatial see in Britain, and Ceilmund[123] of the kingdom of the Mercians, formerly minister of king Offa, and Torhcmund[124] the faithful servant of king Edilred, a man approved in faith, strenuous in arms, who has boldly avenged the blood of his lord, desire to approach your piety[125]. All of these have been very faithful to me, and have aided me on my journey; they have also aided my boys as they went about hither and thither. I pray your best clemency to receive them with your wonted kindness, for they have been close friends to me. I have often known bishops religious and devoted in Christ’s service, and men strong and faithful in secular dignity, to be laudable to your equity; for there is no doubt that all the best men, approved by their own conscience, love good men, being taught by the example of the omnipotent God who is the highest good. And it is most certain that every creature that has reason has by His goodness whatever of good it has, the Very Truth saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He that followeth me walketh not in darkness but shall have the light of life.’ John viii. 12.”
Before we leave Mercian affairs and the relations between Karl and Offa, it may be of interest to give a letter[126] from Karl to Offa which will serve to show the extreme care he took in order to maintain ecclesiastical discipline, and the severity of that discipline. That a man with all the affairs of immense dominions on his hands should have made time to produce such a letter on such a point seems very worthy of note. Karl’s statement of his titles shows that this is an early letter.
“Karl, by the grace of God king of the Franks and Defender of the Holy Church of God, to his loved brother and friend Offa greeting.
“That priest who is a Scot[127] has been living among us for some time, in the diocese of Hildebold, Bishop[128] of Cologne. He has now been accused of eating meat in Lent. Our priests refuse to judge him, because they have not received full evidence from the accusers. They have, however, not allowed him to continue to reside there, on account of this evil report, lest the honour in which the priesthood is held should be diminished among ignorant folk, or others should be tempted by this rumour to violate the holy fast. Our priests are of opinion that he should be sent to the judgement of his own bishop, where his oath was taken.
“We pray your providence to order that he transfer himself as soon as conveniently may be to his own land, that he may be judged in the place from which he came forth. For there also it must be that the purity in manners and firmness in faith and honesty of conversation of the Holy Church of God are diligently kept according to canonical sanction, like a dove perfect and unspotted, whose wings are as of silver and the hinder parts should shine as gold.
“Life, health, and prosperity be given to thee and thy faithful ones by the God Christ for ever.”
A letter which Karl wrote to Athelhard of Canterbury begging him to intercede for some exiles, sets forth his style and title very differently[129], evidently at a later date.
It bears very directly upon one of the complaints which, as we have seen, Offa had made in letters to Karl; namely, the shelter afforded at Karl’s court to fugitives from Mercia.
“Karl, by the grace of God king of the Franks and Lombards and Patrician of the Romans, to Athilhard the archbishop and Ceolwulf his brother bishop, eternal beatitude.
“In reliance on that friendship which we formed in speech when we met, we have sent to your piety these unhappy exiles from their fatherland; praying that you would deign to intercede for them with my dearest brother king Offa, that they may be allowed to live in their own land in peace, without any unjust oppression. For their lord Umhrinsgstan[130] is dead. It appeared to us that he would have been faithful to his own lord if he had been allowed to remain in his own land; but, as he used to say, he fled to us to escape the danger of death, always ready to purge himself of any unfaithfulness. That reconciliation might ensue we kept him with us for a while, not from any unfriendliness.
“If you are able to obtain peace for these his fellow tribesmen, let them remain in their fatherland. But if my brother gives a hard reply about them, send them back to me uninjured. It is better to live abroad than to perish, to serve in a foreign land than to die at home. I have confidence in the goodness of my brother, if you plead strenuously with him for them, that he will receive them benignantly for the love that is between us, or rather for the love of Christ, who said, Forgive and it shall be forgiven you.
“May the divine piety keep thy holiness, interceding for us, safe for ever.”
It was a skilful stroke of business on Karl’s part to send the men over to the charge of the archbishop, which amounted to putting them in sanctuary. If he had kept them in France and written to beg that they might be allowed to return, it would have been much easier for Offa to say no. And if he had sent them direct to Offa in the first instance, they would probably never have got out of his clutches at all.